CJ steps in to end lawyers' impasse

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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
VOL 9 No 120 RNI No: SIKENG/2006/18384
GANGTOK, SUNDAY 11 JANUARY 2015
Punish striking
teachers: SDF tells Govt
HM Report
Gangtok, Jan 10: School
teachers resorting to forfeit
their voting rights while demanding rollback of their
transfer under the umbrella
of an ‘illegal’ organisation is
a highly condemnable ‘antinational’ act, the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front alleged
today. Linking the teachers’
protest to a conspiracy by
outside ‘anti-national force’,
SDF spokesperson Bhim
Dahal came down heavily on
the anti-transfer stir launched
by Sikkim Teachers’Association. STA had threatened to
forfeit their voter cards if the
mass transfer of 1,063 school
teachers is not rolled back by
17 January.
Dahal demanded that the
government should act
stern against those teachers for involvement in unconstitutional acts in gross
CJ steps in to end lawyers’ impasse
violation of State Service
Conduct Rules. The party
has been defending the
government move terming
it as a balancing act to ensure quality education in
state run schools.
Opposition parties including SKM and state units of
BJP and Trinamool Congress
have slammed the move terming it as political victimisation after the assembly elections.
Amid uncertainty, EIILM
student attempts suicide
HM Report
Gangtok, Jan 10: The ongoing strike by EIILM university students turned serious
on Saturday when a final
year Mechanical Engineering
student tried to commit sui-
NEWS BRIEFS
2 injured in blast
Two minors were
injured Saturday after a
crude bomb exploded
near Dumdum railway
station on the city's
outskirts. The explosive kept inside a tiffin
box exploded near gate
number 2 of Dum Dum
railway station. The
injured are rag pickers
and the bomb exploded
when they picked up
the box.
cide inside his room. Fellow
students found Madan Baruah inside the room and
stopped him from ending his
life. Baruah, a B.Tech 7th semester student hailing from
Arunachal Pradesh later said
he was frustrated due to the
ongoing impasse in the university due to the "indifference" of the university and
the state government even
as their protest entered the
19th day on Saturday.
Around 200 students from
within and outside the state,
Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh have laid siege at EIILM campus at Budang,
West Sikkim after their semes-
ter end exams was shelved
coupled by several key varsity officials going missing
since the past month. The
incident comes a day after
the Enforcement Director attached property worth
Rs.110 belonging to EIILM
promoters. A meeting called
by state HRD minister
R.B.Subba and existing EIILM officials last week failed
to yield any solution as key
officials including Registrar
and Controller of Exams remain incommunicado. Subba
had assured full support from
the state government and
urged them to appear their
exams as early as possible.
HM Correspondent
Siliguri, Jan 10: The impasse over agitating lawyers
of Siliguri Bar Association
over various issues drawing
a blank even after a month
and with solution nowhere in
sight after internvention from
various political parties has
prompted Kolkata High
Court Chief Justice Dr. Manjula Chellur to step in to bring
an end to their seize work
and resumption of the day to
day legal chore. Dr. Manjula
Families crying raw deal
stall airport work
Missing child
traced
Bhumika Rai, aged 15
years of Tinzerbong,
West Sikkim who had
gone missing since
January 1 has been
traced at Bhaktinagar,
Siliguri, West bengal
yesterday. The child has
been handed over to her
legal guardian after
necessary legal
formalities.
Drugs arrest
Jorethang police
arrested 2 youths from
Daragaon, Jorethang
with huge quantity of
contraband substances. The accused
Shvijan Subba (22)
from Maghigaon and
Karma Gyatso
Bhutia(23) from
Daragaon were nabbed
during a routine search
ahead of Maghey
Mela in the area. They
have been booked
under Sikkim Anti
Drugs Act and sent to
police custody.
Scholarship test
Selection Test for Chief
Minister's Meritorious
Scholarship for South
District will be held at
Namchi Senior
Secondary on January
11.
HM Report
Pakyong, Jan 10: Construction works of the Pakyong
Greenfield airport in East Sikkim has stopped yet again
due to construction related
problems. Around 17 households in the project’s vicinity launched a protest and
stalled works after their houses began showing signs of
cracks and land slips, which
they said has endangered
their lives and property. The
aggrieved locals warned
against any further construction until their properties are
reassessed and full rehabilitation and relief is provided.
“We will not let work until our
demands are met,” they said.
Today, Pakyong Sub-Division Magistrate and officials of Airports Authority of
India (AAI) visited the site
and took stock of the situation. Agitated residents petitioned them demand immediate relief and compensation
unlike written and verbal assurances given in the past.
Crying a raw deal given
by the state government in
terms of compensation in older rates, at least 17 families
have been demanding a reassessment of their houses
for proper valuation. Earlier
in October, the state government had paid 80 percent of
the compensation amount to
them, while the remaining 137
households (second phase)
were given 20 percent of the
total assessed amount.
Many among them have refused to accept the costs.
The former were given a solitium of 30 percent of the total property value while those
assessed in the second
phase got 100 percent solitium. Now, the 17 households
have been demanding reassement seeking compensation at revised solitium of
100 percent as per the Land
Acquisition Act 2013.
After multiple delays and
cost escalations, the AAI
seeks to complete the ambitious project by March 2016,
but compensation related issue have stalled construction time and again.
draw their more than a month
long ongoing agitation, as it
has aversely affected the
people of Siliguri and adjoining areas pertaining to legal
issues. Though today's
meeting did not draw any
potential result, Justice Chellur said the decision in regard
to the lawyers demands
would be taken soon. “I have
urged the lawyers to withdraw their agitation,” she
said.
On January 6, Gowda, the
Union law minister had sent
HM Report
gurating the Uttar Banga Utsav the CM will be heading
for the Hills. On January 21
she is scheduled to attend
the Himal Terai Dooars
Sports Festival at the Lebong Stadium in Darjeeling.
On January 23 Banerjee will
be attending Netaji Subash
Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary commemorations organized by the State Government at the Darjeeling Chowrasta.
Following the commemorations she is scheduled to
return to the plains and depart for Kolkata on January
24.
Sikkim to enforce Food law in April
HM Report
Gangtok, Jan 10: The
Sikkim government will
extend and enforce the
National Food Security
Act from 1 April and is
making all necessary
preparedness in this regard. Almost two years
after the central law
came into force in other
states, the state will roll
out NFSA across all four
districts, a meeting
chaired by state food
and civil supplies secretary D.P.Sharma announced today.
Absconding Bur
dw
an blas
Burdw
dwan
blastt accused arres
arrestted
Kolkata, Jan 10 (IANS):
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB) militant
Rejaul Karim, a key accused
in the Oct 2 Burdwan blast
in West Bengal, was
arrested Saturday by the
National Investigation
Agency.
Karim, against whom a
cash reward of Rs.5 lakh
was announced by the
NIA, was nabbed from
Jharkhand's Sahibganj
district.
"Karim who used to stay
in Badshahi Road in
Burdwan is an active
member of JMB and was
engaged in manufacturing
and transport of bombs to
different locations. Since
the time of incident, he has
been absconding to evade
a letter to Justice Chellur
along with enclosures received from SS Ahluwalia,
the BJP MP from Darjeeling.
In the letter, the union law
minister said that the issues
are important and critical and
had urged the chief justice
of Calcutta High Court to resolve the issues at the earliest. Gowda also requested
the state government to provide necessary infrastructural assistance at the earliest.
The crux of the matter was
that even though the Siliguri
Mamata to visit Darjeeling on 19 Jan
Siliguri, Jan 10: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee is scheduled to arrive at the Darjeeling district
on a 5 day long visit.
Sources state that Banerjee will be arriving at Siliguri
on January 19. On the same
day she will be holding an
administrative meeting with
the administrative and police
heads of the 6 districts of
North Bengal at Uttar Kanya- the branch Secretariat of
the government of West
Bengal at Dabgram, Siliguri.
On January 20, after inau-
Thef
am
Theftt at Ashr
Ashram
Some unknown
miscreants broke into
an Ashram House
located at ICAR Road,
Tadong, East Sikkim on
Friday and stole away
items worth Rs. 1.25
Lakhs including 15
gms gold chain, Dell
Laptop, Samsung
Cellphone and cash. A
case u/s 454/380 IPC
has been registered
against unknown
persons at Sadar Police
Station and is under
investigation.
along with four other judges
of Calcutta High Court held
a meeting with the members
of Siliguri Bar Association
today.
The Siliguri lawyers under
the banner of Siliguri Bar
Association are on a cease
work since December 8 demanding construction of a
permanent court building at
Siliguri court premises and
setting up of a Metropolitan
Court.
Today, Justice Chellur
urged the lawyers to with-
Police Commissionerate was
formed on August 4, 2012
with five police stations under it, the cases related with
Bhaktinagar Police Station in
Jalpaiguri district are dealt
by the Jalpaiguri court. The
Bar Association’s contention
is that the existence of the
police commisionerate justifies the formation of a metropolitan court here in Siliguri
itself.
Sources said the state
government wants to move
very cautiously as its decision to set up a Metropolitan Magistrate Court by
bringing a part of Jalpaiguri
district under it might prove
politically disastrous vis a vis
the TMC’s winning prospect
in the upcoming assembly
election in Jalpaiguri district.
The district is already fragmented while the promise for
a permanent bench of Calcutta High Court has not yet
fructified. If more areas are
brought under the proposed
Metropolitan Court, the people of Jalpaiguri district are
likely to be miffed at the Trinamool Congress led state
government, subsequently
leading to a disastrous result
for the ruling front that is already losing its political
ground in the state due to its
shortcoming in various front,
the most disastrous of which
being the multi crore Saradha
scandal.
arrest," a NIA officer said.
The accidental blast
took place inside a house in
Khagragarh in Burdwan
killing two JMB militants
and injuring another.
Several people, mostly
Bangladeshi nationals,
have been arrested from
India and Bangladesh in
connection with the blast.
Days after the blast, 39
bombs were recovered from
Karim's house in Burdwan.
"After the Oct 2
incident, the injured
accused Abdul Hakim had
called up Rejaul Karim for
providing assistance and
evacuation. His interrogation is likely to throw fresh
leads and evidence in the
investigation of this case,"
added the NIA officer.
The food law, which
came into force in July
2013, was to be implemented by State governments within a year
by July 4, 2014. But the
deadline was twice extended till April 2015 as
many states including
Sikkim could not put in
place the necessary infrastructure for rolling
out the welfare scheme.
Just 11 of the 28 state
governments had implemented the Act till December. Others have not
yet identified beneficiaries entitled to wheat at
Rs.2 per kg and rice at
Rs.3 per kg guaranteed
under the Act.
The Act seeks to
abolish the APL and below poverty line (BPL)
criteria and uniformly
provide 5 kg of wheat or
rice to each identified
beneficiary at a fixed
rate of Rs 3 a kg for rice,
Rs 2 a kg for wheat and
Rs 1 a kg for coarse
grains.
Beneficiaries would
be indentified through
holding Gram Sabha in
both rural and urban areas throughout the
state on 28 January.
Public have been asked
to bring their Aadhar
Card, Bank Account
Number during the
Gram Sabha. All the
stakeholders, departmental officers and district officials had attended today’s meeting.
Sharma informed that
the exact numbers of
beneficiaries are not
available with the department and once the
Gram Sabha submit its
list to the department for
compilation and accordingly will available the
food grains to beneficiaries from registered fair
shops in the
state.
The state government is working for digitisation of ration cards
and seed them with
Aadhaar numbers or
else the Centre will consider the digitised list as
being the only basis for
allocation of grains from
March 1, 2015 onwards
so that the food grains
will available under the
new digital ration card
at MSP rate.
CMYK
CMYK
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