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

APRIL 19 GANGTOK:   Sikkim has zero Covid19 positives says SC Gupta, Chief Secretary apprising the efforts of Chief Minister PS Golay. APRIL 20 GANGTOK: Large gatherings of patients was found at STNM hospital when the restriction was eased for few activities. Majority of the cases were obstetrics, said Dr. Passang Bhutia. Medical Superintendent.  from old file GANGTOK : Chief Minister PS Golay presented financial incentives to media towards their services. The press media persons included from Print Media, Electronic Media and Digital Media.  Photo : sikkim.gov GANGTOK : Social workers Rashma Gurung and Sobrath Gupta came forward to help flower grower Bishnu Kumar Rai from Rabdang. They collected 200 cut flowers and brought to STNM Hospital and appealed to the passer-by to take the flowers and donate the money as per their wish. The flower growers are having huge loss due to the on-going lockdown.  Photo : Sikkim Expre...

Bhutan 's actor Sangay Tsheltrim is playing the third villain in Salman Khan's much talked next release of 2020 'Radhe'. But sorry to say, web pages at internet is flooded with news that says Sang Hae (mis-pronounced) is a well known actor from Sikkim. Sangay Tsheltrim, former Mr Asia silver medallist and gold medallist at the 50th Asian Body-building and Physique Sports Championships's debut film Singye from Bhutan was a big hit and he had won the best debut actor award.

Bhutan introduced its first postage stamps in 1962 (10th October).  In its inaugural issue, it featured seven definitive stamps in different denominations. The first stamp series introduced the Bhutan lifestyle. One of the stamps released finds a special place among the stamp collectors of Sikkim . Sikkim , though once an independent country , is today a proud part of the Indian Union . Sikkim became part of India in 1975.  The 15ch postage stamp issued from the country of Bhutan is probably the only postage stamp in the world of philately that showed Sikkim as an Independent Country. You can closely see an Independent Sikkim, below it India while East Pakistan now Bangladesh just beneath it. Bhutan is right to Sikkim in white while Tibet is on its top. It must be noted that in 1962 when this definitive stamp was released Sikkim was still an independent country.

Entry is open for all the interested teams of Sikkim, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Kurseong, Dooars, Bhutan, Nepal. Organized by  Majhitar Educated Unemployed Youth Co-operative Society  for the third  successive term on the memory of Late Man Rupa Gurung. Cash Prize of Rs. 50,000 & Rs. 30,000 for Winner and Runners up respectively. The last date of entry is the  31st.July.2014 and the Final will be played on Independence Day on  15th August . For more information contact: 9775981169, 9851846643, 9851508686.

I have been writing about Sikkim, but I am sorry I never talked about its physical features. Once a Himalayan kingdom until 1975 and now part of a mighty Indian Union, the small state of Sikkim has seen many changes over the last 50 years. Jawaharlal Nehru and Chogyal Tashi Namgyal, the king of Sikkim, had a very warm relationship.  It was even said that Nehru wanted to spend his retired life in Sikkim, but that could not happen due to his sudden death in 1964. After Nehru's death, some of his ashes were brought to Sikkim and thrown over the sky of Gangtok, Kanchenjunga Range, and other places.  Even Chogyal Tashi Namgyal presented his paintings to Nehru, which is said to be at Anand Bhawan, the ancestral home of the Nehru family at Allahabad. But it was under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, that Sikkim was merged with India just 10 years after Nehru died.     Sikkim shares an interesting geographical boundary. Three countries...

By.Major General (retd) Ashok K Mehta, on Rediff.com People have forgotten that India’s actual chicken’s neck lies along the 20km narrow Siliguri corridor formed by Nepal and Bangladesh. Staring ominously at the chicken’s neck is the Chinese dagger made by the strategic Chumbi valley whose two shoulders — one in Sikkim and the other in Bhutan — are personified in the majesty of Paunhuri and Chomulhari peaks that merge at the historic Sinchula Pass on the trijunction of China, Bhutan, and India. This is also the tip of the dagger just 100km away from the Siliguri corridor and a rather China-friendly Bangladesh. From a military and operational context, Sikkim is closest  to Lhasa. North Sikkim and the Chumbi salient — the gateway to the erstwhile trade route between Lhasa and Calcutta — offer India tactical and strategic military options against China, and vice-versa. In 1911, Captain Francis Younghusband pioneered the invasion of Lhasa through the Chumbi valley fighting battles ...