Kalimpong

Rin With Roshni

News, Regional September 14, 2026

RUN WITH ROSHNI FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 15 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

For fifteen years, Roshni Rai has worked quietly and tirelessly to build a culture of running in the hills. At a time when very few believed that a runner from this region could stand on an international podium, she came with the vision of sending Gorkha runners to Olympics.

What began as a personal passion for running grew, through her years of effort, into a movement that has given the Darjeeling-Sikkim region some of its finest marathon and trail running talent. Today as running events and running clubs have mushroomed throughout the region, credit must go to Team Run With Roshni for planting these seeds of transformation

Late. Meena Sharma

News, Regional, Upendra September 14, 2026

FEVER RELATED DEATHS IN DARJEELING – Is the Government Sleeping?

In Ghoom, a young man named Karma, only 37 years old, complained of fever. By the time he reached the hospital, he was already in critical condition, and could not be saved. In Lebong, Meena Sharma, a pioneering woman footballer who had represented the country internationally in the 1970s and 80s, died of the similar fever. These are only two of the cases we are sharing here, due to paucity of space. However, many more such deaths have been reported across the hills, and in none of these cases has the health department conducted a post mortem to identify the actual virus responsible.

The Sherpa Ponbo of Sherpagaon

Articles, Popular Articles July 26, 2026

The Sherpa Ponbo of Sherpagaon: The Last Keeper of the Invisible World

When I stepped back onto the village road, motorcycles continued to pass, children still laughed somewhere down the slope, and neighbours greeted one another before continuing home. Nothing suggested that, inside one ordinary house, sat the last practicing Ponbo of Sherpagaon, holding a lineage preserved not through books but through memory, apprenticeship, and family. Whether another Ponbo will emerge after Pemsangay Sherpa remains unknown. But one thing is certain: traditions disappear long before the last practitioner dies, when their stories are no longer remembered.

Nepathya Live

Global, Local, National, Regional January 19, 2026

Nepathya Live: For the First Time, Nepathya Bring Their Voice to Siliguri

Nepathya Live in Siliguri marks the band’s debut performance in the city, a moment long anticipated by audiences across North Bengal, Sikkim, and the Eastern Himalayan region—where Nepathya’s songs have circulated for years through recordings, memory, and cultural inheritance, but never before through a Siliguri stage.

The concert will be held at Utsodhaara Teesta Township, behind Kawakhali Ground, placing Siliguri—often described as a gateway city—at the center of a rare cross-border cultural convergence.

Special Intensive Review (SIR)

Elections, News October 30, 2025

Special Intensive Revision – A basic intro

The Special Intensive Revision is a comprehensive overhaul of the electoral roll, where voter verification is done from scratch. This is different from the regular annual summary revision that accounts for new voters, deaths, and migration. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered this for Bihar, and now it will be implemented in 12 states and UTs, including West Bengal.

Since 1951 to 2004, it has been done 8-times. The last SIR was done in 2002-2004.

The hills deserve better

Articles October 30, 2025

The hills deserve better

The people of the hills are yearning for genuine change, and the only weapon they possess is their vote. It is therefore imperative that we do not fall prey to the propaganda machinery that thrives on rhetoric and raw emotions. We must decide wisely, lest we spend another five years trapped in regret, lamenting unfulfilled promises and watching our backyards crumble further.

Roads and High-Rises

Articles August 29, 2025

Roads and High-Rises Have Made Himalayan Towns Prone to Disaster

Darjeeling’s case is not an isolated one. Its problems are visible from Kashmir in the western Himalayas to Sikkim in the eastern Himalayas. From Nepal’s Melamchi to Uttarakhand’s Joshimath, the trend repeats itself across the Himalayas.

In Shimla, hotels collapsed during the 2023 monsoon. In June this year, Gangtok and Sikkim’s Teesta valley, cloudbursts tore apart dams and towns. On the other side of the border in Nepal, flooding of the Melamchi valley, which was compounded by unchecked construction, entombed homes and land in mud and slush. From Manali to Mustang, from Joshimath to Darjeeling, the cycle is the same: weak slopes, flouted laws, muffled voices.

What endures is the silence of the government and the tenacity of the common people.

Zeuxine yonzoneana

Gorkha Pride August 28, 2025

Zeuxine yonzoneana: A New Orchid Named After a Kalimpong Botanist

Zeuxine yonzoneana – The orchid was first discovered on 13th October, 2017 in the Samalbong area of Kalimpong District. A fragile plant 14 cm tall, it bears yellowish-white flowers, and its features have never been documented before. In a rare honour, the orchid now carries Dr. Yonzone’s surname, ensuring that his contribution will remain etched in botanical history.

Culture of Peace Research Support

Articles, Dr. Binu Sundas August 27, 2025

Culture of Peace Research Support: How important is this for us and our narrative?

The advertisement for the research grant for the Culture of Peace research programme by Zubaan in collaboration with Heinrich Boll Stiftung becomes significant to us. It is open to applicants from the eight Northeastern states, along with those from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. The advertisement further states that our region has been included as a contiguous region. Though the institutions do not have any political reasons for our region’s inclusion but for us it is politically a very significant development. It indicates that certain organisations, have started to understand that our region’s inclusion is of paramount importance to establish the continuity of the northeast region.

Integrated Mountain Initiative

Articles August 23, 2025

Integrated Mountain Initiative Experts Ring Alarm Over Extreme Climate Events in the Himalayan Region

We in the Himalaya, are extremely aware that we have been facing the brunt of these disasters that are the result of global forces like climate crisis as well as development pathways chosen for and by the Himalaya.  There is a need for deep introspection and creating development pathways that are mountain centric and sensitive with a long term vision that is not extractive and destructive. In the face of the climate crisis, which is predicted to worsen, there is a commitment needed at the National and International level that supports development paradigms for the Himalaya that promote resilience and wellbeing.