Skip to main content

Sikkim Herald- The Early Years

By himalayanreview

The history of Sikkim Herald dates back to the time of the monarchy when there were hardly any newspapers in Sikkim. A brief research was carried out by the IPR officials during the recent compilation of the Department's Achievement Report from where it is gathered that few monthly magazines were published during the erstwhile monarchy, such as Kanchenjunga by Mr. Kashiraj Pradhan, (1957), Sikkim Fortnightly by Mr. K.B. Thapa and other few publications.


With the establishment of the Publicity Department way back in the early sixties, the need to have an official news bulletin was felt by the then Sikkim Government to highlight its developmental activities in the form of a monthly news bulletin. As a result, the Sikkim Herald came into being. The first Sikkim Herald which was published in Nepali dates back to March 1959. The editorial board consisted of the following members-

1. Mr. T.S.Gyaltshen as Chairman

2. Mr. J.T. Densapa as Member

3. Mr. Mohan Pratap Pradhan as Member

4. Mr. M.M. Rasaily as Member

Mr. C.D. Rai was the editor of the first Sikkim Herald.

With time, Sikkim Herald evolved gradually, the name of the Publicity Department changed to the Directorate of Information Services and again the Press and Publicity Department during the seventies. Subsequently, with the merger of Sikkim with the Indian Union in 1975, and keeping with the directives of the Government of India, the Department was renamed as Information and Public Relations Department in 1978.



The growing workload and requirements of the time necessitated. the restructuring of the department. The Government invited Mr. M. V. Desai, the then Director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, to report on the information task in Sikkim in 1977. Based on this report, different sections like Publication, Advertising, Visual Publicity, District Information Centers, Film and Photo division were established. Thus, the department fully took on the new challenges, taking in its ambit, manpower training, upgradation of its technical equipment, etc. Gradually, over the years, the Sikkim Herald began to be published as a weekly in 1963 during the tenure of Mr. N.K. Rustomji, who was the then Dewan of Sikkim. Later, Sikkim Herald came out in the form of a newspaper which was cyclostated. With time Sikkim Herald was published in Tibetan and then subsequently in Lepcha language. The Nepali and Tibetan editions of the Sikkim Herald used to be brought out regularly. The first Sikkim Herald in Nepali dates back to March 1959. The departmental team even came across a handwritten Sikkim Herald that was published in Nepali in 1967.

Till 2014, the Sikkim Herald was published in 12 languages i.e Nepali-1959, Tibetan-1968, Lepcha-1977, Limboo-1989, Bhutia-1997, Newari-2000, Gurung-2001, Sherpa-2001, Tamang-2001, Rai-2001, Mangar-2002 and Mukhia-2004. After May 2011, Sikkim Herald English and Nepali editions were brought in colour. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rongli my birthplace

By himalayanreview
BY SHITAL PRADHAN A small hamlet in an eastern side Silent raush on its way, The old silk route, More older it look Upon which I stay, Hey that’s Rongli, Rongli my birthplace Years went by, years dried up, Yet the small village is as it was, Silent, peaceful and introvert Today’s picture of Rongli, Houses as station bogie, Looks a cradle, from Chujachen, Upon which the blue sky, As if I can touch thee, Roaring River, As the legend we hear, Still watch with glee, The terror of 1890 somewhat forgotten, Yet another terrorizing moment, 68 was the year… 1968, When sky too wasn’t pleased. That was Rongli, Rongli of the past. Playing along the Baar-Pepal tree, Hiding in the Shivalaya, Watching videos and aloft Is a decent memory, now? Sweet time in treasure, Yet when I am in Rongli, I am happy, in whither sweet. Rongli my birthplace !
10 comments
Read more

India’s illegal occupation of independent Sikkim has to be reversed

By himalayanreview
Extracted from Pakistan Defence India’s “Chief Executive” in Gangtok wrote: “Sikkim’s merger was necessary for Indian national interest. And we worked to that end. Maybe if the Chogyal had been smarter and played his cards better, it wouldn’t have turned out the way it did.” It is also said that the real battle was not between the Chogyal and Kazi Lendup Dorji but between their wives. On one side was Queen Hope Cook, the American wife of the Chogyal and on the other was the Belgian wife of the Kazi, Elisa-Maria Standford. “This was a proxy war between the American and the Belgian,” says former chief minister BB Gurung. But there was a third woman involved: Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. Chogyal Palden met the 24-year-old New Yorker Hope Cook in Darjeeling in 1963 and married her. For Cook, this was a dream come true: to become the queen of an independent kingdom in Shangrila. She started taking the message of Sikkimese independence to the youth, and the allegations started flying thic...
19 comments
Read more

The coinage system of Sikkim

By himalayanreview
It is more or less a forgotten part of the development process of the then-small Himalayan kingdom, Sikkim . The introduction of the coinage system in Sikkim ceased the way it started. A study of the coinage system of Sikkim sheds light on the socio-economic and political history of the then-small state. The coins of Sikkim ended the way they appeared; they came from nowhere, and finally, they got lost out in the darkness. A handful of people around Sikkim and in the districts of Darjeeling now have these rare items in their collections. The coin of Sikkim is much sought after by numismatists interested in countries that no longer exist today. Before the British invasion of the land of Sikkim, the capital revenue system was never heard. Sikkim, being an agricultural foreground, had some parts of food grains given to the king as tax. Trade was carried out where things were exchanged between individuals. This system was prevalent even in the mid-19th century; oranges were exchan...
5 comments
Read more