Congress proposal

The Telegraph Siliguri, Aug. 27: The district hill Congress committee today said it would propose to the Centre to confer Union Territory status to the Darjeeling hills to end the ongoing agitation. K.B Chhetri, president of the Darjeeling district Congress (hills), said he would meet the Union home minister P. Chidambaram and place the proposal …

Seven landslides cut off Sikkim link – Woman disappears in swirling flash flood

The Telegraph Gangtok, Aug. 27: Seven landslides struck a 15km stretch of NH31A and crippled traffic on Sikkim’s only road link with the rest of the country after heavy rain lashed the Himalayan state last night. A 31-year-old woman was washed away in one of the flash floods that followed. The landslides, four of them …

Shutdown looms as remand nears end – Morcha sets Aug 30 deadline for cops

The Telegraph Aug. 26: The hills are wary of another indefinite shutdown with the CID drawing a blank on the Nickole Tamang escape probe, and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha setting August 30 as deadline to produce him in court. The Morcha said it expected the accused, a central committee member of the party, to be …

Queen of orchids for queen of hills – one lakh cymbidiums to bloom in mirik by 2012

The Telegraph Siliguri, Aug. 26: Around one lakh plants of cymbidium, known as the queen of orchids, are set to bloom in Mirik in two years, thanks to an export-oriented project by a private company. The biggest venture of orchid cultivation in the northeastern part of India was initiated by Darjeeling Gardens Private Limited on …

Call for halt to ‘corrupt’ job selections

The Telegraph Darjeeling, Aug. 26: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today alleged malpractices in the ongoing recruitment of para teachers and midwives in the hills and demanded an immediate freeze on the processes till an interim set-up was put in place for the region. Binay Tamang, assistant secretary of the Morcha, said: “It has come to …