Sikkim

Gangtok, Oct 4 (PTI) A sudden cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim has resulted in a flash flood in the Teesta River in Lachen valley on Wednesday, which was compounded by the release of water from a dam, leading to 23 army personnel being washed away, camps and vehicles being submerged, officials said.

The floods started around 1.30 am, they said.

Defence officials said establishments along the valley have been affected and efforts are on to confirm details.

Gangtok, Apr 4 (PTI) Seven tourists were killed as a massive avalanche hit East Sikkim's Nathu La area on Tuesday morning, burying their vehicles under the snow, officials said.

The avalanche hit the arterial Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, which connects state capital Gangtok to Nathu La at the China border, around 11.30 am, trapping five-six vehicles with around 30 people under the snow, the Army said.

Gangtok, Oct 21 (PTI) A Himalayan black bear was rescued from the Raj Bhavan complex in Gangtok on Thursday after a gruelling operation that lasted for hours, officials said.

The bear was first spotted by the Raj Bhavan staff around midnight, following which the Forest Department was informed, they said.

Gangtok, Oct 2 (PTI) Sikkim Chief Minister PS Tamang on Saturday announced that packaged mineral water will be banned from January 1, 2022 in the Himalayan state, which is "blessed with natural resources that provide fresh and good quality drinking water".

Tamang, during his address here on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, also said that people, after the ban is implemented, will opt for water from natural resources, which is far healthier than that available in plastic bottles.

Gangtok, Aug 21 (PTI) Sikkim Health Minister Dr M K Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

The minister himself announced the news of his testing positive for COVID-19 in a brief Facebook post.

"I, Dr MK Sharma, Health Minister of Sikkim, would like to inform all the Sikkimese people that I developed symptoms of COVID-19 and got myself tested today and the results have come as positive," he said.

Sharma said that he was doing fine and confined himself in isolation.

Gangtok, Jul 2 (PTI) Twelve Army personnel in Sikkim have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the Himalayan state's tally to 101, a top official of the Health department said on Thursday.

Director General-cum-Secretary, Health, Dr Pema T Bhutia said that these 12 Army men, said to br primary contacts of their 40 year-old colleague who had tested positive on June 23, were tested for COVID-19 and their results have come positive.

These 12 army men as well as their 40 year-old colleague have been shifted to the Army hospital at Bagdogra, Bhutia said.

Gangtok, Dec 9 (PTI) Amid nationwide outrage over the recent cases of rape and murder, the Sikkim Police has launched a free ride scheme under which any woman in the state capital who is alone and unable to find transport services at night will be dropped home in a vehicle free of cost.

The scheme, launched by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Sunday, is aimed at ensuring women's safety at odd hours, an official said.

Gangtok/Kolkata, Aug 27 (PTI) The Sikkim government has urged the Centre to withdraw its notification which opened up 24 peaks of the state to mountaineers, a top official said.

The Centre has recently allowed mountaineering and trekking in 137 peaks across the country, including 24 peaks in Sikkim, in a bid to boost tourism.

Gangtok, Aug 15 (PTI) Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Thursday pledged to "protect and conserve" Article 371(F) of the Constitution, which provides special status to the tiny border state

Tamag, better known as Golay, also said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured him that the rights granted to the state will not be tinkered with

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) As many as 10 MLAs of the Sikkim Democratic Front joined the BJP on Tuesday, propelling the saffron party to the status of the main opposition in a state where it had not won a single seat in the recent assembly polls.

The MLAs met BJP working president J P Nadda and joined the party in the presence of its general secretary Ram Madhav, who is in charge of the party's affairs in the north east.

Madhav told reporters that the SDF had a strength of 13 MLAs and its legislature party decided to merge with the BJP.