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The world's biggest animal sacrifice got under way in Nepal today with the killing of the first of more than 250,000 animals as part of a Hindu festival in the village of Biriyapur, near the Indian border. * * * In the main event, 250 appointed locals with traditional kukri knives began their task of decapitating more than 10,000 buffalo in a dusty enclosure guarded by high walls and armed police. Frightened calves galloped around in vain as the men, wearing red bandanas and armbands, pursued them and chopped off their heads. Banned from entering the animal pen, hundreds of...

More Than 200,000 Animals Slaughtered at Nepal Sacrifice Festival November 24, 2009 Nov. 24: A butcher prepares to slaughter a buffalo with his knife during a mass sacrifice ceremony at Gadhimai temple in Bariyapur, Nepal. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday for a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than 200,000 animals, a festival that has drawn the ire of animal-welfare protesters. A Nepalese minister said it was the largest sacrificial slaughter of animals in the world. Animal rights groups and activists including the actress Brigitte Bardot have condemned the event, which...

UP to a million Hindu devotees have gathered in a village in Nepal to witness the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals in a mass sacrifice that has drawn widespread criticism. Worshippers travelled long distances, many coming from India, to attend the two-day Gadhimai festival, which honours the Hindu goddess of power and takes place once every five years in southern Nepal. A huge cry of "Long Live Gadhimai!" went up after the village temple's head priest launched the event with the ritual sacrifice of two wild rats, two pigeons, a rooster, a lamb and a pig. The crowd...

A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a  village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy.

About 200 women marched through the Nepali capital Monday to denounce a government scheme to pay cash incentives to men for marrying widows, witnesses said. Nepal's center-left coalition announced a plan last month to pay men the equivalent of $650 for marrying widows, angering the widows. Monday, women shouting slogans such as "You can't sell your mother," and "We don't want government dowries," marched toward a government complex that houses the prime minister's office. (snip) But Neupane said it would only add to their woes as men would marry widows for money and later abandon them. Widows, she said, should...

The interior of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Kathmandu Rome, Italy, Jul 16, 2009 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- Following the recent bomb attack on the Cathedral of the Assumption, which was attributed to the Hindu group Nepal Defense Army, extremists are now threatening priests and religious in Nepal with death if they do not leave the country “within one month.” The Apostolic Vicar of Nepal, Bishop Anthony Francis Sharma, said the threats were made to the associate vicar, Father Pius Perumana.  L’Osservatore Romano reported that the police have beefed up security at the diocesan chancery in Godavari, where Father...

A leading mountaineering official on Tuesday urged Nepal to reduce climbing fees for Mount Everest and other mountains during the peak climbing season, to lure climbers back from Tibet where mountaineering is cheaper. Tourists are returning to Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries with largely aid-and tourism-dependent economy, after the Himalayan republic emerged from a long civil war in 2006. Climbing is one of the most popular tourist pastimes but Ang Tshering Sherpa, chief of the Union of Asian Alpine Associations, an umbrella body of 26 alpine groups, said overcharging was driving climbers across the border to Tibet. "The...

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: India Urgent Security Concerns CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS South / Central Asia - India 2 Jun 2009 U.S. Embassy New Delhi released the following warden Message on June 2: The United States Mission in India wishes to urgently remind all U.S. citizens resident in or traveling to India that there is a high threat from terrorism throughout India. As terror attacks are a serious and growing threat, U.S. citizens are urged to always practice good security, including maintaining a heightened...

Kathmandu: After obstructing parliament for three weeks, Nepal's Maoist party finally allowed the house to convene Friday with caretaker Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda making an impassioned valedictory address, in which he blamed neighbour India, Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav, his allies and the army chief, Gen Rookmangud Katawal and warned of a catastrophe in the days to come. The address paves the way for an election Saturday when the 601-member house will choose a new prime minister to succeed Prachanda. Unless there is a major hitch, veteran communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, former chief of the Communist Party...

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- Like many Nepalese guides, Apa Sherpa started trekking to the top of Mount Everest in the shadow of more famous climbers -- including the son of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb to the top of the world's tallest peak. But the 49-year-old Nepali -- who now lives in the United States -- on Thursday morning became the only person in the world to summit Everest 19 times. Apa says his goals in climbing the 29,029-foot (8,848-meter) mountain have nothing to do with setting the world record for Everest summits, a title...

India is walking a diplomatic tightrope as Nepal tries to form a new government, aware that excessive meddling in its traditional "backyard" could risk pushing the fragile Himalayan democracy closer to China. India has always seen Nepal as part of its strategic sphere of influence, but that has been challenged in the past year since the election of Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda, who before he resigned last week had edged closer to Beijing. Former guerrilla leader Prachanda quit on Monday after his dismissal of the army chief was blocked, sparking a political crisis and dealing a blow to Nepal's peace...

So the chairman of Nepal's Maoist radicals brags that he and his fellow-travellers tricked United Nations officials and admits that the 2006 peace deal was a sham - and gets caught on videotape doing it. The video of the recently resigned Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, was shot in January 2008 and just surfaced.

KATHMANDU: Battling for the removal of the controversial army chief, Gen Rookmangud Katawal, and his defender, President Ram Baran Yadav, Nepal's Maoist party walked into an ambush when an embarrassing video tape showed Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda boasting his guerrilla troops' number had been five-fold inflated during a UN count. In the same video, aired by Nepal's gleeful public television stations on Tuesday night, he was also shown as making scathing remarks about "reactionary" India and the US, saying that if they scented the constituent assembly election would lead to a Maoist victory, they would never allow...

The Maoist government of Nepal has collapsed after a failed attempt to remove the country's right-wing army chief. The cabinet bid to sack Gen Rookmangud Katawal prompted the second largest party, the centrist UML, to resign from the ruling coalition. The Himalayan country is emerging from a 10 year civil war which ended with a ceasefire in 2006. Last year the former Maoist rebels won national elections and formed a coalition government. But the peace process is now stuck on the issue that sparked the latest crisis – the integration of former Maoist fighters into the traditionally conservative national army....

Nepal has organized a program to mark its first person to scale the highest mountains in all the seven continents across the world. According to Sunday's The Rising Nepal, Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subash Chandra Nemwang said that the achievements of Lakpa Rita Sherpa, who scaled the highest mountains in all the seven continents across the world, were a matter of pride for all the Nepalese. Nemwang made this remark at a program here on Saturday organized to felicitate Sherpa's achievements. Lauding mountain guide and climber Sherpa for his feats, Nemwang said "The Sherpas have made significant contributions in...

Kathmandu: A sort of political blizzard is likely to overwhelm Nepal soon. Destructive politics appear to have already taken a shape which awaits only its formalization in a week or so. The frenzied play that is being played in the dim corners of Kathmandu backed by some alien forces in the South will, if it does happen, apparently be very hard to be tackled by the ruling Maoists-the party in government. Exactly after a lapse of three years four months (minus 12 days to be more precise), such a destructive political play is being staged by forces that are visibly...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A former Maoist rebel commander said on Tuesday the group plans to recruit thousands of fighters, a move seen as a blow to peace that underlined serious tensions between Nepal's army and the Maoists. Nanda Kishore Pun, chief of the Maoist fighters, told Reuters it was the ex-rebel group's turn to fill vacancies in their ranks after Nepal's national army recruited 2,800 personnel last year. The move could endanger a 2006 peace pact that ended a decades-long civil war and saw the Maoists joining the political process, winning an election last year, analysts said. "It is a...

Kathmandu, Feb 11 (PTI) Nepal's ruling Maoists, who joined the mainstream politics over two years ago after giving up arms, may be taken off a terrorism blacklist of the US, top American diplomat Richard Boucher told Premier Prachanda here today. Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs who is here on a two-day visit, assured Prachanda of continued US support to the Maoist-led government during a meeting between them. He discussed with Prachanda issues relating to political situation in Nepal, the peace process, army integration, Constitution drafting and economic cooperation, according to Prime Minister's...

Nepal government is taking all the possible steps to save other regions of Nepal from falling prey to deadly bird flu. Mechinagar has been declared emergency region where birds were found affected with deadly H5N1 virus. Districts close to the affected areas, including Morang and Chitawan have been issued notices regarding risk of spread of bird flu. Prabhakar Pathak, chief of the department of livestock services in Kathmandu informed that about 13,000 poultry would be culled in five days to control the virus within a 3 km radius of the town, and the government would pay up to $5 for...

A female journalist who reported on women's rights and spoke out against the dowry system in southern Nepal was killed by a group of attackers, an official said Monday.

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Maoists Prime Minister Prachanda faced public ire when a group of students greeted him with black flags and pelted stones on his convoy as he was on his way to Tribhvuan University to attend a function. The students got agitated when security personnel stopped them from handing over a memorandum to the Prime Minister and they indulge in stone throwing. Prachanda escaped unhurt, security officials said. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Nepal's opposition party's youth wing yesterday organised an anti-Maoist rally in 16 districts, across the country to oppose the ruling party's totalitarian policy and attacks on media...

Nepal's first Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” is expected to visit Beijing early next year, marking an unprecedented bonhomie in Nepal-China ties. It would be his second visit to the communist republic within six months of assuming visit, a diplomatic feat unparalleled by any of his predecessors. The invitation came on Wednesday from visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who along with a 10-member delegation held talks with Prachanda and Nepal’s Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav. Soon after he leaves Kathmandu for Myanmar Thursday, a military delegation from China will arrive Saturday, the second such delegation within a fortnight....

The former rebels plan to put all children in public schools by 2010, saying it will even the playing field. Kathmandu, Nepal - The massive election win last April by Nepal's former rebel Maoists put them in the position to set the government agenda, and bring about drastic changes they promised during their campaign. But their initial proposals on education – to end private investment in schools and distribute academic certificates to Maoist fighters – have left many Nepalese worried. They're concerned that their new government will take the country in too radical a direction that favors its former fighters...

RATANPUR, Nepal — The teenage boy revered as a reincarnation of Buddha sat silently in the jungle as he blessed his devotees Wednesday with a light tap on the head, which they consider the touch of the divine. The followers of Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, believe he has been meditating without food and water since he was first spotted in the jungles of southern Nepal in 2005, when believers say he spent months without moving, sitting with his eyes closed beneath a tree. Where is your Obama now ...

The proverb—Every dog has his day — literally came true on Monday when people in Nepal, the world's last Hindu nation, worshipped their dogs with utmost devotion. Despite the transformation of Nepal into a “secular nation”, people did not forget to worship their dogs on the day of Kukur Tihar, and protect their families from destruction. The festival is also known as Narak Chaturdashi. Big red tikas — a paste of vermilion, curd and rice — were put on dogs' foreheads and were garlanded. “It (Kukur Tihar) is a very important festival in our society, and there cannot be any...

KATHMANDU (AFP) – A team of Japanese adventurers say they have discovered footprints they believe were made by the legendary yeti said to roam the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. "The footprints were about 20 centimetres (eight inches) long and looked like a human's," Yoshiteru Takahashi, the leader of the Yeti Project Japan, told AFP in Kathmandu on Monday. Takahashi was speaking after he returned with his seven-member team from their third attempt to track down the half-man-half-ape, tales of which have gripped the imaginations of Western adventurers and mountaineers for decades. Despite spending 42 days on Dhaulagiri IV...

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, assured New Delhi during his official visit to India September 14-18 that that his government would not play strategic games between India and China. But his defence minister preached the opposite after returning from a visit to China in the last week of September. A elated Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal told the CPN (Maoist) periodical, The Janadisha Weekly aboutthe support China was prepared extend to Nepal in the military field. Thapa is the ex-Deputy Commander of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA-M), and one of the leading voices from the...

The three-year-old daughter of a Nepalese watch repairer became a "living goddess" on Tuesday after being approved by the country's new atheist government. Despite Nepal being a Maoist republic after the monarchy was unseated in May, the centuries-old tradition of worshipping a young virgin as the living embodiment of a powerful Hindu goddess has survived. "Matina Shakya was chosen after consultation with Buddhist priests, community leaders and officials who will look after her," said Achyut Pokharel, a member of the government-run trust that maintains the tradition. "She became Royal Kumari after a series of pujas (religious ceremonies) on Tuesday at...

The debt we owe the Gurkhas Lance Corporal Ram Bahadur Limbu won his Victoria Cross in a mostly forgotten war, the Indonesian Confrontation, in Borneo in 1965. First, he charged a machine-gun nest, knocking it out with a hand grenade. Then he made two forays into open ground to rescue wounded comrades, and another to retrieve a Bren gun. He used it to charge down and kill what was left of the enemy. When I decided to look up Lance Corporal Limbu a few years ago, it was a simple matter to find him – I just went to his...

Kathmandu: Thousands of Tibetan children and their families face stiff punishment at the hands of the Chinese government for enrolling into schools in India that are run by the Tibetan government in exile, headed by their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a rights body said. The Washington-headquartered International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has expressed its misgivings as the ultimatum issued by the Communist Party of China authorities to the Tibetan Party and government workers expired last week. In July, Communist Party authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region had issued a directive stating that Tibetan children must confess if they have...

Kathmandu, Aug 24 (PTI) Maoist leader Prachanda's first foreign trip as Prime Minster to Beijing has sparked a row in Nepal, with the opposition Nepali Congress questioning his visit to China ahead of India, which had "invited him first". Prachanda's five-day official visit to Beijing is in a sharp departure from tradition where India has been the first port of call for most previous Nepalese prime ministers. Nepali Congress general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi criticised the newly-elected Prime Minister for visiting China to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics at a time when thousands of people have been rendered...

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who led a revolutionary insurrection that claimed 13,000 lives over 10 years, was elected prime minister of Nepal on Friday night, becoming the first Maoist to lead a democratic government. The election of Mr Dahal – who used the nom de guerre Comrade Prachanda (”the Fierce One”) – follows four months of political wrangling as the Maoists struggled to garner sufficient support from other parties to form a government, and even gave up at one point after their rivals united to elect a president opposed by the party. Dahal, 53, led his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)...

Kathmandu, June 23: The CPN (Maoist) has decided to launch a 'people's struggle' to settle the constitutional crisis in Nepal, after charging the Nepali Congress (NC) of intentionally delayed the formation of the next government. According to Kantipur, the Maoists took the decision as a meeting of Seven Party Alliance (SPA), held at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's residence on Sunday failed to reach consensus over the structure of Security Council, including a few issues on integration of armies-Nepali Army (NA) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the Nepali Congress doesn't want...

Nepal's former Maoist guerrillas have indicated a sudden shift in their position on the deployment of the UN in the thorny peace process, saying the world body could be asked to stay on even after its tenure ended next month. "The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) will be needed as long as there are two armies in Nepal," Maoist deputy chief Baburam Bhattarai said. UNMIN was sent in by then UN secretary general Kofi Annan when both the Maoists and the other major parties asked for arms monitors to keep watch over the barracks and weapons of the Nepal Army...

While the contentious issue of power sharing continues to vex Nepali politics, leading many to fear a new round of political turmoil in the country, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has expressed his eagerness to soon visit China where he wished to visit the village of "the great helmsman", Chairman Mao, and "get some more inspiration". In an interview to a correspondent of China Daily at his residence in Buddhanagar Thursday, the Maoist chairman said he hoped to visit China soon. "When our communication minister was there (in China) he was instructed to prepare for my visit. I hope...

KATHMANDU: Before making his final exit from the Narayanhity palace, Nepal’s dethroned king Gyanendra held his maiden press conference in the palace in whichhe defended himself and his family against several dark allegations, the darkest being that he had engineered the murder of his elder brother Birendra and the latter’s entire family in 2001 so that he could ascend the snake throne of Nepal. “At a time the nation and the royal family were plunged in grief, the allegations were part of the war strategy by certain quarters to malign me and my family,” the 61-year-old said. “I was not...

Nepal celebrates as former king evicted from palace By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent Last Updated: 11:16PM BST 11/06/2008 Nepal's former king has been evicted from his palace as his former subjects revelled in the loss of his dignity and the opening of his secrets. Gyanendra loses his £1.5 million annual allowance and 600 staff The country was declared a republic two weeks ago and Gyanendra – now Mr Shah – was told to pack his bags and leave. In his final public act before leaving the palace, he addressed the nation on television. "I have assisted in and...

Less than a week into a republic, Nepal stands on the verge of fresh political chaos once again with the Maoists Tuesday asking prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala to quit within 24 hours or face their pullout from the coalition government as well as a new street movement. Maoist supremo Prachanda and his deputy Dr Baburam Bhattarai met the premier Tuesday to remind him that as the largest party in the newly elected constituent assembly, their party had the "people's mandate" to head the next government. Sources said the two leaders had also talked tough about power-sharing, refusing to budge...

Kathmandu, May 31 (PTI) Maoist chairman Prachanda, who is set to lead the next Nepal government, has warned the media of "serious consequences" if it continues to criticise the party, a move flayed by the country's apex journalists' body. "We will no longer tolerate criticism as we have already been elected by the people," he said addressing a rally here to celebrate the country's transition to a republic. Targeting the Kantipur publication that brings out the largest circulated dailies Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, the former rebel leader said, "You journalists did well to continuously criticise the Maoists before the...

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Wednesday scripted a new chapter in its turbulent history as the new constituent assembly abolished the 240-year-old monarchy and declared the country a "secular, federal democratic republic". The 601-member assembly met at the Birendra International Convention Centre on Wednesday evening where a motion was passed to declare the country the world's newest republic. After a series of meetings, the Seven Party Alliance agreed to table the motion of republic in the first meeting of the constituent assembly, dominated by Maoists. Out of 601 members of the constituent assembly, 572 were present during Wednesday's meeting. The motion to...

New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) The Maoists in Nepal do not favour an “open border” with India and want the unregulated cross-border movement to be reviewed. Baburam Bhattarai, the second most important leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), has said in an interview with an Indian monthly magazine “Hardnews” that the current arrangement to have “open borders” that are “unregulated” is not to the advantage of either country. “Open border is not a big advantage, not even to India,” Bhattarai told the magazine. He said the current arrangement was mostly misused by big smuggling networks. Large number of...

Excerpt - KATHMANDU, May 27 (Reuters) - The Nepali government warned on Tuesday that it could use force to throw unpopular King Gyanendra out of the royal palace if he refuses to leave voluntarily after the 239-year-old monarchy is abolished. A special assembly elected in April is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Wednesday and formally declare an end to the monarchy, a key part of a 2006 peace deal with Maoist former rebels that ended a decade-long civil war. "The king must leave the palace immediately and move to the Nirmal Niwas," Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra...

Bagdogra (PTI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday hoped that Nepalese political parties involved in the electoral process have an obligation to make a success of the "democratic experiment" and extended India's support to the exercise. "We feel that all political parties which took part in the elections have an obligation to make a success of this democratic experiment," Singh said in an interaction with reporters here after concluding the "most successful" visit to Bhutan. On Maoists forming the next government in Nepal, the Prime Minister said that India has been in touch with the leadership of the erstwhile Maoist...

Nepalese police have arrested some 560 Tibetan women, including many Buddhist nuns, after breaking up demonstrations against China's crackdown in Tibet. In the first example of all-women protests, three rallies in Kathmandu were quickly stopped by police. It was the biggest round-up since Tibetan exiles began near daily demonstrations in March. Protestors wearing black armbands wept and shouted "We want free Tibet" as they were dragged to police vans. Police said those detained were being held in detention centres around the capital, and would be freed later.

The authorities in Nepal are closing Everest Base Camp completely to foreigners not intending to climb the world's highest peak. They are doing this because China is worried demonstrators might disrupt their project to bring the Olympic torch up the mountain. China is seeking to bring the torch up any day now, when weather permits. Meanwhile, scores of Tibetan exiles have been arrested while demonstrating in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. Many amateur trekkers come to Nepal with Everest Base Camp as their ultimate goal. The husbands and wives of summiteers stay in the camp before their spouses go on up....

The leader of Nepal's Maoists has said that his party's recent election victory is a sign of the global resurgence of communism. But Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, stressed his party believed in retaining multi-party competition. Prachanda has made it clear that he wants to become the first president of a Nepalese republic. The Maoists won twice as many seats as their nearest rivals in last month's polls for a constitutional assembly. Investment priorities Prachanda's comments are a reminder of the extraordinary way in which Nepal has contradicted the world's move away from communism in the past...

Since 2005, Prachanda, the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), has become a lovable mascot of India's liberal elite. They see nothing but positive in him. His pre-2005 record has been forgotten -- the brutal massacre of innocent civilians in different parts of Nepal by the well-trained, well-armed and well-motivated insurgent army raised by him, his contacts with the Shining Path guerillas of Peru, his role in helping the Maoists in India, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, his fulminations against India, particularly against the Indian Army, his devotion to Mao Zedong's thoughts, his raising of his insurgent army with...

Ultimately, Maoists in Nepal have proved in the elections to the Constituent Assembly that power flows from the barrel of the gun. It must be noted that the strength of Royal Nepal Army is 20,000 as against much superior numerical strength of armed Maoists guerrillas and the quality of their arms. The recent elections in Nepal were peaceful but not free from fear. For a decade, the people of Nepal have suffered non-governmental conscription of innocent young boys and girls. Those who were resourceful escaped conscription of their wards. A few years back I wrote about my personal experience. A...

THEY are famed for their ferocity in battle and their loyalty to Britain, which they have served for almost 200 years – in some cases laying down their lives. But the tradition of Gurkha soldiers being an integral part of the UK armed forces is at risk from a change of government in their homeland, Nepal. The Maoists are the largest party in the 601-seat constituent assembly after a surprise election reADVERTISEMENTsult. Though they do not have a majority – preliminary results give them 217 seats – the former communist rebels say they are determined to end the practice of...

KATMANDU: Nepal's Chief Election Official said that Maoists have won half of the directly elected seats in elections for a Constitution-drafting Assembly. The ex-rebels who are formally known as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) have won 120 of the 240 directly elected seats. Counting is continuing for three seats, but the Maoists are not expected to win those. The directly elected seats make up only about 40 per cent of the total seats in the Assembly, but the Maoists' win of half of these seats shows their level of support. Most of the additional seats are to be allotted...