Nathula:Much Ado For Nothing Palash biswas Nathula makes me remeber the shakespearan comedy - MUCH ADO FOR NOTHING, a joyful comedy with multiple marriages and no death. The border has been surmounted but the code hasn't been cracked. A week since the re-opening of Nathu-la after 44 years, trade remains frozen. Roads and railways are the sinews of empire. When the Himalayas were being blasted to lay the Darjeeling road, a percipient old Tibetan remarked to a British official, "Sahib, the sound of that powder is heard in Lhasa!" He did not say Peking. Nathula pass is meant to reopen the diplomatic link with China, closed for no less than fourty four years.But it is not going to open any breakthrough for trade or tourism, as the latest reports indicate. The road between Gangtok to Nathula is a busy military road. The infrastructure is quite inadequate. For more than this pass means nothing simply due to weather conditions at the hight of fourteen thousand feet. Moreover, neither Bengal nor the entire northeast or the rest of india seem to be on the trade and tourism map of govt. of India. The traditional trade and tourism passes in Uttaranchal and Himachal are overlooked. While Bengal and The Northeast including the Elephant, Assam have not been considered. For all practical reasons Kolkata, Siliguri and Guwahati have to be the transit points, if the centre is serious at all. It didn`t happen. Mind you the old Silk rout had different history and conditions. Without opening the bay of Bengal for trade and tourism with china, it is unpragmatic to make any attempt in this direction. Sikkim`s Chogyals had their queens from Lhasa. It is relevent with the Shakespearan comedy much ado for nothing. The govt of India is , somewhat romantic about the Nathula Pass without considering the objectivity of every questioning point. For Sikkim, I don`t see anything hopeful despite the press statements of Mr Pawan Chamling, the CM. The Nathulapass has to dislodge the Sikkimies as the multinationals are going to take over, I fear Meanwhile,Indian customs has refused to permit trade without the mandatory importer-exporter code number. Under guidelines issued by the directorate-general of foreign trade, the code can be issued only against an income-tax permanent account number (PAN).
Since income-tax and other direct taxes are not applicable in Sikkim, no Sikkimese trader has a PAN. Only Sikkimese subjects have been initially permitted to trade through Nathu-la, which was thrown open on July 6. Claiming that the question of the code never came up in meetings prior to the reopening, the Sikkim commerce and industries department today wrote to the commerce ministry to solve the problem. S.P. Subba, the department's director, said: "This was a small issue and could have been cleared before had customs brought it up in the meetings." He added that since it was border trade involving low-volume transactions in selected items, the code "was not required". The first shock came on Wednesday when customs officials prevented traders from taking items to the other side and asked for the code number. Anil Kumar Gupta and fellow trader, Sajjan Agarwal, had taken with them goods like rice, flour and spices, but had to return with their consignments because they didn't have it. "The traders on the Chinese side were very enthusiastic but were disappointed when we informed them that we were not able to bring our items. They said they would take up the matter with their government," Agarwal said. The code is not needed at the two other border passes where trade with China is already taking place. Customs sources, however, said that at the awareness seminar held in Delhi on exports and imports, it was made clear that the code was mandatory. Much Ado About Nothing is generally considered one of Shakespeare's best comedies, because it combines elements of robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics. It was probably written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. Like As You Like It and Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, though interspersed with darker concerns, is a joyful comedy that ends with multiple marriages and no deaths. The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 15581603) and James I (ruled 16031625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare's company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King's Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeare's death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson hailed his works as timeless. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> See what's inside the new Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/2pRQfA/bOaOAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
