Deepa Rai
Lalitpur,June 5
In Sarlahi, Deuli Kunwar (40) of Danuwarbasti Hariwan-4, was assaulted yesterday and forcefed human excreta for practising witchcraft by her neighbour Sheetal Dhami for casting a spell on the spirit of his sister-in-law Chandriya, who committed suicide two years ago.
‘He yanked me out of the house to a public place, sheared my hair on four sides and forced me to eat human excreta,’ Deuli said. Deuli’s family has been displaced from the village and is taking shelter at the area police office. They are trying to send the family back to the village, police said. None of the villagers bothered to stop the attacker, deuli recounted.
According to Debak Mahato, a local, Dhami, Prabin Choudhari, Laxmikanta Danuwar and Bahuwa Dhami, among others, had decided to take revenge on Kunwar for Chandriya’s suicide. While assaulting her mother Somani, who is nine months pregnant was also injured. S has been taken to Birgunj-based Narayani Sub-regional Hospital after preliminary treatment at the local Namuna Hospital.
Wednesday, June 8
Tuesday, June 7
Sah,Yadav on 14-day remand
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati, May10
The Special Court on Sunday remanded lawmakers Gayatri Sah and Biswonath Prasad Yadav in police custody for 14 days as per a request of the anti-graft body.
The Commi-ssion for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has sought more time to look into their involvement in the misuse of diplomatic passport before filing a case against them at the Special Court.
CIAA is preparing to file cases against them on charges of corruption and tampering the government granted legal documents for their vested interests. "We are preparing to file a case against them on charges of misusing the diplomatic passport but the investigation seems to be delayed. So, we asked the court to give more time for completing the investigation formally," said CIAA Spokesman Ishwori Paudyal.
Out of the four accused immigration officers, three are at large. The delay in filing formal charges has been attributed to failure to arrest the three officers. CIAA had rearrested the lawmakers immediately after the Kathmandu District Court freed them on bail on Friday. The Special Court on Sunday remanded lawmakers Gayatri Sah and Biswonath Prasad Yadav in police custody for 14 days as per a request of the anti-graft body.
The Commi-ssion for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has sought more time to look into their involvement in the misuse of diplomatic passport before filing a case against them at the Special Court.
CIAA is preparing to file cases against them on charges of corruption and tampering the government granted legal documents for their vested interests. "We are preparing to file a case against them on charges of misusing the diplomatic passport but the investigation seems to be delayed. So, we asked the court to give more time for completing the investigation formally," said CIAA Spokesman Ishwori Paudyal.
Out of the four accused immigration officers, three are at large. The delay in filing formal charges has been attributed to failure to arrest the three officers. CIAA had rearrested the lawmakers immediately after the Kathmandu District Court freed them on bail on Friday.
Kumaripati, May10
The Special Court on Sunday remanded lawmakers Gayatri Sah and Biswonath Prasad Yadav in police custody for 14 days as per a request of the anti-graft body.
The Commi-ssion for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has sought more time to look into their involvement in the misuse of diplomatic passport before filing a case against them at the Special Court.
CIAA is preparing to file cases against them on charges of corruption and tampering the government granted legal documents for their vested interests. "We are preparing to file a case against them on charges of misusing the diplomatic passport but the investigation seems to be delayed. So, we asked the court to give more time for completing the investigation formally," said CIAA Spokesman Ishwori Paudyal.
Out of the four accused immigration officers, three are at large. The delay in filing formal charges has been attributed to failure to arrest the three officers. CIAA had rearrested the lawmakers immediately after the Kathmandu District Court freed them on bail on Friday. The Special Court on Sunday remanded lawmakers Gayatri Sah and Biswonath Prasad Yadav in police custody for 14 days as per a request of the anti-graft body.
The Commi-ssion for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has sought more time to look into their involvement in the misuse of diplomatic passport before filing a case against them at the Special Court.
CIAA is preparing to file cases against them on charges of corruption and tampering the government granted legal documents for their vested interests. "We are preparing to file a case against them on charges of misusing the diplomatic passport but the investigation seems to be delayed. So, we asked the court to give more time for completing the investigation formally," said CIAA Spokesman Ishwori Paudyal.
Out of the four accused immigration officers, three are at large. The delay in filing formal charges has been attributed to failure to arrest the three officers. CIAA had rearrested the lawmakers immediately after the Kathmandu District Court freed them on bail on Friday.
Royal Couples to Move Diana’s Home
Shova Shrestha,
Kumaripati, 7 June
Prince William and Catherine are to move into a royal ‘starter home’ at London’s Kensington Palace, where William once lived with Prince Harry and his late mother Princess Diana.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will split their time between the capital and their cottage in Anglesey, North Wales, where the 28-yr-old prince carries out his duties as an RAF search and rescue pilot.
An insider explained, “they are really looking forward to moving in soon and having a base in the capital. Kate and William love the peace and quiet of Anglesey but they can’t just stay holed up there for the next two years”.
Until now, the pair had been living in the bachelor pad William formerly shared with Harry, 26, at Clarence House. It is believed Kensington Palace will be the couple’s base for about a year until a more permanent residence is found.
Kumaripati, 7 June
Prince William and Catherine are to move into a royal ‘starter home’ at London’s Kensington Palace, where William once lived with Prince Harry and his late mother Princess Diana.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will split their time between the capital and their cottage in Anglesey, North Wales, where the 28-yr-old prince carries out his duties as an RAF search and rescue pilot.
An insider explained, “they are really looking forward to moving in soon and having a base in the capital. Kate and William love the peace and quiet of Anglesey but they can’t just stay holed up there for the next two years”.
Until now, the pair had been living in the bachelor pad William formerly shared with Harry, 26, at Clarence House. It is believed Kensington Palace will be the couple’s base for about a year until a more permanent residence is found.
UNKNOWN DISEASE STALKS SIRAH
Pratima Giri
Kumaripati, June 7, 2011
Panic has gripped the people of Panbari in Siraha district with an unknown illness, which made inroads into the village on April 30, killed one more villager — Bharat Kumar Danuwar (30) — taking the toll to six.
Two others — Anuragi Sada (60) and Ram Kumari Singh (45) — have been undergoing treatment at a Mirchaiya-based nursing home in a critical condition. Locals Asarfi Sada, Ram Dulari Sadaya, Bishwonath Lama, Jagadev Singh and Hari Narayan Singh Danuwar died of the disease on different dates. According to Bechan Singh, a local, the patients show symptoms like sweating, headache, respiratory problems and dizziness. “The disease is similar to the one that spread in India earlier,” Bechan said.
With the death toll mounting, the family of Binod Singh left the village today. While a team comprising CDO Birendra Bahadur Baniya, SP Bikas Shrestha and two officials from the District Public Health Office — Dr Manisha Yadav and Dr Daya Shankar Lal Karna — visited the village today itself to take stock of the situation.Responding to Dr Karna’s suggestion that a special team from the centre should visit the area to look into the disease, CDO Baniya said he has already informed the Home Ministry in Kathmandu about the situation and asked for a special team.
After a visit to the village, a team of health workers from the DPHO had concluded that consumption of an addictive substance called narcotin and hooch adulterated with chemical fertiliser had caused the deaths. The villagers have demanded that Kathmadnu send a special team to probe the deaths.
Kumaripati, June 7, 2011
Panic has gripped the people of Panbari in Siraha district with an unknown illness, which made inroads into the village on April 30, killed one more villager — Bharat Kumar Danuwar (30) — taking the toll to six.
Two others — Anuragi Sada (60) and Ram Kumari Singh (45) — have been undergoing treatment at a Mirchaiya-based nursing home in a critical condition. Locals Asarfi Sada, Ram Dulari Sadaya, Bishwonath Lama, Jagadev Singh and Hari Narayan Singh Danuwar died of the disease on different dates. According to Bechan Singh, a local, the patients show symptoms like sweating, headache, respiratory problems and dizziness. “The disease is similar to the one that spread in India earlier,” Bechan said.
With the death toll mounting, the family of Binod Singh left the village today. While a team comprising CDO Birendra Bahadur Baniya, SP Bikas Shrestha and two officials from the District Public Health Office — Dr Manisha Yadav and Dr Daya Shankar Lal Karna — visited the village today itself to take stock of the situation.Responding to Dr Karna’s suggestion that a special team from the centre should visit the area to look into the disease, CDO Baniya said he has already informed the Home Ministry in Kathmandu about the situation and asked for a special team.
After a visit to the village, a team of health workers from the DPHO had concluded that consumption of an addictive substance called narcotin and hooch adulterated with chemical fertiliser had caused the deaths. The villagers have demanded that Kathmadnu send a special team to probe the deaths.
PM seeks end to untouchability
Pratima Giri
Kumaripati, June 4
Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal called for concerted efforts to put an end to untouchability on Sunday. In the press statement issued on the occasion of untouchability Eradication Day.
The PM said the state is commited to bringing an end to all forms of discrimination. Reffering to the June 1 cabinet decision to mark the day, Khanal termed the decision ‘one of the major political steps’. He said the government has endorsed the caste discrimination and untouchability ( Crime and punishable) Act 2011.
Kumaripati, June 4
Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal called for concerted efforts to put an end to untouchability on Sunday. In the press statement issued on the occasion of untouchability Eradication Day.
The PM said the state is commited to bringing an end to all forms of discrimination. Reffering to the June 1 cabinet decision to mark the day, Khanal termed the decision ‘one of the major political steps’. He said the government has endorsed the caste discrimination and untouchability ( Crime and punishable) Act 2011.
3 JOURNOS INJURED IN CLASH WITH COPS
Pratima Giri
Kumaripati, June 7
Police on Sunday used force against journalist staging a sit-in in front of the District Administration office ( DIO) at Dhanusa.
Journalist Brija Kumar Yadav, Santosh Singh and Upendra Bhagat Nagbansi were injured in the accident. The journalists have been demanding action against police personnel involved in toturing Republica’s Janakpur correspondent suresh Yadav. Nagbansi,who has received injuries on his head is also being treated at the Janakpur Zonal Hospital, while Yadav and singh have started Fast unto death since afternoon demanding action against the police officials involved in the incident.
Kumaripati, June 7
Police on Sunday used force against journalist staging a sit-in in front of the District Administration office ( DIO) at Dhanusa.
Journalist Brija Kumar Yadav, Santosh Singh and Upendra Bhagat Nagbansi were injured in the accident. The journalists have been demanding action against police personnel involved in toturing Republica’s Janakpur correspondent suresh Yadav. Nagbansi,who has received injuries on his head is also being treated at the Janakpur Zonal Hospital, while Yadav and singh have started Fast unto death since afternoon demanding action against the police officials involved in the incident.
Norvic’s health clinic at TIA
Pratima Giri
Kumaripati, June 6
The Norvic International Hospital has set up a primary health clinic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) targeting foreign passengers .The clinic was inaugurated by Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma, minister for Tourism and Civil Avaition on Sunday.
According to the hospital all the services provided by yhe hospital will be free of cost and the hospital will also provide free ambulance service to the patients at TIA.A doctor, a nurse and a health assistant will be there in the health clinic from 7am to 11pm.
Kumaripati, June 6
The Norvic International Hospital has set up a primary health clinic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) targeting foreign passengers .The clinic was inaugurated by Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma, minister for Tourism and Civil Avaition on Sunday.
According to the hospital all the services provided by yhe hospital will be free of cost and the hospital will also provide free ambulance service to the patients at TIA.A doctor, a nurse and a health assistant will be there in the health clinic from 7am to 11pm.
Garment factory got fire
Deepa Rai Bangdel
Kumaripati, March 27
The fire broke out at around 1 pm in Biswas Garments at Narephant, Kathmandu on Saturday.
However, none of the workers were inside as it was holiday. Only Bishnu Sapkota, on onlooker sufferedFrom minor injury after an LP gas cylinder exploded due to the fire.
According to police, no causalities were reported and said around Rs 1 million was gutted in fire. Primary investigation suggested it was originated from cowshed advancement to the factory.
Kumaripati, March 27
The fire broke out at around 1 pm in Biswas Garments at Narephant, Kathmandu on Saturday.
However, none of the workers were inside as it was holiday. Only Bishnu Sapkota, on onlooker sufferedFrom minor injury after an LP gas cylinder exploded due to the fire.
According to police, no causalities were reported and said around Rs 1 million was gutted in fire. Primary investigation suggested it was originated from cowshed advancement to the factory.
Kirat Rai Yayokha’s rally
Deepa Rai
Kumaripati, April 10
The Kirat Rai Yayokha, an organization organized a motorcycle rally with the theme “Eastablishment of Kirat Rajya; The only desire of al Kirat Rais . All the Kirat Rais in the world unite” on Saturday in order to mark Kirat Rai International Conference and Kirat Mohatsav 2011.
There were 600 motorcycles participated in the rally which started from the Mahadevsthan, central office of Yayokha, rounded various places in the valley and ended at Shlesmantak forest in Pashupati area. Chandra Bikram rai general secretary of Kirat Rai Yayokha said that the conference and mohatsav were being organized for the development of the Kirat community and to pressurizing the government to ensure the political rights of Rai community in the forth coming constitution. The mohatsav is being started from today (Sunday).
Kumaripati, April 10
The Kirat Rai Yayokha, an organization organized a motorcycle rally with the theme “Eastablishment of Kirat Rajya; The only desire of al Kirat Rais . All the Kirat Rais in the world unite” on Saturday in order to mark Kirat Rai International Conference and Kirat Mohatsav 2011.
There were 600 motorcycles participated in the rally which started from the Mahadevsthan, central office of Yayokha, rounded various places in the valley and ended at Shlesmantak forest in Pashupati area. Chandra Bikram rai general secretary of Kirat Rai Yayokha said that the conference and mohatsav were being organized for the development of the Kirat community and to pressurizing the government to ensure the political rights of Rai community in the forth coming constitution. The mohatsav is being started from today (Sunday).
Just got smaller,The World
Deepa Rai
Nakhhu, May 1
The internet has revolutionised how people communicate and how information transmits. It made the world a global village. Everybody is just a few clicks away from everybody else. The best way to remain intouch with loved ones is undoubtedly through chat, time and distance are no longer remain.
Instant messaging (IM) allows users the service of a satisfying synchronous virtual communication. IM, a popular means of instant communication, is of immense value to those whose acquaintances are geographically far away. Conversations usually take place between two chatters, but most software now support ‘chat rooms’ or other ways of communication with multiple people at the same time. The users simply have to log in with the same software to send and receive instant messages with each other. The most popular IM in Nepal are Microsoft Network (MSN), Yahoo!, Meebo, Gtalk, Skype, Facebook, Opera Mini, Mig33 and IloveIM.com, although there are varieties of IM in the world.
Not only the internet has attracted younger generation but also to the older generation too, who have realised its value in keeping in touch with their loved ones in abroad. Kalpana Rai, a homemaker from Dharan, says, ‘’I am uneducated woman and did not know the process of messenger installation and operation. But after my husband went Qatar two year ago. I have grown attracted to this service. Now i voice chat with him from my daughter’s Yahoo account.’’
She adds, ‘’In 21st century nobody has time to write letters and wait for replies when there are such technological options available. I prefer voice chat, which can be accessed instantly at home.’’ The choices of chat software differs according to profession. Deep Shrestha, a well known singer, says, ‘’I mostly use Facebook , MSN and sometimes Gtalk to keep in touch with my family members, cousins, friens in the media and well wishers.’’
For voice chat a webcam and a headset are essential. Krishna yadi, sales executive of Neoteric Nepal which sells Logitech webcams and headsets, says, ‘’The price of external webcams ranges from Rs 2,800 to Rs 14,00, but now people are getting attracted to laptops with internal webcams. The most affordable laptop with internal webcam at Rs 45,000, while HP laptop at Rs 81,000 comes in high-end category. For the price conscious the Chinese webcams and headsets can be had at affordable prices. According to Yadi, the price of headsets ranges from Rs 1,300 to Rs 3,500 and the customers mostly opt for headsets worth Rs 3,500 and webcam worth Rs 2,800.
Those who do not have access to internet flock to cyber cafes to enjoy chatting live within the privacy of personal cabins. Pradeep Sigdel, proprietor of Pradeep Cyber of Nakhhu says, ‘’We serve a variety of customer ranging from students and business people to housewives. Most clients make a beeline for MSN, Yahoo! And Facebook. The students mostly prefer Facebook, business people like MSN and housewives are partial to the Yahoo! Chat. ‘’
Video chat is the closest one can get to a face-to-face conversation. Whichever purpose they mwy be used for, vedio chats have certainly changed the face of keeping in touch with loved ones.
Nakhhu, May 1
The internet has revolutionised how people communicate and how information transmits. It made the world a global village. Everybody is just a few clicks away from everybody else. The best way to remain intouch with loved ones is undoubtedly through chat, time and distance are no longer remain.
Instant messaging (IM) allows users the service of a satisfying synchronous virtual communication. IM, a popular means of instant communication, is of immense value to those whose acquaintances are geographically far away. Conversations usually take place between two chatters, but most software now support ‘chat rooms’ or other ways of communication with multiple people at the same time. The users simply have to log in with the same software to send and receive instant messages with each other. The most popular IM in Nepal are Microsoft Network (MSN), Yahoo!, Meebo, Gtalk, Skype, Facebook, Opera Mini, Mig33 and IloveIM.com, although there are varieties of IM in the world.
Not only the internet has attracted younger generation but also to the older generation too, who have realised its value in keeping in touch with their loved ones in abroad. Kalpana Rai, a homemaker from Dharan, says, ‘’I am uneducated woman and did not know the process of messenger installation and operation. But after my husband went Qatar two year ago. I have grown attracted to this service. Now i voice chat with him from my daughter’s Yahoo account.’’
She adds, ‘’In 21st century nobody has time to write letters and wait for replies when there are such technological options available. I prefer voice chat, which can be accessed instantly at home.’’ The choices of chat software differs according to profession. Deep Shrestha, a well known singer, says, ‘’I mostly use Facebook , MSN and sometimes Gtalk to keep in touch with my family members, cousins, friens in the media and well wishers.’’
For voice chat a webcam and a headset are essential. Krishna yadi, sales executive of Neoteric Nepal which sells Logitech webcams and headsets, says, ‘’The price of external webcams ranges from Rs 2,800 to Rs 14,00, but now people are getting attracted to laptops with internal webcams. The most affordable laptop with internal webcam at Rs 45,000, while HP laptop at Rs 81,000 comes in high-end category. For the price conscious the Chinese webcams and headsets can be had at affordable prices. According to Yadi, the price of headsets ranges from Rs 1,300 to Rs 3,500 and the customers mostly opt for headsets worth Rs 3,500 and webcam worth Rs 2,800.
Those who do not have access to internet flock to cyber cafes to enjoy chatting live within the privacy of personal cabins. Pradeep Sigdel, proprietor of Pradeep Cyber of Nakhhu says, ‘’We serve a variety of customer ranging from students and business people to housewives. Most clients make a beeline for MSN, Yahoo! And Facebook. The students mostly prefer Facebook, business people like MSN and housewives are partial to the Yahoo! Chat. ‘’
Video chat is the closest one can get to a face-to-face conversation. Whichever purpose they mwy be used for, vedio chats have certainly changed the face of keeping in touch with loved ones.
Gaga’s Album Banned
Shova Shrestha,
Kumaripati, 6 June
Lady Gaga's new album has been banned from sale in Lebanon, according to a UK report.
Her new release Born This Way on May 11 had topped charts across the world, even breaking digital sales records in the US. However, it’s sale has reportedly been stopped in Lebenon after officials in the conservative Middle Eastern country impounded a shipment of the CDs on moral grounds, according to Britain’s The Sun.
The publication reports the disc was deemed ‘offensive’ by officials, just week after her track Judas was taken off air by radio bosses in the mostly-Muslim country.
Gaga’s Judas has previously came under fire from a number of Christian groups, who have been angered by the lyrics and has use of religious imagery in the video.
Kumaripati, 6 June
Lady Gaga's new album has been banned from sale in Lebanon, according to a UK report.
Her new release Born This Way on May 11 had topped charts across the world, even breaking digital sales records in the US. However, it’s sale has reportedly been stopped in Lebenon after officials in the conservative Middle Eastern country impounded a shipment of the CDs on moral grounds, according to Britain’s The Sun.
The publication reports the disc was deemed ‘offensive’ by officials, just week after her track Judas was taken off air by radio bosses in the mostly-Muslim country.
Gaga’s Judas has previously came under fire from a number of Christian groups, who have been angered by the lyrics and has use of religious imagery in the video.
Pressure to quit, Japan PM
Deepa Rai
Hakhhu, June 7
Prime minister , Naoto Kan was pressured to step down soon and even a senior member of his own party warned the lameduck leader not to stay in office much longer.
Kan,s early
Hakhhu, June 7
Prime minister , Naoto Kan was pressured to step down soon and even a senior member of his own party warned the lameduck leader not to stay in office much longer.
Kan,s early
61st anniversary of Radio Nepal
Deepa Rai
Kumaripati,April 5
The oldest broadcasting,Radio Nepal celebrated its 61st anniversary on Sunday with special programme.
Executive Director of Radio Nepal,Tapa Nath Shukla said Radio Nepal has reached upto 86 percent of the country’s population and taking the service to the people living in the Himalayan region.
Radio Nepsl also awarded with different awards in various competitions. Radio Nepal was established in 1951 after the establishment of democracy in Nepal. It is now broadcasting news in 20 different languages. The broadcasting agency has also been promoting the musical sector in the country, while also disseminating national and international news across the country.
Kumaripati,April 5
The oldest broadcasting,Radio Nepal celebrated its 61st anniversary on Sunday with special programme.
Executive Director of Radio Nepal,Tapa Nath Shukla said Radio Nepal has reached upto 86 percent of the country’s population and taking the service to the people living in the Himalayan region.
Radio Nepsl also awarded with different awards in various competitions. Radio Nepal was established in 1951 after the establishment of democracy in Nepal. It is now broadcasting news in 20 different languages. The broadcasting agency has also been promoting the musical sector in the country, while also disseminating national and international news across the country.
Journalist’s life attempt
Deepa Rai
Nakhhu, June 7
Last night, Cadres of the CPN-UML aligned Youth Force (YF) made an attempt on the life of Khilanath Dhakal, a stringer of the Nagarik Daily.
Dhakal was attacked by the YF cadres in connection with a report published in the daily. In the story, Dhakal had mentioned that some YF cadres had made a murder attempt on inmate Avishek Giri of the Morang jail while he was being brought to the district court for a hearing on June 1.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists (Morang) today moved the Morang District Administration Office against Morang YF chairman Parashuram Basnet, Youth Association Biratnagar city chief Rohit Koirala and cadre Manoj Rai for their involvement in yesterday’s attack. Police today caught Koirala in connection with the incident. With injuries all over the body and nose bone fractured in the attack, Dhakal is undergoing treatment at Nobel Hospital.
Nakhhu, June 7
Last night, Cadres of the CPN-UML aligned Youth Force (YF) made an attempt on the life of Khilanath Dhakal, a stringer of the Nagarik Daily.
Dhakal was attacked by the YF cadres in connection with a report published in the daily. In the story, Dhakal had mentioned that some YF cadres had made a murder attempt on inmate Avishek Giri of the Morang jail while he was being brought to the district court for a hearing on June 1.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists (Morang) today moved the Morang District Administration Office against Morang YF chairman Parashuram Basnet, Youth Association Biratnagar city chief Rohit Koirala and cadre Manoj Rai for their involvement in yesterday’s attack. Police today caught Koirala in connection with the incident. With injuries all over the body and nose bone fractured in the attack, Dhakal is undergoing treatment at Nobel Hospital.
The Youngest Paraglider
Shova Shrestha,
Kumaripati, 6 June
Nepal has made a new record on the youngest paraglider. Salin Thapa 2 yr-old of Kathmandu along with his parents Sagar Thapa and Shanti Thapa had gone to Pokhara for the same reason.
The Chabahil residents come here on a mission-to see the two-and-a-half-year-old Salin soars through the slay on a paraglider.
Salin was the center of attraction for 20 mins when parapilot Ghanshyam Gautam of Sarangkot Danda and landed safely at Khapaundi on the banks of the Fewa Lake.
According to the Thapas, their son had been insisting on coming to Pokhara for paragliding. “We didn’t force him, he had been dreaming of making the fight ever since he saw a photo of a paraglider on the internet,” they said.
“He did not look scared. He called out to his mother only twice. He was excited to see birds fly.” He added.
“Salin is the youngest person I have flown with,” showed the parapilot, who has been in the trade for 3yrs and made some 5,000 flights. “Though we could have gone above 1,600 meters lest the child got scared.” he further added who had taken great care of the child.
Kumaripati, 6 June
Nepal has made a new record on the youngest paraglider. Salin Thapa 2 yr-old of Kathmandu along with his parents Sagar Thapa and Shanti Thapa had gone to Pokhara for the same reason.
The Chabahil residents come here on a mission-to see the two-and-a-half-year-old Salin soars through the slay on a paraglider.
Salin was the center of attraction for 20 mins when parapilot Ghanshyam Gautam of Sarangkot Danda and landed safely at Khapaundi on the banks of the Fewa Lake.
According to the Thapas, their son had been insisting on coming to Pokhara for paragliding. “We didn’t force him, he had been dreaming of making the fight ever since he saw a photo of a paraglider on the internet,” they said.
“He did not look scared. He called out to his mother only twice. He was excited to see birds fly.” He added.
“Salin is the youngest person I have flown with,” showed the parapilot, who has been in the trade for 3yrs and made some 5,000 flights. “Though we could have gone above 1,600 meters lest the child got scared.” he further added who had taken great care of the child.
Monday, June 6
Li Na makes the history for China
Shova Shrestha
Kumaripati, June 5
Li Na made sporting history at the French Open on Saturday when she became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title.
The 29 yrs old seventh seed won 6-4 7-6 (7-0) to claim her first major title, after falling short in the Australian Open final earlier this year . And after doubles wins at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, China can now celebrate an indivisual joining the game's elite.
Dominant on serve and consistently threatening from the baseline, Li overcame a late wobble to take away Schiavine's title in one hour and 48 minutes.
"It's a dream come true," said Li,"because China never had a Grand Slam Champion, so that's why so many players in China are working so hard. The dream is you can be the top player or win the Grand Slam."
Li's ranking is set to rise to a career-high four next week, something that seened a lay way off when she took a break from the sport between 2002 and 2004 to study journalism.
During her time away she got married to Jiang Shan, who becane her coach, and on her run to the Australian Open final in January Li won lots of fans with her on-court interviews, in which she regularly teased Jiang.
Li had lost to Kim Clijsters in the final set in Melbourne, and Schiavone's best hope appeared to be an attack of nerves from the sixth seed if she could prolong the contest.
"She played a really high level through one set and 2-1, 3-1, she was playing really well,"said Schiavone. "I think at the end eve were really close and it could be the set for one or for her. But at the end, she won. I think she deserved this final."
Kumaripati, June 5
Li Na made sporting history at the French Open on Saturday when she became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title.
The 29 yrs old seventh seed won 6-4 7-6 (7-0) to claim her first major title, after falling short in the Australian Open final earlier this year . And after doubles wins at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, China can now celebrate an indivisual joining the game's elite.
Dominant on serve and consistently threatening from the baseline, Li overcame a late wobble to take away Schiavine's title in one hour and 48 minutes.
"It's a dream come true," said Li,"because China never had a Grand Slam Champion, so that's why so many players in China are working so hard. The dream is you can be the top player or win the Grand Slam."
Li's ranking is set to rise to a career-high four next week, something that seened a lay way off when she took a break from the sport between 2002 and 2004 to study journalism.
During her time away she got married to Jiang Shan, who becane her coach, and on her run to the Australian Open final in January Li won lots of fans with her on-court interviews, in which she regularly teased Jiang.
Li had lost to Kim Clijsters in the final set in Melbourne, and Schiavone's best hope appeared to be an attack of nerves from the sixth seed if she could prolong the contest.
"She played a really high level through one set and 2-1, 3-1, she was playing really well,"said Schiavone. "I think at the end eve were really close and it could be the set for one or for her. But at the end, she won. I think she deserved this final."
Two Journalists' Sit on Hunger Strike
Hrishita Deo
Kumaripati, June 6
Two journalists' have started a hunger strike demanding legal action against the security personnel who tortured media persons.
Suresh Yadav and Santosh Singh started the strike in front of the District Administrative Office, Dhanusha by demanding action against Sub-inspector Shashi Thakur.
Earlier, police forcefully had displaced the media persons who were staging the sit-in, demanding action against the guilty.
During the police operation, Upendra Nagbamshi, editor of Simanchal Daily, sustained injuries on his head and leg.
Kumaripati, June 6
Two journalists' have started a hunger strike demanding legal action against the security personnel who tortured media persons.
Suresh Yadav and Santosh Singh started the strike in front of the District Administrative Office, Dhanusha by demanding action against Sub-inspector Shashi Thakur.
Earlier, police forcefully had displaced the media persons who were staging the sit-in, demanding action against the guilty.
During the police operation, Upendra Nagbamshi, editor of Simanchal Daily, sustained injuries on his head and leg.
Monday, May 2
Anuja's case turns out to be a hoax:Kantipur daily apologises
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati, April26
The story about a twenty-two-year old girl, Anuja Baniya, who suddenly came to limelight after her story about returning Rs 9.1 million she found in a bus to the rightful owner, has turned out to be a fake.
Anuja’s story has been confirmed as a hoax after Kantipur daily, the newspaper which reported the story of Anuja’s ‘honesty’ last Wednesday, apologised for the erroneous news Monday.
The daily has said, the news was published based on the anecdotes of Anuja and other persons then identified as son, daughter of one Purushottam Pokhrel, reputed as the rightful owner of the money.
It has been revealed that the characters were intentionally created to make news, mentions the apology published by Kantipur daily Monday.
Anuja had suddenly come to limelight on Wednesday after the story. High profile personalities including President Ram Baran Yadav and Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha had called her appreciating her integrity.
However, the story became doubtful from the next day when the IME branch in Itahari, from where the money was reportedly withdrawn, said there had been no transaction of that amount on the mentioned date.
The story became further doubtful after Purushottam Pokhrel, the mentioned owner of the money, could not be identified.
The motive behind creating the hoax story is still not clear.
Kumaripati, April26
The story about a twenty-two-year old girl, Anuja Baniya, who suddenly came to limelight after her story about returning Rs 9.1 million she found in a bus to the rightful owner, has turned out to be a fake.
Anuja’s story has been confirmed as a hoax after Kantipur daily, the newspaper which reported the story of Anuja’s ‘honesty’ last Wednesday, apologised for the erroneous news Monday.
The daily has said, the news was published based on the anecdotes of Anuja and other persons then identified as son, daughter of one Purushottam Pokhrel, reputed as the rightful owner of the money.
It has been revealed that the characters were intentionally created to make news, mentions the apology published by Kantipur daily Monday.
Anuja had suddenly come to limelight on Wednesday after the story. High profile personalities including President Ram Baran Yadav and Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha had called her appreciating her integrity.
However, the story became doubtful from the next day when the IME branch in Itahari, from where the money was reportedly withdrawn, said there had been no transaction of that amount on the mentioned date.
The story became further doubtful after Purushottam Pokhrel, the mentioned owner of the money, could not be identified.
The motive behind creating the hoax story is still not clear.
Tuesday, April 19
Bhattarai's appeal to parties
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati,April19
UCPN-Maoist Vice-Chairman Dr.Baburam Bhattarai has said to call on the political parties to come up with a common policy on sovereignty and nationality.
“It’s no good to politicize the issue of nationality and national Sovereignty for the parties vested interests.”Bhattarai said at a programme in Darchula headquarters Khatanga today.
On a different context, the Maoist leader stressed the need to resolve border disputes, including in Kalapani, with India on the basis of historical facts.
“Our immediate neighbors’ are economically and militarily powerful. Thus, Nepal Should be settled through dialogues, for nationality cannot and should not be the issue of a particular party,added Bhattarai.
Kumaripati,April19
UCPN-Maoist Vice-Chairman Dr.Baburam Bhattarai has said to call on the political parties to come up with a common policy on sovereignty and nationality.
“It’s no good to politicize the issue of nationality and national Sovereignty for the parties vested interests.”Bhattarai said at a programme in Darchula headquarters Khatanga today.
On a different context, the Maoist leader stressed the need to resolve border disputes, including in Kalapani, with India on the basis of historical facts.
“Our immediate neighbors’ are economically and militarily powerful. Thus, Nepal Should be settled through dialogues, for nationality cannot and should not be the issue of a particular party,added Bhattarai.
Four hurt as Kirat outfit goes on offensive
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati, April 11
Four persons were injured in the attack of an underground ethnic outfit, Kirat Janabadi Workers Party (KJWP), on Saturday at Bhojpur’s Pangacha VDC that borders with Udayapur district.
Witnesses said one of the KJWP men fired two bullets during the skirmish. The shooter jumped into the Sunkoshi River before the local people could suspect him, two fled the scene, while the other Hans raj Rai was captured and turned in to the authority.
The KJWP had accused the victims, Man Bahadur Katuwal of trading timber from the district without procuring the party’s permission.
The members of the ethnic outfit also attacked Sitaram Koirala of Chaundadi VDC on the same day.
The KJWP has intensified its activities in various parts of Bhojpur and Udayapur districts in the resent days. The outfit has been extorting and intimidating timber traders, forest officers and VDC secretaries. A few weeks ago, KJWP activists had torched VDC offices at Mainamaini, Babala and siddhipur VDCs in Udayapur
Kumaripati, April 11
Four persons were injured in the attack of an underground ethnic outfit, Kirat Janabadi Workers Party (KJWP), on Saturday at Bhojpur’s Pangacha VDC that borders with Udayapur district.
Witnesses said one of the KJWP men fired two bullets during the skirmish. The shooter jumped into the Sunkoshi River before the local people could suspect him, two fled the scene, while the other Hans raj Rai was captured and turned in to the authority.
The KJWP had accused the victims, Man Bahadur Katuwal of trading timber from the district without procuring the party’s permission.
The members of the ethnic outfit also attacked Sitaram Koirala of Chaundadi VDC on the same day.
The KJWP has intensified its activities in various parts of Bhojpur and Udayapur districts in the resent days. The outfit has been extorting and intimidating timber traders, forest officers and VDC secretaries. A few weeks ago, KJWP activists had torched VDC offices at Mainamaini, Babala and siddhipur VDCs in Udayapur
Tuesday, April 5
Regular budget before CA term ends;Govt
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati, April 4
Amid speculation that the government will bring a supplementary budget, Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari on Sunday said the government had initated preparation to unveil the regular budget for the next fiscal year before the Constituent Assembly’s term expires on May 28.
Speaking before the parliamentary public Accounts committee, the finance minister pledged that the upcoming budget would be prepared on the basis of consensus among major parties.He dismissed allegations made by Nepali Congress lawmakers that the government had been bypassing the Finance Ministry to bring a supplementary budget.
Adhikari did not state specifically whether a supplementary budget would be brought or not,but he stressed it was the government’s intention to bring the regular budget in the first month of fiscal year in the Nepali Calendar.
Kumaripati, April 4
Amid speculation that the government will bring a supplementary budget, Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari on Sunday said the government had initated preparation to unveil the regular budget for the next fiscal year before the Constituent Assembly’s term expires on May 28.
Speaking before the parliamentary public Accounts committee, the finance minister pledged that the upcoming budget would be prepared on the basis of consensus among major parties.He dismissed allegations made by Nepali Congress lawmakers that the government had been bypassing the Finance Ministry to bring a supplementary budget.
Adhikari did not state specifically whether a supplementary budget would be brought or not,but he stressed it was the government’s intention to bring the regular budget in the first month of fiscal year in the Nepali Calendar.
CNN Hero returns home
Sandhya Rai
Kathmandu, Dec 2.
Maiti Nepal Chairperson Anuradha Koirala, who was named the CNN Hero 2010 for her contributing to fighting women trafficking and sex slavery, recived a warm welcome in her return to the Capital from the US on Thursday.
well-wishers from various fields including commoners,schoolchildren,artistes and right activists welcomed her with garlands as soon as she stepped out of the Tribhuvan International Airport.Kooirala was felicited with the CNN Hero Award 2010 in a programme organized at Los Angels,USA on November 23. She was chosen, among 10 nominees, by the public in an online poll that ran for eight weeks on CNN.com.
Kathmandu, Dec 2.
Maiti Nepal Chairperson Anuradha Koirala, who was named the CNN Hero 2010 for her contributing to fighting women trafficking and sex slavery, recived a warm welcome in her return to the Capital from the US on Thursday.
well-wishers from various fields including commoners,schoolchildren,artistes and right activists welcomed her with garlands as soon as she stepped out of the Tribhuvan International Airport.Kooirala was felicited with the CNN Hero Award 2010 in a programme organized at Los Angels,USA on November 23. She was chosen, among 10 nominees, by the public in an online poll that ran for eight weeks on CNN.com.
Supreme Court okays citizenship in Mother's Name
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati,march24
The Supreme Court (SC), on Sunday, issued a mandamus order to the District Administration Office (DAO), Dolakha, to grant citizenship certificate to Sabina Damai on the basis of her mother’s name.
A division bench of SC Justices, Balaram KC and Bharat Raj Upreti directed the DAO to grant citizenship certificate to the 18 years oldgirl in the name of her mother Ganga Damai of Dolakha. Her father’s identity is unknown.
Kumaripati,march24
The Supreme Court (SC), on Sunday, issued a mandamus order to the District Administration Office (DAO), Dolakha, to grant citizenship certificate to Sabina Damai on the basis of her mother’s name.
A division bench of SC Justices, Balaram KC and Bharat Raj Upreti directed the DAO to grant citizenship certificate to the 18 years oldgirl in the name of her mother Ganga Damai of Dolakha. Her father’s identity is unknown.
Fuel prices go up
Sandhya Rai
Kathmandu, Dec 7
Nepal oil corporation (Noc) has hiked petroleum prices for the fifth time this year. Petroleum products, petrol, diesel and kerosene oil are dearer by RS.3 each, while a cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will now cost Rs. 75 more.
Petrol now costs Rs. 88 per liter, diesel Rs. 68.50 per liter, kerosene Rs. 68.50 per liter and LPG Rs.1, 325 per cylinder.
NOC said that a rise in international prices and increased road maintenance and upgrading charges levied on petrol and diesel by the government had forced it to raise the rates. The government recently doubled the road maintenance and upgrading charge on petrol Rs.4 per liter and on diesel Rs.2 per liter. NOC M. D Digambar Jha said that the international price of crude oil was US $ 74 per barrel in July when NOC last revised fuel prices, “the price has risen to US $ 90 in the last five months.”
Similarly, the price of LPG in the international market was US $ 590 per ton in September which soared to US $ 783 in December, Jha added.
Kathmandu, Dec 7
Nepal oil corporation (Noc) has hiked petroleum prices for the fifth time this year. Petroleum products, petrol, diesel and kerosene oil are dearer by RS.3 each, while a cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will now cost Rs. 75 more.
Petrol now costs Rs. 88 per liter, diesel Rs. 68.50 per liter, kerosene Rs. 68.50 per liter and LPG Rs.1, 325 per cylinder.
NOC said that a rise in international prices and increased road maintenance and upgrading charges levied on petrol and diesel by the government had forced it to raise the rates. The government recently doubled the road maintenance and upgrading charge on petrol Rs.4 per liter and on diesel Rs.2 per liter. NOC M. D Digambar Jha said that the international price of crude oil was US $ 74 per barrel in July when NOC last revised fuel prices, “the price has risen to US $ 90 in the last five months.”
Similarly, the price of LPG in the international market was US $ 590 per ton in September which soared to US $ 783 in December, Jha added.
Friday, March 4
Maoist decide to join the government
Shova Shrestha
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
3rd March, 2011
The UCPN (Maoist) has at last decided to join the government as the part of Jhala Nath Khanal-led government, after a month of government formation.
Leaders close to Prime Minister Khanal confirmed that he is preparing to expand the Cabinet within a couple of days. The Maoist decision follows an agreement between Khanal and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to put aside the row over the home ministry after Khanal assured Dahal to hand over the ministry following “substantial progress” in the integration and rehabilitation process of former Maoist combatants. At the time of going to Press, the two leaders were still working out the details of power sharing arrangements.
The Maoist SC meeting will endorse the agreement between Khanal and Dahal on Thursday.
According to Maoist Spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma said the Standing Committee (SC) meet of the party that will be held on Thursday will take a final decision on the leaders joining the government. “The issue of portfolio allocation is still undecided, so we will take a decision after talking with the prime minister.”Sharma said.
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
3rd March, 2011
The UCPN (Maoist) has at last decided to join the government as the part of Jhala Nath Khanal-led government, after a month of government formation.
Leaders close to Prime Minister Khanal confirmed that he is preparing to expand the Cabinet within a couple of days. The Maoist decision follows an agreement between Khanal and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to put aside the row over the home ministry after Khanal assured Dahal to hand over the ministry following “substantial progress” in the integration and rehabilitation process of former Maoist combatants. At the time of going to Press, the two leaders were still working out the details of power sharing arrangements.
The Maoist SC meeting will endorse the agreement between Khanal and Dahal on Thursday.
According to Maoist Spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma said the Standing Committee (SC) meet of the party that will be held on Thursday will take a final decision on the leaders joining the government. “The issue of portfolio allocation is still undecided, so we will take a decision after talking with the prime minister.”Sharma said.
Thursday, March 3
Marijuanaratri or Mahashivaratri
Deepa Rai Bangdel
Lalitpur, March 3
The day devoted to Lord Shiva called Mahashivaratri, made the youngsters celebrate Marijuanaratri. The Narcotic Drugs Acts states that anyone found using or selling cannabis shall be jailed for up to one month or fined up to Rs 2,000. But the holy site of Pashupatinath Temple was a 'lawless' region throughout Mahashivaratri.
Sadhus openly smoked cannabis with youngsters. According to The Himalayan Times, daily newspaper, Manav baba, a sadhu said he was selling a stick of cannabis for Rs 10 and had earned more than Rs 6,000 and police had told them to sell the contraband secretly. Although the government had mobilised 3,800 security and 8,000 volunteers, but they were mute.
Lalitpur, March 3
The day devoted to Lord Shiva called Mahashivaratri, made the youngsters celebrate Marijuanaratri. The Narcotic Drugs Acts states that anyone found using or selling cannabis shall be jailed for up to one month or fined up to Rs 2,000. But the holy site of Pashupatinath Temple was a 'lawless' region throughout Mahashivaratri.
Sadhus openly smoked cannabis with youngsters. According to The Himalayan Times, daily newspaper, Manav baba, a sadhu said he was selling a stick of cannabis for Rs 10 and had earned more than Rs 6,000 and police had told them to sell the contraband secretly. Although the government had mobilised 3,800 security and 8,000 volunteers, but they were mute.
Korean influence in youngsters
Soni Thapa
3rd March, 2011, Thursday
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
Have you watched the latest movie of Lee Min Ho, Jang geun suk or kimbum? This has been the question among the youngsters is being attracted to the Korean movies and the style of the actors.
According to Alisha maharjan a student of BSW “Korean movies has got its own attractive stories mostly which attract the teenagers and the style of the actors are perfect”. The youngsters today has been changing its style and following the Korean trend.
According to the beautician of nectars beauty parlor miss Doma lama “Most of the teenagers mostly the mongolid faces come to have a Korean haircut which matches with the Korean style “. This trend has been from last five years and is increasing rapidly.
The Korean movies have been very popular among the youngsters whereas the Nepali has not able to attract them. The Korean movie has set a trend of its different style in the teenagers.
According to a Psychologist Mrs. Monica “most of the Mongolian faces are similar with Korean faces and it match them. The youths are mostly attracted towards the new style .If this type of influence continue to takes place then that day is not so far when the coming generation forgets their own culture and tradition.
3rd March, 2011, Thursday
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
Have you watched the latest movie of Lee Min Ho, Jang geun suk or kimbum? This has been the question among the youngsters is being attracted to the Korean movies and the style of the actors.
According to Alisha maharjan a student of BSW “Korean movies has got its own attractive stories mostly which attract the teenagers and the style of the actors are perfect”. The youngsters today has been changing its style and following the Korean trend.
According to the beautician of nectars beauty parlor miss Doma lama “Most of the teenagers mostly the mongolid faces come to have a Korean haircut which matches with the Korean style “. This trend has been from last five years and is increasing rapidly.
The Korean movies have been very popular among the youngsters whereas the Nepali has not able to attract them. The Korean movie has set a trend of its different style in the teenagers.
According to a Psychologist Mrs. Monica “most of the Mongolian faces are similar with Korean faces and it match them. The youths are mostly attracted towards the new style .If this type of influence continue to takes place then that day is not so far when the coming generation forgets their own culture and tradition.
Country finally got its full-fledged budget
Rajani Maharjan
BA 1st Year
21st Nov 2010, Sunday
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
After the series of political hiccups, the country finally got its annual budget of the fiscal year 2010/11 on 19th November 21, 2010, Friday. Even though the main opposition UCPN [Maoist] against the caretaker government bringing the full- fledged budget, Finance Minister Surendra Pandey presented it on Friday at the Legislature parliament.
The Ministry of Finance [M o F] sources said the budget has been reduced by Rs. 5-6 billion to rest at Rs 338 billion. So, has been the revenue target. From the earlier Rs 222 billion, the M o F has now projected revenue at around Rs 216 billion. Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that budget has given continuity to the priorities of earlier budge.
BUDGET SKETCH
>> Total expenditure up by 30.4% to Rs 337.9 billion
>> Recurrent expenditure up by 25.8%
>> Capital expenditure swells by whopping 45%
>> External sources to finance 26% of the budget
>> With Rs 57.83 billion, education largest absorber of budget
>> Health budget increased to Rs 23.81 billion from Rs 15.84 billion
>> Police budget up by 9.16% to Rs19.42 billion
>> Defense budget up by 2.7% to Rs 18.29 billion
>> Four wheelers to be costlier by around 20%
>> Two wheelers’ price goes sup by around 16%
>> Liquor and cigarette to be costlier
>> No change in income tax stricter
>> Reintroduction of cash subsidy to exporters
>> 5-man police post for larger factories
>> Low-interest loan for promoting livestock
>> Fund to study underground railway in Kathmandu
BA 1st Year
21st Nov 2010, Sunday
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
After the series of political hiccups, the country finally got its annual budget of the fiscal year 2010/11 on 19th November 21, 2010, Friday. Even though the main opposition UCPN [Maoist] against the caretaker government bringing the full- fledged budget, Finance Minister Surendra Pandey presented it on Friday at the Legislature parliament.
The Ministry of Finance [M o F] sources said the budget has been reduced by Rs. 5-6 billion to rest at Rs 338 billion. So, has been the revenue target. From the earlier Rs 222 billion, the M o F has now projected revenue at around Rs 216 billion. Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that budget has given continuity to the priorities of earlier budge.
BUDGET SKETCH
>> Total expenditure up by 30.4% to Rs 337.9 billion
>> Recurrent expenditure up by 25.8%
>> Capital expenditure swells by whopping 45%
>> External sources to finance 26% of the budget
>> With Rs 57.83 billion, education largest absorber of budget
>> Health budget increased to Rs 23.81 billion from Rs 15.84 billion
>> Police budget up by 9.16% to Rs19.42 billion
>> Defense budget up by 2.7% to Rs 18.29 billion
>> Four wheelers to be costlier by around 20%
>> Two wheelers’ price goes sup by around 16%
>> Liquor and cigarette to be costlier
>> No change in income tax stricter
>> Reintroduction of cash subsidy to exporters
>> 5-man police post for larger factories
>> Low-interest loan for promoting livestock
>> Fund to study underground railway in Kathmandu
New Building for United Collage
Shova shrestha,BA 1st yr
30th November
A new building is being constructed with the premises of United Collage. It is being built due to lack of class room for the students. The construction was started from Kartik 11.
The building is estimated to be five storeys with one underground parking space. “We are most probably planning to make it an Engineering Block as we have already got approved letter from Tribhuvan University.” Said Rudra Chaulagaie, the supervisor of the United Collage. “The one said of the blinding of 32”DPC has been constructed and other part of it which is of 28” is still being made” he added.
Nearly 70 worker are working at the site daily, Birbal Sarkar, a guard who lives with his wife at the construction area says, the daily wage for labors are given according to their performance and experience ranging from Rs 250- Rs 550. Talking about the facilities Sarkar added, “we have to manage the food ourselves and we don’t get holiday.”
The building is estimated it be completed within 3 years. After completed immediately classes will be transferred at there.
30th November
A new building is being constructed with the premises of United Collage. It is being built due to lack of class room for the students. The construction was started from Kartik 11.
The building is estimated to be five storeys with one underground parking space. “We are most probably planning to make it an Engineering Block as we have already got approved letter from Tribhuvan University.” Said Rudra Chaulagaie, the supervisor of the United Collage. “The one said of the blinding of 32”DPC has been constructed and other part of it which is of 28” is still being made” he added.
Nearly 70 worker are working at the site daily, Birbal Sarkar, a guard who lives with his wife at the construction area says, the daily wage for labors are given according to their performance and experience ranging from Rs 250- Rs 550. Talking about the facilities Sarkar added, “we have to manage the food ourselves and we don’t get holiday.”
The building is estimated it be completed within 3 years. After completed immediately classes will be transferred at there.
Defiant PM leaves for Cambodia
Christina Rai Kathmandu, November 30
Simply ignoring the request from all quarters to remain the capital to solve the growing problem crisis, caretaker prime minister Madav Kumar Nepal on Tuesday left for Cambodia to attend the sixth International Conference for Asia Political Parties.
Political parties as well as speaker Subas Chandra Nembang, on Monday, requested the prime minister to cancel his trip to end the protracted deadlock by resuming the house session for the next election of a new Prime Minister, Nepal has been ignoring the call saying that consensus should first be forged among parties on unsettled issues.
The prime minister told reporters at the Tribhuvan International Airport, “my foreign visit will not obstruct the ongoing efforts to end the deadlock because there are other leaders available here to discuss on any issue. If my presence is needed I am ready to shorten my trip.”
Two other senior UML leaders have their own foreign trip. UML leader KP Sharma Oli for Cambodia and Chairman Jalanath Khanal is for South Africa to attend a meeting of labour parties. The absence of the prime minister and the other UML leaders arise a skeptic thought in people and other political parties that they are likely to delay negotiation among the parties.
During his visit, Nepal will hold meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen and head of government from Asian countries. He will also address the first meeting of the World Eco- Safety Assembly on December 3 according to a press release. After the General Assembly meeting he will leave for Brussels to attend a meeting of least Developed Countries on Dec 4. On Dec 9 he will return Nepal.
Simply ignoring the request from all quarters to remain the capital to solve the growing problem crisis, caretaker prime minister Madav Kumar Nepal on Tuesday left for Cambodia to attend the sixth International Conference for Asia Political Parties.
Political parties as well as speaker Subas Chandra Nembang, on Monday, requested the prime minister to cancel his trip to end the protracted deadlock by resuming the house session for the next election of a new Prime Minister, Nepal has been ignoring the call saying that consensus should first be forged among parties on unsettled issues.
The prime minister told reporters at the Tribhuvan International Airport, “my foreign visit will not obstruct the ongoing efforts to end the deadlock because there are other leaders available here to discuss on any issue. If my presence is needed I am ready to shorten my trip.”
Two other senior UML leaders have their own foreign trip. UML leader KP Sharma Oli for Cambodia and Chairman Jalanath Khanal is for South Africa to attend a meeting of labour parties. The absence of the prime minister and the other UML leaders arise a skeptic thought in people and other political parties that they are likely to delay negotiation among the parties.
During his visit, Nepal will hold meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen and head of government from Asian countries. He will also address the first meeting of the World Eco- Safety Assembly on December 3 according to a press release. After the General Assembly meeting he will leave for Brussels to attend a meeting of least Developed Countries on Dec 4. On Dec 9 he will return Nepal.
Wikileaks to release Nepal secrets
Soni Thapa
Kathmandu, Nov 30
Among more than 2,50,000 leaked files, a portion of which was released on Sunday 2,600 documents are related to Nepal.
Although none of the document on Nepal was released on Sunday, the website will be releasing the embassy cables in the next few months. The cables are about the Maoist rebellion, Tibetan refugees, political parties and Nepal- India relations among other things.
According to the website, the secret document has 2,278 sent by the US embassy in Kathmandu to the US state department. Eighty four of those documents were labeled secret and 1,399 confidential while the remaining 795 are unclassified.
Among all the cables obtained by the Wikileaks, there are 8,320 documents on china, 1,095 on Afghanistan, 5,087 on India,4,775 on Pakistan, 3,166 on Srilanka and 2,182 on Bangladesh.
“The documents will give people around the world on unprecedented insight into US government’s foreign activities, the website said on the release of documents despite the strong words from Washington.
“The cables which date from 1966 to February 2010 contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the state department in Washington” the website added.
Kathmandu, Nov 30
Among more than 2,50,000 leaked files, a portion of which was released on Sunday 2,600 documents are related to Nepal.
Although none of the document on Nepal was released on Sunday, the website will be releasing the embassy cables in the next few months. The cables are about the Maoist rebellion, Tibetan refugees, political parties and Nepal- India relations among other things.
According to the website, the secret document has 2,278 sent by the US embassy in Kathmandu to the US state department. Eighty four of those documents were labeled secret and 1,399 confidential while the remaining 795 are unclassified.
Among all the cables obtained by the Wikileaks, there are 8,320 documents on china, 1,095 on Afghanistan, 5,087 on India,4,775 on Pakistan, 3,166 on Srilanka and 2,182 on Bangladesh.
“The documents will give people around the world on unprecedented insight into US government’s foreign activities, the website said on the release of documents despite the strong words from Washington.
“The cables which date from 1966 to February 2010 contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the state department in Washington” the website added.
Dicaprio to give $1m to save wild cats
Srijana Kunwar
Kathnmandu,Nov 26
Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio gives 1 million dollar to world wild conservation efforts through his fund at the tiger conservation efforts at the California Community Foundation.
DiCaprio will be attending this week summit which is going to be held in St. Peters burg in Russia where the heads of the governments and states from 13 tiger range countries including Nepal are discussing about saving tigers. The main purpose of this summit is to doubling the number of wild cats by 2022.
DiCaprio a WWF board member, recently visited Nepal and Bhutan touring tiger habitat and met community members to learn about the national park tiger. DiCaprio donation will help support to protect critical tigers forests where the needs are most urgent. The government of Nepal gives totally support to International celebrity, Leonardo DiCaprio in conserving wild tigers in Nepal.
The 13 countries where tiger still exist are Bangladesh , Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar , Laos, Nepal Russia, India Thailand and Vietnam .
WWF Nepal office informed that Nepal would receive more than 50% of the fund for tiger conservation. However the amount has not been located specification in the name of any country right now.
Kathnmandu,Nov 26
Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio gives 1 million dollar to world wild conservation efforts through his fund at the tiger conservation efforts at the California Community Foundation.
DiCaprio will be attending this week summit which is going to be held in St. Peters burg in Russia where the heads of the governments and states from 13 tiger range countries including Nepal are discussing about saving tigers. The main purpose of this summit is to doubling the number of wild cats by 2022.
DiCaprio a WWF board member, recently visited Nepal and Bhutan touring tiger habitat and met community members to learn about the national park tiger. DiCaprio donation will help support to protect critical tigers forests where the needs are most urgent. The government of Nepal gives totally support to International celebrity, Leonardo DiCaprio in conserving wild tigers in Nepal.
The 13 countries where tiger still exist are Bangladesh , Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar , Laos, Nepal Russia, India Thailand and Vietnam .
WWF Nepal office informed that Nepal would receive more than 50% of the fund for tiger conservation. However the amount has not been located specification in the name of any country right now.
Wednesday, March 2
A man with 39 wives and 94 childrens
Deepa Rai Bangdel
Lalitpur, March 2
In India's remote Northeast, Ziona Chana, 66 year old man has 39 wives,
94 childrens and 33 grandchildrens and would not mind having more.
'' I once married 10 women in one year '' he said. They all live in a four storey building with 100 rooms and share a common kitchen. The wives take turns cooking, while his daughters do all the housework and men do outdoors works.
The total family, 167 consumes around 91 Kg of rice and more than 59 Kg of
potatoes a day. Ziona said, '' even today, I am ready to expand my family and willing
to go to any extent to marry. I have so many people to care and I consider myself a
lucky man. '' He followed Christian religious sect, called the 'Chana' , which allows
polygamy.
Lalitpur, March 2
In India's remote Northeast, Ziona Chana, 66 year old man has 39 wives,
94 childrens and 33 grandchildrens and would not mind having more.
'' I once married 10 women in one year '' he said. They all live in a four storey building with 100 rooms and share a common kitchen. The wives take turns cooking, while his daughters do all the housework and men do outdoors works.
The total family, 167 consumes around 91 Kg of rice and more than 59 Kg of
potatoes a day. Ziona said, '' even today, I am ready to expand my family and willing
to go to any extent to marry. I have so many people to care and I consider myself a
lucky man. '' He followed Christian religious sect, called the 'Chana' , which allows
polygamy.
Tuesday, March 1
Price down
Deepa Rai Bangdel
Lalitpur, March 1
The decrease in cell phone prices in Nepal has caught the attention of many.
The main causes of slipping prices of cell phones is Brand competition.
People are more prone to buy a particular cell phone model when it is brand
new, but a few months, its price falls. In today's market, the price of a cell phone hardly stays constant for more than few months. Suman Gurung, salesperson at Mobile plaza in New road said '' In December 2010, Nokia E71's price was Rs 24,800 but by February 2011, its price had fall to Rs 22,400 and Samsung Corby was Rs 13,900 but now it fall at Rs 9,900.'' The low range cell phones are with fall of only Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. When the prices fall in the international market, there are more people to bring products into Nepal as said by Eakesh Bhandari,salesperson at Sony Ericssion store in Tamrakar Plaza. He adds more that the only way to sell old models which are losing their edge is to make them cheap.
Changes in sales can more often be attributed to the age of a model. The cell phone industry is flourishing in Nepal and the customer base for mobile stores is ever expanding.Some may wait those extra months to have had their eye on and others are busy to run to the markets to grap it. All
customers can look forward to more drops.
Lalitpur, March 1
The decrease in cell phone prices in Nepal has caught the attention of many.
The main causes of slipping prices of cell phones is Brand competition.
People are more prone to buy a particular cell phone model when it is brand
new, but a few months, its price falls. In today's market, the price of a cell phone hardly stays constant for more than few months. Suman Gurung, salesperson at Mobile plaza in New road said '' In December 2010, Nokia E71's price was Rs 24,800 but by February 2011, its price had fall to Rs 22,400 and Samsung Corby was Rs 13,900 but now it fall at Rs 9,900.'' The low range cell phones are with fall of only Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. When the prices fall in the international market, there are more people to bring products into Nepal as said by Eakesh Bhandari,salesperson at Sony Ericssion store in Tamrakar Plaza. He adds more that the only way to sell old models which are losing their edge is to make them cheap.
Changes in sales can more often be attributed to the age of a model. The cell phone industry is flourishing in Nepal and the customer base for mobile stores is ever expanding.Some may wait those extra months to have had their eye on and others are busy to run to the markets to grap it. All
customers can look forward to more drops.
Degrading environment of Bagmati River
Christina Rai
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
1st March, 2011
The Bagmati River at Pashupati Nath which is supposed to be pristine and holy by devotes of inside and outside of Nepal is degrading day by day.
The condition of the Bagmati River at Pashupati Nath is such that people do not dare to touch the water. The smell of it becomes horrible that whoever passes through it covers his or her nose and mouth by his or her hand .and by other things. Even though the monkeys also do not drink the water of it, that in its vicinity.
Dumping of the solid wastes along its bank, discharge of sewage into the river without treatment, encroaching of land around the river bank by squatters and illegal sand mining are the major factors leading to the pollution and degrading environment of the Bagmati River. This makes the end to the Bagmati Rivers’ sanctity and beauty.
Despite numerous organizations working towards curbing the environmental degradation of the Bagmati River at Pashupati Nath, no tangible improvement has been seen yet. The government of Nepal has stated that they will bring major changes in the conditions of Bagmati River and its environment many times but the work has not yet been seen. This arise sadness in the mind people of Nepal.
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
1st March, 2011
The Bagmati River at Pashupati Nath which is supposed to be pristine and holy by devotes of inside and outside of Nepal is degrading day by day.
The condition of the Bagmati River at Pashupati Nath is such that people do not dare to touch the water. The smell of it becomes horrible that whoever passes through it covers his or her nose and mouth by his or her hand .and by other things. Even though the monkeys also do not drink the water of it, that in its vicinity.
Dumping of the solid wastes along its bank, discharge of sewage into the river without treatment, encroaching of land around the river bank by squatters and illegal sand mining are the major factors leading to the pollution and degrading environment of the Bagmati River. This makes the end to the Bagmati Rivers’ sanctity and beauty.
Despite numerous organizations working towards curbing the environmental degradation of the Bagmati River at Pashupati Nath, no tangible improvement has been seen yet. The government of Nepal has stated that they will bring major changes in the conditions of Bagmati River and its environment many times but the work has not yet been seen. This arise sadness in the mind people of Nepal.
Monday, February 28
188 workers return home from Libya
Deepa Bangdael
kumaripati,lalitpur
With the government’s drive to send away Nepali migrant workers from strife-torn Libya picking up speed, more migrant workers from other Libyan cities, apart from Darnah, have started to return Nepal.
On Sunday, 84 workers were airlifted to Kathmandu from Tripoli, the capital city of Libya that has become the epicenter of the ongoing unrest in the North African country, via Istanbul of Turkey. According to Hansa Raj Wagle, vice president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), 84 Nepali workers were first airlifted to Istanbul, along with migrant workers from other countries, and then to Kathmandu via Doha, Delhi and Bahrain. Of the total 119 workers who had reached Tripoli through Peace International Manpower Company of Kathmandu about a year ago, 35 Nepali workers are expected to return Nepal on Monday.
“As the streets in Tripoli turned into battlegrounds, we stopped our work a week ago,” Jagat Gurung, 33, a resident of Tangsing in Kaski, after landing in Kathmandu. “We had been staying inside our camps since last Monday. Our company arranged for our return flights, stating that it was not safe to work in Tripoli.”According to Jagat, though 90 workers were expected to board planes on Sunday, six had to stay back in Turkey due to problems in obtaining visas. “I hope all of my friends will return by Monday,” he said.
150 workers reach China
Of the total 600 Nepali workers stranded in Ghat, a south western city of Libya, 150 workers were airlifted to Beijing and Shanghai of China on Sunday. They had reached Libya to work in a construction project run by a Shino hydro company. “They are expected to return Nepal from China within a few days,” Wagle said.Similarly, Ramco Trading and Contracting, a Qatar-based construction company, has informed that it will take some 200 workers to Qatar. “The Qatari company has already obtained permission from our government for this purpose,” Wagle said.
According to Dhan Bahadur Oli, Deputy Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), 30 Nepali workers have left Benghazi, the second largest city of Libya, for Sallum, an Egyptian border town. “They will go to Alexandria, an Egyptian city, by bus,” Oli said. “And, they will then fly back home from there.”
According to Tirtha Aryal, the first secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Egypt, a group of about 20 Nepali workers had entered into Tunisia from Zuwarah, a port city in North West Libya. “However, they had to return to Libya,” Aryal told. “I do not exactly know why they had to return to Libya. I guess they did not obtain transit visa in Tunisia.”
kumaripati,lalitpur
With the government’s drive to send away Nepali migrant workers from strife-torn Libya picking up speed, more migrant workers from other Libyan cities, apart from Darnah, have started to return Nepal.
On Sunday, 84 workers were airlifted to Kathmandu from Tripoli, the capital city of Libya that has become the epicenter of the ongoing unrest in the North African country, via Istanbul of Turkey. According to Hansa Raj Wagle, vice president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), 84 Nepali workers were first airlifted to Istanbul, along with migrant workers from other countries, and then to Kathmandu via Doha, Delhi and Bahrain. Of the total 119 workers who had reached Tripoli through Peace International Manpower Company of Kathmandu about a year ago, 35 Nepali workers are expected to return Nepal on Monday.
“As the streets in Tripoli turned into battlegrounds, we stopped our work a week ago,” Jagat Gurung, 33, a resident of Tangsing in Kaski, after landing in Kathmandu. “We had been staying inside our camps since last Monday. Our company arranged for our return flights, stating that it was not safe to work in Tripoli.”According to Jagat, though 90 workers were expected to board planes on Sunday, six had to stay back in Turkey due to problems in obtaining visas. “I hope all of my friends will return by Monday,” he said.
150 workers reach China
Of the total 600 Nepali workers stranded in Ghat, a south western city of Libya, 150 workers were airlifted to Beijing and Shanghai of China on Sunday. They had reached Libya to work in a construction project run by a Shino hydro company. “They are expected to return Nepal from China within a few days,” Wagle said.Similarly, Ramco Trading and Contracting, a Qatar-based construction company, has informed that it will take some 200 workers to Qatar. “The Qatari company has already obtained permission from our government for this purpose,” Wagle said.
According to Dhan Bahadur Oli, Deputy Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), 30 Nepali workers have left Benghazi, the second largest city of Libya, for Sallum, an Egyptian border town. “They will go to Alexandria, an Egyptian city, by bus,” Oli said. “And, they will then fly back home from there.”
According to Tirtha Aryal, the first secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Egypt, a group of about 20 Nepali workers had entered into Tunisia from Zuwarah, a port city in North West Libya. “However, they had to return to Libya,” Aryal told. “I do not exactly know why they had to return to Libya. I guess they did not obtain transit visa in Tunisia.”
ALBATROSS: Flying a new high or low
Pratima Giri
kumaripati, lalitpur
Since their inception in 1999, Albatross throughout the times have had some drastic changes to their lineup, which subsequently has had a lot of influence on their music.And with their transition from a musically heavy band of ‘Hi:Fly,’ to alternative-rockers of ‘Jo Jus Sanga Sambandhit Chha,’ the band has progressed to new heights. The new album, ‘Atti Bho,’ has had a great deal of expectation surrounding it, and in a sense was much anticipated. For those of us who still refuse to take in Albatross’s alternative sounds and swear via their first album – ‘Hi:Fly,’ it is time to abandon those notions.
The band has never looked back after ‘Jo Jus Sanga Sambandhit Chha,’ and to further their stance on the same direction is the new album. Consisting of eight tracks, the album has a dense appeal to the alternative rock-loving youths of our country that are in throngs.
The sound throughout the album has been cleanly produced, and separation of instruments is well worth mentioning. However, the constant sounding acoustic guitar on almost all the tracks wears you down.
‘Shriti ra Dristi,’ which has already become quite famous from their playing in concerts, is probably the most notable song in the album. The heavy distortion from the start of the song gives a sound alike to “Hi:Fly,” and without a doubt catches the attention of the listener. ‘Janatama appeal’ is all about the political turmoil the country has been facing for quite some time now. Though the vocals, which sounds as if from a megaphone, is not pleasing at first, you get used to it in time, and the double entendre of the lyrics are pretty interesting to listen to.
As the album progresses, you get the feeling that a monotonous routine rises in the tracks that follow. ‘Jhariko Raat,’ is a loneliness-themed track and is depressingly familiar.Though musically the song is almost neutral in a sense, the lyrics let it down, however. The all to similarity between songs about loneliness does not grab at you, like it used to in the old days.
The uncompromising and unique vocals on ‘Nischal’ is well worth complementing, as well the as the bass line. The slow start of ‘Abhiman’ is well pitched, and altogether the song is formed and complete. This is perhaps the only slow song of the album that really takes your attention.‘Kahile Kahi’ with the wah-wah pedals and heavy distortion somehow does not click. The elongated and loud vocals are not clear enough, creating an irritating effect.
Though ‘Atti Bho’ will strike a chord with lots of alternate lovers, the general effect of the whole album on a usual listener is not altogether pleasing.
kumaripati, lalitpur
Since their inception in 1999, Albatross throughout the times have had some drastic changes to their lineup, which subsequently has had a lot of influence on their music.And with their transition from a musically heavy band of ‘Hi:Fly,’ to alternative-rockers of ‘Jo Jus Sanga Sambandhit Chha,’ the band has progressed to new heights. The new album, ‘Atti Bho,’ has had a great deal of expectation surrounding it, and in a sense was much anticipated. For those of us who still refuse to take in Albatross’s alternative sounds and swear via their first album – ‘Hi:Fly,’ it is time to abandon those notions.
The band has never looked back after ‘Jo Jus Sanga Sambandhit Chha,’ and to further their stance on the same direction is the new album. Consisting of eight tracks, the album has a dense appeal to the alternative rock-loving youths of our country that are in throngs.
The sound throughout the album has been cleanly produced, and separation of instruments is well worth mentioning. However, the constant sounding acoustic guitar on almost all the tracks wears you down.
‘Shriti ra Dristi,’ which has already become quite famous from their playing in concerts, is probably the most notable song in the album. The heavy distortion from the start of the song gives a sound alike to “Hi:Fly,” and without a doubt catches the attention of the listener. ‘Janatama appeal’ is all about the political turmoil the country has been facing for quite some time now. Though the vocals, which sounds as if from a megaphone, is not pleasing at first, you get used to it in time, and the double entendre of the lyrics are pretty interesting to listen to.
As the album progresses, you get the feeling that a monotonous routine rises in the tracks that follow. ‘Jhariko Raat,’ is a loneliness-themed track and is depressingly familiar.Though musically the song is almost neutral in a sense, the lyrics let it down, however. The all to similarity between songs about loneliness does not grab at you, like it used to in the old days.
The uncompromising and unique vocals on ‘Nischal’ is well worth complementing, as well the as the bass line. The slow start of ‘Abhiman’ is well pitched, and altogether the song is formed and complete. This is perhaps the only slow song of the album that really takes your attention.‘Kahile Kahi’ with the wah-wah pedals and heavy distortion somehow does not click. The elongated and loud vocals are not clear enough, creating an irritating effect.
Though ‘Atti Bho’ will strike a chord with lots of alternate lovers, the general effect of the whole album on a usual listener is not altogether pleasing.
London selling, breast milk ice cream
Sadichhya Shakya
lagan tole,kathmandu
Ice cream made with breast milk has proved a big hit in a London restaurant, with the first batch sold out within days of going on sale, its makers said on Friday. The ice cream, called Baby Gaga, is made with milk expressed by 15 women who replied to an advertisement posted on an online mothers´ forum. Each serving of Baby Gaga at the Icecreamists cafe in trendy Covent Garden costs £14 ($22.5, 16 euros).
One of the milk donors, Victoria Hiley, 35, said that if adults realized how tasty breast milk was then more new mothers would feel happier about breastfeeding.She expressed the milk at the cafe and it was pasteurized before lemon taste and vanilla pods were added during the churning process. Hiley, who is paid £15 for every 10 ounces of milk she donates to the company, told the BBC: "What’s the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash?"
The founder of Icecreamists, Matt O’Connor, said he could not understand people being squeamish about the product."If it’s good enough for our children, it’s good enough for the rest of us," he said."Some people will hear about it and go yuck -- but actually its pure organic, free-range and totally natural."A spokeswoman for Icecreamists said that despite the success of Baby Gaga there were currently no plans to market the breast milk ice cream more widely."This was launched this week and already the ice cream has sold out," she told AFP.
lagan tole,kathmandu
Ice cream made with breast milk has proved a big hit in a London restaurant, with the first batch sold out within days of going on sale, its makers said on Friday. The ice cream, called Baby Gaga, is made with milk expressed by 15 women who replied to an advertisement posted on an online mothers´ forum. Each serving of Baby Gaga at the Icecreamists cafe in trendy Covent Garden costs £14 ($22.5, 16 euros).
One of the milk donors, Victoria Hiley, 35, said that if adults realized how tasty breast milk was then more new mothers would feel happier about breastfeeding.She expressed the milk at the cafe and it was pasteurized before lemon taste and vanilla pods were added during the churning process. Hiley, who is paid £15 for every 10 ounces of milk she donates to the company, told the BBC: "What’s the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash?"
The founder of Icecreamists, Matt O’Connor, said he could not understand people being squeamish about the product."If it’s good enough for our children, it’s good enough for the rest of us," he said."Some people will hear about it and go yuck -- but actually its pure organic, free-range and totally natural."A spokeswoman for Icecreamists said that despite the success of Baby Gaga there were currently no plans to market the breast milk ice cream more widely."This was launched this week and already the ice cream has sold out," she told AFP.
Friday, February 18
Maoists Option Out Of Government
Pratima Giri
kumaripati,lalitpur
Maoists have decided to stay out of the government after the crucial CPN-UML standing committee meeting refused to give them the home ministry portfolio.
The Maoists stating that Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal had failed to translate the so-called seven-point agreement said they would opt out of the government until the deal is implemented.
kumaripati,lalitpur
Maoists have decided to stay out of the government after the crucial CPN-UML standing committee meeting refused to give them the home ministry portfolio.
The Maoists stating that Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal had failed to translate the so-called seven-point agreement said they would opt out of the government until the deal is implemented.
School embezzles scholarship amount
sadichhya shakya
lagan Tole,Kathmandu
The scholarship fund of Rs. 2, 97,000 has been embezzled in a school of Raku Village Development Committee (VDC) next to the district headquarters.
School head master Ratna Bahadur Nepali and school management committee chairperson Prem Prasad Subedi are supposedly involved in misappropriating the fund allocated for scholarship, snacks, building and furniture in Ambika primary school, Lusakot.
Though an assembly of guardians sacked both the chairperson and head master from their posts forcing them to deposit the amount, they have not yet returned the embezzlement fund even after six months, said current head master Pancha Kumar Subedi.
The authority concerned is not sensitive enough to control the growing trend of corruption in educational sector, according to the school students. Some 256 children are pursuing their study in the school
lagan Tole,Kathmandu
The scholarship fund of Rs. 2, 97,000 has been embezzled in a school of Raku Village Development Committee (VDC) next to the district headquarters.
School head master Ratna Bahadur Nepali and school management committee chairperson Prem Prasad Subedi are supposedly involved in misappropriating the fund allocated for scholarship, snacks, building and furniture in Ambika primary school, Lusakot.
Though an assembly of guardians sacked both the chairperson and head master from their posts forcing them to deposit the amount, they have not yet returned the embezzlement fund even after six months, said current head master Pancha Kumar Subedi.
The authority concerned is not sensitive enough to control the growing trend of corruption in educational sector, according to the school students. Some 256 children are pursuing their study in the school
Tuesday, February 15
One held for bid to supply drugs in jail
Sandhya Rai
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
15th Feb, 2011
Police arrested Basudev Gurung (23) of Siddharthanagar Municipality-13, who dared to supply a samosa filled with a gram of brown sugar to his friend in police custody today.
On suspicion, police asked him to taste the samosa before handing it over to his friend. Gurung revealed that he had brought the smuggled goods from Sunauli of India.
Gurung was also arrested on September 18, 2010 while dealing in drugs, said SP Sher Bahadur Basnet. He was released on bail on January 16. In a separate incident today, police arrested Bhola Musalman of Siddharthanagar-4 with eight litres of Phensidyl, a cough syrup used as recreational narcotic. Anil Agrahari of Nautanawa Maharjung of India was also held with hashish and brown sugar today.
Ashik Khan of Butwal-4 was nabbed with 4.5 gram brown sugar today itself.
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
15th Feb, 2011
Police arrested Basudev Gurung (23) of Siddharthanagar Municipality-13, who dared to supply a samosa filled with a gram of brown sugar to his friend in police custody today.
On suspicion, police asked him to taste the samosa before handing it over to his friend. Gurung revealed that he had brought the smuggled goods from Sunauli of India.
Gurung was also arrested on September 18, 2010 while dealing in drugs, said SP Sher Bahadur Basnet. He was released on bail on January 16. In a separate incident today, police arrested Bhola Musalman of Siddharthanagar-4 with eight litres of Phensidyl, a cough syrup used as recreational narcotic. Anil Agrahari of Nautanawa Maharjung of India was also held with hashish and brown sugar today.
Ashik Khan of Butwal-4 was nabbed with 4.5 gram brown sugar today itself.
Christian communities demand Khanal’s Resignation
Hrishita Deo
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
15th Feb, 2011
Christian communities have demanded for Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s resignation as the present government did not provide the burial land for them.
C B Gahatraj, General Secretary of Christian Advising Committee for the New Constitution (CACNC) said that they would ask Prime Minister Khanal to resign if he fails to provide burial land across the country. “We are going to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the government, local bodies of all 75 districts and human rights organizations to draw their attention,” he added.
Christian communities have been demanding that land for burial since the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) restricted non-Hindu burials at Shleshmantak forest.
About 180 representatives of Christian communities from 63 districts gathered today in Kathmandu and formed a 125-member Graveyard Management Struggle Committee headed by Dr Sundar Thapa, president of CACNC.
However, the government is not interested in providing public land for different communities to bury bodies. “This is against international tradition and system,” said government sources. “They should buy land for their burial sites,” they said.
The Hindus bury or cremate bodies on the banks of rivers as per their tradition. If non-Hindus want to bury or cremate their bodies on river banks, they can, said government authorities.
Gahatraj said the government should provide land on charitable grounds. “We are Nepalese and the government can’t intervene in our tradition by presenting international instances,” he said. All Christian members of political parties will resign, said Gahatraj. “Neither the PM nor political parties have responded to us. We will therefore ask them to resign from the parties,” he said.
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
15th Feb, 2011
Christian communities have demanded for Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s resignation as the present government did not provide the burial land for them.
C B Gahatraj, General Secretary of Christian Advising Committee for the New Constitution (CACNC) said that they would ask Prime Minister Khanal to resign if he fails to provide burial land across the country. “We are going to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the government, local bodies of all 75 districts and human rights organizations to draw their attention,” he added.
Christian communities have been demanding that land for burial since the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) restricted non-Hindu burials at Shleshmantak forest.
About 180 representatives of Christian communities from 63 districts gathered today in Kathmandu and formed a 125-member Graveyard Management Struggle Committee headed by Dr Sundar Thapa, president of CACNC.
However, the government is not interested in providing public land for different communities to bury bodies. “This is against international tradition and system,” said government sources. “They should buy land for their burial sites,” they said.
The Hindus bury or cremate bodies on the banks of rivers as per their tradition. If non-Hindus want to bury or cremate their bodies on river banks, they can, said government authorities.
Gahatraj said the government should provide land on charitable grounds. “We are Nepalese and the government can’t intervene in our tradition by presenting international instances,” he said. All Christian members of political parties will resign, said Gahatraj. “Neither the PM nor political parties have responded to us. We will therefore ask them to resign from the parties,” he said.
Sunday, February 13
Car bomb injures eight in Thai south
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
04:15pm; 13th Feb, 2011
A car bomb exploded outside a bank in Thailand's insurgency-plagued far south, leaving eight people injured, police said.
The blast occurred at 9.30 am on Sunday in Yala, one of three provinces near the Malaysian border that have been under emergency rule since 2005.
"There was a bomb hidden in a fire extinguisher in a pick-up truck parked in front of a grocery shop near Siam City Bank," a local police officer said. "It caused a fire in a nearby shop and injured about eight people."
Shadowy Islamic insurgents have waged a violent campaign in Thailand's southernmost region since early 2004, leaving more than 4,400 people dead, including both Muslims and Buddhists, in near-daily attacks.
Violence appears to have intensified recently: a bomb attack in Yala province killed nine villagers last month and an unusually bold attack by militants a week earlier on a military base left at least four soldiers dead.
On Thursday three people, including a teacher, were shot dead and their bodies burned in neighbouring Pattani province, in one of a series of gun attacks in the region last week.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
04:15pm; 13th Feb, 2011
A car bomb exploded outside a bank in Thailand's insurgency-plagued far south, leaving eight people injured, police said.
The blast occurred at 9.30 am on Sunday in Yala, one of three provinces near the Malaysian border that have been under emergency rule since 2005.
"There was a bomb hidden in a fire extinguisher in a pick-up truck parked in front of a grocery shop near Siam City Bank," a local police officer said. "It caused a fire in a nearby shop and injured about eight people."
Shadowy Islamic insurgents have waged a violent campaign in Thailand's southernmost region since early 2004, leaving more than 4,400 people dead, including both Muslims and Buddhists, in near-daily attacks.
Violence appears to have intensified recently: a bomb attack in Yala province killed nine villagers last month and an unusually bold attack by militants a week earlier on a military base left at least four soldiers dead.
On Thursday three people, including a teacher, were shot dead and their bodies burned in neighbouring Pattani province, in one of a series of gun attacks in the region last week.
Warrant for Musharraf over Bhutto murder
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
03:11pm; 13th Feb, 2011
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court today issued an arrest warrant for former president Pervez Musharraf over the assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a public prosecutor said.
Musharraf, who was president when Bhutto was killed in December 2007 in a gun and suicide bomb attack, is in self-imposed exile in London. He will not go to Pakistan for any court hearing, his spokesman said.
Musharraf is suspected to have been part of a “broad conspiracy” to have his political rival killed before elections.
“Judge Rana Nisar Ahmad has issued non-bailable warrant for Musharraf and directed him to appear before court on February 19,” special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali said, adding that a joint investigation report had said “Musharraf was involved in the case and was equally responsible”. The report said it was a broad conspiracy involving Musharraf, two police officials and terrorists,according to Ali.
When asked what would happen if Musharraf did not appear in court, Ali said: “We will see when the time comes.”
But Musharraf’s spokesman in London said the former president would not abide by with the warrant. “No, he won’t go for this hearing,” Fawad Chaudhry said, adding that the warrant was “totally ridiculous”. He ridiculed Pakistani accusations that Musharraf failed to provide adequate security for Bhutto. He, however said Musharraf planned to go back to Pakistan to contest elections.
In December, police arrested two senior police officers, Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad, for assumed disregard of duty over the assassination of Bhutto. Aziz, who was city police chief at the time of the killing; and Shahzad, another senior policeman in Rawalpindi, had been arrested for their “failure” to protect Bhutto.
In April, a UN panel accused the government of failing to provide Bhutto with adequate protection and said investigations were hampered by intelligence agencies and other officials.
At the time of Bhutto’s death, Musharraf’s government blamed the assassination on Pakistan’s Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement.
Secretary General of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League party Muhammad Ali Saif accused the government of not following legal procedures. “I call it unilateral, as the arrest warrant was issued without hearing Pervez Musharraf,” Saif said. He added: “No list of questions had been sent to Musharraf, The government is trying to deflect public opinion from its own incompetency and failure by wrongly implicating Musharraf in the case.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
03:11pm; 13th Feb, 2011
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court today issued an arrest warrant for former president Pervez Musharraf over the assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a public prosecutor said.
Musharraf, who was president when Bhutto was killed in December 2007 in a gun and suicide bomb attack, is in self-imposed exile in London. He will not go to Pakistan for any court hearing, his spokesman said.
Musharraf is suspected to have been part of a “broad conspiracy” to have his political rival killed before elections.
“Judge Rana Nisar Ahmad has issued non-bailable warrant for Musharraf and directed him to appear before court on February 19,” special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali said, adding that a joint investigation report had said “Musharraf was involved in the case and was equally responsible”. The report said it was a broad conspiracy involving Musharraf, two police officials and terrorists,according to Ali.
When asked what would happen if Musharraf did not appear in court, Ali said: “We will see when the time comes.”
But Musharraf’s spokesman in London said the former president would not abide by with the warrant. “No, he won’t go for this hearing,” Fawad Chaudhry said, adding that the warrant was “totally ridiculous”. He ridiculed Pakistani accusations that Musharraf failed to provide adequate security for Bhutto. He, however said Musharraf planned to go back to Pakistan to contest elections.
In December, police arrested two senior police officers, Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad, for assumed disregard of duty over the assassination of Bhutto. Aziz, who was city police chief at the time of the killing; and Shahzad, another senior policeman in Rawalpindi, had been arrested for their “failure” to protect Bhutto.
In April, a UN panel accused the government of failing to provide Bhutto with adequate protection and said investigations were hampered by intelligence agencies and other officials.
At the time of Bhutto’s death, Musharraf’s government blamed the assassination on Pakistan’s Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement.
Secretary General of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League party Muhammad Ali Saif accused the government of not following legal procedures. “I call it unilateral, as the arrest warrant was issued without hearing Pervez Musharraf,” Saif said. He added: “No list of questions had been sent to Musharraf, The government is trying to deflect public opinion from its own incompetency and failure by wrongly implicating Musharraf in the case.
Wednesday, February 9
Nepal Fix Final Date With Afghanistan
Nepal beat Qatar by six wickets on Tuesday to enter the final of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup cricket tournament and qualify for the ICC World Cup qualifiers.
In the match held at the AIT Ground, Nepal won the toss and invited Qatar to bat. Nepal restricted Qatar to a total of 113 runs in 47 overs, and reached the target of 114 runs in 20 overs losing four wickets.
In the match held at the AIT Ground, Nepal won the toss and invited Qatar to bat. Nepal restricted Qatar to a total of 113 runs in 47 overs, and reached the target of 114 runs in 20 overs losing four wickets.
Tuesday, February 8
Muslims burn Indonesian churches
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
11:44pm; 8th Feb, 2011
Indonesian Muslims burned churches and battled police today as the world’s most crowded Muslim-majority nation struggled with a wave of religious violence.
Two days after a Muslim assassinate gang killed three members of a minority Islamic sect, crowds of furious Muslims set two churches alight and ransacked a third in the Central Java town of Temanggung, police said. They were demanding the death penalty for Antonius Bawengan, 58, a Christian man who was sentenced to maximum five years in jail for distributing leaflets insulting Islam.
“Today was the climax of the trial... The mob shouted that he should receive the death sentence or be handed over to the public,” Central Java province police spokesman Djihartono told AFP. The protesters chanted “kill, kill” outside the court and “burn, burn” as they set upon the churches, in an area of Java where Muslims and Christians normally mix peacefully.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
11:44pm; 8th Feb, 2011
Indonesian Muslims burned churches and battled police today as the world’s most crowded Muslim-majority nation struggled with a wave of religious violence.
Two days after a Muslim assassinate gang killed three members of a minority Islamic sect, crowds of furious Muslims set two churches alight and ransacked a third in the Central Java town of Temanggung, police said. They were demanding the death penalty for Antonius Bawengan, 58, a Christian man who was sentenced to maximum five years in jail for distributing leaflets insulting Islam.
“Today was the climax of the trial... The mob shouted that he should receive the death sentence or be handed over to the public,” Central Java province police spokesman Djihartono told AFP. The protesters chanted “kill, kill” outside the court and “burn, burn” as they set upon the churches, in an area of Java where Muslims and Christians normally mix peacefully.
Monday, February 7
Youth dies in accident
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
03:00pm; 7th Feb, 2011
A youth died in an accident in Mahottari on Monday morning.
According to the District Police Office, the deceased has been identified as Pashupati Giri, 18, of Sonmai in the district.
The accident took place when the tractor (Na 1 Ta 6850) carrying sugarcane ran over Giri who was sleeping beneath the parked tractor.
According to Police Inspector Basu Dev Pathak of Area Police Office, Gaushala, the tractor driver has been absconding and police have impounded the tractor.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
03:00pm; 7th Feb, 2011
A youth died in an accident in Mahottari on Monday morning.
According to the District Police Office, the deceased has been identified as Pashupati Giri, 18, of Sonmai in the district.
The accident took place when the tractor (Na 1 Ta 6850) carrying sugarcane ran over Giri who was sleeping beneath the parked tractor.
According to Police Inspector Basu Dev Pathak of Area Police Office, Gaushala, the tractor driver has been absconding and police have impounded the tractor.
Record foreigners in criminal activities
Deepa Bangdel
Kumaripati,lalitpur
Nepal’s criminal records show cases of involvement of foreigners in criminal activities have spiked in recent years. Even a limited amount of processed data indicates the alarming trend. In 2010 alone, the Department of Immigration (DoI) deported 70 foreign nationals. The year saw cases of deportations increase by 60 percent than the previous year, which saw 43 deportations.
The figure partly covers the number of foreign nationals who committed crimes during the same year. According to Immigration Law 2049 BS, the DoI can deport foreign nationals who violate local laws after the latter serve punishment imposed by the judicial authorities or the DoI itself.
The trend of foreign nationals getting arrested in connection with different crimes has reached a new high in the first two months of this year.
The Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK) alone has 18 foreign nationals including 10 Indian nationals currently in its custody. Except for a British national being prosecuted on a rape charge and an Indian accused of murder, all are accused of involvement in drug trafficking. The Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NCDLEU) has filed cases against 11 of them.
“This is a remarkable increase. Most noticeable is the variety of crimes the deportees are charged with,” said DOI Director General Narayan Sanjel.
Foreign nationals deported in 2010 were from 22 different countries. There were 26 deportees who served punishments on drugs smuggling charges and among them some had also overstayed their visas.
Along with the increase in the number of deportations, their crimes were also varied. Among the 13 Bangladeshis deported in 2010 were also those arrested for operating illegal VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) call by-pass rackets, which caused losses worth millions of rupees to the telecom service providers. The Bangladeshis had used fake passports to operate their covert activities in Nepal.
In drugs smuggling cases, Pakistani nationals were quite ahead than others. Thirteen Pakistanis followed by five Chinese were deported in 2010. Europeans were also among those deported last year on the charge of drugs trafficking and overstaying visas.
Kumaripati,lalitpur
Nepal’s criminal records show cases of involvement of foreigners in criminal activities have spiked in recent years. Even a limited amount of processed data indicates the alarming trend. In 2010 alone, the Department of Immigration (DoI) deported 70 foreign nationals. The year saw cases of deportations increase by 60 percent than the previous year, which saw 43 deportations.
The figure partly covers the number of foreign nationals who committed crimes during the same year. According to Immigration Law 2049 BS, the DoI can deport foreign nationals who violate local laws after the latter serve punishment imposed by the judicial authorities or the DoI itself.
The trend of foreign nationals getting arrested in connection with different crimes has reached a new high in the first two months of this year.
The Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK) alone has 18 foreign nationals including 10 Indian nationals currently in its custody. Except for a British national being prosecuted on a rape charge and an Indian accused of murder, all are accused of involvement in drug trafficking. The Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NCDLEU) has filed cases against 11 of them.
“This is a remarkable increase. Most noticeable is the variety of crimes the deportees are charged with,” said DOI Director General Narayan Sanjel.
Foreign nationals deported in 2010 were from 22 different countries. There were 26 deportees who served punishments on drugs smuggling charges and among them some had also overstayed their visas.
Along with the increase in the number of deportations, their crimes were also varied. Among the 13 Bangladeshis deported in 2010 were also those arrested for operating illegal VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) call by-pass rackets, which caused losses worth millions of rupees to the telecom service providers. The Bangladeshis had used fake passports to operate their covert activities in Nepal.
In drugs smuggling cases, Pakistani nationals were quite ahead than others. Thirteen Pakistanis followed by five Chinese were deported in 2010. Europeans were also among those deported last year on the charge of drugs trafficking and overstaying visas.
Mubarak still in power as government, opposition talk
Pratima Giri
kumaripati,lalitpur
Egypt´s vice president met with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups for the first time Sunday and offered sweeping concessions, including granting press freedom and rolling back police powers in the government’s latest attempt to try to end nearly two weeks of disturbance.
But the opposition leaders held firm to a demand the government rejects: that President Hosni Mubarak step down immediately. And the source of the opposition’s sudden power — the youthful protesters filling Cairo´s main square — said they weren’t even represented at the talks and won’t negotiate until Mubarak is gone.
"None of those who attended represent us," said Khaled Abdul-Hamid, one leader of a new union representing at least five youth movements that organized the 13-day-old protests. "We are determined to press on until our number one demand is met" — the ouster of Mubarak.
"The regime is retreating," Abdul-Hamid told The Associated Press. "It is making more concessions every day."
At the same time, there were signs that the paralysis gripping the country since the crisis began was easing Sunday, the first day of Egypt’s work week. Some schools reopened for the first time in more than a week, and so did banks — though for only three hours, with long lines outside. A night curfew remains, and tanks continue to ring the city’s central square and guard government buildings, embassies and other important institutions.
Since protests began Jan. 25, the 82-year-old Mubarak has pledged not to seek another term in elections to be held in September. The government promised that his son Gamal, who had widely been expected to succeed him, will not do so. Mubarak appointed a vice president — Omar Suleiman — for the first time since he took office three decades ago. He sacked his Cabinet, named a new one and promised reforms. And on Saturday, the top leaders of the ruling party, including Gamal Mubarak, were purged.
Sunday brought another concession that would have been unbelievable just a month ago in this tightly controlled country: Suleiman´s meeting with opposition groups including the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed since 1954 but is the ruling party’s largest rival.
Egypt’s opposition — essentially banned by the government for decades — has long been hampered by a lack of cohesiveness. Sunday´s talks could be a sign the government is trying to divide and conquer as it tries to placate protesters without giving in to their chief demand.
Mubarak is insisting he cannot stand down now or it would only deepen the chaos in his country. The protesters, skeptical of a regime they blame for repression, corruption and widespread poverty, vow to maintain their pressure until Mubarak leaves.
The United States gave key backing to the regime´s gradual changes on Saturday, after President Barack Obama signaled more strongly that it was time for Mubarak to leave. On Sunday, speaking to Fox News ahead of the Super Bowl football broadcast, Obama said he would not be drawn into predicting when Mubarak would leave office."Only he knows what he’s going to do," Obama said. Obama said he hopes to see a representative government emerge and played down concerns that Egypt could become hostile to U.S. interests if the Muslim Brotherhood becomes the dominant political force.” I think that the Muslim Brotherhood is one faction in Egypt," Obama said. "They don’t have majority support.” The Brotherhood and another group that attended Sunday’s talks said afterward that they were only a first step in a dialogue which has yet to meet their central demand for Mubarak´s immediate ouster.” I think Mubarak will have to stop being mulish by the end of this week because the country cannot take more million strong protests," said Brotherhood representative Essam el-Erian.
Suleiman, who is leading the government´s management of the crisis, offered a series of new concessions, saying the government would no longer hamper freedom of press and won’t interfere with text messaging or the Internet.
He proposed setting up a committee of judiciary and political figures to study proposed constitutional reforms that would allow more candidates to run for president and impose term limits on the presidency, the state news agency reported. The committee was given until the first week of March to finish the tasks.
The offer included a pledge not to worry those participating in anti-government protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands at the biggest rallies.
One of the biggest fears of protesters is that if Mubarak or his close confidant Suleiman remains in power, they will exact revenge for the humiliating demonstrations by rounding up protesters and torturing them. Many protesters have reported seeing undercover security forces in the crowds every day, photographing the demonstrators with cell phone cameras.
Suleiman´s offer to eventually lift emergency laws with a major caveat — when security permits — would fulfill a longtime demand by the opposition. The laws were imposed by Mubarak when he took office in 1981 and they have been in force ever since. They give police far-reaching powers for detention and suppression of civil and human rights.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry hailed the talks with opposition groups and the promise to remove the emergency law as "frankly quite extraordinary." Kerry called on Mubarak to lay out a timetable for transition and new elections.
"He must step aside gracefully, and begin the process of transition to a caretaker government. I believe that is happening right now," Kerry told NBC´s Meet the Press. "What’s needed now is clarity in this process."
Suleiman also offered to open an office that would field complaints about political prisoners, according to the state news agency. He promised measures to fight corruption and to prosecute those responsible for the unexplained disappearance of police from Cairo´s streets more than a week ago. And the government agreed to set up a committee including independent figures and members of the youth movement to monitor the "honest implementation" of all the new agreements.
Some prominent figures from Egypt´s elite have suggested that there is a deliberate attempt by the regime to cling to power by offering just enough to satisfy some established opposition groups like the Brotherhood.
Abouel Ela Madi, an ex-Brotherhood member, said the regime hopes to draw the group away from the other protesters.
"If the regime manages to influence the Brotherhood, it will have a shattering effect. A bulk of the protesters belong to the Brotherhood and thus their talks might play a negative role in foiling the completion of the revolution," he said. "I hope they don´t make this mistake."
Of all the opposition groups that met with Suleiman, the Brotherhood stands to gain the most. There have been no known discussions between the group and the regime at this level since Mubarak took power in 1981.
The Brotherhood won 20 percent of parliament´s seats in 2005 by fielding candidates as independents, but thousands of its members were arrested in crackdowns over the past decade and it failed to win a single seat last year in elections that were marred by fraud.
The Brotherhood´s potential rise is a key concern of the U.S. and Israel, countries that have depended on Mubarak as an ally in the Arab world. The Brotherhood aims to create an Islamic state in Egypt but insists it would not rescind Egypt´s 1979 peace treaty with Israel and would not take hardline measures such as forcing women to cover up in public.
The Brotherhood did not organize or lead the protests currently under way. It ordered its supporters to take part a few days after they began, sensing that the protesters, mostly young men and women using social networks on the Internet to mobilize, were able to sustain their momentum. Now the Brotherhood´s followers appear to be growing in Cairo´s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising.
Suleiman and Mubarak have both blamed the Brotherhood for fomenting the unrest, which turned violent for a time early last week when Mubarak supporters tried to push protesters out of the square. But opening talks with the Brotherhood is a tacit recognition by the regime of its role in the ongoing protests as well as its wide popular base.
Along with the Muslim Brotherhood, a number of smaller leftist, liberal groups also attended, according to footage shown on state television. Most are little-known groups that were around before the protests began.
Mohammed Mursi, a member of the Brotherhood who attended the talks, said a second round of talks is expected within a few days.
Some of the youthful supporters of Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate and one of the country´s leading democracy advocates, were among those who participated. However, ElBaradei himself was not invited and his brother said the statement by those who did attend does not represent his personal view. ElBaradei is among those refusing to talk to representatives of Mubarak until he steps down.
"The process is opaque," ElBaradei told NBC´s Meet the Press. "Nobody knows who is talking to whom at this stage."
Protesters in Tahrir Square numbered in the thousands Sunday morning and swelled steadily to tens of thousands by the late afternoon. Many were exhausted and wounded from fighting to stand their ground for more than a week.
Hundreds performed the noon prayers and later offered a prayer for the souls of protesters killed in clashes with security forces. Later, Christians held a Sunday Mass and thousands of Muslims joined in.
Some of the worshippers broke down and cried as the congregation sang: "Bless our country, listen to the screams of our hearts."
"In the name of Jesus and Muhammad we unify our ranks," Father Ihab al-Kharat said in his sermon. "We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny."
Elsewhere in this city of some 18 million people, life took a few steps toward normalcy. Traffic was close to regular levels and more stores reopened, including some on the streets leading to Tahrir Square. Protesters greeted some store owners and people returning to work with flowers.
kumaripati,lalitpur
Egypt´s vice president met with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups for the first time Sunday and offered sweeping concessions, including granting press freedom and rolling back police powers in the government’s latest attempt to try to end nearly two weeks of disturbance.
But the opposition leaders held firm to a demand the government rejects: that President Hosni Mubarak step down immediately. And the source of the opposition’s sudden power — the youthful protesters filling Cairo´s main square — said they weren’t even represented at the talks and won’t negotiate until Mubarak is gone.
"None of those who attended represent us," said Khaled Abdul-Hamid, one leader of a new union representing at least five youth movements that organized the 13-day-old protests. "We are determined to press on until our number one demand is met" — the ouster of Mubarak.
"The regime is retreating," Abdul-Hamid told The Associated Press. "It is making more concessions every day."
At the same time, there were signs that the paralysis gripping the country since the crisis began was easing Sunday, the first day of Egypt’s work week. Some schools reopened for the first time in more than a week, and so did banks — though for only three hours, with long lines outside. A night curfew remains, and tanks continue to ring the city’s central square and guard government buildings, embassies and other important institutions.
Since protests began Jan. 25, the 82-year-old Mubarak has pledged not to seek another term in elections to be held in September. The government promised that his son Gamal, who had widely been expected to succeed him, will not do so. Mubarak appointed a vice president — Omar Suleiman — for the first time since he took office three decades ago. He sacked his Cabinet, named a new one and promised reforms. And on Saturday, the top leaders of the ruling party, including Gamal Mubarak, were purged.
Sunday brought another concession that would have been unbelievable just a month ago in this tightly controlled country: Suleiman´s meeting with opposition groups including the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed since 1954 but is the ruling party’s largest rival.
Egypt’s opposition — essentially banned by the government for decades — has long been hampered by a lack of cohesiveness. Sunday´s talks could be a sign the government is trying to divide and conquer as it tries to placate protesters without giving in to their chief demand.
Mubarak is insisting he cannot stand down now or it would only deepen the chaos in his country. The protesters, skeptical of a regime they blame for repression, corruption and widespread poverty, vow to maintain their pressure until Mubarak leaves.
The United States gave key backing to the regime´s gradual changes on Saturday, after President Barack Obama signaled more strongly that it was time for Mubarak to leave. On Sunday, speaking to Fox News ahead of the Super Bowl football broadcast, Obama said he would not be drawn into predicting when Mubarak would leave office."Only he knows what he’s going to do," Obama said. Obama said he hopes to see a representative government emerge and played down concerns that Egypt could become hostile to U.S. interests if the Muslim Brotherhood becomes the dominant political force.” I think that the Muslim Brotherhood is one faction in Egypt," Obama said. "They don’t have majority support.” The Brotherhood and another group that attended Sunday’s talks said afterward that they were only a first step in a dialogue which has yet to meet their central demand for Mubarak´s immediate ouster.” I think Mubarak will have to stop being mulish by the end of this week because the country cannot take more million strong protests," said Brotherhood representative Essam el-Erian.
Suleiman, who is leading the government´s management of the crisis, offered a series of new concessions, saying the government would no longer hamper freedom of press and won’t interfere with text messaging or the Internet.
He proposed setting up a committee of judiciary and political figures to study proposed constitutional reforms that would allow more candidates to run for president and impose term limits on the presidency, the state news agency reported. The committee was given until the first week of March to finish the tasks.
The offer included a pledge not to worry those participating in anti-government protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands at the biggest rallies.
One of the biggest fears of protesters is that if Mubarak or his close confidant Suleiman remains in power, they will exact revenge for the humiliating demonstrations by rounding up protesters and torturing them. Many protesters have reported seeing undercover security forces in the crowds every day, photographing the demonstrators with cell phone cameras.
Suleiman´s offer to eventually lift emergency laws with a major caveat — when security permits — would fulfill a longtime demand by the opposition. The laws were imposed by Mubarak when he took office in 1981 and they have been in force ever since. They give police far-reaching powers for detention and suppression of civil and human rights.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry hailed the talks with opposition groups and the promise to remove the emergency law as "frankly quite extraordinary." Kerry called on Mubarak to lay out a timetable for transition and new elections.
"He must step aside gracefully, and begin the process of transition to a caretaker government. I believe that is happening right now," Kerry told NBC´s Meet the Press. "What’s needed now is clarity in this process."
Suleiman also offered to open an office that would field complaints about political prisoners, according to the state news agency. He promised measures to fight corruption and to prosecute those responsible for the unexplained disappearance of police from Cairo´s streets more than a week ago. And the government agreed to set up a committee including independent figures and members of the youth movement to monitor the "honest implementation" of all the new agreements.
Some prominent figures from Egypt´s elite have suggested that there is a deliberate attempt by the regime to cling to power by offering just enough to satisfy some established opposition groups like the Brotherhood.
Abouel Ela Madi, an ex-Brotherhood member, said the regime hopes to draw the group away from the other protesters.
"If the regime manages to influence the Brotherhood, it will have a shattering effect. A bulk of the protesters belong to the Brotherhood and thus their talks might play a negative role in foiling the completion of the revolution," he said. "I hope they don´t make this mistake."
Of all the opposition groups that met with Suleiman, the Brotherhood stands to gain the most. There have been no known discussions between the group and the regime at this level since Mubarak took power in 1981.
The Brotherhood won 20 percent of parliament´s seats in 2005 by fielding candidates as independents, but thousands of its members were arrested in crackdowns over the past decade and it failed to win a single seat last year in elections that were marred by fraud.
The Brotherhood´s potential rise is a key concern of the U.S. and Israel, countries that have depended on Mubarak as an ally in the Arab world. The Brotherhood aims to create an Islamic state in Egypt but insists it would not rescind Egypt´s 1979 peace treaty with Israel and would not take hardline measures such as forcing women to cover up in public.
The Brotherhood did not organize or lead the protests currently under way. It ordered its supporters to take part a few days after they began, sensing that the protesters, mostly young men and women using social networks on the Internet to mobilize, were able to sustain their momentum. Now the Brotherhood´s followers appear to be growing in Cairo´s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising.
Suleiman and Mubarak have both blamed the Brotherhood for fomenting the unrest, which turned violent for a time early last week when Mubarak supporters tried to push protesters out of the square. But opening talks with the Brotherhood is a tacit recognition by the regime of its role in the ongoing protests as well as its wide popular base.
Along with the Muslim Brotherhood, a number of smaller leftist, liberal groups also attended, according to footage shown on state television. Most are little-known groups that were around before the protests began.
Mohammed Mursi, a member of the Brotherhood who attended the talks, said a second round of talks is expected within a few days.
Some of the youthful supporters of Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate and one of the country´s leading democracy advocates, were among those who participated. However, ElBaradei himself was not invited and his brother said the statement by those who did attend does not represent his personal view. ElBaradei is among those refusing to talk to representatives of Mubarak until he steps down.
"The process is opaque," ElBaradei told NBC´s Meet the Press. "Nobody knows who is talking to whom at this stage."
Protesters in Tahrir Square numbered in the thousands Sunday morning and swelled steadily to tens of thousands by the late afternoon. Many were exhausted and wounded from fighting to stand their ground for more than a week.
Hundreds performed the noon prayers and later offered a prayer for the souls of protesters killed in clashes with security forces. Later, Christians held a Sunday Mass and thousands of Muslims joined in.
Some of the worshippers broke down and cried as the congregation sang: "Bless our country, listen to the screams of our hearts."
"In the name of Jesus and Muhammad we unify our ranks," Father Ihab al-Kharat said in his sermon. "We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny."
Elsewhere in this city of some 18 million people, life took a few steps toward normalcy. Traffic was close to regular levels and more stores reopened, including some on the streets leading to Tahrir Square. Protesters greeted some store owners and people returning to work with flowers.
Maoist, UML discuss power-sharing
Sadichhya Shakya
Thapathali,kathmandu
UCPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday said that the nation would move forward in agreement with the spirit of seven-point agreement.
“The agreement was signed,” Dahal said with Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal standing on his side. “Nation will move forward in agreement with its spirit.”
Dahal said it after a meeting of top leaders of CPN-UML and Maoist held to discuss the power-sharing in the new government at the UML parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar.
The Maoist chairman also refuted reports saying that the ministers didn’t take oath on Sunday due to conflict in power-sharing. “Maoist has already made a big sacrifice to end the political deadlock,” he said. “The party is not the one to bargain in one particular ministry.”
PM Khanal said that although the agreement was between two parties, that didn’t intend to exclude other political parties. "The agreement was signed between two parties," he said. "But we want to include other parties in the government."
PM Khanal, who swear in on Sunday alone, said that the government would be formed ‘as soon as possible’.
Senior UML leader KP Sharma Oli, who participated in the meeting, however, claimed that the seven-point agreement was not discussed during the meeting. “We don’t know about the agreement as it was not discussed,” he said.Maoist vice-chairman Mohan Baidya was also present in the talks.
After election of UML chairman Khanal as the PM on Maoist support, the two parties have not reached the agreement on power-sharing. Due to the fact, Khanal took the oath of office on Sunday alone.
Thapathali,kathmandu
UCPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday said that the nation would move forward in agreement with the spirit of seven-point agreement.
“The agreement was signed,” Dahal said with Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal standing on his side. “Nation will move forward in agreement with its spirit.”
Dahal said it after a meeting of top leaders of CPN-UML and Maoist held to discuss the power-sharing in the new government at the UML parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar.
The Maoist chairman also refuted reports saying that the ministers didn’t take oath on Sunday due to conflict in power-sharing. “Maoist has already made a big sacrifice to end the political deadlock,” he said. “The party is not the one to bargain in one particular ministry.”
PM Khanal said that although the agreement was between two parties, that didn’t intend to exclude other political parties. "The agreement was signed between two parties," he said. "But we want to include other parties in the government."
PM Khanal, who swear in on Sunday alone, said that the government would be formed ‘as soon as possible’.
Senior UML leader KP Sharma Oli, who participated in the meeting, however, claimed that the seven-point agreement was not discussed during the meeting. “We don’t know about the agreement as it was not discussed,” he said.Maoist vice-chairman Mohan Baidya was also present in the talks.
After election of UML chairman Khanal as the PM on Maoist support, the two parties have not reached the agreement on power-sharing. Due to the fact, Khanal took the oath of office on Sunday alone.
Sunday, February 6
3 Pak cricketers banned for 5 to 10 years
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
06:32pm:6th Feb, 2011
An anti-corruption tribunal of the International Cricket Council Saturday banned former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for ten years, Mohammad Asif for seven years and Mohammad Aamer for five years for their role in a spot-fixing betting scam.
A statement read out at the tribunal said: "The tribunal heard the charges as Aamer agreed to bowl no-balls, and did bowl no-balls and Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate balls, and the tribunal impsoe the following sanctions.
"On Butt ten years ineligibility, five years of which are suspended on the condition that he doesn't commit further breaches of the code, and that he participates under the auspices Pakistan Cricket Board in a programme of anti-corruption education.
"On Asif, a sanction of seven years of ineligibility, two years of which are suspended on the condition that he commits no further breach of the code and also participates in an anti-corruption programme.
"On Aamer a sanction of five years ineligibility. No further sanctions are imposed on any player."
The decisions came after a lengthy nine-hour hearing at the Qatar Financial Center, and following much argument after the players' lawyers requested the verdict be adjourned as it could affect the criminal case against the players in London.
The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England at Lord's last year, when Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the players, who are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket, had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.
The members of the tribunal, headed by Michael Beloff, heard the case for six days last month before deferring the announcement on the request of players' lawyers.
Last month Beloff revealed that while Asif and Aamer were absolved of the charges relating to another match, the third Test at The Oval (played before the Lord's match) one charge against Butt remained under investigation.
In a separate development on Friday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as their agent with corruption offences and summoned them in court on March 17.
The Pakistan trio have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and had shown confidence of resuming their careers.
The bans on Pakistan players have come just a fortnight before the tenth World Cup starts in the sub-continent, highlighting the difficult times the game of cricket is facing against corruption.
Cricket was badly hit by the menace of match-fixing in 2000, resulting in life bans on Pakistan's Salim Malik and Ata-ur Rehman, India's Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and South Africa's Hansie Cronje.
Butt, Aamer and Asif became the first players banned in spot-fixing, the latest innovation in which players obey specific orders during the game pre-arranged with bookmakers.
The players have 21 days to appeal against the sanctions in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
06:32pm:6th Feb, 2011
An anti-corruption tribunal of the International Cricket Council Saturday banned former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for ten years, Mohammad Asif for seven years and Mohammad Aamer for five years for their role in a spot-fixing betting scam.
A statement read out at the tribunal said: "The tribunal heard the charges as Aamer agreed to bowl no-balls, and did bowl no-balls and Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate balls, and the tribunal impsoe the following sanctions.
"On Butt ten years ineligibility, five years of which are suspended on the condition that he doesn't commit further breaches of the code, and that he participates under the auspices Pakistan Cricket Board in a programme of anti-corruption education.
"On Asif, a sanction of seven years of ineligibility, two years of which are suspended on the condition that he commits no further breach of the code and also participates in an anti-corruption programme.
"On Aamer a sanction of five years ineligibility. No further sanctions are imposed on any player."
The decisions came after a lengthy nine-hour hearing at the Qatar Financial Center, and following much argument after the players' lawyers requested the verdict be adjourned as it could affect the criminal case against the players in London.
The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England at Lord's last year, when Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the players, who are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket, had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.
The members of the tribunal, headed by Michael Beloff, heard the case for six days last month before deferring the announcement on the request of players' lawyers.
Last month Beloff revealed that while Asif and Aamer were absolved of the charges relating to another match, the third Test at The Oval (played before the Lord's match) one charge against Butt remained under investigation.
In a separate development on Friday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as their agent with corruption offences and summoned them in court on March 17.
The Pakistan trio have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and had shown confidence of resuming their careers.
The bans on Pakistan players have come just a fortnight before the tenth World Cup starts in the sub-continent, highlighting the difficult times the game of cricket is facing against corruption.
Cricket was badly hit by the menace of match-fixing in 2000, resulting in life bans on Pakistan's Salim Malik and Ata-ur Rehman, India's Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and South Africa's Hansie Cronje.
Butt, Aamer and Asif became the first players banned in spot-fixing, the latest innovation in which players obey specific orders during the game pre-arranged with bookmakers.
The players have 21 days to appeal against the sanctions in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland.
Action against 70 schools: Higher secondary boarding school
Sadichhya Shakya
thapathali,kathmandu
The Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) has started taking action against 70 higher secondary schools being operated not in constant with the rules of HSEB.
Action against the higher secondary schools which have been run in different areas than they were stated while acquiring affiliation for the operation has been initiated, said HSEB Member-Secretary Bhim Prasad Gurung.
The schools that have opened their branches against the rule and appointed unqualified teachers are also under the ambit of action, he added. After getting information that higher secondary schools are operated in different areas than specific in the affiliation paper, the HSEB started monitoring and taking action against the higher secondary schools operating against rule, Gurung asserted.
The HSEB will prevent such higher secondary schools from enrolling students from coming educational year and will go to the extent of withdrawing the affiliation of the schools defying the directives of HSEB, Gurung further said.
thapathali,kathmandu
The Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) has started taking action against 70 higher secondary schools being operated not in constant with the rules of HSEB.
Action against the higher secondary schools which have been run in different areas than they were stated while acquiring affiliation for the operation has been initiated, said HSEB Member-Secretary Bhim Prasad Gurung.
The schools that have opened their branches against the rule and appointed unqualified teachers are also under the ambit of action, he added. After getting information that higher secondary schools are operated in different areas than specific in the affiliation paper, the HSEB started monitoring and taking action against the higher secondary schools operating against rule, Gurung asserted.
The HSEB will prevent such higher secondary schools from enrolling students from coming educational year and will go to the extent of withdrawing the affiliation of the schools defying the directives of HSEB, Gurung further said.
Saturday, February 5
Oath-taking ceremony programmed for tomorrow
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
10:43am; 5th Feb, 2011
The Office of the President has scheduled Prime Minister-elect Jhala Nath Khanal’s oath-taking ceremony for Sunday at 3 pm. “I’ve scheduled the swearing-in ceremony for Sunday,” said President Dr Ram Baran Yadav’s personal assistant Lalit Bahadur Basnet.
President Dr. Yadav, who is on a 10-day state visit to India, is returning home today. Meanwhile, names of the leaders likely to join Prime Minister-elect Jhala Nath Khanal’s cabinet have slowly started to come to the front. “Some of the names of the ministers will be decided by tomorrow,” said CPN-UML Central Committee member Yogesh Bhattarai.
Tarai Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal led by Mahendra Yadav has almost decided to join the new government.
A source close to Khanal said Khanal is likely to choose Bharat Mohan Adhikary, Ashok Rai, Ghanashyam Bhushal and Bishnu Paudel of his own party. Khanal is yet to get names from the UCPN-M.
“The Maoists are yet to decide. However, the Maoists have suggested to Khanal some names,” said the source, adding, “It’s likely that Barshaman Pun and Netra Bikram Chand may join the government.”
The source added that Khanal would set the finance and home ministries aside for his party. “Adhikary may hold the finance portfolio, Rai homer and Bhushal-minister for information and communications,” he added.
Maoist Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, however, said nothing was decided yet. The leaders selected for the would-be cabinet would swear-in on Sunday.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
10:43am; 5th Feb, 2011
The Office of the President has scheduled Prime Minister-elect Jhala Nath Khanal’s oath-taking ceremony for Sunday at 3 pm. “I’ve scheduled the swearing-in ceremony for Sunday,” said President Dr Ram Baran Yadav’s personal assistant Lalit Bahadur Basnet.
President Dr. Yadav, who is on a 10-day state visit to India, is returning home today. Meanwhile, names of the leaders likely to join Prime Minister-elect Jhala Nath Khanal’s cabinet have slowly started to come to the front. “Some of the names of the ministers will be decided by tomorrow,” said CPN-UML Central Committee member Yogesh Bhattarai.
Tarai Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal led by Mahendra Yadav has almost decided to join the new government.
A source close to Khanal said Khanal is likely to choose Bharat Mohan Adhikary, Ashok Rai, Ghanashyam Bhushal and Bishnu Paudel of his own party. Khanal is yet to get names from the UCPN-M.
“The Maoists are yet to decide. However, the Maoists have suggested to Khanal some names,” said the source, adding, “It’s likely that Barshaman Pun and Netra Bikram Chand may join the government.”
The source added that Khanal would set the finance and home ministries aside for his party. “Adhikary may hold the finance portfolio, Rai homer and Bhushal-minister for information and communications,” he added.
Maoist Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, however, said nothing was decided yet. The leaders selected for the would-be cabinet would swear-in on Sunday.
700,000 ultrathin condoms lost in transit
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
10:46am, 5th Feb, 2011
More than 700,000 condoms have been stolen in transit between Malaysia and Japan, a major Japanese rubber manufacturer said Thursday.
About 726,000 polyurethane condoms were loaded into a container at a factory in Malaysia, said Sagami Rubber Industries, founded in 1934 as the first condom maker in Japan.
But the shipment was empty when it arrived at the company's main plant in suburban Tokyo last week, company spokesman Norinari Wakui said, adding that the lock on the container had been replaced before it left port in Malaysia.
The items, which are 14 percent thinner than conventional products at 0.02 millimeters, are worth 120 million yen (1.5 million dollars) at Japanese retail prices, he said.
"This has never happened to us before and we are very perplexed," Wakui told AFP. "We are not certain if it was of a premeditated nature."
Kalimati, Kathmandu
10:46am, 5th Feb, 2011
More than 700,000 condoms have been stolen in transit between Malaysia and Japan, a major Japanese rubber manufacturer said Thursday.
About 726,000 polyurethane condoms were loaded into a container at a factory in Malaysia, said Sagami Rubber Industries, founded in 1934 as the first condom maker in Japan.
But the shipment was empty when it arrived at the company's main plant in suburban Tokyo last week, company spokesman Norinari Wakui said, adding that the lock on the container had been replaced before it left port in Malaysia.
The items, which are 14 percent thinner than conventional products at 0.02 millimeters, are worth 120 million yen (1.5 million dollars) at Japanese retail prices, he said.
"This has never happened to us before and we are very perplexed," Wakui told AFP. "We are not certain if it was of a premeditated nature."
Friday, February 4
Jhalanath Khanal elected PM
Sadichhya Shakya
Thapatali.kathmandu
Ending seven months of impasse, the parliament on Thursday elected Jhalanath Khanal as the prime minister after UCPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in a surprising move, withdrew his candidacy and his party voted for Khanal.
The 34th prime minister of Nepal, Khanal secured 368 votes against 122 of his nearest rival Ram Chandra Paudel. Another candidate Bijaya Gachchhadar bagged 67 votes. Khanal, 61, is the third leader from the CPN-UML to reach to the top executive post of the country. Late Manmohan Adhikari was the first prime minister from the party while outgoing Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was the second.
Earlier, the parliament had failed to elect a new prime minister despite 16 rounds of votes since the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government stepped down on June 30 last year.
As he saw no possibility of him being elected, Dahal withdrew his candidacy following a decision of the Maoist standing committee held just ahead of the election. "I sensed I am not going to win this election," said Dahal while announcing his withdrawal, adding that he took the decision to sacrifice to the nation.
"There was a situation that the election could bring no result again. I analyzed the situation seriously throughout last night and foresaw a danger of this election also bringing no result," said Dahal in an address to the parliament. "People have started slapping leaders. And if a prime minister is not elected even today, people will throw shoes at us," Dahal said justifying his withdrawal from the race.
sadichhya shkaya
Thapathali,kathmandu
In his lengthy speech in the parliament, Dahal further added that his decision would lay foundation for forwarding the peace process and constitution-writing. "This will set the peace process and constitution-writing on motion," Dahal said. Addressing the parliament before his election, Khanal urged all parties to support him.
Ram Chandra Paudel in his speech at parliament criticized Dahal and Khanal without pronouncing their names. "The word consensus has been misused to serve one’s vested interest," said Paudel, adding, "This [UML-Maoist] dramatic alliance cannot reflect the spirit of consensus."
Paudel´s statement was a reference to Khanal and Dahal who had repeatedly emphasized on formation of a consensus government before the Nepal-led majority government stepped down.
Gachchhadar, for his part, questioned the Khanal-Dahal alliance. "If your were going to forge this alliance now, why did you not do it six months ago instead of orchestrating his long drawn-out drama?" he said.
Thapatali.kathmandu
Ending seven months of impasse, the parliament on Thursday elected Jhalanath Khanal as the prime minister after UCPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in a surprising move, withdrew his candidacy and his party voted for Khanal.
The 34th prime minister of Nepal, Khanal secured 368 votes against 122 of his nearest rival Ram Chandra Paudel. Another candidate Bijaya Gachchhadar bagged 67 votes. Khanal, 61, is the third leader from the CPN-UML to reach to the top executive post of the country. Late Manmohan Adhikari was the first prime minister from the party while outgoing Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was the second.
Earlier, the parliament had failed to elect a new prime minister despite 16 rounds of votes since the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government stepped down on June 30 last year.
As he saw no possibility of him being elected, Dahal withdrew his candidacy following a decision of the Maoist standing committee held just ahead of the election. "I sensed I am not going to win this election," said Dahal while announcing his withdrawal, adding that he took the decision to sacrifice to the nation.
"There was a situation that the election could bring no result again. I analyzed the situation seriously throughout last night and foresaw a danger of this election also bringing no result," said Dahal in an address to the parliament. "People have started slapping leaders. And if a prime minister is not elected even today, people will throw shoes at us," Dahal said justifying his withdrawal from the race.
sadichhya shkaya
Thapathali,kathmandu
In his lengthy speech in the parliament, Dahal further added that his decision would lay foundation for forwarding the peace process and constitution-writing. "This will set the peace process and constitution-writing on motion," Dahal said. Addressing the parliament before his election, Khanal urged all parties to support him.
Ram Chandra Paudel in his speech at parliament criticized Dahal and Khanal without pronouncing their names. "The word consensus has been misused to serve one’s vested interest," said Paudel, adding, "This [UML-Maoist] dramatic alliance cannot reflect the spirit of consensus."
Paudel´s statement was a reference to Khanal and Dahal who had repeatedly emphasized on formation of a consensus government before the Nepal-led majority government stepped down.
Gachchhadar, for his part, questioned the Khanal-Dahal alliance. "If your were going to forge this alliance now, why did you not do it six months ago instead of orchestrating his long drawn-out drama?" he said.
Aamir will play negative role in Dhoom 3
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
11:37am; 4th Feb, 2011
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s fans have reasons to feel good about. The perfectionist of Bollywood has admitted that he will play a negative role in Dhoom 3.
Versatile actor Khan is known for being extremely choosy about the roles he accepts. The actor has admitted this development and said that he will be seen in a negative role in the movie.
The film will be directed by Tashan director Vijay Krishna Acharya also known as Victor.
The actor said, “I had never thought I would fit into it, but I loved Victor’s script and look forward to being one up on Jai and Ali.”
Kalimati, Kathmandu
11:37am; 4th Feb, 2011
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s fans have reasons to feel good about. The perfectionist of Bollywood has admitted that he will play a negative role in Dhoom 3.
Versatile actor Khan is known for being extremely choosy about the roles he accepts. The actor has admitted this development and said that he will be seen in a negative role in the movie.
The film will be directed by Tashan director Vijay Krishna Acharya also known as Victor.
The actor said, “I had never thought I would fit into it, but I loved Victor’s script and look forward to being one up on Jai and Ali.”
Dozens of reporters beaten, arrested in Egypt
Hrishita Deo
New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
11:00pm, 4th Feb, 2011
Threatening gangs supporting President Hosni Mubarak attacked journalists and human rights activists Thursday in an ugly turn in Egypt's crisis as government opponents pushed supporters out of Cairo's main square in a second day of battles. Organizers called for protesters trying to overthrow the regime to fill every square in the capital on Friday.
The new vice-president widely considered the first successor Mubarak has ever designated, fueled anti-foreign sentiment by going on state television and blaming outsiders for fomenting unrest. The government has accused media outlets of being sympathetic to protesters who want the president to quit now rather than serve out his term, as he has vowed to do.
Mubarak, 82, told in an interview that he was fed up and wants to resign. But he said he can't, because of the fear that the country would sink into chaos. He said he was very unhappy about the two days of clashes in central Tahrir Square.
"I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other," he was quoted as saying.
The violence that had been concentrated in Tahrir spread around the city of 18 million, with a new wave of arson and looting.
Soldiers, mainly protecting government buildings and important institutions, remained passive as they have since replacing police on the streets almost a week ago. Few uniformed police have been seen around the city in that time, and protesters claim some of them have stripped off their uniforms and mixed in with the gangs of looting thugs.
"When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters," Vice President Omar Suleiman said on state television.
Pro-government mobs beat foreign journalists with sticks and fists Thursday. The Committee to Protect Journalists said 24 reporters were detained in 24 hours, including representatives of The Washington Post and The New York Times. Twenty-one journalists were assaulted, including two with Fox News.
One Greek journalist was stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver, and a photographer was punched in the face, his equipment smashed. The Arabic news network Al-Arabiya pleaded for the army to protect its offices and journalists, and Al-Jazeera said four of its journalists were attacked. The BBC's foreign editor said security forces had seized the network's equipment in a hotel to stop it broadcasting.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denounced reports of "systematic targeting" of journalists and the State Department described it as a "concerted campaign to intimidate."
"I think we need to be clear that the world is watching the actions that are taking place right now in Egypt," Gibbs said.
Human rights activists were also targeted. “Military police stormed the offices of an Egyptian rights group as activists were meeting, and arrested at least 30, including two from the London-based Amnesty International,” Amnesty spokesman Tom Mackey said. New York-based Human Rights Watch said one of its activists was also among those arrested.
Amnesty's secretary-general Salil Shetty demanded their immediate release saying they should be allowed "to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt at this crucial time without fear of harassment or detention."
Mubarak's top supporter, the United States, has pressed him to quickly transition to a democratic government but has said his earlier gestures, including forming a new government, were insufficient.
The crisis that began on Jan. 25 when protesters launched the biggest challenge ever to Mubarak's 30-year rule has grown death-defying. The day after Mubarak went on television late Tuesday and refused to step down, thousands of his supporters attacked anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square, where they had held a peaceful vigil for days.
The Mubarak supporters started fierce battles with firebombs, machetes and chunks of pavement that lasted throughout the night and all day Thursday.
After nightfall, the fighting died down with protesters' hold on the square and nearby streets unbroken. Nearly 10,000 remained, some dancing and singing in victory as others — worn out and bandaged — lay down exhausted to sleep or drank tea in the center of the rubble-strewn roundabout. Throughout the day, they gained in numbers and got supplies of food and medicine.
"Thank God, we managed to protect the whole area," said Abdul-Rahman, a taxi driver who was amongst thousands who stayed in the square through the night, hunkered down against the thousands besieging the entrances. "We prevented the pro-Mubarak people from storming the streets leading to the square." He refused to give his full name.
At least eight people have been killed and about 900 injured in the two days of fighting around Tahrir.
Many of the square's defenders had cotton padding and grubby bandages hanging from their faces, arms and legs. Others had chunks of rock stuck to their hair and clumps of dust in their beards. Many had the trimmed beards of Muslim conservatives, a sign of the Muslim Brotherhood's role in the fight. The Brotherhood is the country's largest opposition group but secular groups have led the protests.
Under a battering of international condemnation for Wednesday's assault on protesters by pro-Mubarak rioters, the government offered more concessions to the protesters, but that did nothing to calm the fury.
The anti-Mubarak movement has vowed to intensify protests to force the president out by Friday. The Facebook page that started the protest movement said supporters should gather at noon Friday on all Egyptian squares "so that we can put the last nail in the regime's coffin, and declare the victory of the Jan. 25 revolution." Friday is the weekend in Egypt and millions attend prayers at noon in thousands of mosques across the city.
Last Friday, there were fierce clashes between protesters and police after prayers. The hated police largely disappeared from the streets of Cairo after the clashes for reasons that remain mysterious. Mubarak, his new vice president and prime minister, all promised to get to the bottom of their disappearance.
The attorney-general indicated that the former interior minister, Habib el-Adly, who was in charge of the police force when they left the streets, is a suspect in the investigation. He ordered an asset freeze and travel ban against el-Adly and the former housing and tourism ministers, who were among the unpopular millionaire businessmen who dominated the government Mubarak dissolved early Saturday.
In the capital on Thursday, a new wave of looting and arson began, after easing since the weekend. A fire raged in a major supermarket outside Sheikh Zayed, a suburb of the capital, and looters ransacked the building. A residential building neighboring a 5-star hotel on the Nile River corniche burned blocks away from Tahrir. Other fires erupted in the Cairo district of Shubra, north of the center, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The military and the security forces appeared to be doing little to stop the looting or the Tahrir clashes. In the interview, Suleiman said without elaborating that the police had "lost some of its capabilities" and that the army was struggling to fill the void.
Protesters accuse the regime and the ruling party of organizing a force of paid thugs and police in civilian clothes to attack them Wednesday afternoon, sparking the violence that raged until Thursday night.
The prime minister apologized for Wednesday's assault and acknowledged it may have been organized, though he said he didn't know by whom. Suleiman promised that Mubarak's son Gamal would not run in presidential elections in September. Before the protests, Mubarak was widely expected to try to pass his power to his son in a hereditary succession, despite significant public opposition.
Suleiman also offered to hold negotiations on the country's future even with the regime's biggest domestic enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood. But he also accused the Brotherhood of inciting the violence.
Mubarak's regime has long rejected any talks with the Brotherhood, which calls for an Islamic state in Egypt, and has arrested thousands of its members in the past. The Brotherhood is among the many disparate anti-Mubarak groups organizing the protests, though secular activists have so far dominated the movement. All have rejected any dialogue with the government before Mubarak steps down.
The government's latest concessions would have been stunning just two weeks ago. But on Thursday they were drowned out by the chaos.
"Hosni Mubarak's every breath is a lie," said Assem Moussa, a 40-year-old businessman among the protesters. "All the promises and the concessions are part of the lies. He is trying to deceive the people."
Moussa pulled a white cloth out of his pocket, saying, "This is my funeral shroud. If I die here, I will die for our freedom."
During Thursday's fighting, bands of Mubarak supporters moved through side streets around Tahrir, trading volleys of stone-throwing with the protesters and attacking cars to stop supplies from reaching the protest camp. One band stopped a car, ripped open the trunk and found boxes of juice, water and food, which they took before forcing the driver to flee.
Fighting centered on and below a highway overpass 500 yards (meters) north of Tahrir's center that regime supporters had used as high ground to pelt the crowds. Protesters swept over the bridge in stone-throwing battles.
At one point, a police truck barreled wildly through the crowds under the bridge, mowing down several people in its path, according to footage aired on Al-Jazeera. Heavy barrages of gunfire were heard from time to time.
The morning saw a brief attempt by the military to stop the fighting — its first since the melee started Wednesday. But the troops stood aside when clashes resumed in the afternoon, moving inside their tanks and armored vehicles without intervening.
The Mubarak backers seethed with anger at a protest movement that state TV and media have depicted as causing the chaos and paralyzing businesses and livelihoods.
"You in Tahrir are the reason we can't live a normal life," one screamed as he threw stones in a side street.
The anti-Mubarak youths posted sentries on the roofs and balconies of buildings around the square to raise the alert of any approaching attackers and rain stones on them. Other lookouts in the streets banged metal poles against pedestrian barriers alarm when they sighted incoming Mubarak backers.
One sentry waved his arms in the air like an airport runway traffic controller, directing defenders carrying piles of stones as ammunition to a side street to fend off an assault. But then another sentry waved a hand across his chest horizontally in a new signal. The crowd understood: false alarm, and they melted back into the square.
An exodus of foreigners, meanwhile, continued for another day with the U.N. evacuating much of its staff. The vice president said 1 million foreign tourists have fled the country, costing $1 billion in lost revenues from one of Egypt's most important industries.
New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
11:00pm, 4th Feb, 2011
Threatening gangs supporting President Hosni Mubarak attacked journalists and human rights activists Thursday in an ugly turn in Egypt's crisis as government opponents pushed supporters out of Cairo's main square in a second day of battles. Organizers called for protesters trying to overthrow the regime to fill every square in the capital on Friday.
The new vice-president widely considered the first successor Mubarak has ever designated, fueled anti-foreign sentiment by going on state television and blaming outsiders for fomenting unrest. The government has accused media outlets of being sympathetic to protesters who want the president to quit now rather than serve out his term, as he has vowed to do.
Mubarak, 82, told in an interview that he was fed up and wants to resign. But he said he can't, because of the fear that the country would sink into chaos. He said he was very unhappy about the two days of clashes in central Tahrir Square.
"I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other," he was quoted as saying.
The violence that had been concentrated in Tahrir spread around the city of 18 million, with a new wave of arson and looting.
Soldiers, mainly protecting government buildings and important institutions, remained passive as they have since replacing police on the streets almost a week ago. Few uniformed police have been seen around the city in that time, and protesters claim some of them have stripped off their uniforms and mixed in with the gangs of looting thugs.
"When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters," Vice President Omar Suleiman said on state television.
Pro-government mobs beat foreign journalists with sticks and fists Thursday. The Committee to Protect Journalists said 24 reporters were detained in 24 hours, including representatives of The Washington Post and The New York Times. Twenty-one journalists were assaulted, including two with Fox News.
One Greek journalist was stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver, and a photographer was punched in the face, his equipment smashed. The Arabic news network Al-Arabiya pleaded for the army to protect its offices and journalists, and Al-Jazeera said four of its journalists were attacked. The BBC's foreign editor said security forces had seized the network's equipment in a hotel to stop it broadcasting.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denounced reports of "systematic targeting" of journalists and the State Department described it as a "concerted campaign to intimidate."
"I think we need to be clear that the world is watching the actions that are taking place right now in Egypt," Gibbs said.
Human rights activists were also targeted. “Military police stormed the offices of an Egyptian rights group as activists were meeting, and arrested at least 30, including two from the London-based Amnesty International,” Amnesty spokesman Tom Mackey said. New York-based Human Rights Watch said one of its activists was also among those arrested.
Amnesty's secretary-general Salil Shetty demanded their immediate release saying they should be allowed "to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt at this crucial time without fear of harassment or detention."
Mubarak's top supporter, the United States, has pressed him to quickly transition to a democratic government but has said his earlier gestures, including forming a new government, were insufficient.
The crisis that began on Jan. 25 when protesters launched the biggest challenge ever to Mubarak's 30-year rule has grown death-defying. The day after Mubarak went on television late Tuesday and refused to step down, thousands of his supporters attacked anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square, where they had held a peaceful vigil for days.
The Mubarak supporters started fierce battles with firebombs, machetes and chunks of pavement that lasted throughout the night and all day Thursday.
After nightfall, the fighting died down with protesters' hold on the square and nearby streets unbroken. Nearly 10,000 remained, some dancing and singing in victory as others — worn out and bandaged — lay down exhausted to sleep or drank tea in the center of the rubble-strewn roundabout. Throughout the day, they gained in numbers and got supplies of food and medicine.
"Thank God, we managed to protect the whole area," said Abdul-Rahman, a taxi driver who was amongst thousands who stayed in the square through the night, hunkered down against the thousands besieging the entrances. "We prevented the pro-Mubarak people from storming the streets leading to the square." He refused to give his full name.
At least eight people have been killed and about 900 injured in the two days of fighting around Tahrir.
Many of the square's defenders had cotton padding and grubby bandages hanging from their faces, arms and legs. Others had chunks of rock stuck to their hair and clumps of dust in their beards. Many had the trimmed beards of Muslim conservatives, a sign of the Muslim Brotherhood's role in the fight. The Brotherhood is the country's largest opposition group but secular groups have led the protests.
Under a battering of international condemnation for Wednesday's assault on protesters by pro-Mubarak rioters, the government offered more concessions to the protesters, but that did nothing to calm the fury.
The anti-Mubarak movement has vowed to intensify protests to force the president out by Friday. The Facebook page that started the protest movement said supporters should gather at noon Friday on all Egyptian squares "so that we can put the last nail in the regime's coffin, and declare the victory of the Jan. 25 revolution." Friday is the weekend in Egypt and millions attend prayers at noon in thousands of mosques across the city.
Last Friday, there were fierce clashes between protesters and police after prayers. The hated police largely disappeared from the streets of Cairo after the clashes for reasons that remain mysterious. Mubarak, his new vice president and prime minister, all promised to get to the bottom of their disappearance.
The attorney-general indicated that the former interior minister, Habib el-Adly, who was in charge of the police force when they left the streets, is a suspect in the investigation. He ordered an asset freeze and travel ban against el-Adly and the former housing and tourism ministers, who were among the unpopular millionaire businessmen who dominated the government Mubarak dissolved early Saturday.
In the capital on Thursday, a new wave of looting and arson began, after easing since the weekend. A fire raged in a major supermarket outside Sheikh Zayed, a suburb of the capital, and looters ransacked the building. A residential building neighboring a 5-star hotel on the Nile River corniche burned blocks away from Tahrir. Other fires erupted in the Cairo district of Shubra, north of the center, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The military and the security forces appeared to be doing little to stop the looting or the Tahrir clashes. In the interview, Suleiman said without elaborating that the police had "lost some of its capabilities" and that the army was struggling to fill the void.
Protesters accuse the regime and the ruling party of organizing a force of paid thugs and police in civilian clothes to attack them Wednesday afternoon, sparking the violence that raged until Thursday night.
The prime minister apologized for Wednesday's assault and acknowledged it may have been organized, though he said he didn't know by whom. Suleiman promised that Mubarak's son Gamal would not run in presidential elections in September. Before the protests, Mubarak was widely expected to try to pass his power to his son in a hereditary succession, despite significant public opposition.
Suleiman also offered to hold negotiations on the country's future even with the regime's biggest domestic enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood. But he also accused the Brotherhood of inciting the violence.
Mubarak's regime has long rejected any talks with the Brotherhood, which calls for an Islamic state in Egypt, and has arrested thousands of its members in the past. The Brotherhood is among the many disparate anti-Mubarak groups organizing the protests, though secular activists have so far dominated the movement. All have rejected any dialogue with the government before Mubarak steps down.
The government's latest concessions would have been stunning just two weeks ago. But on Thursday they were drowned out by the chaos.
"Hosni Mubarak's every breath is a lie," said Assem Moussa, a 40-year-old businessman among the protesters. "All the promises and the concessions are part of the lies. He is trying to deceive the people."
Moussa pulled a white cloth out of his pocket, saying, "This is my funeral shroud. If I die here, I will die for our freedom."
During Thursday's fighting, bands of Mubarak supporters moved through side streets around Tahrir, trading volleys of stone-throwing with the protesters and attacking cars to stop supplies from reaching the protest camp. One band stopped a car, ripped open the trunk and found boxes of juice, water and food, which they took before forcing the driver to flee.
Fighting centered on and below a highway overpass 500 yards (meters) north of Tahrir's center that regime supporters had used as high ground to pelt the crowds. Protesters swept over the bridge in stone-throwing battles.
At one point, a police truck barreled wildly through the crowds under the bridge, mowing down several people in its path, according to footage aired on Al-Jazeera. Heavy barrages of gunfire were heard from time to time.
The morning saw a brief attempt by the military to stop the fighting — its first since the melee started Wednesday. But the troops stood aside when clashes resumed in the afternoon, moving inside their tanks and armored vehicles without intervening.
The Mubarak backers seethed with anger at a protest movement that state TV and media have depicted as causing the chaos and paralyzing businesses and livelihoods.
"You in Tahrir are the reason we can't live a normal life," one screamed as he threw stones in a side street.
The anti-Mubarak youths posted sentries on the roofs and balconies of buildings around the square to raise the alert of any approaching attackers and rain stones on them. Other lookouts in the streets banged metal poles against pedestrian barriers alarm when they sighted incoming Mubarak backers.
One sentry waved his arms in the air like an airport runway traffic controller, directing defenders carrying piles of stones as ammunition to a side street to fend off an assault. But then another sentry waved a hand across his chest horizontally in a new signal. The crowd understood: false alarm, and they melted back into the square.
An exodus of foreigners, meanwhile, continued for another day with the U.N. evacuating much of its staff. The vice president said 1 million foreign tourists have fled the country, costing $1 billion in lost revenues from one of Egypt's most important industries.
Thursday, February 3
Katrina spends night with Ranbir
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
08:10pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor's secret affair is finally out in the open, thereby establishing the lady's fall out with Salman Khan.
Katrina and Ranbir were amongst the guests who attended Karan Johar's party at Hotel Four Season's in Mumbai on Tuesday night. The party got over late but for Ranbir and Kat it continued till the wee hours of morning.
The two stars left from the venue in their respective cars but reached the same destination - Ranbir's Bandra residence. The THT photographer, who was following both the cars, saw Kat's car parked in Ranbir's garage. We also hear that Kat didn't leave till as late at 7am in the morning.
Just a few days back, there were reports floating about Ranbir spending the night at Katrina's residence very often. It was also reported that Ranbir was at Kat's house the night before the IT raid took place. Unlike Shahid, who was present at Priyanka's house the same day during the raids, Ranbir was just lucky enough to leave Kat's house before officials knocked on the door.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
08:10pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor's secret affair is finally out in the open, thereby establishing the lady's fall out with Salman Khan.
Katrina and Ranbir were amongst the guests who attended Karan Johar's party at Hotel Four Season's in Mumbai on Tuesday night. The party got over late but for Ranbir and Kat it continued till the wee hours of morning.
The two stars left from the venue in their respective cars but reached the same destination - Ranbir's Bandra residence. The THT photographer, who was following both the cars, saw Kat's car parked in Ranbir's garage. We also hear that Kat didn't leave till as late at 7am in the morning.
Just a few days back, there were reports floating about Ranbir spending the night at Katrina's residence very often. It was also reported that Ranbir was at Kat's house the night before the IT raid took place. Unlike Shahid, who was present at Priyanka's house the same day during the raids, Ranbir was just lucky enough to leave Kat's house before officials knocked on the door.
Tourist arrival up in January
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
08:00pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Tourist arrivals via air increased by 26.2 percent this month compared to the same period last year, according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
Quoting Tribhuvan International Immigration Office, NTB said the number of tourists visiting Nepal in January reached 32,914 from last year's 26,071.
Of the total arrivals in last month, 9,813 tourists visited Nepal from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Similarly, arrivals from China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand increased by 366 percent, reaching 9,416 from 6,895 according to NTB.
Likewise, arrivals from 16 European countries, including Denmark, the UK, Austria, Belgium, France, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel and Italy, saw an increase by 14.6 percent and reached 6,434.
NTB said that 1,196 tourists came from Australia and New Zealand and 3,098 from USA and Canada. The remaining 2,957 tourists visited Nepal from other countries, it said.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
08:00pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Tourist arrivals via air increased by 26.2 percent this month compared to the same period last year, according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
Quoting Tribhuvan International Immigration Office, NTB said the number of tourists visiting Nepal in January reached 32,914 from last year's 26,071.
Of the total arrivals in last month, 9,813 tourists visited Nepal from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Similarly, arrivals from China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand increased by 366 percent, reaching 9,416 from 6,895 according to NTB.
Likewise, arrivals from 16 European countries, including Denmark, the UK, Austria, Belgium, France, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel and Italy, saw an increase by 14.6 percent and reached 6,434.
NTB said that 1,196 tourists came from Australia and New Zealand and 3,098 from USA and Canada. The remaining 2,957 tourists visited Nepal from other countries, it said.
Teen kills leopard, saves mother
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Lalitpur
07:40pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Phurba Tamang (14) of Chaurikharka-8 today killed a leopard and saved the life of her mother, Sommaya.
Recounting her experience, the girl said she hit the animal, which was in the pen, on its head with a chop of firewood after it attacked her mother.
“I hit the animal on its head till it stopped attacking my my mother. And when it fell on the ground, I hit it with the firewood till it died,” said Phurba.
After killing the animal, Phurba called the neighbours to rush her mother to hospital. Sommaya is receiving treatment at Lukla Hospital. The dead adult leopard was handed over to Sagarmatha National Park officials. Game scout of the park, Padam Rai, said the leopard was buried in the presence of police and locals. Rai said no action will be taken against Tamang as she had killed the animal in self-defence.
Kalimati, Lalitpur
07:40pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Phurba Tamang (14) of Chaurikharka-8 today killed a leopard and saved the life of her mother, Sommaya.
Recounting her experience, the girl said she hit the animal, which was in the pen, on its head with a chop of firewood after it attacked her mother.
“I hit the animal on its head till it stopped attacking my my mother. And when it fell on the ground, I hit it with the firewood till it died,” said Phurba.
After killing the animal, Phurba called the neighbours to rush her mother to hospital. Sommaya is receiving treatment at Lukla Hospital. The dead adult leopard was handed over to Sagarmatha National Park officials. Game scout of the park, Padam Rai, said the leopard was buried in the presence of police and locals. Rai said no action will be taken against Tamang as she had killed the animal in self-defence.
1,500-year-old church found in Israel
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
07:25pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Israeli archaeologists presented a newly uncovered 1,500-year-old church in the Judean hills on Wednesday, including an unusually well-preserved mosaic floor with images of lions, foxes, fish and peacocks.
The intricate church located southwest of Jerusalem, excavated over the last two months, will be visible only for another week before archaeologists cover it again with soil for its own protection.
The small cathedral with a delicately decorated floor was active between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D., said the dig's leader, Amir Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. He said the floor was "one of the most beautiful mosaics to be uncovered in Israel in recent years."
"It is unique in its craftsmanship and level of preservation," he said.
Archaeologists began digging at the site, known as Hirbet Madras, in December. The Antiquities Authority discovered several months earlier that antiquities thieves had begun preying the ruins, which sit on an uninhabited hill not far from an Israeli farming community.
Though an initial survey suggested the building was a synagogue, the excavation revealed stones carved with crosses, identifying it as a church. The building had been built atop another structure around 500 years older, dating to Roman times, when scholars believe the settlement was inhabited by Jews.
Hewn into the rock underneath that structure is a network of tunnels that archaeologists believe were used by Jewish rebels fighting Roman armies in the second century A.D.
Stone steps lead down from the floor of church to a small burial cave, which scholars suggest might have been venerated as the burial place of the Old Testament prophet Zecharia.
Ganor said the church would remain covered until funding was obtained to open it as a tourist site.
Israel boasts an exceptionally high concentration of archaeological sites, including Crusader, Islamic, Byzantine, Roman, ancient Jewish and prehistoric ruins.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
07:25pm, 3rd Feb, 2011
Israeli archaeologists presented a newly uncovered 1,500-year-old church in the Judean hills on Wednesday, including an unusually well-preserved mosaic floor with images of lions, foxes, fish and peacocks.
The intricate church located southwest of Jerusalem, excavated over the last two months, will be visible only for another week before archaeologists cover it again with soil for its own protection.
The small cathedral with a delicately decorated floor was active between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D., said the dig's leader, Amir Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. He said the floor was "one of the most beautiful mosaics to be uncovered in Israel in recent years."
"It is unique in its craftsmanship and level of preservation," he said.
Archaeologists began digging at the site, known as Hirbet Madras, in December. The Antiquities Authority discovered several months earlier that antiquities thieves had begun preying the ruins, which sit on an uninhabited hill not far from an Israeli farming community.
Though an initial survey suggested the building was a synagogue, the excavation revealed stones carved with crosses, identifying it as a church. The building had been built atop another structure around 500 years older, dating to Roman times, when scholars believe the settlement was inhabited by Jews.
Hewn into the rock underneath that structure is a network of tunnels that archaeologists believe were used by Jewish rebels fighting Roman armies in the second century A.D.
Stone steps lead down from the floor of church to a small burial cave, which scholars suggest might have been venerated as the burial place of the Old Testament prophet Zecharia.
Ganor said the church would remain covered until funding was obtained to open it as a tourist site.
Israel boasts an exceptionally high concentration of archaeological sites, including Crusader, Islamic, Byzantine, Roman, ancient Jewish and prehistoric ruins.
700-year-old relics found in Dang
Sadichhya Shakya
kumaripati,lalitpur
About 700-year-ancient structures have been found while undertaking primary dig of relics of the palace of Tharu King Dangisharan.
The Department of Archeology has been carrying out investigation into the King Dangisharan´s palace in Urahari Village Development Committee (VDC)-9, Sukauri of Dang.
A team of the Department headed by Chief Archeology Officer Uddab Acharya has started digging in the area from last Saturday.
Around 700-year-old building structures and other materials are found in the course of primary excavation, informed the persons involved in the investigation.
According to archeologist Acharya, mud-made pots and traditional structure constructed with the use of brick have been found from the palace of King Dangisharan.
Though the archeologists involved in the investigation speculate that the structures found are that of 700 years ancient, it takes some days to verify this.
kumaripati,lalitpur
About 700-year-ancient structures have been found while undertaking primary dig of relics of the palace of Tharu King Dangisharan.
The Department of Archeology has been carrying out investigation into the King Dangisharan´s palace in Urahari Village Development Committee (VDC)-9, Sukauri of Dang.
A team of the Department headed by Chief Archeology Officer Uddab Acharya has started digging in the area from last Saturday.
Around 700-year-old building structures and other materials are found in the course of primary excavation, informed the persons involved in the investigation.
According to archeologist Acharya, mud-made pots and traditional structure constructed with the use of brick have been found from the palace of King Dangisharan.
Though the archeologists involved in the investigation speculate that the structures found are that of 700 years ancient, it takes some days to verify this.
Wednesday, February 2
Foreigners leave Egypt in the middle of mass protests
Hrishita Deo
Kalimati, Kathmandu
10:35pm, 2nd Feb, 2011
Foreign governments pulled their nationals from Egypt in the middle of massive anti-government protests shaking the Arab nation as Washington ordered non-essential embassy staff there to leave.
In London, Foreign Secretary William Hague announced Britain was sending chartered aircraft to Cairo on Wednesday to bring back citizens who wished to leave. Hague told parliament, “I’ll send further flights too, if we see a need to do so.”
Hague later said that while there were a sufficient number of commercial flights between Egypt and Britain, he wanted to give the estimated 2,000 British nationals in Cairo every opportunity to leave if they wished.
Meanwhile, British tour operators offered a series of promotions on holidays in Egypt's Red Sea resorts which reportedly remain relatively calm and popular with holidaymakers despite unrest elsewhere in the country. But Germany widened its travel warning to include all of Egypt including the Red Sea tourist resorts.
Germany's foreign ministry "urgently warns against travelling to anywhere in Egypt in view of recent developments and the unstable situation," a statement said. The statement further says, "This advice also applies to the tourist resorts of the Red Sea, even if the situation is calm there at present."
Following the announcement, Germany's DRV travel federation announced that tour operators were cancelling their trips to Egypt until mid-February.
In Athens, the Greek foreign ministry said it had evacuated by air, 155 nationals living in the Egyptian seaside city of Alexandria. “The first of three chartered flights carrying Greek expatriates landed at Athens international airport around 1500 GMT, followed by two others,” said the foreign ministry.
Austria also started evacuating hundreds of its citizens from Egypt overnight, the foreign ministry said. An Austrian Airlines flight commissioned by the ministry landed shortly after midnight in Vienna with 138 passengers on board. A plane from the Austrian army followed Tuesday morning with 66 travelers, the ministry said.
Algeria said it would begin to send back its nationals on Wednesday. “Two Air Algeria flights would be accommodated for those wanting to leave on Wednesday and Thursday,” the Algerian Foreign Ministry said.
The jitters stretched as far as Asia, where Taiwan announced it had chartered a plane to evacuate 129 people from Egypt, and Hong Kong security officials said they were working on getting their own tourists home as soon as possible.
"The government is working closely with the (Chinese) embassy on a suitable and safe arrangement for their departure from Egypt as soon as possible," Lai Tung-kwok, Hong Kong's undersecretary for security, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the United States ordered the departure of all non-emergency US government staff from Egypt. "The Department of State will continue to facilitate the evacuation of US citizens who require assistance," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in announcing the move. He said the departure of all non-emergency US government personnel was ordered "in light of recent events."
Rabat also said it would send back some 300 Moroccans aboard two flights. The pullouts come as hundreds of thousands of protesters in Cairo and Alexandria demanded the expulsion of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Kalimati, Kathmandu
10:35pm, 2nd Feb, 2011
Foreign governments pulled their nationals from Egypt in the middle of massive anti-government protests shaking the Arab nation as Washington ordered non-essential embassy staff there to leave.
In London, Foreign Secretary William Hague announced Britain was sending chartered aircraft to Cairo on Wednesday to bring back citizens who wished to leave. Hague told parliament, “I’ll send further flights too, if we see a need to do so.”
Hague later said that while there were a sufficient number of commercial flights between Egypt and Britain, he wanted to give the estimated 2,000 British nationals in Cairo every opportunity to leave if they wished.
Meanwhile, British tour operators offered a series of promotions on holidays in Egypt's Red Sea resorts which reportedly remain relatively calm and popular with holidaymakers despite unrest elsewhere in the country. But Germany widened its travel warning to include all of Egypt including the Red Sea tourist resorts.
Germany's foreign ministry "urgently warns against travelling to anywhere in Egypt in view of recent developments and the unstable situation," a statement said. The statement further says, "This advice also applies to the tourist resorts of the Red Sea, even if the situation is calm there at present."
Following the announcement, Germany's DRV travel federation announced that tour operators were cancelling their trips to Egypt until mid-February.
In Athens, the Greek foreign ministry said it had evacuated by air, 155 nationals living in the Egyptian seaside city of Alexandria. “The first of three chartered flights carrying Greek expatriates landed at Athens international airport around 1500 GMT, followed by two others,” said the foreign ministry.
Austria also started evacuating hundreds of its citizens from Egypt overnight, the foreign ministry said. An Austrian Airlines flight commissioned by the ministry landed shortly after midnight in Vienna with 138 passengers on board. A plane from the Austrian army followed Tuesday morning with 66 travelers, the ministry said.
Algeria said it would begin to send back its nationals on Wednesday. “Two Air Algeria flights would be accommodated for those wanting to leave on Wednesday and Thursday,” the Algerian Foreign Ministry said.
The jitters stretched as far as Asia, where Taiwan announced it had chartered a plane to evacuate 129 people from Egypt, and Hong Kong security officials said they were working on getting their own tourists home as soon as possible.
"The government is working closely with the (Chinese) embassy on a suitable and safe arrangement for their departure from Egypt as soon as possible," Lai Tung-kwok, Hong Kong's undersecretary for security, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the United States ordered the departure of all non-emergency US government staff from Egypt. "The Department of State will continue to facilitate the evacuation of US citizens who require assistance," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in announcing the move. He said the departure of all non-emergency US government personnel was ordered "in light of recent events."
Rabat also said it would send back some 300 Moroccans aboard two flights. The pullouts come as hundreds of thousands of protesters in Cairo and Alexandria demanded the expulsion of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
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