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Nepal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[neˈpaːl] (help·info)), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. ...
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NATURALLY NEPAL
Official site of Nepal Tourism Board. Offers a business and resource directory with information on nature, culture and tourism.
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Nepal Home Page
Features local news, photos, stock and weather updates, travel guide, classifieds, forums, chat, online phone directories and general information about ...
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News results for Nepal
WSJ UPDATE: Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda Resigns - 45 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--Nepal's prime minister, a former guerrilla leader, resigned Monday, throwing the government into disarray and dealing a blow to the ...Wall Street Journal - 1343 related articles »
Govt asks SSB to step up vigil at Indo-Nepal border - Times of India - 15 related articles »Gurkhas' British victory spells uncertainty for Nepal - Financial Times - 487 related articles » -
Nepal Travel Information and Travel Guide - Lonely Planet
Nepal tourism and travel information including facts, maps, history, culture, transport and weather in Nepal. Find popular places to visit in Nepal - Lonely ...
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CIA - The World Factbook -- Nepal
Features map and brief descriptions of the geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military and transnational issues.
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Nepalnews.com News from Nepal as it Happens
5 Apr 2009 ... Features news, weather and links to newspapers and other news sources for the country.
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Nepal: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com
Information on Nepal — geography, history, politics, government, economy, population statistics, culture, religion, languages, largest cities, ...
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Nepal Hotel, Travel and Vacation Guide brought to you by Nepal.com
Welcome to Nepal.com where you can find information about travel, mountain climbing, hi- altitude treks, and expeditions in Nepal and around the Himalayas: ...
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Nepal Travel, Trekking, Tours Information and provides tips on ...
Agency listings for trekking, hotels, rafting, biking, jungle safari, adventure, accommodations, resorts, lodging, tours, travel, wildlife and mountain ...
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Nepal : Country Studies - Federal Research Division, Library of ...
September 1991 country profile provides information about its historical setting, society and environment, economy, government and politics, and national ...
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Blog posts about Nepal
United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal » Nepal Army Chief Sacked - United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal - 1 day ago -
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Revolution and reaction in the Himalayas : Cultural resistance and ...
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The Maoists in the Himalayas: Nepal in Twilight
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Nepal: From Maoism to Fascism in the Himalayas?
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"COMMUNIST" STRIKEBREAKERS OF THE HIMALAYAS…Nepal's maoist prime ...
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Himalayas - Nepal Maoists, Yeti Abominable Snowman and the Himalayas
The Himalayas are the scene of a bloody war in Nepal. It shatters the traditional peace of the Himalayas.
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Revolution and reaction in the Himalayas:
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Milieux, sociétés et Cultures en Himalaya - UPR 299 - CNRS
Anthropology of Nepalese Maoism - Philippe RAMIREZ and Marie LECOMTE-TILOUINE. Land use and resource management in the Western Indian Himalayas - Joëlle ...
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The Revealer: Mao's Latest Bow
4 Nov 2005 ... quasi-communist leadership continues to shed any remnants of its ideological progenitor, Maoism still lives just south of the Himalayas. ...
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Telegraph Nepal : Nepal: Rearming of the Himalayas?
1 Mar 2009 ... The history of externalized insecurity in the Himalayas has further ... The current clash in between the Maoists and the Army does in some ...
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Communist Party of India (Maoist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is an underground Maoist political party in India. It was founded on September 21, 2004, through the merger of the ...
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| Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal makes a speech about his resignation, in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, May 4, 2009. Dahal resigned Monday following a confrontation with the president over the dismissal of the army chief _ a move that had prompted several key parties to quit the country's first elected government. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi) | ||
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| Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda announces his resignation from his office during a nationwide broadcast in Kathmandu May 4, 2009. Prachanda resigned on Monday from the cabinet after a crisis sparked by his sacking of the country's army chief.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
"I will quit the government rather than remain in power by bowing down to the foreign elements and reactionary forces," Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said.
It is being speculated here that Communist Party of Nepal-UML, which had withdrawn support to the Maoist-led government over the issue of General Rukmangad Katawal's removal, may try to form a government with the support of Nepali Congress, the second largest party in Parliament.
CPN-UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal and former general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal are the two possible names doing the rounds for the post of prime minister.
The president, who belongs to an opposition party, said the Maoist decision was "illegal and unconstitutional."
Hours later, the Maoists vowed to launch protests and shut down the government in protest.
"We have decided to begin mass protests ... and stall parliament until the president takes back his decision," the Maoists' party spokesman Nath Sharma said.
The party has substantial support in rural areas and is capable of gathering tens of thousands of people in the streets of Katmandu and other cities for demonstrations.
Nepal's Maoists fought a bloody, 10-year war against the government before joining the political mainstream in 2006, and then winning the most votes during elections last year that helped bring an end to the Himalayan country's centuries-old monarchy.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla leader, made the announcement on television Monday afternoon, one day after his firing of the army chief was rejected by President Ram Baran Yadav — who officially leads the army — and which caused some of his key political allies to withdraw from the ruling coalition.
The latest crisis could imperil the 2006 peace deal. As part of the deal, Nepal's monarchy was abolished, and a new constitution is being framed for the country.
After Dahal dismissed Katawal, the Maoist's main coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), and other key coalition members withdrew from the government.
Dahal's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has the most members in the national assembly but does not hold a majority, and needs the support of smaller parties to stay in control of the government.
Immediately following the prime minister's announcement, authorities announced a ban on protests in key parts of Katmandu, including areas around the president's residence and office. Police in riot gear were deployed across the city.
Security forces had already been on alert, anticipating street clashes.
Earlier Monday, thousands of Maoist supporters rallied in Katmandu, the capital, to show support for the government and denounce the president's action. Elsewhere in the city, supporters of the main opposition, the Nepali Congress party, blocked traffic with burning tires, chanting slogans against the government and the Maoists.
There were no reports of any clashes between the two sides, but Home Ministry official Navin Ghimire said security forces were preparing to deal with unrest.
"We are expecting trouble and are prepared to stop violence in the streets. Policemen are on high alert and will be mobilized throughout the capital," Ghimire said.
The fall of the Maoist-led government had been predicted by analysts.
"It has become almost impossible for the Maoists to remain in government in the present situation," said Ameet Dhakal, editor of Republica, a leading newspaper, said Sunday in an interview. "It's a big crisis for the country now."
Anger against the government has been running high in Nepal, where much of the public blames the Maoists for power outages that can last more than 16 hours a day, fuel shortages that have created endless lines at gas stations, and rising prices for food and other household staples.
But the Maoists are still revolutionary heroes to many, especially among rural villagers who voted them into power last year in Nepal's first elections. The centuries-old monarchy was abolished soon after.
Nepali Times Editor Kunda Dixit says the Maoist decision had met with strong opposition from virtually all political parties.
"The Maoists are politically isolated," said Dixit. "All the other parties have now said that they were wrong. Their argument is that the Maoists bypassed the president, who is actually the ceremonial commander of the army, and they are using the threat of mob violence in order to get away with it."
The standoff between the Maoists and the army chief stems from his refusal to integrate former rebel fighters into the army as stipulated by the peace deal. The army chief says the fighters cannot join the military because they are politically indoctrinated.
Demonstrations were held in the capital, Kathmandu, by supporters of both the Maoists and the opposition. There are fears street protests by supporters of the former rebels will intensify following the Prime Minister's resignation.
Large clusters of people gathered in front of television shops in the capital, Katmandu, to watch the prime minister give his address, as many parts of the city didn't have electricity due to an ongoing power crisis.
Prachanda's party entered into competitive politics after signing a peace deal in 2006, ending a decade-long Maoist rebellion. He became prime minister in August after four months of political wrangling; in May, the nation's elected constituent assembly declared the nation a federal republic, ending 239 years of Hindu monarchy.
But despite the Maoists' rise to power, over 19,000 of their former fighters remain restricted to United Nations-monitored barracks under a peace accord.
Prachanda, whose name means "the fierce one" in Nepali, wanted the guerrillas freed and integrated into the military, as prescribed under a U.N.-brokered peace agreement. But the army chief resisted those efforts and sparred repeatedly with the government.
The disagreement over the army chief fractured the nation's ruling coalition on Sunday, and analysts said it put a serious question mark over the government's ability to keep the ex-combatants in their cantonments.
The Communist Party of Nepal, a unified Marxist-Leninist party that holds the second highest number of seats in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, pulled out of the government on Sunday, accusing the Maoists of acting unilaterally.
Earlier Monday, Maoist cadres held demonstrations in the capital to protest the president's decision to reinstate the army chief. Activists with the main opposition Nepali Congress party held counter rallies in support of the action, which was termed as "unconstitutional" by the Prachanda government.
Anger against the government has been running high in Nepal, where much of the public blames the Maoists for power outages that can last more than 16 hours a day, fuel shortages that have created endless lines at gas stations, and rising prices for food and other household staples.
But the Maoists are still revolutionary heroes to many, especially among rural villagers who voted them into power last year in Nepal's first elections.
| Army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal (centre). (Pic courtesy Nepal Army) |
Blog: South Block screwed up BIG
Yadav's move came hours after Prachanda sacked the army chief who refused to step down plunging the country into a political crisis.
The president had on Sunday asked Prachanda, a former Maoist rebel leader, to follow constitutional provisions and seek a political consensus over firing Gen Katawal.
The letter asking Gen Katawal to remain in office also came after 18 political parties urged the president to protect the "constitution and block action against the army chief."
Sources at the Nepal president's office said Yadav, who is also the supreme commander of the army, intervened in the matter as the parties commanding majority in parliament requested for his intervention to defend the constitution.
Soon after the government announced its decision to fire the army chief, CPN (UML) quit the government in protest against the decision. After a standing committee meeting of CPN(UML) at Balkhu, its chairman Jhalanath Khanal said his party has withdrawn support to the government and called back its ministers.
The CPN(UML) has 108 members in the 601-member Constituent Assembly and its action has raised doubts over the survival of the multi-party coalition. Maoists have 229 members and it was not immediately clear whether the government was still in a majority.
Sources at the president's Office said copies of Yadav's letter to Gen Katawal were sent to all six regional headquarters of the army and Prime Minister's office.
Our friend Gobind ballabh Pant, the reporter of AAJTAK from Lucknow and ANAD SWARUP Verma have been involved with NEPALESE struggle for LIBERATION from the Beginning. Thanks to them, we used to be in touch with Prachand and Bhattai!
As Nepal's first Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda announced his resignation in a televised address to the nation after an escalating quarrel with allies and President Ram Baran Yadav, a senior minister in the outgoing cabinet blamed India for the debacle, saying New Delhi's bureaucrats had committed an "enormous blunder".
"I have resigned from the post of prime minister from today for the protection of democracy and peace," 54-year-old Prachanda, who had taken the reins of the country eight months ago, said in a televised address to the nation.
In a statement issued at the UN headquarters in New York, the Secretary General urged all the political parties to fully respect the provisions of the constitution.
"The Secretary-General is seriously concerned about the current political crisis in Nepal centered on the relationship between the government and the chief of army staff, and the possible risks posed to the peace process," said a statement issued by his spokesperson's office.
"The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to resolve the crisis through dialogue and consensus, with full respect for the provisions of the constitution," the statement said.
The Maoist regime accused Katawal of defying the government's orders by reinstating eight Generals retired by the Maoist administration.
"I will quit the government rather than remain in power by bowing down to the foreign elements and reactionary forces," said Prachanda, whose government was sworn in on August 15 last year after the Maoists emerged as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly elections.
The force has been asked to step up vigil along the 1,751-kilometre Indo-Nepal border, a senior home ministry official said.
According to a SSB official at the headquarters here, orders have been issued to field formations to heighten vigil and check any possible attempts of infiltrations.
The political crisis in the Himalayan nation deepened with the Maoists terming President Ram Baran Yadav's directive that sacked Army Chief General Rukmangad Katawal should continue in office as a "constitutional coup" and threatened to move court against it.
Commenting on the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's decision to sack the Army chief R Katawal without taking his allies of his government into confidence, party spokesperson M Veerappa Moily said, "It's a coalition government. If you do not take your allies into confidence, you are then inviting trouble."
"We are greatly concerned with developments there. It is most unfortunate. We do not want the process of democratisation should fail in Nepal," Moily added.
"It's an internal matter of Nepal government. UPA government or Congress is not going to interfere in their internal issue," he said.
Moily pleaded ignorance about any meeting between Nepal's former king Gyanendra and Sonia Gandhi. He categorically said, "Neither the Congress party nor the UPA government has anything to do with the political development in Nepal."
He was responding to queries whether Gyanendra's meeting with Sonia could be a reason for his sacking as he was perceived to be close to India.
"To outline the further strategic political movement after resigning from the coalition government, we have call on a meeting," UCPN-M spokesperson Dinanath Sharma told Xinhua just after the Prachanda's resignation.
Talking to Xinhua, Sharma said that the party will assist the peace process by writing new constitution even being outside of the government.
"We will do our best to constitutionalize democracy in the nation for which our party is committed," Sharma said, adding that the party did not struggle for "post" in the government.
Earlier on Monday, Prachanda delivered his special message following the current political chaos intensified after President Ram Baran Yadav put veto power on sacking of Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal.
In his 14 minute-long speech, Prachanda said that his party had succeeded to establish republican government ending 240 years old Monarchy. "Outer element are plotting against us which is biggest challenge for us," said Prachanda.
He addressed the nation as the first elected Prime Minister of republican government.
"We may not have achieved the progress like you," he said, indicating the former governments and the political parties in his speech, adding that his party will not conceal its fragility like other parties.
The political turn came after UCPN-M failed to gather political consensus on Chief of Army Staff row which further developed the resignation of Prime Minister.
However, his resignation is yet to submit before President Yadav.
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| Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda announces his resignation from his office during a nationwide broadcast in Kathmandu May 4, 2009. Prachanda resigned on Monday from the cabinet after a crisis sparked by his sacking of the country's army chief.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
Just before Prachanda's address in the name of nation, District Administration Office (DAO) of Kathmandu on Monday imposed prohibitory orders in some areas of the Nepali capital of Kathmandu.
The areas include Nepali President's residence in Shital Niwas and Army Headquarters and its surrounding areas.
All types of protests have been banned in and around these areas. Security personnel have also been posted at campuses in large numbers to avoid any untoward incident.
The Nepali government led by the UCPN-M on Sunday morning decided to sack Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal without the coalition's consensus. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN- UML), which is the second largest party of the five-member ruling coalition, and Sadbhavana Party led by Rajendra Mahato pulled out from the coalition government.
Late on Sunday, Nepali President Ram Baran Yadav faxed a special instruction to Katawal, asking him to continue in his office, which the UCPN-M leaders termed unconstitutional and meaningless.
The UCPN-M emerged from the Constituent Assembly elections in April 2008 as the single largest party and led the formation of the first republic government in August 2008.
Ahead of that, the formerly Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led by Prachanda signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord with the then government in November, 2006, ending the decade civil war in Nepal.
KATHMANDU (AFP) — Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who resigned as Nepal's prime minister Monday, transformed himself from a terrorist with a price on his head into a national leader who attended meetings alongside the US president.
Known as Prachanda -- or "the fierce one" -- he spent years hiding in Nepal's jungles and hills, directing a Maoist guerrilla war that left at least 13,000 people dead and brought the Himalayan nation to its knees.
In 2006, he signed a peace deal with the mainstream parties that paved the way for the abolition of the world's last Hindu monarchy and his rise to power via the ballot box.
Soon after taking office in August 2008, he travelled to the US -- where his Maoist party is still on terrorism blacklists -- to rub shoulders with the then President George W. Bush at the United Nations General Assembly.
"Some miracle has happened," Prachanda, 54, said during his visit. "It's just like a sweet dream for me."
Born a Brahmin from the top of the strict Hindu caste system, Prachanda spent his childhood herding goats and buffalo to help his impoverished family.
"Grandfather was a well-to-do farmer. But later on, lean times set in when family land holdings were fragmented," he explained recently.
He turned to communism at a young age after experiencing Nepal's crushing poverty and inequality firsthand, and says Lenin remains his role model.
"I never really understood why we had to struggle so hard to survive from day to day while our neighbours had all the luxuries," he said.
Prachanda officially joined the communists in 1980 at the age of 25 and worked as a schoolteacher and then on US-funded aid projects.
Inspired by the Cultural Revolution in China, as well as Peru's Shining Path movement, he became convinced that an armed insurgency was the only way to bring radical change to one of the world's poorest countries.
Promoted to lead the Maoists, he launched their "People's War" in 1996 with attacks on police posts in the rural west of the country.
The revolt grew into a conflict that saw the Maoists battle security forces to a standstill and secure control of large swathes of the countryside.
Now the proud father of three grown-up children, he cuts an affable figure in public, charming many with his easy conversation and warm manner.
Prachanda's life as a violent renegade may be over, but the collapse of his government over his attempt to sack the army chief opens another chapter of uncertainty and possible unrest for Nepal.
'Nepal crisis should be resolved through democratic means'
Kolkata (PTI): Expressing concern over the prevailing political turmoil in Nepal following sacking of army chief R Katawal, the CPI(M) on Monday said the crisis should get resolved through democratic means.
"The CPI(M) wants that whatever solution is found out should be within the democratic process," CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.
"It is a serious development...it should be resolved through democratic means and discussion in political process ...unless this happens whatever the people have achieved in Nepal through struggle will be derailed," he said, adding that there should be no external interference in the neighbouring country's development.
"India has not interfered earlier in Nepal and not doing so now. I feel it (India) should not interfere in the crisis," Mr. Yechury said.
Nepal plunged into a crisis on Sunday after the ruling Maoist party sacked Army Chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal for alleged defiance of government orders.
The action of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as "Prachanda", triggered protests from most political parties in the coalition.
The situation aggravated further when President Ram Baran Yadav asked the Army Chief to continue in his post as his dismissal by the prime minister did not meet the "constitutional requirements and due process".
Congress cannot form government on its own: Yechury
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said the Congress cannot form a government on its own
"After three phases of election, the Congress has realised that it cannot form the government this time at the centre on its own strength," Yechury said here.
The possibility of a non-Congress non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is growing by the day, he said.
Yechury said that the Left-led third alternative could bring reforms in policy making initiatives so the ongoing economic recession could be tackled in India.
Asked whether the CPI-M will join the government if the Third Front comes to power, Yechuri said: "That will only be decided after polls. We cannot say anything now. Our party's central committee will take the final decision on the matter."
Ram Baran Yadav: The man who defied the Maoists
A former health minister, the 60-year-old became the Nepali Congress party's surprise candidate for the presidential race after the Maoists refused to nominate NC chief and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala due to fears that he would try to set himself up as a parallel power centre, cramping the style of the Maoist-led government.
Blog: South Block screwed up BIG
The fears came true Sunday after Yadav countermanded the ruling Maoists' order to sack army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal and ordered him to continue in his post. In doing so, the president has triggered a debate as to whether he stepped out of his ceremonial role. While the Maoists are accusing him of committing a coup against the constitution, a defiant Yadav on Monday defended his role by issuing a press statement in which he said it was within his rights as the custodian of the constitution and supreme commander of the army.
Yadav, once the Man Friday of Koirala who refused to leave the party and join the Madhesi movement, still retains strong links with the NC though he resigned as an NC lawmaker after becoming president. His son Chandra Mohan Yadav was fielded by the NC during this year's byelections from his constituency. However, the president's son was rejected by the voter and came a poor third.
It was anticipated that Yadav would oppose the Maoist decision since the NC was against it. His work became easier after the Maoists' allies also protested and 18 parties petitioned him to halt the Maoist order.
Besides the parties, Yadav also drew support from the international community. A group of eight countries, including India, the US, UK and China, had asked Prachanda not to fire Katawal.
But his defiance has made Yadav the new target of the Maoists, who are planning to impeach him. The former rebels will also try to mobilise public opinion against the first president. Whatever his motive, Yadav however creates a negative precedent of the head of state locking horns with the executive and that too on an issue as sensitive as the army.
Yechury confident of a Third Front govt
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Express News Service
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Yechury said: "I am confident that the Third Front will come to power this time. Even UPA and NDA partners are giving a second thought to their continuing support to the Congress and BJP. This is evident from the statements made by the leaders of those constituents." Reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's terming the Left as a "good ally", Yechury said even Singh was not sure of returning to power. Hence, he was making such statements.
He also called for a political consensus in ensuring independence for the CBI. Referring to the controversy over the CBI's decision to remove Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi from Interpol's list of wanted people, he said: "Nearly 20 years after the Bofors scandal came to light, we still don't know the truth. The CPM feels all political parties will have to work out a system to maintain the independence of the CBI," he said.
Criticising senior BJP leader L K Advani's allegation that the CBI was being used politically, Yechury said Advani was the Home Minister for six years, during which no complete investigation was done.
As for the Third Front not announcing a prime ministerial candidate, Yechury said doing so would amount to "betrayal" of the voters trust. A party should decide on its PM candidate only when it achieves a majority in the Parliament.
On global slowdown, Yechury said: "The economic meltdown has claimed 1 lakh jobs in the organised sector and 5 lakh people have returned to Kerala after losing their jobs in Gulf countries."
"The only way to counter the dangers of recession is to increase government investment in infrastructure, which will create jobs and consequently a domestic market. In fact, China is investing far more than India," he added.
Chinki Sinha
Posted: May 04, 2009 at 2356 hrs ISTNew Delhi In A shift from the issues taken up by the Congress and the BJP in their respective rallies in the Capital on Sunday, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati reiterated her stand on reservation for Muslims. She touched upon the Dalit agenda too, asking the people to not vote for "anti-Dalit" Congress.
Addressing the thousands who braved the searing heat to hear her at the Ramlila Grounds, the Dalit leader called upon Muslims to vote for the party. She said only the BSP had given tickets to three Muslim candidates in Delhi, emphasising on the party's slogan: "Jiski jitni bhagidari, uski utni hissedari."
She took on the Congress for not fielding a single Muslim candidate in any of the seven constituencies. She also referred to the Sachar Committee report and criticised the ruling party for not implementing any of its recommendations for the betterment of the community.
"This is an appeal to the Muslims. I want to tell them that our party has given them tickets so that they join our vote base and win," said Mayawati. "You have to bring us to power. We have reached here because of you."
Invoking Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Mayawati targeted the Congress for being "anti-Dalit".
Accusing the Congress of "ill-treating" Ambedkar, she asked the voters to avenge his defeat in the 1952 Lok Sabha elections at the hands of a Congress candidate.
"The voting rights were given to you by Babashaeb. You have to keep this in mind," she said. "If you sell your votes for money, you are selling the honour of your daughters and sisters."
Reading out from her written speech, Mayawati said her party had two upper caste candidates too, proving that the BSP had transcended the Dalit tag and was now a 'sarvajan samaj' party.
Mayawati was accompanied by Nasimuddin Siddiqui and Satish Chandra Mishra, the two BSP leaders who are busy wooing Muslims and upper caste votes in Delhi.
Mishra, BSP's national general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, is a Brahmin.
"I had no political background. But now I will always be associated with the BSP. She (Mayawati) has always focused on everyone," Mishra said.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Mayawati-repeats-Reservation-for-Muslims/454052/
Sonia says NDA treated terrorists as guests
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Agencies
Posted: May 04, 2009 at 1537 hrs ISTFarukkhabad Ridiculing BJP's "soft on terror" charges, Sonia Gandhi on Monday attacked the saffron party, saying while Congress "effectively and firmly" countered terrorism, the erstwhile BJP-led government "treated terrorists like guests".
"During Congress rule terrorism was countered effectively and firmly, whereas during BJP regime terrorists were treated like guests and released in their own country," Sonia said here, while addressing an election rally in support of party nominee Salman Khursheed.
"The entire country knows that Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi laid down their lives for the nation's sake," she said, adding the party handled the terror issue "with an iron fist".
The Congress President asked BJP to stop "preaching on terrorism and instead introspect its own failures." Gandhi also took a dig at NDA's India Shining slogan during the previous general elections. "When farmers were facing a tough situation and future of youths was in dark, the BJP saw India as shining.
"BJP had made a lot of promises during earlier elections and the NDA regime, but failed to deliver," she charged, adding it was Congress which entered the election arena with the issue of turning India into a developed and strong nation.
Left U-turn? Yechury doesn't rule out support to UPA
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Agencies
Posted: May 04, 2009 at 1324 hrs ISTKolkata Despite CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat having categorically ruled out support to a Congress-led government at the Centre again, senior party politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Monday said the party's next step would be decided only after the elections.
"We will decide what will happen post-election, but right now our objective till the elections are over is the third alternative. However, we do not think the need to support a Congress-led government will arise," Yechury told a press conference in Kolkata.
Asked about Karat's statement in Kolkata recently that the Left would not extend support to a Congress-led coalition again, Yechury said, "I do not know in what context he had said this. We will meet and decide what will happen post-election."
Yechury said the Congress leaders were openly saying after the third phase of the elections that they would take support of the Left if the opportunity to form a government arose.
"But this is an admission of their realisation that they are not coming back to power. Our objective is to form a Third Front government and we are confident about that," he said.
Asked if the Left was approached to support a Congress-led coalition minus Manmohan Singh as the prime minister, he said they were not concerned about individuals, but issues.
Sensex at 7-month high; surges 731 pts
Mumbai The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday surged to touch a seven-month high, recording the biggest one-day gain of the year, as strong risk appetite on a brighter outlook for the global economy lifted markets across the globe.
The Sensex spurted by 731.50 points, the largest single-day gain this year, to 12,134.75, a level never seen after October 3 last year. Monday's 6.41 per cent surge took the Sensex over 50 per cent above the 2009 low in early March.
In a similar fashion, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index zoomed by 180.05 points, or 5.18 per cent, to 3,654.00. It regained 3,600 level after October last year.
The current rally was mostly attributed to a sharp upsurge in stocks of metal, information technologies and banking.
Trading sentiment got a boost after stocks in Europe and Asia rose, US futures advanced and the yen weakened as a report showing China's manufacturing expanded for the first time in nine months is seen among the signs that the global recession is easing.
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index climbed 0.7 per cent and Standard and Poor¿s 500 Index futures 0.6 per cent on reports that the CLSA China Purchasing Managers' Index rose in April on decline in export orders moderating, and government stimulus spending.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index of 23 developing economies climbed 3.7 per cent to 687.47, the highest since October 6, Russia's Micex by 3 per cent, and Taiwan¿s Taeix index by 5.6 per cent.
Marketmen said the upsurge in the stock markets was partly supported by foreign funds, which remained net buyers in the Indian stock markets, bringing back confidence among retail investors.
They said the foreign investors bought stocks worth 1.3 billion dollars in April, the most since October 2007.
The metal index gained the most, rising 8.77 per cent to 7,489.47, following a steep rise in stocks of Sterlite Industries and Tata Steel. All the 15 participants of the sectoral index were significantly higher.
The information technology sector index was the second-best performer, adding 8.40 per cent to 2,887.04, followed by the banking index, which was up 7.89 per cent to 6,133.53. The capital goods index rose 5.88 per cent to 8,374.17.
The tech index rose 5.86 per cent to 2,289.78, FMCG 5.43 per cent to 2,208.74, realty 4.96 per cent to 2,236.09, auto 4.62 per cent to 3,659.73, consumer durables 4.23 per cent to 1,831.97, oil and gas 3.87 per cent to 8,447.48, power 3.31 per cent to 2,182.59, PSU 2.99 per cent to 6,038.81 and healthcare 1.49 per cent to 3,113.69.
Drugmakers facing takeover threat: Panel
New Delhi Warning of significant takeover threats for most Indian drugmakers by their large foreign peers, an inter-ministerial task force has suggested the Government act proactively to strengthen the pharma industry.
"(The) Indian pharmaceutical industry being fragmented with small balance sheet sizes, takeover by global pharmaceutical companies would adversely affect the health interests of the nation," the task force has said in its recommendations to the Commerce Ministry.
"India is exposed to the threat of takeovers from global big pharmaceutical companies under the new IPR regime," it noted.
The task force was set up under the aegis of the Commerce Ministry for suggesting "Strategy for Increasing Exports of Pharmaceutical Products".
According to industry experts, there are more than 10,000 drug manufacturers in the country and most of them are small-sector units operating in the generic segment.
With a large number of drugs going off-patent in developed markets like the US and Europe, Indian companies are expected to garner a lion's share in the segment.
According to the report, drugs worth 40 billion dollars in the US and 25 billion dollars in Europe are expected to go off-patent soon and this opens a vast opportunity for the domestic industry.
SC fixes July 28 for hearing black money issue
Without issuing notice to the government, a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan allowed the petitioners Ram Jethmalani, senior advocate, and five others to file a comprehensive rejoinder to the affidavit filed by the Centre on May 2 on the issue.
The Bench also said that the Centre can also respond to the written submissions filed by the petitioners, raising objections against the delay in filing of the affidavit in which it alleged that the petitioners had links with the BJP.
The petitioners accused the government of not honouring the April 22 promise of filing the affidavit within 48 hours.
They said that the assurance to file the affidavit within 48 hours was given to avoid issuance of notice.
They said that in the affidavit the government had used the word "alleged deposits" which is directly contrary to everyone's perception and knowledge including that of the Prime Minister.
Senior advocate Anil Diwan, appearing for the petitioners alleged that the affidavit filed by the government has not dealt with the facts that there was a fake passport case against Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan and investigations relating to money laundering were also being undertaken against him, and that he was involved in transactions with Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
Pointing out various inactions against Khan who allegedly has stashed money in a Swiss Bank, the petitioners in written submissions said, "Is it not unreasonable to infer that the government is interested in protecting powerful individuals, who may be using Khan and his wife as their nominee/benamidar".
Further, Diwan said, "The most important factor is that not even a single individual has been apprehended/interrogated by the government in the last five years in relation to money laundering and slush funds from illicit funds, parked abroad."
Besides Jethmalani, five others including former Punjab DGP K P S Gill and former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, who are petitioners, have alleged that government was not taking action on the issue.
The PIL assumes importance as BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani besides Left parties and others have been pressing the government to approach the foreign banks for bringing back the black money.
The petition sought a direction to the Centre to take up with the foreign banks, particularly the UBS Bank, Switzerland, the issue of freezing of accounts of Indian businessmen, politicians and other influential persons illegally holding their assets in such financial institutions.
The six petitioners, whom their counsel Diwan described as "super senior" citizens, had submitted that if the Rs 70 lakh crore, purportedly stashed in foreign banks, are retrieved it would substantially remove poverty in the country and promote its development.
In the 29-page affidavit, the government had said it has received information about Indian account holders in a German Bank but did not reveal the names on grounds of "confidentiality".
The Ministry of Finance, in the affidavit, said German government made available the information after persistent follow up since February 2008 "on condition of strict confidentiality of contents under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)."
It had said the German government provided the information on March 18 this year about the Indian account holders in the LGT Bank, Liechtenstein. On the issue of deposits in banks in Switzerland, the affidavit had said
Government has acted with utmost expedition. The government had said that the PIL filed by former Law Minister and noted jurist Jethmalani and five others, accusing it of inaction was a "wild, reckless and baseless allegation".
Asia must tackle poverty, climate change: ADB
Bali Asia must do more to cut poverty and take the lead in fighting global warming, the Asian Development Bank president said on Monday, as the region emergesfrom the economic crisis with more clout on the world stage.
The global turmoil suggests the era of rich Western nations having unlimited appetite for Asia's exports "has passed," Haruhiko Kuroda told the bank's annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia. That puts the onus on the region's governments to boost their own domestic economies, he said.
Faced with the worst global slump since World War II, many of Asia's economies are contracting as demand for their exports - long the engine of the region's growth - evaporates.
Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the severity of the downturn is "rivaling the Great
Depression" of the 1930s. Swine flu - which is only confirmed in two cases in Asia so far - is another challenge but the region's experience with SARS and bird flu means it is "well equipped" to respond, she said.
The financial crisis is an opportunity for Asian nations to restructure their economies to become less export-dependent - "to become not only a major source of goods and services but also a major destination," Kuroda said.
The US delegation head, Karen Mathiasen, said such a "profound adjustment" won't be easily realised but is essential to sustaining an economic recovery.
Poll worries to moderate foreign inflows
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Reuters
Posted: May 04, 2009 at 0956 hrs ISTMumbai A surge of foreign inflows that helped lift Indian stocks 40 per cent in eight weeks may lose steam on questions over valuations and the outcome of national polls, but the economy's prospects will remain a magnet for investors.
India has been a big beneficiary of optimism in world markets since early March that things were on the mend, with foreigners sending more than $7 billion into Asian stocks outside Japan in the seven weeks to April 24 as their risk appetite returned.
However, fund managers are cautious on further near-term gains for the broader market as the world's second-most populous nation votes against a backdrop of a sharply slowing economy.
"The general election in India is one event which many global investors want behind them," said Paul Parambi, head of international business for Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Another coalition government is expected, and analysts are worried that Congress, which leads the current coalition, or the main national opposition Bharatiya Janata Party may have to cede policy influence to smaller caste-based or regional parties to form a government.
That could delay privatisations and other planned reforms, such as an opening up of the banking and insurance sectors.
In 2004, when Congress won an unexpected victory but had to rely on communist parties for support, the stock market fell 17 per cent in two days to its lowest close for the year. But by the end of 2004, the market had risen 47 per cent from that close.
"You had your run and now you back off ... because you have to cross this event," said Samir Arora, who manages about $200 million at Helios Capital Management in Singapore.
Foreign portfolio investors have poured about $1.5 billion into Indian shares in seven weeks to April 23, trimming their net sales for the year to under $400 million, after selling $13 billion in 2008.
Indian shares have jumped from 2009 lows hit in early March, including a 17.5 per cent rise in April, its biggest monthly gain in 10 years.
Stocks such as outsourcer Wipro, India's top vehicle maker Tata Motors, top real estate developer DLF and engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro rose more than 20 per cent in the month.
Senior fund managers said investors were now making cautious forays into emerging markets such as India, but economic conditions were still too hazy to call it a revival, with the worries about swine flu an added concern for global markets.
Parambi, whose firm manages offshore client assets worth about $1.2 billion, said the market needed to consolidate to see significant further inflows.
Most of the money flowing into India has been into the stock markets, with bond investors wary of a heavy pipeline of supplies due to a worsening fiscal deficit.
Still, foreign investors have invested nearly $300 million in debt in April, trimming their net sales for 2009 to about $950 million.
RISING LOSSES, FALLING GROWTH
India's economy is expected to have grown less than 7 per cent in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended on March 31, slowing from rates of 9 per cent or more in the previous three years.
And growth is expected to slow to a 7-year low below 6 per cent in 2009/10 as the global slowdown hits Asia's third-largest economy harder than expected.
Corporate results so far have not been encouraging, with nearly a quarter of the more than 150 firms to release March quarter results reporting losses so far, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.
Indian share valuations meanwhile have gone up sharply in the last two months -- the main index now trades at more than 13 times its 12-month forward earnings, up from about 9.5 times in early March -- moderating their attraction.
"I think people are reading too much into revival too early. I don't think it will last," said Jayesh Shroff, who manages about $1 billion in equities at the domestic mutual fund unit of State Bank of India.
However, India is still growing reasonably strongly and is one of the few emerging markets that could still show positive earnings growth for the year, analysts said.
"We think India's outperformance will continue," Sridhar Sivaram, who oversees about $2 billion in Indian equities at Morgan Stanley, said.
And with one in every six human beings on earth, a large domestic market and favourable demographics, India still presents an attractive long-term opportunity for global investors.
"Though we may see some caution from investors ahead of the elections, the outlook is still positive," said Callum Henderson, head of global FX strategy at Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore.
Tamil Tigers 'conscripting children to fight Lankan army'
London Tamil Tiger rebels, cornered in a small stretch of land in Sri Lanka, are conscripting children, including girls as young as 11, to fight the island nation's army, senior Lankan army officers have claimed.
"It's like looking at your own child. Quite large numbers of the dead are under 16. They grab them from their parents and they try to pull them back they get shot. These children have the dog tags and cyanide capsules.
"The younger children (captured) go for rehabilitation programme," Brig Priyantha, who commands an artillery division in the north, told British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph'.
Agreed his colleague, an officer who identified himself as 'Roan': "Considerable numbers of the dead (are) child soldiers. The youngest was around 12."
At Puthumatalan Lagoon, the edge of the no-fire zone, where thousands of civilians have escaped heavy fighting last month, Major-General Jaggath Dias, General Officer Commanding of 57th Division, also said his men were fighting with girls.
He said some of those his men had captured had their hair cut short to shame them for trying to run away from the front line.
"Girls as young as eleven. Our soldiers have seen them on the front line. It's very difficult to shoot a child. But it does not matter what age, you have to shoot," the British newspaper quoted Dias as saying.
A soldier guarding an abandoned clinic at Mullaitivi, a few miles from the front line, said as many as "seven out of ten were below 15" adding that in the last year an increasing number of LTTE fighters appeared to be young women.
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Everyone was in dark about Babri demolition, says Uma
"...In fact, everyone was in the dark about the demolition except those who did it. We still don't know who did it," she said at Atrauli near here. When asked about Kalyan's claim that he in particular was kept in dark, Uma said she was not aware of it.
"I don't know anything about it. Advani ji and (H V) Sheshadri ji (of RSS) have also said this (that they were not aware that the mosque will be demolished)," she added. The Bharatiya Jan Shakti leader claimed that people who demolished the mosque are yet to be identified. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh on Saturday had claimed that he was misled by two BJP leaders and was not told that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 had been planned well in advance.
It was on the assurance of the two BJP leaders, whom he did not name, that he gave an affidavit in the Supreme Court promising to ensure the security of the 16th century Mughal period monument, Singh said.
He said he was given to understand that a symbolic "kar seva" would be performed for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
When asked about the two BJP leaders Kalyan was referring to, Uma said: "I am not aware." She said her support for BJP candidates in the Lok Sabha election should not be considered a step forward in rejoining the party which she had left a few years ago.
Meanwhile, addressing an election rally at Atrauli, the pocket borough of Kalyan Singh, Uma said out of the several prime ministerial candidates in race, BJP leader L K Advani was the only one who was a "rashtra bhakta and Ram bhakta...he outshines others like a diamond". "I told Advani that my party will only support the BJP in elections but will not merge with his party. Money is required to contest elections. As we have no money to contest, we decided to extend support to BJP as we share the same ideology," she told the gathering consisting mainly of Lodh-Rajpoot voters.
Uma also represents the same community. While the former BJP firebrand leader attacked Mulayam Singh Yadav during her speech, she made no mention of Kalyan Singh.
She also attacked Bollywood actor and SP leader Sanjay Dutt. "I was shocked when Sanjay Dutt claimed that he was tortured by police as his mother was a Muslim. He...can say anything. But a person like Mulayam Singh should have ensured that no such thing is said which will further the communal divide in the country," she said.
Decision on PM only after poll results: Amar Singh
'Over 1000 candidates till 4th phase have criminal background'
Nitish Kumar denies plans to tie-up with Cong
Mexico to begin lifting flu curbs
Zambia: Press Must Have More Independence
Above the cloudsCanada.com - Apr 29, 2009 The warnings have sharply reduced the number of tourists coming to the country for trekking and climbing through the grandeur of the Himalayas. ... On top of the worldTimes of India - Apr 25, 2009 "I had seen pictures of the Himalayas in books but I never thought I would get there." Nostalgic about the early days, he smiles, "I remember going on a ... Veteran travellerMalaysia Star - Apr 24, 2009 "I used to trek the Himalayas in Nepal as far back as 10 years ago. While I was sightseeing, a monk approached me and asked me if I was interested in ... Jerry Large Dreams from Nepal to SeattleSeattle Times - Apr 27, 2009 Nil Tilijia was born in a Nepalese village high in the Himalayas where he harvested potatoes as a barefoot boy, and where he took up political reform and ... Attacks by Maoist Rebels in India Leave 17 Dead as Election BeginsWashington Post - Apr 16, 2009 The marathon election involves voting at polling booths from high in the Himalayas to remote islands in the Bay of Bengal. About 131 seats have been set ... Mental slavesPhayul - May 2, 2009 The choice was not difficult for this lot since their homeland was a "capitalist state", while the dreamland to the north of the Himalayas was a "socialist ... India's 'grand old man' bidding for powerTelegraph.co.uk - Apr 19, 2009 The under-developed states of India's eastern flanks have also been plagued by Maoist 'Naxalite' insurgents. On the first day of the phased polls last ... What put Maoists on backfootE Kantipur - Apr 23, 2009 Himalaya Thapa, who heads the No. 1 Brigade added, "The root of the trouble is here. We must look for it and get rid of it." A number of other generals also ... Lifting the bamboo curtain (Region)Himal Southasian - Apr 30, 2009 South of the Himalaya, however, no government can risk steamrolling the collective opposition of the legal system, labour unions, political parties, ... Viewing children's rights from every angle: UNICEF Executive Board ...UNICEF (press release) - Apr 16, 2009 KATHMANDU, Nepal, 15 April 2009 – In a country that boasts the best views on earth, the Himalayas was covered in a spring haze for the visit of UNICEF's ... |
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Nepal
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| संघीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल Sanghiya Loktāntrik Ganatantra Nepāl Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal | ||||||
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| Motto: जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी(Devanāgarī) "Mother and Motherland are Greater than Heaven" | ||||||
| Anthem: "Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka" | ||||||
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| Capital (and largest city) | Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमांडौ) 27°42′N 85°19′E / 27.7°N 85.317°E / 27.7; 85.317 | |||||
| Official languages | Nepali[1] | |||||
| Recognised regional languages | Maithili, Nepal Bhasa, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Gurung, Tamang, Magar, Awadhi, Sherpa, Kiranti and other 100 different indigenous languages. | |||||
| Demonym | Nepali | |||||
| Government | Republic | |||||
| - | President | Ram Baran Yadav | ||||
| - | Vice President | Parmanand Jha | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) | ||||
| Unification | ||||||
| - | Kingdom declared | December 21, 1768 | ||||
| - | State declared | January 15, 2007 | ||||
| - | Republic declared | May 28, 2008 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 147,181 km2 (93rd) 56,827 sq mi | ||||
| - | Water (%) | 2.8 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | July 2008 estimate | 29,519,114 (40th) | ||||
| - | 2007 census | 28,875,140 | ||||
| - | Density | 184/km2 (56th) 477/sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2008 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $31.582 billion[2] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $1,142[2] | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2008 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $12.698 billion[2] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $459[2] | ||||
| Gini (2003–04) | 47.2 (high) | |||||
| HDI (2007) | ▲ 0.534 (medium) (142nd) | |||||
| Currency | Rupee (NPR) | |||||
| Time zone | NPT (UTC+5:45) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+5:45) | ||||
| Drives on the | left | |||||
| Internet TLD | .np | |||||
| Calling code | 977 | |||||
Nepal (Nepali: नेपाल 
[neˈpaːl] (help·info)), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. With an area of 147,181 square kilometers and a population of approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass[3] and the 41st most populous country.[4] Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolitan city.
Nepal is a country of highly diverse and rich geography, culture, and religions. The mountainous north contains eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized. By some measures, Hinduism is practiced by a greater majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation. [5]. A minority faith in the country, Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama who, as the Buddha Gautama, gave birth to the Buddhist tradition.
Nepal had been a monarchy throughout most of its history. Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Shah dynasty king, unified the many small kingdoms in 1768. Since then, the country had been ruled by a dynasty of kings. However, a decade-long People's Revolution by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties of Nepal in 2006, culminated in a peace accord and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republic in May 28, 2008.[6] The first President of Nepal, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav was sworn in on 23 July, 2008.
Contents[hide] |
Etymology
Nepal Bhasa origin
The word "Nepal" is believed by scholars to be derived from the word "Nepa:" which refers to the Newar Kingdom, the present day Kathmandu Valley. With Sanskritization, the Newar word Nepa became Nepal.[7] The Newars of present day Nepal, refer to all the inhabitants of Kathmandu valley and its peripheries (called "Nepa:") before the advent of Shah dynasty. The Nepal Sambat calendar, named after this Newar kingdom and devised 1100 years ago, is a national calendar used in Nepal and testifies to its antiquity.
Ne Muni
Many historians and local traditions say that a Hindu sage named "Ne" established himself at the valley of Kathmandu during prehistoric times and that the word "Nepal" came into existence as the place protected ("pala" in Sanskrit) by the sage "Ne". The etymology of the name Nepal means, "the country looked after by Ne".[8]
He used to perform religious ceremonies at Teku, the confluence of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers.[9] He is said by legend to have selected a pious cowherd to be the first of the many kings of the Gopala Dynasty.[8] These rulers are said to have ruled Nepal for over 500 years.[10] He selected Bhuktaman to be the first king in the line of the Gopal (Cowherd) Dynasty.[9] The Gopal dynasty ruled for 621 years. Yakshya Gupta was the last king of this dynasty. However, this mythology can be challenged as no such name as Ne exists in Nepali or other Sanskrit derived languages.
According to Skanda Purana, a rishi called "Ne" or "Nemuni" used to live in Himalaya.[11] In the Pashupati Purana, he is mentioned as a saint and a protector.[12] He is said to have practiced penance at the Bagmati and Kesavati rivers[13] and to have taught his doctrines there too.[8]
Languages
Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from four major language groups: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian and various indigenous language isolates. According to the 2001 national census, 92 different living languages are spoken in Nepal. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (57%)(2007 est.), Maithili (10%), Bhojpuri (7%), Tharu (4%), Tamang (5%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (3%), Magar (2%), Awadhi (2%), Rai (2.79%), Limbu (1%), and Bajjika (1%). The remaining 81 languages are each spoken as mother tongue by less than one percent of the population. Nepal's constitution, however, guarantees that, irrespective of what the official language is, all languages spoken in Nepal can be used for official purposes and documentation.[14]
Derived from Sanskrit, Nepali is considered the language closest to Sanskrit and written in Devanagari script. Nepali is the official, national language and serves as lingua franca among Nepalis of different ethnolinguistic groups. Hindi -- along with regional dialects Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili -- are spoken in the southern Terai Region. Hindi is also widely understood by Nepalis who have worked, studied or traveled in India. Many Nepali in government and business speak English as well. In the capital Kathmandu, Nepali, Nepal Bhasa (the Newar language) and English are the most widely understood languages.
History
Prehistory
Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. It appears that Kirant ethnicity people were the first people to settle in Nepal and ruled Nepal for about 2500 years. [15]
Ancient
Terai News writes, "Nepal has been highlighted for the last several centuries in Indian Sanskrit literature like 'Skand Purana'. 'Skanda Purana' has a separate volume known as 'Nepal Mahatmya', which explains in more details about Nepal."[16] Nepal is also mentioned in Hindu scriptures such as the Narayana Puja[17] and the Atharva Siras (800-600 BC).[17] Around 1000 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the region. From one of these, the Shakya confederation, arose a prince named Siddharta Gautama (563–483 BC), who later renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha ("the enlightened one"). The 7th Kirata king, Jitedasti, was on the throne in the Nepal valley at the time. By 250 BC, the region came under the influence of the Mauryan empire of northern India, and later became a vassal state under the Gupta Dynasty in the fourth century AD. In the fifth century, rulers called the Licchavis governed the majority of its area. There is a good and quite detailed description of the kingdom of Nepal in the account of the renowned Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk Xuanzang, dating from c. 645 AD.[18][19]
The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the late eighth century and was followed by a Newari era, from 879, although the extent of their control over the entire country is uncertain. By the late 11th century, southern Nepal came under the influence of the Chalukaya Empire of southern India. Under the Chalukayas, Nepal's religious establishment changed as the kings patronised Hinduism instead of the prevailing Buddhism.
Medieval
By the early 12th century, leaders were emerging whose names ended with the Sanskrit suffix malla ("wrestler"). Initially their reign was marked by upheaval, but the kings consolidated their power and ruled over the next 200 years; by the late 14th century, much of the country began to come under a unified rule. This unity was short-lived; in 1482 the region was carved into three kingdoms: Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur.
After centuries of petty rivalry between the three kingdoms, in the mid-18th century Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha King set out to unify the kingdoms. Seeking arms and aid from India, and buying the neutrality of bordering Indian kingdoms, he embarked on his mission in 1765. After several bloody battles and sieges, he managed to unify the Kathmandu Valley three years later in 1768. However, an actual battle never took place to conquer the Kathmandu valley; it was taken over by Prithvi Narayan and his troops without any effort, during Indra Jatra, a festival of Newars, when all the valley's citizens were celebrating the festival. This event marked the birth of the modern nation of Nepal.
Modern
There is historical evidence that, at one time, the boundary of Greater Nepal extended from the Tista River in the east to Kangara, across Sutlej River, in the west. A dispute and subsequent war with Tibet over the control of mountain passes forced the Nepalese to retreat and pay heavy reparations. Rivalry between Nepal and the British East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1815–16). The valor displayed by the Nepalese during the war astounded their enemies and earned them their image of fierce and ruthless "Gurkhas". The war ended in the Treaty of Sugauli, under which Nepal ceded recently-captured portions of Sikkim and lands in Terai to the Company.
Factionalism inside the royal family had led to a period of instability. In 1846 a plot was discovered revealing that the reigning queen had planned to overthrow Jung Bahadur Rana, a fast-rising military leader. This led to the Kot Massacre; armed clashes between military personnel and administrators loyal to the queen led to the execution of several hundred princes and chieftains around the country. Jung Bahadur Rana emerged victorious and founded the Rana lineage. The king was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly pro-British and assisted them during the Indian Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 (and later in both World Wars). The decision to help British East India Company was taken by the Rana Regime, then led by Jang Bahadur Rana. Some parts of the Terai Region were given back to Nepal by the British as a friendly gesture, because of her military help to sustain British control in India during the Sepoy Rebellion. In 1923, the United Kingdom and Nepal formally signed an agreement of friendship, in which Nepal's independence was recognized by the UK.
Slavery was abolished in Nepal in 1924.[20]
In the late 1940s, newly emerging pro-democracy movements and political parties in Nepal were critical of the Rana autocracy. Meanwhile, with the assertion of Chinese control in Tibet in the 1950s, India sought to counterbalance the perceived military threat from its northern neighbour by taking pre-emptive steps to assert more influence in Nepal. India sponsored both King Tribhuvan as Nepal's new ruler in 1951 and a new government, mostly comprising the Nepali Congress Party, thus terminating Rana hegemony in the kingdom. After years of power wrangling between the king and the government, the monarch scrapped the democratic experiment in 1959, and a "partyless" panchayat system was made to govern Nepal until 1989, when the "Jan Andolan" (People's Movement) forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty parliament that took seat in May 1991.[21]
In 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) started a bid to replace the royal parliamentary system with a people's socialist republic. This led to the long Nepal Civil War and more than 12,000 deaths. On June 1, 2001, there was a massacre in the royal palace; it left the King, the Queen and the Heir Apparent Crown Prince Dipendra among the dead. Prince Dipendra was accused of patricide and of committing suicide thereafter, alleged to be a violent response to his parents' refusal to accept his choice of wife. However, there is speculation and doubts among Nepalese citizens about the person(s) responsible for the Royal Massacre. Following the carnage, the throne was inherited by King Birendra's brother Gyanendra. On February 1, 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers to quash the violent Maoist movement. In September 2005, the Maoists declared a three-month unilateral ceasefire to negotiate their demands.
In response to the 2006 democracy movement, the king agreed to relinquish the sovereign power back to the people and reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives on April 24, 2006. Using its newly acquired sovereign authority, on May 18, 2006, the newly resumed House of Representatives unanimously passed a motion to curtail the power of the king and declared Nepal a secular state, abolishing its time-honoured official status as a Hindu Kingdom. On December 28, 2007, a bill was passed in parliament to amend Article 159 of the constitution - replacing "Provisions regarding the King" by "Provisions of the Head of the State" - declaring Nepal a federal republic, and thereby abolishing the monarchy.[22] The bill came into force on May 28, 2008 as a constituent assembly meeting in the capital, Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to abolish royal rule.[23]
Recent events
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) won the largest number of seats in the Constituent Assembly election held on April 10, 2008 and have thus formed a coalition government which includes most of the parties in the CA. But the Nepali Congress notably is not in the government. Although acts of violence occurred during the pre-electoral period, election observers noted that the elections themselves were markedly peaceful and "well-carried out."[24]
The Maoists had insisted on the abolition of the monarchy, with Nepal remaining democratic, but becoming a federal state with an elected head.[25] The newly elected Assembly met in Kathmandu on May 28, 2008, and, after a polling of 564 constituent Assembly members, 560 voted to end Nepal's 240 year old monarchy,[23][26] with the monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which had four members in the assembly, registering a dissent note. At that point, it was declared that Nepal had become a secular and inclusive democratic republic,[27] with the government announcing a three-day public holiday from May 28 to 30. The King was thereafter given 15 days to vacate the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, in order to re-open it as a public museum. He did not, however, grant Royal Assent to the acts of either the interim parliament or the Constituent Assembly, especially that which declared a republic. Some have argued that as the interim constitution is repugnant to the 1992 constitution, which had never been legally abolished, making the republic – from either a de jure or royalist, divine right perspective – invalid, keeping Gyanendra as king.[citation needed]
Geography
Geography of Nepal is uncommonly diverse. Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, 800 kilometres (500 mi) long and 200 kilometres (125 mi) wide, with an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi). See List of territories by size for the comparative size of Nepal.
Nepal is commonly divided into three physiographic areas: the Mountain, Hill, Siwalik region and Terai Regions. These ecological belts run east-west and are vertically intersected by Nepal's major, north to south flowing river systems.
The southern lowland Plains bordering India are part of the northern rim of the Indo-Gangetic plains. They were formed and are fed by three major rivers: the Kosi, the Narayani, and the Karnali. This region has a hot, humid climate.
The Hill Region (Pahad) abuts the mountains and varies from 1,000 to 4,000 metres (3,300–13,125 ft) in altitude. Two low mountain ranges, the Mahabharat Lekh and Shiwalik Range (also called the Churia Range) dominate the region. The hilly belt includes the Kathmandu Valley, the country's most fertile and urbanised area. Unlike the valleys called Inner Tarai (Bhitri Tarai Uptyaka), elevations above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) are sparsely populated.
The Mountain Region, situated in the Great Himalayan Range, makes up the northern part of Nepal. It contains the regions of highest altitude in the world; the world's highest mountain, 8,850 metres (29,035 ft) height Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali) is located here on the border with Tibet. Seven other of the world's ten highest mountains are located in Nepal: Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Kanchenjunga, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu.
Nepal has five climatic zones, broadly corresponding to the altitudes. The tropical and subtropical zones lie below 1,200 metres (3,940 ft), the temperate zone 1,200 to 2,400 metres (3,900–7,875 ft), the cold zone 2,400 to 3,600 metres (7,875–11,800 ft), the subarctic zone 3,600 to 4,400 metres (11,800–14,400 ft), and the Arctic zone above 4,400 metres (14,400 ft).
Nepal experiences five seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. The Himalaya blocks cold winds from Central Asia in the winter and forms the northern limit of the monsoon wind patterns. In a land once thickly forested, deforestation is a major problem in all regions, with resulting erosion and degradation of ecosystems.
Nepal is popular for mountaineering, containing some of the highest and most challenging mountains in the world, including Mount Everest. Technically, the south-east ridge on the Nepali side of the mountain is easier to climb; so, most climbers prefer to trek to Everest through Nepal.
Until the Sugauli Sandhi (treaty) was signed, the territory of Nepal also included Darjeeling, and Tista to the east, Nainital to the south-west and Kumaun, Garwal and Bashahar to the west. However, today these areas are a part of India. As a result, Nepal shares no boundary with Bangladesh now and the two countries are separated by a narrow strip of land about 21 kilometres (13 mi) wide, called the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck. A huge majority of Nepalese still live there (almost 2 million). Efforts are underway to make this area a free-trade zone.[28] The border dispute between India and Nepal has often been a cause of tension between the two countries.
Subdivisions
Nepal is divided into 14 zones and 75 districts, grouped into 5 development regions. Each district is headed by a permanent chief district officer responsible for maintaining law and order and coordinating the work of field agencies of the various government ministries. The 14 zones are:
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Neotectonics of Nepal
The collision between the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian continent, which started in Paleogene time and continues today, produced the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau, a spectacular modern example of the effects of plate tectonics. Nepal lies completely within this collision zone, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one third of the 2400 km-long Himalayas.[29]
The Indian plate continues to move north relative to Asia at the rate of ~50 mm/yr.[30] Given the great magnitudes of the blocks of the Earth's crust involved, this is remarkably fast, about twice the speed at which human fingernails grow. As the strong Indian continental crust subducts beneath the relatively weak Tibetan crust, it pushes up the Himalaya mountains. This collision zone has accommodated huge amounts of crustal shortening as the rock sequences slide one over another. Erosion of the Himalayas is a very important source of sediment, which flows via great rivers (Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra) to the Indian Ocean.[31]
Structural and Neotectonic pattern of Nepal
The main structures of Nepal consist of several north-dipping thrust faults; the more important ones are the main frontal thrust (MFT), the main boundary thrust (MBT) and the main central thrust (MCT) (F. Jouanne et al.,2004). These thrust faults lie to the south of the South Tibetan Detachment System(STDS) which is a system of low angle normal faults and is also an important aspect of Nepal Himalayan tectonics.
The thrust faults trend generally 120°N in western Nepal, curving to 90°N in the eastern part of the country (Upreti & Le Fort 1999). These thrust faults, with generally southerly transport directions (Brunel 1986; Pecher 1991; Mugnier et al.,1999), are inferred to branch off the major basal detachment of the Himalayan thrust belt called the main Himalayan thrust (MHT) that localizes the underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere beneath the Himalayas and Tibet (Zhao et al., 1993). All the cross-sections made through the Himalayan belt advocate a mid-crustal ramp, below a large-scale antiformal structure of the Lesser Himalayas and to be north of a synformal structure(Schelling & Arita 1991; Srivastava & Mitra 1994; Pandey et al. 1990; DeCelles et al. 1998; Mugnier et al. 2003). Geological, geophysical and structural data indicate that there are lateral variations in the geometry of the MHT (Zhao et al.,1993; Pandey et al.1995,1999), but direct knowledge of the geometry of the MHT is sparse and therefore the validity of the profiles is still in debate. The thrusts are generally younger from north to south (24-21 Ma for the MCT, less than 2 Ma for the MFT) (Hodges et al. 1996; Harrison et al. 1997). On the basis of these faults, the structure of Nepal is generally subdivided into five tectonic zones:
- Gangetic Plain (Terai) (area on the south of MFT)
- Sub-Himalayas (Siwaliks)(area between MFT and MBT)
- Lesser Himalayas (area between MBT and MCT)
- Higher Himalayas (area between MCT and STDS)
- Tibetan-Tethys (area north of STDS)
Present-day deformation of Nepal
The modern deformation of the Himalayas is characterized by big earthquakes. Almost half of the continuing convergence between India and Eurasia is absorbed by underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere, beneath the Himalayas and Tibet along the MHT, as proposed by seismic investigations (Zhao et al.1993). Three of the big Nepalese earthquakes (1905, 1934 and 1950, with magnitudes around 8) were caused by the mid-crustal ramp along MHT (Pandey & Molnar 1989). The territory of Nepal is characterized by very intense microseismic activity, most of which follows approximately the topographic front of the Higher Himalaya (Pandey et al.,1999). Most of the earthquakes cluster between the MCT and MBT (Fig: Seismicity in the Himalayas of Nepal). Earthquake focal mechanisms indicate that the intermediate magnitude earthquakes are shallow depth (10–20 km) beneath the Lesser Himalayas, demonstrating the activation of thrust planes gently dipping to the north (Ni and Barazangi, 1984). Detailed analysis of the Uttarkashi earthquake (Cotton et al. 1996) in the west of Nepal indicates that this event was initiated to the south of the Higher Himalayas front at 12±3 km depth corresponding to the southward propagation of a rupture along this segment of the MHT. A detailed study of the microseismic clusters suggests segmentation of the Himalayan arc (Pandey et al. 1999) and two major discontinuities segment the microseismicity belt at 82.5°E and 86.5°E. The projection along cross sections of the microseismic event (Fig:Cross-section and Projection of Microseimic Activity) reveals a noticeable change in shape of the clusters between central Nepal (rounded clusters are located in the vicinity of the flat-ramp transition of the MHT) and western Nepal (clusters are elongated and nearly horizontal) (F. Jouanne et al.,2004). Similarly, vertical displacement rates, expressed with reference to the Gangetic plain, indicate current uplift of the high Himalayas at 6 mm/yr, but also suggest active displacement along frontal thrusts inducing localized uplift (B. Antoine et al., 2004). There is change in maximum elevation between central (8500m) and western (7500m) Nepal and also a big difference in incision between eastern-central Nepal (6000m) and western Nepal (4500m)(B. Antoine et al., 2004). This is reflected in gentler relief in western Nepal and confirms the segmentation of geology and deformation observed with microseismicity and GPS measurements (Fig:Cross-section and Projection of Microseimic Activity).
Conclusion: To summarise, the neotectonic deformation of Nepal is characterised by three major thrust faults (MCT, MBT and MFT) which are inferred to be the splay thrust of MHT that marks the underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere beneath the Himalayas. Likewise, there is a sudden change in geometry of the MHT between central and western Nepal, which is also marked in the Himalayan relief. The MHT is the main structure responsible for recent uplift and continuing deformation in Nepal. This hypothesis is reinforced by the observation that Quaternary displacement along the Main Frontal Thrust, southern emergence of the MHT and the convergence rate estimated across the Himalayas by GPS are both estimated at 18-20 mm/yr, which suggests that nearly all the displacement between India and Tibet is today transferred along the MHT (B. Antoine et al., 2004).
Government and politics
Nepal has seen rapid political changes during the last two decades. Until 1990, Nepal was an absolute monarchy running under the executive control of the king. Faced with a people's movement against the absolute monarchy, King Birendra, in 1990, agreed to large-scale political reforms by creating a parliamentary monarchy with the king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of the government.
Nepal's legislature was bicameral, consisting of a House of Representatives called the Pratinidhi Sabha and a National Council called the Rastriya Sabha. The House of Representatives consisted of 205 members directly elected by the people. The National Council had 60 members: ten nominated by the king, 35 elected by the House of Representatives, and the remaining 15 elected by an electoral college made up of chairs of villages and towns. The legislature had a five-year term but was dissolvable by the king before its term could end. All Nepali citizens 18 years and older became eligible to vote.
The executive comprised the King and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet). The leader of the coalition or party securing the maximum seats in an election was appointed as the Prime Minister. The Cabinet was appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Governments in Nepal tended to be highly unstable, falling either through internal collapse or parliamentary dissolution by the monarch, on the recommendation of the prime minister, according to the constitution; no government has survived for more than two years since 1991.
The movement in April 2006, brought about a change in the nation's governance: an interim constitution was promulgated, with the King giving up power, and an interim House of Representatives was formed with Maoist members after the new government held peace talks with the Maoist rebels. The number of parliamentary seats was also increased to 330. In April 2007, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) joined the interim government of Nepal.
On December 10, 2007, the interim parliament passed a bill that would make Nepal a federal republic, with the Prime Minister becoming head of state. The bill was passed by the Constituent Assembly on May 28, 2008.
On April 10, 2008, the first election in Nepal for the constitution assembly took place. The Maoist party led the poll results but failed to gain a simple majority in the parliament.[32]
On May 28, 2008, lawmakers in Nepal legally abolished the monarchy and declared the country a republic, ending 239 years of royal rule in the Himalayan nation. The newly elected assembly, led by the former communist rebels, adopted the resolution at its first meeting by an overwhelming majority. King Gyanendra was given 15 days to leave the former Royal Palace in central Kathmandu by the Nepalese Constituent Assembly. He left the former Royal Palace on June 11.[33]
On June 26, 2008, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala tendered his resignation to the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, which is also functioning as the Nepalese Parliament; however, a new Prime Minister has yet to be elected by the Nepalese Constituent Assembly.
On July 19, 2008, the first round of voting for the election of the country's president and vice president took place in the Constituent Assembly. Parmanand Jha became the first vice president of Nepal. However, the two presidential frontrunners, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav of Nepali Congress and the Maoist-backed candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh, both failed to gain the minimum 298 votes needed to be elected, with Yadav receiving 283 votes and Singh receiving 270. 578 out of 594 CA members registered in the voter list had cast their votes, of which 24 were invalid.
On July 21, 2008, the second round of voting was held. Yadav received 308 of the 590 votes casted, securing his election as president.[34]
On August 15, 2008, Maoist leader Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was elected Prime Minister of Nepal, the first since the country's transition from a monarchy to a republic. Prachanda's election makes Nepal one of only three countries that currently have democratically-elected Communist state leaders, the other two being Cyprus and Moldova. On May 4, 2009, Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned over on-going conflicts over sacking of the Army chief.
Military and foreign affairs
Nepal's military consists of the Nepalese Army, which includes the Nepalese Army Air Service (the air force unit under it.) Nepalese Police Force is the civilian police and the Armed Police Force Nepal[35] is the paramilitary force. Service is voluntary and the minimum age for enlistment is 18 years. Nepal spends $99.2 million (2004) on its military—1.5% of its GDP. Many of the equipment and arms are imported from India. Consequently, the USA provided M16s M4s and other Colt weapons to combat communist (Maoist) insurgents. As of now, the standard-issue battle rifle of the Nepalese army is the Colt M16.[36][citation needed]
Nepal has close ties with both of its neighbours, India and China. In accordance with a long-standing treaty, Indian and Nepalese citizens may travel to each others' countries without a passport or visa. Nepalese citizens may work in India without legal restriction. Although Nepal and India typically have close ties, from time to time Nepal becomes caught up in the problematic Sino-Indian relationship. Recently, China has been asking Nepal to curb protests in Nepal against China's Policy on Tibet[37], and on April 17, 2008, police arrested over 500 Tibetan protestors[38] citing a need to maintain positive relations with China.
Terai News writes, "Being a Hindu Nation Nepal has a permanent relation, especially with the important religious places of the northern states of India. Religion has played a great role in the cultural relations between Nepal and India."[16]
Economy
Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for the year 2005 was estimated at just over US$39 billion (adjusted to Purchasing Power Parity), making it the 83rd-largest economy in the world. Agriculture accounts for about 40% of Nepal's GDP, services comprise 41% and industry 22%. Agriculture employs 76% of the workforce, services 18% and manufacturing/craft-based industry 6%. Agricultural produce — mostly grown in the Terai region bordering India — includes tea, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops, milk, and water buffalo meat. Industry mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce, including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Its workforce of about 10 million suffers from a severe shortage of skilled labour. The spectacular landscape and diverse, exotic cultures of Nepal represent considerable potential for tourism, but growth in this hospitality industry has been stifled by recent political events. The rate of unemployment and underemployment approaches half of the working-age population. Thus many Nepali citizens move to India in search of work; the Gulf countries and Malaysia being new sources of work. Nepal receives US$50 million a year through the Gurkha soldiers who serve in the Indian and British armies and are highly esteemed for their skill and bravery. The total remittance value is worth around US1 billion, including money sent from the Persian Gulf and Malaysia, who combined employ around 700,000 Nepali citizens. A long-standing economic agreement underpins a close relationship with India. The country receives foreign aid from India, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, China, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries. Poverty is acute; per-capita income is less than US$470.[39] The distribution of wealth among the Nepalis is consistent with that in many developed and developing countries: the highest 10% of households control 39.1% of the national wealth and the lowest 10% control only 2.6%.
The government's budget is about US$1.153 billion, with expenditures of $1.789 billion (FY05/06). The Nepalese rupee has been tied to the Indian Rupee at an exchange rate of 1.6 for many years. Since the loosening of exchange rate controls in the early 1990s, the black market for foreign exchange has all but disappeared. The inflation rate has dropped to 2.9% after a period of higher inflation during the 1990s.
Nepal's exports of mainly carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods and grain total $822 million. Import commodities of mainly gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products and fertilizer total US$2 bn. India (53.7%), the US (17.4%), and Germany (7.1%) are its main export partners. Nepal's import partners include India (47.5%), the United Arab Emirates (11.2%), China (10.7%), Saudi Arabia (4.9%), and Singapore (4%).
Nepal remains isolated from the world's major land, air and sea transport routes although, within the country, aviation is in a better state, with 48 airports, ten of them with paved runways; flights are frequent and support a sizable traffic. The hilly and mountainous terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. There were just over 8,500 km of paved roads, and one 59-km railway line in the south in 2003. There is only one reliable road route from India to the Kathmandu Valley. The only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu is Calcutta in India. Internally, the poor state of development of the road system (22 of 75 administrative districts lack road links) makes volume distribution unrealistic. Besides having landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure, the long-running civil war is also a factor in stunting the economic growth.[41]
There is less than one telephone per 19 people. Landline telephone services are not adequate nationwide but are concentrated in cities and district headquarters. Mobile telephony is in a reasonable state in most parts of the country with increased accessibility and affordability; there were around 175,000 Internet connections in 2005. After the imposition of the "state of emergency", intermittent losses of service-signals were reported, but uninterrupted Internet connections have resumed after Nepal's second major people's revolution to overthrow the King's absolute power.[42]
Demographics
Perched on the southern slopes of the Himalayan Mountains, Nepal is as ethnically diverse as its terrain of fertile plains, broad valleys, and the highest mountain peaks in the world. The Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet, and North Burma and Yunnan via Assam.
Among the earliest inhabitants were the Kirat of east mid-region, Newar of the Kathmandu Valley and aboriginal Tharu in the southern Terai region. The ancestors of the Brahman and Chetri caste groups came from India's present Kumaon, Garhwal and Kashmir regions, while other ethnic groups trace their origins to North Burma and Yunnan and Tibet, e.g. the Gurung and Magar in the west, Rai and Limbu in the east (from Yunnan and north Burma via Assam), and Sherpa and Bhutia in the north (from Tibet).
In the Terai, a part of the Ganges Basin with 20% of the land, much of the population is physically and culturally similar to the Indo-Aryans of northern India. Indo-Aryan and East Asian looking mixed people live in the hill region. The mountainous highlands are sparsely populated. Kathmandu Valley, in the middle hill region, constitutes a small fraction of the nation's area but is the most densely populated, with almost 5% of the population.
Nepal is a multilingual, multireligious and multiethnic society. These data are largely derived from Nepal's 2001 census results published in the Nepal Population Report 2002.
According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Nepal hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers in 2007 numbering approximately 130,000. Of this population, approximately 109,200 persons were from Bhutan and 20,500 from People's Republic of China.[43] The government of Nepal restricted Bhutanese refugees to seven camps in the Jhapa and Morang districts, and refugees were not permitted to work in most professions.[43]
| Data | Size |
|---|---|
| Population | 28,676,547 (2005) |
| Growth Rate | 2.2% |
| Population below 14 Years old | 39% |
| Population of age 15 to 64 | 57.3% |
| Population above 65 | 3.7% |
| The median age (Average) | 20.07 |
| The median age (Male) | 19.91 |
| The median age (Females) | 20.24 |
| Ratio (Male:Female) | 1, 000:1,060 |
| Life expectancy (Average) | 59.8 Years |
| Life expectancy (Male) | 60.9 |
| Life expectancy (Female) | 59.5 |
| Literacy Rate (Average) | 53.74% |
| Literacy Rate (Male) | 68.51% |
| Literacy Rate (Female) | 42.49% |
Despite the migration of a significant section of the population to the southern plains or terai in recent years, the majority of the population still lives in the central highlands. The northern mountains are sparsely populated.
Kathmandu, with a population of around 800,000 (metropolitan area: 1.5 million), is the largest city in the country.
Religion
| Nepal religiosity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| religion | percent | |||
| Hinduism | 80.6% | |||
| Buddhism | 10.7% | |||
| Islam | 4.2% | |||
| Mundhum | 3.6% | |||
| Christianity | 0.5% | |||
| Other | 0.4% | |||
The overwhelming majority in Nepal follow Hinduism. Shiva is regarded as the guardian deity of the country.[44] Nepal is home to the largest Shiva temple in the world, the famous Pashupatinath Temple, where Hindus from all over the world come for pilgrimage. According to mythology, Sita Devi of the epic Ramayana was born in the Mithila Kingdom of King Janaka Raja.
Near the Indian border, Lumbini, is a Buddhist pilgrimage site and UNESCO World Heritage Site site in the Kapilavastu district. It is held to be the birthplace in about 563 B.C. of Siddhartha Gautama, a Kshatriya caste prince of the Sakya clan, who, as the Buddha Gautama, gave birth to the Buddhist tradition. The holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone, in which only monasteries can be built. All three main branches of Buddhism exist in Nepal and the Newar people have their own branch of the faith. Buddhism is the dominant religion of the thinly-populated northern areas, which are inhabited by Tibetan-related peoples, such as the Sherpa.
The Buddha, born as a Hindu, is also said to be a descendant of Vedic Sage Angirasa in many Buddhist texts.[45] The Buddha's family surname is associated with Gautama Maharishi.[46] Differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been moderated in Nepal due to the cultural and historical intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. In Nepal, the faiths share some common temples and worship common deities. Among other natives of Nepal, those more influenced by Hinduism were the Magar, Sunwar, Limbu and Rai and the Gurkhas. Hindu influence is less prominent among the , Gurung, Bhutia, and Thakali groups who employ Buddhist monks for their religious ceremonies.[15][42] Most of the festivals in Nepal are Hindu.[47] The Machendrajatra festival, dedicated to Hindu Shaiva Siddha, is celebrated by many Buddhists in Nepal as a main festival.[48] As it is believed that Ne Muni established Nepal,[49] some important priests in Nepal are called "Tirthaguru Nemuni".
Culture
Nepalese culture is diverse, reflecting different ethnic origins of the people. The Newar community is particularly rich in cultural diversity; they celebrate many festivals, well known for their music and dance.
A typical Nepalese meal is dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a spicy lentil soup, served over bhat (boiled rice), served with tarkari (curried vegetables) together with achar (pickles) or chutni (spicy condiment made from fresh ingredients).. The Newar community, however, has its own unique cuisine. It consists of non-vegetarian as well as vegetarian items served with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Mustard oil is the cooking medium and a host of spices, such as cumin, coriander, black peppers, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic, ginger, methi (fenugreek), bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, mustard seeds, etc., are used in the cooking. The cuisine served on festivals is generally the best.
The Newari Music orchestra consists mainly of percussion instruments, though wind instruments, such as flutes and other similar instruments, are also used. String instruments are very rare. There are songs pertaining to particular seasons and festivals. Paahan chare music is probably the fastest played music whereas the Dapa the slowest. There are certain musical instruments such as Dhimay and Bhusya which are played as instrumental only and are not accompanied with songs. The dhimay music is the loudest one. In the hills, people enjoy their own kind of music, playing saarangi (a string instrument), madal and flute. They also have many popular folk songs known as lok geet and lok dohari.
The Newar dances can be broadly classified into masked dances and non-masked dances. The most representative of Newari dances is Lakhey dance. Almost all the settlements of Newaris organise Lakhey dance at least once a year, mostly in the Goonlaa month. So, they are called Goonlaa Lakhey. However, the most famous Lakhey dance is the Majipa Lakhey dance; it is performed by the Ranjitkars of Kathmandu and the celeberation continues for the entire week that contains the full moon of Yenlaa month. The Lakhey are considered to be the saviors of children.
Folklore is an integral part of Nepalese society. Traditional stories are rooted in the reality of day-to-day life, tales of love, affection and battles as well as demons and ghosts and thus reflect local lifestyles, cultures and beliefs. Many Nepalese folktales are enacted through the medium of dance and music.
The Nepali year begins in mid-April and is divided into 12 months. Saturday is the official weekly holiday. Main annual holidays include the National Day, celebrated on the birthday of the king (December 28), Prithvi Jayanti (January 11), Martyr's Day (February 18), and a mix of Hindu and Buddhist festivals such as dashain in autumn, and tihar in late autumn. During tihar, the Newar community also celebrates its New Year as per their local calendar Nepal Sambat.
Most houses in rural lowland of Nepal are made up of a tight bamboo framework and walls of a mud and cow-dung mix. These dwellings remain cool in summer and retain warmth in winter. Houses in the hills are usually made of unbaked bricks with thatch or tile roofing. At high elevations construction changes to stone masonry and slate may be used on roofs.
Nepal's flag is the only national flag in the world that is non-quadrilateral in shape, and one of only two non-rectangular flags in use (the other being the flag of the U.S. state of Ohio). According to its official description, the red in the flag stands for victory in war or courage, and is also color of the rhododendron, the national flower of Nepal. Red also stands for aggression. The flag's blue border signifies peace. The curved moon on the flag is a symbol of the peaceful and calm nature of Nepalese, while the sun represents the aggressiveness of Nepalese warriors.
See also
Notes
- ^ According to Interim Constitution Nepali is only the official language (article 5, point 2). Other languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal are the national languages (article 5, point 1). According to article 5, point 3, all languages are accepted as official languages at the regional level. Besides, this part of the article is about native names and not about official language. The constitution does not state that Nepal written in Devanagari is the official name. Nepal_Interim_Constitution2007
- ^ a b c d "Nepal". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=558&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=41&pr.y=11. Retrieved on 2009-04-22.
- ^ {"The World Factbook : Rank order population". CIA. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html.
- ^ url = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
- ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html#People CIA Factbook, Nepal, "People" section
- ^ "Nepal's first president sworn in". Radio Australia. 2008-07-24. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200807/s2312720.htm?tab=asia.
- ^ Newa-Author:Shrestha, Moolookha Publication
- ^ a b c W.B., P. 34 Land of the Gurkhas
- ^ a b The Ancient Period
- ^ Balfour, P. 195 Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, :
- ^ Alone In Kathmandu
- ^ Prasad, P. 4 The life and times of Maharaja Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal
- ^ Khatri, P. 16 The Postage Stamps of Nepal
- ^ Interim Constitution of Nepal, Article 5, point 3
- ^ a b "A Country Study: Nepal". Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/nptoc.html. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- ^ a b Terai News
- ^ a b P. 17 Looking to the Future: Indo-Nepal Relations in Perspective By Lok Raj Baral
- ^ Li, Rongxi (translator). 1995. The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions, pp. 219-220. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. Berkeley, California. ISBN 1-886439-02-8
- ^ Watters, Thomas. 1904-5. On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India (A.D. 629-645), pp. 83-85. Reprint: Mushiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi. 1973.
- ^ Tucci, Giuseppe. (1952). Journey to Mustang, 1952. Trans. by Diana Fussell. 1st Italian edition, 1953; 1st English edition, 1977. 2nd edition revised, 2003, p. 22. Bibliotheca Himalayica. ISBN 99933-0-378-X (South Asia); 974-524-024-9 (Outside of South Asia).
- ^ "Timeline: Nepal". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1166516.stm. Retrieved on 2005-09-29.
- ^ Nepal votes to abolish monarchy - CNN
- ^ a b Nepal votes to abolish monarchy - CNN
- ^ The Carter Center, "Activities by Country: Nepal", http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/nepal.html, retrieved on 2008-07-17
- ^ Nepal becomes a federal democratic republic - Nepalnews.com
- ^ http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=148454
- ^ "Nepal abolishes its monarchy". Al Jazeera. May 28, 2008. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0A9B5B1F-5BF2-4ACB-A159-700F21DAD3C4.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India to set up FTA
- ^
- Beek van der Peter,Xavier Robert, Jean-Louis Mugnier, Matthias Bernet, Pascale Huyghe and Erika Labrin, "Late Miocene- Recent Exhumation of the Central Himalaya and Recycling in the Foreland Basin Assessed by Apatite Fission-Track Thermochronology of Siwalik Sediments, Nepal," Basic research, 18, 413-434, 2006.
- Berger Antoine, Francois Jouanne, Riadm Hassani and Jean Louis Mugnier, "Modelling the Spatial Distribution of Present day Deformation in Nepal: how cylindrical is the Main Himalayan Thrust in Nepal?", Geophys.J.Int., 156, 94-114, 2004.
- Bilham Roger and Michael Jackson,"Constraints on Himalayan Deformation inferred from Vertical Velocity Fields in Nepal and Tibet," Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 99, 897-912, 10 July, 1994.
- Chamlagain Deepak and Daigoro Hayashi, "Neotectonic Fault Analysis by 2D Finite Element Modeling for Studying the Himalayan Fold and Thrust belt in Nepal," University of the Ryukyus,Okinawa, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 1-16, 14 July 2006.
- F. Jouanne et al., "Current Shortening Across the Himalayas of Nepal", Geophys.J.Int., 154, 1-14, 2004.
- Pandey M.R, R.P. Tandukar, J.P. Avouac, J. Vergne and Th. Heritier, "Seismotectonics of the Nepal Himalaya from a Local Seismic Network", Journal of Asian Earth Sciences,17, 703-712,1999.
- ^ Bilham et al., 1998; Pandey et al., 1995.
- ^ Summerfield & Hulton, 1994; Hay, 1998.
- ^ Nepal's election The Maoists triumph | Economist.com
- ^ Nepal's Lawmakers Abolish the Country's Monarchy
- ^ http://www.presidentofnepal.com
- ^ Official Website of Armed Police Force Nepal
- ^ www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl31599.pdf
- ^ China urges Nepal to act on Tibet - BBC News
- ^ Nepal Arrests Tibetan Protesters - BBC News
- ^ "Nepal". Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation. http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/nepal.htm. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- ^ "Nepal king's head spared on new banknotes". http://sundaytimes.lk/071007/International/international00009.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ "Nepal: Economy". MSN Encarta. 3. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562648_3/Nepal.html. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- ^ a b "Nepal". CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- ^ a b "World Refugee Survey 2008". U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. 2008-06-19. http://www.refugees.org/survey.
- ^ Anthologia anthropologica. The native races of Asia and Europe; by James George Frazer, Sir; Robert Angus Downie
- ^ The Life of Buddha as Legend and History, by Edward Joseph Thomas
- ^ P. 95 A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms By James Legge
- ^ Festivals of Nepal
- ^ P. 885 Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 10 By James Hastings
- ^ Wright, P. 107, History of Nepal: With an Introductory Sketch of the Country and People of Nepal
References
- Shaha, Rishikesh (1992). Ancient and Medieval Nepal. New Delhi: Manohar Publications. ISBN 8185425698.
- Tiwari, Sudarshan Raj (2002). The Brick and the Bull: An account of Handigaun, the Ancient Capital of Nepal. Himal Books. ISBN 9993343528.
- "Nepal". MSN Encarta. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562648_3/Nepal.html. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- "India Nepal Open Border". Nepal Democracy. http://www.nepaldemocracy.org/documents/treaties_agreements/nep_india_open_border.htm. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- "Football at the heart of the Himalaya". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/en/regulations/magazine/index/0,1569,102162,00.html?articleid=102162. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- "Nepal: Information Portal". Explore Nepal. http://www.explorenepal.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
- "The Best Memoir You Never Heard Of: "Shadow Over Shangri-La"". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/12/RVGJ6M4RGA1.DTL.
- "Nepal: A state under siege". The South Asian: Featured Articles. http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000155.html. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- "Nepal: Basic Fact Sheet". Nepal homepage. http://www.nepalhomepage.com/general/glance.html. Retrieved on 2005-09-23.
- "Jailed ex-PM in Nepal court plea". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4194160.stm. Retrieved on 2005-09-29.
- "Nepal's new emblem". Citizen Journalism Nepal. http://www.cjnepal.org/story/547/nepals-new-emblem. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
- Gotz Hagmuller (2003). Patan Museum: The Transformation of a Royal Palace in Nepal. London: Serindia. ISBN 0962658X.
- Kunda Dixit (2006). A people war: Images of the Nepal conflict 1996–2006. Kathmandu: nepa-laya.
- Barbara Crossette (1995). So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0679743634.
- Bista, Dor Bahadur (1967). People of Nepal. Dept. of Publicity, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of Nepal. ISBN 9993304182.
- Michael Hutt, ed., Himalayan 'people's war' : Nepal's Maoist rebellion, London: C. Hurst, 2004
- Peter Matthiessen (1993). The Snow Leopard. Penguin. ISBN 0002720256.
- Joe Simpson (1997). Storms of Silence. Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0898865123.
- Samrat Upadhyay (2001). Arresting God in Kathmandu. Mariner Books. ISBN 0618043713.
- Joseph R. Pietri (2001). The King of Nepal. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Creative Arts. ISBN 061511928X.
- Maurice Herzog (1951). Annapurna. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1558215492.
- Dervla Murphy (1968). The Waiting Land: A Spell in Nepal. Transatlantic Arts. ISBN 0719517451.
- Rishikesh Shaha (2001). Modern Nepal: A Political History. Manohar Publishers and Distributors. ISBN 8173044031.
External links
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity- Government of Nepal
- Chief of State and Cabinet Members
- Planet Nepal Nepal Encyclopedia Project
- Nepal entry at The World Factbook
- Nepal from UCB Libraries GovPubs
- Nepal at the Open Directory Project
- Wikimedia Atlas of Nepal
- Nepal travel guide from Wikitravel
- National Geographic Country Profile: Nepal
- Languages of Nepal from the Ethnologue
- The Carter Center information on Nepal
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Coordinates: 26°32′N 86°44′E / 26.533°N 86.733°E / 26.533; 86.733
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