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

I found it strange that Wikipedia does not mention that an orchid variety had been named after Astronaut Kalpana Chawla who died in Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. The year was 2003 couple of months after her death the then Prime Minster of India Atal Bihari Vajpee was on his first visit to the Himalayan State of Sikkim. Two new orchid varieties created by K.C. Pradhan, Former Chief Secretary of Sikkim and his son Sailesh Pradhan, both famed Orchid specialist from Sikkim was kept at  Orchid Flower Show, Gangtok. An orchid variety Dendrobium Atal Bihari Vajpayee was named after Atal Bihari Vajpee to mark his first visit to Sikkim while when asked to name the second variety, he simply replied “Kalpana Chawla”. Brassocattleya Astronaut Kalpana Chawla was than named after Kalpana Chawla.  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, ...

by Subhrangshu Gupta CALCUTTA, March 3 — Over 100,000 "homeless" Sikkimese settled down in the Darjeeling Duars Coochbehar area of North Bengal, have demanded that citizenship be granted to them without any further delay. They have threatened to launch an agitation otherwise. The ultimatum was sent to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Joyti Basu, by the Sikkim National Congress as well as the Sikkim Sangram Parisad. These "homeless" Sikkimese mostly comprises Lepchas and Bhutias who at the time of Sikkim joining as a hill state of India, had been treated as "outsiders" by the Chogyal on ethnic discrimination and are still considered as "homeless" Initially they lived in Sikkim but afterwards spread over the adjoining hills of Darjee...