HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     Aug 30-Sept 5, 2014

Blog: jigmenkazisikkim.blogspot.com

BJP-SKM alliance to take on SDF for Assembly by-polls

Its RN Chamling vs Bikash Basnet

SKM President PS Golay with BJP President Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday.

Even before the electoral battle has begun the Opposition has scored a major victory. In a move that is likely to set the agenda for future politics in the State, the BJP has forged an alliance with the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), which has 10 MLAs in the 32-member House.

Bikash Basnet

SKM’s Bikash Basnet is now the BJP’s candidate for the Rangang-Yangang by-polls of the Assembly seat vacated by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, who contested and won from two seats in the recent Assembly polls.

Basnet’s main contender is Chamling’s younger brother RN Chamling, who is contesting as an independent. Most people believe that the ruling party’s bid to field Kumari Mangar as its official candidate is “a drama.”

RN Chamling

Former Lok Sabha MP Nakul Rai has questioned Chamling’s failure to take disciplinary action against his brother for filing his paper. Rai says Rup Narayan “is an integral part of SDF.”

Significantly, SKM chief and MLA PS Goley along with his MLAs on Wednesday met BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi, where the two parties discussed ways to “root out corruption” and fight for “restoration of democracy” in the State.

Basnet is expected to give a tough fight to Chamling’s brother. In any case, for the BJP-SKM combine its a “heads I win, tails you lose” kind of a situation.

Election to Rangang-Yangang constituency is slated for September 13.

Talks on for Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet: China

China’s government in Tibet claims that the Dalai Lama is in talks with Beijing through “personal envoys”, but the talks are only about the possibility of his return to Tibet.

Wu Yingjie, the Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee for Tibet, told a group of Indian journalists in Lhasa on Sunday that the talks with the Dalai were “ongoing and always smooth, but we are discussing only his future, not Tibet’s.”

Wu said many Tibetan leaders had chosen to return to Tibet in recent years, giving the example of a senior Lama in Chengdu who returned from Switzerland, The Hindu reported.

“All Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama and the people around him, can return if they accept Tibet and Taiwan as part of China, and give up ‘splittist’ efforts,” he said.

When asked about the political talks with envoys from Dharamsala, that broke down after nine rounds in 2010, he termed their demands unacceptable. “How can the Dalai Lama demand that China withdraw its army from Tibet?” asked  Wu. “The army is a symbol of our state. Will India agree to withdraw its Army from Arunachal Pradesh?” he said.

Wu also rejected the proposal by the Prime Minister of the self-styled “Tibetan government in exile”, Lobsang Sangay, for a larger region to be included in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Himalayan Airlines plans maiden Kathmandu-Lhasa flight in October

Himalayan Airlines, a company newly forged by China's Tibet Airlines and two Nepali companies, is scheduled to launch its maiden flight on October 28, said the Chinese shareholder here on Wednesday.

The joint venture will launch direct flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa and Kathmandu to Chengdu using aircraft including Airbus 319 and Airbus 320.

The new airline was set up in partnership with Nepal's HIF (Himalaya Infrastructure Fund) Aviation Investment Company and Yeti World Investment Company, with the two firms jointly holding 51% of the stakes in the joint venture and the rest owned by Tibet Airlines, Xinhua reported.

The agreement among the three companies was signed here on Monday. Cheng Yiru, chairman of Himalayan Airlines, said the new company has plans to buy 15 Airbus 320 in the next five years. It is expected to create over 1,000 jobs in Nepal.

Nepal has been Tibet's biggest trade partner since 2006, accounting for 58.5% of Tibet's total US$3.3 billion in foreign trade in 2013.

A train comes to Shigatse from Lhasa for the first time

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has formally opened its Lhasa-Shigatse track to passengers. With the inauguration of the 253-kilometer track recently, the high-elevation railway has reached closer to Nepal. “We plan to extend the line up to Kerung in the long run,” said Yang Chu Lin, an official at the Shigatse Railway Service.

The second largest Tibetan city of Shigatse is about 540 kilometers from Kerung (Kyirong), the nearest Chinese town from Nepal, while the bordering Nepali district of Rasuwa is 35 kilometers away from there. Kathmandu is 110 kilometers from the district.

Carrying 800 passengers and two dozen journalists, the first train that departed from Lhasa at 9 a.m. on Saturday arrived in Shigatse at noon, traveling at an average speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

“The train service saves time and money of passengers,” said Chhedung, an official at the Shigatse Foreign Affairs Department. “The service will prove a boon for the Shigatse prefecture in boosting tourism and economic development.”

The new train has cut travel time between the two cities by half. A bus takes six hours to travel the distance. The train fare, 45 yuan, is half that of a bus.

“The extension of the railway further to Kerung and to the Nepali Capital could benefit Nepal hugely,” said Hari Prasad Basyal, Nepali Consular in Lhasa. “Nepali leadership should consider seriously about constructing railways in the country.”

‘Wonder Herb’ discovered in Ladakh

In the high hostile peaks of the Himalayas where sustaining life is a challenge in itself, Indian scientists say they have found a "wonder herb" which can regulate the immune system, help adapt to the mountain environment and, above all, protect from radioactivity.

Rhodiola, a herb found in the cold and highland climate, has led India's leading scientists to wonder if it is the end to the quest for "Sanjeevani", the mythical herb that gave renewed life to Ram's brother Lakshman in the epic Ramayana.

Locally called 'Solo' in Ladakh, the qualities of Rhodiola were largely unknown so far. The leafy parts of the plant were used as vegetable by locals. However, research by the Leh-based Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) is exploring the therapeutic values of the herb that shows it can do wonders for the troops posted in difficult high altitude areas like the 5,400-metres-high Siachen glacier.

"Rhodiola is a wonder plant that has immunomodulatory (enhancing immune), adaptogenic (adapting to difficult climatic condition) and radio-protecting abilities due to presence of secondary metabolites and phytoactive compounds unique to the plant," R.B. Srivastava, Director, DIHAR, told IANS.

Srivastava said the herb can mitigate the effects of gamma radiation used in bombs in biochemical warfare.

"A concerted effort involving conservation, propagation and sustainable utilisation of this unique medicinal herb will surely result in rediscovery of Sanjeevani for the troops deployed in extreme climatic condition along Himalayan frontiers," said the director.

The Leh-based lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the world's highest agro-animal research laboratory, has been researching on this wonder plant for more than a decade.

"While its adaptogenic qualities can help the soldiers in adjusting to the low pressure-low oxygen environment, the plant has also been found to have anti-depressant and appetizer properties," said Srivastava.

Editorial

ARMY TAKEOVER

Junta Raj In Neighbourhood

The army chief  General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who deposed Thailand’s civilian government three months ago, has been selected as the kingdom’s prime minister. A handpicked legislature stacked with military officers held a vote on Thursday to select the country’s prime minister. This week, Pakistan's powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif intervened publicly in the country's political crisis, agreeing to mediate between the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and protesters demanding his resignation. The move follows a backroom political deal that government officials privately said ceded important powers over defense and foreign policy from the government to the military. The military's political intervention underscored the weakness of Pakistan's democracy just 16 months after the country's first democratic transition raised hopes that the civilian authorities would assert themselves over the country's long dominant military. In Burma, Shwe Mann, leader of the army-backed ruling party, is unlikely to yield easily to the demand that Aung San Suu Kyi be allowed to contest the ensuing parliamentary polls that people looking forward to. Presently, Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from becoming president.

Nationalised banks organise camps for Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme

 As part of the financial inclusion mission that was launched throughout the country yesterday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , the State Bank of India, the Lead Bank in the State of Sikkim,  organised a Mega Camp  here yesterday for opening Savings bank Accounts.

Similar Mega Camps were also organized at Singtam and the District headquarters at Namchi, Gyalshing and Mangan. These camps are being organized by Canara Bank, HDFC, Central Bank of India and SBI respectively, according to Convener, State Level Banker's Committee of the SBI’s Regional Office.

While Chief Minister Pawan Chamling launched the programme here in the morning, in the evening Governor Shrinivas Patil was the chief guest at the mega camp function.

 The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana lies at the core of the Prime Minister's development philosophy of  “Sab Ka Sath Sab Ka Vikas”.  As the nation move rapidly forward in this knowledge era with modern banking and financial systems, it is untenable that a large majority of  population is deprived of basic banking facilities, a release of the SBI said.

The vast majority of the poor and the marginalized who are trapped in a perpetual cycle of exclusion and deprivation need to be addressed. In order to break that cycle - the Jan Dhan Yojana is envisaged as the first step in that direction. With a bank account, every household gains access to banking and credit facilities. This will enable them to come out of the grip of moneylenders, manage to keep away from financial crises caused by emergent needs, and most importantly, benefit from a range of financial products.

Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, every account holder gets a RuPay debit card with a Rs 1,00,000/- accident cover and will be covered by insurance and pension products at later stage, the release added.

OPEN LETTER TO CM ON FAKE ‘SIKKIM SUBJECTS’ ISSUE

To

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Sikkim

Mintokgang

Gangtok-737101

East Sikkim

Dated: 25/08/2014

Sub:   Open Memorandum vis-à-vis Purification of Sikkim Subject

          Certificate / COIs

Hon’ble Sir,

Purify Sikkim Subject Certificate (SSC) Register:
The sacred document which was submitted / surrendered to Home Ministry, Govt. of India during the time of Sikkim annexation/merger in 1975 was Sikkim Subject Certificate (SSC) register on the basis of which, all the Sikkimese had become Indian.  Hope a copy of the same SSC register is lying with the Government of Sikkim today.

“As per estimates published by a local paper, in Sikkim we have:"

1. Fake Certificate of Identification (C.O.I) holders = 1, 19, 289
2. Fake Sikkim Subject certificate (S.S.C) holders    =     31, 180
                                                                           Total  =1, 50, 469
Total of 1, 50, 469 “fraudster” or illegal and fake documents.

What we think today is;

       It is not only important but sense urgent and need of the hour to purify the SSC register in the interest of our future generation, else talking big about protection and safeguard of Sikkim and the Sikkimese will become a futile exercise that would imminently jeopardise our own posterity.

 This further becomes most urgent, significant and relevant given the present government of Sikkim’s priorities and insistence to the Sikkim Subject Certificate /COI on all its policies and programmes as being announced or formulated particularly with the inauguration of its present term of governance, which is most appreciable gesture on its part.

In fact, every State and government has the sacred responsibility of safeguarding its native people. The stand taken by the Government if really implemented both in letter and spirit, it will rejuvenate the effect and significance of SSC and COI and would go a long way in ensuring the socio-politico and economic state of the Sikkimese at-large. This shall certainly curtail the ever increasing influx thereby establishing a sense of pride and security amongst our Sikkimese people. If not, the illegal SSC/COI holders will get multiplied and one fine day original Sikkimese will be kicking out from their home land. So it’s now or never.

Therefore, we appeal the political parties of Sikkim to rise above politics. We don’t mind to come out openly in support of the Government if it’s really committed and wanted to eliminate, reject or withdraw the illegal Sikkim Subject Certificate/C.O.I. issued so far.

Political parties in Sikkim should understand that unless this is realized, whatever programmes/policies they come out with will never achieve its target which would only then be meant for securing a mere vote bank and accompanying politics.

Let’s accomplish this and posterity shall salute you and our generation with awe & veneration.

Submitted in the interest of Sikkim and the Sikkimese please

Yours Sincerely

 Tseten Tashi Bhutia, Ex-MLA

TNA Principal to get national award from Prez

Tashi Namgyal Academy Principal, Kuldip Singh Heran, has been selected for this year's National Award. The prestigious award will be presented to the TNA Principal by President Pranab Mukherjee on Teachers'Day in New Delhi on September 5.
This reward and recognition of the school, named after Sikkim's former King, Chogyal Tashi Namgyal, comes at a time when TNA is preparing for the celebration of its 50th anniversary.

Kuldip Singh Heran

Sikkim’s unique festival of Pang Lhabsol

This year’s traditional Pang Lhabsol is being observed at Tsuklakhang monastery in Gangtok. Lamas of Pemayangtse monastery and some lay people will take part in the celebrations of the worship of Sikkim Guardian Deities, which include Sikkim’s unique pangtoed dance.

This unique festival is also being observed all over the State with pomp and gaiety, particularly at Rabong in South Sikkim.(pix below)

FASHION

Vanity Fair honours Bhutan’s fashionable monarch

The 2014 Vanity Fair International Best-Dressed List includes all the usual suspects: Kate Middleton, Cate Blanchett and Pharrell Williams, to name a few. But among all the obvious choices, there's at least one name on there that we didn't expect to see.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan made this year's cut under the "Originals" category. And upon further investigation, he's actually a pretty obvious choice. From mixing prints to incorporating bold color, it's no wonder Bhutan is one of the happiest countries on earth: their 31-year-old king has got it going on.In fact, the glossy has been privy to his majesty's style for a while. He made the list back in 2011, too.

Pang Lhabsol celebrations down the years