6 adventure experiences in Sikkim for thrill seekers
Sikkim beckons adventure seekers with its diverse landscape, offering thrilling experiences amidst breathtaking natural beauty. From trekking through Himalayan trails with stunning Kanchenjunga views to mountain biking along rugged terrains and paragliding over Gangtok, Sikkim provides unforgettable adventures. Yak safaris, mountaineering, and white river rafting in Teesta and Rangit rivers add to the excitement, making Sikkim a haven for thrill-seekers.
Four family members killed in Sikkim landslide; child survives
GANGTOK: Four members of a family lost their lives and one child was critically injured after a landslide, triggered by relentless rainfall, struck their home in Sikkims Gyalshing district late Thursday night, police said. The tragedy occurred in the Upper Rimbi area around midnight while the family was asleep. A senior police official confirmed that the landslide completely destroyed the residence. Gyalshing Superintendent of Police Tshering Sherpa said that Sikkim Police, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel and local residents responded swiftly to the scene and launched a rescue operation despite the continuous downpour. Three of the six family members died on the spot. Two injured women were rushed to the Gyalshing District Hospital, where one of them later succumbed to her injuries, Sherpa said. A seven-year-old boy was pulled out alive and has been admitted to the hospital for treatment. Despite difficult weather conditions, the rescue team acted promptly with the support of the local community. It has been a risky operation, but we have done our best to save lives. The operation is still underway, said SP Sherpa, who also expressed his gratitude to all those who assisted in the rescue efforts.
Womens Safety Report : Fear runs deeper than nos
NEW DELHI: The NARI 2025 National Annual Report and Index on Womens Safety, released by the National Commission for Women, offers the telling reality of the urban safety landscape. The survey covered 12,770 women across 31 cities and yielded a national safety score of 65%, which implies that four in 10 women (40%) consider themselves unsafe despite government assurances. Around 60% of women reported feeling safe, while 40% admitted they felt not-so-safe or outright unsafe. The anxieties deepen among younger women: while public harassment was reported by 7% of all respondents in 2024, the figure rose to 14% for those under 24, indicating that students and young professionals are disproportionately targeted in educational and recreational spaces. The report shows low levels of faith in redressal mechanism. Only one in three victims of harassment filed a formal complaint, and confidence in the system is strikingly weak: 75% of women said they did not believe authorities would resolve their complaints. Even when incidents are reported, only 22% are formally registered, and action is taken in a mere 16% of those cases, highlighting a pervasive cycle of silence. Harassment hotspots reveal vulnerabilities, with 38% of cases occurring within neighbourhoods and 29% in public transport systems. Workplace safety presents a paradoxical picture. A large majority91%described their office environment as safe, but nearly half of the respondents admitted they were unaware whether their organisation had implemented the mandated Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) mechanism. Among those who were aware, most found it effective, suggesting that awareness is as critical as legislation itself. The report stresses that womens safety cannot be reduced to physical protection alone but must include psychological, financial, and digital security that collectively shape womens access to mobility, opportunity, and dignity. It frames safety as a developmental issue rather than a law-and-order question. The sense of safety also varies with time and place. Women reported relative comfort in offices and campuses during the day, but confidence collapsed after dark, where poor street lighting and unreliable public transport left them exposed. City-level disparities are equally stark: Kohima, Visakhapatnam, and Bhubaneswar topped the index, followed closely by Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar, and Mumbai, where women expressed relatively higher perceptions of safety. In contrast, Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar, and Ranchi occupied the bottom ranks. Ranchi recorded 44% feeling unsafe, while in Delhi and Faridabad the figure was around 42%. The numbers show a fractured urban landscape where geography shapes womens fears as much as governance.
NEW DELHI: Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar and Mumbai have emerged as the safest cities in the country for women, while Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar and Ranchi were ranked the lowest, according to the National Annual Report & Index on Women's Safety (NARI) 2025. The nationwide index released on Thursday, based on a survey of 12,770 women across 31 cities, placed the national safety score at 65 per cent, categorising cities as much above, above, at, elow or much below this benchmark. Kohima and other top-ranked cities were associated with stronger gender equity, civic participation, policing and women-friendly infrastructure. At the other end of the spectrum, cities like Patna and Jaipur fared poorly due to weak institutional responsiveness, patriarchal norms and gaps in urban infrastructure. Kohima, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar, Mumbai lead national safety rankings, often correlating with higher gender equity, infrastructure, policing, or civic participation while Ranchi, Srinagar, Kolkata, Delhi, Faridabad, Patna, and Jaipur scored lowest, correlating with poorer infrastructure, patriarchal norms, or weaker institutional responsiveness, the report said. Overall, six in ten women surveyed felt safe in their city, but 40 per cent still considered themselves ot so safe or unsafe. The study revealed sharp drops in perceptions of safety at night, particularly in public transport and recreational spaces. Educational institutions (86 per cent safe) especially in daylight, but safety perceptions fall sharply at night or off-campus. About 91 per cent of women reported safety, yet about half were unclear if their workplace had a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy; those with such policies generally rated them as effective. Only one-fourth of women said they trusted authorities to act effectively on safety complaints. While 69 per cent said current safety efforts were somewhat adequate, over 30 per cent noted significant gaps or failures; only 65 per cent perceived real improvement over the years 2023-2024. Seven per cent of women said they experienced harassment in public spaces in 2024, with the figure doubling to 14 per cent among those under 24. Neighbourhoods (38 per cent) and public transport (29 per cent) were most often flagged as harassment hotspots. Yet, only one in three victims came forward to report the incidents. The report stressed that official crime data alone cannot reflect women's lived reality. Two out of three women do not report harassment, meaning NCRB misses the bulk of incidents, the study said, calling for integration of crime data with perception-based surveys like NARI. Launching the report, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said safety cannot be seen merely as a law-and-order issue but as one that affects every aspect of a woman's life whether it is her education, health, work opportunities and freedom of movement. She added that when women feel unsafe, hey limit themselves, and women limiting themselves is not only for their own development, but also for the development of the country. She emphasised that a safe environment was crucial for building a developed and inclusive India, pointing to four dimensions of women's security of physical, psychological, financial and digital nature. It is our responsibility to protect women not just from crimes on the streets but also from cybercrimes, economic discrimination and mental harassment, Rahatkar noted. Highlighting positive measures, she praised the growing presence of women police officers and female drivers in public transport as effective confidence-building steps. In many Union Territories, 33 per cent of police personnel are now women, and this has made a decisive difference in building trust, she said. She also lauded initiatives such as women's helplines, CCTV coverage in smart cities, and improved safety networks at railway stations and bus depots. At the same time, Rahatkar urged society at large to share responsibility. We often blame the system, but we must also ask what we have done. Whether it is using helplines, supporting awareness drives, or simply keeping public toilets clean, society's role is equally important, she said. The NARI index has been conceived by The NorthCap University and Jindal Global Law School and is published by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA).
Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via Nathu La concludes with return of 48 pilgrims
GANGTOK, Aug 25: The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via Nathu La Pass in Sikkim ended with the return of the 10th batch of 48 tourists from the pilgrimage site, officials said on Monday. On their return on Sunday, the 48 pilgrims were received by Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) officials, and a valedictory function was held [] The post Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via Nathu La concludes with return of 48 pilgrims appeared first on Northlines .
Kailash Manasarovar Yatra 2025 Via Sikkim Route Ends With Return Of 48 Pilgrims: Officials
GANGTOK, Aug 25: The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via Nathu La Pass in Sikkim ended with the return of the 10th batch of 48 tourists from the pilgrimage site, officials said on Monday. On their return on Sunday, the 48 pilgrims were received by Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) officials, and a valedictory function was held to mark the successful conclusion of the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage for 2025. STDC chairman Lukendra Rasaily said the smooth conduct of the tour by around [] The post Kailash Manasarovar Yatra 2025 Via Sikkim Route Ends With Return Of 48 Pilgrims: Officials appeared first on Daily Excelsior .
CBSE to establish six new regional, sub-regional offices to enhance governance
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the establishment of six new Regional Offices, Centres of Excellence (CoEs), and Sub-Regional Offices to streamline its operations and improve governance of affiliated schools across the country. According to a notification issued by CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta, the decision was taken following the approval of the Finance Committee in December 2024, which was later ratified by the Governing Body and cleared by the Ministry of Education. The new offices are being set up in Gurugram, Lucknow, Raipur, Ranchi, Agartala, Itanagar and Gangtok. These will become fully functional between August and September 2025. Gurugram (Haryana) will cover 12 southern districts of Haryana, including Faridabad, Gurugram, Palwal and Sonipat, and is expected to function from 1 September 2025. Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) will oversee 30 districts, including Ayodhya, Etawah, Kanpur, Rae Bareli and Unnao, and will also become functional from 1 September 2025. Raipur (Chhattisgarh) will have jurisdiction across Chhattisgarh and became functional on 22 August 2025. Ranchi (Jharkhand) will cover Jharkhand and also became functional on 22 August 2025. Among the Sub-Regional Offices, Agartala (Tripura) will begin functioning from 15 September 2025. Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) became functional on 22 August 2025, along with Gangtok (Sikkim), which also started operations on the same date. The notification stated that all schools affiliated with CBSE will now fall under the jurisdictions of these newly established offices. This move will help strengthen administrative reach, ensure better coordination with schools, and enhance educational support services across these regions, the CBSE said.
Sikkim University Student Sparks Row With 'Nepali' Remark, Taken Into Custody
A major controversy has erupted on the campus of Sikkim University in Gangtok over alleged derogatory remarks against the Nepali community and language by a student from Uttar Pradesh in a department WhatsApp group.
Sikkim University student arrested for insulting Nepali language
Gangtok: A Sikkim University student, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly making insulting remarks against the Nepali language which is widely spoken in the Himalayan state, officials said. Acting on a complaint lodged by some local students, a team from Rani Pool police station reached the university campus and took Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News , Technology , Entertainment , Sports , Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS .
After 7 years, red panda cubs born in Sikkim zoo
The captive red panda population at the Himalayan Zoological Park near Gangtok was nearly decimated by two outbreaks of canine distemper, a highly contagious and potentially fatal viral disease
Is arrested model-actress Shanta a Bangladeshi spy? Police investigates
KOLKATA: Activities of Bangladeshi model and actress Shanta Pal, who has been arrested in Kolkata, are reminiscent of the activities of Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on suspicion of being a Pakistani spy, police sources said. Shanta lived a luxurious life as Jyoti. She too travelled to many places in India, including the Nathula Pass, near the China border in Sikkim which raised suspicion about her, a Kolkata Police official said. Jyoti Malhotra is accused of spying for Pakistan. Is Shanta doing the same for Bangladesh? We have been trying to ascertain this in the investigation, the official added. According to police sources, Shanta Pal, a Bangladeshi citizen, came to India in 2023. Since then, she has been staying here. Both her visa and passport have expired. Bangladeshi model-actress held in Kolkata with Indian documents According to police sources, after questioning Shanta and searching her social media pages, it was found that she had become a consultant for others to obtain visas to India. After the upheaval in Bangladesh last year, when the situation between India and Bangladesh made it difficult for Bangladeshi citizens to get Indian tourist visas, Shanta had advised many of them to apply for medical visas. The investigators are checking how many people took her help to get Indian medical visas. Shanta, who has been residing in India, also used to live a colourful life. According to police sources, the Bangladeshi model-actress travelled from Digha in West Bengal to Gangtok in Sikkim and posted pictures and videos on social media. She even reached the Nathula Pass near the China border to create a travel vlog. According to police sources, Shanta was promoting her tourism business through a social media page called Asan Travels Kolkata and Bangladesh. Additionally, investigators are also investigating if she took a loan from an Indian state-owned bank to open a hotel, based on her Facebook post. On Wednesday, the Kolkata Police arrested Shanta in a fraud case from the Bikramgarh area in south Kolkata. She lived there in a rented flat with her parents and husband. The police recovered an Indian voter card, PAN card, and Aadhaar cards of two addresses, one in Kolkata and the other in Burdwan, issued in her name. The police have also recovered a Bangladeshi passport and Bangladesh Airways employee card from her possession. She used to work as a cabin crew for Bangladesh Airways. An admit card for Bangladesh's secondary examination has also been found.
