www.facebook.com/himalayan.mirror ♦ A C C U R A T E B A L A N C E D ♦ C R E D I B L E VOL 9 No 114 RNI No: SIKENG/2006/18384 GANGTOK, MONDAY 05 JANUARY 2015 End of EIILM impasse in sight today 6 officials flee campus, students continue stir HM Report Gangtok, Jan 4: At least 6 EIILM university officials have fled the campus amid an indefinite strike launched by agitating students that entered thirteenth day on Sunday. Around 200 students pursuing various professional courses at the Budang, West Sikkim based private university today alleged the officials of fleeing from the varsity without paying heed to their demands. With their semester end exams to begin on 18 December already shelved, the students have been demanding an official response on the deadlock. Further, the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Controller of Exams have gone missing since the past week. “We have been left like orphans as there is no direct contact in the university campus. Moreover, the six officials fled in the evening despite the local SDM having issued a stay order. Neither the police nor the local administration bothered to stop from fleeing,” the students told the media Sunday. They further suspected that EIILM university is on the verge of shutting down, days after Himalayan Mirror reported on its promoters’ intension to wind up their education business from Sikkim. On the other hand, state HRD minister R.B.Subba seeking to end the two-week long impasse has called a meeting with the students and some faculty members at Gangtok on Monday. “We are hopeful that our problem will be sorted out at the earliest and our voices are heard,” they said. EIILM which began as a state recognised private university in 2006 is facing charges of fraudulently forging documents, records, issuing invalid certificates involving forgery and cheating lakhs of students and their socalled coordinators running their various off-campus institutions and study centres all over the country. Sikkim police have registered a case against the EIILM University on 2012 already submitted charge sheets in connection with fake certificate scandal. According to sources, the university is likely to close down and depart from Sikkim due to a severe legal blow from the Supreme Court. The Apex Court has turned down the varsity management’s plea for quashing all criminal cases and court proceedings they are facing in connection to several cases in the past. They had been chargesheeted in several cases relating to cheating and forgery in Namchi trial court and haven’t reported since the past 2 months. SKM braces for civic polls, forms panel HM Report Gangtok, Jan 4: Ending months of political inactivity, opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) party Sunday called a meeting of its leaders and resolved to take part in urban local body elections due for April-May later this year. Despite its president and Upper Burtuk MLA P.S.Tamang (Golay) remaining incommunicado since the past few months, the meeting also constituted a fresh coordination committee headed by K.P.Adhikari. The 14-member body has all 9 SKM legislators sans Golay and senior leaders like P.T.Gyamtso, T.N.Dhakal, Phuchung Bhutia and Taraman Rai as its advisors. The committee will steer the party till the civic body polls and also marks its second foundation day in a grand manner on 4 February. Former Gangtok Mayor K.N.Topgay has been entrusted the task of coordinating the party’s campaign for the municipal elections along with former Burtuk ward councillor Nilu Chettri. Sunday’s meeting was necessitated after SKM MLAs faced massive public outrage for remaining inactive within seven months of winning the assembly elections from 10 constituencies, claimed party insiders. Now, with its resolve to resurrect its support base in the run up to the civic polls, the party has is now looking ahead to resume its activities within the next few months. SKM MLAs have assured party workers that they are working in public interest and won’t compromise for petty issues. They also rubbished rumors doing rounds on their alleged links with the ruling party and sought support of all unsuccessful candidates in the past elections stating they had the mandate of at least of 40 percent people. The SKM party will also go for membership drive after its third foundation day celebration and relink with its active party workers and supporters to keep the party’s rural base intact before the 2017 Panchayat elections, they informed. 53 years on, Indian soldiers in icy Himalayas short of boots, ski masks New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS): It’s yesterday once more as 53 years on, Indian Army soldiers in the icy Himalayas, to go by a parliamentary panel’s report, suffer a crippling shortage of snow boots, ski masks and ammunition, among others - precisely the cause of the crushing defeat inflicted by the marauding Chinese forces in 1962. Parliament’s standing committee on defence, in its report tabled in the just concluded winter session, says there’s a shortfall of 447,000 ski masks, 217,388 high-ankle boots, 186,138 bulletproof jackets, 13,09,092 brown canvas rubber sole shoes with laces, and 126,270 mosquito nets. “The committee are surprised over the fact that such deficiencies of basic items of regular use, where no high-end technology is warranted, were allowed to exist,” the panel, headed by Major General B.C. Khanduri (retd), said. An Indian Army representative was quoted in the report as stating there is a “major deficiency in operation and training stock”, “inadequate capacity and quality issues of indigenous ammunition by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)” and “inadequate budget support for the Ammunition Roadmap”. Thus, the committee recommended that “necessary steps should be taken by the (defence) ministry so that ammunition in required quantity and of high quality is always available with army at any given time. Otherwise, in the opinion of the Committee, it would not be possible for the country to sustain a war for a longer period”. As for the non-procurement of 186,138 bullet proof jackets, sanctioned in 2009, the committee felt that the figure...must have soared in the last five years due to increase in number of new recruits and also the wearing down of the old stock”. “The committee are perturbed over the fact that such an important life saving device has not been purchased by the ministry, jeopardizing the lives of thousands of soldiers,” it said. On the non-performance of the indigenous 5.56mm INSAS rifle that was meant as a replacement for the standard-issue AK-47, the panel found it “shocking” that even in 53 years, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had not been able to develop “a world class basic product like a rifle”. The committee also expressed “surprise” that the funds for raising a mountain strike corps (some 30,000 personnel) was to be taken from the army’s budget and there was no separate allocation. “The committee are surprised to note that for raising of this Corps, no separate allocation has been made in this year’s budget,” the panel said. “As informed, an amount of Rs.5,000 crore has been earmarked for it, but it is not over and above the actual budget allocated and the army has been asked to raise this corps out of its own budget,” it said. The report added that only war wastage reserves were being utilised for raising the corps, terming this impractical. “It seems very impractical and incongruous that a new corps is being raised with war wastage reserves. The committee feels that the ministry do away with its proclivity of ad-hoc planning and provide adequate budgetary support commensurate with the requirement of the mountain strike corps,” it said. To be based at Panagarh in West Bengal, the mountain strike corps is meant to counter potential threats from China. It will be the army’s fourth strike corps after the Pakistan-central formations based at Hissar, Ambala and Bhopal. The panel also pointed out the lack of funds for the forces, and asked the government not to use the economic situation as an excuse for not increasing allocations. “Although defence expenditure is increasing in absolute terms over the years, the percentage increase... since 2000-2001 has not been consistent,” the report said. “The committee are least convinced with the reply of the ministry that the allocation for defence expenditure has been constrained by the overall economic and fiscal situation. Such a reply is routine in nature and as per (our) view, the defence of the country must have precedence over other aspects and the ministry of finance should prioritize the entire budgetary allocation appropriately so that there remains no dearth of funds for the services and the security of the country is never compromised for want of money,” the panel added. India on July 10 hiked its defence budget by 12.43 percent, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocating Rs.2,29,000 crore ($38.15 billion) in the budget proposals for 2014-15 that he presented in the Lok Sabha. This is Rs.25,373 crore over the Rs.203,672 crore allocated for 2013-14 and Rs.5,000 crore over the Rs.224,000 crore allocated in the interim budget for 2014-15 presented ahead of the April-May general election. GRC to march from Darjeeling to Gangtok for Merger HM Correspondent Siliguri, Jan 4: The Gorkha Rastriya Congress (GRC) Sunday announced to organize a long march from Darjeeling to Gangtok demanding merger of Darjeeling and Sikkim, an issue that has been overlooked by other political parties in the hills. The party feels that two movements for Gorkhaland carried out separately one by the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the other by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has proved that separation from Bengal is a tougher as ever. “The easiest way for separation is merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim,” Premoskar Blon, the GRC spokesperson told a press conference here at Siliguri Journalists’ Club today. “Historically, Darjeeling district belonged to Sikkim and the merger is the most feasible way out for separation,” he added. The GRC will hold a public meeting at Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling on January 7 that coincided with the party foundation day. The party will also organize a long march from Darjeeling to Gangtok the capital of Sikkim in three legs beginning in middle of January, Blone said. The first leg of March would be from Darjeeling to Rangpo the Bengal-Sikkim border. The second and third leg of the march would be from Rangpo to Singtam and from Singtam to Gangtok. Parents challenge overdose death HM Correspondent Siliguri, Jan 4: The parents of Subarna Lama admitted in a Kolkata hospital due to suspected drug overdose have sensed foul play and have demanded through investigation. Subarna from Kurseong is in critical condition while Sumantika Banerjee of Jalpaiguri died after they were found unconscious inside a room where they were staying as paying guests. Subarna had completed her engineering from Kalyani Engineering College in 2014 while Sumantika was the MSC first year student at Presidency University. Sumantika and Subarna were found unconscious on Sunday morning after police broke open the door of the room where they were staying as paying guests under Muchipara police station in central Kolkata. Doctors declared Sumantika brought dead while Subarna is fighting for her life. The parents of both Sumantika and Subarna have rejected the police version and have suspected foul play. They have demanded a through enquiry. Durga Lama and Sanjay Lama the parents of Subarna said that their daughter was a simple girl. A resident of Spring Site under Kurseong police station in Darjeeling district, Subarna was in Kolkata for further studies. Durga and Sanjay who are the workers at Castleton Tea Estate said “Subarna had gone to Kolkata in mid of October after staying at home for one month.” On Saturday evening she spoke over phone with the parents. “We did not notice any abnormality while talking with Subarna,” said her mother Durga. “We strongly doubts foul play and want a through investigation,” said Sanjay. Sumantika’s father Debasisis Banerjee who works with LIC said that last night Sumantika called him up and she asked him to wake her up at 7 am today. “When I called her this morning Sumantika did not pick up the call and finally I called up the land lady after one hour,” said Sumantika’s father. Sumantika was studying in MSC first year at Presidency University after passing BSC honours in Physics from the same University. She was at home from holidays and reached Kolkata only on Saturday morning by Darjeeling Mail. AEs authorised valuers for vigilance cases HM Report Gangtok, Jan 4: The State Government has designated engineers in the rank of Assistant Engineers and above as Government Authorised Valuers for the purpose of carrying out valuation of assets (including roads, buildings, structures, plant and machinery etc.), covering components of civil, electrical mechanical and other technical nature, during enquiry and investigation of the cases of Sikkim Vigilance Police. With this notification, the state government can depute engineers above AE to Vigilance Police. The rule comes into force with retrospective effect starting 01 January, 2012. The government has fur- ther authorized Sikkim Vigilance Police to engage the services of engineers from any State Government department for the said task of valuation. The Notification was published on 16 December 2014. Before this notification, the State Vigilance Police was using the services of retired technocrats for assessment during enquiry and investigation of cases. CMYK CMYK www.himalayanmirror.net 2.00