Sikkim begs Most Progressive Tourism Award

Sikkim Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling launches Pro-poor Mission on his 61st Birthday

Gangtok: Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling, born on September 22, 1950, stepped into 61 years of age on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. As the pro-poor Chief Minister of Sikkim, he chose to mark his 61st birthday by launching a noble mission to make Sikkim “the first poverty free State in the country by 2013”.
Speaking as chief guest at a function at Chintan Bhawan on the day, Dr. Chamling said, “Our mission is to make Sikkim a poverty free State in the next 36 months thereby setting up a model example for other States. The Below Poverty Line (BPL) percentage in Sikkim was 41 before we (Sikkim Democratic Front) came to power in 1994 and in 2005, the BPL percentage was brought down to around 20 percent. There has been a fifty percent drop in the BPL families in Sikkim”. The State Rural Management and Development department is the nodal agency for implementing the mission.
According to a report of the State government, there are 21,618 poor households all over Sikkim with North district having the lowest number of around 1300 such households. “Presently, the BPL families’ percentage in Sikkim is only around 6 to 7 percent as reported by Department of Economics, Statistics, Monitoring and Evaluation. Now we have to ensure that in the next 36 months BPL percentage here is zero and also address the possibilities of families again falling back to BPL category”, Dr. Chamling said.
He pointed out that in the past 16 years, his government has been allocating seventy percent of the annual budget for rural upliftment. “Our programmes were targeted for the welfare of the poor people. However, we now realize that the people had become habituated to receiving government grants”, he said. He added that fifty percent of the BPL families who were uplifted to Above Poverty Line (APL) category in Sikkim were basically due to government grants. “The day such grants stop, these families will fall down to BPL category again which we have to prevent by creating income generation avenues and increasing their productivity”, said the Chief Minister. He directed all the departments to start programmes under the poverty free mission.
According to the mission statement, poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative poverty. Absolute poverty, which has been defined as lack of basic human needs due inability to afford them, has been almost eradicated in Sikkim, said State rural development department additional director Sandeep Tambe. Mr. Tambe said that poor families in Sikkim are those who are living in kutcha (non-permanent) houses with bamboo walls held by mud plasters, having marginal holdings less than 0.5 acres and with income source mainly as agriculture labour. There are vulnerable households like single mothers or families led by aged or disabled persons in the poor family category, he said.
As per the mission statement, the strategies to combat the remaining percentage of BPL families in Sikkim are to improve inter-village connectivity, housing for all who are now in kutcha houses, providing land and homesteads to the landless Sikkimese and universal financial inclusion. Around 5000 households in Sikkim are living in kutcha houses and there are around 300 landless families at present. Such families would be provided with rural housing schemes and land through government land bank scheme. Such schemes are applicable only to Sikkim Subject holders. In order to improve earning avenues for the people, the mission seeks to use Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act along with promotion of farm based livelihoods and to provide capacity building in various employment generating fields. The mission also envisages a strong safety net for vulnerable groups and providing financial support to them.
A steering committee headed by the Chief Minister has been formed to lead the mission and also a task force headed by the State Chief Secretary to formulate policy directives and guidelines. Annual reports on the mission would be submitted to be State Assembly to asses the progress.

Sikkim Casino YouTube Video

Gangtok casino gets the dice rolling for India

Casino Sikkim

Venue: The Royal Plaza

Timings: 6 pm to 4 am
Games: 10 slot machines
2 Roulette tables
1 Flush table
1 Baccarat table

1 Blackjack table

Age limit: 18 years and above
Hawk eye: Specialized team from Nepal

Take a bow, Nepal. Step aside, Goa. Make away for the new royal player.

Sikkim few  months ago became the first and only State in the entire length and breadth of the nation when Ex-State tourism minister RB Subba set the roulette rolling from the ‘Casino Sikkim’ at The Royal Plaza here today evening adding yet another ‘first’ to the glittering tourism crown of Sikkim.

This ‘first’ is Sikkim now officially rounding off a slew of national tourism awards with ‘the first land based live casino’ in the entire length of breadth of the nation.

During this momentous step towards attracting ‘high rollers’ to Sikkim, the tourism minister said that the casino at The Royal Plaza should have its impact in promoting high-end tourists.

Mr. Subba reminded that there has been an annual increase of 20 percent in the inflow of tourists to Sikkim in the recent years.

And of course, there are other players more waiting on the wings for casino business in the State. Seven applications for opening up casinos are pending with the State government, Mr. Subba said after making a brief tour of the casino hall of The Royal Plaza.

Former Chief Minister SM Limboo was also present during the opening ceremony.

“It was soft opening. They invested Rs. 30 crores more to have a full-fledged casino in a bigger room in the next 3 months”,
“I am really looking forward to attract high rolling clients and that will depend in the Pakyong airport whose Bhoomi puja had been done yesterday. The airport is scheduled to be completed by two years which is ample time for me to market my casino”, said Naresh Subba, director of The Royal Plaza, a part of the Teesta Rangit group.

The director said Rs. 70 crores would be invested to expand The Royal Plaza, which has presently 60 rooms. I am adding 40 more rooms with other amenities like swimming polls and indoor movie hall, he said.

Presently the casino has ten slot machines, two roulette tables, one blackjack table, one baccarat table and a flush table manned and operated by a specialized and experienced team from Nepal. The casino is open daily from 6 pm to 4 am.

The Teesta Rangit Private Ltd has tied up Kishore Silwal who runs 3 casinos in Nepal for technical tie up for the Casino Sikkim.

Expectedly, the tables and machines were packed with enthusiastic players, many of whom were first timers.

It may be recalled that the State government on November 13 last year had authorized Teesta Rangit Private Ltd for installation and operation of casino games at the premises of its luxury hotel, The Royal Plaza.

The permission granted by the State government is a provisional license that enables the Royal Plaza to run casino till it is fully classified as a five star hotel by the Ministry of Tourism.

Original license will be issued to Royal Plaza only after it fulfils the norms of a five star hotel within 5 years as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Tourism.

The Sikkim government had set the dice rolling when it notified the Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Taxes) Rules, 2007 thereby inviting interested parties for setting up casinos in the State.

Till this period, only Goa had allowed casinos in India that too electronically controlled.

The objective of the State government was to attract high end domestic and foreign tourists with the casino bid which had already created ripples in the hospitality sector both national and internationally.

Apart from carving a niche for itself as a major tourism player, Sikkim government stands to gain with an amount of Rs. 1.5 crores which will be paid by The Royal Plaza as taxes in the next 5 years

Gangtok gets first woman SDPO

GANGTOK, September 23: Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ongmu Bhutia has become the first woman Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Gangtok, as per a recent transfer order.
Speaking to SIKKIM EXPRESS, the lady officer said that it was an honour for her to become the first woman SDPO.
Earlier she was serving as DSP, Indian Reserve Battalion.
Meanwhile, RK Sundas, SDPO Gangtok has been transferred as SDPO, Rangpo.

Sikkim Observes Indra Jatra Fetsival

GANGTOK, September 23: Indrajatra, a festival of classical dances and one of the prominent festivals of Newars was for the first time celebrated with devotion and gaiety here today.

The State level celebration organised by Sikkim Newar Guthi started with offering of puja at Bhanu Path.

Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Commission Sanchaman Limboo along with State HRDD Minister NK Pradhan attended the celebration.

A religious procession was also taken out from Bhanu Path, which took a round of Tibet Road before ending at Bhanu Path.

Various cultural presentations of the Newar community were showcased at Titanic Park.

The evening programme was held at Sikkim Government College auditorium, which was graced by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling as the chief guest.

The organisers said that the festival is named after Lord Indra who is known as the god of rain and also as the king of heaven. “Hindus and Buddhists, both communities come together to celebrate this festival,” organisers said.

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Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) presidential elections postponed

GANGTOK, September 21: In a major blow to incumbent Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) president Nar Bahadur Bhandari, the All India Congress Committee has postponed the election process of the State unit till further announcement.
Bhandari was all set to become the SPCC president for the third consecutive term as he was the lone candidate in the fray after the nomination process ended on September 13. His rival, KN Upreti had backed out demanding that the new SPCC president should be nominated by the AICC.
Upreti, who is also the senior vice president in the party, had contended that the elections for the SPCC president had created a major division in the party as two camps emerged-one in his favour and other pitching for Bhandari.
The SPCC vice-president and his supporters had asserted that they would not be accepting Bhandari as their party president through the ‘divisionary’ election process. However, they were ready to accept him as their party president if he is nominated by the AICC.
Upreti went to New Delhi and approached the party high command on September 14 and as it appears now, his perseverance has paid off with the SPCC presidential elections postponed.
A statement from Congress returning officer Zubair Khan as forwarded by SPCC functionary Avinash Yakha states: “Due to some unavoidable circumstances the election process for organisational election – 2010 of PCC president, PCC executive, AICC members and Pradesh election committees in Sikkim has been postponed till further announcement”.
Khan had stayed in Gangtok till September 12, the penultimate day for filing of nominations. He was overseeing the election process of the SPCC.


SPCC President N.B.Bhandari



Speaking to SIKKIM EXPRESS over phone, Khan said that Upreti had approached the party high command on the SPCC president election issue. While giving orders that the SPCC election process be postponed, Congress chief election officer Oscar Franandez has assured Upreti to enquire into his grievances and come up with a decision soon, he said.

The postponement order from faxed to the SPCC headquarters here on September 17, at a moment when it was being asked when Bhandari will take up his president post for the third consecutive time.
As per the party sources, the announcement of Bhandari as the new president was supposed to take place today but contrary to the expectations, the statement about the election process being postponed came.

When his response was sought on the postponement, Bhandari said that he has no statements to make at the moment.



Meanwhile, Upreti told Sikkim Express that he and his supporters had met Sikkim in-charge Luizino Faleriaro at Delhi on September 14. When he heard our grievances, he called up Zubair Khan and in consultation with Oscar Fernandez, the SPCC election process has been postponed till further notice, he said.

“We told the party high command that Bhandari is not very much interested in fulfilling his responsibilities as the SPCC president. Since the 2009 elections, he has not met party president Sonia Gandhi and was averse to maintaining good relations and network with the party high command which had a demoralizing effect on the party supporters here”, said Upreti.

Upreti said that he briefed the party high command that elections to the SPCC president post have created huge divisions in the party. We want the SPCC president to be nominated by the AICC president but Bhandari got scared and remained adamant on the elections, he said.

Even the central leadership is not happy with Bhandari, though whether he would be retained as the SPCC president by the party president is another matter, said Upreti.

On asked what will happen next, Upreti said that the party high command would be submitting a report to Sonia Gandhi. What decision she would take, we cannot say at this juncture, he said. The decision will come in next 10-12 days and we are hoping for an early conclusion, he said.

When asked if he is ready to accept the SPCC president post if the party high command opts for him instead of Bhandari, Upreti replied in affirmative. “I will accept the decision”, he said.

Sikkim Monks seeks scrapping of hydel project

GANGTOK, Sept 20 – A joint meeting of National Sikkimese Bhutia-Lepcha Organization with the Denjong Chyarig Chogpo (Buddhist religious outfit) has deliberated on the threat posed by the proposed 96 MW Lethang hydel power project in Yuksam.
The proposal to construct the mega power project in the Rathong Chu in Yuksam, West Sikkim is the most undesired project which has ignited immense threat to the sanctity of the Buddhist tradition of Sikkim, mentioned a release issued by the organisation. “We appreciate the Chief Minister’s scrapping of the earlier Rathong Chu project respecting the Buddhist tradition and its sanctity of Sikkim, the release added.

The release thanked SIBLAC for attending public hearing of September 16, 2010 to protest against the Lethang hydel project.

The release further requested the Chief Minister to take another decision of scrapping any such projects and activities in and around the sacred Rathong Chu which falls under Places of Worship (Special provision) Act 1991.

The organisations also reiterated their stand for a proportionate increase in the total number of the Bhutia-Lepcha seat in the Sikkim Assembly.

‘Lost’ Sikkim arrives, prints to be showcased in Singapore

The Chogyals’ palace in Gangtok.
Gangtok, Sept. 20: Satyajit Ray’s “lost” documentary Sikkim reached the Himalayan state on September 11 and is now being readied for a preview screening at the Singapore Museum on October 16.

The 35mm documentary was commissioned by the Chogyals, the last rulers of Sikkim, in 1971 and its prints and rights were given to the Art and Culture Trust of Sikkim in 2000.

The trust received it from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after restoration almost a week ago.

“The film had been commissioned by the last Chogyal of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, four years before the kingdom became the 22nd state of India in 1975. As the documentary was made during a period of transition in Sikkim, the film never got formally released and the prints became bad. Everyone assumed that the documentary had been banned because it had to do with the monarchy,” said Ugyen Chopel, a filmmaker and a managing trustee of the trust.

Chopel said he had seen the film and it records Sikkim’s history and showcases the state’s natural beauty. “There are five reels and the film is 55-minute long and is in colour. The best part is that the entire commentary in English was rendered by the maestro himself in his unforgettable baritone voice. The background music has also been also composed by Ray,” he said.

After the Singapore screening, a world premiere of the film is being planned for next year. “The film has generated a lot of interest internationally and we are planning to hold a world premiere here sometime in February-March next year. We will approach the state government to make the premiere a grand international event,” said Chopel.

“This is the only film made by the great master that has not been screened publicly and came to be known as ‘Ray’s lost film’. A retrospective of Ray’s films was held when he passed away after being conferred the lifetime achievement Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But Sikkim did not feature in the show,” he said.

Chopel said a print of the film had been found with the British Film Institute in London and through Dilip Basu, the founder-member of the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Centre at the University of California, the Academy was approached for restoration.

“We approached the Central Board of Film Certification and obtained a ‘U’ registration on March 6, 2002, as such an approval was necessary for the restoration. It took eight long years for the Academy to restore the print to the original as the work was tedious and painstaking. The Academy had borne the cost of around $100,000 to restore the film,” said Chopel.

“The job was painstaking as the negatives were missing and a fresh negative had to be prepared frame by frame from the prints which were available with the trust and from the copy that was lying with a private collector in London,” said Chopel.

A package containing the restored prints reached the trust on September 11 from the Academy.

Sexual Harassment Petition Against Bank Officer by Sikkimese Lady

GANGTOK, September 19: A compliant committee as contemplated by the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in a 1997 case is scheduled to be submit its report to the Sikkim High Court on Monday over the sexual harassment petition filed by one Sikkimese lady against an authority of Central Bank of India.
In its last hearing held on August 19, a division bench of High Court comprising of Chief Justice PD Dinakaran and Justice SP Wandgi had directed the bank management to get necessary instructions on the complaint committee as the grievance placed by the victim was not yet referred to the committee till date. The court also directed that the instructions over the report of the committee should be complied on September 20.
The petitioner, Seema Lepcha had lodged a complaint against the bank’s chief manager of sexually harassing her on March 1, 2008.
However, police investigations in her complaint had concluded that no offence under section 509 of IPC (uttering any word or making any gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman) was made out against the accused person with regard to the complaint lodged by the petitioner. The chief judicial magistrate (East & North) had ordered reinvestigation and the second final report submitted on June 26, 2008 confirmed the conclusions of the first report, which prompted the victim to file a petition in the High Court.
During the hearing, the bank counsel submitted to the court that the grievance of the lady was not yet referred to the complaint committee at all till date. The court then directed the bank management to get necessary instructions from its head office as to whether any complaint committee as contemplated by the guidelines issued by the apex court in Vishaka & Others vs State of Rajasthan& Others in (1997) 6 SCC 241 has been constituted to get into the sexual harassment in working places of the bank.
The court also asked whether the grievance of the petitioner has already been referred to the complaint committee. If not, what was the reason for not referring the impugned grievance to the complaint committee?, the court asked. The court also asked on the status of proceedings or if the proceedings are already over, what were the findings of the committee.
The court further directed that if the proceedings are still continuing before the complaint committee, the same shall be expedited and completed within four weeks after giving fair and reasonable opportunity to all the parties concerned. The matter for reporting compliance was fixed on September 20.

Sikkim rally for Ogyen Trinley Dorje enthronement at Rumtek Monastery as HH 17th Karmapa

Dharamsala, September 20 - Representatives of around 65 monasteries and thousands of supporters of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje will congregate in Gangtok on September 26 for a massive rally. The rally will be held to ask the Indian government to allow Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to visit Rumtek Monastery, which they say is rightfully his home monastery in exile.

The followers of Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje demand that New Delhi must lift the ban on the young Lama to travel to Rumtek, and allow him to take his throne at the monastery.

Karmapa Reception Committee which is organizing the rally said as many as fifty thousand people are expected to gather in Sikkim’s capital.

“The government of India must repose trust and confidence in the people of Sikkim. It has been 10 years since the Karmapa fled Tibet and took refuge in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. We have waited long enough,” the KRC said in a leaflet distributed to followers.

“It has been 10 years since the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa had come to India from Tibet, but still he is not allowed to enter Sikkim even though he was allowed to visit Bokar monastery in Mirik, which is very close to Sikkim. We want to know from the Centre whether we are part of India. If we are a part of India, he should be allowed to come and sit on his throne,” said K.N. Topden, a spokesperson for the Karmapa Reception Committee.

The rally will begin at 10.30 am from the Guards Ground in Gangtok and proceed to chief minister’s Dr. Pawan Kumar Chamling’s official residence where a memorandum will be submitted to him. “The Sikkim government has been very supportive to our cause, the chief minister has also written to the Centre on this issue,” Topden said.

The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who escaped to India on January 5 in 2000, was put forward by Tai Situ Rinpoche, a close disciple of the previous Karmapa, and recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Another claimant to the throne, Trinlay Thaye Dorjee, was put forward by Shamar Rinpoche, another close disciple of the late 16th Karmapa. The Indian government has placed a ban on Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje's travel to Rumtek. The Indian government also denied permission twice to Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorjee to travel to Europe and USA earlier this year.

Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorjee has been living at Gyuto monastery near here since his escape to India in 2000. He made his first foreign visit to USA in 2008. The young head of Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is the only Tibetan religious personality enjoying approval both of the Tibetan government headed by the Dalai Lama and China which has been making attempts to expand its influence on Tibetan religious heads through a law requiring Tibetan lamas to seek Beijing’s approval. Tibetans and supporters say China will use the law to install its own Dalai Lama just as it did with the Panchen Lama.

Sikkim Team heads for first India Open International Taekwondo Championship

Gangtok, Sept. 20: A 15-member team from Sikkim left today for Visakhapatnam for the first India Open International Taekwondo Championship that will have 50 participating countries.

The group selected by the Sikkim Amateur Taekwondo Association will take part in the event that is to be held from September 22 to 24.

“The meet is being organised by the Indian Taekwondo Federation and is one of the six major tournaments sanctioned by the World Taekwondo Federation. Participants from 50 countries will be featuring in this event and it is a great opportunity for our players to represent the nation in such a prestigious tournament,” said chief coach of the Sikkim association, Trilok Subba.

The players have been selected from the state-level tournaments held earlier this month at the Paljor Stadium.

Subba said only black belts who have won medals at the national-level are allowed to participate in the international tournament at Visakhapatnam.

Subba admitted that winning medals at the event would not be an easy task.

“To win medals would be tough as there would be a large number of contestants in each weight group. We do expect some medals but it is not going to be easy. We have our hopes pinned on experienced international players like Sabina Sundas and Umesh Tamang,” he said.

Sabina had represented the country in the South Asian Games at Dhaka in 2009 while Umesh had participated in the World Taekwondo Championship in China in 2007.

Sabina, who will take part in the 46kg weight category, is confident about her performance.

“This is my second international tournament and I have prepared well with help from my coaches. I want to make my country and state proud by winning a medal,” she said.

The group is accompanied by coaches Sanjay Subba and Tamas Shetty along with team manager Bijoy Gurung.

American Academy print key to Sikkim release

The government may have lifted the ban on Satyajit Ray’s controversial documentary Sikkim, made 39 years ago, but it would have to buy a copy of the film’s print from the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences of the US to make it available to the Indian audience.

“If the Indian government wants to make Sikkim available for screening, it will probably have to purchase a copy of the restored print from the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences,” said Satyajit’s filmmaker son Sandip.

Commissioned by the Chogyal (ruler) of Sikkim in the late 1960s, the 52-minute documentary made in 1971 was banned by the government when the Himalayan kingdom merged with India in 1975.

The copyright of the film was later transferred to the Art and Culture Trust of Sikkim.

Taking Ray by surprise, Sikkim came under double censorship — first from the Chogyal and then from the India government.

“The king and the queen of Sikkim had objected to a very interesting scene showing a royal feast. The queen Hope Cooke said it was ‘wicked’. So Baba had to cut a few shots but he was not happy with it at all. He had never faced such a situation before,” recalled Sandip.

“Baba was also taken aback when the India government decided to ban Sikkim because it highlighted the monarchy. Baba had always maintained that what the documentary showed was part of history.”

Locating a “workable” print of Sikkim for restoration turned out to be an arduous task.

A print that the Satyajit Ray Society retrieved from the Chogyal’s family was damaged beyond repair. Finally, a print that had made its way to London was traced and restored by the Academy of Motion Picture.

Sandip saw the restored copy a few years back at the Nantes Three Continents Film Festival in France.

“Sikkim was part of a Satyajit Ray retrospective at the festival that year. It was very nostalgic for me,” said Sandip.

“Baba had been to this festival before, and shooting the documentary had been very difficult for him. We had gone to places like Lachen where it was very difficult to travel at that time. There was no electricity and we would work at night in candlelight. But despite the cuts, I think Sikkim would still be a very interesting documentary to see.”

Sikkim Sports Academy reaches to finals of Alipurduar tourney

Gangtok, Sept 19 (PTI) Sikkim Sports Academy has reached the finals of the 2nd Kumar Gram Open Football Championship at Kumar Gram near Alipurduar in West Bengal.Playing the semi-final match on September 16, the SSA squad snuffed out the challenge of Kumar Gram Tea Garden Club riding on a hattrick by Bijay Subba.The final scoreline read 5-1 in SSA's favour.Robin Rai and Bhim Tamang scored a goal each to supplement Bijay's efforts.In the final match, scheduled for 19 Sept, SSA will take on Assam FC.