Speaker broaches development of Sikkim as hub for Nepali learning

BHANU PURASKAR CONFERRED ON PRADHYUMAN SHRESTHA
GANGTOK, 14 July: “Nepali is a very strong and beautiful language and today is an important day for the Nepali-speaking community,” said Speaker, KT Gyaltsen, while addressing the 197th Bhanu Jayanti celebrations here at the Tashi Namgyal Academy auditorium, yesterday.
He went on to state that Bhanubhakta was not just a poet but also a consummate scholar who had a positive mindset with farsightedness, and above all, was an ocean of knowledge and wisdom.

“Just like people from all over the world go to Oxford in England to learn English, let people come to Sikkim to learn Nepali,” he said and added that it was the duty of each and every person of Sikkim, belonging to any community, to preserve the traditional Nepali culture in the state. He also questioned the people whether they were contributing enough to see to it that ‘Nepali’ was being preserved.
Earlier, writer Pradhyuman Shrestha was conferred with the Bhanu Puraskar-2011, while others to be felicitated during the occasion were Dup Tshering Lepcha [Nepali Sewa Shree Samman], Journalist BP Khanel [Nepali Patrakar Shree Samman], Tika Dhungel [Sahitya Shree Samman] and singer Sonam Doma Bhutia [Nepali Kala Shree Samman].
In the Inter-School Ramayan recitation competition, Deorali Girls Secondary School took the first place with Modern Senior Secondary School and Tadong Secondary School coming in second and third, respectively. In the poetry recitation competition, Sichey School stood first, while Tadong School and Deorali School came in second and third.
The Nepali Sahitya Parishad award for scoring the highest marks in Nepali in Class 10 & 12 CBSE examinations from the state was given to Celina Rai [class XII] of Namchi School for securing 92% marks with a cash award of Rs. 5000, while the class X award went to Nikita Chettri of Ravangla School for securing A1 marks. She received a cash award of Rs. 4000 and a citation.
While the Inter-school Shova Yatra was won by Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School, Sichey School stood second, West Point Secondary School third and Tadong School came in fourth. The open Shova Yatra was won by Ekta Club of Gangtok with Goblinks Academy coming second and Nava Prabha Samiti standing third.
The celebration was also attended by DB Thapa, Minister for Urban Development & Housing Department; NK Pradhan, Minister for Human Resource Development Department; Gangtok MLA Dorjee Namgyal; Deputy Mayor Shakti Singh. The programme also included cultural performances by various artists. A souvenir was also released by the chief guest.