THE HIMALAYAN UNIVERSE

Nepal's Constituency Assembly elected Puspa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" as the Primeminister of Nepal on August 15, 2008. His background: 10 years revolution (February, 1996-February 2006) that saw 13000 Nepalese lives lost and many disappeared and unknown against the 240 years old Feudal Monarchy and failed parliament. Nepal is already declared a Democratic Republic of Nepal on 26 May, 2008. King moved to a secluded residence in the forest. The Maoists who fought from the Forest have entered the city. With Prachanda's election as Primeminister, a new era in Nepal begins. Many people still fear that the Maoists may begin a communist republic type of governance in Nepal. But there are others who say that the Maoists are well aware of the 21st century reality - the globalization, humanrights and respect for plurality. There was the doubt about what would happen in the peace process if the maoists were denied the power that they were chosen by the people. With the election o...

Nepal has more than 100 castes and similar number of languages. The homegeniety of a caste exists only at community level. There are a mix of communities of different castes interspersed. At a larger say a smallest planning unit level, the castes are mixed to form a very heteregenous society. Newest Republic, Nepal now faces a plethora of demands from each caste/ethnic group. IRIN, a UN news Agency has covered some essence. This is given below as it is. Thanks to IRIN News. NEPAL: Analysts warn of rising ethnic tensions KATHMANDU, 14 August 2008 (IRIN) - Failure to address the grievances of Nepal’s various indigenous and ethnic groups may result in further ethnic tension, warn analysts. Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN Thousands of Pahade families have been displaced over the past year due to commnal tensions between the Madhesi and Pahade Speaking to IRIN in the capital, Kathmandu, they said the country’s top political parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA) must prioritise the formation of...

Yesterday's post consisted of an interesting article from a political analyst of India from their website www.indiareacts.com. Today another interesting story woven by a Nepali political analyst from www.telegraphnepal.com . It is hard to believe in some of the articles in this portal. However, it is interesting to read. All that said, will there be Nepali politicians standing on their own feet, ever? The old genre of Nepali politicians is experienced without much academic hardwork in their lives. However, the new ones are definitely the ones who at least had been to the college and university - most of them. May be this is the reason the government should be run by new and young ones with the support from the senior peers. Here is the thought provoking article from the Telegraph Nepal US scanner TGW Analyst Kathmandu: If what the analysts have understood of Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, the politics of consensus that have been agreed upon by the Nepali Congress, t...

Sometimes it is very interesting to ponder over the fate of Nepal. So many forces are interested in her, reigning a chaos making difficult to navigate the political quagmires. The following article is copy-pasted from IndiaReacts Midwifing Nepal India must assist the Maoists into the mainstream, says N.V.Subramanian. 24 July 2008: India should beware that the Maoists' defeat in Nepal's presidential election has not been to China's liking. The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist chairman, Prachanda, has been published by Xinhua in a tilted commentary saying, "There is a big reactionary conspiracy of foreign powers after we won the faith and belief of (a) large crowd of people. Nepal's politics has clearly signified a great danger of anti-revolution." Prachanda did not name the foreign powers allegedly conspiring against the Maoists, but India would figure prominently in them, preceded or followed by the United States. Even if the Chinese were meddling, Prachanda wo...

Ex-King’s dinner diplomacy, President Yadav invited TGW Nepal’s last monarch Gyanendra Shah has sent a congratulatory message to the First President of the Republic of Nepal, His Excellency Dr. Ram Baran Yadav. As per the reports, Gyanendra Shah’s message to the President was delivered by Pashupati Bhakta Maharjan-ex-King’s Chief Secretary. Upon meeting President Yadav, Maharjan extended ex-King Gyanendra’s invitation for an exclusive dinner with Dr. Yadav. To add, latest reports have it that Gyanendra Shah has begun holding Business Consultations with some Indian businessmen. “Ex-King Gyanendra mainly discussed how to smoothly run his business ventures in Nepal”, writes the Samacharpatra Daily today, July 28, 2008. Excerpts of Ex-King’s message to the President follows: “I would like to congratulate you for being elected as the first president of Nepal by the Constituent Assembly...” “I hope that during your tenure as the president of Nepal, you will work towards strengthening Nepali ...

Are Christian evangelists worst that all the terror outfits? A beautiful review by Allen Carr on the controversial book "Peoples of the Buddhist World" by Paul Hattaway et. al. The following is taken from LankaWeb.com .. But this interesting reading is also available at Wisdon Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal Planning the Demise of Buddhism Peoples of the Buddhist World by Paul Hattaway, Piquant Editions, Carlisle, 2004. Reviewed by Allen Carr Some Western drug companies spend millions of dollars developing and marketing a new drug only to have the health authorities later discover that it has dangerous side-effects and then ban it. Needing to recover their investment and unable to sell their drug in the West some of these companies try to market their dangerous products in the Third World where public awareness of health issues is low and indifferent governments can be brought off. Some might say that Christianity is a bit like this. Having lost much of their following i...

There is a new interesting story that surfaced in Kathmandu recently. Charles Shobhraj, the convicted one, serving the 20 years jail term is 'seriously' in love with a 20 years St. Mary's student Nihita Thapa, daughter of a well connected, senior Nepali Lawyer Shakultala Thapa. The following text is copied from the www.newendpress.com . It is interesting why a lawyer's daughter should find love in Charles Shobhraj, known for his notority. Luck, perhaps! You can also see the young spirited lady's pictures at link called Email Bookmarking Blog Here is also another link at cbsnews.com . Mother of Sobhraj's fiancée defending him against bigamy charges Monday July 7 2008 11:02 IST Sudeshna Sarkar KATHMANDU, NEPAL: In the latest twist to the drama that started in Nepal and abroad after it became public that criminal mastermind Charles Sobhraj had become engaged to a Nepali woman 44 years his junior, the mother of his fiancée Nihita Biswas entered the fray in a bid to ...