Congratulations, Sikkim!

editorial

A new batch of administrators selected, now to train and deploy them well

Given how clueless the Sikkim Public Service Commission had presented itself to be when it conducted the Under Secretary exam in embarrassing fits and starts over the past two years, it is with a certain amount of relief and dollops of glee that Sikkim received announcement of the names of candidates selected for the latest line-up of administrators for the State Civil Service. Congratulations to the successful candidates and to the State. The latest examination for the junior grade Sikkim State Civil Service and Sikkim State Police Services was first held in October 2013 only to be scrapped in the face of widespread criticism over the manner in which it was conducted and the candidates took the exam afresh in July 2014. The civil services are a much sought after profession and it is unfortunate that Sikkim’s small size does not allow for it to be held more often. Of course, if the concerned agencies were more diligent, new administrators can surely be inducted into the State Civil Service more often than the present average of a new batch every eight years. Before the July 2014 exam, the Under Secretary exams were last held in the year 2006-07 and the one before that was in 1998. Now, as Sikkim pulls out the khadas to congratulate the 25 selected to train to become Under Secretaries and the two who will soon wear Sikkim Police uniforms as DSP’s, the State should also take stock and work out how these exams can be conducted more often that the current average of one every eight years.

To College, and Beyond

The Board Exam results are out and a majority of the Sikkimese students passed with good numbers. But parents as well as students, especially +2 passed out, are worried about getting admission in colleges of their choice. Results for the CET exams conducted by the Human Resource Development Deparment are also out and counselling sessions for 25 [MBBS], 13 [BDS], 09 [B.V. Sc. & A.H], 23 [B. Sc. Forestry], 4 [B. Sc. Fisheries], 4 [B.Sc Home Science], 22 [B. Sc. Horticulture], 2 [B. Sc. Sericulture], 38 [B.Sc. Agriculture] and 1 B.Sc. Nutrition & Dietics] are going on in full swing. Among the thousands who sat for the CET exams only 141 students will get admissions on Government Scholarship in good colleges in the first phase of the counselling. Obviously, the lucky 141 are the toppers of the CET.

Accident prone, but refusing to learn

TSHERING EDEN

There was an uncharacteristic lull on Gangtok roads on Wednesday, 20 May 2015. Taxi stops were crowded with people and not taxis. Although this is a common sight during tourist season, on Wednesday, tourists were not to blame. “Aju purra checking hundai cha ki anta keta haru sab gaari thankau dai cha,” said one cabbie to a passenger, proud and perhaps relieved that all his documents were in order and that he was not one of the taxi drivers staying off to avoid traffic police checking.
This latest bout of “checking” comes in the wake of a string of road accidents that have occurred in the past week around Gangtok.

The curious case of huicheng

‘Tesma alikati huiching halnu parcha’ accompanies most recipes in these parts. Wai-Wai, our state snack [sorry Maggi], exemplifies our addiction to this white crystalline condiment. We know that our favourite snack is loaded with huicheng and have been led to believe that eating too much of huicheng will ultimately turn our bones to powder. Whether that is an urban legend or the truth, no one knows for sure, but then no cases of bones turning to powder have been reported either. And that has how matters have been, but Huicheng is back in the news and so I begin an earnest attempt to unravel this mystery.

Tourist Season snubbing of ‘locals’ begins

The death toll due to heat wave has already crossed the thousand mark in the country. Temperatures have crossed 45 degrees especially in the now neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. Compared to this, continuous rainfall for the last three months has made Sikkim the perfect destination for tourists. The volume of tourist inflow this season will probably cross last year’s record. The official figures will be known only after the season is over but the fact that 1,200 tourists were stranded due to a landslide on a single night and had to be evacuated from North Sikkim earlier this week gives us some idea about the volume of tourists already arriving in Sikkim.

Change Approach to Addressing Climate Change

Sikkim needs to accept Climate Change as the challenge that it is, and not make just token gestures of concern

A recent study by a team of geographers and glaciologists has projected that over 70% of the glacier volume in the Everest region could be lost by 2100! And that is the lower end of their estimate!! If greenhouse-gas emissions continue to rise and global warming comes true to predictions, even up to 99% of the glacier volume of the Everest region could be lost by 2100.

This Summer, Keep Your Tees Local

TSHERING EDEN

Almost everyone dreams of being their own boss one day, of owning a business however small or big. Once the American Dream, it has now become an Indian Sapna. While Sikkim still remains in the grips of the government-job-is-everything syndrome, the youth are trying to break this generations old mold. There are a good number of youth giving “business” a shot. These may not be big ventures but small cottage industry style start-ups that have promise if taken in the right direction.
For instance, college student Phurba Doma Lepcha’s handpainted t-shirts are fast gaining popularity for their unique Lepcha motifs and appealing local cartoons. She is a final year BA student at Sikkim Government College-Tadong and originally hails from Neyurdang village near Tashiding in West Sikkim. She started her brand of t-shirts ‘Native PDL’ in 2014.

High Flier!

Paragliding Pilot Rinzing Doma

SAGAR CHHETRI

26-year-old Rinzing Doma Bhutia has the distinction of being the first woman paragliding pilot of Sikkim. Hailing from Sombaria Bazaar, West Sikkim, Rinzing did not really have any interest in paragliding until she attended a paragliding course at Daramdin in West Sikkim in 2009. Being a sportsperson her teachers encouraged her to join the course organised by the Sports and Youth Affairs department of the state under its Capacity Building programme.

Speed Kills

Is Bojoghari becoming a killer zone when it comes to road accidents? On Thursday, a 4-year-old boy from Haryana who had come visiting Sikkim with his family was mowed down by a car near Tashi View Point. On Friday, a 5-year-old girl of 3-Mile Bojoghari was crushed to death by a taxi on the road towards helipad. Less than a kilometer away, a few months ago, a teenager had died when a truck ran him over while he was cycling. As someone who lives in Bojoghari and commutes daily on both the upper and lower roads towards town, I have encountered many speeding vehicles along these routes.

Of unlimited wants and limited resources

“Everyone should now worry about how to maintain consistency in sustaining the reputation earned by Sikkim in the country and around the world,” said Chief Minister Pawan Chamling in his State Day address on 16 May here at Chintan Bhawan last Saturday. Obviously, Mr. Chamling, who has been heading the State for the last 21 years, is not satisfied with the level of coordination, commitment and cooperation from certain sections of society towards the development of Sikkim. He also urged the gathering comprising mostly of senior bureaucrats at the venue aptly named, Chintan Bhawan, to maintain common consciousness and coordination to help the state maintain progress that it has achieved so far.
Now a simple question arises for the little over six lakh population of Sikkim. Why is the most popular and successful Chief Minister elected by them asking for everyone's cooperation at this juncture? Most probably there is a huge gap of coordination between the policy makers and the implementing agencies. Several projects in Sikkim are incomplete and most are running behind schedule. Some projects which are already completed are lying idle and not being properly utilized.

Not everyone is a topper…

…but if you look around, there are options for everyone

TSHERING EDEN

The ICSE class XII results are out and like every year news is abuzz with lists of toppers with ridiculously high scores. Schools set out to outdo each other releasing names of their toppers. In the midst of all this, we give little thought to students who have just about managed to scrape through or who have made “average” scores. While toppers debate on which course or college to choose from among the many options they now have, for the larger majority, nerve-wracking times lie ahead.
It is however, not the time to feel bogged down. There are many avenues to explore that do not necessarily require high scores. Not all toppers become super successful and if you look around you will see many people who did not ace their XII exams but are still making a good living. Most students look at pursuing higher studies in conventional courses as the be all and end all. However, there are many alternative courses which are as good.

AAP- So quickly from a Party with a difference to a party that is no different

AAP was able to instil the fantasy of idealism in politics, only to, unfortunately, squander it in the pursuit of absolute power, argues SALEM LEPCHA

April 2011, the atmosphere was charged with a critical frustration of one and all against the rampant corruption of vested interests, and Anna Hazare came to the helm of the movement against corruption. Reaching a crescendo with the unearthing of 2G scam, Commonwealth financial impropriety and Coalgate saga, the movement fuelled the already simmering anger and resentment among the people. The term ‘policy paralysis’ found a place in the grammar of planning (a euphemism to government’s yawning failure and anomaly in its policy implementation). In such an unfortunate setting, the AAP against corruption was born in 2013. It wasn’t like any other political outfit but was more a movement; was bold and determined. The party came as a breath of fresh air to the nation’s political environment vitiated by corruption and vices of all shades. It brought about a new era in politics in post-Independence India. 

The Story of the Hidden Land and the Shedra at Pemayangtse

Profile of Ogmin Sangchen Pedmayangtse Shedra (Ngayur Tho Lop Legshed Ling)

Acharya JIGMED WANGCHUK DREJONGPA

Lama dGons-dus Lung-Ten bKa-GyaMa denotes:
Oh! Those gathered [here] listen;
Because of the land [Dremojong] is place of the masters,
Peaceful and wrathful Yidams, Dakas and Dakinis;
Many deities dwell in the valleys, mountains, lakes, Caves and trees of this place,
For this reason, Dremojong is considered real Buddha field;
Even by the mere hearing of the sound of the name Dremojong;
One accumulates innumerable merits from immeasurable birth.
With this opening stanza, I would like to dwell upon a brief history of the Pemayangtse Shedra. Bayul Dremojong or Sikkim is the most blessed land in the Himalayas. It is said that in the primordial times, when Avalokiteshvara was showering his blessing on Tibet, he recognized this land as the most sacred land in the Himalaya. After that, Lord Indra descended on the top of Khang-chen Dzod-nga and made an auspicious opening of the door of the hidden land. Later, five divine incarnates entered this land and named it “Bayul Dremoshong”.

Little Boy, Big Trouble!

The weather has been unseasonal, but that is normal for an El Nino year which is why Sikkim should not allow itself to be caught off-guard

SUBASH RAI

Do not let the ongoing spate of unseasonally heavy downpours fool you. “The Little Boy” of climate flux has arrived, the Australian met department having recently declared the oceanic temperatures to be registering as a “major” El Niño pattern. For those in Sikkim who might seek solace in their distance from the oceans, and hence untouched by their warming, the language of the alarm sounded by climate experts should force a rethink – these scientists are seeing the “return of El Niño like some enraged climate-driven Godzilla emerging from the depths of the South Pacific to lay waste entire regions”!
But Climate scientists [is that even an accepted profession?] are known to be alarmist, so let us go by statistics which have already been registered. 2014 produced the highest global temperatures since records began in the 1880s. An El Nino year this year will mean that the summer is going to be even more or a scorcher. A depressed monsoon is on the cards, predicted even by Indian met officials, and news from the plains suggests that the mercury is the mood to climb record highs this year. Such projections might appear improbable given the continuing lashing of Sikkim by the unreasonably heavy unseasonal rainfall, but it is highly unlikely that the El Nino projections will not come true.

“Have tried to write a full account of what happened during the last days of the Kingdom”

Andrew Duff

In conversation with ANDREW DUFF, author of Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom, about the story he wants to tell, how he discovered it and where he hopes it is headed…

NOW: How did the idea of a book on Sikkim develop from what started as an interest in retracing your grandfather’s visits to this State? What made you stay with the story beyond your grandfather’s experiences here?
ANDREW DUFF: When I set out in 2009 to retrace my grandfather’s footsteps from 1922, my intention was to write about my personal family connection to Sikkim.
My grandfather loved Sikkim and Darjeeling, visiting many times during the twenty-eight years that he lived in Calcutta. But it was the notes and photographs from his 1922 journey that captivated me as a child.
He had set out from Darjeeling with three friends and walked to Pemayangtse monastery and back.  Retracing his journey – along the old roads via Badamtam, Singla Bazaar, Chakung, Rinchenpong and Dentam – was a fantastic experience. Everywhere I went people were open, hospitable and generous. I had wonderful impromptu stays with some great families and fell in love with the landscape.
On the fifth day I reached Pemayangtse, where I met Sonam Yongda. He gave me a copy of Sunanda Datta-Ray’s book, Smash & Grab. I found the story fascinating, and when I discovered that Sonam Yongda was the Captain Yongda in the story (imprisoned in 1975), I was hooked.
On my return to the UK, I started to research the story properly. It did not take long to realise that Sikkim’s story was one that I wanted to tell in full.

New book explores untouched facets of the Sikkim Story

Random House India has announced plans to release, “Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom” by Andrew Duff, on 01 June, 2015. Introducing the book as a “unique account of the Himalayan Kingdom”, an official Random House India press communiqué explains the release this year as timed to mark “the 40th anniversary of the annexation of Sikkim”. The book will be presenting the Sikkim story from fresh, hitherto largely unexplored perspective of the Himalayan Kingdom as a pawn in the Cold War.
Andrew Duff, a freelance journalist based in London and Scotland, has reportedly drawn on a wide range of sources, including newly released secret British Foreign Office reports and US cables (The Kissinger Cables) along with letters of two Scottish missionary teachers which provide a contemporaneous account of Indian intelligence involvement and censorship in Sikkim in the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s.

…because truth is boring

If you drink more than 12 glasses of water a day, you can contract a disease called hydrangea.
Don’t know if it’s true but just in case. Stay safe guys.Rumours, unverified and preposterous statements like the one above pick up speed and volume especially during and after a disaster. Post the first Nepal earthquake, you had a hoax NASA alert and now after the second quake there is a fake BBC alert circulating. The most bizarre however seems to be one widely-shared message on WhatsApp after the 25 April temblor that said the moon had turned “upside-down” after the earthquake and showed before and after images. To people who spread such messages all I can say is ‘Stay safe guys’. Really.

Worry, but don’t panic. Please

Anxiety in elders can traumatise the young. Don’t add to their fears in a natural disaster situation

Spring crept up on Sikkim with rather tentative steps this year, not quite sure whether to allow itself in or whether to allow the pre-Spring battering of hail and chill to stay on a little longer. And even as the State was wondering how violently the weather Gods can send down hail on its fields, the earth heaved to the Great Earthquake that devastated Nepal on 25 April and then, within a fortnight, found release from another epicentre and rattled Sikkim even as it further pulverised the already down on the mat Nepal. Sikkim has been spared widespread damage to its physical infrastructure, but its mental health has taken a beating. The 18 September 2011 earthquake had not yet receded from the mind that the Nepal temblor shook things up. There have been other earthquakes around the world since the one here in 2011, but those have been distant and not as intimately experienced. The Nepal earthquake, on the other hand, was not only physically experienced by Sikkim, but also emotionally suffered.

Nepal Shook, Sikkim Panicked

AT LEAST NOW THE STATE SHOULD ALLOW ITSELF A PROPER DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN

SUBASH RAI

For a people who live in zone-4 of the earthquake hazard zoning map of the country - with zone-5 being areas prone to the most seismicity - the Sikkimese continue to show embarrassing gullibility, worrisome skittishness and a disturbing lack of even basic awareness when it comes to earthquakes.

‘Growth’, Still Unchecked and Unplanned

On 25 April, and then again on 12 May, earthquakes wreaked havoc on Nepal. From experts to laymen, all are convinced that old, un-engineered, unplanned and weak structures were the main contributing factors behind the huge number of casualties, injuries and damage to properties. Now, experts ranging from architects to civil engineers, even geologists in their interviews given to TV channels of Nepal are urging the government as well as the public in general to avail their services in rebuilding Nepal. It is difficult to say how long the Nepalese will take to overcome the devastation but expert suggestions are a welcome move in certain respects.
In the case of Sikkim, we are lucky that the tremors felt here were of less than half the intensity of the ones in Nepal. It is difficult to imagine what would have happened if 7.8 and 7.3 magnitude temblors had hit us here. We have already seen the consequences of a 6.8 magnitude quake that struck us in September 2011. Maybe it is time for us to think about the lessons from the past.

MCI troubles continue for SMIMS

Now, the Medical Council has problems with the PG courses

VISHNU NEOPANEY

The fate of post-graduate courses at Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences hang on a balance with the Medical Council of India having refused to extend the provisional recognition offered to the seven PG courses at SMIMS. The MCI refusal reportedly comes from its stand that the institute and the hospital continue to have several deficiencies which make it ill-equipped to train students at the post-graduate level. The SMIMS authorities meanwhile have accused the MCI of delaying appraisals and questioned why, after a delay of four years, was the recognition denial sprung just as a new batch of post-graduate students was being taken in.

Dzongu’s resolve to reject hydel projects welcomed

The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee and Sangha MLA, Sonam Lama have welcomed the decision of the people of Dzongu led by the Deputy Speaker cum area MLA, Sonam Gyatso Lepcha to oppose all forms of Hydro Electric Power Projects in the area.
It is informed that this decision was made during a brainstorming and coordination session held on 10 May at Hee Gyathang in Lower Dzongu which was attended by the area MLA, Mr Lepcha, panchayats and government employees.

Bouldering finds a toehold in Sikkim

State successfully hosts the 1st All India Open Artificial Bouldering Competition

SAGAR CHHETRI

Sikkim successfully hosted its first national level Artificial Bouldering Competition on 13 and 14 May. The 1st All India Open Artificial Bouldering Competition, Sikkim 2015 was inaugurated by the Governor, Shriniwas Patil on 13 May at Fish Pond opposite to Paljor Stadium. The two-day competition was organised jointly by Sikkim Amateur Mountaineering Association [SAMA] and Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation [STDC].
The competition featured 64 climbers from different parts of the country, including a few international climbers. Significantly, the competition attracted the participation of 31 local climbers, most of whom were taking part in such a competition for the first time.

Have car, cannot park!

Maruti Alto for sale, only six months old, with all the accessories, in good condition [REASON FOR SALE: PARKING PROBLEM] - read one advert this newspaper carried some years ago. The lack of parking space had driven this car owner to give up his rather new acquisition. Although it is not clear whether the problem was lack of parking space at home or the general lack of parking space anywhere in the capital; both being equally irksome.
For me, lack of parking space, has been more life-changing than irksome. I have discovered shades in me that I never knew existed. From the vicious this-is-mine or get-off-my-space looks and emotions, to childlike glee at spotting a space no one has yet occupied, to plunging to utter depths of despondency when not an inch is available or just an inch is not available, to Bollywood style ‘mein bekasoor hoon milord’ wails on finding a clamp on my car. I have learnt to sweet-talk traffic personnel, shopkeepers, parking boys, hell, anybody with anything to do with parking.

Of clogged jhoras and unpreparedness

The months of March, April and May usually witness numerous cleanliness drives along the jhoras and drains across the state. But this year, such drives have been few and far between. The unseasonal daily downpours coupled with the Nepal earthquake could perhaps be the reason behind social organisations and concerned authorities not being able to undertake such activities in the state. Around this time last year, the newspapers were flooded with news of cleanliness drives, but this year there have not been too many such news appearing in the papers.  
The wet weather has exposed the wretched condition of the drainage systems in and around Gangtok which are either clogged with garbage and assorted debris or have suffered damages especially in the lower parts of Gangtok. Besides damaging crops and vegetables, the untimely rains have also hit drinking water supplies in and around the capital much before the monsoon actually arrives in the State.

Gangtok’s Water Woes

The consumption pattern in most parts of Gangtok has changed drastically in the recent years – moving from largely residential consumption at one time to increasing usage on a commercial scale. The supply has remained mostly unchanged and this has created complications and disparities for consumers. This has also made vehicles like these which fetch water from jhoras and dharas a common sight in Gangtok.

Supply-line disruptions are only one part of the problem

by SUBASH RAI

Gangtok is lucky to have a dependable perennial source of water in Ratey Chu, the mountain stream, which contributes more than 21 million litres of water for Gangtok every day. What the capital does not have, unfortunately, is an equally reliable supply-line to carry the water from Ratey Chu to the Selep water reservoir around 9 kms away. The terrain is challenging and the repair works dangerous, as a result of which breakdowns are frequent when the weather turns inclement. The recent weeks have tested the resilience of the Water Security & Public Health Engineering Department work gangs maintaining the supply line. The weather has been unforgiving and the pipelines have suffered, been repaired, been damaged again, and the cycle continues. If this is the situation with the pre-monsoon Nor’westers, what the monsoon months will impose can only be imagined.

Watered Down!

Water supply projects are hamstrung by poor planning and even poorer implementation

Sikkim received Rs. 86.64 crore for water supply projects between 2009 and 2014, a five year period during which it took up 23 such projects. A performance audit by the office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India now informs that while only 6 of the 23 projects have been completed, no impact study was ever carried out by any agency. The delays and the litter of incomplete projects are perhaps only to be expected since the quarterly [stock-taking] meetings to be headed of the Chief Secretary, as recommended by the CAG, were not convened even once in the said five years. As a result, even though Rs. 72.78 crore of the Rs. 86.64 cr sanctioned for Sikkim was used up in the five years, 74 per cent of the projects were still under construction and at various stages of delay; as of March 2014, some of the 17 delayed projects were only 13% complete.

Classes at EIILM to begin from 20 May

This will be the final semester for the university after which Govt will place students in other institutions

Regular classes for the final semester will commence from 20 May onwards, informs Jitendra Raje, Acting Vice Chancellor of Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management [EIILM], a private state university based out of Malbasey in West Sikkim. The students are also co-operating with the state government till they are relocated to other universities and colleges, he added.

Leveraging Positive Press

Sikkim could do with some spontaneity and wider collaborations

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during one of his now becoming very frequent foreign jaunts, introduced an audience of prospective investors and confirmed India-well wishers about the Organic farming mission that Sikkim was pursuing. This latest promotion of Sikkim continues the rather consistent positive press that the PM has been directing towards Sikkim. While this must be upsetting political camps seeking to ally with the Modi-party, it needs to be viewed for more than that because when such promotion is lavished on a State, it celebrates the people and the government, not individuals and parties. It is the image of Sikkim that is getting bolstered, and while petty politics of name-calling and self-praise might attract applause from a circle of lackeys, it serves no wider purpose. Instead, it causes much harm, because when people get busy with taking potshots in their closed circles, the miss out on leveraging wider collaborations which have been opened up thanks to such handsome introductions. When [political] leaders remain busy circulating press releases catering to ‘local’ audiences on such issues and developments, they miss the chance to continue holding the national/ global attention now that their attention has been piqued.

When the Big One struck Nepal

PASSANG DORJEE

Saturday, 25 April 2015, I was at the office, alone on the first floor. I was engrossed in my work when I felt a little lightheaded. I looked up and felt the floor tremble, growing in intensity along with a rattling noise accompanied by a deep roar. The house started to buckle and I was hypnotized by the sight of the computer screen on my desk rock back and forth and inch towards the edge of the table.  I grabbed my phone to call my wife but there was no signal. I looked out and saw people out on the empty lot in front of the office, yelling, asking me to get out.
I was gesturing to them to say that I was all right when I saw the brick wall behind them fall away. I was terrified, but the people who were in actual danger of being crushed by the collapsing wall, were totally unaware. The rumbling must have been so loud that they didn’t hear the wall crash. The trees and building were swaying and I stood, trying hard to keep my balance. When the shaking stopped, I shut off the electricity and walked down, got on my bicycle and rushed back home to see if my family was all right.

“It takes a while to come back from seeing so much death and destruction…”

Sikkim’s KARMA PALJOR, a senior correspondent at CNN-IBN, is part of an 18-strong team of his news channel covering the tragedy in Nepal. In an interview conducted over email, he speaks to NOW! about what reporting about Nepal’s Big One has been like, what challenges they overcame to tell the story and what the toll has been. Excerpts:

NOW: From what we have seen on TV thus far, CNN-IBN appears to be the news channel to have deployed the largest contingent to cover the earthquake and has also devoted the most airtime to continuing reportage from the ground. What is the scale of your news channels engagement in covering this story? And what convinced it to do so?
KARMA PALJOR: It was a human disaster of epic proportions. The numbers of the dead and missing are still coming in and we had to deploy the best and the closest available resources to cover this event. Our team from Patna entered Nepal two hours after the quake hit. It was also a coincidence that the entire team was travelling to Purnia for a different story. We always deploy to the fullest whenever there is a natural disaster, we did so in Uttrakhand, Kashmir and even in Orissa. We believe we have a team capable and good at covering such stories and have always proudly lead from the front. For Nepal we had a team of over 18 people covering the Earthquake- the highest deployment in and around Katmandu.

Up… up… and away!

Arjun proves why paragliding makes so much sense

SAGAR CHHETRI

Not many get to glide like an eagle and fewer still get to glide for a living. Paragliding offers one such opportunity for those looking to tread the untrodden path, have fun and earn! Jumping off a cliff or a hill with your life depending on just a chute is not meant for everyone, which is why paragliding falls under the field of adventure sports. It is an up and coming field in the country and Sikkim wants a piece of it as well.

Lesson Learnt?

Disaster drills have to be more about response than just evacuation

Just when it was appearing that Sikkim had forgotten the fright of the 18 September 2011 temblor, Nepal was hammered by a 7.8 strong earthquake on 25 April 2015, the ripples of which coursed through Sikkim as well, scary more in their duration than intensity. Lessons on Himalayan plate tectonics and the earthquakes they can trigger came rushing back, and the State, its people and its authorities were reminded that they live in a seismically active zone. Disaster preparedness is not an extravagant indulgence for the government and people here, but a dire necessity. It is thus bewildering that disaster management here is just a fund-driven, Delhi-dictated token undertaking when it should have been an instinctive and informed choice of the people supported by the government. Funds for disaster management became abundant after the Tsunami of 2004, unfortunately, this has not translated into improvements in preparedness. Disaster Management is part of a full-fledged government department now, but for it to be of any consequence in a region as natural disaster-prone as Sikkim, it has to become part of the psyche of the people here, aimed to ensure that panic, which can be the most debilitating emotion in the wake of a catastrophe, does not take over the streets.

Firing up the Chili factor

Sikkim now has its very own version of the world famous Tabasco sauce - Peero. Known for its hot and spicy taste, Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco pepper while the Sikkimese sauce is made from dalley or cherry pepper. Packaged in a bottle similar to the Tabasco brand, Peero is produced by Gangtok-based company Sikkim Green Grocers. Dalley Fire, Dalley Paste and Bamboo Dalley are some of the other products they have.
'Peero' Dalley Sauce is priced at Rs. 110 for a 60 ml bottle and is available in Gangtok, Rangpo, Jorethang, Mangan and Namchi. Managing Director, Sikkim Green Grocers, Mahesh Dawari informs that they plan to export the product to markets outside the state like Bhutan and China. The company has also been receiving technical support from Central Food Technological Research Institute, Government of India.

Schools, still not properly toilet-trained

Sikkim is one of the most hygienic states in India. A claim attested by the fact that it is the first state of to achieve Nirmal Rajya status by securing total sanitation. And yet, out of the total of 774 Government schools all over Sikkim, 773 schools still require proper toilets for girl students. The official data on “status of improvement/ reconstruction” states that 773 schools are in need of this upgrade. The lone school that did not require toilets for girls is Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School in Gangtok, a boys only school! 190 of the 774 schools require toilets for boys. This data has been extracted from the Human Resource Development Department’s official website which presents statistics as of September 2014.