Centre rejects demand for separate States Gangtok stock broker charged of

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A C C U R A T E
B A L A N C E D
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C R E D I B L E
GANGTOK, THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER 2014
VOL 9 No 48 RNI No: SIKENG/2006/18384
NEWS BRIEFS
7% DA
increased
The Sikkim government
has announced a 7 percent
increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees and Dearness
Relief to state government
pensioners effective from July
1 this year. The revised rate
would be applicable to the All
India Service Officers and
Central government employees working under the state
government on deputation,
said a notification issued by
the state finance department.
The DA will also be admissible to contractual and workcharged employees also.
Centre rejects demand for
separate States
Fire at ITBP
mess
A late night fire on
Tuesday burned down a
section of mess at the IndoTibetan Border Police camp
located in Pegong near
Chungthang, North Sikkim.
According to the report
received today, a fire tender
belonging to Teesta Hydroelectricity company reached
the spot and helped the ITBP
personnel in controlling the
fire. Chungthang police
sources said the fire is
suspected to have spread due
to a short-circuit in the
kitchen. The fire burned an
entire section of the mess, but
no casualty or injuries were
reported. (HS)
Drugs arrest
Melli Police arrested a
youth in possession of
contraband substances late last
evening during a routine check
in Melli check post. The
police have identified the
accused as Firoz Ansari (19)
from Kyongsa in Gyalshing,
West Sikkim. Ansari was
travelling from Siliguri to
Gyalshing in a passenger
vehicle. Police sources said
Ansari acted suspicious when
questioned and upon checking,
a large quantity of contraband
substances was found from
his possession. A case under
section 9/14 of SADA, 2006
has been registered against the
accused.(HS)
12 arrested
for flesh trade
from resorts
Jalpaiguri, Oct 29: Police last
night raided two resorts located
in Gachabari area of Dhoopguri
and arrested 12 people, including three women, for their alleged involvement in flesh trade.
The two resorts had been under
the police radar ever since they
started receiving information on
suspicious activities, including
prostitution. Last night, a team
led by Japaiguri SP Kunal Aggarwal raided the two resorts
and arrested 12 people, which
included three women, four
guests and five resort officials.
All the accused have been arrested for their alleged involvement in prostitution. Among the
arrested are Deepak Kumar from
Siliguri, Asish Ranjan, Aditya
Jyoti and Nirman Bedant from
Kathiyar in Bihar.
SP Kunal Agarwal said, “We
have been receiving information
about such activities from a few
resorts in the area. Therefore, we
raided two resorts last night and
arrested 12 people.” All the arrested were shifted to Mateli PS
last night and were today presented before the district court,
which sent them to police custody. SP Agarwal said there are
many other places in the region
where such activities have been
reported. “We will continue to
conduct our raids and completely eradicate the business from the
area,” he claimed. (HS)
Gangtok, Oct 29: The
centre doesn’t have any
policy for creation of
separate or autonomous
states in the country at
the moment. Union
Minister of State for
Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju
recently told a delegation
of A s s am ’s H ills State
Chowrasta buildings
cut for flouting height
limit
HM Correspondent
Darjeeling, Oct 29: The
Darjeeling Municipality has
started dismantling two
stories of a building on
Nehru
Road
below
Chowrasta. Dismantling
notice has also been served
to another tourist resort on
the Chowrasta for flaunting
the legal building height.
“The permissible height is
11.5m or 4 stories. Bothe the
building have flaunted this
rule. The building on Nehru
road has already reached 6
stories. We had served
them a notice three months
ago to stop construction
work and to dismantle the
two floors. Though they
had stopped construction
they had not dismantled. On
Wednesday
the
Municipality
started
dismantling the two illegal
floors” stated Amar Rai,
Chairman,
Darjeeling
Municipality.
The owner of the building
Urgen Palzor who is at
present out of station could
not be contacted for
comments.
The other building under
construction
is
in
Chowrasta and is a tourist
resort. It is also a 6 storied
structure and owned by Brij
Mohan Garg. “We have
already served a notice to
stop construction and also
to dismantle the two
stories. We will again serve
a fresh notice” added Rai.
Democratic Party (HSDP)
that the BJP hasn’t taken
up the issue of separate
states at the moment. He
is said to have cited the
case of Darjeeling where
a BJP MP has been
elected twice on a similar
issue.
In Darjeeling, the
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha
(GJM) spearheading the
separate
Gorkhaland
statehood demand had
backed BJP candidates
Jaswant
Singh
and
S.S.Ahluwalia in 2009
and
2014
general
e l e c t i o n s r e s p e c t i v e l y.
A h l u w a l i a ’s p o l l p i t c h
was
based
on
consideration of the
Gorkhaland demand if BJP
came to power at the
centre.
Various groups like the
HSDP
have
also
approached the centre
demanding creation of a
separate State comprising
the two autonomous hill
districts of Assam. They
submitted a memorandum
for creation of an entirely
separate State detached
from Assam.
Given the lukewarm
response from the centre on
the separate statehood
issue, Darjeeling’s political
outfits are likely to criticize
the GJM which had allied
itself with the BJP with the
Gorkhaland promise during
the Lok Sabha elections
twice.
Basil sets refund deadline
for 2021
HM Correspondent
Kalimpong, Oct 29: A
study forum formed by the
juniors
of
Basil
International, a chit fund
company organized a
meeting with the senior
agents to discuss about the
problems they have been
facing after the Saradha
scandal at GDNS hall this
afternoon.
The senior agents along
with other members also
had an interaction where
the juniors and the general
members questioned on the
refund of the lump-sum
amount. The senior ’s
however could not give an
assurance about the money
but said that the maturity
will be cleared within the
year 2021.
It was also informed that
the
agents
are
in
continuous touch with the
company and are trying to
return the money to the
public as soon as possible.
Moreover the misplaced
hard disc has been the core
of the problems.
Rajesh Singh, the Branch
Manager said “The hard
disc has been missing after
the office got vandalized
and we can do nothing
without it.” The North
Bengal Terai Dooars senior
S.M Biswakarma while
speaking to the media said
Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling being welcomed by party
workers on his return from the national capital at
Rangpo tourist lodge, Wednesday afternoon. Ministers, party leaders and international archer Tarundeep
Rai was also present at Rangpo where Chamling met
the public for an hour.
Gangtok, Oct 29: The state
government
has
constituted a Committee to
examine and work out the
delimitation of ward
boundaries of the Urban
Local Bodies in Sikkim in
accordance with Section 9
(a) (b) (c) of the Sikkim
Municipalities Act, 2007.
The Committee is
headed by D P Sharma,
Secretary Food & Civil
Supplies and L.B. Chhetri,
Special Secretary, Urban
Development & Housing
Department, H.B. Gurung,
Director, Panchayat, Rural
Management
&
HM Report
Gangtok, Oct 29: An
investor has lodged a
complaint with the East
District Police alleging that
a private stock broker had
fleeced his money and
disappeared from Gangtok
recently. Patna based
journalist Kundan Kumar
today filed his complaint
against Ankit Sharda for
going incommunicado after
collecting Rs.5.25 Lakhs
from him on pretext of
investing in the stock
market. Sharda ran a
broking firm at MG Marg
here and is suspected to
have duped many other
investors absconding some
10 months ago.
Kumar, posted with a
news agency in Gangtok
during 2009-2010 said he
had deposited Rs.5.25
Lakhs vide 4 cheques in
Ankit Sharda’s wife
Khusbu Sharda’s Account
with ICICI Gangtok branch
during
the
period.
Everything was normal until
last month when Kumar
tried contacting Sharda for
a refund of his invested
money. All attempts to
contact Sharda from
multiple mobile numbers
that he is not too sure with
the refund and is expecting
a letter from the company
regarding their problems by
the November 5. He also
said if the company does
not take any initiative to
solve the problem, then
there would be no other
option besides going to the
high court.
The hounds of agents
also had a wrathful
argument in the meeting
when they were not able to
convince the members who
were in debt. It was also
known
that
Basil
International-a
nonbanking financial company
had allegedly taken
deposits from the public
under
the
garb
of
redeemable preference
shares from rural people
after promising high returns
in the range of 11-14
percent.
The company rose
about Rs 92 crore through
redeemable cumulative
preference shares till March
31, 2012. The president of
the study forum Sushma
Pradhan said, “The meeting
dint draw a satisfactory
conclusion and will sit for
another discussion with the
office staff, manager and
few members of study
forum to find out the
mystery of the hard disc in
Jaganath
Bhawan
tomorrow.”
Development Department
are members and M.N.
Dhakal, Joint Chief Electoral
Officer Election Department
as Member Secretary.
A notification to this
effect was published on 17
Ocotber, just before the
Dipawali and directed the
committee to complete the
delimitation process within
four months from the date
of notification and submit
their report accordingly.
As per the terms and
reference
of
the
delimitation committee, the
delimitation of wards of
Municipalities shall be
done as per provision of
Section 8 of the Sikkim
Municipalities Act, 2007
adding that the committee
will function as per the
provisions laid in the
Government
Gazette
Notification
of
26,
November 2007 (which has
laid down the process and
rules for delimitation of
Municipal Wards).
‘While
constituting
Municipalities
under
section 8 of the Act each
constituent
ward
of
Municipality shall, as far as
practicable be serially
numbered maintaining
continuity of the area to be
organized as such ward in
Municipalities,’ the terms
and reference said.
failed after which Kumar
sensed foul and enquired
about the stock broking
firm. By then, Sharda had
already closed operations
in Gangtok and left the state
capital along with his wife.
In between, an evasive
Sharda had communicated
Kumar over mobile but
never talked about the
money.
Ankit is suspected to
have withdrawn all money
from his wife’s account
which is now dormant. A
neighbor said that the
couple shifted from
Gangtok some 9-10 months
ago. The complainant
claimed that Ankit Sharda
is presently staying at
Surat in Gujarat and
demanded that a case of
fraud be filed against him.
Superintendent
of
Police (East) D.B.Giri
confirmed
having
received the complaint
against Sharda adding
that he may have conned
several other investors
around MG Marg area.
“We will investigate and
submit our report to the
department for further
action. The CID may also
probe the case,” he
added.
SNPP welcomes
‘work-permits’ for
non-Sikkimese
HM Report
Panel set for urban wards
delimitation
HM Correspondent
Gangtok stock
broker charged of
conning investors
Gangtok, Oct 29: Sikkim
National People’s Party
(SNPP) has welcomed the
state
government’s
decision to introduce ‘work
permits’ for non-Sikkimese
working in the state.
SNPP president Biraj
Adhikari in a media
statement said that the
party
endorses
the
government’s effort and
expects concrete rules to
implement this initiative at
the earliest.
‘The concept of work
permit for non-Sikkimese is
perfectly in tune with the
provisions of Article 371F
of the constitution of India,
which guarantees the
preservation of Sikkimese
identity and introduction of
this initiatives shall
reinforce this guarantee,’
the press statement read.
SNPP has also expressed
its disappointment at the
vilification of the 9
opposition MLA’s who
have recently lodged an
FIR against Chief Minister
Pawan Chamling adding
that the language used by
the ruling party in
countering the allegations
of these MLAs is totally
unacceptable.
While reminding the
SDF party, SNPP said that
these MLA’s have been
elected by the people of
Sikkim and the ruling party
should have shown some
respect. The release
further added that the
SNPP
party
further
cautioned the ruling party
that by making fun of the
elected members, it is also
disrespecting the people
who have voted for them
and this should be clear to
a party which has ruled for
20 years on the votes of
these very same people
and not lost their trust, the
release said.
Verdict on NBU
corruption case likely
soon
HM Correspondent
Siliguri, Oct 29: The more
than four and half year long
case relating to suspension
of registrar of North Bengal
University on the allegation
of misappropriation of
crores of rupees is likely to
come to an end soon.
The case is pending
before the Supreme Court
where the next hearing is
slated on November 11.
On
Tuesday,
the
Executive Council (EC) of
NBU accepted the report of
the one-man committee
constituted to look into the
allegations against Dilip
Kumar Sarkar, the now
suspended registrar.
Sarkar was suspended
from his post on March 30
2010 when the then vice
chancellor filed FIR against
him.
He is accused for
embezzlement of almost Rs
2 crore when he was the
controller of examinations.
He moved to Calcutta
High Court against the
decision to suspend him
while the university moved
to the Supreme Court’s
against the High Court’s
decision.
That the report of the
one-man committee was
submitted and tabled
before the EC meeting just
two weeks before the
Supreme Court hearing
according to many is an
indicator that a verdict on
the case is soon expected.
University authorities
reserved their comments on
the report of the enquiry
committee on the ground
that they might influence
the court procedure.
Meanwhile Sarkar said “I
will have my honour and
prestige back.”