The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which has been invited by the Centre to a third tripartite meeting in New Delhi on August 24, on Wednesday said it was 'meaningless' and would not call off the indefinite shutdown which entered the third day in the Darjeeling hills.
In a historic feat for Indian mountaineering, 13-year-old Malavath Purna has become the youngest female climber to scale the Mount Everest.
Like millions of people across the world, the year 2020 had dealt me irreplaceable losses and the lowest of blows. Like I have always done at such junctures, I had sought the refuge of the mountains. I wanted to end the year on a high, to show the finger to life, says Sumit Bhattacharya after a memorable journey to North Sikkim.
Sikkim was cut off from the rest of the country when Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha activists blocked the National Highway 31A early on Saturday as part of their 24-hour strike in the Darjeeling Hills region. Vehicular traffic between Sikkim and Siliguri via the NH-31A has been totally paralysed since early morning, police officials at Rangpo inter-state border checkpost said. Only a few vehicles belonging to the military forces, press persons and some ambulances were seen.
Bowing to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's demand, the West Bengal government on Wednesday said it will seek from the Centre a tripartite meeting to resolve the Darjeeling crisis in a few days.
Intensifying their efforts to hold tripartite talks on their demand for a separate state, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Friday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee asking him to take an initiative in the matter.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Thursday said it was no longer interested in holding talks with the West Bengal government on Gorkhaland issue and was awaiting tripartite talks in Delhi.
"There will be no discussion with the morcha on the statehood demand, but talks can be held on administrative arrangements and greater autonomy (for Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council)," Chief Secretary A K Deb told reporters at Writers' Buildings. Deb said in the absence of Morcha president Bimal Gurung, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee would talk to any GJM representative.
Talks between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the West Bengal government on the Darjeeling crisis are expected to take place in Kolkata on June 25.
Stating that the GJM was seeking appointment with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, Gurung told PTI from Darjeeling that a delegation, comprising GJM central committee members, would meet MPs of different political parties.
The army was called in Siliguri and adjacent areas on Thursday in view of fresh tension arising out of Darjeeling crisis. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has called an all-party meeting on June 17 to discuss the Darjeeling crisis, arising out of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's demand for separate Gorkhaland state.
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West Bengal Chief Minister Buddadeb Bhattacharya on Sunday said the Communist Party of India-Marxist would guard against the creation of a Nandigram-like similar situation anywhere in the state.
'A loss of seats for the Trinamool in this election will weaken its hold in Bengal, which will not augur well before the assembly election in 2021.'
Three hundred chicks were reported dead at Baganbari village in Falakata area of Jalpaiguri. An FIR was lodged and samples from the poultry sent for testing the presence of the H5N1 virus.
The Supreme Court has restrained the West Bengal Police from executing an arrest warrant issued by a Darjeeling court against radio jockey Janardhan Nitin Brady, whose comments on Indian Idol Prashant Tamang sparked large-scale violence in Siliguri.
The total cost includes Rs 44 crore for contingencies and overhead expenses.
The film also stars Bhamaa as the female lead.
An army man, a hard-core football buff, is eyeing a place in the Guinness record books through his juggling skills that had already won him accolades from top army brass and the Jharkhand sports minister.
'I am grateful to God that I am alive and he has made me differently-abled for a greater cause,' says Wing Commander Shantanu.
Group Captain of Indian Air Force, Bagdogra, M K Dey said the aircraft caught fire at 9:30 am while returning from a routine sortie. Three fire tenders fought for about half-an-hour to extinguish the blaze.
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Owen Wilson, a close friend of director Wes Anderson, won't be doing the publicity for The Darjeeling Limited.
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Bhopal Mukhiya of JAK Rifles, who is posted at Uri, was taken into custody after two hand grenades were recovered from his possession during search at the main gate of the airport
Gitdabling, a village near Kalimpong, is famous for its homemade cakes and pastries in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
The six AEZs in West Bengal are for pineapple, lychee, potato, mango, vegetables and Darjeeling tea.
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Following news of bird flu outbreak in a poultry farm in West Bengal's Darjeeling, Bhutan is mulling a ban on import of chicken meat and eggs from India.
Arpi deserves to be complimented for the commitment and hard work that have gone into this production. The frustrations of seeking reliable documentation from the catacombs of the Indian bureaucracy did not deter him from going after the best information available, and the result is one that he can take much satisfaction in. Ambassador Prabhat P Shukla, Member Advisory Council, Vivekananda International Foundation, reviews Claude Arpi's The End of an Era: India Exits Tibet.
GNLF leader Shanta Chetri, who retained her Kurseong seat for two consecutive terms in the assembly polls, told reporters on Friday that there was no reason to surrender the demand for Gorkhaland.
The jet took off for a practice flight at around 1.00 pm with Squadron Leader Pandey piloting it.
The GCPA has sought the West Bengal government to not conduct any election in the district as 'the terms of incorporation of Coochbehar into India had been violated.
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