Two Tibetans 'die after self-immolation in China'

I am really sad when I read the news article about the Tibetans died after self-immolation in China. Why do the Tibetans have to die in such a way? Don't the people around the world including in China have to rethink about the dire situation of the the peaceful religious simple Tibetans?

Everyone should raise the voice in support of the Tibetans. My full support to the Peace loving religious people of the Tibet.

The Chinese suppression of Religion and Freedom of Speech 

Buddha figure Nepal sold in New York

The bronze figure of the Padmapani that sold at Christie’s 

 

A 13^th-century bronze figure from Nepal sold for around $2.49 million at a Christie’s auction in New York on Tuesday — seven times more than its expected sale price.
The Padmapani was part of a private collection that went under the hammer on Tuesday. Christie’s expected it to sell for up to $350,000. It was bought by an anonymous buyer.
The statuette, which is around 18 inches (45 centimeters) high, is a representation of the Padmapani, one of the many guises of the Buddhist god of compassion, Avalokiteshvara. The Padmapani is typically portrayed with a lotus blossom, here shown on his right shoulder.
This figure stands out for its particularly fine details. It is wearing a tiara and an adorned dhoti, a loose fabric garment traditionally worn by men in South Asia. His right hand is held in a mudra, a ritual hand gesture typical of religious icons in the region. Bronze representations of the Padmapani were common in the Kathmandu Valley, where it was historically one of the most popular deities.
Sales for the collection, which belonged to Doris Wiener, one of the best-known collectors of South Asian art, totaled close to $12.8 million.
Another highlight of the sale was an 11^th-century bronze representation of the Somaskanda, a manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva with his wife, the goddess Parvati, and his son Skanda. The figure, which originates from south India, sold for around $1.8 million.
On Wednesday, more works from the region will be going under the hammer in auctions in New York, which is currently hosting Asia Art week. Sotheby’s and Christie’s will be auctioning more works of classical South Asian art, mostly stone and bronze religious figures.
Several works of modern and contemporary art will also be up for grabs at Christie’s. Among them is a painting by the late Indian artist Tyeb Mehta, which is expected to sell for up to $2 million. Mr. Mehta’s works, which stand out for their stylized figures and layered color blocking, have sold for record prices in recent years. In June, one of his paintings, a depiction of a figure reclining on a rickshaw, sold for $3.24 million. That was the second-highest sum ever paid for an Indian painting at an auction, after Syed Haider Raza’s “Saurashtra,” which sold for $3.5 million in 2010.

The Maoist Government, Foreign intervention in Nepal

An urgent diplomatic effort was under way on Thursday to prevent a showdown between Nepal’s national army and the former Maoist rebels heading the government.
A dispute over the future of the army chief threatens to cut short the Himalayan state’s three-year-old peace process.
The Maoist-led government wants to sack General Rook Mangud Katwal. It believes he stands in the way of integration of regular forces with their old foes, Maoist guerrilla fighters, and has openly defied the country’s new civilian leadership.
Nepal has struggled to integrate 19,000 Maoist cadres into the security forces, bitter adversaries during an 11-year civil war and which remain deeply suspicious of one another.
The near 100,000 strong military has responded to the threat to its leadership by putting itself on high alert.
“Nepal Army never lost in armed confrontation with the Maoists.
“We agreed to bring them to political mainstream thinking they would respect plurality and democracy,” said a senior army officer.
“Their attempt to sack our chief has deeply disturbed us. It can lead to anything.”
The international community held talks with the government on Thursday in an effort to defuse the stand-off. Puspa Kamal Dahal, prime minister, met the ambassadors of India, the US, the UK, Japan and Germany, among others, to put forward the case for Gen Katwal’s removal.
The diplomats warned that such an action threatened to derail the reconciliation process and precipitate a return to hostilities between the former enemies.
In a sign of growing anxiety in neighbouring India, Rakesh Sood, India’s ambassador, returned to New Delhi last night to brief his government on the latest developments.
Rajendra Dahal, press adviser to Ram Baran Yadav, Nepal’s president, said: “The political parties and democratic forces are requesting the president to stop the government from sacking the army chief because if they get control over the national army then there will be no force left to stop them from usurping power.” .
Disputes have arisen over new recruits to the Nepali army and the extension of the terms of eight generals. The Maoists unsuccessfully challenged the new appointments in the supreme court.
The army, meanwhile, has complained that it is being denied resources to counter a regional terror threat and of China’s growing influence in the country. The army this month withdrew athletes from events in Nepal’s national games because Maoists were also competing.

21st century King??????

THIMPHU (Reuters) - He was supposed to look on regally from on high as warriors, monks and masked dancers celebrated his coronation, but Bhutan's new Dragon King instead showed royal star quality by descending to mingle with the crowds on Friday.
The 28-year-old Oxford educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who assumed the Raven Crown on Thursday, spent most of the afternoon among the 20,000 spectators, chatting, joking, and greeting old friends, ordinary people, and tourists.
"He is very gracious and he has amazing charisma," said 36-year-old Patty Wu from San Francisco, after the king stopped to jokingly enquire if her friends were wearing suncream, and to talk about California.
"We felt like we were the only people in the stadium," added 37-year-old photographer Jay Hu at her side.
A few steps on, the Druk Gyalpo or Dragon King picked out a 70-year-old man from several rows back in the crowd. Phuentsho had spent most of his life working for the royal household.
"He joked that I had never made the pilgrimage I had promised to, but told me I had worked very hard," said the laughing old man, dressed in a Bhutanese gho, the national knee-length gown, and a woolly Nike hat.
This is the style of Bhutan's new "People's King", as he has inevitably been nicknamed, a young man who has also been educated in the United States and India and now wants to help shepherd his ancient Himalayan kingdom into the modern world.
With his slicked-back black hair, sideburns and winning smile he has the kind of star quality royal families dream of, looking a bit like a cross between a Hong Kong movie star and a young Elvis Presley.

Governance, Maoist style

The government has failed to build consensus with the opposition and keep the House occupied in law making A section of the media including the Kathmandu Post's editorial has complained that the Nepali Congress (NC) has been unduly critical of the Maoist functioning of the government and the allegation of totalitarian objective of the Maoists may be little harsh. They suggest that the criticisms need to be more nuanced and tempered. It would be useful to present some facts here.
It has been about three months since the Maoists have been in power and formed a coalition government, which command approximately two-third support in the Constituent Assembly. The opposition has been generally supportive in ensuring its smooth functioning. They have shown extra consideration in ensuring the passage of major government policies in record time. The government's annual policy and programme as presented in the Presidential Address was passed in a record three days. The budget debate including the discussions in the appropriation bills of various ministries which normally would take two to three months have been compressed into a week. The opposition also agreed to condense the discussions on appropriation of two dozen ministries to four days, making any meaningful discussion practically farce. In normal time each ministry received at least two to three days.
The House also has not seen the physical obstruction for days and weeks that happened in previous days. But what has the government done? They have failed to take advantage of the situation in listening to the opposition and be sensitive to their concerns. On the contrary, they have spent most of their time in provoking and inciting controversy, consolidating political power through unfair means and making a mockery of the rule of law.
Prime Minister Dahal pledged to return the seized property to rightful owners and vacate the illegally occupied public and private buildings within a month of coming to power. But so far no action has been taken to that end. Close on the heels of Matrika Yadav's open involvement in the land grab campaign in Siraha, a CA member from the Maoist party boasts that they have seized 1200 bighas of land in that district. Some 300 hutments were erected in eight VDCs from Sakraun to Prayagpur. The government has displayed total inaction after showing initial action in destroying the illegal hutments. The internally displaced families are running pillar to post seeking fair treatment and justice.
The Kantipur Publications has thrown a bombshell by reporting that Kali Bahadur Kham Magar alias Bibidh, the alleged killer of Ram Hari Shrestha in Shaktikhor Maoist camp, has been doing his normal functions in the camp. This man who has been under police search warrant for the last six month was seen recently in the company of the Defence Minister. The Maoists leadership had earlier pledged to handover Kham Magar to the police administration. The Maoist leadership's complicity in the murder has thus become public. This is also a telling commentary on the nature of activity that happens in the cantonment.
Despite bold posture by the Home Minister about enforcing law and order and punish the guilty, he seems hopelessly incapable of making any dent on the issue in the face of the Maoist conduct. His enthusiasm to curtail nightlife activities by banning night bars and restaurants after 11 PM may be well intentioned but highly controversial. But he stuck to his gun because the targets were the hapless hoteliers and small time entertainers. But he put his foot down when it came to providing security to the proposed Beauty Contest in the country's capital, because the opposition came from the Maoist's Women Wing which seems more interested in imposing its own version of Taliban-like moral and cultural values. He expressed his inability to protect the planned extravaganza.
The cabinet transferred 16 permanent secretaries and promoted 20 joint secretaries as acting secretaries without consulting the Public Service Commission. At a time when there have been glaring cases of redundant secretarial posts without well defined functions, they have created six such additional posts on an ad hoc basis without proper homework. In addition to adding financial burden on the exchequer, the new posts are certain to create more confusion, demoralization and personality clashes at the higher levels of the bureaucracy. Clearly, the new decision has devalued the senior level positions in the civil service. The government has also affected large scale transfer at the middle level creating instability and panic in the system. The government has openly violated the existing civil service regulation which requires a minimum of two years in a job before civil servants are transferred elsewhere -- a measure adopted in the past to avoid administrative instability caused by political considerations.
How justifiable is the government's move to withdraw the ambassadors close to the NC? These ambassadors were chosen based on their contribution to the April Uprising, following consultations with principal political parties and with their suitability confirmed in the process of parliamentary hearing. They represent the nation, not the parties in power. The argument that NC is no longer in the government does not hold water. Maoist nominees were given ambassadorial assignments when they were not part of the government. Apart from political, moral and fair play considerations, changing ambassadors frequently imposes a huge financial burden to the nation.
Normally, a session of the House would see dozens of bills presented by the government. But there are practically none in this session. The government has failed to keep the House occupied and engaged in law making which remains the principal task of a legislative body. The constitution drafting process is yet to start. The onus of responsibility may lie with both the ruling and opposition parties. But the leadership and initiative should naturally come from the majority group.
Facts like these are multiple and speak for themselves. Nepal is at the critical juncture of national life. The prospect of a totalitarian state may be far-fetched. The people will never accept it. But freedom loving people are seriously concerned about the way the Maoists' speak and act. The Prime Minister says many of the right things. One suspects this is for internal and external consumption. If he really means it, he has not shown the leadership required to act. His party stalwarts talk differently, and the government and party mechanism act differently. A leader is the one who can transcend and rise above partisan interest. B.P. Koirala did it after the national referendum of 1980. G.P. Koirala showed this quality in the peace process.
Koirala did not waver in his mission despite dissatisfaction in his own party. Many acts of omission and commission were tolerated. This appeasement was intended to bring the Maoists to the peace and electoral process. Now the Maoists themselves are running the government. But they have failed to implement the agreement they signed. They continue to break and violate the law. They have failed to show the leadership required for consensus building, an essential feature of the peace process so assiduously nurtured by the NC-led government in the past. The Nepali Congress, being the principal opposition and the party with the longest history of democratic credentials, will be failing in its moral and political duty, if it does not raise its voice at this critical phase of the nation's history.

By Ram S. Mahat

Clashes in Kathmandu over government moves

Large parts of Kathmandu city centre shut down Sunday following clashes between police and protestors demonstrating a government decision not to finance traditional animal sacrifice. Thousands of protestors, mostly from the Newar community - considered the original inhabitants of Kathmandu Valley - forced shops, educational institutions and main markets to shut down and prevented transport from operating in the Old City area.
Police said at least a dozen vehicles that defied the strike were vandalized by the demonstrators.
They also burnt tyres to set up road blocks and clashed with police in several parts of the city.
The government deployed hundreds of extra police to prevent the violence from spreading, but were facing difficulties controlling the crowd.
"The government is trying to interfere with our culture and is attempting to undermine it," said Pabitra Bajracharya, president Newar National Association. "The government must apologize and correct its decisions."
The protests first flared up on Friday night during Indra Jatra, one of the most important festivals of Newar community.
The protests and clashes stopped the chariot procession of the living goddess Kumari, and prevented Nepalese president Ram Baran Yadav from receiving blessing from her.
It was the first time the tradition has been broken since it began nearly four centuries ago.
As part of tradition, the head of state receives blessing during the five-day festival in a symbolic gesture to rule the country for another year.
Until last year, the blessing was received by king, but president as the head of state took up the cultural duties after the country abolished the monarchy earlier this year.
Last week, the government said it would not provide funding for the animal sacrifice that is considered essential for several Hindu festivals across Nepal, calling it necessary to cut government expenditure.
Local media said the government decision to cut the funding would affect all major festivals across Nepal.
Last year, the Nepalese government spent nearly 12.3 million rupees (166,000 dollars) on animal sacrifices. It spent another 54 million rupees organizing and funding various festivals, reports said.

Massive evacuation as millions hit by Nepal-India floods

More than 300,000 people trapped in Nepal-India's worst floods in 50 years have been rescued but nearly double that number remain stranded without food or water, officials said Saturday.
About 60 people have died and three million have been affected since the Kosi river breached its banks earlier this month on the border with Nepal and changed course, swamping hundreds of villages in eastern Bihar state.
"Large-scale evacuation will continue till all the marooned people are rescued in the next three to four days," disaster management official Prataya Amrit told AFP.
The government said the situation was unlikely to return to normal for months and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) voiced fears about illnesses breaking out at congested relief camps.
"We will have to provide food and shelter to the survivors until October as they will not be able to return home," the state's disaster management minister Nitish Mishra told AFP.
The government has set up more than 100 shelters, but officials said nearly 600,000 people were still waiting to be rescued.
The floods have caused extensive damage and disruption to roads, water and electricity supplies in the affected areas, UNICEF said.
"Essential commodities including food are now being transported by boat," the UN body said in a statement.
In New Delhi, a home ministry statement said 84 boats and five helicopters were being despatched to Bihar to ferry people to safety.
"More army personnel and medical teams have been sent to the affected districts with tents, rubber sheets, medicines and water purification tablets," a home ministry official said.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Nepal, where thousands of Indians seeking shelter from floods in Bihar have also migrated.
At least 15 people died and some were still missing after an army rescue boat carrying flood survivors capsized on Friday.
Soldiers were facing problems tracing possible survivors because of strong currents, disaster management official R.K. Singh said.
A family trapped on a tractor for several days made desperate pleas to be rescued as flood waters rose steadily around them, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
"We have been stuck here for the past 10 days with no rescue team reaching here. Our food and water stocks have run out. Our mobiles (phones) are working, but they too will fail any moment," Laxmi Singh was quoted as saying.
Survivors at relief shelters said they were not getting anything to eat.
"We have absolutely nothing with us here. We left everything behind," one woman at a crowded relief camp told NDTV news network.
Premier Manmohan Singh has described the situation as a "national calamity" and announced a relief package of 228 million dollars and 125,000 tonnes of grain.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has sent condolences to the families of victims.
"The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage to property in Bihar, due to flooding," his office said in a statement.
The Kosi, which flows into the Ganges, is known as the "River of Sorrow" due to its record of disastrous floods during the monsoon season.
More than 800 people have been killed in monsoon-related accidents following the heavy June-to-September rains across India.
Bihar officials said the death toll could climb further as many areas were inaccessible.

The Maoists' move is likely to cause political turmoil in this Himalayan nation

Nepal's first president elected by new republic's governing assembly

Nepal's governing assembly has elected the new republic's first president, defeating the candidate backed by the former communist rebels who emerged in recent elections as the largest political party.

Senior leaders of the former rebels, formally known as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), warned after the results were announced Monday that they would withdraw plans to form the new government.

Constituent Assembly Chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced the assembly has elected Ram Baran Yadav, a physician from the Madheshi ethnic community in southern Nepal.

Yadav's victory was a blow for the Maoists, who won the most assembly seats in April elections and hoped to form the country's new government.

Security Challanges in Nepal

Incident No 1

An unidentified group Sunday detonated a bomb at the newly constructed building of Malangawa municipility in Sarlahi district.

The explosion slightly damaged the ground floor of the building and broke five shutters.

Acting chief of the municipality Raj Kapur Mahato informed that none of the municipality staffers, who were working on the upper floor of the building, was injured.

He said that an underground armed outfit Terai Army had threatened the municipality demanding a ransom of Rs 5,00,000.

The group are suspected to have carried out the explosion.

Incident No 2

In what appears to be the first such case of collective revolt by junior security personnel against their high level officers in Nepal, the junior personnel of Shamshergunj battalion of Armed Police Force (APF), in Banke district, have taken hold of the battalion assaulting and repelling the officers.

Claiming that they were provided with 'sub-standard rations' and meted out 'unbecoming behavior' by senior officers, the 'revolting' personnel physically assaulted the chief of the battalion Superintendent of Police Hari Shankar Budhathoki – who has now been brought to Kathmandu for treatment.

The 'revolting' personnel have locked up the battalion and refused entry to other officials, media as well as human rights people since the 'revolt' broke out late in the evening on Saturday.

Incident No 3

Unidentified assailants murdered a school principal after abducting him in Dhanusha district Sunday.

Bindeshwor Mahato, principal of Rastriya Secondary School in Hariharpur VDC was abducted two days ago along with one other man Kapaleshwor Saha before being shot dead.
However, Saha had managed to escape from the clutches of the abductors.
What can a Nepali make out of these incidents going on in Nepal?

Nepal arrests Tibetan leaders

Nepalese authorities arrested three Tibetan leaders and charged them with anti-China activities, leading to protest from a pro-Tibet group based in Washington.

Police said the three Tibetans - Kelsang Chung, director of the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu, Ngawang Sangmo and Tashi Dolma, senior officials of the regional Tibetan Women's Association - were taken in on Thursday on charges of "anti-China activities".

Their arrests came amid street protests on Thursday, which saw hundreds of Tibetan exiles, including nuns and monks, shouting anti-China slogans and scuffling with police in Kathmandu before being hauled into waiting trucks and taken to detention centres.

Nearly 600 protesters were detained on Thursday for trying to storm a visa office of the Chinese embassy but it was not clear if they had been charged.

Police officer Sarbendra Khana said on Friday the three Tibetan leaders were detained under Nepal's Public Security Act and could be held in custody for 90 days. Nepali authorities have not said what prompted their arrests.

Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) criticised the government for the leaders' arrest, and said the three Tibetans should be released immediately. "These arrests are deeply disturbing at a time of transition to a new government in Nepal, when Tibetans already vulnerable in Nepal, are very nervous about Chinese government influence and presence in Kathmandu," Mary Beth Markey, a vice-president of the Washington-based said in a statement.
"We call for the immediate release of these three prominent Tibetans," the group said on Friday.

Nepal is presently going through a political transition, with former Maoist rebels, who scored a surprise victory in the April elections for a constituent assembly, expected to form a new government soon. The impoverished Himlayan state considers Tibet part of China, a key aid donor, and does not allow anti-China protests by Tibetans who fled their homeland after the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

Beijing wants Kathmandu to do more to stop the protests and Nepali authorities have recently toughened their position against refugees living in Nepal.

More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in the Himalayan nation after a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule in 1959. Kathmandu allows the exiled Tibetans to live in Nepal, but they are prohibited from organising political activities against its influential neighbour.

Thousands of Tibetans have been detained and later freed in recent months in Nepal for protesting against the Chinese crackdown on protests in Tibet in mid-March.

Treaty review will not sabotage Special Indo-Nepal ties: Prachanda

Kathmandu, May 17

Allaying fears that reviewing the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty will "sabotage" bilateral ties, Maoist chief Prachanda has said he wanted a "close" and "special" relationship with India on the basis of a "new" understanding.

"There should be some sort of special relation between Kathmandu and Delhi.... We want a new relationship with India, which means better relation, better understanding and better cooperation," Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, said.

The Maoist leader, believed to be Nepal's prime minister-in-waiting, said he wanted "each and every" provision of the treaty to be reviewed in the "new changing context" for "better" relationship between two countries.

"People feel that that it (treaty) is not benefiting them, there is some kind of inequality in it, so people have, time and again, raised concern for reviewing the 1950 treaty," he told Karan Thapar here in an interview for CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme. "I don't think reviewing the treaty will sabotage the relation," he said.

New Delhi has expressed its readiness to have a re-look at the 58-year-old treaty after the Maoists voiced the demand following their triumph in the April Constituent Assembly poll.

Prachanda, however, favoured "equidistant" from both New Delhi and Beijing at the "political level".

"At the political level we will never side one country against another," he said. "We will try to maintain equidistant between Delhi and Beijing in political sense, but not in practical sense and in matters of cooperation." Prachanda denied that he was indulging in doublespeak on ties with India--demanding review of the treaty and seeking "equidistant" from Beijing and New Delhi on one hand and favouring close ties on the other. But political observers think he is indulging in doublespeak.

What can people of Nepal and India make out of such a contradictory statements from Nepal's revolutionary PM waiting?

Dialogue with Beijing 'vital': Tibetan exiled government

The Tibetan government-in-exile said Monday a new round of talks with China had been "vital" and that it was pleased Beijing had committed itself to continued dialogue.
"The fact we are once again in contact is very vital for a solution to the Tibetan issue," said Thubten Samphel, spokesman of the northern India-based Tibetan government-in-exile.
"It is also very good that China agreed to honour a meeting later," he told AFP by telephone from the hill town of Dharamshala, home of the exiled administration of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The one day of closed-door talks, the first between the two sides in over a year, concluded on Sunday with no reported breakthrough in ending the Tibet crisis, but few other details emerged.
The meeting came after global leaders pressured China to reopen dialogue amid seven weeks of deadly unrest in Tibet that has marred the nation's Olympic build-up.
"The issue of Tibet is too complicated and one cannot expect one or two rounds of talks will lead to solutions, but what is important is that the two sides are talking, which will help in dispelling mistrust," Samphel said.
"There is no alternative to talks, and so once there is trust this dialogue process will move forward and so we need to keep talking," he added.
The envoys who held talks with Chinese officials in Shenzhen in southern China were due to return to India on Tuesday or Wednesday and would then brief the Dalai Lama, Tibetan officials said.
One senior Tibetan source, however, hinted that the lack of tangible progress was a disappointment.
"We were at least expecting an assurance that the crackdown would end. We await our representatives to return and brief us on what transpired," the Tibetan official said on condition he not be named.
China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of wanting independence for his homeland and of fomenting the recent unrest in an effort to shine a world spotlight on Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
The 1989 Nobel laureate has rejected these charges, but has accused China of widespread human rights violations of his people and maintained his push for greater Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule.
Chinese troops entered Tibet in 1950 and annexed the region the following year. The Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed 1959 uprising.

Nepal Royalists warn of civil war

Analyst believes ouster would push country into Maoist-Hindu violence KATHMANDU:

Allies of Nepal’s embattled king have warned that the Himalayan nation could slide back into civil war if landmark elections next month lead to abolition of the monarchy.

Several prominent royalists insisted many people in the deeply traditional Hindu-majority nation wanted the 239-year-old institution to stay and were opposed to the rise of former Maoist rebels, in interviews with AFP.

The April 10 polls will be a culmination of a peace deal between the republican Maoists and mainstream secular parties that ended a decade-long insurgency aimed at toppling the monarchy that claimed 13,000 lives.

The ex-rebels and the parties have already agreed King Gyanendra will have to go after the polls to elect a body that will rewrite Nepal’s constitution. But Major General Bharat Keshwer Simha, a long-time royal aide who accompanied the royals on foreign visits for decades, forecast a violent backlash in the impoverished nation wedged between India and China.

Maoist-Hindu: “If the Maoists can take up arms and come to power, Hindus will also take up arms. It will be worse than the Maoists’ war and many people will be killed,” he said. Kunda Dixit, editor of the English language weekly Nepali Times, agreed the king would not take the abolition of his dynasty lying down. “Given the personality of the king, he’s not the type that is going to step down quietly,” Dixit said. But he saw the monarchists’ dire warnings as a last-ditch bid to try to derail the elections that will lead to the abolition of the institution.

“Things are pretty volatile and can be stoked - all it would take is a few acts” to force cancellation of the polls, he said. Diplomats close to the process have consistently warned that the political peace is fragile with all sides ready to resort to violence.

King Gyanendra, 60, was vaulted to the throne in 2001 after the massacre of his popular brother Birendra and most of the rest of the royal family by a drink-and-drug fuelled crown prince.

Conspiracy theories linking Gyanendra and his unpopular son Prince Paras to the massacre have made the king “the most unpopular man in Nepal,” said Dixit.

At the same time “the people make a distinction between a vote for the person of the monarch and the institution of monarchy,” Kunda said. “The latest polls have shown about half the population would prefer to keep some kind of symbolic monarchy,” he said.

Major General Simha said many people in the Hindu nation continue to revere the king as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and consider the monarchy to be important for the small country.

“Hindu feeling in Nepal is very strong. It’s like a volcano that could erupt at any moment,” said Simha.

Kamal Thapa, who was home minister during the king’s direct rule, also predicted turmoil.

“There’s so much social diversity in Nepal and the monarchy has always been a binding force for national unity. So if the monarchy is abolished, the country will disintegrate,” he said.

Pak: Hindus threaten poll boycott over kidnappings

Islamabad (PTI): Hindus in two districts of Pakistan's Balochistan province on Wednesday warned that the minority community would boycott the upcoming general election if authorities fail to trace three kidnapped Hindu traders even as armed men abducted another businessman's son.

The panchayats of Jaffarabad and Nasirabad districts demanded that the government should trace Kundan Lal, Parkash Kumar and Dilip Kumar - who were kidnapped by four armed men on Saturday - within the next two days.

If this is not done, the Hindu community would boycott the February 18 parliamentary polls, Mukhia Manak Chand told a Hindu panchayat meeting in Dera Murad Jamali town.

Hours after the meeting, four armed men kidnapped Ravi Kumar, the son of rice mill owner Seth Haripal Das, in Jaffarabad tonight. Police said the armed men broke into the Baloch Rice Mill and abducted Kumar.

Police cordoned off the area and launched efforts to trace the kidnapped youth.

Manak Chand said the kidnapping of the men had created restlessness and panic among Hindus and this could be resolved only through the early release of the traders. He also emphasised the need for measures for the security of the Hindu community.

The three traders were kidnapped from a Jacobabad-bound van in Jaffarabad district. They had come to Dera Murad Jamali on a business trip from Jacobabad. The kidnappers, who were travelling in the same van, stopped the vehicle and abducted the traders at gun point.

Jaffarabad district police chief Sohail Ahmed Sheikh said "strenuous efforts" are being made to trace the traders as soon as possible.

The police investigation was proceeding in the right direction and would soon lead "to the gang involved in this heinous crime", he said.

The federal interior ministry has taken "keen interest" in the case and directed the Inspector General of Balochistan Police to ensure the early release of the traders and to take "concrete measures" for the security of the Hindu community in the province, sources told state-run APP news agency.

Pakistan dancing girls fear Taleban

On a chilly October night, a late visitor bangs the huge steel gate of a house in a narrow alley of Mingora city, the headquarters of Pakistan's troubled northern district, Swat.
But no-one answers.
A painted sign on top of the gate says: "No more singing and dancing from today - 8 August 2007."
A curious neighbour walks up to the visitor, telling him the girls inside "have got letters from the Taleban, advising them to put an end to their business if they don't want their house blown up".
Whisky and dance
People in the Bunrh neighbourhood, the so-called music street of Mingora, confirm this information.
"Dozens of families have shifted to other cities, while many others are stuck here without any means of a living," says Fazl-e-Maula, the father-in-law of a local dancing girl, Nasreen.
Local Taleban have been spreading their influence in Swat since 2005, and are currently holding large swathes of territory just north of Mingora.
This is too much - I don't feel like dancing any more Former dancing girl Nasreen
Last August, they distributed a dozen letters across the Bunrh neighbourhood threatening bomb attacks unless the dancers and musicians gave up their professions.
Swat has been long known for its fair-skinned dancing girls, popular with people who wish to have dancing at a wedding party or any other private party across most of northern Pakistan.
Unlike some dancing girls in the Shahi Mohallah area of Lahore, the women in this conservative city have never had a reputation for providing any sexual services.
Many people visit the girls in Swat at their houses in Bunrh for a glass of whisky and a dance.
Down the decades, many of the girls have shown themselves to be talented radio singers or movie stars.
But in recent years the tide has turned against them in a big way.
It started with the "Islamisation" policy of former military ruler, Gen Zia ul-Haq, in the 1980s, which saw the rise of the clergy's influence in social life. This made dance parties at weddings increasingly unpopular.
In 2002, a religious alliance, the MMA, came to power in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and banned all cultural shows where these girls performed.
At the turn of the millennium, many girls were on their way out of business.
"I was too old to dance by then," recalls Shah Bano, 38. "My daughter had her admirers, but when the MMA came to power, invitations to wedding parties began to get few and far between. And there was the risk of arrest and public humiliation."
Two years ago her husband, Babu - "the best drummer in Mingora" - died. This gave her son, a staunch opponent of dancing in the family, a chance to force his sister out of business.
"I work for a local butcher," says Shaukat Ali, Shah Bano's son. "The wages are not great, but I'm glad my sister doesn't have to dance for a living."
Violent campaign
The girls who turned to music concerts and stage shows, often held in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, were thrown out of business when the cultural shows were banned.
Some of them benefited temporarily when the aficionados and businessmen on NWFP's dance and music scene diversified into the video CD business, producing and distributing long plays and dance sessions on VCDs and DVDs.
But a violent campaign by militant Taleban has caused this business to decline across large parts of NWFP. Hundreds of video outlets have been blown up. Others have voluntarily closed down or switched to other businesses.
These repeated reverses have frustrated many girls and their families. Nasreen, 26, a mother of two, is one of them.
She says she was "hurt when some maulanas [clerics] sighted her and banned her stage show in Peshawar four years ago".
"It was a problem because the men of the house - my husband and father-in-law - knew no other trade except to play musical instruments."
Optimists and rebels
In 2006, she received almost half a dozen contracts to perform for music video CDs, often recorded on private premises.
It brought her enough money to buy a passenger van for her husband. However, due to his inexperience the income from the van has been far from satisfactory.
She says she tried to supplement the household income by receiving guests at home, until the Taleban in Swat issued their threats in August, leading to a complete ban on all singing and dancing in Mingora.
"This is too much. I don't feel like dancing any more," she says.
But Mingora's music street is not without its optimists and rebels.
"My heart tells me that things will change for the better, but I hope I'm alive by then," says Palwasha, an enthusiastic 18-year-old novice.
And for a novice she has done very well so far.
Unlike Nasreen, she has taken risks and done more than 20 CD plays and video dance sessions, despite an explicit ban by the Taleban.
She has also sung numbers or performed on songs for the official Pakistan Television (PTV) and a Pashto language private TV channel, AVT Khyber.
Three months ago, she did a small role for a teleplay produced by Pakistan's Geo Entertainment TV channel.
She aspires to go to Lahore and act in movies, but neither she nor her uncle and guardian, Mohammad Saleem, have any contacts there.
And it is dangerous to stay on in Mingora.
"I have defied the Taleban's ban, and sometimes I suspect that they know it. I only hope to get out of here before they blow me up," she says.
Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the persons

Chavez Loses Constitutional Vote

Chavez Loses Vote That Would Have Let Him Run for Re-Election Indefinitely

CARACAS, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely, the chief of National Electoral Council said Monday.
Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, Tibisay Lucena said.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) A vote on sweeping constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez hold the presidency for life remained unresolved early Monday, with the government saying it was too close to call and the opposition pressing for results.
Tensions grew as hours passed after the official close of voting with no announcement of results. The referendum on constitutional changes was a critical test for a leader bent on turning this major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state.
An emboldened opposition and clashes during student-led protests in recent weeks prompted fears of bitter conflict if either side disputed the results.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said early Monday that "the time has come to announce the results to the country." Capriles earlier had noted that 97 percent of polling stations are automated.
Another opposition spokesman Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, claimed earlier that results seen by election monitors "indicate the 'no' vote is going to win."
Caravans of Chavez's supporters had taken to the streets after polls closed, honking horns and blaring celebratory music in anticipation of victory. But their enthusiasm appeared to fade as the hours wore on.
"The result of the referendum is close," Vice President Jorge Rodriguez said from Chavez's campaign headquarters. "We will respect the result, whatever it is even if it's by one single vote."
Chavez's opponents fear a win by the president could mean a plunge toward dictatorship. Supporters have faith that Chavez would use the reforms to deepen grass-roots democracy and more equitably spread Venezuela's oil wealth.
The changes would help transform the major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state. They would create new forms of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map, permit civil liberties to be suspended under extended states of emergency and allow Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely. Otherwise, he cannot run again in 2012.
Chavez warned opponents ahead of the vote he would not tolerate attempts to incite violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. Chavez calls those who resist his socialist agenda pawns of President Bush.
"He's going to be an elected dictator," 77-year-old voter Ruben Rozenberg said of Chavez. The retired blue jeans maker, who emigrated from Cuba in 1961, said that although Chavez's revolution is peaceful compared to that of Fidel Castro, "we've been violated all around" by the Venezuelan leader's progressive consolidation of power.
Across town, in a pro-Chavez slum, 40-year-old Jorge Blanco said Chavez "is giving power to the people" through the reforms.
"He opened that little door and now we're free." Of the wealthy elite, Blanco said: "What they fear is losing power."
The government touted pre-election polls showing Chavez with an advantage, while surveys cited by the opposition indicated strong resistance unfamiliar territory for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.
Casting his ballot, Chavez called the electronic voting system "one of the most modern in the world, one of the most transparent in the world."
His opponents have questioned the National Electoral Council's impartiality, however, especially after Chavez named Rodriguez, its former chief, his vice president in January.
About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.
All was reported calm during voting but 45 people were detained, most for committing ballot-related crimes like "destroying electoral materials," said Gen. Jesus Gonzalez, chief of a military command overseeing security.
At a polling station in one politically divided Caracas neighborhood, Chavez supporters shouted "Get out of here!" to opposition backers who stood nearby aiming to monitor the vote count. A few dozen Chavistas rode by on motorcycles with bandanas and hats covering their faces, some throwing firecrackers.
Opponents including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.
Cecilia Goldberger, a 56-year-old voting in affluent eastern Caracas, said Venezuelans were being hoodwinked and do not really understand how Chavez's power grab will affect them.
She resented pre-dawn, get-out-the-vote tactics by Chavistas, including fireworks and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.
"I refuse to be treated like cattle and I refuse to be part of a communist regime," the Israeli-born Goldberger said, adding that she and her businessman husband hope to leave the country.
Chavez sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote.
He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory. Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old. The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank and extend presidential terms from six to seven years.
Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his unique brand of "21st century socialism," and praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.
Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups.
Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.
Electoral council chief Tibisay Lucena called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez, Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, Christopher Toothaker and Sandra Sierra contributed to this report.

Musharraf Sets Date for End of Emergency Rule

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 29 — Hours after being sworn in to a second term, President Pervez Musharraf announced Thursday that he would lift his state of emergency on Dec. 16, leaving barely three weeks for election campaigning and setting the stage for further confrontation with his opposition.
Mr. Musharraf made his promise to lift the emergency a day after he ended eight years of military rule, moving him a step closer to meeting the most urgent demands both at home and abroad to return the country to democracy.
“I fully intend to lift the emergency on Dec. 16, to end the Provisional Constitutional Order and to hold fair and free elections according to the Constitution,” he said in an address to the nation on state television and radio Thursday evening.
“No destabilization or hurdle will be allowed in this democratic process,” he added. “Elections, God willing, will be held on Jan. 8 according to the Constitution and no one should create any hurdles.”
Yet even before his announcement, an umbrella movement of opposition parties, the All Pakistan Democratic Movement, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said they supported a boycott of the parliamentary elections in protest of the lack of democratic norms under the emergency.
Two leaders of the lawyers’ movement against Mr. Musharraf, who were released from detention Thursday, also called for a boycott. One, Munir Malik, a constitutional lawyer and former president of the Supreme Court Bar, left an Islamabad hospital in a wheelchair and said the lawyers would renew their struggle.
Lawyers protesting Mr. Musharraf’s swearing-in clashed with the police in the city of Lahore, and threw bricks, glasses and sticks at the police who blocked their demonstration. Several lawyers and police officers were injured.
Meanwhile, even as Mr. Musharraf announced a deadline for the end of the emergency, he showed no relaxation on the detention of the former judges and senior advocates of the Supreme Court, or of the continued suspension of radio and television stations.
Somber and dressed in a traditional black tunic favored by civilian leaders, Mr. Musharraf took his new oath in a ceremony layered with contradictions, lecturing diplomats afterward on what he termed their obsession with democracy.
The Constitution that Mr. Musharraf vowed “to preserve, protect and defend” was suspended three weeks ago when he imposed the emergency, which only he holds the power to rescind.
The presidential oath was administered by the Supreme Court chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar, whom Mr. Musharraf appointed after dismissing the previous Supreme Court, which seemed about to rule another term for him illegal.
The former chief justice, Mohammed Iftikhar Chaudhry, and a number of other dismissed Supreme Court justices remain under house arrest, meanwhile, as do four senior advocates who work at the court since the emergency was imposed.
Once the emergency is lifted, decrees Mr. Musharraf made in recent weeks are to remain in force. These include tougher curbs on the news media, antiterrorism charges against lawyers and even an amendment allowing civilians to be tried by military tribunals for offenses like sedition. Two popular FM radio stations remain off the air, as does the private television station, Geo, all of which were known for their strong news content.
Still, at the official ceremony, Mr. Musharraf warned assembled foreign diplomats not to force democracy and human rights on developing countries, but to let them evolve in their own time. Many of the diplomats had been highly critical of his recent actions.
“There is an unrealistic or even impractical obsession with your form of democracy, human rights and civil liberties, which you have taken centuries to acquire and which you expect us to adopt in a few years, in a few months,” Mr. Musharraf said, addressing the diplomats.
“We want democracy; I am for democracy,” he said. “We want human rights, we want civil liberties, but we will do it our way, as we understand our society, our environment, better than anyone in the West.”
Mr. Musharraf defended his record in power, saying that he had always intended to lead the country toward democracy and to remove his uniform, but had to act in the interest of Pakistan’s stability.
He said he had to impose emergency rule on Nov. 3, and delay removing his uniform, because of a clash between state institutions, namely the judiciary and the government, and the growing threat of terrorism.
He blamed Mr. Chaudhry, the former chief justice, for derailing his planned transition to democracy and suggested it was a conspiracy hatched against him.
“I feel this derailment could have led the nation to chaos,” Mr. Musharraf said. He said he had not wanted to impose the emergency rule but in light of a growing threat from terrorism and the clashes between the judiciary and the executive, he had acted in the country’s interests.
“This was an extraordinary circumstance, ladies and gentlemen, it needed extraordinary measures to control,” he said. “No half-hearted measures could have delivered.”
Mr. Musharraf said he supported the return of the two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, whom he had deposed in a coup in 1999. He said he had prepared a level field for elections and invited the opposition to take part.
Yet he also indicated that he intended to remain in charge even without his military uniform.
“Unfortunately, this period has been more turbulent,” Mr. Musharraf said in his speech to diplomats and Pakistani dignitaries. “It carries on being turbulent, but I think we are coming out of the storm.”

Global warming could make it to Senate floor

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., talks about the environment to Sun Microsystems workers at Sun headquarters in Santa Clara in August. Boxer visited Sun to survey examples of eco-friendly processors and programs that help businesses reduce their energy consumption. The visit was an advance of a field hearing she is chairing with the Environment and Public Works Committee on the issue of green jobs.

Parliament cannot declare republic, Sujata

A central leader of Nepali Congress (NC) Sujata Koirala has said that the 1990 Constitution should be revived to resolve the current problems faced by the country.

She said that reviving the 1990 statute without the King's power and authority and including provisions to accommodate Maoists is the need of the hour.

After the success of 2006 movement, the 1990 constitution had been scrapped and replaced by interim constitution of 2007.

Sujata also accused the Home Minister Krishna Sitaula of 'ambushing' the party and the country.

"In the hope that the Maoists will improve, the NC gave up all its stands. And now Sitaulaji has ambushed not only the party but also the country," said Sujata, who is also the daughter of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. She made the allegations pointing at the role played by Sitaula – who is also an NC leader - in reaching understanding with the Maoists on many occasions.

Speaking at an interaction at the Reporters Club, Saturday, she said that the parliament cannot declare republic.

Body of Nepalese activist found

The body of an abducted political worker, Bechan Yadav, has been found in southern Nepal.
Mr Yadavan, an officer from the Nepali Congress party, is the latest victim of escalating violence threatening a peace accord signed nearly a year ago.
Police said they believe another corpse found recently may be that of a journalist, Birendra Shah, abducted exactly a month ago.
Many of the kidnappings have been blamed on former Maoist rebels.
The Maoists' youth league in particular has been accused of violent practices and of acting in contravention of last year's peace agreement.
While law and order has deteriorated, politicians in Kathmandu have continued to argue about the country's future political structures.
Elections planned for this month were postponed indefinitely after the Maoists abandoned their cabinet posts and vowed to disrupt the polls.
They insist they will not go back to war.