Jorethang Maghe Mela to promote Sikkim

8
H I M A L AYA N M I R R O R GANGTOK, WEDNESDAY 07 JANUARY 2015
Jorethang Maghe Mela to promote Sikkim Organic
Gangtok, Jan 6: Maghe
Mela committee 2015 has
decided to showcase the ‘Organic potential’ of Sikkim
during the State Level Jorethang Maghe Mela celebration which will begin from
January 14.
Zero waste management
and traditional essence will
also be the main attraction of
the fare to locals as well as
tourists. A coordination committee meeting with the
stakeholders was held at the
conference hall of Soochna
Bhawan under the chairmanship of Minister for Rural
Management and Development Department S. B. Subedi, today .
The meeting was also actively participated by Deputy Speaker Sikkim Legislative
Assembly Sonam Gyatso
Lepcha, Minister for Urban
Development and Housing
Department N.K. Subba,
Minister for Health & Information and Public Relations
A. K. Ghatani who is the Chief
Patron of the organizing com-
Bengal governor takes
charge of Meghalaya,
says won't talk politics
Shillong, Jan 6: Bengal
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who Tuesday took
additional charge of Meghalaya, said he does not talk
politics in Bengal and will not
do so in the northeastern
state as well.
The 80-year-old Tripathi
was appointed after Krishan
Kant Paul was transferred to
Uttarakhand.
He was administered the
oath of office by Meghalaya
High Court Chief Justice Uma
Nath Singh at a ceremony at
Raj Bhavan. He took the
oath in Hindi.
Though a seasoned politician, Tripathi made it clear
he would not indulge in politics as long he was holding
the office of governor.
"In West Bengal, I have
clearly said that please don't
talk politics to me. As a governor, I am governor of every
section of the society whether the ruling party or the opposition," Tripathi told journalists.
"I don't talk politics in
West Bengal and will not talk
politics here (Meghalaya)
also because the governor
should be a person who
should respect all sections of
the society," he said.
Asked if there was a possibility of him being appointed the full-fledged Meghalaya governor, Tripathi said:
"I don't know. I will do whatever the government tells me
to do."
To a query whether some
governors resigned after
their transfer to the northeast,
he said: "This is such a nice
place and everyone should
be willing to come here. The
natural surroundings and
every good thing is here...
why should they object to
it?"
Tripathi said he would
find out from the Meghalaya government on what
developmental work was
taking place in the state.
"Construction of roads,
airports and transport facilities required to be considered at an urgent level," he
said.
Chief Minister Mukul
Sangma, cabinet ministers
and other officials were
present on the occasion.
(IANS)
Nepal, India to
settle border dispute
within 4 years
Kathmandu, Jan 6: Survey officials from Nepal
and India have agreed to
settle their bilateral border disputes within four
years, including the construction, restoration and
repair of boundary pillars
and clearance of "no
man's land" on both
sides of the border.
Two prominent newspapers of Nepal -- The
Kathmandu Post and the
Republica -- carried news
items in their Tuesday
editions that a decision
was taken at the end of
December in the Indian
city of Dehradun, according to which both sides
have agreed to start field
work in the border areas
by the first week of February.
The inspection and
field work will not cover
the Susta and Kalapani
sections that together
total 40 km of the 1,751km Nepal-India border.
These sections are the
most
contentious
boundary issues between the two neighbours and are being discussed at top bureaucratic levels.
During the visit of Indian External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj
last year July-end, Nepal
and India had agreed to
form a Nepal-India
Boundary
Working
Group (BWG) and commence work in the field
at the earliest for the
construction, restoration
and repair of boundary
pillars including clearance of "no man's land"
and all other technical
tasks according to the
terms of reference (TOR)
to be agreed in the first
meeting of the BWG.
The BWG -- a new bilateral mechanism formed
last year ahead of the
visit of Swaraj -- is a technical body at the surveyor general-level which
replaced the joint technical level Nepal-India
boundary committee
formed in 1981 and ended its mandate in 2007
after preparing GPSbased boundary maps.
The field survey
teams of both sides that
will be dispatched in the
first week of February are
mandated to construct,
restore and repair boundary pillars, carry out GPS
observation of boundary
pillars, develop modalities to address crossholdings and encroachment in no man's land and
provide technical inputs
to the higher level as required.
The field inspection
team from the Nepali side
includes the chief district
officer, armed police
force and officials from
the survey department
while the Indian side will
be led by a district magistrate, Sashastra Seema
Bal (SSB) and border
management officials.
Three separate teams
will be mobilised on both
sides of the border and
will coordinate with other on disputed issues.
GPS maps prepared by
both sides will be taken
as the basis for the construction, restoration and
repair of the boundary
pillars.
Nepal and India had
erected a total 8,553 pillars along the border, of
which 1,325 are missing
and 1,956 are either damaged or semi-damaged.
(IANS)
mittee, Member of Parliament
(Lok Sabha) P.D. Rai, Parliamentary Secretary Sonam
Dadul Bhutia, Chairman
STCS Mr. Rastaman Rai,
Chairman STDC Rup Naray-
an Rai, senior officials from
various departments and
others.
Addressing the gathering
Subedi stressed that local
Organic food should be
available in all hotels and
restaurants of Jorethang and
announced that a meeting
with the concerned sector will
be held on January 8 at Jorethang. He also emphasized
on the need of organic vegetables for the occasion and
to meet-up the demand in
proper coordination with
Agriculture and Horticulture
department.
Earlier MP Rai had outlined the need of connectivity between green, organic
and clean Sikkim to deliver a
clear message in global scenario. He also suggested to
conduct an awareness programme on Anti-Drug abuse.
Deputy Speaker Mr.
Sonam Gyatso Lepcha urged
stake holders to impart active
contribution at various levels to make the event a grand
success. (IPR)
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi releasing the commemorative coin to mark the
175th birth anniversary of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
(PIB)
Govt. names road in memory Uttarkanya gears up
to welcome CM
of slain party workers
HM Report
Gangtok, Jan 6: The SDF
government has renamed
and notified the 12 km stretch
of Chakung to Khaniserbong
Kamling Road in West Sikkim as Late Arun Rai Marg.
The late Arun Rai was an
SDF worker who was killed
in a political clash in the run
up to the Assembly elections
last year. Earlier this road is
named in the name of former
CM, B.B Gurung.
The Cabinet had cleared
the proposal some months
ago and the notification to
this effect was passed on 13
December.
This stretch of the road
was earlier named after veteran politician BB Gooroong.
Similarly, the 16 km road
from Soreng to Kaluk in West
Sikkim has been named after
SDF worker the late Nanda
Kumar Gurung who was also
killed in a political clash in
Kaluk ahead of the elections.
The Sikkim Krantikari
Morcha (SKM), the principal
opposition party in the state,
said the ruling party should
not have politicised the issue.
SKM spokesman Dilip
Rai said there were many
more deserving people who
have not received recognition.
"We believe that justice
should be given to the deserving and this issue
should not have come
through political affiliation or
through political lobbying,"
Rai said.
JU students on hunger strike,
reject appeal for talks
Kolkata, Jan 6: A section of
Jadavpur University students, who launched a fastunto-death late Monday
night to press for the removal of vice chancellor Abhijit
Chakrabarti, rejected the
registrar's appeal to initiate
a discussion Tuesday.
As many as 11 students
began the hunger strike at
10 p.m. Monday in front of
the administrative building.
They covered themselves
with blankets, camping out
in the wintry night.
"The registrar had approached us for talks but we
have already stated what our
demands are. There is no
point in talks unless our demands are met. We will carry on with the hunger strike
till they agree," Gitasri Sarkar
of the students' union of the
varsity told IANS.
Students from other universities lent support to
their agitation Tuesday
morning.
The students have been
clamouring for Chakrabarti's
removal since Sep 17 when
the university authorities
ordered a police crackdown
on a sit-in by students demanding an independent investigation into the alleged
molestation of a female student inside a hostel.
The incident triggered
protest rallies in the city
and had a ripple effect
across the country, with
college alumni organising
protest marches in Delhi
and Mumbai.
Many students also boycotted the 59th annual convocation of the university in
December last year.
The agitation brought
together the Kolkata diaspora and university alumni in solidarity through social networking websites.
Amid the clamour for his
removal, Chakrabarti, who
was the interim vice chancellor, was given full time responsibility by Governor
K.N. Tripathi, who is the exofficio chancellor.
The state government
later instituted a five-member probe panel headed by
University of Calcutta vice
chancellor Suranjan Das to
look into the prima facie ev-
idence of the alleged molestation.
Two university students
and an alumnus were arrested and subsequently released on bail. (IANS)
Siliguri, Jan 6: Uttarkanya in Siliguri is getting decked up to
welcome Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who will
attend the inaugural ceremony of Uttar Banga Utsav on January 19. A guest house is being constructed to host the chief
minister during her visit, while the entire Uttarkanya premises is being cleaned and decorated. Sources said the construction of the guest house and other preparation is being
done in costs to the tune of Rs.5 crore. The administration,
as always, is not leaving any stone unturned to make sure
the CM is provided with the best hospitality. Notably, Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the week-long fest on January 20
at Uttarkanya premises. She will also formally inaugurate the
newly constructed guest house in the premise and will also
be the first guest at the facility. (HS)
Eveready
hikes battery prices
Kolkata, Jan 6: Dry cell batteries market leader Eveready
Industries India Ltd (EIIL) Tuesday said prices of its batteries are being hiked because of the rise in excise duty by two
percent.
"Excise duty on batteries has gone up by two percent,
after the concessional rate of excise duty earlier allowed for
consumer durables was not extended beyond Dec 31 last
year. The same quantum is now being recovered through
price increases with immediate effect by rationalisation of
trade margins," company managing director Amritanshu
Khaitan said in a statement.
The company sells more than 1.2 billion units annually
and is eyeing a growth between 10-15 percent this year. It
has taken a hike of over 20 percent in batteries over the past
18 months.
Shares of the company traded Rs.176.25, down by 3.48
percent, in the evening trade in BSE. (IANS)
Dalai Lama talks on Secular Ethics in Nashik
Dharamshala, Jan 5: The
Tibetan spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama on Saturday said
time has come for the world
to promote oneness of humanity rather than creating
differences based on faith,
race and social background
etc.
“When we are children we
don’t care very much about
differences of faith, family or
nationality, we just play together. But as we grow up we
function less on that basic
human level and learn to pay
more attention to secondary
differences like faith, race,
social background and level
of education. By seeing each
other in terms of ‘us’ and
‘them’, we lay the ground for
conflict. We seek ways for
‘us’ to win and ‘them’ to lose.
This is the basis for bullying, cheating and exploitation
that gives rise to violence,
corruption and the gap between rich and poor,” the Tibetan leader told some 4500
people including Tibetan
sweater sellers, Buddhists
monks from Sri Lanka, Burma and Christian priests in
Nashik, where he spoke on
secular ethics at an event
organized by Indo-Tibetan
Mangal Maitri Sangh.
The 1989 Nobel peace
laureate, who considers fostering religious harmony as
one of his three commitments
in life, said the most effective way to bring inner peace
is to inculcate the basic human values into daily practice.
He said that educational
institutes in USA, Europe
and India have collaborated
in he initiative to introduce
basic human values not
based on any religious faith
into education system.
The Tibetan spiritual leader said there the ancient Indian concept of secularism
which viewed all religions
and even the views of nonbelievers with respect, can
be achieved in the present
time. He said that even those
who do not believe in any
particular faith will also ben-
efit from “Secular ethics”
which can appeal to everybody. “Because they are in
everyone’s interest.” However, he added that if the nonbelievers are approached
with faith based explanation
they might not accept.
“Religious harmony is
important because all the
major religious traditions are
supposed to bring inner
peace, but too often they are
used to foster anger and hatred. We are all at peace here,
but in other parts of the world
conflict and violence have
broken out in the name of
religion - this is why we have
to make an effort to create
harmony between us.”
The Dalai Lama further
said that every human being
has the potential to benefit
or bring harm to others, adding that one must reduce the
negative emotions and increase positive behavior.
Tibetan spiritual leader
who is currently in Delhi is
scheduled to give a talk on
‘Secular Ethics’ at Presidency University in Kolkata,
West Bengal on January 13.
Edited, Published, Printed and Owned by Anjan Upadhyaya from Gairi Gaon, Tadong, Gangtok, Printed at Pabi Publication House, Ranipool, Gangtok.
Telephone: 98512-22787, Email: himalayanmirrornews@gmail.com / himalayanmirror@yahoo.co.in.
Scouts and
guide rally
Around 207 participants including 55
scouts and 66 Guides
from 14 different
schools from Sikkim
participated in the three
day the State Bharat
Scouts and Guides
rally. The state rally will
concluded on January 8
while the training
course will concluded
on January 10.
Suicide
A 79 yrs old man
committed suicide by
hanging himself at his
residence at Buriyakhop, West Sikkim. The
deceased was reportedly sick since past 3
years. The dead body
has been forwarded to
Gyalshing District
Hospital for medical
autopsy.
Gorkha
Sanskritik
Mahotsav
Siliguri, Jan 6: The
Gorkha Sajha Pariwar
(GSP) is observing a 4day cultural programme
named ‘Gorkha Sanskritik Mahotsav’ starting
Jan 7 to 11. The event
will be held in Salbari,
Siliguri where the Gorkha
community from across
Darjeeling, Sikkim, Terai
and Dooars are expected
to regale in their cultural
richness and diversity
through food, music,
dance and much more.
(HS)