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KALIMPONG, 10 MARCH: TheAll Bengal Electricity ConsumerAssociation [ABECA], Kalimpongbranch, bolstering its ranks with lo-cal residents took out a rally heretoday which culminated with thesubmission of a memorandum ad-dressed to the West Bengal StateElectricity Board [WBSEB]. Theiragenda - to highlight customer dis-satisfaction with the power situa-tion in this subdivisional town.

Local complaints ranging fromlow voltage to high billing and neg-ligent staff were voiced by ABECAand supported by the KalimpongConsumer Association.

Representing local users,Kalimpong’s ABECA members ledby their president, Prof. AmritKhaling, alongwith Mr. Roy of theKalimpong Consumer Associationmet the Assistant Engineer[WBSEB), SK Gupta, regarding thegrievances of local people.

Although dissatisfaction with theElectricity Board’s services are fairlycommon, the Wednesday meetingfocused more on some “social cases.”

The delegation made specialmention of gross negligence dis-played by the Board at nearbySourini where high tension wireshumming with some 11,000 wattsof electricity are propped up withbamboo poles! Also brought to thefore was the continuing low volt-age problem at the Himalayan Chil-dren Institute, an orphanage fortribal kids, at Tirpai.

Individual cases of indiscrimi-nate and inconsistent billing werealso highlighted at the meeting andthe case of Deo Datta Chettri andShyamlal Sunwar presented as casestudies. Both are reported to havebeen served inflated bills despitelow meter readings and had theirpower supply snapped before thematter could be addressed.

The public representatives atthe meet also pointed out the ironyof BPL families receiving highelectricity bills.

High emotions marked themeeting which ended with an as-surance from the AE that he wouldtake up the matter and the high-lighted complaints with the zonalmanager and come up with imme-diate solutions.

KARAN SHAH

HIGH TENSION OVERBAMBOO POLES!

KPG CONSUMERS TAKE WBSEB TO TASK

DESIST OR LEAVE: SDF HIGH-COMMAND GIVES GM RAI1 WEEK’S NOTICE TO END ANTI-PARTY ACTIVITIES

SDF POLITICAL

AFFAIRS

COMMITTEE

SAYS NO TO

ALLIANCE

WITH BJP AT

STATE LEVEL

1400 &110

GANGTOK, 10 March: Thefive hours that the ruling SikkimDemocratic Front’s Political Af-fairs Committee spent in a closed-door meeting today at the ChiefMinister and party president,Pawan Chamling’s official resi-dence, Mintokgang, today re-solved some pressing issues andtook some hard decisions.

The committee, chaired byMr. Chamling, is reported to havedecided to give one week’s no-tice to Gorkha Apex Committeechairperson, GM Rai, and his sup-porters within the party to desistfrom indulging in “anti-party” ac-tivities or face expulsion.

When asked what exactlyconstituted these “anti-party” ac-tivities, a senior SDF leader in-formed that Mr. Rai’s continuedand open opposition to SDF’s

support for the 12 seats reserved forthe BLs in Sikkim “could be seenas an example of anti-party activ-ity.” Mr. Rai’s statements that hewould contest the forthcoming LokSabha elections as an independentcandidate if he was denied a partyticket is also being viewed as an

overtly confrontationist stand bysome. It remains to be seen howMr. Rai responds to this notice andwhat impact it has on the party.

Another “important” decisiontaken at today’s meeting was toturn down Bharatiya Janata Par-ty’s offer for alliance in Sikkim.Only a day ahead, central BJPleaders Sunil Shastri and PyarelalKhandelwal had called on Mr.Chamling and suggested an alli-ance at the state level and possi-ble seat-sharing. Mr. Chamlinghad told them that the mattercould be decided only by his par-ty’s Political Affairs Committee.

The Committee has now“unanimously” decided against analliance at the state-level, but as-sured to continue with its supportto the BJP at the national level.

Senior party sources reveal thatthe PAC meeting also “took stock”of the Tharpu incident which saw

a NOW REPORT

turn to pg 4

THE NUMBER OFSP TABLETS AND

PHENSEDYLBOTTLES A

“SUPPLIER” WASCAUGHT HOARDING

IN JORETHANG

a NOW REPORT

JORETHANG, 10 March: Cops here, led by P.I. ChundiChopel of Jorethang thana, conducted a surprise raid onpremises suspected of supplying drugs for abuse andcame up a cache of contraband that must have left themshocked. A whopping 110 bottles of Phensedyl and 1,400tablets of Spasmoproxyvon were uncovered in posses-sion of one Uttam Gupta in a raid conducted on his shopand residence.

The raid was conducted at round 3:30 pm today in-form sources and the drugs discovered under UttamGupta’s bed in his residence on the second floor of thebuilding where he also runs a juice shop. Senior policeofficials of the district maintain that the shop is just a frontto peddle the drugs.

Speaking to NOW! from Namchi, SP, South, MS Tuli,confirmed news of the raid and the cache seized and de-scribed the modus operandi followed by PI Chopel to nabthe “pusher.” A decoy was reportedly sent ahead of theraiding team to confirm that Uttam dealt in drugs and hada stock with him.

“When the decoy returned with a bottle of Phensedyl,the team from Jorethang thana launched the raid and un-covered the stockpiles of drugs that the accused had in his

turn to pg 5

Forest quarter

lost to freak fireFROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

DARJEELING, March 10,2004: A single-storeyed woodenstructure was razed to theground in a fire at Ghoom, at9:30 pm last night. The woodenstructure, which was a ForestDepartment Quarter, was situ-ated on the approach road toTiger Hill. It was vacant at thetime of the fire. The fire alsojumped to the neighbouringtrees and the undergrowth. Bythe time the Fire Brigade wasinformed and reached the spotthe wooden structure was com-pletely gutted. However, no lossof life has been reported andcause of the fire has not yet beenascertained.

2; NOW! ; 11 March, 2004

C M Y K

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

The new year would bring happinessto the hearts of our Chinese and Tibetan people. This festival would last

three days and nights, and the greetings andrejoicing would make any man’s heart burst.I remember one such time.

On the night before the festival, my fa-ther worked very hard, for he had to preparethe cakes and sweets and all the other things,which would be demanded the next day. Healso prepared our food for the morning sothat we should not have to cook next day, tomake it a real holiday. That same night wepasted outside the door, one on each side,two long sheets of red paper on which werewritten in Chinese the customary auspiciousHappy New Year’s words. Then we hung aChinese lantern over the door and placed anearthen pot on the ground at the door side inwhich we stuck incense sticks which werekept burning. Inside the house our bedroomwas decorated with pictures of our LordConfucious and Hou Tzu [Master Monkey],the Indian monkey god. A plate with variousfruits was placed before the picture of LordConfucious.

Our dining room faced east and throughopen windows a pleasant cool breeze blew.

We could see the Chinese house oppositemade beautiful with many paper lanternshung from the doors and windows; for thathouse belonged to a rich Chinese trader. Wetwo, father and son, were only poor, but in a

way we were also rich, for it did not matterthat we could only decorate our house poorlyif we could decorate our hearts with happi-ness. There is no need for nice things in thehouse, but we need them in the heart.

Next morning, Iwoke up at five throughthe noise of crackers be-ing fired, and I asked my

father to allow me also to fireone. This he did, but firstwe knelt down before our

great teacher Confucious togive him our greetings. Thisday we closed our shop butwe left the door a little open

for any guest who mightcome. At seven o’clock my

friend Bersi came to greet my fa-ther and me. Our custom is that

when children come to bringtheir greetings they aregiven a bag of red paper in

which there are copper coins.After Bersi’s visit my father and I

went to the other houses to give ourgreetings. In all the Chinese houses

where I went I received eight annas or a

rupee wrapped up in red paper.The Tibetans follow a different custom.

The boys or girls take a round cane basketfilled with barley paste on the top of whichare one or more fruits and burning incensesticks. So they go from house to house to givetheir new year’s greetings and to receivepresents. They also carry a pot with changand, when they come to a house, offer to thehouseholder a morsel of the barley paste toeat and a few drops of the chang to drink,and those who accept these gifts put money,mostly copper, in the basket.

During the day my father and I went tothe Chinese temple near the Tibetan monas-tery. On the road many people could be seengoing to the monastery to offer oil to the tem-ple lamps or incense or flags to the local god.This god lives in front of the monastery. Therewere mostly women and only a few men;many were turning the prayer wheels on thewalls of the monastery.

We went the next day again to the monas-tery, for a Cham was to be held there, the bigdevil dance which is shown only once a year.There were several hundreds of people, men,women and children, seated on the ground round

Chinese New Year & Tibetan Rituals in Kalimpong

Artist, filmmaker, keen

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with international maga-

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It is hard to pin Twan Yang with

any one vocation.

Twan Yang came to Sikkim in the

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The 2nd Spring Book Fair,which concluded here today,not only delighted book lov-

ers but also brought to light somevery pertinent issues concerning thewritten word and their publicationin particular.

While it was hosted with the ex-press idea of inculcating the read-ing habit, especially in students, theBook Fair, organized by SikkimAkademi, also provided a platformof sorts to booksellers and publish-ers in the State to voice their griev-ances. The closing ceremony wasalso the time for the organizers andpublishers to indulge in some seri-ous retrospection.

Noted Nepali writer and secre-tary, Sikkim Akademi, Sanu Lama,while regretting the lack of trainedlibrarians in the State, expressed theneed for more libraries and trainedlibrarians to further the cause ofbooks and reading.

The Book Fair saw the partici-pation of big publishing houses likeSahitya Akademi, New Delhi, Na-tional Book Trust, New Delhi, Ox-ford University Press, Calcutta,Orient Longman, National Libraryand other well-known publishersand booksellers from West Bengaland Sikkim like Jainco, NirmanPrakashan, Rachna Books and Pub-lications, Good Books, Alphabetsand Janapaksha Prakashan.

While retrospecting, ArunKunjila, representing the SahityaAkademi, New Delhi, said that over

the years, the region had seen a tre-mendous increase in readership.He, however, asked the organisersto invite all the educational institu-tions, business establishments andorganisations in the State to partici-pate in the Fair.

“A greater participation wouldcertainly add more value to fairslike this,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of thebooksellers, Raman Shresta, pro-prietor, Rachna Books and Publi-cations, decided to raise a numberof issues, such as book piracy andover pricing of books, which de-manded the immediate attention ofthe organisers as well as the Stateadministration.

“Book piracy is not only kill-ing the business but is also hurtingreadership in a big way. These days,a pirated copy of an internationalbest-seller can be picked up as eas-ily from a footpath stall as inswanky bookstore. When you buya pirated copy, you only look at itsprice but don’t realise that you havedeprived the author of his royaltiesand the publishers and the booksell-ers of their profits. This should bediscouraged by all means. We haveto be serious about creating aware-ness on book piracy,” he said.

While admitting that books,especially foreign publications, areastronomically prices these days,Mr. Shresta informed that speciallow-price Indian editions are nowavailable in the market. “All itneeds is a little awareness amongthe readers,” he said.

Mr. Shresta also had somestrong reservations over the over-

pricing of books by some publish-ers and booksellers.

“A very popular book, theSikkim Saga is priced at Rs. 175,but the publishers have deliberatelynot printed the price on the bookcover. The book is sold at placesfor as much as Rs. 450. We have towake up to such malpractices in thepublishing business and the con-cerned authorities should take someconcrete steps to stop this in theState,” he said.

The issue of income tax andsales tax deduction from booksell-ers in the State was also taken upby Mr. Shresta. Book fairs are ex-empted from Income tax in the restof the country making Sikkim, per-haps the only State where Sales Taxis levied on books sold at such ven-ues. Sikkim Akademi should lookinto this matter in the interest ofhealthy growth of book trade in theState,” he said.

Mr. Shresta also spoke on theneed for a proper forum for book-sellers in the State.

“A common consortium ofbooksellers in the State is the needof the hour, if we are to further thecause of the written word,” headded.

Important observations, nodoubt, but one wonders at the util-ity of a consortium of booksellersin a State where readership is onthe wane. Or will the Book Fair ini-tiative succeed in spring-boardingreadership in a region where thetelevision has become the preferredmedium for both information andentertainment?

�

Corrupting The FutureAgreed, no one really cares for corruption. It’s there, it makes peo-ple pliable and helps speed things up. But for whom? The creamylayer keeps skimming more and more on the lame excuse thatcorruption has now become “institutionalised” and is thus una-voidable. The poorer and the weaker among us are still stone-walled by the monolithic babudom that ties every file up in redtape till it eventually gets lost and has to be “greased” out.OK, let’s even set that debate aside for later. Let’s accept groundrealities and see whether something acceptable to all sides canbe worked out. Let’s begin with what Corruption means. Corrup-tion, as we know it, is the use of public office for private gain. Theprevention of Corruption Act, 1988 defines bribery as: a publicservant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in re-spect of an official act; a public servant obtaining a valuable thing,without consideration from the person concerned in proceedingor the business transacted by such a public servant; and crimi-nal misconduct. Now that we know the legal pegging of corrup-tion, let’s understand what powers a bureaucrat holds. Franklyspeaking, awarding supplies unannounced and fixing tenders forminor works can be accepted as the spoils of power. So long asa road is repaired, no matter how tackily, the people don’t mind.It is however this immediate perception and response to corrup-tion that threatens the future. When people rave and rant aboutthe shoddy work the contractor did of the jhora repairs in theirarea, they lose sight of the bigger machinisations at work whichimpact all our futures more. The people’s representative and thebureaucrats have a say not just in the award of contracts, butalso in long-term strategising which will remain with Sikkim longafter the officers are retired and the politicians rejected. We arestill haunted by many ghosts released decades back and stillrefuse to acknowledge that there are some decisions that shouldnever be slipped through in consideration of private gains. Toomuch remains at stake than just a plunder of the State treasury.Public representatives have to update themselves better on thefunctioning of their departments so that they can see through theovertly subservient, but subtly dextrous manoeuvering of pro-posals by their officers to pass on years of Sikkim’s future intothe hands of those who have culled their favour.It would be stating the obvious, but people need to understandthat it is not the politician who forces corruption, but the bureau-crat who teaches him the ropes who is the culprit here. Lookaround, how many prospering former politicians do we have inour midst? And how many still affluent retired babus?

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GANGTOK: Imported pavers andvibratory road rollers laid downthick bituminous carpet and NH31A was never the same again. Butno such magic seems to be in storefor all the arterial roads of therajdhani. Roads in Gangtok are amess and this is one thing that allthe residents agree upon.

Whether it is DevelopmentArea, Syari,Bahai SchoolRoad orArithang, eachand every residential areaof the capital suffers from a dis-ease called “road-repair” with nocure seemingly available in thenear future.

These under-repair roads poseenormous problems for the arearesidents, who are told to just grinand bear it since it’s all for theirown good.

But for how long? Most ofthese roads were dug up sometime

last year and have remained in thatstate for months. Mud lies piled upalong the sides narrowing the widthof the road, making it difficult forpedestrians to walk.

“The roads are so narrow thatonly one vehicle can pass at a time.When a person faces a vehiclehead on, what do you expect us todo? Jump off the Road?” asks anangry Ongela Bhutia, of Develop-ment Area.

He has reason to be angry, asdo so many others who suffer simi-lar indignities from clothessplashed with dirty water to walk-ing through slush and mud.

“There is no point in dressingup nicely, because you just can’t besure in what condition you’ll reachoffice,” complains Usha, fromArithang, a teacher in a government

school.The Arithang

road, like so manyothers still awaitsc o m p l e t i o n .

While the road leading down is bro-ken in many places and full of pot-holes that become extremely dan-gerous at night, largely becausethere is no electricity on moststretches. A large portion of theroad has also been dug up for somemysterious reason, which no oneexplains adequately.

“As if the dozens of stray dogsthat roam this stretch at night,frightening you with their barkingand chasing are not enough, wealso have to grope in the dark,

bending low to look for deceptiveholes,” says Saraswati, who worksin a bank.

But pedestrians are not the onlyone at the receiving end. Drivershave a rough time too. Narrow roadspace makes driving difficult andmany drivers complain of cars get-ting stuck in the slush, forcing themto service the vehicles more often.

The problems are many. Butwhy do the exist? Why is it takingthe department so long to completethese under repair roads? NOW!spoke to PS Basnett, Secretary,Roads & Bridges, and this is whathe had to say: “The work of repair-ing roads was awarded in Januray.The work includes repairing, car-peting and making of drains of allthe eight subdivision stations. Thework in Syari has started and thedrains are being made.”

Even if we leave aside the wis-dom of giving the entire contractof repairing all Gangtok roads toone contractor, why did it take solong to pass the tender?

According to Mr. Basnett, thefunds to construct roads come fromcentral organizations and theymostly fund national highways. So,money was scarce for these arterialroads. “It is only recently that thestate government has forcibly in-cluded the construction of theseroads in the state plan,” he informs.

Whatever may be the officialreasons, as far as the public is con-cerned they want the roads repairedand they want it now.

‘ROAD REPAIR’ DISEASESPREADS IN GANGTOK

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GANGTOK: A meeting was con-vened by the Dr. Shova KantiThegim [Lepcha] Memorial Trusthere on 9 March for the purposeof discussion and necessary actionto be initiated regarding its Awardfor 2004.

The meeting was held at theTrust’s office on PNGS Road andattended by all the trustees. TheAward is in pursuance of the aimsand objectives of the Trust to un-dertake activities for greater coop-eration, encouragement and promo-tion and development of Nepalilanguage and literature in the state.It carries a cash award of Rs 7,001,a Tamra Patra and a certificate and

is presented annually on 4 July, thebirth anniversary of late Dr. ShovaKanti Thegim [Lepcha].

The meeting resolved that onlythose books falling under the cat-egories of novels, stories or collec-tion of short stories, poetry, criti-cism and plays written in Nepalilanguage will be eligible for theaward. The writers should belongto Sikkim and their presentations

should have been published be-tween 2000 to 2002. No limit hasbeen set on the number entries awriter can submit for considerationof the award.

The Trust has further requestedall intending writers to submit fourcopies of their books on or before4 April for necessary assessmentand consideration for the Award.

a NOW REPORT

Entries invited for Dr. ShovaThegim Award 2004

4; NOW! ; 11 March, 2004

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DARJEELING: The GNLF ab-staining from the all-party meetingwith the District Magistrate,Darjeeling, held here on 9 Marchregarding Moral Code of Conductfor the coming Parliamentary elec-tions, has raised many eyebrows.

“This makes it all the more ob-vious that the GNLF, as in the past,is going for a boycott of this Par-

liamentary election as well,” saidMadan Tamang, president, AkhilBharatiya Gorkha League [ABGL].The GNLF leaders were not avail-able for comments.

In 1998 the GNLF had boycottedMP elections stating that Darjeelinghad not been incorporated in the In-dian mainland formally and that thecase was pending in the Hague Inter-national Court of Justice. In 1999again, GNLF boycotted the electionsdemanding that Mal and Matelli be

incorporated in the Darjeeling Par-liamentary constituency and Islampurand Chopra be separated from it.

The Tuesday meeting saw theDM apprising the parties of all theformalities, changes and campaign-ing norms for the forthcoming elec-tions. The meeting decided to set16 April as the last date for notifi-cation for the candidates. The lastdate for filing nominations has beenset for 20 April with 24 April set asthe last date for withdrawals.

Interestingly, there will be no cam-paigning using mikes till the highersecondary examinations are over.This, in accordance with the recentHigh Court order mandating the same.

The DM also stated that peoplewho had voter’s identity cards butwhose names did not figure in therolls could enlist themselves by 20March. The district administrationwill also arrange for videographyof the important election moments,he added. Similar meetings will beheld at the sub-divisional and blocklevels shortly.

IN BOYCOTT MODE AGAIN?

from OUR CORRESPONDENT

GNLF skips all-party meet on parliamentary elections,is another boycott call expected?

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JORETHANG, 10 March: Themodel-code-of-conduct is in place forthe government, but no such code re-stricts popular sentiment. In fact, therunup to the elections are times whenthe people and their leaders makestrong statements and lobby hard forparty tickets. While there are otherconstituencies where the people arenot “happy” with their MLA’s it is inJorethang that this sentiment is get-ting exploited the most. The antiBhojraj Rai [MLA, Jorethang] sen-timent seems to have taken over hisconstituency. In a bid to pressure theparty high command to deny him aticket this time [Mr. Rai has and con-tested and won from Jorethangtwice], two meetings have been heldover the last two days in Jorethangasking for a change in candidate.

Informed sources reveal that onTuesday, 9 March, a meeting ofSDF supporters was convened un-der the leadership of Binod Rai atthe residence of Panchayat mem-ber Dekendra Subba. The 5-hourlong meeting was reportedly at-tended by 100 members of the rul-ing party from the region.

Accusing Mr. Rai of indiffer-ence towards the constituency, theparty members said that his per-formance has been totally unsatis-factory. “There are no roads, nowater supply, no avenues for sports.There has been absolutely no de-velopment in the area,” contendedBinod Rai at the meeting.

When other speakers hinted atan exodus from the party if the in-cumbent MLA was awarded theticket again, Binod Rai is reportedto have requested them not to optfor such drastic measures assuring

that “the party high command maychange its mind on Mr. Rai.”

SDF General Secretary, MohanDungmali is also reported to haveconvened a meeting, which saw a500-strong attendance, here at theSDF party office today. Also presentwere ticket aspirants Bina Rai andBinod Rai, and Zilla Adyaksha,Rastaman Rai. Addressing the mem-bers, Mr. Dungmali said that he hadbeen sent specifically to take ac-count of the situation and was nothere “for or against” anyone.

“If this kind of conflict contin-ues, the situation will deteriorateand Jorethang will again see thekind of days it did under the previ-ous regime of Bhandari,” he toldthe gathering.

Other speakers spoke on how theparty was teetering on a split inJorethang due to the divisions amongits ranks. Many Panchayat members

a violent clash between ruling partysupporters and Congress [I] partyworkers. While staying away fromfixing blame in the incident, theCommittee came to a consensus thatSDF and its supporters should set theright example by “shunning” vio-

lence “even under provocation.” TheCommittee has decided to reach themessage to all its supporters throughits network of frontal organisationsand reiterated its commitment to helpconduct “free and fair” polls inSikkim this year.

The party seniors today alsoresolved to set up a Parliamentary

Board to be headed by the ChiefMinister to short-list its candidatesfor the upcoming Lok Sabha andAssembly polls. Mr. Chamling isexpected to nominate members tothis committee shortly and come upwith the final list within a week’stime. SDF’s poll campaign is ex-pected to restart in mid-March.

Contd from pg 1

GAC faces the Sack

DARJEELING, 10 March: Saf-fron leaders from the hills, led byKishore Chandra Rai, president ofBJP Darjeeling Hill Committee,met Pyarelal Khandelwal, Vice-President, BJP Central Committeeand Sunil Shashtri, observer forSikkim, in Siliguri yesterday and re-quested them to use their good of-fices to negotiate the Darjeelingseat with the Trinamool Congressso that BJP could contest from the

are also reported to have expressedtheir grievances against the MLA.

The public expressions, evenwithin party walls are indications thatJorethang is going to remain onetricky constituency for the recently-formed SDF Parliamentary Board tofind a candidate for. Senior partymembers insist that the party presi-dent has made it amply clear that atpresent there are no candidates onlycontenders in every constituency.“Mr. Chamling has also made it clearthat the party is supreme and that SDFmembers should support whichevercandidate is sent to them. Lobbyingis only normal during elections andJorethang is no special case,” a sen-ior member commented.

a NOW REPORT

Lobbying against Bhojraj intensifies

Darjeeling parliamentary constitu-ency with TC support.

“Though Khandelwal abstainedfrom making any promises, he as-sured that he would try his best tonegotiate,” informed Mr. Rai.

The final negotiation result be-tween Trinamool and BJP regard-ing seat-sharing is expected to bedeclared on 14 or 15 March.

“We also apprised the leadersof the present political situationprevailing in the Darjeeling Hills,”informed Mr. Rai.

He added that Shashtri asked

them to come to Delhi for furtherdiscussions in this regard and thestrategies to be adopted in the Hillsfor the forthcoming MP elections.

Meanwhile, there was muchtalk in the Hill town of the two BJPleaders arriving at Darjeeling to-morrow to meet Subash Ghising,GNLF Supremo in order to seek hissupport. Geeta Chatterjee, memberof the State Secretariat, waived thisoff as a rumour and stated thatKhandelwal and Shashtri had al-ready left for Delhi.

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJ SAFFRON BRIGADE BROACHESSEAT-SHARING WITH TRINAMOOL

ANTYESTI

KRIYAOur beloved mother, LateSarda Chettri, wife of DPChettri of Daragaon,Tadong left for heavenlyabode on February 29,2004. We are grateful to allthose who stood by us atour time of bereavementand accompanied us dur-ing these hours of profoundgrief and sorrow.. TheAntyesthi Kriya will takeplace at our residence atDaragaon, Tadong onMarch 11, Thursday.

Bhupendra Chettri (son), DurgaUpreti (daughter in law), Neetu

Chettri (Daughter) and Yash KishoreShrestha (son in law)

Phone no: 231028

11 March, 2004; NOW! 5

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

Fire in the Hills:The fashionshow for theregionfrom OUR CORRESPONDENT

KALIMPONG: Winter’s past andthe days are just about beginningto warm up. And if that’s not hap-pening fast enough then the nextbest way to get the temperaturessoaring is to attend a fashion show.As simple as that. And as simple asgiving Kalimpong a call.

Things are expected to hot upin this one-off stop the comingweek when aspiring ramp-wannabes strut their golden stuff onthe catwalk. The event, to be heldon 16 March, is being organised bythe Pragati Youth Club ofKalimpong along with Ramp andRack, a Kolkata based event-man-agement firm.

This is going to be a sort of de-but for the region into the nationalfashion arena. A total of fourteenmodels are expected to take part inthis event. Some of them like Alomyand Maria have done the “walk”before and even collected laurelsalong the way. Alomy was crownedMiss Nagaland - 2003, while Maria,in 1995, had been adjudged MissAizwal. Some sugar is also expectedto be imported from Kolkata inKimberline and Sudipta.

Sagar Rai, the chief coordinatorbehind the show, while speaking toNOW! said that one of the chief rea-sons for organising the fashion showwas to change the conservative attitudeof the hills and more importantly toboost fashion careers from the region.

So, it should not be a surpriseto know that models from Siligurias well as from Gangtok are alsotaking part. Designer ArnabSengupta who is an expert in eth-nic Indian dresses is also taking partin the event. His clothes will be ondisplay and sale as well.

At 2 pm on 16 March MelaGround is going to be fashion ter-ritory and then a music world withthe clothes-horses to be followedby a DJ Nite and then the all per-vading hill-mantra – a rock act in-volving Mantra, a Darjeeling band.

A similar fashion show isscheduled to he held at Gangtoksometime in May and in Siliguritowards the year-end.

GANGTOK, 10 March: About 1,000 Tibetans gath-ered here at Chandmari today to commemorate the45th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day.

Senior citizens of the community and students ofThumi Sambhota School attended the Memorial Dayfunctions which saw Tibetans carrying their nationalflag with pride. There were, however, no protests orrallies by those attending the occasion. There was no

MAZITAR, RANGPO, 10 March:Normalcy seems to be returning atthe Sikkim Manipal Institute of Tech-nology here after the stiff standoff be-tween the students and the manage-ment that started when a student wasallegedly beaten up mercilessly byteachers. As a result of the fracas themanagement had closed the campus

under the pretext of the “Holi break”.The move seems to have paid off asfar as controlling flaring tempers isconcerned. The management claimsthat about 70 per cent of the studentshave returned and normal classeswere being held.

When NOW! reached the col-lege campus on 10 March, the dayof the reopening of the college, thesituation seemed under control.This is a big change from the situa-

tion when about 1,000 studentsstayed awake for almost 3 days pro-testing the manhandling of a stu-dent in front of the faculty quartershere. The boy in question had pur-portedly abused a faculty memberwhen in an inebriated state. The ad-ministration had then, on 26 Feb-ruary, asked the students to leavethe campus by 4:00 pm the sameday and announced the closure ofthe campus till 9 March.

The management has given inpartly to the student demand to setup an enquiry committee under theSikkim Manipal University ofHealth and Medical Sciences andTechnological Sciences to investi-gate into the incident.

But the students are far fromhappy. They feel that justice is be-ing denied to them. According tothe students the matter will “neverbe solved”. They feel that those of

Classes resume at SMIT, but Students still Unhappythem who spoke up for their rightswill be victimized.

“Everything will be just as itwas,” they maintain. When this re-porter asked the management if hecould speak to some of the students,he was not allowed to. If the man-agement says that the committeewill be transparent and that it willget to the truth, then one wondersat their qualms on letting the stu-dents speak to the Press.

a NOW REPORT

sloganeering either.The message of the Dalai Lama was read out by

Nawang Norbu, Tibetan Welfare Officer, Gangtok.In his message, the Dalai Lama paid tributes to the

many brave Tibetan men and women who had sacri-ficed their lives for the cause of Tibetan freedom. Healso expressed hope to see a “significant breakthrough”this year in the relations between his Government inExile and the Chinese Government. The message fur-ther reiterated that no stone will be left unturned forseeking a “mutually beneficial solution.”

a NOW REPORT

Tibetan Uprising Day observed

possession,” the SP disclosed.Phensedyl and SP are perhaps

the most commonly abused sub-scription drugs in Sikkim and hor-ror stories abound about the ef-fect these drugs have had on theyouth here. The latest haul is ashocking reminder that these sub-stances of abuse are still beingused and more importantly, avail-able with relative ease.

Incidentally, Phensedyl andSpasmoproxyvon are Schedule-Hdrugs and can only be sold by a reg-istered chemist on the prescriptionof a doctor. Although they havewreaked much havoc in Sikkim,they still remain outside the pur-view of Narcotic Drugs and Psy-chotropic Substances Act whichwould have made illegal trading inthem a non-bailable offence. Al-though Sikkim Police is lobbyinghard to get the two drugs listed un-der the NDPS Act, it has failed tomake any headway thus far. Till thathappens, Uttam and others in histrade will walk away with barely arap on their knuckles even thoughthey deal in substances threateningto lay an entire generation to wastein Sikkim.

Contd from pg 1

JORETHANGDRUG-BUST

6; NOW! ; 11 March, 2004

C M Y K

DEVELOPMENT �

Sikkim House(The Ethnic Cuisine Restaurant)

at Hotel New Castle, DeoraliPhone : 281707 / 281742

the field in front of the monastery, andsome were standing. As the devildance began, several boys came outof the monastery door, wearing devilmasks, big and small, of all kinds. Somewere made to resemble corpses andlooked terrible; you could only see thebones and skull and nothing else. Afterthe dance was over all the richer Tibet-ans went inside the monastery to placescarves around the necks of the gods.

This new year’s festival lastedthree days and when these happydays were gone, my father said, “Be-lieve in God, my son. In all thingswe depend on God,” and he added“We shall soon be very happy on thefeast of the fifth day of the fifthmoon, which is your birthday.”

To be continued

GANGTOK: The attempt to mapthe contours of the state’s demo-graphic distribution of pocketsmore in danger of contracting HIVseems to be a non-starter.

Late last year, the State AIDSControl Society commissionedORG-MARG to “map” the entirestate for HIV/AIDS. The idea was toidentify the high-risk areas andgroups in the state. Although the re-port has been handed over to SACS,the survey, conducted by the much-reputed ORG-MARG – an organisa-tion that specializes in conductingsurveys – doesn’t seem to have any-thing new to say. In fact, it doesn’t

even cut much ice with the State’sAids Society which commissioned it.

The report identifies those in-dulging in unprotected sex andthose in the habit of abusing andsharing intravenous drugs as beingat a higher risk - a fact that doesnot require a study to establish. Thereport, however, does not identifyhigh-risk areas or cite any statistics.

According to an official in theSociety, the surveyors did not evenconduct an in-depth analysis of theprevailing STD situation in theState, nor, did they visit the core ar-eas known to be affected by the dis-ease or identify those areas, whichare in threat of it. Moreover, theNGOs contacted to help with thesurvey were, reportedly, “vague”

AIDS MAPPING OFFERS NOTHING NEWand not actually representative ofthe anti-AIDS campaign.

The survey claims that fortysites in east Sikkim, four in thewest, and seven each in south andnorth Sikkim were mapped, but in-side information suggests that in ac-tuality the four districts were onlylightly touched upon along withsome pockets.

It seems obvious from theabove that the survey report can-not be taken as a comprehensiveevaluation of the state’s AIDS situ-ation. The State’s Aids Societywhich is already conducting inten-sive AIDS awareness campaigns invarious towns of the districts andamong different target populations,does not think the report will pre-

cipitate much activity as far as theanti-AIDS drive is concerned.

While still on AIDS, it mightbe mentioned here that the firstphase of the Central Government’sfree AIDS drugs distribution pro-gramme starts April 1, 2004. Thosewith HIV/AIDS will be provided acocktail of three drugs –Lamivudine and Nevirapin witheither Stavudine, Zidovudine orEfavirenz. The medicine, to betaken twice will be provided to pa-tients for life. Although at first onlyfew states are to be included in theprogramme, it is hoped that freeanti-retrovirals [AVRS] will be pro-vided to all AIDS patients for free.

According to Dr. RL Sharma,Director, SACS, “In Sikkim we

have the provision for giving anti-retroviral treatment to only HIVpositive pregnant women whomight pass on the infection to theunborn child. However, since theprevalence of AIDS is not so com-mon here, it would be a good ideato subsidize treatment for all AIDSpatients since it is very expensive.”

AIDS may not have hit Sikkimas hard as other places but statis-tics show that unless care and timeis spent on raising awareness, thedisease could spiral out of control.Let us not forget that five lives havealready been lost to the disease justover the past one year, while threeothers are living with full-blownAIDS. Another 23 persons havebeen diagnosed as HIV positive.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 10 March: The Yearof Scientific Awareness was offi-cially launched today at the annexebuilding of the Forest Department.The symbolic act of the unfurlingof the national logo was done bythe day’s chief guest, the Chief Sec-retary, SW Tenzing. It was also theconcluding day of the two-day pro-

SNT getsSmartSAGAR CHETTRI

GANGTOK: On the road and outof fuel? If you’re a government em-ployee, the days of shuffling intoyour pockets looking for those pa-per coupons given by the depart-ment are soon going to be over.

SNT has decided to go Smartwith its new Petro Smart Card. Theexisting paper fuel coupons will bereplaced by these electronic smartcards.

According to Karma Zimba, in-charge of Smart Card unit, the firstcards will be issued for those work-ing at SNT.

“Our plan is to first give thesecards to government employees andthen make them available for theprivate sector too. By April, all pa-per coupons will become invalid.”

The Petro card has been intro-duced to do away with all the pa-perwork that issuing such couponsentailed. According to SNT offic-ers, these coupons were often mis-used, while the Petro cards offer noscope for duplication.

The cards, which were inaugu-rated along with the new petrolpump of SNT last month by Minis-ter Transport, SB Subedi, will func-tion in the same way as the ATMcards. Apart from the SNT pumps,private petrol pumps will also befitted with Petro Smart card ma-chines making it easy for both theconsumer and the supplier.

Another step towards E-governence.

gramme, Eastern HimalayanVigyan Chetna Jatha, to initiate theYear of Scientific Awareness.

The year long awareness pro-gramme, which is exclusively forthe northeastern region of the coun-try, will chalk out a route beginningin north Bengal and traversethrough the entire north-east culmi-nating in the home of one of the“six sisters.”

Three main aspects were drawn

up as focal areas that needed con-sideration as far as the north-eastwas concerned. These are: Disas-ter Mitigation and Management,Bio-diversity and Water & Sanita-tion.

The Chief Secretary said in hisaddress that he was “pleased” thatSikkim was chosen as the venue ofchoice for the launch of the initia-tive. He also noted that this was the“right time” to arouse scientific

awareness as ignoring this “mod-ern need” could result in the peo-ple getting further marginalised.

He also expressed concern overthe ecologically fragile easternHimalayan region. He said that thedeterioration of the region’s envi-ronment could be arrested and rec-tified through proper application ofscience. He also expressed full sup-port on behalf of the state govern-ment in this regard.

a NOW REPORT

FROM DISASTER MANAGEMENT TOSANITATION, PROMOTERS OF SCIENCEIDENTIFY FOCAL AREAS FOR THE NE

Chinese New Year...Contd from pg 2

DARJEELING, 10 March: TheNational Federation of TelecomEmployees [NFTE], DarjeelingChapter, in an effort to musterstronger support for its demand forposting an Accounts Officer [AO]with “drawing and disbursing”powers at the Darjeeling BSNL of-fice is all set to organize a Citizen’sConvention on 13 March. The tar-get audience is obvious - the pub-lic and the political leaders.

Invitation letters were distributedtoday to various political parties andsocial organizations in this regard.

“This has been our long stand-ing demand and since nothing con-crete has happened in this regard,we decided that it was high timewe roped in all the political partiesand the citizens because an AOposted in Darjeeling will benefit allthe telecom subscribers of the re-gion,” said Thilen Lama, branchsecretary, NFTE.

Today was the third day of thecease-work and relay hunger strikeby the employees, with 10 employ-ees including 5 women, going on ahunger strike.

Due to the absence of an AOwith “drawing and disbursing”powers for the past one and a halfyears, even a small discrepancy intelephone bills forces a subscriberto rush to Siliguri. This puts thesubscribers in a very tight spot andis specially a very big drawback forsubscribers from the more remoteareas. NFTE had started agitatingfrom 19 February when 85 of thestaff went on mass casual leave fol-lowed by a dharna at the SDO[telephone]’s office on 26 Febru-ary and the employees boycottingtheir salary on 27 February.

K.N. Karjee, Divisional Engineerrevealed that one MK Biswas wasdeputed today for 3 days as a tempo-rary AO till Rabindranath Mondalwho will be joining as the AO for 3months arrives on 15 March.

“The main problem is that we

are not satisfied with only an AOjoining, we want to know whetherhe has got drawing and disbursingpowers, which is an immediate ne-cessity for the smooth functioningof the office and for the benefit ofthe subscribers,” contests Lama.

Incidentally a meeting is beingheld between the GM [Telecom]Siliguri Division and the DistrictSecretary, NFTE in Siliguri todayregarding the powers of the AO.However nothing concrete has beencommunicated to the Darjeelingcounterparts.

“We will continue with our agi-tation until an AO with Drawingand Disbursing powers is ap-pointed,” maintains Lama.

The cease work has put the sub-scribers in a tight spot, especially thosewhose telephones are out of order.

“This is a temporary sufferingand once our demand is met, it willbe the subscribers who will benefitthe most and the problem will besolved once and for all” was La-ma’s comment.

AMITAVA BANERJEE

Telecom employees on “ceasework” call Citizens Charter to lobbypublic support for their demands

11 March, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

� SPECIALS

SHEGUThe 49th Day Shegu of late Naksuk Lepcha, who passed onJanuary 23rd 2004, falls on March 11th 2004. All well wishers,friends and relatives are requested to join us in offering prayersfor the departed soul at our residence at Zimchung, Pentok,Mangan, North Sikkim. We, the family members also takethis opportunity to thank all those who stood by us during thetime of bereavement and regret our inability to thank themindividually.

All Family Members

Pentok, Mangan

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A spring for an affair with booksWHO and World

Food Prog.

officials conduct

joint project on

Food Formulation

MissionGANGTOK: A two-member teamcomprising of Senior Programmeofficer, World Food Programme, JVEmanvel and National ProfessionalOfficer, WHO, Dr. Bipin Vermavisited Gangtok and other districtsbetween 1 to 6 March, 2004 on aJoint Project Formulation Mission.

The team visited the govern-ment food godown and FCIgodown at Rangpo and werebriefed on the functioning of theFood & Civil Supplies Department,the set-up in the districts and theinteraction with FCI offices atSiliguri and Kolkata.

They were also given informa-tion on the administrative set-up ofthe State Government and the “im-mense” importance being attachedto the panchayats.

At different places they haduseful interaction with the membersof Panchayats on BPL beneficiar-ies and problems associated withfoodgrain and nutrition. They alsointeracted with the BPL families.The members also called on theChief Secretary, Government ofSikkim, Secretaries of Various De-partments and the Nodal Officers.The members also visited ICDSCenters in some places, Schools tosee the implementation of Mid DayMeal Scheme, Primary HealthCenters and Self Help Groups.

The mission members ex-pressed full satisfaction with theirvisit and appreciated the interestshown by the representatives of thevarious departments. Their initialobservations are expected by thethird week of April 2004. As in-formed by the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Food & Civil Suppliesand Consumer Affairs Department,once the assessment and analysis ofthe study is known, it would bepossible to identify areas for capac-ity building, technical training andbetter monitoring and evaluation ofthe on-going food related pro-grammes. [IPR]

GANGTOK, 10 March: Threedays of intense cerebral stimula-tion. Three days of putting aside thelatest saas-bahu squabbles on theidiot box and the neighbourhoodgossip to spend the afternoons inthe company of the written word.It was also the time for the youngto be initiated into the world ofbooks and inculcate in them thelove for books and discover the joysof reading. And for the already ini-tiated, a perfect time to rekindle thatpassion for reading again.

The 2nd Spring Book Fair,which concluded here today,brought with it a fresh whiff of hopefor books and book lovers. TheBook Fair saw an enthusiastic re-sponse from the public and busi-ness was brisk and some stalls evenwitnessed feverish buying. Therewere also many encouraging en-quiries for new and old titles.

Even as theories on post-mod-ernism and pulp fiction jostled forelbow room with Kafka andChomski, and Enid Blyton desper-ately tried to grab a seven-year-old’s attention swerving towards aPanchatantra comic, ardent booklovers were seen spending hourslooking for that one great book totake home. All this, despite the factthat most books were too expensiveand beyond the reach of most of thestudents who crowded the fair.Those who could not afford thehigh-priced books had to make dowith leisurely browsing.

So, did the Book Fair manageto “inculcate” the reading habit?

“It was certainly a good changeto be able to spend three daysbrowsing through so many booksrather than spending my time sit-ting at home watching TV or hang-ing out with my friends,” saidSwati, a student.

“I bought three books - all fic-tion, all Agatha Christie and it re-ally feels good,” she added.

“Youngsters today are really notinto reading, but Fairs like this, withso many titles under one roof, willdefinitely infuse the love for booksin them,” felt Pramod, who is pres-ently giving his Class XII board ex-aminations and is a voracious reader.

“I would love to buy booksevery month but they are so expen-sive these days. However, I really

don’t mind spending all my pocketmoney on books,” chipped in hisfriend Souvik. Both of them, ofcourse, are big time into popularscience and philosophy and “stayclear” of fiction.

However, students were not toohappy with the timings of the Fair.“Book Fairs like this should not beheld during our Board examina-tions,” felt Tashi, appearing for hisClass X exams.

That parents these days donot really encourage their kids toread was perhaps the most widelydiscussed issue making rounds ofthe Fair.

Dawa, a young mother of a two-year old son begged to differ. “I amlooking for story books for my son.He loves books with big pictures

while I read out the stories to him.I’d rather he spent time with booksthan watching cartoons on the TV,”she said.

The basic objective of SikkimAkademi, the organisers of the Fairwas to try and revive book readingin a big way.

“This is really a small effort. Weintend to make this Fair an annualevent and hope more enthusiasticparticipation by both the publishersand book sellers as well as the booklovers in the coming years,” SanuLama, secretary, Sikkim Akademi,said at the closing ceremony.

The Book Fair promises to re-turn next year - bigger and better.Until then, happy reading!

SARIKAH ATREYA

CATCHING ’EM YOUNG: A young recruit into the dwindling forces of book readers at the 2ndSpring Book Fair which concluded here on 10 March.

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8; NOW! ; 11 March, 2004

C M Y K

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Darpan Publications Pvt. Ltd, Siliguri. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Executive Editor: Mita ZulcaNow! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

THEFINALONE �

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ENTELM O T O R S( P v t . ) L t d .

GANGTOK, March 10: It was theyear 1969. A young musician fromDarjeeling arrived in Bombay withhis wife and two small childrenhoping for a break in the Hindi filmmusic industry. His only contactand reference was Mahohari Singh,a highly-respected music arrangerin the film industry at that time.

Armed with nothing but aMaadal and determination, thisyoung man, soon after setting footin the Mayanagari, was taken bySingh to a house where a music sit-ting was going on. Gathered therewere the stalwarts of Hindi cinema- music directors SD Burman andhis son RD Burman, songwriterAnand Bakshi and the evergreenhero, Dev Anand. The young manwas introduced to the bigwigs asRanjit Gazmer, a young and verytalented musician from the Hills.

Almost immediately, the juniorBurman asked Gazmer if he couldplay the Nepali instrument he wascarrying with him. Gazmer com-plied with a small piece of an origi-nal Nepali composition. Dev Anandwas delighted. This was the exactsound he was looking for his latest

SONGS ARE SOULLESS THESE DAYS,RUES RANJIT GAZMER

movie. Gazmer had found his bear-ings in the Hindi film industry. To-day, after spending more then threedecades in the industry and beingclosely associated with RD Burman,Ranjit Gazmer is one of the mostrespected Nepali music directors inthe entire Nepali diaspora.

It so happened that the sittingwhere the young Gazmer was takento was for the super hit Dev Anandfilm Hare Rama Hare Krishna,shot extensively in Nepal. Theunique sounds and rhythms of thisfilm’s music gave birth to the dis-tinct sound of RD Burman music,that contained the subtle notes ofNepali folk music, especially thoseof the Maadal. Today, one can saythat the credit for introducing thebeats of the Maadal and Nepali folktunes to the Hindi film industryundoubtedly goes to Gazmer, whoworked with RD until his demise.

“The sounds of the Maadal be-came the signature of Panchamda’smusic,” Gazmer told a small gath-ering of local musicians and sing-ers here today.

The trip down memory lane gotmore nostalgic for Gazmer with thepresence of noted singer and musi-cian Shanti Thatal in the audience.

“When I was just starting out

in Darjeeling, I had the opportunityto accompany Shanti didi in one ofher shows at the GDNS Hall therein the early sixties. She was sing-ing one of the compositions of myguru Dalsingh Ghataraj at thattime,” Gazmer told the gathering.

Despite contributing so much tothe Hindi film industry and accom-plishing considerable success there,Gazmer’s association with Nepalimusic never ceased. Growing up inDarjeeling in a family of talentedmusicians, it was only natural forhim to take up music as his career.His early influences were eminentNepali musicians from Darjeeling -Manveer Singh, George Banks [fa-ther of Louis Banks], Saran Pradhan,Amber Gurung, Shanti Thatal,Gopal Yonzon, Karma Yonzon andJiten Bardewa, to name a few.

“I was trained in the Tabla andhad the opportunity to interact andlearn so much about music fromthese great musicians,” he said.

His foray into Nepali film musicindustry gave his career another turn.Ranjit Gazmer’s first Nepali film asthe music director was Bainsuri,which is considered a landmark inNepali film world. Gazmer not onlyintroduced Udit Narayan Jha and hiswife Deepa Jha [nee Ghataraj] to theNepali music lovers, but also createdhistory of sorts by making AshaBhonsle sing in Nepali! The successof Bainsuri was followed by films

like Samjhana and Kusume Rumaal,big musical hits of their times. To-day, he is a household name in theNepali community.

For someone who has spent hisentire life dedicated to music, howdoes he respond to the present mu-sic scenario?

“Music has certainly undergonegreat changes. Even the way songsare created and recorded today arecompletely different from how theyused to be done a decade ago.Songs today are recorded in bits andpieces and not how we used to doit earlier - in a single sitting withthe entire live orchestra playing si-multaneously. These days, one lineis recorded on one day and the rest

added later. The technology avail-able nowadays has made that hap-pen. But in the process, the songsloose their soul,” he reflected.

Music is something that is in-born, and anyone who wants tomake a mark as a singer or a mu-sician has to have at least the ba-sic knowledge of Sur and Taal.Riyaaz is extremely important,was his advice, especially to theyoung talents.

Ranjit Gazmer still sees hope inNepali music and art and in theyounger generation’s ability to carryforward the legacy convincingly.

“I am always ready to supportand promote young talents of thisregion,” he said.

SARIKAH ATREYA

The Man

who gave

us “Kusume

Rumaal”

still sees

hope for

Nepali

music

Make sure all get to seeIndo-Pak cricket: Govt

In a veiled warning, the government on Wednesday asked all concernedto ‘rise above narrow commercial interests’ to ensure that Indian view-

ers get to watch the upcoming Indo-Pak cricket series, the telecast of which iscaught in the blame game between Ten Sports and cable operators. Informa-tion and Broadcasting Secretary Pawan Chopra told reporters that those in-volved “would not be able to go very far if they failed to satisfy the public.”

“This match is very important for the public. Everyone should riseabove narrow commercial interest and ensure that there was no inconven-ience to the people,” Chopra said. Noting that some countries have lawsunder which it was mandatory for giving rights to the public broadcasterof sports of national importance, he said that everyone including those inthe private sector should consider the long term interests.

The comments of the I&B secretary came amid reports that not manyIndian viewers may get to watch the cricket series since both, Ten Sportsand cable operators, are playing a blame game and blacking out transmis-sion of this channel, which holds exclusive telecast rights for these matches.