News of Jalpaiguri 06/05/2010

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

Rules written off? Jaigaon, May 5: Thirty-six students of Hasimara High School (Higher Secondary), who had failed in the Class XI annual exams, were promoted by the teacher-in-charge on the “request” of the local MLA today. A total of 111 students in the arts stream had appeared for the Class XI final exams, but only 75 of them managed to pass. “We did not promote the 36 students, as they could not meet the guidelines of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. However, after the results were published on May 3, they approached me and sought promotion to Class XII. I rejected their plea,” said Ashok Bhattacharjee, the teacher-in-charge of the school, located about 30km from here. Bhattacharjee said according to the council guidelines, it is mandatory for a student to score minimum 30 per cent marks in first and second languages and pass in other exams. “These students had failed in more than one subject, including the language papers,” he said. This morning, the students locked the entrance to the school and started a demonstration, demanding promotion. But Bhattacharjee and other teachers entered the school through the back door. As a number of anxious parents waited outside the gate, the Kalchini MLA, Wilson Champramari, reached the school. “He came to my room along with 15-20 students and asked me to promote them. I told him clearly that I did not have any intention to retain them in any class and I am simply following the council guidelines,” said Bhattacharjee. “The MLA then called up the deputy secretary of the council’s north Bengal regional office in Siliguri. I also had a talk with the deputy secretary who told me to settle the matter on our own. As the MLA persisted with the request, we decided to promote all the students to Class XII.” Mukta Narjinari, the deputy secretary, could not be contacted. Champramari said: “I went to the school and requested the teacher-in-charge to promote the students. We had a discussion and finally, he agreed to promote them.”

Stop-rally threat to Gurung  News From Telegraph OUR CORRESPONDENT A file picture of the Bhasha Committee’s protest in Siliguri Siliguri, May 5: The Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Banchao Committee today threatened to stop Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung from holding a public meeting on a school ground in Sukna on May 8. The anti-Gorkhaland forum has also threatened to call a general strike in Bengal on May 14, the day the political-level tripartite talks on Gorkhaland is supposed to be held. However, the Centre-appointed interlocutor for the talks, Vijay Madan, later said the meeting was likely to take place at May-end because of the Parliament session. The Morcha chief has been staying in Salbari near Sukna for the past six days, holding meetings in the Terai and also leading a campaign to consolidate a support base for his party and the statehood movement. “We have been repeatedly requesting the administration not to allow Bimal Gurung or the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to hold any meeting or rally (in the plains) but the administration seems to be sleeping,” said Mukunda Majumdar, the Bhasha Committee president. “Our organisation does not support such activities by a person who has been grossly violating laws over the past two-three years.” Majumdar said they had launched a Darjeeling Chalo march a few months ago but were intercepted by police at Dagapur on the outskirts of Siliguri. “Now since Gurung is moving freely in the plains and campaigning in favour of Gorkhaland, we plan to intensify the anti-Gorkhaland campaign. We will resume our protest march on May 8.” Protesting the tripartite meeting on Gorkhaland, the Bhasha Committee president said: “It is unfair on the part of the central and state governments to hold talks only with the Morcha and prevent us from articulating our views. If the Centre still goes ahead with the plan (of holding tripartite talks), we will have no other option but to observe a general strike on May 14 in Bengal.” However, sources in the Union home ministry as well as the Bengal government said today that the state wanted all stakeholders in Darjeeling and the Dooars and Terai to participate in the next political-level talks to bring an end to the hill impasse. “The administration now not only wants the GNLF and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, but also the ABGL, CPRM and the RSP, to be included in the talks,” a source said. Morcha leaders, however, are not ready to attach any importance to the plains outfit’s announcement of the protest march. “We are a democratic political party and have the right to hold a public meeting,” a central committee leader of the Morcha said. “It is the responsibility of the police and the administration to tackle those people (the Bhasha Committee).”

News of Jalpaiguri 04/05/2010

Clash shuts Jalpaiguri

Full story: The Telegraph

Police deployed on Merchant Road in Jalpaiguri on Monday. Siliguri, April 19: An altercation snowballing into a clash between shop-owners and lawyers shut down Jalpaiguri town for most part of the day today.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Police deployed on Merchant Road in Jalpaiguri on Monday. (Biplab Basak) Siliguri, April 19: An altercation snowballing into a clash between shop-owners and lawyers shut down Jalpaiguri town for most part of the day today. After the clash this morning, the lawyers boycotted the court, while the shop-owners downed shutters. Five traders were arrested for allegedly assaulting the lawyers. Members of the business community had set up a blockade in front of Mukta Bhawan adjacent to the Jalpaiguri district court entrance on Merchant Road from 9am, demanding the arrest of lawyer Bappa Ghosh, who, they alleged, assaulted Bachchu Roy, a shopkeeper, last evening. When other traders came to Bachchu’s rescue, Bappa allegedly beat up some of them. The traders filed a complaint against the lawyer with Kotwali police. Around 10am today, Tapan Bhattacharya, the secretary of the Jalpaiguri Bar Association, persuaded the protesters to lift the blockade and entered the court. “Suddenly, stones began raining down on us from behind. Immediately a mob armed with lathis and sharp weapons attacked us and five of our members were injured,” Bhattacharya said. The Kotwali police picked up five shopkeepers from the spot. “Yesterday a lawyer badly assaulted shop-owner Bachchu Roy on Merchant Road. Despite a complaint, he was not arrested and instead five of our members were caught,” said Prantosh Deb, a member of the Merchant Road Byabsayee Samiti. The situation was brought under control after RAF was deployed in the area. Inspector-general of police (north Bengal) K.L. Tamta invited representatives from two sides for talks but could not break the deadlock. “We are trying to find a solution,” Tamta said. President of the Jalpaiguri Byabsayee Samiti Sadhan Bose said he had written to the bar association requesting the lawyers to settle the matter that had been kindled by a “trivial” altercation. Anand Kumar, the Jalpaiguri district police chief, said the situation was still tense but under control. “We have arrested five persons for blocking the road and talks are on with both sides to restore normality.” Jalpaiguri HC bench ready OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Full story: The Telegraph  Calcutta, March 29: The state government has completed the infrastructure to open a Calcutta High Court circuit bench in Jalpaiguri and it can start functioning once the high court gives its final clearance, law minister Rabilal Moitra told the Assembly today. The minister was replying to a question by CPM MLA from Dhupguri, Lakshmikanta Roy, who wanted to know the latest position of the bench and the probable date of its inauguration. “The administration of the high court had detected 15 minor deficiencies in the infrastructure that had been put in place by the government for the proposed circuit bench. Most of the inadequacies pointed out by the court have been removed. We are now waiting for a final round of inspection by the court,” said Moitra. However, Bimal Chattarjee, chairman of the West Bengal Bar Council, said: “Advocates in general, except the lawyers of Siliguri, have no objection to the functioning of a circuit bench in Jalpaiguri. But at least three cases challenging the validity of setting up the bench in Jalpaiguri are pending before Calcutta High Court. These cases have to be disposed off first.” When a discussion on the matter was in progress, Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim intervened and wanted to know the latest situation. “There is a great demand for the circuit bench among the people of north Bengal. The bench should start operating if the infrastructure is ready,” said the Speaker. The state government had taken a portion of the Jalpaiguri zilla parishad office premises on rent for running the bench on a temporary basis. The government pays Rs 1 lakh as rent every month to the zilla parishad. Moitra, however, said the government had purchased 40 acres in Jalpaiguri for Rs 93 lakh to construct a new building for the bench. Lawyers of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri had fought for over a decade on where it should be located. The Supreme Court and the Centre had approved the bench to cater for the litigants in six districts of north Bengal — Malda, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and South and North Dinajpur. Moitra told the House that he had held a meeting with the high court administration last week. “The court has given an assurance that another round of inspection will be conducted very soon.” The minister said the government had spent Rs 37 lakh to set up the office and nearly Rs 48 lakh to arrange accommodation for the court officials and judges.

Tea auction back in Jalpaiguri Full story: The Telegraph
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Tea auction in progress at the Jalpaiguri centre on Tuesday. (Biplab Basak) Siliguri, July 14: After a year and three months, the sound of the gavel reverberated through the North Bengal Tea Auction Centre in Jalpaiguri today, courtesy the consistent efforts of the stakeholders of tea industry in the region. “In May last year, we had to close down the auctions after the 13th sale for virtually no inflow of tea from the estates and bought-leaf factories,” said Kamal Bhattacharjee, the chief executive officer of the NBTAC. “Since then, we have been trying heart and soul to resume auction at the centre.” Since its inception in February 2005, the NBTAC has been reeling from the “starvation” of tea. Added to it was the stiff competition from the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre, which continues to be the preference for planters since 1976. While last year the NBTAC could not hold auctions for 39 weeks — there are 52 sales in in a year — today’s sale (28th sale) was the first this year. During the 27 previous dates, there was no auction because of inadequate or no tea. “We auctioned 4,369kg of tea today. The sale was 100 per cent with an average price of Rs 101 per kg,” Bhattacharjee said. “Although the quantity put in auction was insignificant compared to other centres, it was good that we could at least resume the process. The price was also competitive in comparison to Siliguri.” While NBTAC sources revealed that the highest price today rose to Rs 108 and the lowest was Rs 95, officials at the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre spoke of similar figures. “At the 27th sale held (in Siliguri) on July 2, the average price was Rs 110.79. The figures of the 28th sale on July 10 are yet to be compiled. But given the trend, it can be said prices of high quality tea have dipped by Re 1 to Rs 3 while other teas fetched Rs 3 to Rs 5 less per kg,” a source said. Stakeholders associated with the NBTAC are, however, hopeful. At present, 148 buyers, 58 sellers and six brokers are registered with it. “We hope to see the sales rise in the future and the centre continues to remain functional, catering for the tea industry in the region,” said N.K. Basu, the principal adviser to Indian Tea Planters’ Association. Jalpaiguri duo on Gangstang Full story: The Telegraph   OUR CORRESPONDENT Jalpaiguri, Aug. 1: Bhaskar Das and Sujoy Bhowmik, members of Jalpaiguri Nature and Trekkers? Club (JNTC) team, made it to the summit of Gangstang (6,162 metres) on July 29. According to them the team members successfully reached the summit at 11.20 am. ?Everything was fine until we reached the base camp, where we encountered heavy rainfall. However, bad weather could hardly deter the enthusiasm of Bhaskar and Sujoy, who headed for the summit and set up two further camps at higher altitudes. Finally, in the afternoon of July 29, we received the news that they had made it to the summit,? said Badal Debnath, one of the four members of the team, from Keylong, a hill hamlet in Himachal Pradesh. The four-member team had started from Jalpaiguri on July 15. Led by Das, the fourth member of the team was Pinaki Sengupta. Their destination, Gangstang, is a Himalayan peak located in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. ?We hired guides and two of them, Harish Thakur and Tikam Bahadur, reached the summit with the team members. The victorious members of the team then came down to the base camp at Bilingnala, located close to Gangstang glacier at a height of 14,500 feet. We are waiting for them at Keylong,? Debnath said. ?This time, we had less than a month?s time to prepare for the expedition as the permission of Indian Mountaineering Foundation reached us late. But Bhaskar and Sujoy have made us proud,? said Pinaki, the other member of the team that has tasted success in expeditions to Fluted, Rudgaira and Kedardome.

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News of Jalpaiguri 05/05/2010

Cong and Trinamul to clash in 11 seats News From Telegraph OUR CORRESPONDENT The Congress candidates for the Jalpaiguri municipal polls on Thursday. (Biplab Basak) Siliguri, April 29: The Congress today announced candidates for all the 25 wards of the Jalpaiguri municipality, further alienating the Trinamul Congress that stuck to its demand for 11 seats. As Trinamul has also declared that its 11 candidates will file nominations tomorrow, there is no room for an alliance. “The only option left for the two parties is to reach a consensus in the next few days and withdraw the nominations accordingly by May 6 to ensure that there is only one candidate of either Trinamul or the Congress in each seat,” said a political observer. Jalpaiguri district Congress president Biswaranjan Sarkar, along with the chairman of the civic body, Mohan Bose, and other leaders, announced the candidates’ list this afternoon. While 23 candidates will be contesting on the Congress symbol, the rest will be Independents backed by the party. They will be fielded in Wards 11 and 13. “We had earnestly tried to clinch an electoral pact with Trinamul, but they kept on insisting that 11 seats be kept aside for them,” said Sarkar. “We had little option other than announcing the names for all the seats. We will be fielding Independents in Wards 11 and 13 based on the feedback we had received from the residents. All our candidates will file their nominations tomorrow.” Chandan Bhowmik, the district secretary-general of Trinamul, while announcing the candidates, including four women, said: “We want to make it clear that Trinamul has a support base and at the same time, it is interested in forging an alliance with the Congress. That is why we have refrained from fielding candidates in all the seats.” The observer said the Congress would face troubles in the other 14 wards also, though Trinamul has not fielded candidates in those seats. “It is not that the Congress candidates in the remaining wards can be sure of getting votes from Trinamul supporters as there will be an underlying resentment if no alliance is formed,” he said. Loyalty switch triggers clash  News From Telegraph OUR CORRESPONDENT A tyre set afire in protest by Parishad supporters in Malbazar. (Biplab Basak) Alipurduar, May 2: Supporters of the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union and those of the Progressive Tea Workers Union clashed in a garden here this morning, allegedly after a section of workers attended a meeting called by the recently formed labour union of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad. Ten persons were injured, two of them seriously, in the violence. Parishad members blocked NH31 near Malbazar for over four hours till around 12.30pm, demanding the arrest of those who assaulted their members in Tunbari tea garden, 115km from here. Police said trouble had been brewing since yesterday when the Tunbari workers attended a Parishad meeting. However, senior leaders from both sides had intervened and the matter was settled. This morning, fresh trouble broke out at 7.30 when Citu members armed with lathis allegedly attacked a group of Parishad supporters. The Parishad filed an FIR against 15 Citu supporters accusing them of assault. Tej Kumar Toppo, the general secretary of the Parishad, said the Tunbari workers were being exploited by sellers of country liquor. “We cracked down on them. Most of the workers’ wages went into paying off liquor dues. We had stopped this to a large extent and yesterday a large number of garden workers attended a meeting organised by us at the Saili tea garden,” Toppo said. He avoided comments when asked if Citu, the CPM’s labour wing, was involved in the liquor racket. Toppo alleged that Citu workers beat up the Parishad supporters after they returned from the meeting. Kismat Oraon and Parameswar Oraon have been referred to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital from the Malbazar subdivisional hospital. “The Citu support base has been severely eroded and they are trying to terrorise the workers,” Toppo alleged. Usha Rautia, a member of the Citu’s Jalpaiguri district committee, said it was the Parishad that was involved in the violence. The SDPO of Malbazar, Nikita Phaning, said a force was patrolling the garden. “Ten people were injured.” Police scan on garden union strength - 14 arrested for Tunbari tea estate clash  OUR BUREAU                 News from Telegraph May 3: Police are worried about the law and order situation in the Dooars brew belt with repeated clashes in recent times between the supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad and the CPM or the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Inspector-general of police, north Bengal, K.L. Tamta, has instructed the Jalpaiguri superintendent of police to submit a report on the strength of trade unions in each tea garden in the Dooars to find out if there is the possibility of further breach of peace The police woke up to the problem after yesterday’s clash between the members of the Progressive Tea Workers’ Union, formed by the Parishad recently, and those of the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union, in Tunbari tea garden, 115km from Alipurduar in Jalpaiguri district. Ten people were injured in the clash that was followed by a four-hour road blockade by Parishad supporters, demanding the arrest of Citu workers. The tribal outfit had blamed the CPM trade union for assaulting its supporters. “The clashes are taking place because of the emergence of a new trade union. I have instructed the Jalpaiguri police chief to contact the garden managements and to get a picture of the actual situation so that we can act promptly and settle disputes through dialogues,” Tamta told The Telegraph. The police officer, however, ruled out the possibility of deploying additional forces in the area. “I do not think extra forces are necessary; the unions should settle all differences through talks,” said Tamta. Fourteen people were arrested in connection with yesterday’s violence. Danga Bek, the secretary of the Malbazar block committee of the Parishad, said if the arrests had not been made, a strike would have been called in all the tea gardens in the Dooars. The Citu, however, denied its involvement in the violence. “I have not heard that our supporters are among the arrested people,” said Chanu Dey, a member of the Jalpaiguri district committee of the Citu. The general secretary of the Parishad, Tezkumar Toppo, said: “We have told our trade union leaders in the Dooars that they should not go into any confrontation with rival unions and should remain peaceful even in the face of provocation. However, the administration has to see to it that no one foments violence in the area,” said Toppo. title="Watch TV - Live Internet TV" alt="Watch TV - Online IP TV">Access to 4000 Live TV stations from your laptop. No need of of a television tuner or decoder. 100% legal - no subscription needed. Watch television channels online from home. All you need is our Internet television software, your pc, and Internet connection. Watching live TV is very convenient and affordable without all the wires and installation fees it takes for regular cable or dish TV services to be hooked up. With internet television, all you simply need is a computer and the internet, it's that easy. Lot of services are available online for free and almost all large broadcasting stations like Fox, NBC, and ABC have websites where their series can be viewed. There is no need to buy cable if you hardly ever watch TV when everything is available online, even live streaming of the news. Most people can't afford the fancy TV  packages often associated with companies who offer a wide range of channels. This is where our IP TV software comes in. With this easy and accessible commodity to your life, you can cut your monthly bill in half and only worry about online fees. Some shops such as coffeehouses and bookstores even offer internet for a low price or of no charge depending on where you go. It is amazing the many opportunities we have with the Internet on computer. Although Online television is a significantly new technology, it's catching on so quickly that it may soon replace regular television like the cellular is replacing landline telephone. Trinamul, Congress gear up for poll fight  News From Telegraph

OUR BUREAU

April 30: The stage is set for a direct fight between the Congress and the Trinamul Congress in the elections to the three municipalities of Jalpaiguri, Englishbazar and Old Malda unless an anti-Left alliance is forged before May 7, the last date for the withdrawal of nominations. The Congress today took out a rally in Jalpaiguri with 23 candidates and the two Independents it is backing, before they filed their nominations. Trinamul candidates also filed papers for 10 seats in the 25-ward civic body. The party will declare the name for one more seat later. “The state leaders have endorsed our decision. If the Congress still does not allow us to fight from the 11 seats, we will put up our candidates in all the wards,” said Chandan Bhowmick, the secretary-general of the Jalpaiguri Trinamul Congress. In Malda, Congress supporters took out a procession that ended at the district collectorate, where candidates for all the 18 seats of Old Malda municipality and 11 seats of 25-ward Englishbazar civic body submitted their nominations. Slogans like “not a single seat should be spared for the Trinamul Congress in Barkatda’s Malda district” and “the CPM will cut a sorry figure” rent the air at the rally. Huge party flags, cutouts of the Congress’s hand symbol and posters gave the procession a festive look. “The Congress had decided to spare two seats for Trinamul in Old Malda, though they are very weak there. But they demanded six seats,” said Malda block Congress leader Nabaranjan Singha. He added that Trinamul’s demand for 15 seats in Englishbazar was “not acceptable” and only seven could be spared for the party. Malda district Trinamul Congress president Goutam Chakraborty said their candidates would file nominations for all the wards of the two municipalities on May 3. President of Malda Town Congress Bibhuti Ghosh said the candidates for the remaining 14 wards at the Englishbazar civic body would file their papers on May 3. “All said and done, we still believe that good sense will prevail on the Trinamul Congress leadership and they will accept seven seats that we are ready to offer them in Englishbazar,” said Ghosh. Both Ghosh and Singha, however, conceded that absence of a tie-up with Trinamul would shatter the chances of defeating the Left Front at Old Malda. To days Weather

Wednesday Day/05/05/2010

	Hot with times of sun and clouds; a strong thunderstorm in spots this afternoon
High	36°C
RealFeel®:	43°C
View the Hour-By-Hour™ Forecast
Winds:	E at 4km/h
Wind Gusts:	9 km/h
Max UV Index:	Very High (9)
Thunderstorm Probability:	95%
Amount of Precipitation:	0.5mm
Amount of Rain:	0.5mm
Amount of Snow:	0.00cm
Hours of Precipitation:	1 Hrs
Hours of Rain:	1 Hrs
Hours of Daylight:	12.5 Hrs

Wednesday Night

	Partly cloudy and warm with a thunderstorm
Low:	25°C
RealFeel®:	29°C
View the Hour-By-Hour™ Forecast
Winds:	E at 4km/h
Wind Gusts:	11 km/h
Min UV Index:	N/A
Thunderstorm Probability:	95%
Amount of Precipitation:	0.3mm
Amount of Rain:	0.3mm
Amount Snow:	0.00cm
Hours of Precipitation:	1 Hrs
Hours of Rain:	1 Hrs
Hours of Dark	11.5 Hrs

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News of Jalpaiguri 04/05/2010

Clash shuts Jalpaiguri

Full story: The Telegraph

Police deployed on Merchant Road in Jalpaiguri on Monday. Siliguri, April 19: An altercation snowballing into a clash between shop-owners and lawyers shut down Jalpaiguri town for most part of the day today.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Police deployed on Merchant Road in Jalpaiguri on Monday. (Biplab Basak) Siliguri, April 19: An altercation snowballing into a clash between shop-owners and lawyers shut down Jalpaiguri town for most part of the day today. After the clash this morning, the lawyers boycotted the court, while the shop-owners downed shutters. Five traders were arrested for allegedly assaulting the lawyers. Members of the business community had set up a blockade in front of Mukta Bhawan adjacent to the Jalpaiguri district court entrance on Merchant Road from 9am, demanding the arrest of lawyer Bappa Ghosh, who, they alleged, assaulted Bachchu Roy, a shopkeeper, last evening. When other traders came to Bachchu’s rescue, Bappa allegedly beat up some of them. The traders filed a complaint against the lawyer with Kotwali police. Around 10am today, Tapan Bhattacharya, the secretary of the Jalpaiguri Bar Association, persuaded the protesters to lift the blockade and entered the court. “Suddenly, stones began raining down on us from behind. Immediately a mob armed with lathis and sharp weapons attacked us and five of our members were injured,” Bhattacharya said. The Kotwali police picked up five shopkeepers from the spot. “Yesterday a lawyer badly assaulted shop-owner Bachchu Roy on Merchant Road. Despite a complaint, he was not arrested and instead five of our members were caught,” said Prantosh Deb, a member of the Merchant Road Byabsayee Samiti. The situation was brought under control after RAF was deployed in the area. Inspector-general of police (north Bengal) K.L. Tamta invited representatives from two sides for talks but could not break the deadlock. “We are trying to find a solution,” Tamta said. President of the Jalpaiguri Byabsayee Samiti Sadhan Bose said he had written to the bar association requesting the lawyers to settle the matter that had been kindled by a “trivial” altercation. Anand Kumar, the Jalpaiguri district police chief, said the situation was still tense but under control. “We have arrested five persons for blocking the road and talks are on with both sides to restore normality.” Get More Customers, Get More Income!!! With no day-to-day current of shoppers you cannot have reliable everyday income. It's not possible to get income if no one visits your website. You need customers to see your products, every day, 24 hours! Our company helps more than 30,000 customers get more visitors online. You will increase your sales by receiving thousands of real interested visitors to see your web-site. More Visitors... Advertise to over 10 million users across the globe. 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Get Better Rank...   Jalpaiguri HC bench ready OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Full story: The Telegraph  Calcutta, March 29: The state government has completed the infrastructure to open a Calcutta High Court circuit bench in Jalpaiguri and it can start functioning once the high court gives its final clearance, law minister Rabilal Moitra told the Assembly today. The minister was replying to a question by CPM MLA from Dhupguri, Lakshmikanta Roy, who wanted to know the latest position of the bench and the probable date of its inauguration. “The administration of the high court had detected 15 minor deficiencies in the infrastructure that had been put in place by the government for the proposed circuit bench. Most of the inadequacies pointed out by the court have been removed. We are now waiting for a final round of inspection by the court,” said Moitra. However, Bimal Chattarjee, chairman of the West Bengal Bar Council, said: “Advocates in general, except the lawyers of Siliguri, have no objection to the functioning of a circuit bench in Jalpaiguri. But at least three cases challenging the validity of setting up the bench in Jalpaiguri are pending before Calcutta High Court. These cases have to be disposed off first.” When a discussion on the matter was in progress, Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim intervened and wanted to know the latest situation. “There is a great demand for the circuit bench among the people of north Bengal. The bench should start operating if the infrastructure is ready,” said the Speaker. The state government had taken a portion of the Jalpaiguri zilla parishad office premises on rent for running the bench on a temporary basis. The government pays Rs 1 lakh as rent every month to the zilla parishad. Moitra, however, said the government had purchased 40 acres in Jalpaiguri for Rs 93 lakh to construct a new building for the bench. Lawyers of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri had fought for over a decade on where it should be located. The Supreme Court and the Centre had approved the bench to cater for the litigants in six districts of north Bengal — Malda, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and South and North Dinajpur. Moitra told the House that he had held a meeting with the high court administration last week. “The court has given an assurance that another round of inspection will be conducted very soon.” The minister said the government had spent Rs 37 lakh to set up the office and nearly Rs 48 lakh to arrange accommodation for the court officials and judges.

Tea auction back in Jalpaiguri Full story: The Telegraph
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Tea auction in progress at the Jalpaiguri centre on Tuesday. (Biplab Basak) Siliguri, July 14: After a year and three months, the sound of the gavel reverberated through the North Bengal Tea Auction Centre in Jalpaiguri today, courtesy the consistent efforts of the stakeholders of tea industry in the region. “In May last year, we had to close down the auctions after the 13th sale for virtually no inflow of tea from the estates and bought-leaf factories,” said Kamal Bhattacharjee, the chief executive officer of the NBTAC. “Since then, we have been trying heart and soul to resume auction at the centre.” Since its inception in February 2005, the NBTAC has been reeling from the “starvation” of tea. Added to it was the stiff competition from the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre, which continues to be the preference for planters since 1976. While last year the NBTAC could not hold auctions for 39 weeks — there are 52 sales in in a year — today’s sale (28th sale) was the first this year. During the 27 previous dates, there was no auction because of inadequate or no tea. “We auctioned 4,369kg of tea today. The sale was 100 per cent with an average price of Rs 101 per kg,” Bhattacharjee said. “Although the quantity put in auction was insignificant compared to other centres, it was good that we could at least resume the process. The price was also competitive in comparison to Siliguri.” While NBTAC sources revealed that the highest price today rose to Rs 108 and the lowest was Rs 95, officials at the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre spoke of similar figures. “At the 27th sale held (in Siliguri) on July 2, the average price was Rs 110.79. The figures of the 28th sale on July 10 are yet to be compiled. But given the trend, it can be said prices of high quality tea have dipped by Re 1 to Rs 3 while other teas fetched Rs 3 to Rs 5 less per kg,” a source said. Stakeholders associated with the NBTAC are, however, hopeful. At present, 148 buyers, 58 sellers and six brokers are registered with it. “We hope to see the sales rise in the future and the centre continues to remain functional, catering for the tea industry in the region,” said N.K. Basu, the principal adviser to Indian Tea Planters’ Association. Jalpaiguri duo on Gangstang Full story: The Telegraph   OUR CORRESPONDENT Jalpaiguri, Aug. 1: Bhaskar Das and Sujoy Bhowmik, members of Jalpaiguri Nature and Trekkers? Club (JNTC) team, made it to the summit of Gangstang (6,162 metres) on July 29. According to them the team members successfully reached the summit at 11.20 am. ?Everything was fine until we reached the base camp, where we encountered heavy rainfall. However, bad weather could hardly deter the enthusiasm of Bhaskar and Sujoy, who headed for the summit and set up two further camps at higher altitudes. Finally, in the afternoon of July 29, we received the news that they had made it to the summit,? said Badal Debnath, one of the four members of the team, from Keylong, a hill hamlet in Himachal Pradesh. The four-member team had started from Jalpaiguri on July 15. Led by Das, the fourth member of the team was Pinaki Sengupta. Their destination, Gangstang, is a Himalayan peak located in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. ?We hired guides and two of them, Harish Thakur and Tikam Bahadur, reached the summit with the team members. The victorious members of the team then came down to the base camp at Bilingnala, located close to Gangstang glacier at a height of 14,500 feet. We are waiting for them at Keylong,? Debnath said. ?This time, we had less than a month?s time to prepare for the expedition as the permission of Indian Mountaineering Foundation reached us late. But Bhaskar and Sujoy have made us proud,? said Pinaki, the other member of the team that has tasted success in expeditions to Fluted, Rudgaira and Kedardome.