GTA Chana Ghotala

Bicky, News April 26, 2026

“Chana Ghotala”? Irregularities in Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’s Handling of Bharat Dal Scheme (Chana Allocation)

The Bharat Dal initiative aims to supply pulses at subsidized rates through cooperatives like the National Consumer Cooperative Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) and NAFED to stabilize retail prices and meet dietary needs. However, the GTA’s implementation appears to have involved the swift appointment of an advisor, an immediate large-scale requisition, appointment of a private Kanpur-based firm as “Nodal Agency” without visible tender process, a substantial advance payment by that firm, and subsequent justifications amid apparent objections from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The advisor later resigned in April 2025.

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Dazzling Darjeeling

Kumar Subba

Obituary January 21, 2022

In Memorium: Kumar Subba

There was something about the voice that felt so heavenly the first time I heard it in the National Panasonic tape recorder that my family had recently bought back in the mid 1980s. I was barely 12 then, and I had just started listening to greats like Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar, along with new singers like Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan Jha. However, the Nepali songs like the ones sung by the legendary Kumar Subba were something else, and they swam through my cerebral cortex like a wakeful dream, the lyrics, the voice quality, the music notes, all easy on the ears and relaxing me to the hilt.