CONGRATS: Khalid and Phintso Selected for Fit Factor India Finale

We are happy to share the news that two very handsome young men from our hills, Khalid Reza Khan from #Kurseong and Phintso Tshering Bhutia from #Kalimpong have been selected for the Fit Factor India Finale which is going to be held at Mumbai on January 6th to 8th 2017.

Fit Factor India is India’s top fitness model contest where aspiring fitness model from different parts of the country participates to win the winner title.

Khalid runs the gym Sculpt Nation Fitness Gym in Kurseong and Phintso is from 10th mile Kalimpong.

We wish them GOOD LUCK for the upcoming competition.

TheDC

OUR DAUGHTERS, OUR PRIDE: St. Philomena's Girls High School Win State Level Competition, Headed for National Science Exhibition Finals

Writes: Ms Sunaina Thapa

It's a moment of pride and celebration for our beautiful hills, as St. Philomena's GHS School, Kalimpong won the State Level Science Exhibition Competition and will be headed to Delhi for the Nationals.

St Philomena had won the "District level Science and Project Exhibition" held in Darjeeling, and they were selected for the State Level. Once again among 60 participating schools from W.B, St.Philomena along with 2 other schools from Bengal, have won the State Level held in Kolkata on 25 th Nov 16.

The team will be representing Bengal in the " National Level Science Exhibition", Inspire Award, Dept of Science, Govt of India, to be held in Delhi.

Our hearty congratulations to the School Principal, Sr Crisanta Rai, staff (Dept of Sc) and the participants for their success and making Kalimpong, Darjeeling and the entire Gorkhali community proud..

GOOD LUCK for the upcoming Nationals!!

TheDC

JUST IN: After #VivekanandaSetu collapse another bridge collapsed in Mogra, Hoogly

Writes: Deepayan Sinha

An under construction flyover crashed at Mogra area in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Saturday midnight.

According to reports, a small part of the flyover, which is being made to reduce traffic on Grand Trunk (G.T.) Road, suddenly collapsed at late night.

Police officials said that as the incident took place at late night, anyone was neither injured in the accident nor trapped inside the concrete wreckage.

Construction firm's engineers have reached the scene to investigate the actual reason behind the mishap.

Earlier on March 31, portion of under construction Vivekananda flyover collapsed in north Kolkata's Posta area, killing at least 26 people and leaving several others injured.

[Via: IBNS]

PEACE COMRADE: #FIDEL CASTRO NO MORE One of the most

One of the most iconic Communist leader from the 21st century Fidel Castro of Cuba is no more.

According to the Cuban state television he died at the age of 90.

One thing all could agree on was that this extraordinary figure left his mark on history.

More than half a century ago, his guerrilla army of “bearded ones” replaced Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt dictatorship with communist rule that challenged the US and turned the Cuban island into a cold-war crucible.

Fidel has remained an inspiration for all the revolutionaries across the world, including those who didn't cater to Communist ideologies...

Viva la Revolution Fidel... You are much respected across the world, including by TheDC team

#RIP

DEMONETIZATION EFFECT: 21 lakh tea, jute workers set to join banking system

Writes: Pratim Ranjan Bose

Demonetisation has come as a blessing in disguise for nearly 21 lakh tea and jute mill workers in Assam, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Their wages will now be credited to their bank instead of being paid in cash.

Following the demonetisation, 80-odd jute mills in India started using the banking channel to transfer fortnightly salaries of the nearly 3.7 lakh workers.

An earlier account said only five of the 62 mills near Kolkata were paying via banks. West Bengal accounts for 75 per cent of India’s jute goods production.

“It’s a transformational change,” Raghavendra Gupta, Chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association, told BusinessLine.

“We have already cleared 50-60 per cent salaries. The rest will be cleared this week,” he said. Earlier, the industry blamed workers for not giving bank details.

Statutory dues
Asked if transparency in payments would help mitigate issues related to non-payment of statutory dues, Rao said there have been no fresh cases over the last five-seven years.

The organised tea industry has been citing the remoteness and inadequacy of the banking network for making cash payments to 12 lakh workers in Assam and five lakh in Bengal.

However, a joint initiative of the Assam Government and the Centre is set to put an end to the practice.

ATMs in tea estates
The Assam government has ordered over 800 tea estates to open accounts for all tea workers by December 5 and asked banks to establish ATMs/micro-ATMs in tea-growing regions by December 15.

Though the West Bengal government didn’t take such an initiative, banks held meetings with nearly 300 organised tea producers in the State with a similar mandate.

“We had a meeting with tea producers in North Bengal last week. We will use the banking correspondent network to open accounts and micro-ATMs. A mobile ATM will also be deployed,” said Pawan Bajaj, Managing Director and CEO of United Bank of India.

UBI accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the banking services in West Bengal and the North-East.

Welcoming the move, Azam Monem, Chairman of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), said the tea industry was ready for bank transfer, but felt banks might not find it easy to extend the services in remote areas by the December 15 deadline.

“A majority of tea workers don’t have accounts due to the poor banking network,” he said.

[Via: The Hindu, file pic]

Giri Waves Another Claim on State Panel - MP SS Ahluwalia Confirms Home Minister Call

Writes: Vivek Chhetri

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha once again claimed that the Union home ministry would soon fix a meeting to discuss the formation of a committee to examine the statehood demand.

The claim on the panel creation has been doing the round since 2014 but yesterday, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said Union home minister Rajnath Singh had even called up the Darjeeling BJP MP, S.S Ahluwalia, in his presence and told him that a date would be fixed soon to discuss the committee's constitution.

Giri called on Singh in Delhi yesterday, along with Morcha president Bimal Gurung.

Speaking over the phone, Giri said: "During the meeting, Union home minister called up our Darjeeling MP S.S. Ahluwalia and told him that a date for a meeting regarding the formation of a committee to look into the statehood demand would be finalised soon. My understanding is that the two (Singh and Ahluwalia) will sit and finalise the date of the meeting."

Ahluwalia said the home minister had called him up and "talked about fixing a date for a meeting to fulfil the commitments he had made to the Morcha and the GTA".

The meeting is expected to be attended by the home ministry officials.

The Morcha had claimed twice in the past - on November 24, 2014, and on August 3 this year - that the Union home ministry had promised the party to constitute a committee to look into the Gorkhaland demand.

On August 3, the party also said a meeting might be chaired by Singh after Independence Day to discuss the formation of the panel.

The Union home ministry has not issued any statement on the formation of the panel in the last two years.

The role of the state government in the panel is not yet known but observers believe Mamata Banerjee is expected to oppose the committee's formation tooth and nail.

If the committee is created, it will be a morale booster for the Morcha as elections to the GTA, four municipalities, and gram panchayats and panchayat samitis are scheduled for next year in the hills.

The Morcha is facing a challenge from Trinamul and other hill outfits like the GNLF and the Jana Andolan Party.

[Via: Telegraph]

EXCLUSIVE: High Level GTA Team Comprising of Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri Meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Today Shri Bimal Gurung, President Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Shri Roshan Giri, General Secretary Gorkha Janmukti Morcha met Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon'ble Home Minister for Home Affairs in New Delhi.

In a 30 minute long meeting with Hon'ble Home Minister, Shri Bimal Gurung appealed to Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs that on behalf of the Gorkha Community living across India,  he came to meet the Hon'ble Home Minister to remind him of the need for forming Gorkhaland statehood immediately, and to constitute a committee by the Government of India that will sympathetically examine and appropriately consider the long pending demand of the Gorkhas which is a separate state of Gorkhaland.

Shri Bimal Gurung told the Home Minister Sir, that the Gorkhas, like every other community, have tilled our Motherland Bharat with our blood and sweat. From the contributions made by brave freedom fighters like Saheed Durga Malla and “Gandhi of the Hills” Late. Dal Bahadur Giri towards our freedom struggle, to the ultimate sacrifices made by numerous brave Gorkhali soldiers in the defense of our nation is a testament to our undying love, bravery, dedication and commitment towards nation building but every time we have demanded development of our beloved Hills, Terai and Dooars, we the Gorkhalis have been labeled as ‘foreigners’, ‘immigrants’ and ‘intruders’ by the Bengal government. Mr. Gurung said, "today every Indian Gorkhali is questioned time and again if we are Indian or Nepali and when we say we are Indian Nepali, we are looked upon suspiciously."

GJM General Secretary Shri Roshan Giri told the Hon'ble Minister "the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has been a loyal friend to BJP and a staunch ally of the National Democratic Alliance and that he hopes that the BJP will do their best to push for the formation of Gorkhaland statehood at the earliest."

The Hon'ble Home Minster assured Shri Bimal Gurung that a suitable date will be fixed with the officials of Ministry of Home Affairs with the issue of constituting a committee to examine the Gorkhaland Statehood issue.

The Hon'ble Minister also immediately  called up Darjeeling MP Shri SS Ahluwalia, Hon'ble Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture & Farmer's Welfare and told him that a  suitable date will given by the Hon'ble Minister for the said meeting.

Shri Bimal Gurung also invited Shri Rajnath Singh to Darjeeling  to inargruate the Multi Parking facility in Darjeeling and the Ramakrishna Siksha Parisad Model School which has been completed a month back.These two projects have been solely constructed by the special funds given by the Government of India to the GTA.

Shri Bimal Gurung informed the Hon'ble Home Minister that "in the last 5 years the GTA with cooperation with the Govt of India could bring  socio-economic, infrastructural, educational, cultural and linguistic development thereby achieving all round development of the people of the GTA region."

Shri Roshan Giri also told Shri Rajnath Singh that "the GJM was looking forward for your scheduled visit  to Darjeeling on the month of October." Shri Rajnath Singh in turn informed the GJM delegation that his scheduled trip to Darjeeling in October was cancelled due to the recent Kashmir issue, but he has given his commitment for an early visit to Darjeeling which his office will be  communicated officially to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

TheDC