Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

ASGEA holds a massive rally to thank CM for IT exemption GANGTOK, June 29: More than 7000 government employees braved the rain to be a part of the Dhanyabaad rally organized by All Sikkim Government Employees Association (ASGEA) on June 28 as an expression of gratitude to the Chief Minister for having exempted government employees from Central Direct Taxes. The rally saw the participation of government employees of all four grades from the 24 government departments. The rally started from Convoy Ground and was rounded up at Paljor Stadium where the Chief Minister addressed the mammoth gathering. The Chief Minister was accorded a warm welcome by the government employees and offered flowers as a token of gratitude. In his address, the Chief Minister said that government employees in Sikkim enjo...

Next month, it will be 25 years since the Indian annexation of Sikkim. Sudheer Sharma looks back at how a Himalayan kingdom lost its sovereignty. King Palden Thondup Namgyal, the Chogyal of Sikkim was in his palace on the morning of April 6, 1975, when the roar of army trucks climbing the steep streets of Gangtok brought him running to the window. There were Indian soldiers everywhere, they had surrounded the palace, and short, rapid bursts of machine gun fire could be heard. Basanta Kumar Chhetri, a 19-year-old guard at the palace’s main gate, was struck by a bullet and killed—the first casualty of the takeover. The 5,000-strong Indian force didn’t take more than 30 minutes to subdue the palace guards, who numbered only 243. By 12.45, it was all over, Sikkim ceased to exist as an independent kingdom. Captured palace guards, hands raised high, were packed into trucks and taken away, singing: “Dela sil, li gi, gang changka chibso” (may my country keep blooming like a flower). B...

Gangtok: A report of Sify News titled “Sikkim political parties back Gorkhaland demand”, said to have been filed from Gangtok on Friday, June 27, 2008, appeared on the Google website on the same day. Quoting PTI based in Gangtok as the source, the report attributed a statement to Mr B. B. Gooroong, political advisor to the Sikkim chief minister, which Mr Gooroong emphatically refuted. The report said, “The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front - has openly supported the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state to fulfil what it says the aspiration of the Gorkha people”, adding, “The demand for creation of a Gorkhaland state is fully justified for the fulfilment of democratic aspirations of the Gorkha people living in the Darjeeling hills and adjoining areas in West Bengal, party leader and former chief minister B B Gurung told PTI here”. When contacted by Sikkim Reporter, Mr. Gooroong...

GANGTOK, June 26: The former Union Home Secretary, Balmiki Prasad Singh was today appointed new Governor of Sikkim. He will replace Sudarshan Agarwal, whose tenure ended in January, this year but was extended to date. Governor Agarwal was sworn in as the 13th Governor of Sikkim on October 25, 2007. Mr. Singh, a former Executive Director of the World Bank has authored four books including “The Problem of Change-A Study of North-East India’ and India’s Culture: the State, the Arts and Beyond.”   A veteran bureaucrat, he is also a recipient of several honours including the Nehru Fellowship, Queen Elizabeth Fellowship, and Gulzarilal Nanda Award for his outstanding public service in India. He is also the Chief Editor of 'Th...

Vanya Jha writes about the migratory patterns of birds in the Sikkim Himalayas. The air was filled with songs of numerous birds. Suddenly, the valley where the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) is located reverberated with a new enigmatic birdcall “Cooooo-Cooooo”. The Indian Cuckoo has finally arrived. I noted the date 14 March 2008. Last year it had arrived a little earlier - on 9 March. I shared the celebrations with my Lepcha brethren at its arrival. For them, it is a bird of hope - a divine messenger sent by Goddess Mother Nazong nyo. Living here at SMIT, I am incredibly blessed to witness such a wide variety of flora and fauna. In this tiny area of about 34 acres, almost 80 birds have been recorded. They enthral in many ways, including their migratory instincts and activities. We are all familiar with bird migration. Many birds have two homes located far apart. They fly enormous distances from one home to another every year religiously to avoid food scarcity, harsh wea...

Wed, Jun 25 09:31 PM A Sikkim resident has moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre to ensure safe transportation of essential commodities to the state through National Highway 31A, the lone road that connects the state to the rest of the country, which is frequently blocked by 'Gorkahland' supporters. The apex court shall hear the application on Thursday. A vacation bench headed by Justice Altmus Kabir agreed to give urgent hearing to the application filed by a Sikkim resident alleging that frequent bandhs and strikes in the recent past have hit movement of vehicles on the highway. Senior Advocate P H Parekh, while mentioning the matter before the bench, contended that normal life in the State has been adversely affected because of the ongoing agitation over 'Gorkhaland' and there was an urgent need to ensure the safe movement of the essential commodities on the highway. "Sikkim is a land locked state surrounded by three foreign countries and Nat...

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Charan Mathur was Thursday named the next governor of Assam while Balmiki Prasad Singh and Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary were appointed governors of Sikkim and Meghalaya respectively. Balmiki Prasad Singh takes over from Sudarshan Agarwal in Sikkim while Charan Mathur has been appointed in place of Lt. Gen. (retired) Ajai Singh, who completed his tenure earlier this month. Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary succeeds S.S. Sidhu as governor of Meghalaya, a release from the president’s office said. Also, Bihar Governor R.S. Gavai was transferred to Kerala for the remainder of his term. Gavai will replace R.L. Bhatia, who moves to Bihar. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/new-governors-appointed-for-assam-sikkim-and-meghalaya_10064908.html

New Delhi: Following the ongoing Gorkhaland agitation, the Sikkim government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court for a direction to the Centre and the West Bengal government to ensure free movement of traffic on National Highway No. 31A to and from Sikkim. A vacation bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice G.S. Singhvi decided to hear the petition on Thursday on a mention made by counsel for the State A. Mariarputham about the filing of an application. The Bench, after hearing senior counsel P.H. Parekh, said it would take up another application filed by O.P. Bhandari seeking the same relief. The apex court had already issued notice on a writ petition from Mr. Bhandari for a direction to the parties concerned to take appropriate action during bandhs and strikes called by political parties and social organizations. The present applications are filed in the same writ petition. The applicants said on account of frequent bandhs called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the last few da...

BY BARUN ROY [BEACON ONLINE EXCLUSIVE] Darjeeling : Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President declared the postponement of the indefinite strike which was supposed to start tomorrow morning at 6am . Speaking at Chowrasta, Bimal Gurung said that the talks that had taken place between the GJM delegation led by Roshan Giri and the Union Home Minister were promising. However, the GJM President refused to divulge the details of the talk. http://beacononline.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/gorkha-janmukti-morcha-forced-to-postpone-indefinite-strike-until-5th-of-july/

Gangtok: A meeting was held at Mintokgang Monday morning under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Dr. Pawan Chamling, to review the stock position of essential commodities in the State and devise ways and means to replenish the depleted stock of various items resulting from the ongoing indefinite strike called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling Hills. The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary, Mr. N.D.Chingapa, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Finance Secretary, Home Secretary, Development Commissioner, Food Secretary, Managing Director, STCS, Principal Secretary, and Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister.  In the meeting, concerned officers apprised the Chief Minister about the State’s storage capacity of Motor Spirit and High-Speed Diesel which are 255 KL and 875 KL respectively, enough to last only two days, 780 KL of Kerosene Oil to last only for 3 days and 10,700 ...

DB RAI Gangtok: “Pawan Chamling is the most sincere Chief Minster of India and the most sincere leader of the country. You people should know this very well. If you fail to understand me, you will be grossly mistaken”. This was said by the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front president and Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling. He was addressing a large gathering of Ministers, MLAs, Panchayats, party leaders and members of SDF frontal organizations on the occasion of 16th Kranti Diwas observed at SDF Bhavan on Sunday, June 22. He said, the people of business community of the State were not very conscious of their social and political rights. When they were offered by Chogyal (King) to be ‘subjects’, they refused and now they are asking for it, he said. He, however, assured the business community that he would try to provide ‘Ladhak model’ provision so that they would also be exempted from the Cent...

DARJEELING, June 22: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) relaxed its indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills for 60 hours beginning 6 pm today. The 60-hour breather, from 6 pm today till 6 am on Wednesday (June 25), was decided at the central committee meeting at the “request from different quarters including ministers and MPs and also considering the overall situation.” Talking to reporters here today, Bimal Gurung, the president of GJMM said that the bandh has been relaxed after persistent requests from the Union Ministers as well as because of several students, who have been stranded in hostels across the Darjeeling Hills even after the start of their summer vacation. He further announced that all the schools, colleges, and tea gardens, which were running despite the strike, would now be totally closed fr...

By Shabana Ali MUMBAI: Sikkim capital Gangtok will welcome its first radio station in August with Radio Misty entering the market. This would be the second radio station of the PCM group, after the first Radio Misty launched in Siliguri some months ago. The station will position itself as the station 'for the locals'. It will aim at promoting the local talents, will be anchored by local RJs and Nepali, Hindi and English music will play on the station. The programming of the station would be very different from the station in Siliguri. Radio Misty, CEO, Nishant Mittal adds, "We are already heard by the people in Gangtok from our Siliguri station. So, we are not totally unkown for the crowd. We are into eco friendly campaign as Sikim has won award for being the most eco friendly state in the country." The station is promoting itself through ground activities, print media and ads printed on paper hand bags. No hoardings have been put up, as these would tend ...

GANGTOK/RANGPO, June 20: Sikkim remained cut off from the rest of the country for the fifth consecutive day today due to the ongoing blockade on National Highway 31-A called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) to press for its demand for a separate Gorkhaland demand. Except for ambulances, press, vehicles carrying students, and vehicles carrying LPG cylinders, no other vehicles are permitted to ply from Rangpo, West Bengal side. The State may not be affected by the shortage of LPG as more than 15 trucks carrying LPG cylinders entered in two days from Rangpo Checkpost. Yesterday, an SNT tanker was not allowed to pass as the Morcha picketers slept on the Highway. Meanwhile, a huge rally was organized today at Rangpo, West Bengal side where more than 500 youth and Nari Morcha members shouted slogans for the fulfillment ...

Bappaditya Paul SILIGURI, June 19: A team of the Union civil aviation ministry from New Delhi today failed to visit Sikkim to inspect the progress of the upcoming Gangtok airport due to the ongoing blockade of the National Highway 31A by the GJMM Agitating over a separate Gorkhaland state in Darjeeling, the GJMM has brought the Sikkim lifeline to a halt since 16 June evening through its blockade of the highway. The three-member Union civil aviation ministry team, headed by the departmental secretary Mr Ashok Chawla, landed at the Bagdogra airport near Siliguri at 12:15 pm today. The other two members in the team included, the Airports Authority of India member operations Mr Praveen Seth and the executive director (engineering-central headquarters) Mr Raheja. They were scheduled to visit Sikkim by road and take stock of the progress of the Sikkim's first airport project coming up at Pakyong, 31 kms off Gangtok. The team was also supposed to hold a meeting with the Sikkim chief secre...

20 Jun 2008, 0131 hrs IST, Anand Soondas ,TNN When the first batch of Indian Nepalese, or Gorkhas as they like to be called, settled in what is now Darjeeling, there was nobody to record it for history. But Darjeeling already had a resident population when the British, after a ravaging war with the fierce warriors, brought them down with guile to annex the hill tracts in 1814. That was almost 200 years ago. A decade after that General Lloyd and J W Grant of the East India Company began the first British settlements in Darjeeling, finding it favourable both as a getaway and sanatorium. The region was formally adopted by the British in 1837 and a road from Pankhabari to Ghoom, and then up to Darjeeling, leaped up almost immediately as a hotel was established in Kurseong for European travellers. By 1866, the Darjeeling district as we know it today was complete. It's surprising, therefore, that CPM state secretariat member and West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakra...

India today is conducting a poll on the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland comprising Darjeeling Hills, Siliguri and the Doors. It's an issue close to our heart! Please vote 'yes' and spread the word around. Here is the link (you may have to copy-paste): http://indiatoday.digitaltoday .in/ The poll is on the left had side of the page as u scroll down warm regards

There are different interpretations of the definition of Gorkha and Nepali. Actually, it is the two sides of the same coin. It is only because the Indians used to see us like the people living across the river Mechi, that this problem emerged. As far as I believe, there should not be any geographical boundary in respect of language and literature. It is not that the English language is meant for the English people in England only and the Nepali language for the Nepali of Nepal only. Language and literature are two such things that become more rich and prosperous as it extends their sphere. If calling Nepali reflects the citizen of Nepal then in order to distinguish us from them we have formulated the concept of calling us Gorkha. ABGL was working in this field for a long time on its own level. To segregate and safeguard our identity in India, it is better to call us Gorkha to have distinct bifurcation.  That is why Mr. Subash Ghisingh might have called Gorkha. But regard...

Gangtok: A key highway NH 31-A, which is a lifeline to Sikkim, was blocked and normal life in the Darjeeling Hills was paralyzed on Tuesday, day two of the indefinite shutdown called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) fighting for a separate state of Gorkhaland. There were no reports of any untoward incident, but private and public vehicles did not ply and offices remained closed in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong, as the latest phase of the GJM’s indefinite shutdown stretched into Tuesday. The streets were deserted, with only police and army vehicles moving around as GJM activists assembled at various points. Kalimpong Additional Superintendent of Police K.V. Dorji said GJM activists put up a blockade on National Highway 31A, connecting Sikkim with the outside world, at the Bengal-Sikkim border of Rongpo. “We are sending reinforcements to remove the blo...

KARMA SAMTEN YANGZOM GANGTOK, June 17: The tiny, landlocked Himalayan State of Sikkim has become a victim of neighbourhood politics it has little to do with. The unrest in the neighbouring Darjeeling Hills, punctuated with frequent and unpredictable bandh calls have left Sikkim not only completely cut off from the rest of the country but with a huge dent in its exchequer. Sikkim is losing a staggering Rs 6 crore a day whenever the Darjeeling hills shut down and the National Highway 31A, the vital road link connecting Sikkim with West Bengal, is subjected to closure by the agitators. About 60 per cent of the National Highway 31A connecting Sikkim runs through the Darjeeling District in West Bengal. This figure is based on a survey conducted by the State Department of Economics, Sta...

There are different interpretations of the definition of Gorkha and Nepali. Actually, they are two sides of the same coin. This problem only arose because the Indians used to see us as if we were like the people living across the river Mechi. As far as I am concerned, there should not be any geographical limitations of language and literature. It is not that the English language is meant for the English people in England only and the Nepali language for Nepalispali of Nepal only. Language and literature are two things that become more prosperous and richer as they expand their spheres. Considering that the term Nepali reflects the citizens of Nepal, we have developed the concept of calling ourselves Gorkhas to differentiate ourselves from them. ABGL has worked in this field for a long time at its own level.  Our identity is better safeguarded and segregated in India by calling us the Gorkhas. That is why Mr Subash Ghisingh might have called Gorkha. As for the la...

“Panan project will not be scrapped” NIRMAL MANGAR CHUNGTHANG, June 15: The Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling, has welcomed and appreciated the decision of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) to withdraw their indefinite hunger strike. He was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the 1200 MW Teesta Stage III hydro electric project here today. While stating that the main aim of the State Government is to bring about economic and infrastructure development through hydel power plants, the Chief Minister said the Panan hydro electric power project in Dzongu would not be scrapped. “The other four projects located in Dzongu, which was supposed to be implemented, stands scrapped,” he said. Speaking on the Teesta Stage III project, Mr. Chamling said that a two-...

People rushed to stock up on supplies and trucks snaked up the hills to carry essentials Monday in readiness for the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for separate statehood. People rushed to stock up on supplies and trucks snaked up the hills to carry essentials Monday in readiness for the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for separate statehood. As long queues formed outside shops in the area, the GJM, which Sunday renewed the call for an indefinite shutdown beginning 6 p.m. Monday in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling district - Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong - also stepped up calls for the resignation of state Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya. The GJM, which has kept the plain land areas of Darjeeling districts outside the purview of the shutdown but announced a relay hunger strike at various spots in Siliguri, Terai, and the D...

Mark Dalton will be running the Himalayan 100 mile Stage Race in Sikkim between 30th October and 9th November 2008. He is Looking for your generous support to sponsor his run for El Shaddai. We look forward to your sponsorship. http://childrescue.net/blog/2008/06/16/extra-miles-for-el-shaddai/

14 June, 2008 - One of the two Sikkimese teams, Sikkim AA Red, scheduled to play Chang II today in the Coronation Shield archery tournaments could not make it to the tournament. According to archery federation officials, the team was stranded because of a strike in the Indian district of Darjeeling. The other team, Sikkim AA Blue, will make it for their first match against Key Dee Timber on Monday, according to officials. “The Sikkimese teams will wear their traditional dress, Chu-ba, while playing in the tournament,” said the assistant general secretary of Bhutan archery federation, Jurmey Wangdi. Sikkim AA Red missing that match means Chang 11 gets a walkover to the next round. A record 36 teams are participating in the tournament, played on imported equipment at the archery ground opposite the Chang Jiji housing complex. The tournament started on June 2, coinciding with coronation day. http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10564

source: HIMALAYANDARPAN