it's a 'hit

16 March, 2004; NOW! 1

C M Y K

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NOTICE

All BSNL subscribers arehereby informed that all tel-ephone numbers in Gangtokbeginning 222, 223, 224 and225 are being changed in aphased manner to now begin20, ie is the second numberof these phones will hence-forth be “0.”

GANGTOK, 15 March: In anambitious move, Yuksom Brew-eries Ltd. has decided to open twomore breweries, one each inOrissa and Assam. This is the firsttime that the beer makers are step-ping out of the state and in theprocess becoming the first indus-try from Sikkim to expand pro-duction to other states.

“Yes, we are expanding ourmanufacturing facility. It is dueto increased demand of our beerin other states that we have takenthis decision,” confirms B.Vaidyalingam, General Manager,Yuksom Breweries. The produc-tion capacity of the Assam andBhubhaneswar units will be75,000 hectalitres per annum.

However, it will be a whilebefore production actually begins

Yuksom Breweries plansto step beyond Sikkim

IT’S A‘HIT’

a NOW REPORT

as discussions are still going onfor acquisition of land for settingup the units.

“The unit at Bhubaneswar willbe the first to take off. The Assamone will start later,” informs Mr.Vaidyalingam.

Both the new units will makeall three beer brands of YuksomBreweries. While “Hit” and “HeMan” brands come under the strongbeer category, “Dansberg” comesunder the light beer category.

According to reports theYuksom Breweries management isalso going for modernisation andupgradation of the existing plantat Melli in South Sikkim. The to-tal investment in modernisation ofthe plant is said to be around Rs.3 crore.

The upgradation will help inimproving the quality of the beerproduced at the unit which produces1,25,000 bottles of beer per day.

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NURSES CEASE WORK TOPROTEST SUSPENSIONS

GANGTOK, 15 March: The sagaof Pinki Singh continues into itsthird and by far the most dramaticday [Sunday being a rest day] withmore, new and critical informationemerging – this time from thehorse’s mouth.

Today, nurses at the CentralReferral Hospital collectively de-cided to cease work on the issue ofthe suspension of four nurses inretrospect, two months after theincident had taken place.

Speaking to NOW! outside the

MANIPAL BURNS

Dean’s office at CRH, they point outthat tubectomy [for which Pinki haschecked in January earlier this year]is a minor operation and the patientis usually discharged the same day.“And,” says a nurse on condition ofanonymity, “consequent to the op-eration the patient is sent to the gen-eral ward and not the ICU.”

Her point is that some compli-cation must have occurred on theoperating table to have merited abed in the ICU. Besides, all thenurses and medical officers at CRHare dumbfounded as to how Pinki’s

leg got scalded by a blower whenshe had five layers of blanketswhich do not have a single singedfibre. Furthermore, neither is therail by the bed nor any other cloth-ing or furniture burnt.

The blower theory was given toPinki’s husband, SK Singh, an armyjawan, as an explanation for the burnson his wife’s leg and the four nurseson duty on the said day were sus-pended after the report appeared inNOW!, a day after Pinki was dis-charged while still in the healing

a NOW REPORT

Patient cameto ICU withcomplications,allege nurses Striking nurses outside CRH, Tadong

turn to pg 3

ELECTION PULSEYET TO QUICKENIN DARJ HILLS

PARTIES ARE ACTIVE ONLY IN THE PRESS, THE STREETS STILL AWAIT THEIR CAMPAIGN CALL

DETAILSON

pg 4

INSIDE Sikkim yet to mature

to Consumer RightsTURN TO pg 3

SO THATTHARPU DOESNOT REPEATTURN TO pg 4

Telecomstalemate

continues in Darj,no AO yet

TURN TO pg 4

CPRM wants GNLF to run“caretaker” Board from

25th onwardsTURN TO pg 4

2; NOW!; 16 March, 2004

C M Y K

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

Artist, filmmaker, keenphotographer, columnist with

international magazines...It’s hard to pin Twang Yang

down. Born to a Chinese fatherand Tibetan mother,

he grew up in Kalimpong andworked in Sikkim.

NOW! serializes Twan Yang’sautobiography, Houseboy in

India...

There’s a price to be paid for playingminority politics in this state, of us-ing for decades the “minority” factor

to not just garner votes from groups that areeconomically marginalized, but also as an ex-cuse to skirt issues such as the foreign na-tionals problem that has changed the demo-graphic profile of Assam where the Assamesethemselves have been completely alienated.In this light, if the BJP’s list of probables forthe coming Lok Sabha elections in the stateis anything to go by, the Congress could wellbe on the verge of paying for its mistakes.Added to this bag of Congress woes, partiessuch as the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad[AGP) are now willing to take the battle intothe Congress’ court, fielding prominent Mus-lim candidates who would have earlier notswitched sides in such crucial areas.

According to Tapan Choudhury, statespokesman of the BJP, the party has applica-tions from five to seven Muslim hopefulsfrom the Muslim-dominated constituenciesof Barpeta and Dhubri respectively. The partyalso expects support from the community ina number of other areas with a significantpresence of Muslims. The BJP is now wait-ing to see the Congress’ final list, expectedto be made public on 16 March. So far as theAGP is concerned, it has already declared thatit will field prominent Muslim leader AfjalurRahman from Dhubri, a Congress stronghold.

BJP MAKES INROADS AMONG ASSAM’S MUSLIMS

NOW!analysis

The BJP has made a two-pronged entryinto Assam politics, over the past three yearsor so, joining forces with organisations suchas the all-powerful Xatra Mahaxabha - theapex body that serves as the guiding force ofliberal Assamese Vaishnavism -through sister-organisationssuch as the RSS and VHP,while at the same timestriking a chord with theHindu Assamese, Bengaliand Hindi-speaking per-sons by rejecting the voteof the illegal Bangladeshimigrant, a distinction thateven “Assamese” partiessuch as the AGP cannot becredited with. In this, theBJP has taken full advan-tage of the Congress’ pro-Bangladeshi stand that hasstood in the way of repeal-ing the Illegal Migrants [Determination byTribunals] Act, 1983, which protects the in-terests of the illegal Bangladeshi in Assam.

The AGP, for its part even launched itscampaign from Dhubri, a minority stronghold,with its president Brindabon Goswami ad-dressing a mammoth rally in the area recently.Within Assam’s Muslim community, a numberof reasons are being cited for the BJP’s new“feel-good” relationship. Says Sayed Noor

Ismal Ahmed, writer and journalist: “The phe-nomenon can be attributed to putting issuessuch as the Babri Masjid controversy on thebackburner and the fact that the BJP has suc-ceeded in reining in organisations such as the

RSS.”According to Rajaul Karim,

a prominent writer of thestate, the BJP has suc-ceeded in controlling com-munal riots. HyderHussain, editor ofAsomiya Pratidin, thelargest-selling Assamesedaily, believes that whilemany of those in the frayare self-centred Muslimleaders who have onlytheir own gains in mind,“Vajpayee’s liberalism hashelped the communityease towards the BJP”.

The onslaught against the Congress inAssam can be expected from three directionsin the coming elections: a head-on clash withthe BJP which has made significant inroadsinto the state, a flank-attack from the AGP, nomatter how incapable the faction-ridden re-gional party is, and, worst of all, dissensionfrom within the Congress comprising theAssamese Muslim who feels marginalized asagainst the Bangladeshi and has set up a group

to press for their demands, including adequaterepresentation in the state government.

In all of this, BJP’s task has been madesimpler by other ‘national’ political partiessuch as PA Sangma’s faction of the Nation-alist Congress Party which, backed by localpoliticians such as the otherwise voicelessBhrigu Kumar Phukan, and former chief min-ister Sarat Sinha now insist that all Bangla-deshis who have come into Assam should begiven Indian citizenship. Sangma’s recent tie-up with Mamata Bannerjee’s Trinamool Con-gress, which has consistently opposed the re-peal of the IMDT Act, is, of course, furtherevidence of the former Union minister’s in-tentions in the region, and hence strengthensthe BJP’s hands even more.

In conclusion, what now remains to beseen is how the BJP will deal with groupssuch as the National Trinamool Congresswhich, while offering support to the NDA atthe Centre, also oppose Assam’s interests inthe most crucial of issues: that of illegalBangladeshis. That perhaps would determinethe party’s long-term well-being in Assam,which could truly be the gateway to theNorth-east for the BJP. What is clear, how-ever, is that so far as the Congress in Assamis concerned, the coming elections could re-draw equations between the party and its mosttrusted vote-bank: the Muslim “minority”.

[By arrangement with Newsfile]

CONGRESS COULD PAY

THE PRICE FOR

“MINORITY” POLITICS

FOR FAR TOO LONG IN

ASSAM,WRITE P. BORA

AND M. GOGOI

-5-

Except for the change in the weather, dry or wet,hot or cold, this walk was nearly always the same.

But sometimes something unusual happened which Iremember very clearly. About twomiles from the Homes hill there is ahamlet of a few houses, with a benchfor travellers to rest on and also aspring for the thirsty. One Sundaymorning I put my basket on thebench and then went to the spring near byto have a drink. In this place I would al-ways see cowboys playing in the road.While I was drinking, one of the cowboysstole some biscuits from my basket and randown the hill with two or more biscuits. Ihad my catapult with me, and I aimed a shotat his back with a stone. I made a goodhit and he fell down. Then I went on.

On my return I saw that all the cow-boys were waiting for me at the roadsidewith sticks in their hands. I saw them fromfar away and took out my catapult whilefilling my pockets with stones. When I camenear they saw the catapult in my hand and theysaid and did nothing, but when I hadgone a little farther they began toabuse me. I put my basket down andaimed at them with my catapult. Thenthey threw stones back at me, and sothe fight continued for sometime. Atlast I got away and returned safelyhome.

I was longing to run away fromhome to escape its drudgery. Next toour own stand at the Saturday marketwas one of an old Nepali who cameweekly to sell vegetables and milk. Hehad been my father’s friend and had always been verykind to me. One day I took my courage in both handsand spoke to him about my difficult life at home, howmy adoptive mother was scolding and beating me andwas making me work all day long. I told him that I

wanted to run away if I could. “Well, son,” he said, “thatis very bad business, and I do not think it is good foryou to run away. They may fetch you back, and thenyou will have more trouble. Life is always difficult, and

being in another place does notchange that. However, I understandyour difficulty, so I will make a sug-gestion. You may come with me tomy house and stay there for the night.Then you will know how to find your

way there, and if at any time your trou-bles become too great you can come tome and I will see what I can do for me.”

“Baje,” I said, which means grandfa-ther, “This is very good of you, and I thankyou very much. I will certainly come with

you.”So at about half-past three, when the mar-

ket came to an end and the people who livedat a great distance had to leave to be homebefore dark, he packed up all his thingsin his baskets and I gave all that was left

of my own things to my adoptive brother totake home. I told him I was not coming home but

did not explain further. Then we five people, RaiBaje and his wife, their two youngsons, who were of my age, and I, leftthe market for the Malli Valley, aboutsix miles down the hillside. I was sograteful that I asked permission to carryone of the baskets. At that time of theyear darkness comes very early andsoon it was twilight. Rai Baje and hiswife were very kind to me and told meto tell them if my load was too heavy,but I felt ashamed to. We did not speakmuch because we were too busy look-ing where we had to put our feet for

the stones on the road and the unevenness of the path.At last we came to the bottom of the valley. By now ithad become dark but not so much so that we could notsee where we were heading.

- to be continued

The First Flight Away

Fixing AccountabilityControversies have this nasty habit of spiralling out of control anddeteriorating into a sledge fest with the parties involved in the con-troversy interested only in getting themselves heard. The root causeis forgotten and the free for all that ensues soon loses all sem-blance of civility. A similar situation brews at the Central ReferralHospital in Gangtok. At the core is the plight of an army jawan’swife, who checked in for a routine family planning operation inJanuary and was discharged two months later with a bandagedfoot and burns that had still not completely healed. The soldierwas given to understand that the burns were caused by a blowerthat had been left unattended by his wife’s side while she lay un-conscious after the operation. A hospital visit that should havelasted two days, stretched for two months and the patient wasdischarged even though she had not healed completely. That iswhat the case is about. Within three days, however, it has spreadout in every direction and now incorporates the grievances of thestaff at the hospital and all the skeletons that the managementhad so securely locked up, have come tumbling out. The instituteis obviously going through a catharsis and only time will tell whatlessons it learns from the episode.

That, we shall see in the coming days. What concerns us atpresent is the incident that triggered everything - the suffering thatPinki Singh had to go through. There are as many versions of whatcould have happened as their are players in this controversy. Fournurses were suspended the day NOW! broke the story last Satur-day. By Monday, the nurses had ceased work. The internal enquiryon the incident held about two months back seems to have ab-solved the nurses of all blame and now comes the suspension. Thenurses have, in turn, alleged that the patient was rolled out of theOT with complications. Two contrasting recollections, but the endresult is the same. What the situation demands is a fixing of ac-countability. And accountability can be fixed only after the investiga-tors establish the cause behind it. No one should be opposed tothe idea of a fresh enquiry. The management can prove now thatits suspension order is not unfair and the nurses in turn get achance to prove their innocence. Most of all, Pinki gets to knowwhat actually happened. That is an explanation she deserves andthe entire health machinery in the State owes her. As for the infer-ence that the whole issue is the creation of the Press, it is toopuerile a comment to even merit response.

16 March, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

You have a Right, says Consumer Affairs Department

process. Singh is upset that the hos-pital refused to arrange for a plasticsurgeon to provide Pinki with com-plete recuperation for a complicationthat resulted from their “negligence.”

Now, it emerges that there mightbe more to the burn than just a Blower.

Incidentally Pinky had to un-dergo three operations after hertubectomy. This itself indicates thather burnt condition was very seri-ous. In fact her kneecap wasscalded so bad that it had to be re-moved. Another intriguing featureof the “burn” was that it wasspreading. “This is abnormal. Anylayman knows that burns do notspread over flesh,” said a medicalofficer at CRH who has joined thenurses in their protest. Accordingto the nurses there was just a blotchon her lower leg when Pinki wasfirst brought to the ICU.

Says a nurse, again on condi-tion of anonymity, “When a doctorsaw a blower placed by Pinki’s bedhe was surprised and told us to takethe blower away since Pinki had achemical burn.”

This gives the story a very in-teresting twist as it just about ab-solves the nurses of the “negli-

gence” they have been accused of.The medical officers present alsosupport them when they explainthat a skin inflammation thatspreads can only be caused by anintake or application of wrongdrugs or infection. “The blower hasnothing to do with it,” they explain.

What finally got the nurses’ col-lective goat was that the incident,which took place on 8 January waslooked into by an enquiry committeeon 17 January and in its “report” gavea clean chit to both the nurses anddoctors on duty. “When we have al-ready been absolved of any guilt inthe matter, how can we arbitrarily besuspended from duty just because areport came out in your paper?” askthe nurses. “We will not take this ly-ing down,” they add.

The nurses now want all theseangles looked into and are demand-ing a fresh enquiry into the incidentto get to the truth. This, they feel, willalso bear out their innocence, revealthat the suspensions are wrong andfix accountability on the guilty.

To protest the suspensions andpress for their demands, the nursesceased work today and after a meet-ing with the Dean, marched up toTashiling to meet the Chief Minis-ter. While the CM could not meet

Contd from pg 1

them personally, he directed themto his Principal Secretary to recordtheir grievance. Later in the day, theHealth Secretary was also atManipal to mediate the confronta-tion that had exploded between themanagement and the staff. Whattranspired at the meeting is notknown, but latest developmentssuggest that the suspension ordershave been withdrawn. The nurses,too, have agreed to resume work sothat the patients do not get incon-venienced. It is still unclear whathas become of the demand for afresh enquiry into the incident.

And, whatever happened to thegirl named Pinki?!

NURSES CEASE WORK TOPROTEST SUSPENSIONS

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WITH APOLOGIES TOBHOJ RAJ RAI

The Bazaar Buzz column yester-day made some rather uncharita-ble remarks on the Jorethang MLA,Bhoj Raj Rai, [headlined “Bhoj RajKa Raj in Danger”] which upsetmany of his supporters and musthave surely kept the MLA’s phonesringing with enquiries on the sug-gestion that the area MLA’s seatwas in danger. The comments weremade in jest and overlooked thefact that even satirical writing canlose its humour when made in thepresent times of hectic political ac-tivity. Mr. Rai and his position as theincumbent MLA of Jorethang, asalso his public perception musthave surely been negatively im-pacted by what was written. Muchas it was inadvertent, the damagehas been done and we apologisefor whatever irreversible damagethe passage caused Mr. Rai and hisimage as a public representativeand a private person.

-editor

GANGTOK, 15 March: “Thenumber of cases being filed in ourConsumer Courts are too fewand indicative of the fact that wedo not still have many consciousand awakened consumers,” sayofficials at the Consumer AffairsDepartment.

Be that as it may, the consumerforums in the state have alreadyregistered 186 cases, most of whichhave already got justice in theredressal of their grievances. Al-though this figure may be too lowcompared to other states, it is a be-ginning in a State where the peo-ple still have no concept of con-sumer rights.

Over the years, the departmenthas tried to popularise the consumermovement in Sikkim. The Con-sumer Protection Act was enforcednearly a decade ago, but consumershere have not been too pro-active.

“Either the consumers are igno-rant of their rights, or else, they arehesitant to approach the ConsumerCourts for redressal of their griev-ances,” say the officials.

Incidentally, WorldConsumer RightsDay is observedevery yearon 15March. Theday ismarked byworkshops andseminars andother events tospread aware-ness on the rights of the consumer.However, this year the day was ob-

served very quietly in the State as themodel code of conduct is in place.

Consumer protection was nevera serious concern the world overuntil Ralph Nader launched his fa-

mous one-man consumerprotection movement in

America against thebackdrop of ut-ter helplessnessof the con-

sumer. InGreat Brit-ain, the con-

sumer movementbegan to gather mo-mentum during the

years following the second WorldWar through voluntary actions by

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women’s organizations. In India too,the concept of consumer protectionhas taken deep roots over the years.

The Consumer Protection Act,a social welfare legislation, was en-acted to provide for the protectionof the interest of consumers. It seeksto provide speedy justice and sim-ple redressal to consumer disputes.

A wide variety of issues comeunder the jurisdiction of variousconsumer forums. From compensa-tion for causing loss and deficiencyin service to over-charging, medicalnegligence cases and complaint forsupply of defective goods.

Consumer Awareness Move-ments can gain momentumthroughout the State only if the con-sumers familiarise themselves withthe rights and privileges conferredby the Consumer-Protection Act.

One of the objectives of the de-partment is to promote VoluntaryConsumer Associations. KalyanPariwar, a Gangtok-based NGOhas been quite active and has con-ducted a variety of consumerawareness programmes in differ-ent parts of the state.

So, what is the message for thepeople on this day? The departmentsays, “Know that you have a right.An awakened consumer protectshimself. Keep proof of purchase andfile a complaint if you feel you havebeen short-changed in any way.”

BUT SIKKIM YETTO WAKE UP TO

THAT RIGHT

WITHER CONSUMER AWARENESS?

a NOW REPORT

4; NOW!; 16 March, 2004

C M Y K

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Section 144 not imposed in Southyet, clarifies DC

GEYZING, 15 March: Section144 has been imposed in Geyzing,the DC [West] reminded repre-sentatives of all political parties hehad called to a meeting today to dis-cuss the district’s preparedness forthe polls.

Not more than three vehiclesare to be allowed to move togetherin a rally and all licensed arms are

JORETHANG, 15 March: Thestudent front of the ruling SikkimDemocratic Front from 16 constitu-encies convened a meeting at SDFparty office here today.

The meeting was attended byarea MLA Bhojraj Rai, party leaderBina Rai, student convener, RNRai, and various other party lead-ers from the area.

Mohan Dungmali, General Sec-retary, SDF, presided over the meet-ing as the Chief Guest and empha-sized on the importance of studentsto come together and co-operate.He asked the students to be activethroughout and not just during theelections.

Addressing the gathering, thestudent convenor said that studentscould play a vital role in politics.Being educated and aware theywere in a special position to spreadthe message to the people.

The area MLA in turn called onthe students to use their educationto not only get government jobs butalso to create self-employment.

Even as the whole country isreeling under pre-pollfrenzy, Darjeeling is yet to

slip into the election mode. Ban-ners, posters and wall graffiti areyet to appear.

This time the 5-party alliance -Peoples’ Democratic Front [PDF],has emerged as a major player. Con-stituting of the Communist Party ofRevolutionary Marxist [CPRM],GNLF [C], BJP, Akhil BharatiyaGorkha League [ABGL] and theCongress, the PDF claims that it hasan existing vote-bank of over a lakh.

What has, however, putDarjeeling in the back seat is thedeclaration of candidates by vari-ous national parties. Except for

ELECTION PULSE YET TOQUICKEN IN THE HILLS

Mani Thapa, the CPI [M] candi-date, no other party has officiallyannounced any names yet and it isjust contemplation doing the rounds.Though, official sources suggestDawa Norbula as the Cong [I] can-didate from the Darjeeling constitu-ency, his name is yet to be formallyannounced. Negotiations are still go-ing on between the NationalistTrinamool Congress and BJP regard-ing the Darjeeling seat and nothinghas been announced formally yet.

“We have got letters from vari-ous parties seeking our support, butnothing has been finalized yet. Thiswill be decided at a PDF meetingon 20 March, once the names of thecandidates are announced for-

mally,” said Madan Tamang, Chair-man, PDF. He, however, clarifiedthat PDF would only give issue-based support.

Meanwhile, the largest playerof the Hills - the GNLF, hasswitched off to silent mode and hasnot yet revealed its stand on theelections. There is increasing sus-picion among the Opposition campof GNLF will stay true to traditionand call a poll boycott. Except the

CPI [M], none of the other partieshave yet come out on the streets towoo the precious electors. TheCongress has instead started itscampaign trail from the plains.

Political observers believe thatall parties are awaiting the outcomeof PDF’s vital meeting scheduledfor 20 March. Based on what comesout of this meeting, parties are ex-pected to adopt their poll stance inthe Hills.

Interestingly, the day when thePDF sits for its meeting, the WestBengal Chief Minister, BuddhadebBhattacharjee, will also be arrivingin Darjeeling to attend a Hill ZonalCommittee meeting of his party.Elections and the party’s prepara-

tion for the same will obviously fig-ure in the agenda. This is expectedto serve as a major morale boosterfor the CPI [M].

Otherwise, as things stand, savethe haranguing by political partiesin the media, the election pulse isyet to be felt in the Hills. Inciden-tally the Darjeeling parliamentaryconstituency consists of seven seg-ments namely Darjeeling,Kalimpong, Kurseong, Siliguri,Phansidewa, Islampur and Choprawith 1,47,370 voters in Kalimpong;1,69,612 in Darjeeling; 1,64,403 inKurseong; 2,59,192 in Siliguri;2,15,943 in Phansidewa; 1,51,838in Islampur and 1,36,703 voters inChopra.

DARJEELING

MAILby AMITAVA BANERJEE

from OUR CORRESPONDENT

SDF’s studentsmeet at Jorethang

to be deposited at the police station,he added.

“This is being done to avoid are-play of the kind of incident thattook place at Tharpu,” the DC saidin very clear terms as he called onthose present for the all-party meet-ing to help maintain law and orderin the district in the the run-up tothe polls.

More than thirty persons repre-senting all political parties took partin the meeting which was also at-

tended by the SP [West] and otherpolice officials from the district.Election officers from Gangtokwere also present.

SP West, asking for supportfrom all parties informed that checkposts have been put up at variousplaces to maintain law and order.

Chief Election Officer, TTDorjee explained the working ofthe electronic voting machines andthe provisions of the model codeof conduct which is now in force.


So that Tharpu does not repeat

GANGTOK, 15 March: The DC[South] has clarified that Section144 has not yet been imposed inSouth Sikkim.

While speaking to NOW! overthe phone, the DC explained that theJorethang all-party meeting called by

him yesterday was essentially to ap-peal to representatives of variouspolitical parties to help maintain lawand order in the district in the run-up to the polls and to brief them onthe modalities of the code of con-duct that is in force at present.

The DC mentioned that Section144 was discussed at the meet, butonly to inform the attending mem-

bers of various political parties thatthe district administration was“analysing the ground situation”and would enforce Section 144whenever it felt that the situationdemanded it.

“At present, the district admin-istration feels no need to extendSection 144 and spread avoidablealarm among the people,” he said.

a NOW REPORT

Telecomstalematecontinues,no AO yet

a NOW REPORT

DARJEELING, 15 March: Theongoing relay hunger strike andcease work by the employees ofBSNL continued today, with thestalemate remaining unresolved.

The current phase of agitationwas launched on 8 March with theemployees demanding the postingof an Accounts Officer with “draw-ing and disbursing powers” in theDarjeeling Telecom office. Thepost has been lying vacant for thepast one and a half years.

A permanent senior AO wasexpected to join from tomorrow,but instead a temporary AO re-ported for duty today.

“The permanent officer is ex-pected to arrive next week,” dis-closed Thilen Lama, secretary, Na-tional Federation of Telecom Em-ployees [NFTE]. The DivisionalEngineer was also gheraod inDarjeeling today by the employees.

“Tomorrow, the top brass, in-cluding GM [Siliguri], DGM andDGM [Finance] are scheduled to sitin a meeting with us in Darjeeling.Based on the outcome of the meet-ing, we will decide on the ceasework and hunger strike” addedLama.

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KALIMPONG, 15 March: TheDepartment of Information andCultural Affairs, West Bengal or-ganized a function here in memoryof the Bengali rebel-poet KaziNazrul Islam. The chief guest at theseminar, held specifically to pro-mote communal harmony, was Prof[Dr.] A. Roy, Assistant Director ofResearch, UBKV, Kalimpong.

In his speech, the chief gueststressed that in a “huge” country likeIndia, with its wide range of culturaland religious diversity, communal

GANGTOK, 15 March: Bewarethe wounded lion and the wrath of awoman. This old saying is beinggiven a fresh twist here in Sikkim bynot one but a whole house of women.They are the nurses of Central Re-ferral Hospital who feel they havebeen given a raw deal by both themedia and their hospital manage-ment. The nurses here claim constantharassment from the higher-ups who,along with a ham-handed style offunctioning, keep reminding them ofthe mortality of their jobs.

So, when four nurses are uncer-emoniously suspended from thehospital, it was the last straw. Theyfinally decided to come out andspeak in one voice for themselvesand their colleagues. They arejoined in their outburst by the localjunior doctors working there.

“This decision to suspend fournurses is just typical of the style offunctioning of the management -

without looking into the real causesand issues and always looking forscapegoats,” said a nurse on con-dition of anonymity.

The suspension, incidentally,came in the wake of allegations ofnegligence on the part of nurses thatled to a patient in the ICU wardsuffering serious burns.

“The ICU ward is supposed tofunction on a ratio of 1:1, that is,one nurse to onepatient. Thereare about 8 bedsin the ICU but presently only 4nurses are deployed there by themanagement,” claims a junior doc-tor. He further elaborates that if apatient needs heat why not turn onthe central heating system ratherthan provide a blower?

This relates to the immediateconundrum affecting the CRH. Butit also leads a list of grievances,some of them serious in nature,which the local medical staff arehaving at the CRH.

One serious complaint is the

caveat that requires all local nursesto reside in the hostel made for them.

“We cannot stay with our fami-lies even if our homes are nearby,”says a nurse as she goes on to ques-tion the logic behind such a condi-tion. On the other hand, junior doc-tors complain that rates are inflatedfor them when they want to use thehostel facilities. “For locals the hos-tel fees shoots up to about Rs. 700

while for an out-sider it is Rs.125,” alleges a

junior doctor.Then there is the matter of holi-

days which the nurses say are de-nied them. The number of casualleaves for the doctors too have beenreduced from 17 to 10 days by themanagement.

Another contentious issue is thevariegated pay structure which thelocal doctors allege benefit the doc-tors from outside.

“Though we belong to the samerank, we are paid less than our coun-terparts who come from outside,” they

claim. They also claim that these doc-tors are provided posh residentialcomplexes along with a paid servant.

In connection with the abovementioned grievances, a delegationof junior doctors and nurses calledon the chief minister at the Secre-tariat today. They were directed tohis Principal Secretary before whomthey deposed their complaints. Theyalso handed over a verbal wish-listwhich included demands for equaltreatment vis a vis their counterpartsfrom the plains. This involved is-sues ranging from salaries to job-security as well as better treatmentin keeping with their dignity andprofession from the management.

These grievances were, how-ever, voiced in the afternoon today.Later in the day, the management,in a conciliatory mood offered towithdraw the suspension orders,which were yet to be served offi-cially anyway. What happens to theupsurge of woes now that the rootcause of the protest is solved re-mains to be seen.

a NOW REPORT

Woes that suspensions brought to the fore

MANIPAL BURNS - 2

Palden re-electedTAAS president

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 15 March: The An-nual General Meeting of the TravelAgent’s Association of Sikkim[TAAS] was held on 13 March atHotel Rendezvous here. In attend-ance were the proprietors andowners of various travel-relatedcompanies in Sikkim who comeunder TAAS.

Later in the day, elections forthe executive posts of TAAS washeld under the supervision of KNPradhan, Special Secretary, De-partment of Tourism. KarmaTakapa headed the election com-mittee along with Tashi Lepcha,Karma Bhutia, and LukendraRasaily. Paljor Lachungpa was re-elected President while SKPradhan was elected General Sec-retary unanimously.

There was a contest for the postof Publicity Secretary between fiveexecutive members which was wonby Lily Tshering Bhutia, ofHimalayan Footprints.

harmony was the only guarantee fora peaceful society. He further saidthat any attempts to stir tensionsbetween communities should be sti-fled in the genesis itself.

The opening speech by PD Bal,Sub-Divisional Information andCultural Officer, Kalimpong, high-lighted the various social issues thatconcern the present generation.These very issues, he said, will af-fect the momentum of communalharmony in the nation.

The seminar was followed byan essay competition for studentsabove the age of 15. A total of sixschools participated in the compe-tition which had communal har-mony as its subject.

a NOW REPORT

Kpg holds seminar oncommunal harmony

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C M Y K

NEWSSCAN �

Bhim Bhadur Biswakarma, alias Tashi has been missing

from 3 March, from Upper Tatangchen Area. Tashi,

who originally hails from Rhenock, is 12 years old

and had been residing with Tsewang Chupay

Bhutia who is a friend of his father.

On the morning of 3 March he had gone to

drop Tsewang’s son to school but he did not

return.

He was last seen wearing blue jeans, black turtle

neck and blue shoes. Any one who has seen this

boy or has any information regarding his

whereabouts may please contact NOW! At 270949.

LOST

GANGTOK, 15 March: TheSikkim Flower Festival, 2004 wasinaugurated here at the flower showcomplex today.

The Festival, which goes by thetag-line “Orchid Show 2004,” is anexhibition-cum-competition of or-chids and saw about 20 participantsfrom Gangtok, Setipool, Rhenock,Deorali and Mirik take part in it,with the total number of exhibitsexceeding 1,000 pots.

This flower show was inaugu-rated by the chief secretary, SWTenzing. Others present for the in-auguration were the Tourism Sec-retary, officials from the Tourism,Horticulture and Agriculture de-partments. Flower Festival Com-mittee members and participantswere also in attendance.

The Best Orchid of the Show

DARJEELING, 15 March: TheCommunist Party of RevolutionaryMarxist [CPRM] has vehementlycriticized the extension of thepresent DGHC Board’s term byeight months. The tenure of thepresent DGHC Board was to expireon 25 March, but has now been ex-tended till 30 November, 2004.

“The State Government hasgiven the forthcoming parliamen-tary elections as the excuse for thisextension. With the end of its ten-ure, the DGHC should now func-tion as a caretaker government withno policy or developmental pow-ers,” said DS Bomzan, a seniorCPRM leader.

He added that the CPRM wouldoppose any policy changes or anywork under the guise of develop-ment that the DGHC tries to imple-ment after 25 March.

This was reportedly decidedyesterday at the party’s Central

in A4 category was bagged by Mi-lan Rai from Mirik. He receives acash prize of Rs. 3,000.

The award for the Exhibition ofOrchid by Artistic Arrangement,which carries a cash award of Rs.10,000, was won by Sunil Subbaof Deorali.

For this contest the Committeeprovided a 15x15 feet of spacealong with foliage plants, moistureand other decorative plants. Theparticipant had to provide the 10pots necessary to be displayed forthis contest. A total of seven par-ticipants took part in this contest.The second and third prizes wentto Mohan Pradhan of DevelopmentArea and Milan Rai of Mirik whoreceived Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 5,000respectively.

There were a total of 16 firstprizes of Rs. 1,000 and the samenumber of second prizes. Thelatter were worth Rs. 600 each.

The Committee also distributedfour consolation prizes to theparticipants.

The Flower Show will be onfor one month and is already at-tracting a lot of visitors, espe-cially tourists.

Dev Ashish, a visitor fromSiliguri, feels very happy beinghere. He appreciated the beauty ofOrchid, but said that space for theexhibition of the beautiful orchidsshould be increased. Mukta, fromRajasthan also loves to see theserare varieties of plants. This is un-derstandable given that she comesfrom a land where the variety ofplants is few and scarce as well.

Rupak, a local photographer, isbusy photographing tourists visit-ing the show and adds that manytourists are making a beeline for theexhibition drawn solely by thebeauty of the exhibits. As for thebusy fingers over his set of cam-

eras, he says: “My profession is sea-sonal in nature, so I have got tomake the most of it.”

A member of the SikkimFlower Festival Committee informsthat a Seasonal Flower Show,

which will be held by April-end,will follow this Orchid Show. Thatwill be followed by the Cut-FlowerShow. A Bonsai exhibition is alsoplanned to be held sometime laterthis year.

Tourist at the Flower Show Complex, Gangtok

a NOW REPORT

Committee meeting held inDarjeeling. In the meeting theCPRM vehemently criticized therecent Public Distribution System[PDS] scam in which food-grainsmeant for the Hills were beingsmuggled out of the FCI godownand unloaded at a flour mill atSalbari.

“The State Government shouldexpedite the enquiry process inwhich even government officialsmay have been involved and bringthe culprits to book. If not, a CPRMdelegation will meet the CentralGovernment and demand that jus-

ORCHID DISPLAY FLOORS TOURISTS

tice be delivered,” added Bomzan.He also said that the Central

Government’s duty did not endwith just providing the food-grains.“They should also carefully moni-tor the whole system so that thegrains reach the people it is meantfor,” he said.

Regarding the forthcomingelections, Bomzan revealed that thecommittee had unanimously de-cided that CPRM would not field acandidate but would actively par-ticipate in the elections by support-ing the right candidate and ensur-ing his victory.

CPRM WANTS GNLF TO RUN “CARETAKER”BOARD FROM 25TH ONWARDS

Tsewang At Sa-NgorGumba

His eminence Bod Tulku [Drikung

Rinpoche] has kindly consented to

bestow Tsewang [Long Life Empow-

erment] to the general public devo-

tees on the 20th of March, 2004 [Sat-

urday] at 11:30 AM at Rongyek Sa-

Ngor Gumpa. Alldharma friends and

devotees are cordially invited to re-

ceive the blessings of the Kawang on

the above day”

Congress member

from Rakdong-

Tintek joins SDF

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK: Mintok DolmaLassopa, a resident of PatukChandey, which comes under theRakdong-Tintek constituency inEast Sikkim has made clear her in-tentions to join the ruling SDF. Shehas thus far been a member of theSikkim Sangram Parishad whowent over to the Congress [I] alongwith Mr. Bhandari earlier this year.

In a letter addressed to the SDFpresident and chief minister, PawanChamling, she has stated “lack ofany constructive aims and objec-tives in the Congress” as the rea-son for her desire to terminate hermembership from the party.

She has also made known herdesire to serve the SDF party andthrough it the general public ofSikkim.

“We will support a candidatewho we think has the right issueand who will work for the devel-opment of the Hills,” he added.

Meanwhile CPRM DarjeelingCommittee also met yesterday anddiscussed the present political sce-nario of the Hills. They also criti-cized the increase in Land Tax bythe State Government and de-manded its immediate withdrawalof the hike.

“95% of the farmers of the hillscannot pay the hiked taxes,”claimed NB Rai, Secretary.


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SILCHAR, 15 March: Contro-versy has once again erupted overthe electoral rights of the Reangsfrom Mizoram lodged in six reliefcamps in the Kanchanpur sub-di-vision of North Tripura district,with the refugees threatening toboycott next month’s Lok Sabhapolls if their demands aren’t met.

Two polling booths had been setup at Tuipuibari and Kanmun vil-lages in Mizoram to allow the evacu-ees to cast their franchise in lastyear’s Assembly elections. The ar-rangement however has been re-jected this time, with the MizoramBru Displaced People’s Forum(MBDPF), a major platform of theReangs, saying it would not be pos-sible for Reangs to go to Mizoramto cast their votes because of secu-

rity reasons. The Mizo Zirlai Pawl,a Mizo students’ body, along withlocal youth had tried to disrupt thepoll process at Kanmum, allegedElvis Chorky, general secretary ofthe MBDPF. A second organisationof the Reangs, the Mizoram BruRefugee Committee (MBRC), is yetto state its position on the issue.

The MBDPF has also submit-ted a memorandum to the ElectionCommission (EC) demanding thesetting up of at least two specialpolling booths in the Kanchanpurblock, apart from fresh enumera-

tion of voters to enable all thosewho are eligible to cast their fran-chise. Only 15,884 of the approxi-mately 36,000 Reangs in thecamps cast their votes in the lastassembly polls. “Had there beenpolling booths in the relief campsduring last year’s Assembly polls,the turnout of voters would havebeen much higher,” said BrunoMsha, president of the MBDPF.The forum has also urged the ECto postpone the polls to Mizoram’slone parliamentary seat till the is-sue is resolved.

Reangs threaten to boycott pollsSET UP BOOTHS IN TRIPURA,SAY REFUGEESby SURAJIT TALUKDAR

The Mizoram government hasmeanwhile stuck to its earlier posi-tion, that Reang voters should cometo Mizoram to vote. “Their securitywould be taken care of,” says F.Zahmingthanga, press informationofficer to the chief minister. The is-sue was the cause of a major up-heaval among the Mizo communityduring the last assembly polls in thestate, with political parties and vol-untary organizations up in armsagainst the EC’s decision to allowReang voters to cast their vote.[By arrangement with Newsfile]

Fuji dumps

Aishwarya,

fields ‘super

six’ teamMUMBAI, 15 March: What doyou do when a celebrity brand am-bassador does not deliver thegoods, does not get you the requiredsales numbers and costs a bomb.Dump the brand ambassador.

That’s what Fuji Films has doneafter it reasoned that its two-year,Rs 6-crore roll in the media withBollywood beauty Aishwarya Raihad not clicked well. Though Fujiofficials refused to comment on thedeal that soured, sources indicatedthat the Bollywood actress ‘‘provedto be too expensive and did not gelwith the household category,’’which is the mainstay of the filmroll market in India.

Rai apparently also ‘‘proved tobe too uninspiring’’ in a market thathas been growing at a faster clip inrecent times.

In a bid to increase its marketshare from the current 35 per cent,Fuji Films has instead latched onto six photographers - Rajesh Bedi[wildlife expert], PrabuddhaDasgupta [fashion], AvinashPasricha [dance], PradeepMandhani [cricket], Ashok Dilwali[nature] and Prakash Dubey [expertin creative photographs] as its newbrand ambassadors.

Sources said this is the first everinstance of photographers donningthe mantle of brand ambassadors.Fuji has reportedly earmarked Rs20 crore for going to town with its“super-six” team through a multi-ple media splash.

The domestic film roll markethas four main players: Kodak, Fuji,Konica and Agfa. Fuji is focusedon the amateur segment, which hasdriven growth in the Rs. 900 crore[90 million units] market and seenthe market share increase from 35per cent to equal that of the profes-sional segment [50per cent] in justone year.

MUMBAI, 15 March: With overfive submarine cables and eightlanding stations in India, bandwidthpricing is the next “bubble” and willhave the same plight of dotcoms thatwent bust by mid-2000, accordingto France Telecom vice-president[Asia] Jean-Francois Thomas.

“The bandwidth prices in thecountry are expected to fall asbroadband majors and telecomcompanies are expected to under-cut each other, which apart fromresulting in losses to the players will

BANDWIDTH PRICING IS THENEXT BUBBLE TO BURST

also create chaos,” Thomas toldreporters in Mumbai on Monday.

Maintaining that it was “wise toavoid” the pricing issue by stickingto a business code of conduct, he saidthe prices were expected to “drasti-cally” fall within a couple of months.

Analysts say the prices of STM-1s [a 155 MB circuit] had fallen to$2 million from $5 million a yearago, while that of DS3s [45 MBcircuit] and E-1s [128 KBPS cir-cuit] had slid by over 60 per cent.This trend is likely to continue dur-

ing this year, Thomas said. With the proposed submarine

cable network South-East-AsiaMiddle-East Western-Europe-4[SEA-ME-WE-4] being lighted by2005; India would have an abun-dant bandwidth supply by next year,he said.

SEA-ME-WE-4 is slated tohave two landing stations, one inMumbai, which would be set up byVidesh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, andanother in Chennai proposed to beset up by Bharti Tele-Ventures.

POPE DEFIES ILLNESS TOMOVE UP A NOTCH

Vatican City, 15 March: PopeJohn Paul II has become the third-longest reigning pontiff in the his-tory of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Pope, due to turn 84 inMay, has served for 25 years, fourmonths and 18 days since hiselection in October 1978. Thissurpasses the reign of Leo XIII,who occupied the Vatican from1878 to 1903.

However, John Paul II, who suf-fers from crippling Parkinson’s dis-ease, still has some way to go to sur-pass the second-longest reign: LeoXIII’s predecessor, Pius IX, whoserved more than 31 years betweenJune 1846 and February 1878.

The official church record forthe longest-reigning pope goes toSimon Peter of Galilee, the first ofJesus’ apostles, to whom he person-

ally entrusted the well-being of thechurch before the crucifixion.

Historians are divided overwhether Peter served 34 or 37 yearsas the first pope - and some evendoubt that he existed at all.

The fact that John Paul II haslived to reach such a milestone hasastonished Vatican-watchers, whomarvel at his repeated ability torally despite his debilitating ill-nesses.

Only six months ago, in the run-up to the October consistory heldto elevate 30 new cardinals, seniorcardinals appeared to be preparingthe Catholic faithful for the pope’sdemise

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Entertainmentpoised to

boom, saysE&Y

NEW DELHI, 15 March: Domes-tic entertainment industry is on re-vival path and poised to touch Rs42,300 crore in 2008, at a com-pounded annual growth of 17%,says a Ficci-Ernst & Young study,to be released at Frames show onMonday.

Industry posted 15% growth in2003-04 across all segments and iscurrently valued at Rs. 19,200crore, according to the study. And,the showbiz sector which grew at6.2% last year, has surpassedgrowth projections.

Television continues to domi-nate with Rs. 13,000 crore rev-enue, followed by films at Rs. 4,500 crore.

Changing distribution land-scape is key to propel growth in allsegments of this sector.

‘‘Industry is shaping very well.Films which were projected flatgrowth had a good 2003-04,’’ saysFarokh Balsara, head, media andentertainment practice at E&Y. ‘‘In-dia is the right place for investmentin entertainment.’’

Sixteen bolllywood films in2003 grossed more than Rs. 10crores from domestic market com-pared to 13 last year.

A robust macro economic de-velopment with GDP target at 8%will not only ensure a conducive en-vironment, but also increase de-mand for entertainment, accordingto E&Y, which has taken inputsfrom 50 industry leaders.

It recommends rationalisationof entertainment tax, extension ofconcessions offered to multiplexes,a common platform for film tick-ets and a re-look at current licencefee regime for FM radio players.

It called for government to em-power a central body to issue li-cences to cable operators, based oncertain mandatory information likeentertainment duty registration,service tax, income tax registrationand subscriber base details.

8; NOW!; 16 March, 2004

C M Y K

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Darpan Publications Pvt. Ltd, Siliguri. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Executive Editor: Mita ZulcaNow! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: [email protected]

THEFINALONE �

today in

History

ODDLYENOUGH

16th March

1911: Born Dr. Josef Mengele,the “Angel of Death” ofAuschwitz, the infamous“Todesengel” Nazi doctor whoperformed medical experi-ments at the Auschwitz deathcamps, was born on 16 March1911, in Gunzburg, Germany1926: The first man to givehope to dreams of spacetravel, Robert H. Goddard, suc-cessfully launches the world’sfirst liquid-fueled rocket atAuburn, Massachusetts.1968: During the Vietnam War,a US Army platoon fromCharlie Company, 11th Bri-gade, Americal Division, mas-sacres over four hundred un-armed South Vietnamese civil-ians in the village of My Lai inthe district of Song My.1850: Nathaniel Hawthorne’sstory of adultery and betrayalin colonial America, The Scar-let Letter, is published.

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New Delhi, March 14: Sir GangaRam Hospital has introduced‘key-hole’ surgery for severelyobese people.

Endosurgeon Dr PradeepChowbey successfully carried outthe operation, called ‘LaparoscopicGastric Banding’ on three patientsat the hospital’s Department ofMinimal Access Surgery today.

The technique, known to re-duce excess body weight by up to50 per cent has had a fairly success-ful run in Western countries.

Costing around Rs 1.3 lakh, theoperation consists of dividing thestomach into two parts connected

BRITISH SOLDIER

CAUGHT TRYING TO

SMUGGLE GOLD BAR

OUT OF IRAQ

LONDON: A British soldier servingin Iraq was caught trying to smugglea solid gold bar found in a bank vaultout of the country, officials and a re-port said. The gold bar weighed 40pounds [18 kilogrammes] and wasworth around 250,000 pounds, ac-cording to the report. It said that theunnamed soldier had been among agroup of British soldiers who cameacross a horde of gold bars at a bankransacked by looters in the southernIraqi city of Basra shortly after thefall of dictator Saddam Hussein lastyear. One of the bars disappeared, andthe soldier - described in the news-paper by a colleague as “not thebrightest in the world” - attemptedto smuggle it in a kitbag onto a flightto Cyprus when he went on leave inJune last year. However bags werechecked with scanners before theywere allowed on the plane and thegold was discovered.

BURGLAR CAUGHT

SNACKING ON JOB

AMSTERDAM: A hungry Dutchburglar was caught frying a fish onthe job after the smell of his cook-ing woke up the householder, po-lice said Monday. “The man wascasually frying up a fish. Thehouseholder who was asleep in theattic was woken up by the smell.When she went to investigate shefound the man standing at theoven,” a police spokeswoman, said.The 45-year-old intruder, who hadalso smoked a cigarette, told policehe had a penchant for fish and hadtaken a cold beer from the fridge tocomplement his meal. He hadloaded up his bag with other drinks,but had not stolen anything else.

LOS ANGELES, 15 March: It isa frozen world more than 8 billionmiles from Earth and believed tobe the farthest known object withinour solar system.

NASA planned a Mondaypress conference to offer more de-tails about Sedna, a planetoid be-tween 800 miles and 1,100 milesin diameter, or about three-quartersthe size of Pluto.

Named for the Inuit goddess whocreated the sea creatures of the Arc-tic, Sedna lies more than three timesfarther from the Sun than Pluto. It wasdiscovered in November.

“The sun appears so small fromthat distance that you could com-pletely block it out with the headof a pin,” said Mike Brown, an as-tronomer at the California Instituteof Technology who led the NASA-funded team that found Sedna.

That makes Sedna the largestobject found orbiting the Sun sincethe discovery of Pluto, the ninthplanet, in 1930. It trumps in sizeanother world, called Quaoar, dis-covered by the same team in 2002.

Brown and his colleagues esti-mate the temperature on Sednanever rises above 400 degrees be-

low zero Fahrenheit, making it thecoldest known body in the solarsystem.

Sedna follows a highly ellipti-cal path around the sun, a circuitthat it takes 10,500 years to com-plete. Its orbit loops out as far as84 billion miles from the sun, or900 times the distance between theEarth and our star.

Brown and Chad Trujillo, of theGemini Observatory in Hawaii, andDavid Rabinowitz, of Yale Univer-

New surgeryoffers hope for

the obese

FROZEN WORLD 8 BILLION MILES FROM EARTHIS LATEST MEMBER OF SOLAR SYSTEM

sity, discovered Sedna on 14 No-vember, 2003, using a 48-inch tel-escope at Caltech’s Palomar Ob-servatory east of San Diego.

Within days, other astronomersaround the world trained their tel-escopes, including the recentlylaunched Spitzer Space Telescope,on the object.

The team also have indirect evi-dence a tiny moon may trail Sedna,which is redder than all other knownsolar system bodies except Mars.

by a small finger-sized tunnel bytying a silicon band across it. Thesmaller part then receives all thefood and since it is only 30 ml insize, is filled up easily. This leadsto a feeling of satiety.

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The method, however, has itdrawbacks. Patients are known tosuffer from anaemia, loss of bone-mass, night blindness and sensoryproblems if they do not stick to di-etary recommendations.

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