Cyclone affected in Darjeeling hills impatient for aid

August 26th, 2009 SILIGURI - To create awareness regarding the history and evolution of the heritage railway especially amongst schoolchildren, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) in collaboration with the Siliguri Science Centre has organised a week-long photo exhibition showcasing its glorious past of 128 years, in Siliguri. The exhibition, which will conclude on August 30, depicts the evolution of the DHR from its inception to the modern times.

July 23rd, 2009 SILIGURI - The disruption of popular toy train services in Darjeeling disappointed the tourists as the rail track was damaged by the landslides in the region. The tourists looking forward for a joy ride along Darjeeling Himalayan Railways had to change their plans.

July 22nd, 2009 SILIGURI - The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading an agitation for a separate Gorkhaland state, is now considering withdrawal of the indefinite shutdown it has called in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal ahead of the tripartite meeting on the issue next month. "We're discussing within our party the issue of withdrawing the indefinite shutdown in the hills.

July 13th, 2009 Indefinite shutdown affects normal life in Darjeeling SILIGURI - Normal life was affected in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling as an indefinite shutdown, called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in support of a separate state of Gorkhaland, began at noon Monday. Shops and offices remained closed, tourists vehicles stayed off the roads, and hundreds of tourists and students continued to move down to the plains from Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong sub-divisions.

June 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal's ruling Left Front chairman Biman Bose said on Tuesday that his party demanded the cyclone Aila, which caused enormous devastation in the state to be declared a national calamity. "The Left Front discussed the issue of cyclone Aila at its meeting and demanded that the disaster be declared a national calamity," Biman Bose told reporters.

June 7th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team led by Ashok Lavasa, has started its assessment of the damage caused by recent Cyclone Aila in West Bengal. The cyclone and its aftermath claimed 137 lives and affected 67.5 lakh people.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - An 11-member central team, led by Joint Secretary, Home, Ashok Lavasa, set out for the Cyclone Aila-affected areas in North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Darjeeling districts of West Bengal Saturday. The team broke up into small groups and left the city for the devastated zones soon ater preliminary discussions with state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta and senior officials at the state secretariat.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team will arrive here today to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials will visit the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team led by Ashok Lavasa, arrived here on Saturday to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials visited the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Trinamool Congress will not attend an all-party meeting on Sunday to exchange views and seek suggestions for expediting relief in the cyclone-affected areas. Sudip Bandopadhyay, TMC aspirant in Kolkata (North), said, "It is a desperate attempt to put a government seal on the efforts to get Central funds for the cyclone victims when the state has miserably failed to arrange relief and rehabilitation." The meeting has been called by State Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

June 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team will arrive here on Saturday to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials will visit the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills.

June 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Centre would soon send a team to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone "Aila" in West Bengal, state, it has been assured to the State Government, said West Bengal Finance Minister Ashim Das Gupta on Tuesday. Ashim, after meeting the Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram on Tuesday in the national capital, said that Chidambaram has also promised that he would sympathetically consider all the demands for rehabilitation of the cyclone-affected people.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Rural Development Minister Dr. C. P. Joshi has sanctioned an amount of Rs.

April 21st, 2009 DARJEELING - Formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland will not solve problems faced by people in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here Monday. Addressing the maiden election meeting organised by the CPI-M in the hills of north Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls April 30, Yechury said tripartite talks involving the state and central governments and the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) were the only way to find a solution to the Gorkhaland crisis.

April 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday called the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 'highly opportunistic' for fielding veteran leader Jaswant Singh from West Bengal's Darjeeling with the support of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM). 'The BJP has taken a very highly opportunistic and unprincipled decision to field Jaswant Singh from Darjeeling hills with GJM support.