Consultant, critic, fiction writer, columnist and theatre director and novelist Vijay Nair recounts his seven-day trekking experience to Sikkim.
India maintains Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to it.
The low intensity quake which lasted just a few seconds had its epicentre 23 km north-west of Gangtok in the north district, the sources said adding, these tremors must have been felt in parts of north Bengal and Assam too.
The worst-affected Mangan and Singhtam areas in quake-hit Sikkim are still out of bounds for rescue workers with massive landslides blocking key roads on Tuesday.
The trials are being held to select the teams for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Games Qualifiers, both scheduled to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
There is nothing India-like about Sikkim and nothing Sikkimese about, well, large parts of India.
In a joint statement, they noted that while the incident highlights the prevailing "apathy, misgovernance and lack of accountability" in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, the state government's "apparent inclination" to shield perpetrators rather than protect victims is a "grave miscarriage of justice".
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Sikkim scored a superb 4-3 win over Orissa, while Punjab thrashed Chhattisgarh 5-0 in the preliminary league match of the Santosh Trophy.
Pilgrims travelling through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand will continue as scheduled.
Exactly a year after a powerful earthquake killed 90 people and ravaged large parts of Sikkim, a moderate tremor measuring 4.1 jolted the state on Tuesday evening, sending people out of their homes, but there was no immediate report of casualty or damage to properties.
The Dalai Lama's proximity to the Chinese border will anger the Communist dictators in Beijing, who despise the Tibetan spiritual leader who retains his influence in his homeland 64 years after he fled Tibet.
Tata Electronics on Saturday began the construction of its Rs 27,000-crore chip assembly plant in Assam, which is expected to become operational next year and create 27,000 jobs initially. The plant will produce 4.83 crore chips per day using indigenously-developed technologies. The plant's Bhumi Pujan (foundation stone laying) ceremony was held at the project site at Jagiroad in Morigaon district in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
Both the Indian and Chinese armies have brought in more troops in sensitive locations like Demchok, Daulat Beg Oldie and areas around Galwan river as well as Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, the sources said. The area around Galwan has been a point of friction between the two sides for over six decades.
Santiago Martin has funded Rs 1,368 crore to political parties between October 2020 to January 2024 through electoral bonds.
In yet another incident of Chinese transgressions into Indian territory, the People's Liberation Army personnel entered Indian territory in Sikkim and returned after spending some time.
Between 71 to 82 per cent polling was registered in five Lok Sabha seats in the eastern states of Tripura, Assam and of Sikkim in the fourth phase of the polls on Saturday.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Singh said the Modi government has changed the approach adopted by previous governments that the border areas are buffer zones between the plains and the potential adversary.
From the word go, Bihar growled its needs out when an MP from the state said aloud: "Give something for Bihar also, Madam." Every time the Budget mentioned cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh, "Kursi Bachao" was the call from Congress MPs.
Setting aside ideological differences, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India Marxist have joined hands in Sikkim to unitedly fight Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling's Sikkim Democratic Front in the assembly polls scheduled to be held later this year.The decision to form the UDF was taken in a meeting of Opposition leaders. The alliance is between the three national level parties and two other regional parties.
The landslides and landslips along the 60 km stretch between Gangtok and Mangan along NH31A, the lifeline of the mountain state, was affecting rescue operations in the higher reaches in the mountains, army sources said.
The world map in the just-published World Affairs Year Book - 2003/2004 has stopped showing Sikkim as a separate country in Asia and does not mention Sikkim separately in its index of countries.
The government on Thursday reappointed former IPS officer Ajit Doval as the National Security Adviser (NSA), according to an official order.
At least two persons were killed and four others injured in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district as a mortar shell, reportedly carried by the floodwaters of Teesta river, exploded, police said on Friday.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
China said that with the improvement of relations between the two sides, this is not any more a question within our relations.
The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front which has been in power continuously for 20 years under the leadership of Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, is flaunting its 'achievements' of two decades to woo voters this election even as it faces stiff challenge from the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha this time. The tiny Himalayan state known for its natural beauty and tourism potential is going for simultaneous elections to its only Lok Sabha seat and 40-member state assembly on April 12.
The Centre has constituted an inter-ministerial team to visit Sikkim to take stock of the damage following Sunday's devastating earthquake amid fresh reports that 400 foreign tourists were stranded in the worst-hit North Sikkim. Home Minister P Chidambaram will also visit Sikkim on Thursday to review the rescue and relief operations being undertaken in the Himalayan state.
The government on Friday expressed deep concern over China constructing a road in the disputed Doklam area near Sikkim
Gujarat has witnessed the steepest decline in the number of contestants in the fray for its 26 seats, from 371 five years ago to 266 in 2024.
Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday.
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
It also asked why the data shared pertained to a period from April 2019 even though the scheme for anonymous political funding was introduced in 2017.
India has received 20 per cent less rainfall since the start of the monsoon period on June 1, with the rain-bearing system making no significant progress between June 12 and 18, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Mainstream political parties in Sikkim have thrown their weight behind the separate Gorkhaland state issue for which the state has witnessed a series of agitations with its economy paralysed. The state's main political force -- the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front -- has openly supported the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state to fulfil what it says the aspiration of the Gorkha people.
'China and India would like to conduct useful and meaningful exploration on this issue,' Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.
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