18 June, 2004; NOW! 1

C M Y K

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Hem Lall Bhandari’s 30-pg report on the fourwalkovers offered by Congress to SDFO

N p

g 2 THE REPORT THAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 18 June: The StateCongress has announced plansto stage a “Token Hunger Strike”in Gangtok on 21 June in protestagainst the alleged “discrimina-tive and unjust treatment” beingmeted out by the ruling SikkimDemocratic Front Government onthose they suspect of having votedfor the Congress in the recently-held elections.

A press release issued by theSPCC [I] vice-president, PRSubba, alleges that the SDF gov-ernment has been indulging in“gross violation” of the demo-cratic rights of the people by de-

priving them of the benefits meantfor BPL family’s; discriminativetransfer of government employ-ees; terminating MR and Work-Charge employees; partiality inawarding contract works etc.

In a letter addressed to theChief Secretary, dated 18 June,2004, informing him of the party’sdecision to hold the hunger strike,the Chairperson of the SPCC [I]grievances cell, SK Bardewa, hassought permission to “ventilate”their demands in the form of a

hunger strike.The hunger strike is pro-

posed to be held in front ofMahatma Gandhi’s statue at MGMarg on the 21 June between8AM to 5PM.

About twenty Congressmenwho had unsuccessfully con-tested the recent polls are ex-pected to sit on the token hungerstrike and Mr. Bardewa has alsosought police escorts, patrollingand doctors on stand-by.

The hunger strike will also in-clude a placard demonstration.

“This is finally to emphasizeand demonstrate against the in-consistency and undemocraticprocess adopted in implementa-tion of all development pro-grammes especially concerningthe poor people in Sikkim, wherepoverty alleviation and employ-ment generation programmeshave become only political slo-gans of the Sikkim Democratic

Front party,” Mr. Bardewa allegesin his letter to the CS.

The release also claimed thatin a letter addressed to SPCC [I]President, Nar Bahadur Bhandari,AICC President, Sonia Gandhi hasexpressed her full faith in the lead-ership of Mr. Bhandari.

“She has expressed that shecounts on everyone of the SPCCmembers as guide, critic and con-science keeper,” the release in-forms.

CONG HUNGER-STRIKE AGAINST SDF HARASSMENTToken hunger-strike protesting “discriminative and unjust”

treatment of suspected Cong supporters on 21 June

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 18 June: The ChiefMinister, Pawan Chamling, on 17June, visited the Escorts Heart In-stitute and Research Centre atNew Delhi and in a meeting withDr. N. Trehan, the Executive Di-rector of the hospital had discus-sions with him and his team aboutthe possibility of opening a centerof Escort Heart Institute in Sikkim

CM WANTS ESCORTS TO SETUP CARDIAC HOSPITAL

IN SIKKIMto meet the requirement of heartpatients of Sikkim and the neigh-bouring region.

He was taken around the Hos-pital by a team of doctors and fa-miliarised with the advanced and“world-class” facilities for invasiveand non-invasive cardiac proce-dures available in the hospital.

On the request of the StateGovernment, Dr. Trehan agreed to

turn to pg 3

2; NOW!; 18 June, 2004

C M Y K

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

PB CHAKRAVORTY

Part -2

But eventually eye-witness accounts of UFO sightings

emerged from far corners of Chinaitself. Here are three first-handreports.

At 10 p.m. on 26 September1977, many hundred people withina circumference a few hundred kilo-metres in southwest China wit-nessed a UFO having the shapeof an Archimedian screws. On 23October, 1978, Chinese peoplewithin an area of 1 million kiliometresquare saw an unidentified flyingobject in the night sky at 8 p.m.Again in July 1981, a UFO girdledby rings of blue-white light wasobserved by the deputy Directorof Tibet’s Meteorological Bureau,according to the official ChineseNews Agency, Xinhua. It was seenflying at about 75 m.p.h. and theintensity of light emotted from thecentre and the surrounding ringsof the UFO waxed and waned overa period of about 7 minutes as re-corded by the deputy Director. Itwas subsequently reported that inthe evening of the same day, about3000 people witnessing an open-air film in the adjacent province ofZechuan also saw a strange flow-ing, glowing ball passing over-

head. It shone with a greenishradience four or five times brighterthan other bright stars in the sky.

These and other reports ofUFO sightings came under heavyfire by as many sceptics in Chinaas anywhere else. In 1978, as re-ported by Xinhua, a junior Chi-nese researcher in astronomyopined that UFO sightings werenonsense. The so-called UFOphenomenon, he added, wasnothing but an atmospheric opti-cal illusion or else a much brighterpulsating star. And, he asserted,no visitors from outer space cameto earth in a space-craft popularlycalled UFO or flying saucer. Thisstrong criticism gave rise to somuch controversy that it initiatedUFO enthusiasts in China to setup the first UFO study clubs,comprising scientists, teachers,students and workers.

UFO reportings nowadays ap-pear virtually everyday in Chinesenewspapers and periodicals. Butmany of these reported UFOsightings need scientific investi-gations since Ufologisists in Chinaare only amateurs, lacking bothtime and money to pursue their owninvestigations. People claiming tohave seen UFOs in China happento be children, students, teachers,factory workers, peasants and

even the sceptical scientists andtechnologists. A famous Chinesepoet in Zechuan province wrotean ode to a UFO after witnessingone in Chengdu province. A yearsroll away, popular interest in UFOsgathers momentum in China, andso more and more articles on UFOsappear every day. Some of themare reported sightings, some arelogical opinions on the existenceof highly developed extra-terrestialcivilizations which some advocatetries to make terrestrial contactthrough UFOs.

Like UFO investigations, sci-ence fiction is also becoming popu-lar in China. One such story cap-tioned “Strange Encounter atnight,” tells about a Chinese AirForce patrol coming across a UFOand shooting it down with a guidedmissile. Criticising this story, HongKong commentator, Du Jian saidthat if the UFO had visitors fromouter space, it would be much moreimportant for us to contact themthan to kill them as our enemies.

Du Jian’s comment is indeedcommendable.

Perhaps the mystery of UFOswill one day be revealed. As a UFOenthusiast, I certainly hope so.- The writer is a retired Science

teacher from Tashi NamgyalAcademy, Gangtok

Flying Saucers over Red China

May 14-15, 2004To,Shri Nar Bahadur Bhandari, Ex-C.M.President: Sikkim Pradesh CongressCommitteeCongress Bhavan, Development AreaGangtok 737 101, Sikkim.

Sub: REPORT ON NOMINATION PAPERS,REJECTIONS AND MATTERS CON-NECTED THEREWITH.

Sir,I deem to my solemn duty to submit to you,and through you, to the Party and the peo-ple of Sikkim, this report on the entire exer-cise of filling in the Nomination Papers,Affidavits and consequential non-filing ofnomination paper by one candidate and therejection of three nomination papers onApril 24, 2004. This Report, in my own hand-writing, is divided into the following partsfor the sake of convenience:

1. Part I: Notes & Comments- Form: “A”Part II: Notes & Comments- Form: “B”Part III: Notes & Comments- Non-filing ofnomination papers by Shri Palden BhutiaPart IV: Rejection of three nomination pa-pers: South.

2. In my notes listed above at Part-I to IV, Ihave furnished factual details based on theavailable material on record and also basedon personal knowledge of the facts and cir-cumstances prevailing since April 16, 2004onwards. I do hope and trust that you willperuse this report in toto, with the interestand attention it deserves, and disseminatethe facts and the truth to the candidates,the party workers and the people. In myindividual capacity, it is not possible to ex-plain these facts and circumstances to each

candidate or to the individual citizen inSikkim. The task, no doubt, is indeed daunt-ing; but I can only rely on you – and youalone – at this juncture.

3. The election results areundoubtedly shocking tous all in Sikkim. Similarly, theresults elsewhere in thecountry, and particularly atthe Centre, have been ‘sur-prising’ as well as ‘shock-ing’. As a conscious citi-zen and dedicated workerof the party, I am also trou-bled by the single question:“Is this the true and genu-ine mandate of the elector-ate or something wentdrastically wrong some-where, either on our part,or on the part of all those[including the EVMs] con-cerned with the electoral process?” We mustlook for answer[s], first and foremost, withinourselves, our party, and then outside.

4. In times of adversity, like the one we arefacing after May 13, 2004, the mind oftenturns towards self-destruction. That is whatwe should not let happen, at any cost. Inthe times of trial and tribulations, weshould, and must act - but with patience,due care and diligence, avoiding mistakes,if any, for a better tomorrow.

5. I am reminded of Pandit Nehru’s words

in a different context but appear relevant tous at this juncture. The Pandit had said:“We may make mistakes and pay for them,

but surely the greatestmistake is not to view thewhole scheme of things inits entirety, realisticallyand objectively, and todecide on clear objectivesand plans. If once this isdone, the next step tocomplete coordination fol-lows much more easily andby coordinate effort canreal results be achieved”.

6. I must thank you im-mensely and the otherleaders of the Party forhaving chosen me as Gen-eral Secretary [Legal Cell-SPCC] with effect fromDecember 05 last. I am

aware that I have performed my duties anddischarged responsibilities to the best of myknowledge and with utmost care and dili-gence. May be, perhaps, in the estimationof some colleagues of the party, I may havefailed to live up to their high expectations. Alone human being cannot, at any point oftime, shoulder the load far beyond hisstrength and capacity. I alone know how Iwent through the gruelling time-bound pro-gramme from April 15 to May 01, 2004.

7. Even before the completion of the nomi-

nation process, a certain section of our partyworkers had openly began a campaignagainst me for reasons best known to them.The campaign become more vitriolic fromApril 23 onwards which led me to live a crip-pled life for over a week; and again on May14, 2004, when I attended the party office, abarbarous attempt was made to lynch me todeath. Your timely intervention saved mylife and I am indeed grateful to you.

Furthermore, I must mention in passingthat majority of our candidates took the nomi-nation exercise rather casually, least realizingthe fact that filling in the nomination papersand affidavits was a crucial importance. Ex-cept eight or nine candidates who filled in thenomination forms and affidavits on their own,exercising due care and attention, others tookit too lightly and turned up to party office onApril 21 and 22 when the workload on me hadmultiplied. I had to go through and correcterrors word by word. I could neither eat mymeals not sleep at home as time was runningout. I also had to coordinate with the CEO andthe R.O. frequently and in such a state of pres-sure, the nomination exercise was completedwithin the deadline. However, I did not get thebasic facilities and manpower support fromApril 22, 2004 [after 7.15 a.m.] onwards. Every-one who comes to office had a problem towhich I was the lone person to offer solution.Any person, had he been working in the man-ner I did, would have collapsed halfwaythrough the gruelling nomination exercise. I

THE REPORT THAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUTI have been pushed to the wall to face an

ugly trial by a mob: Hem Lall Bhandari

turn to pg 7

DOCUMENTAlmost a month before he was

expelled from the State

Congress on 11 June, the SPCC

[I] General Secretary [Legal

Cell], Hem Lall Bhandari, had

prepared a report on the

reasons behind the four

constituencies that the Cong

[I] lost even before the State

went to poll. This document

was never made public, but is

important because it presents

Mr. Bhandari’s point of view.

NOW! serialises the entire

document.

Novel InitiativeThe BLIA’s initiative to take a group of students on a heritage walkthrough various parts of Sikkim for an intimate initiation to Sikkim’sculture and history is a laudable effort. The gap between theSikkimese society and its roots is widening with every genera-tion. Its dialects are teetering on extinction and information on itshistorical and cultural moorings is sparse and unreliable. It isinto such a scenario that the BLIA took the initiative and tookalong students on a whirlwind tour of the State. The more thanhandsome patronage extended to the students and the organis-ers by the State politicians is also welcome. There is after allmore to Sikkim than just politics and these leaders, by support-ing the organisers have underlined their concern on the gradualdistancing of our younger generation from their roots.What is now hoped is that the interest in Sikkim that walk musthave surely kindled in the students is fanned regularly. It is going tobe a tough task since information is so limited on Sikkim’s historyand culture, but the organisers who could take the pains to organ-ise the trip, will definitely be able to source material to the studentswhich should keep their interest alive. As the initiative gathersmomentum and as the students learn more about their own state,the future trips could become more focused on special topics.Students for example could be taken to Dzongu to learn about theLepcha way of life. Trips to South and West Sikkim could focus onthe Limbu presence in Sikkim and their history. Monastic tourswith guest speakers on Buddhism practised in Sikkim in its his-tory, the eastern extremities to relive the experience of Tibet Tradedays or the genesis of the orchid nurseries of the region. There isso much more that the younger generation should know aboutSikkim. In fact, now that BLIA as taken the first step, the EducationDepartment should follow it up with making heritage tours of Sikkima part of the curriculum sponsored by the State.

18 June, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

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In the report carried in NOW!dated 18 June, 2004, headlined“It’s Hem Lall’s Turn to Speak:Truth is Bitter,” it was inadvertentlymentioned that the report wasprepared by Mr. Hem LallBhandari on 14-15 June. Itshould have read 14-15 May,2004. The error is regretted.

-ed

immediately depute a team toSikkim to recruit nursing staff fromSikkim for their hospital.

He has also agreed to send ateam to make an on-the-spot as-sessment of the feasibility of set-ting up a center of Escort Hospi-tal in Sikkim.

He further suggested that anunderstanding could be reached

with the State Governmentwhereby special concessioncould be given to the patientscoming to Escorts Hospital fortreatment. He also assured of hisfull cooperation in the endeav-ours of the state government inimproving the health care facili-ties in the state.

Contd from pg 1

CM WANTS ESCORTS TO SET UPCARDIAC HOSPITAL IN SIKKIM

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 18 June: A valedic-tory function of Heritage Walkwas held on 17 June at Hotel MistTree Mountain. PS Goley, Minis-ter, Sports and Youth Affairs wasthe chief guest of the functionand GM Gurung, Minister, Edu-cation and Culture was specialguest with NK Pradhan, GangtokMLA as Guest of Honour.

The Heritage Walk wasflagged off by GM Gurung on 12June from Zero Point. Studentsfrom five different schools ofGangtok participated in the Walk.All in all there were 20 students –12 girls and 8 boys.

On the first day the team vis-ited some historical and remark-able places of Gangtok like Raj

Bhawan, Mintokgang, SammanBhawan, White Hall, King Palaceetc. and were informed on them.The team then visited otherprominent sites of the other dis-tricts including Temi Tea Garden,Samdruptse and other places re-lated to the Sikkimese heritage.

The team also visitedJorethang Mandir, Tatopani,Legship, Rapdentse Palace,Kheheopalri Lake, Yuksom, DupdiMonastery, which is the oldestmonastery of Sikkim, Tashidingand Daramdin Museum. The BeerFactory at Melli was also visitedby the team before they returnedto Gangtok on 17 June.

Each evening of the heritagetour the students engaged in inter-active sessions with poets and lit-erary people as they did at

Jorethang and Geyzing or in otherprogrammes like Quiz competitions,singing, dancing, music and debate.

The students have now tosubmit a 1500 word essay within30 June on their experiences dur-ing the Heritage Walk.

The students too expressedtheir delight at the novel experienceat learning especially the interac-tive sessions they had with literarypersons. They were also thankfulto BLIA for organizing such anevent which to most of them was amost welcome educational tour.

GM Gurung distributed prizesto the participants of debate com-petition which was held at eveningsession during tour. In his addresshe appealed to the students togather information and knowledgeon their homeland.

PS Goley, while thanking BLIAfor taking up a wonderful initia-tive said it was important to re-member our own state which wasa land of beautiful images.

The function was also at-tended by BLIA members, partici-

pants and parents of participantstudents. GS Lama, President,BLIA gave a brief description ofBLIA. He said that they believedin humanistic Buddhism as reli-gion should always be followedin a practical way.

Students salute heritage tour

HRD Minister, GM Gurung, and BLIA [Sikkim] head, GS Lama, withone of the participants of the BLIA sponsored Heritage Walk

GANGTOK, 18 June: A two day training on HIV/ AIDS/ STD preven-tion and control was held on 17 and 18 June at GNM Training Centre,STNM Hospital. Organised by Sikkim State AIDS Control Society fordistrict wise training curriculum for physicians in private sector, Indiansystem of medicine and Homeopathy and Medical Officers, the pro-gramme was inaugurated by Sonam Gyatso, Secretary, Health Depart-ment. Various doctors from STNM hospital addressed the traineesspeaking on the different aspects of the disease and its treatment.

Training camp on HIV

SUBHAS RAI

GANGTOK, 18 June: Availabil-ity of ‘Easy Finance’ according toMotor Vehicle department offi-cials, is the main reason behindthe increasing numbers of vehi-cles on our streets.

“Several financial institutionsincluding banks are giving easyinstallment loans to buy vehiclesand it has become fashionable forevery Sikkimese to have a vehi-cle,” explains P. Tiwari, AdditionalSecretary, Transport Department,Motor Vehicle Division.

“By paying only Rs. 20,000-25,000 as down payment, one caneasily buy a vehicle. The rest ofthe money can be paid ininstallments. It is not surprisingthen that it looks like we havemore cars than people on theroads,” he asks.

According to him, the State

EASY FINANCE GLUTTING THE STREETSWITH VEHICLES, FEEL MV OFFICIALS

government’s Voluntary Retire-ment Scheme [VRS] had alsoadded to the traffic increase aspeople have more money tospend as well as leisure time.

Asked about the restriction onissuing registration numbers, hesaid that there was no such rulein the Central Motor Vehicle Actregarding this.

“Few years back we had to-tally stopped issuing the taxi num-bers but due to unemploymentproblems we were forced to issuetaxi numbers to local unemployedyouths,” he discloses.

Replying on what action canbe taken to do away with the oldvehicles plying the streets, hesaid that as per the Motor VehicleAct 1988, a vehicle’s life-span hasbeen fixed at 15 years but afterverifying the condition of vehi-cles its validity could be extended

But the trend of purchasing

vehicles, he says, will not lastlong.

“It is a temporary phenom-enon. When people realize thatthey cannot pay the installments,it will automatically reduce theirinterest in procuring new vehi-cles,” he adds.

Citing some examples, Mr.Tiwari said that his office had al-ready started receiving cases offinancial institutions snatchingvehicles from defaulters due tonon-payment of installmentamounts.

The problem of increasing ve-hicular traffic does not seem tohave any solution with everyonewanting a car of their own. On itspart the department is planningto place a proposal that hence-forth it would issue taxi registra-tion numbers only to those placeshaving lesser number of taxis.

4; NOW!; 18 June, 2004

C M Y K

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a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 18 June: The Healthminister, Hishey Lachungpa ac-companied by the Secretary,Chief Medical Officer and otherstaff of the head-office visitedGathong PHSC, the highest healthfacility of the state at 12,800 ft on15 June.

Mr. Lachungpa on assumingcharge of the Health departmenthad indicated his desire to visit allthe health facilities in order to as-sess the accessibility and utilizationof these facilities by the public and

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, June 18: KalawatiSubba, Minister for Animal Hus-bandry, Livestock, Fisheries andVeterinary Services and Food,Civil Supplies and ConsumersAffairs, today inaugurated a con-stituency level party office atYuksom. After the inauguration,she met the local people of the

constituency and gave a patienthearing to the various grievancesraised by the local public.

Later she attended a work-shop and awareness camp on self-reliance and various agro-basedactivities at Rimbi.

Mrs. Subba in her addressemphasized on setting up of a Pro-ducers’ Cooperative Society togenerate self-employment and

assured the public of all possiblehelp from the government. Shefurther asked the officers to iden-tify various areas for viability ofdifferent projects and the localyouth and general people forproper implementation of projectsfor their benefit.

Specialists of various agro-based departments highlightedvarious schemes of the govern-

ment and the departments, whichthey believed would be very ben-eficial for the general public.

The workshop was attendedby IB Gurung, Chairman, JusticeJuvenile Board, local Panchayatmembers, officials from variousdepartments, unemployed youthof Yuksom and its surroundingareas and the local gentries.

Constituency-level SDF office inaugurated at Yuksom

MINISTER VISITS HIGHESTHEALTH FACILITY

also to see at first hand the immedi-ate requirement of these centers foraugmenting the facilities in the in-terest of better health care.

He also visited PhadamchenSub Centre, Rongli PHC,Rhenock PHC, Rorathang PHCand Pakyong PHC. He interactedwith the staff of all these PHC‘sand PHCS‘s and gave a patienthearing to their grievances andasked them to be more dedicatedin their duty.

He also then assured the pub-lic of these places of better healthcare delivery service.

Raid revealselectricity theft by3-star hotel inDarjeelingBIRENDRA SHANDILYA

DARJEELING, 18 June: A mas-sive raid conducted jointly by theWest Bengal State ElectricityBoard and the DEB of the Police inDarjeeling turned out to be a hugesuccess for both the departments.

The authorities decided toconduct a check at the HotelMohit Pvt. Ltd., a three-star hotelon HD Lama Road, Darjeeling.

“We performed the scheduledchecks and when we disconnectedthe electricity meter we saw thatnearly 90% of the electrical appli-ances were still functioning alongwith the lights. Closer inspectionrevealed that the meter had beenbypassed and electricity was be-ing directly consumed from themain pole,” stated Avijit KumarSaha, Assistant Engineer.

Saha revealed that the electric-ity load was around 100 kilo wattsof which 90% was being stolen.

According to the ElectricityAct 2003, which levels a fine ofRs. 10,000 per kilowatt and alsotaking into consideration the “lossof energy” factor, the total amountto be paid to the WBSEB includ-ing the fine would be approxi-mately to the tune of Rs. 45 lakhs.

“This is the first time that araid of this magnitude has beenconducted in Darjeeling. Thewhole raid lasted for more than 3hours,” informed A. Bagchi, In-spector, DEB [Police].

The Hotel is owned byMahendra Singh Saraff, a re-nowned businessman and a per-son active in social service. Afterthe raid, the electricity connectionwas cut off, and a television set,geyser, light fittings, room heaterand the conductors used to by-pass the main meter seized.

A formal complaint has beenlodged at the Darjeeling Sadar Thana.Saha also informed that the ownersof the Hotel were absconding.

Prior to this, frequent raidshad been conducted on businessestablishments including manyhotels and premises with commer-cial and domestic connections.

“Though of not such magni-tude many theft cases have beenidentified and compounded off,”added Saha,

a NOW REPORT

KALIMPONG, 18 June: DawaNorbula, the Congress MP, today,in an address exhorted that hewould attend to all the existingproblems in the sub-division pro-vided that all the seniors and in-tellectuals of the town showedtheir cooperation.

The new Member of Parlia-ment (MP) and the Congress (I)Hills candidate Dawa Norbula waswelcomed in a felicitation cer-emony organized today, 18 June,by the DGAHC. While all the emi-nent personalities of town werepresent today, the students toodidn’t miss out on the opportu-nity of having a glimpse of the so–called beloved son and the newguardian of the hills.

After the lengthy garlandingprocess of the greens and whitesthe MP was entertained with thepresentation of a splendid com-position of folk music and dance.

Mr. Norbula, in his address,stated, “I have already discussedabout the existing water scarcity inthe three sub-divisions and also thesetting up of an engineering collegeand vocational centre in Kalimpong”.

He said that he would alsolook into the unemployment prob-lems in the hills.

Mr. Dawa Pakhrin, ExecutiveCouncillor, DGAHC expressed dur-ing the ceremony their desire forGorkhaland and a separate state.

Addressing the Congress MP,Mr. Pakhrin said, “Recalling thenumber of Gorkha martyrs at Kargiland the mass killing during theagitation of 1986, a separate stateand the development of the hills iswhat I would like to demand fromyou.” I think we will have to digfor justice for our people in thiscountry,” added Mr. Pakhrin

“If there is this grant ofTelangana as a separate statethen we have full faith in you toput in the matter of Gorkhaland”added Mr. Pakhrin.

Felicitation ceremonyfor Darj Cong MP

KARAN SHAH

KALIMPONG, 18 June: In thewake of criticism from the AllGorkha Students Union [ASGU]in relation to last week’s incidentin which Abishek Rai, a studentof class VI of SUMI, was beatenand reportedly admitted to thehospital, the Kalimpong Educa-tion Development And ProtectionUnit [KEDPU] called an indoormeeting today deliberate on whatthey see as “fabrication” of factsby AGSU.

They also announced that infuture they would not tolerate anykind of interference by such or-

ganizations in matters related toschools.

The ASGU in relation to theincident had demanded compen-sation for the student and also thepermanent dismissal of theteacher involved.

The executive members of theUnit i.e. Heads of all EducationalInstitutions also attended themeeting.

The local, MLA, GaulanLepcha, who also happens to bethe President of the Unit, stated,“Though I am into politics the in-terference of such bodies in mat-ters of schools is not good. Moreover if anything that has to be

checked in the present youth sce-nario it is that of drug trafficking.”

The Unit also stated that staffof schools were always for thewelfare of its students and thattill-date all educational institu-tions had played a major role inthe socio-economic developmentof Kalimpong. Hence interferenceand exaggeration of such inci-dents by outside bodies woulddamage the reputation of localschools.

“Moreover, the teacher hasalready been suspended and allmedical expenses of the studenthave been taken up by theschool,” said NR Pradhan, Princi-

pal SUMI.In a firm statement he said,

“The teacher will not be terminatednow as per the demand of AGSU,as it will just be another step ofacting under pressure of the un-ion. The whole issue taken up bythe Union will also lead to thefalse sense of confidence for theguardian and students”.

The Secretary, Sonam WangdiBhutia, cautioned all those whowere present that this was thebeginning of such bodies inter-fering in matters of the schoolsand so, he said, they should bestopped at the very grass rootlevel for the benefit of all schools.

Kpg educators protest AGSU involvement in school matters

18 June, 2004; NOW! 5

C M Y K

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PANGTHANG, 18 June: TheSikkim Armed Police today bid awarm farewell to four of theirjawans at a programme here atPangthang.

After having attained the ageof 58 years a government policepersonnel is considered eligiblefor retirement. In this respectASI, Santa Bahadur Rai andLance Naik, both considered asamongst the most senior mem-bers of the SAP family will be re-tiring. The other two to retire areConstable Chung Chung Bhutiaand Constable Ram BahadurChettri who became eligible forvoluntary retirement after a serv-ice period of 20 years.

The retiring SAP members hadjoined the SAP at the age of 18years which is the age of entryinto the SAP.

“When officers or senior offi-cials retire, they are given specialtreatment but what about thejawans who have served equallyas much as the officers and de-

serve the best”, said AkshaySachdeva, CO, SAP on the pro-gramme held in their honour.

The SAP has a tradition ofhonoring their jawans but this wasthe first time that this functionwas organized in such grandeur.“These jawans are the very foun-dation of the force and it is a dutyfor us to pay our respect andshow our gratitude to them asthey have slogged and facedproblems and have sacrificedmuch of their private and personallives for the force. It is further tomotivate them to face life afterservice and show them that theyare cared for and also to create afeel of belonging”, said the CO.

The function saw all the re-tired personnel speak. There wasa musical and dance extravaganzapresented by the Eagle Band andthe children and staff of the SAPfamily. All in all the programmewould be remembered by the re-tired personnel for a long time asno one knows how to give theirown their due like the SikkimArmed Police.

RETIRINGS.A.P. JAWANSHONOURED

SCENES FROM A FAREWELL: SAP personnel take the stage [top].SAP Commandant, Akshay Sachdeva, belts out a popular tune

while children regale with their dance and music routine

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 18 June: UniqueSweets at Metropoint has just gotlarger and better. It is now housedin another space in the samebuilding and is positioning itselfmore as a fast food joint apart fromthe regular things it sells. “Wewere a little short of space earlierand we could not offer people thekind of service we wanted to. Nowwe are fully air-conditioned, havemore sophisticated gadgets like anew water purifier and a wholevariety of products,” informsBimal Jain of Unique Sweets.

While the new space is muchlarger than the previous one, youcan also opt to have your fill ofsnacks in the open air area of theeatery. “We have a fully transpar-ent kitchen which means whatyou see is what you get, there isno scope for shortcuts or unhy-gienic food,” adds Mr. Jain.

For the first time Unique Sweetshas also created a separate sectionfor fruits, stocking up with a wholerange of imported fruits.

Within 15 days they will alsobe introducing the Meal Pack, acompact meal packet which youcan have anywhere. “It will havethe ingredients and the expirydate mentioned on them,” saysMr. Jain. Fresh fruit juice and softice-cream will be introduced soon.

Along with Metro Sweets, thisstretch of road is turning out to be quitea treat for locals as well as tourists.

Unique grows biggera NOW REPORT

Rhenock, 18 June: On the firstdeath anniversary of Jai ShankerLall Shresta, founder of Rachnabooks and publications, which iscelebrating its Silver Jubilee thisyear, the first library under the JaiLibrary Movement was inaugu-rated on 10 June. The library is situ-ated in the newly started readingroom of the Nav Nirman Parivar atKyongsa Bustee in Aritar GramPanchayat in East Sikkim.

The Movement was launchedunder the initiative of one of hisillustrious students NT Bhutia, ateacher by profession. Besides acollection of standard books fromChildren Book Trust, NationalBook Trust, Sahitya Akademi andSajha Prakashan worth Rs. 5,000,furniture has also been providedunder the Programme. Books willbe provided to the libraryannunally under the Programmeas grant.

The books and furniture havebeen provided by Shresta’s fam-ily trust Karuna Devi SmarakDharmarth Guthi and RachnaBooks and Publications inmemory of the departed founder“to carry forward the good work”in the field of education done byhim from 1950s till 1976 as theHead Master of Rhenock Govern-ment School, which has producedmany illustrious citizens like Dr.

FIRST LIBRARY UNDERJAI LIBRARY MOVEMENT

INAUGURATEDShanti Chettri, Hari Prasad Chettri,Ganesh Kumar Pradhan and RKPradhan.

Addressing the gathering RSShresta, Principal Secretary,Sikkim Legislative Assemblyspoke of the need to have suchlibraries to provide books to thereaders, especially young chil-dren, to help them utilize their freetime in some useful pursuit espe-cially in the evenings. Senior citi-zens could also make use of theplace as the venue for exchang-ing ideas with others.

Besides NT Bhutia, JB Chettriand the whole group of dedicatedteachers who started the libraryalong with students, local gentrylike Ramesh Kumar Pradhan, thefirst Graduate in Agriculture fromSikkim, Bijoy Pratap Pradhan, Ra-man Shresta, Ganesh KumarPradhan, Krishna Pradhan andmany others including UdaiChandra Pradhan from Darjeelingand Harihar Man Shrestha fromNepalgunj attended the function.

In appreciation and support,Yug Paribodh, the literary forumfrom Darjeeling with eminent writ-ers like Sharad Chettri and GuptaPradhan and Udai ChandraPradhan donated some rare Nepalibooks to the Trust for handingover to the library under the JaiLibrary Movement Programme.

A similar library is soon to bestarted at Rhenock Bazaar.

6; NOW!; 18 June, 2004

C M Y K

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TRAI PULLS UP CELLCOS ON ROAMING

The Telecom and RegulatoryAuthority of India has di-rected the cellular mobile

service providers not to imposefixed charges like roaming rental ontheir subscribers unless the facilityis activated with their prior consent.

Acting on representations fromthe pre-paid subscribers, Trai di-rected the mobile service providersto inform the subscriber throughSMS whenever they roam into an-other licence area that they will be

charged for the roaming facilityonly when they chose to make orreceive a call. The regulator saidany fixed sum for roaming like arental should not be charged un-less a call is either made or receivedby a customer while roaming.

It also said that the SMS toinform the customer of the roam-ing facility activation must not becharged.

The Trai-directions to theservice providers came after the

prepaid subscribers complainedthat they are being charged forauto-roaming services eventhough they do not want to availthe services. The subscribers alsosaid that they were not sure ofthe SMS charges while roaming.

The TRAI said most of theservice providers do not chargefor receiving SMS while roamingand the companies must informtheir subscribers about this fact.

Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s decision to appointeconomist Montek Singh

Ahluwalia as the Deputy Chair-man of the Planning Commissionhas annoyed the Left parties.

Reason? The Left Front fearsthat Ahluwalia is a point man forthe International Monetary Fundwhich might dictate the priorities forIndia’s economic growth under thenew UPA government.

The main Left parties - theCPM, and the CPI - have officiallynot released any statement op-

JAIPUR, 18 June: Shiv Sena work-ers torched the screen during ashow of the controversial film‘Girlfriend’ at a theatre in Jaipuron Thursday, causing a minorstampede inside the hall. Nobodywas, however, injured, police said.

Similar reports came in fromJalgaon in Maharashtra wherefearing strong opposition by theShiv Sena to the screening of

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We would also like to take this opportunity to thanks all those

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Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi may tender his resignation when

the 2002 riots and its impact on theBharatiya Janata Party’s perform-ance in the general election is dis-cussed at the three-day nationalexecutive meeting in Mumbai nextweek, sources in the BJP reveal.

Modi will leave it to the partyto accept or reject his resignation.

Former Gujarat chief ministerSuresh Mehta, a moderate, is the

VAT TO BE

IMPLEMENTED

FROM APRIL

2005

A nationwide Value-addedTax will be implementedfrom April 2005, a move

that could increase revenues ofstates significantly and enablethem improve their financialhealth.

“After going through the en-tire interactions, we can happilysay that there is a broad consen-sus among states to introducestate-level VAT beginning April2005,” Asim Dasgupta, the chair-man of Empowered Committee onVAT, said after a meeting with Fi-nance Minister P Chidambaram atNew Delhi today.

The decision to switch overto the new tax regime was takenby the states after Chidambarammade “certain comforting state-ments” regarding compensation,Dasgupta said.

Any possible loss on accountof introduction of VAT or CentralSales Tax may be examined andcompensated for on a positiveattitude by the central govern-ment, he said referring toChidambarams assurance.

frontrunner to succeed Modi if hisresignation is accepted by theparty leadership.

Mehta was among the first todefend Atal Bihari Vajpayee thisweek, after the former prime min-ister’s comment to Zee News thatthe Gujarat riots cost the BJP thegeneral election provoked rebut-tals from party president MVenkaiah Naidu and other lead-ers of the Sangh Parivar.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Sarsanghchalak KS Sudarshan and Dr.Praveen Togadia and Ashok Singhal ofthe Vishwa Hindu Parishad denouncedVajpayee and defended Modi.

Venkaiah Naidu told the me-dia that Gujarat would not be dis-cussed at the BJP national execu-tive meeting in Mumbai.

Party spokesman MukhtarAbbas Naqvi denied any move toreplace Modi, who remained mumthroughout the controversy.

“At one stage, Atalji threat-

ened he would not attend the na-tional executive meeting if the at-tacks on him did not stop,” a sen-ior BJP leader was quoted as say-ing in a news carried by rediff.com.

“The party leadership did notwant to face such embarrass-ment,” the BJP leader added.

On Thursday, 17 June,Vajpayee asserted again thatGujarat would be discussed at theMumbai meeting, which will beheld from 22-24 June.

MODI MAY RESIGN AT BJP MEET IN MUMBAI

posing Ahluwalia’s appointment,but senior communist leaders saidthat Ahluwalia’s selection to thekey post is not the right move.

“The Left parties are concernedabout Ahluwalia’s appointment asDeputy Chairman of the PlanningCommission. We are not veryhappy with it,” CPI National Sec-retary D Raja said on Friday.

“We know that a government’spolicies are not decided by a sin-gle man. So we are not taking it upas a big issue, though we do notfavour his appointment,” Raja said.

Montek’s appointment irks LeftThe Left parties have consist-

ently held that most of India’s eco-nomic reforms that began in 1991were decided by the IMF and theWorld Bank. They argue that underthe IMF-World Bank-dictatedmodel, the priorities for India’s eco-nomic growth are determined not inthe interests of the Indian people butfor a narrow affluent section at homeand foreign capitalists.

The Left Front alleges that theIMF policies have helped only 10per cent of India’s population at theexpense of the remaining 90 per cent.

Girlfriend, the management of acinema hall cancelled the releaseof the film on Friday.

In the attack on the theatre inJaipur, the screen was partly damagedwhen nearly two dozen Shiv Sainiks,who had entered the hall, poured aninflammable substance on it and setit on fire, police said. Some seats andthe carpets too were damaged.

Police have registered a case of

arson under Section 436 of the IPC.No arrests have been made so far.

The incident, at the GalaxyMultiplex in Mansarovar, came asa surprise since a large number ofpolicemen were deployed to foilthe Sena threat to disrupt the show.

Police said the Sena workerssmuggled in the inflammable sub-stance into the hall in a small boxused for carrying betel leaves.

SAINIKS CONTINUE ATTACKS ON ‘GIRLFRIEND’

18 June, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

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The new session will commence on July 8, 2004. Freshinterested candidates may contact the Institute office atPrashanti Niketan, Tibet Road, Gangtok for prospectusand further information.

Filled in application forms with supporting documentsshould reach the Institute office by the forenoon of July 5, 2004.

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Ph. Nos. 204039, 281237. M.No. 94341-03787, 98320-70463

A N N O U N C E M E N T

BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE

MY CAR

Even before they have gotdown to any serious busi-

ness, guess what could be both-ering our newly elected and se-lected ministers? They no longerwant their old cars, they want brandnew Boleros. And what our 12ministers want, they shall get.Their wish is our command. Andso the Home department, a molereveals, has promptly ordered for18 new Boleros. Money wellspent? The earlier Boleros that theministers had have now beengiven to the department secretar-ies, it is learnt. The fascination withBoleros was taken to quite anotherlevel when a minister was offeredan ambassador to drive to office,till the new Bolero arrived. Ambas-sador!! The minister fumed, I’drather not go to office at all.

IT’S MY LIFE

It is no picnic working at theUD&HD department. No one is

ever happy with your work andcomplaints pour in all the time.The local press keep going onabout garbage like they havenothing else to write about. You

am, however, conscious that no onewill believe this bitter truth.8. The disinformation campaignagainst me and the ugly mudsling-ing will not enhance the image ofthe party. Those responsible for in-dulging in such activities, in my opin-ion, do not believe in democracy,debate and discussion. It is indeedvery said that in the past 30 years ofdemocratic exercise, some Congress-men have not learned the fundamen-tals of democratic practice, and par-ticularly within the party.9. I have been pushed to the wallto face an ugly trial by a mob. Atthis difficult hour of trial, I canonly think and quote here whatthe legendary ParliamentarianShri Acharya Kripalani said onDecember 13, 1954 while partici-pating in the Lok Sabha debates.He said then: “It is not the Oppo-sition, it is not the goondas, it isnot the black-marketers, it is noteven the Communists, it is you[referring to the government] whoare the greatest enemies of thisinfant democracy. If ever this de-mocracy dies, you will be respon-sible for it. You may live for a dayand no more; but this will be thejudgment of history to your ever-lasting shame.”10. Elections come and go; but weand our society must continue tomarc ahead, avoiding pitfalls andmistakes. The society cannot bebrought to a grinding halt only onthe ground that election resultshave been disastrous. Greaterwould be the disaster and loss ifwe lose faith and confidence in theelectoral process of own nation.11. I recall now the brighter pe-

are so paranoid you have recur-ring dreams of garbage piled out-side Mintokgang and no SafaiKaramchari in sight. Inspite ofyour best efforts, someone,somewhere is always mad atyou. Take this recent example.A letter was delivered to twosenior lady officials of the de-partment written by someoneapparently upset over thenon-delivery of some landpapers. It warned, “Be care-ful. Don’t dare come near yourwindow. Don’t go the bath-room alone. Will shoot you”etc. It was signed KrishnaDon and ended with the chal-lenge, “Catch my finger-prints”.

Last heard the ladies werefuriously making calls to findout who in hell was thisKrishna Don and what hisproblem was.

YES, NO, OH YES!

The Congress Party is falling apart. We all know

that. But what we cannot im-agine is the extent of dishar-mony and disintegration that theparty is presently undergoing.

The façade put up for the elec-tions is falling apart and it is re-flecting in their public posturing.

First we were told that fivemembers have been expelled from

riod of the past. In the March 1985elections, the Sikkim SangramParishad, then less than one-year-old party under your leadership,won 30 out of 32 sets in theHouse. I was in the USA then butdid not read reports of rigging,booth capturing or any malprac-tice, in any of the Indian or Ameri-can newspapers. The March 1985poll was free and fair.

Similarly, in the 1989 Assembly-Parliamentary elections, the SSP se-cured all the 32 seats in the Assem-bly and the lone Lok Sabha seat,too. Not a single newspaper or maga-zine reported about rigging or boothcapturing by the winning party. Theverdict, both in 1985 and 1989, waspeople’s verdict and everyone ac-cepted it. I then was in Bangalore,teaching at the National Law Schoolof Indian University.12. This is for the first time thatSikkimese electorate [and else-where too] exercised its franchisethrough the EVMs. Naturally, theresults doled out by the EVMsproved to be both “surprising vic-

tory” and “shocking defeat”.Even the BJP-led NDA at the Cen-tre bowed down to the mandateof the people; and so did a leaderlike Shri Chandrababu Naidu andthe four Congress Chief Ministersin the October 2003 poll.13. We have already stepped intothe fourth year of the 21st centuryand we should be learning, gradu-ally, to accept EVMs, the cellularphones, the highly sophisticatedtechnological gadgets and equip-ment. After all, it is we, the PEO-PLE, who made these equipmentfor our improvement and the im-provement of our outdated ballotboxes, land phones and the out-dated telegraphic machines. It istime we learn to move with the timeand explosion of knowledge.14. This report is becoming toolong and I must end before youlose your patience.15. We in the Congress have suf-fered a defeat. I, therefore, feel that Ishould resign on moral grounds, fromthe post of the General Secretary [Le-gal Cell] so that some able and com-

petent person is inducted to the postin the larger interest of the Party andthe people of Sikkim. My letter of res-ignation is enclosed herewith sepa-rately. Before I conclude, I would liketo make it clear that I shall remain aloyal member of the Party.Thanking you for your coopera-tion and abiding faith in me.With regards,Yours faithfully,Sd/-(Hem Lall Bhandari), AdvocateGeneral Secretary,[Legal Cell, SPCC]

- part 2 tomorrow

Contd from pg 2

I have been pushed to the wall...

the party. Next, no, we have onlydecided to, and then again, yesthey have been expelled.

Make up your mindguys.

Meanwhile, as said ear-lier, moves are really hottingup for the seat of the Con-gress president.

Every leader with half achance is giving it a shot.News is that one verysharp-featured cookie isalso vying for the post, ifyou go by the planted sto-ries that surfaced recently.Reports have also come inof a signature campaign ona 20-page petition draftedby a certain angry former[or soon to be former, de-pending on which versionyou accept] Congressman,seeking the re-evaluationof the expulsions and re-structuring of the partyheirarchy.

If only so much inten-sity had been shown in thepoll runup, the nationalparty with regional ambi-

tions in Sikkim might have faredslightly better...

PDF alleges receivingthreats from GNLF

a NOW REPORT

KALIMPONG, 18 June: Thefive-party coalition, People’sDemocratic Front [PDF] claimedyesterday that they were beingthreatened by the Gorkha NationalLiberation Front [GNLF] partycadre over the call of the publicmeetings by the PDF in the wakeof the upcoming civic polls.

Speaking on the matter Col.DK Pradhan, Convener of GNLFCand PDF claimed, “We have justbeen advising the masses thatthey need not get disturbed overthe threats. They will then witnessa political change for the overalldevelopment of the place”.

In a separate incident, a gen-eral diary [GD] was also filed byBijay Sundas, the PDF backedIndependent candidate fromWard 5, alleging threats receivedfrom Dawa Pakhrin, GNLF, Presi-dent, Kalimpong Branch .

“He had called up with the pur-pose of threatening me but since Iwas not present he threatened mywife,” said Mr. Sundas.

A senior police official alsoconfirmed that there had been aGD filed by Mr. Sundas.

Meanwhile, the PDF held a meet-ing yesterday at Ward 6 for PDFbacked Independent candidateKapil Baniya. Col. Pradhan said:“The opposition party workersthreatened the people not to attendthe meeting we had organized”.

Incidentally, the KalimpongMunicipality, Chairman, KarnaHang Subba has also filed his nomi-nation from the same ward.

“We have declared openlythat their [GNLF’s] old trickswould not work now”.

He said: “Let’s play a fairgame. Defeat will not matter if it’sdone in a fair style”.

8; NOW!; 18 June, 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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240 BC: Eratosthenes estimatescircumference of Earth1862: Slavery outlawed in USterritories1865: All slaves in Texas freed1867: Maximilian Mexicanemperor, executed, Mexicanrepublic restored1910: Father’s Day celebrated for1st time [Spokane, Washington]1917: After WW I King George Vorders members of British royalfamily to dispense with Germantitles & surnames, they take thename Windsor1932: Hailstones kill 200 in HunanProvince, China PR1946: 1st TV sports spectacular-Joe Louis vs Billy Conn1947: Born, Salman Rushdienovelist [Midnight’s Children,Satanic Verses]1961: Kuwait regains completeindependence from Britain1967: Muhammad Ali is convictedfor refusing induction in US Army1977: Pope Paul VI makes 19th-century bishop John Neumannfirst US male saint1978: Garfield the Cat animatedcharacter “Big fat hairy deal”1981: India’s APPLE satellite, 1stto be stabilized on 3 axes,launched1986: Argentina beats WestGermany 3-2 in soccer’s 13thWorld Cup

LOS ANGELES: Assuming anewly modest public image more inkeeping with that of a nice Jewishgirl than a “Material Girl,” pop starMadonna says she has adoptedthe Hebrew name of Esther.

The Catholic-bred singer/ac-tress said in an ABC News “20/20” interview aired on Friday thather identification with the Biblicalqueen celebrated in the Jewish fes-tival of Purim stems in part fromher adherence to the study of Jew-ish mysticism known as Kabbalah.

The performer, born MadonnaLouise Veronica Ciccone, recalledthat she was very young whenher mother, for whom she wasnamed, died of cancer.

“I wanted to attach myself to

another name,” she said accord-ing to excerpts from the interviewreleased by ABC on Thursday.“This is in no way a negation ofwho my mother is... I wanted toattach myself to the energy of adifferent name.”

The 45-year-old mother of twoalso insisted that despite her cel-ebrated MTV awards kiss withBritney Spears, she has movedbeyond the raunchy pop vixenimage first cultivated two decadesago in such music-video hits as“Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl.”

“I did spend, you know, at leasta decade taking my clothes off andbeing photographed, saying badwords on TV, and, you know, thatsort of thing,” she told ABC’s

Cynthia McFadden. “I don’t regretit, but it’s just ... I mean everybodytakes their clothes off now. Andthen what? You know? And — andthen what?”

Acknowledging that her asso-ciation with Kabbalah has drawncriticism in some quarters as acelebrity trend, Madonna said herpractice of it is sincere.

“I’m a little bit irritated thatpeople think that it’s like somecelebrity bandwagon that I’vejumped on,” she said. “I’m veryserious about it.”

As for day-to-day life on thedomestic front, the wife of Britishdirector Guy Ritchie said one of herbiggest mantras of motherhood hasbeen: “Pick up your s—.”

life partner is indicated.LEO: You may initiate new busi-ness activities. Business will bebrisk. Cash flow will be verygood. Worries will be over. Ten-sions will be reduced.VIRGO: You may take up a newagency business. Business willthrive. Inimical activities will bereduced. Your loans will be sanc-tioned. You may get multiple linesof business.LIBRA: Health will be good. Youmay commence new business.Partnerships will work well. Cashflow will be very good. You willprosper. You will be in a positionto release tangled assets. Politi-cal life will be very good.SCORPIO: Those involved in thesugar and textile industries mayfind improvement. Those in tradeor with agencies may make thebest of a good opportunity. Ex-pansion in your business is in-dicated. You will be more involvedin spiritual activities.SAGITTARIUS: You may face a fi-nancial crisis. Those involved in

electronics and telecommunica-tions will make a good profit. Youmay take up new computer-re-lated business. Understandingwith your life partner will be verygood. Export businesses will bea little dull.CAPRICORN: Financial positionwill be good. You will be in a posi-tion to reduce your loans. You willalso release tangled assets. Youmay take some major decisions.Litigation will be in your favour.AQUARIUS: Some may findgreater improvement andchanges in your activities. You willhave the support of your youngerbrother. Political line may giveyou respect and honour. Healthwill be good.PISCES: A religious tour and offi-cial tour are indicated. Supportfrom your superiors and subor-dinates will continue. A changeof environment will cheer you up.Hotel and restaurant busi-nesses will be very successful.Understanding with your life part-ner will be very good.

‘MATERIAL GIRL’ GOES FROM MADONNA TO ESTHER

STRAUBING, Germany: Dogs inthe German state of Bavaria cannow blend in with the local Al-pine scenery wearing the sametraditional attire worn by theirowners - lederhosen.

Dogwear designer HildegardBergbauer, who also makesTyrolean mountain hats andrainwear for canines, said theleather outfits were best suited fordachshunds and other small dogsbut also looked good on poodles,

spaniels and boxers.“There are lederhosen for the

dogs and Dirndls for the bitches,”she said on Wednesday.

“The idea has gone down re-ally well; people think it’s a lot offun.”

Bergbauer said some itemswere more practical than others.

“The hats aren’t so handy forgoing on walks,” she said. “Butthe lederhosen are fine once thedog gets used to them.”

GERMAN DOGS GET THEIR OWN LEDERHOSEN

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