Sunday, March 26, 2017

Rahasya audition completed


The Gangtok audition of a Nepali film 'RAHASYA' got completed on March 25, 2017 at Nepali Sahitya Parishad Bhawan, Development Area. Total twenty two aspiring actors and actress had attended the audition and we had finalised our final list of casts, added Arjun Chapagai, Director of the movie. Chapagai further said the film is based on a true story and the first Nepali horror feature film produced from Sikkim. 
The high point of the film will be its special effect and the post production will be done in a studio at Mumbai, said the film director. Similarly the first audition was held at Singtam Community Hall a week ago where more than dozen participants had participated. The film is suppose to start its shooting schedule from April 10, 2017. The movie is produced under the banner of Kreative Eye Production.

Minister Somnath Poudhyal inaugurates volleyball ground at Shantinagar


"Shanti Nagar Sudhar Samiti" started its sports wing with the inauguration of the volleyball ground on March 23, 2017 in the presence of Area MLA/ Minister Somnath Poudyal along the walkway premises at Shanti Nagar, Singtam. Urgen Tamang, the renowned volleyball player of yesteryear from Singtam was given the responsibility of the Chief Coach.
Mr. Poudyal was offered khada by LN Pradhan, advisor SGSS. Krishna Chettri, President SGSS  in his welcome address gave the brief about the starting of the sports wing. He said Shantinagar Gaon Sudhar Samiti is preparing towards better society, we want to engage our youngsters in sports and have a better health. We will very soon be building up the badminton court, Chettri added. Other members of the SGSS was also present on the occasion.
Somnath Poudhyal, Area MLA cum Agriculture Minister had expressed every possible help for the organisation and had assured financial support for the sports initiated by Shantinagar Gaon Sudhar Samiti. Members of SGSS echoed that Shantinagar always remain grateful towards the state government for the Rani Khola Walkway and we all will give our best to make it much better.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Land Donar HN.Sharma and family congratulated by Shantinagar Samaj

SINGTAM, MARCH  16: Members of Shantinagar Gaon Sudhar Samiti has thanked HN Sharma, advisor of the Samiti and retired Divisional Engineer (Civil) for donating a land for towards the state government for the construction of the footpath. 
The said footpath would  join the National Highway with the Rani Khola Walkway at Shantinagar. It would be 100 feet long and four feet in breadth and had been donated free of cost for the betterment of the Shantinagar villagers, said the press release. 
The press release further reads after the announcement of the donation of the land officials of Khamdong BAC that included SL Cintury, BDO, Deepa Sharma, JE, Santosh Kalden, AE, Hissay Lama, Panchayat Inspector and others were called upon and the proposed land was measured and surveyed. 
A team of executive members led by LN Pradhan, PP Upretti, TB Pradhan, advisors of SGSS along with Krishna Chettri,  Sunil Pradhan and Nirmal Pradhan, President, Vice President and General Secretary of Shantinagar Gaon Sudhar Samiti offered khadas to HN Sharma and his wife Renu Sharma for their generous contribution

Thursday, March 09, 2017

'Parcel' attracts its audience; felicitation program also held


SINGTAM, MARCH 9: A special screening of a Nepali feature film Parcel was held at ATTC Hall, Burdang on March 8, 2017. More than twenty personalities from different fields from Singtam and beyond were felicitated. 
 
Tilu Gurung, MLA Rateypani was the Chief Guest of the evening. Other distinguished guests included Gopal Baraily - MLA West Pandam, Shyam Pradhan - MLA Arithang, Dr. Mechung Bhutia - MLA Martam Rumtek, DB Giri - SP East, Ajay Rai - SDPO, and others related to films and culture background. 
 
Kishore Limbu, actor and producer of the film Parcel was also felicitated on the evening. Distinguished personalities belonging to the different fields were awarded letters of appreciation, those included Uttam Pradhan, Chairman - Sikkim Film Board, Chunnilal Ghimeray - film Director, AB Gurung - BDO Namthang, Ugen T Bhutia - Panchayat President Sang, Sonam Palden Barfungpa - Principal ATTC, Krishna Chettri, TB Pradhan, Bimal Lamichaney, Mohan Pradhan, Shital Pradhan, Tinku Adhikari, and others.
 
Tilu Gurung, Chief Guest of the evening appreciated the efforts of the organizing team for such an event. Gurung appreciated the felicitation program, she said such a felicitation ceremony encourages the younger generation to look at their society.
 
Himmat Rai, MEO was the host of the evening while Praja Pradhan, actor of Parcel from Sang Nazitam also spoke on the occasion. A three-minute short film on 39 Beyong Phegyung GPU directed by Praja Pradhan, that participated in a national-level competition was also shown. V-Matrix Dance Academy from Singtam performed a dance on the occasion.


SMIT felicitates Proud to be a Sikkimese blogger

Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology felicitated me for my contribution towards Sikkim literature through my blog "PROUD TO BE A SIKKIMESE"  on the occasion of Kaalrav 2017 on March 5, 2017.
I share this recognition with thousands of my readers who had helped me grow as a blogger, as a writer. Thank you for your love and support. 



Saturday, March 04, 2017

School Dropout Children – Causes & Prevention

BY PRIYA

India – while one of the fastest developing countries of the world, is still famous for its 22% population below the poverty line. Statistics from UNICEF claim that as many as 10 million children in India end up working as child labourers.

According to the Right to Education Act (RTE), children between the ages of 6-14 years have the right to free and compulsory education. Most kids in this age group don’t get to see the inside of a school and the ones who do go to school, end up having to work long hours even after school and during holidays.

Even if a child manages to last in school for the first fourteen years of his/her life, they’re bound to be taken out, in order to help their family make ends meet. They either work in the family business or as labourers at construction sites, in small-scale and/or harmful industries (such as firecrackers, alcohol, etc.) or sometimes even beg on the streets.

Children from poorer families (mostly from the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes) end up foregoing education entirely and are exploited for child labour from a very young age.
Unfortunately, India lacks the strong system to monitor issues of children dropping out of schools and child labour.

Some of the main causes identified for school drop-outs are as follows:

1.      Poverty  and Lack of education of parents:

Since the impoverished and uneducated people of the country have little to no idea about contraception, and the want of a boy-child is way beyond reason, they end up producing many children. They hope this would mean more helping hands, but fail to realize it also means there are more mouths to feed, without the income to match the needs of the big family.
As a result, the children end up working for minimum wages from a very young age. Poverty pretends them to sustain with others in education rat race which is major fundamental problem in our education system. With no option to get educated, this becomes a vicious cycle for generations.

2.      Too many kids/siblings to take care of:

Since most of these kids’ parents are usually labourers themselves, working at construction sites or in small-scale industries paying minimum wages, the older children of the house usually end up having to take care of their younger siblings, along with other daily household chores. So if the kids are not working as labourers outside, they’re usually labouring at home.

3.      Education of the girl-child is still not understood/considered important:

For the poor of the society, a girl-child is still considered a burden, sometimes even a curse. This is because a major part of India still practices the Dowry System, where the girl’s family has to pay a huge sum of money, jewellery or other forms of payment to the boy’s family at the wedding. Therefore, the girl’s family doesn’t believe in spending time and money on their education.

They would rather teach them household jobs, because the more household work they know, the less dowry they wouldhave to pay. If the girls are somehow allowed to go to school, they’re usually made to drop-out at puberty to get them married off to the man (usually much older than the girl) asking for the least amount of dowry. This is also why the boys of the family are allowed to study for the first few years, so they may ask for more dowries when the time comes for them to get married.

4.      Alcoholism:

This is probably one of the most common causes of children dropping out of school. Either the father is an alcoholic and provides no financial support for the family, so the mother has to manage the income, and children end up getting neglected.
Or the children get into bad company and become alcoholics and decide school is not for them. Also, a lot of times, the parent(s) die due to alcohol-addiction related illnesses, and the child has to drop-out of school to help the family make ends meet.

5.      Lack of medical facilities:

India maybe the fastest developing country, but it still needs a lot of work in its infrastructure, especially for its poor. The lack of medical facilities for the poor makes it one more reason for young kids to be denied education. If the parents or kids fall ill, due to the unavailability of funds for treatment or the total lack of a decent medical facility, they’re forced to drop out of school. Sadly, some even succumb to their illnesses.


So what’s the solution? Ironically, it is education! But first, we need child protection services (like in western countries) - a body that ensures robust monitoring of children’s interests. We need an organization/group of people who can focus on the health, welfare, rights and protection of children in every corner of the country, regardless of their socio-economic status.

While we wait for our government to realize the need for an organization of this nature, we, as responsible citizens of this country have a moral and civic responsibility toward the children of our nation. There are already organizations like UNICEF, Teach for India, etc., that work for these causes.

But, it is time that we, the people of this country stood up for children’s rights and protection - against child labour, child marriage, child abuse, child trafficking and any issues that could be detrimental to the development of children.







{The child is the other form of god on earth. But unfortunately, no one is looking about their problem. Priya is one of them who want to do something for them. She is located in Mumbai. She is working for child rights and as a career counselor.}

Friday, March 03, 2017

Bollyhood actor Irrfan Khan shoots at Sikkim for Qarib Qarib Singlle

Bollywood's celebrated actor Irrfan Khan is shooting the climax of Tanuja Chandra's Hindi film Qarib Qarib Singlle at a different location of Gangtok. He arrived at Gangtok on the evening of February 28. Nothing more is known about the movie that also stars Luke Kenny as a Sikkimese gentleman. The film unit will stay in Sikkim for ten days as reported.