India and Nepal on Friday launched their crucial two-day home secretary-level talks in Kathmandu. The two sides are expected to ink an extradition treaty and formulate a border security and management strategy. Home Secretary G K Pillai, who arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday evening, commenced the bilateral security meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Govinda Kusum and is likely to seek tough action against those carrying out anti-India activities from this country.
Bollywood star Manisha Koirala has made a high-profile visit to the memorial of her grandfather B P Koirala, the first elected Prime Minister of Nepal, fuelling speculation that the Nepali beauty was set to join politics.
A group of Maoists on Friday severely thrashed two Indian priests and tore their clothes and sacred thread at Nepal's famous Pashupatinath temple, marking a violent turn to the agitation over their recent appointment. Some 40-50 Maoists, posing as devotees, entered the fifth century Hindu shrine at around 1330 hrs and dragged out the priests -- Girish Bhatta and Raghavendra Bhatta, both aged 32,officials said.
On the eve of his maiden official visit to New Delhi, Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal affirmed on Monday that his country would not allow its soil to be used against India and sought the giant neighbour's cooperation in the fields of infrastructure development and power generation.
Maoist chief Prachanda has alleged that India and the United States had planned to launch an anti-China campaign, even a possible attack on the Communist giant, using Nepalese territory. "The US-India plan had to face challenges from our party and that triggered the conspiracy against my government," Prachanda, who quit following a rift with his coalition partners over his controversial decision to sack the army chief, said at a training programme of the Maoists in Kathmandu.
Nepal attaches 'great importance' to its relations with India which are based on mutual respect, goodwill, understanding and cooperation, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said.
Nepal on Friday sought India's co-operation in moving the peace process forward, giving indications ahead of Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon's visit that it was looking forward to closer bilateral ties.
Nepal's coalition cabinet headed by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has scrapped the erstwhile Maoists-led government's controversial decision to remove the army chief Geneeral Rookmangud Katawal. The cabinet in its meeting on Thursday nullified the Maoists-led government's decision.
In a major breakthrough, Nepal's ruling coalition partners on Saturday sorted out the vexed issue of portfolio distribution and power sharing after they 'tentatively agreed to a deal' to give the 20-day-old Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist government a "full shape" by Sunday.
Stepping up his anti-India rhetoric, Maoist supremo Prachanda has accused it of backing a 'conspiracy' to restore monarchy in Nepal, which had turned into a republic from a kingdom just a year ago. Prachanda, who quit as premier after a dispute with President Ram Baran Yadav over the issue of sacking of the army chief, said the present Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) -led government is 'just a puppet' and efforts are on to 'murder the infant republic'.
"I was very proud to be on the tallest point of the earth," this was how Krushnaa Patil described her feelings after becoming the youngest Indian women to scale the Mount Everest. Patil, 19, a first year student from Pune, achieved the feat on May 21 as part of the Eco Everest Expedition 2009. "I felt like dancing on the Everest, but I didn't," said Patil.
Madhav Kumar Nepal was sworn-in on Monday as the Prime Minister of Nepal along with two cabinet ministers, capping the three-week long political crisis in the country that eased Maoists out of power after a confrontation with the army.
Veteran Communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal was on Saturday elected unopposed as the prime minister of Nepal, bringing to an end the nearly three-week long political crisis in the country. The 56-year-old Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) leader, who claims to have the support of 351 lawmakers in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, was the only candidate to have filed the nomination for the top post. The Maoists boycotted the voting process.
Maoist supremo Prachanda on Wednesday said that his party will not tolerate 'any kind of interference' in the internal affairs of Nepal from 'any part of the world'. He also accused India of 'breaking the politics of consensus' in the country. Addressing his first press conference after resigning as premier, he also dubbed a videotape, purportedly showing him boasting about making a false claim about the strength of Maoist combatants, as a 'conspiracy' against peace process.
Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav has directed Army Chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal, sacked by Prime Minister Prachanda, to continue in office in a face-off between the two leaders that threatens to escalate the political crisis and derail the peace process.
Nepalese opposition leader Girija Prasad Koirala has asked Prime Minister Prachanda to run the government with consensus of all the stakeholders, and said his talks with the Indian leaders revolved around this and dismissed reports that he sought New Delhi's help to oust the Maoists-led ministry.
The Nepal Maoists on Tuesday began a process for fresh recruitment to its guerrilla force to counter the move of the national army to fill vacancies, a decision that threatens to derail the fragile peace process in the Himalayan nation.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to cut short his visit to Nepal in the wake of Tuesday's terror attack on his country's cricketers in Pakistan, after inking two agreements with the country
Bowing to intense pressure from Hindu groups and political parties both at home and abroad, Nepal's Maoist government on Wednesday reversed its decision to replace the Indian priests at the Himalayan country's most revered Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu with the local Brahmins. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Prachanda during a special address to Parliament telecast live by the state-run television.
53-year-old Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda was administered the oath of office by President Ram Baran Yadav during a function at the Rastrapati Bhawan in Kathmandu.
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