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

Prashant Tamang, Indian Idol winner, Remanti Rai, Sikkim State Awardee, Damber Nepali, famed singer from Nepal was among the artists who wrapped up the closing night of the three-day-long Mazhitar Food and Drink 2016 held at Mazhitar SS’s ground.  The combination of music and food supported by innovative glimpses of West Pandam Constituency made a huge impact on the people of Mazhitar and beyond. Interested visitors (thanks to its huge publicity) from places like Siliguri, Darjeeling, and different corners of the State have made the organizing committee think big for the next season. Sikkim is no new to organizing such events and is known across the globe for promoting its culture, costume, and traditions. But for a few reasons, Mazhitar Food and Drink 2016 were different from others. As an observer, I hereby would like to share some of my favourite that made the event something different from the rest. What I appreciated the most at Mazhitar Food and Drink 2016 was the pre...

According to Hindustan Times, in 2013 a mandir was inaugurated  by  Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwary along with Kaimur district magistrate Arvind Kumar Singh with  a life-sized (5.5 feet) statue of the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar at village Atarwalia, in Kaimur district, about 170 km south-west of state capital Patna.  The white marble statue, which dons the official blue jersey of the Indian national cricket team, weighs 850kg and was crafted at Rajasthan’s Nathdwara at the cost of  Rs.  8.5 lakh. It has been installed on a 10-feet high brick platform. Tiwary also laid the foundation for a temple which would house Tendulkar’s statue. 

After Dendrobium Atal Bihari Vajpayee, its turned for Cymbidium NaMo , an orchid hybrid variety in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi on his first visit as the Prime Minister of Sikkim was honoured with an Orchid name at Gangtok on January 18. ALSO READ -  This was the closest I could go for PM Modi orchid Wikipedia fails to mention Sikkim Orchid named after Kalpana Chawla Coelogyne pantlingii, a new orchid species discovered in Sikkim in 2005 Sikkim Orchid variety named after Sonia Gandhi's granddaughter After Dendrobium Atal Bihari Vajpayee, its turn for Cymbidium NaMo PM Modi unveiled three orchid varieties in the Flower Show where he named the two orchids after Sardar Vallavbhai Patel and Pandit Deendayal Upadhaya while the third one was named Cymbidium NaMo  by Pawan Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim. Dendrobium Atal Bihari Vajpayee was named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India on his visit to Sikkim in 2003.

By PD Rai January has been full of negative news starting with terrorist attack on our Air Base at Pathankot. For a nation hungry for good news Sikkim has provided one. Sikkim has been declared a fully Organic State by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. No mean achievement this. Congratulations all around. Organic Mission accomplished. How many States can say this for any Public Policy carried out in mission mode? This milestone could not have been achieved but for the complete cooperation and coordination of all sections of our society. There are still the naysayers. There will always be the fringe elements. They also serve an important purpose and we are grateful to them. We wake up to another day. Anything changed? Apparently not. But from now on it is about building on the success of the achievement. By no stretch of imagination is this a small task. It is also an onerous one too. Chief Minister Chamling is a proud man. Having crafted a shared vision of a Fully ...

Former Sikkim Governor and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ventrapragada Rama Rao died at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Sunday following an illness.  He was 81 and is survived by his wife and son.

  PIC:  Ministry of Information & Broadcasting

By PD Rai In India many startups are actually happening in the Organic Agri space. Little is known of or about them. They may not have found space in Vigyan Bhawan during the inauguration of #StartupIndia. Of course, overwhelmingly the glitz of Technology led startupswere there for everyone to see. They are the now famous ones in online marketing like Flipkart or those in transportation aggregation like Ola. Prime Minister Modi flagged off #StartupIndia in New Delhi on 16 th January. This is a fantastic initiative and we all applaud it. It has the architectureof giving entrepreneurs the space to do what they do best, creating products and services from ‘ideas’ and making them work – the startup ecosystem. After making them work finally curating them to be able to monetize it before ramping it up in terms of scale. That an idea can fail and hence needs that exit route is planned well. Self certification is a key ingredient. This will take away the ‘babu’ or small time bu...

Nirmal Mangar, my good journalist friend shares his anecdotes meeting with Prime Minister Modi. He was among the Sikkim Journalist Team that got an opportunity to witness the proceedings of parliament at New Delhi last year.  Nirmal Mangar in his facebook status writes.... " It was last monsoon, I got an opportunity to meet the man of India in Parliament House, I felt pompous and happy to thank him on mentioning Sikkim's organic mission in both the parliaments ( of India and Nepal) also not to forget his Germany visit. I still have a strong memory of him telling ' Main January mein Sikkim aunga (I will come to Sikkim on January) and will declare your state as the first in the country to adopt organic farming ' Finally, the great moment has arrived." Truely a great moment has arrived, we all Sikkimese is awaiting this big moment when PM Modi will declare Sikkim as the fully Organic State.