Mr Nepal lucks out

But his country, of the same name, is struggling

ON MAY 23rd Madhav Kumar Nepal, the communist son of a Hindu priest, became Nepal’s new prime minister. He succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the country’s former Maoist leader—the main protagonist in a decade-long guerrilla war—who resigned on May 4th, leaving the government in limbo. Mr Nepal has the support of 21 of the 24 political parties in Nepal’s assembly; but this is scarcely democratic progress. The Maoists, who won 38% of the assembly’s seats in the country’s first post-conflict election last year, do not support him. Nor did Mr Nepal win either of the two seats he contested in the poll.

Among many threats to his new government, the Maoists loom large. Mr Dahal, who resigned after he was foiled in an effort to sack an old enemy, Nepal’s army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal, has said they remain committed to democracy. Yet the Maoists had until last week stopped the assembly functioning since their chief’s resignation. And they still demand that the president, Ram Baran Yadav, should reverse his decision to veto General Katawal’s sacking. Backed by Mr Nepal and his allies, who consider the army a last defence against the Maoists, Mr Yadav will not do this. On May 24th the Maoists spurned an invitation to join the new government.

With luck, it may survive for a while. It might even try easing the country’s severe power and fuel shortages. That would quell some of the growing discontent at the failure of any party to deliver on its election promises. But the early signs are not promising, with Mr Nepal’s coalition partners bitterly feuding over the division of cabinet spoils.

More important, there seems little prospect of this government making much progress on the assembly’s two main tasks—shepherding a complicated peace process and drafting a new constitution. Under Mr Dahal’s more solid government, including the Maoists, Mr Nepal’s UML (for Unified Marxist-Leninist) and other parties, these were daunting: the thorniest issue of the peace process, the fate of 23,000-odd former Maoist fighters, led indirectly to its demise. (Some of these fighters are to be recruited into the army; but General Katawal, to the Maoists’ fury, has resisted this.) And if Mr Nepal’s government cannot resolve these issues, it had better make way for one that can.

Nepal’s new PM asks ex-rebels to join government

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) – Nepal’s prime minister asked the former communist rebels to join the new government Tuesday in an effort to end political turmoil and push through a new constitution in the Himalayan country.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) – former communist rebels who fought government troops for 10 years – had blocked parliamentary proceedings but ended its protest several days ago, allowing Saturday’s election.

 Maoist lawmakers walked out of parliament on Saturday and did not participate in the process.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said it was necessary to have the support and consensus of all political parties in making the new constitution – which is being rewritten in the wake of abolishing the monarchy. He made the appeal in his first public speech since being elected.

   

 Nepal is supported by 22 of the 24 parties in parliament. But without the support of the Maoists – who are the largest party in parliament – it could be difficult for his administration to pass legislation. They also reject Nepal’s  appointment and have said they will continue to protest.

Former rebel chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned as prime minister earlier this month following a dispute with President Ram Baran Yadav, who rejected Dahal’s firing of the country’s army chief after efforts to integrate Maoist fighters into the military were resisted.

The Maoists ended their decade-long armed struggle three years ago and entered a peace process. They won general elections in 2008 but did not obtain a majority in parliament.

Nepal’s party, Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), has long been part of mainstream politics.

Nepal, 56, has also been a prominent political figure for more than a decade. He was a key figure in 2005 protests against the authoritarian rule of then-King Gyanendra and the weeks of street protests that led to the restoration of democracy a year later.

Both Dahal’s and Nepal’s parties are communist but differ in policies and beliefs.

‘Super Sherpa’ plans Everest return

KATHMANDU,  The Nepalese “Super Sherpa” who conquered Mount Everest for a record 19th time said on Monday he wanted to climb the world’s highest peak again in his campaign to raise environmental awareness.

    Apa Sherpa, 49, returned to Kathmandu after reaching the summit on May 21 when he broke his own record for the number of successful attempts on the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) mountain.

    The expedition he led was designed to highlight the damage that global warming has done to Everest and also to pick up rubbish discarded by previous climbers.

    “I have no plans of announcing a retirement,” Apa told reporters at Kathmandu airport as well-wishers greeted him with Buddhist scarves.

    “I am willing to climb to clean up Everest the next year as well. I saw that the glaciers on the Everest are retreating. It made me worried.

    When on the summit last week, Apa furled a banner that read: “Stop Climate Change, Let the Himalayas Live!”

    Apa said his expedition team has collected five tonnes of litter as part of their efforts to return the mountain to a pristine condition.

    “We have only one Everest so we should all work together in keeping the mountain environment clean,” he said.

    The trash included parts of a crashed helicopter, old ropes and tents, ladders, metal cans and climbing gear.

    “There is still lots of garbage up there and I want to bring it down,” he said.

    Apa, who bagged his first Everest summit in 1990, started his mountaineering career as a porter in his early teens.

    His latest successful climb coincided with that of British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who reached the summit on his third attempt.

    More than 100 climbers have already made it to the top this spring season, in which 29 expedition teams are in action, mountaineering officials said.

    Since it was first climbed in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the mountain has been conquered more than 3,000 times.

Britain opens its doors to all Gurkha veterans

LONDON (Associated Press) – The storied Nepalese warriors who have served in the British military for nearly two centuries were given the automatic right Thursday to settle in Britain, gaining a hard-won victory after years of lawsuits and lobbying.

The Gurkhas’ fierceness has carried them through wars in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. But their latest triumph owes much to an aristocratic television star who used her passion and popularity to wring concessions from politicians.

Actress Joanna Lumley, whose articulate advocacy for Gurkhas made her the public face of the campaign, said the decision made it “a fantastic day for my brothers and sisters.”

She joined Gurkhas gathered outside Parliament in screams of “Ayo Gurkhali!” – the soldiers’ famous battle cry.

Lumley told the AP last year that she was drawn to the campaign after hearing her father’s stories of fighting alongside the Gurkhas during World War II.

The Gurkhas have served Britain with distinction since 1815, through the conflagrations of the 20th century and into the 21st. More than 100,000 enlisted in World War I, and similar numbers in WWII. Thirteen have been awarded Britain’s highest military honor, the Victoria Cross.

    

The intense competition for places within Britain’s Gurkha Brigade – now only 3,800 strong – produces “extremely committed” soldiers who are lauded for their heroism and ferocity, said Briton Alex Northcott, who served as a captain with the Gurkhas in the early 1990s and was saved by one from drowning in a swamp during an exercise in Borneo.

    

“To watch them in action is absolutely petrifying,” Northcott said.

Nevertheless, British officials have long resisted the Gurkhas’ campaign for more rights, and in 2004 allowed only those who had retired after July 1, 1997, to settle in the country. It had argued that those who retired before 1997 – when the Gurkha base was in Hong Kong – had weak links with Britain.

    

Other Gurkhas had to apply on a case-by-case basis, which campaigners said left out thousands of Nepalese veterans because the requirements were too stringent. The government had said lifting the restrictions would lead to a flood of up to 100,000 Nepalese migrants that could cost the British taxpayer 1.4 billion pounds ($2.2 billion).

    

That argument was thrown out this week, when a committee of lawmakers wrote the prime minister a letter saying the projected immigration figures had been “greatly overblown.”

    

One analyst said the government had no choice but to reverse its stance, hoping to win back some support before next year’s elections after being rocked by an unrelated scandal over lawmakers’ expenses.

“A government that’s involved with an election just on the horizon is going to be reluctant to take on an extremely well-organized and apparently quite popular movement,” said Steven Fielding, the director of the Center for British Politics at Nottingham University.

    

“The British public have a massive sense of gratitude and affection to the Gurkhas,” he said.

In Nepal, former Gurkha soldiers said they were planning to celebrate.

“We have struggled and fought for years to get these rights, and finally we have achieved it,” said Capt. Kul Prasad Pun, who served 24 years before retiring in 1994.

But he noted the new rules only allowed veterans’ children to settle in Britain if they are under 18 – which would make it difficult for elderly veterans to come to the U.K.

“In our society we parents and children live together as joint families, so barring family members over 18 is not suitable for us,” Pun said.

    

A dispute over Gurkhas’ pension rights is still outstanding. Gurkhas who retired before 1997 receive less than those who retired later. Home Office Secretary Jacqui Smith said Thursday the government’s position was unchanged.

Britain’s experience with the Gurkhas echoes that of its one-time imperial rival, France, which in 2006 agreed to pay full pensions to veterans from its former colonies. Previously, colonial veterans were paid less than a third of the money given to their French counterparts.

Appa Sherpa tops Everest for the 19th time

KATMANDU, Nepal — A Nepalese Sherpa guide has once again broken his own record, scaling Mount Everest for the 19th time, mountaineering officials said Thursday.

Appa, who like most Sherpas goes by one name, reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) peak early Thursday, guiding foreign clients and accompanied by several other fellow guides, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

Tshering said Appa and members of the team are safe and returning to lower camps after spending a few minutes on top of the world.

Appa, 48, first climbed Everest in 1989 and has done so almost every year since. His closest rival is fellow Sherpa guide Chhewang Nima, who has made 15 trips.

Appa now lives in the United States, having settled in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper in 2006.

Scores of climbers are also reported to have scaled Everest on Thursday, Tshering said.

Dozens of climbers have reached the summit in the past three days after weather conditions on the mountain improved. Snow and high winds in the past few weeks had prevented climbers from making their way up the slopes of Everest.

May is considered the best time to climb the mountain. The harsh weather on Everest allows only about two windows — anywhere from a couple of days to a week — in May when conditions are favorable enough for the push to the summit.

Everest lies on the border between China and Nepal, and most mountaineers climb from the Nepalese side, although many also attempt the northeast ridge route that originates in Tibet.

Journey to the top

Apa Sherpa's successful summits of Mount Everest

1. May 10, 1990

2. May 8, 1991

3. May 12, 1992

4. Oct. 7, 1992

5. May 10, 1993

6. Oct. 10, 1994

7. May 15, 1995

8. April 26, 1997

9. May 20, 1998

10. May 26, 1999

11. May 24, 2000

12. May 16, 2002

13. May 26, 2003

14. May 17, 2004

15. May 31, 2005

16. May 19, 2006

17. May 16, 2007

18. May 22, 2008

19. May 21, 2009 

India May Lift Ban on Rice Exports

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- India, the world’s second-biggest producer of rice, may scrap a ban on overseas shipments after a record harvest increased stockpiles, a government official said.

The government will assess reserves, purchases from farmers and supplies in the country before ending the curbs next month, said the official, who didn’t want to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Global rice prices have slumped by half from a record in 2008 as supplies rose and the global recession punctured the commodities boom. Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s government, returned to power in elections that ended May 16, imposed the ban after political parties protested against rising food costs.

“It’s the right time to allow exports as we have a surplus, otherwise food will become feed if it stays in warehouses,” said Vijay Setia, former president of the All India Rice Exporters’ Association.

Prices climbed to a record $25.07 per 100 pounds in April 2008 after growers including Vietnam and Egypt halted shipments to secure supplies. July-delivery futures were little changed at $11.945 on the Chicago Board of Trade in after-hours trading.

Food Corp. of India, the biggest buyer of grain, has bought a record 28.6 million tons of rice from farmers this marketing season after the government raised the floor price and opened 28,000 centers to collect food grain, said the official. The state-owned agency purchased 28.49 million tons last year.

Welfare Programs

Exports of non-basmati rice were banned to rein in prices after demand from government welfare programs doubled in five years. The government has since September eased the curbs to allow shipments of a premium-quality grain and supplies to African nations, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Shipments were 5.63 million tons in 10 months ended January 2008 and fell to 1.53 million tons in the 11-month period ended February this year, data from the Food Ministry shows.

Production may total 99.37 million tons in the year ending June, up from 96.69 million tons a year earlier, the agriculture ministry said May 12. Wheat production may be 77.63 million tons, compared with 78.6 million tons a year ago.

The government may also fully lift a ban on wheat exports by ending a limit to allow shipments of up to 2 million tons, the government official said. Shipments were halted three years ago to bolster domestic supplies.

Wheat purchases from farmers rose to 22.85 million tons as of yesterday since procurement began April 1, surpassing last year’s record of 22.69 million tons.

Lumley set to win Gurkha campaign

Joanna Lumley's Gurkha campaign was poised for victory today amid reports that Gordon Brown is to allow all the regiment's veterans to settle in the UK

In a major retreat, the Prime Minister is expected to announce as early as tomorrow that the 36,000 former Gurkhas who retired before 1997 will be given the right to live in this country.

The veterans' families are also likely to be given the same entitlement despite earlier Government claims that the reform could cost taxpayers £1.4 billion.

In a decision which infuriated Ms Lumley and other Gurkha supporters, ministers had previously cited the potential expense as justification for new rules which would have severely limited the right of the pre-1997 veterans to move to the UK.

The Prime Minister was forced to order a re-think after suffering a damaging Commons defeat, which also triggered a face to face meeting between him and Ms Lumley and a subsequent extraordinary impromptu press conference in which the actress appeared to be dictating policy to Home Office immigration minister Phil Woolas.

Reports today suggested that Mr Brown has now decided to scrap all restrictions and to give all Gurkha veterans an entitlement to live in this country.

That could open the door to as many as 36,000 veterans, plus roughly twice as many of their family members, although campaigners say that the overall number of arrivals is likely to be no more than 10,000 because many of the retired soldiers will still prefer to stay in their home country of Nepal.

Gurkha supporters will, however, be studying the detail of the looming announcement closely to ensure that the fine print matches any promises that are made by ministers so that all veterans are genuinely covered by any new right to settle.

The original row over the Gurkhas' fate was triggered by a court ruling last year which declared unlawful the Government's previous policy of denying Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 the right to settle in the UK.

That raised hopes among campaigners that all those who had retired before this date would be allowed to move to this country, but ministers responded instead by announcing more limited reforms.

At the time, the Home Office said these changes would have allowed up to 10,000 veterans and family members to come to this country, although Ms Lumley condemned their decision as shameful as campaigners suggested that the true total would be as few as 400.

The Government's surprise Commons defeat and Ms Lumley's high profile campaign forced Mr Brown to order a review of the new rules and to promise to announce revised regulations by the end of July.

With his political authority weakened by the controversy over Parliamentary expenses, it appears, however, that the Prime Minister has now decided that to bow to popular demand and to abandon any effort to limit the Gurkhas' rights to settle here.

Gurkha veterans who retired after 1997 are already entitled to live in Britain following an earlier decision by the Government.

London Evening Standard

Spaniard nears being first woman to climb 14 highest mountains

MADRID, May 18, 2009 (AFP)

Spaniard Edurne Pasaban on Monday moved closer to becoming the first woman to climb 14 of the world’s highest mountains after scaling Mount Kangchenjunga on the border between Nepal and India.

    The 35-year-old reached the top of the mountain, the world’s third-highest with an elevation of 8,586 metres (28,169 ft), with a group of Spanish climbers, her team said in a statement.

    The Basque climber is the first woman to climb 12 peaks that reach 8,000 metres above sea level, including the world’s two highest mountains, Everest and K2. 

    She is competing against Austria’s Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, 38, and Italy’s Nives Meroi, 47, to become the first woman to climb all 14 “eight-thousanders”.

    Pasaban, who began her bid to make history in 2001, still must climb Annapurna and Shisi Pangma to meet her goal.

    Kaltenbrunner and Meroi have so far climbed 11 of the 14 summits. 

    Meroi, who was also on the slopes of Kangchenjunga, said Monday on her Internet site that she was abandoning her attempt to climb the mountain due to the exhaustion of her climbing companion, Romano Benet.

    

The Italian still must climb mount Makalu and Annapurna in addition to Kangchenjunga in order to make history.

    Kaltenbrunner, meanwhile, is currently climbing mount Lhotse and she still must climb Everest and K2.

    

An Italian, Reinhold Messner, became the first man to climb all 14 summits in 1986.

    The first successful ascent of an “eight-thousander” was by a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal who reached the summit of Annapurna on June 3, 1950.

    

The 14 summits are all located in the Himalayan (8 in Nepal) and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia.

UN mired in deepening Nepal row

By Navin Singh Khadka 
BBC Nepali service

A fresh dispute over the true number of Nepal's former Maoist combatants - which was supposed to have been verified by the United Nations - has cast a deepening shadow over the entire peace process.

The dispute began earlier this month when a video emerged in which the Maoist leader, Prachanda, admitted that he had exaggerated the strength of his forces 18 months ago to have more bargaining power during peace negotiations.

His comments are damaging for the UN because it verified Maoist fighters who are sheltered in a number of camps and are to be either rehabilitated into civilian society or recruited into the security forces.

Prachanda's recent resignation as prime minister following a row with the president over the sacking of the head of the army - combined with the row over the video tape - have made Nepal's rocky journey to a fully-fledged constitutional republic even more fraught.

'Deliberately inflated'

For the UN, that is a worry - because its peace mission in Nepal, UNMIN, might not be able to leave the country as quickly as it wanted to.

In the video footage Prachanda said that 35,000 former fighters were registered with the UN - while the actual figure was 7,000-8,000.

"Had we revealed the real figure then, today we would have only around 4,000 of our fighters verified by the UN," he said in the video.

"Since we deliberately inflated the registration figure to 35,000, we [made a compromise and] managed to get around 20,000 of them verified."

The video was recorded in one of the UN-supervised camps where Prachanda was addressing his military commanders.

Under the peace agreement signed in 2006 at the end of Maoist insurgency, UNMIN has been monitoring the camps sheltering former Maoist fighters and supervising their arms.

Given that it had registered and verified all Maoist ex-combatants, the release of the video became an immediate cause of concern - and no doubt some embarrassment - for the UN.

UNMIN chief, Karin Landgren, has sought an explanation from Prachanda.

"When I spoke to him about it, he said he was speaking to his cadres at a time of extreme uncertainty in the peace process and that it was necessary to boost their morale," she said.

After the leak, Prachanda held a press conference to say whatever he had said in the video was in a "different context" and the figures of the ex-combatants mentioned did not include all the levels within the Maoist ranks and file.

'Look forward'

Regardless of its happiness or otherwise with Prachanda's explanation, the UN does not seem eager to allow the controversy to fester.

"Given that this process - the verification of combatants - was accepted by all sides in 2007, you really have to ask yourself if the best use of time now is to reopen the process the parties were all satisfied with," Ms Landgren told the BBC.

"Is it productive to reopen it now? People have been sitting in the cantonments for over two years now and UNMIN is not going to be here for ever, this exercise must look forward."

That UNMIN needs to pack up as soon as possible is something UN officials including Secretary General Ban Ki Moon have been repeatedly stressing.

At its inception in 2007, UNMIN's mandate was for a year. But that mandate has already been extended three times by six months.

With the current term expiring in the last week of July, UN officials had hoped that the most important part of the peace process - the integration and rehabilitation of Maoist ex-fighters - would be over by then.

But some major parties in the country do not see it that way and have expressed concern over Maoist "dissembling" in relation to the number of ex-combatants.

Leaders of the main opposition Nepali Congress have demanded that the former fighters be re-verified in the wake of the leaked video.

The centrist party's sister organisations have also submitted memorandums to UNMIN demanding re-verification.

Ms Landgren argues that if they want to do that, they will have to work through a committee formed to integrate former Maoist combatants into the national security forces or to rehabilitate them.

The committee has the representation of all the major parties.

But even when the Maoists were in government the committee hardly ever met - and things were much more stable then.

Now that the Maoists have quit the government following the controversy over army chief Gen Katawal - who was sacked by Prachanda but reinstated by the president - they have resorted to street protests, meaning that there is little chance of the committee reaching a consensus in the immediate future.

The eager-to-depart UN was already concerned about the delay in the peace process after the Maoists walked out of the government.

Now that the number of Maoist ex-fighters it verified is in dispute, it has many reasons to believe that departure will not happen in the immediate future.

Nepal’s Parties to Form Coalition; Maoists Go Into Opposition

By Paul Tighe

May 18 (Bloomberg) – Nepal’s political parties agreed to form a coalition government, sending the former rebel Maoists into opposition just a year after they won most parliamentary seats in general elections in the Himalayan country.

    Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), is expected to become prime minister after 22 parties agreed to form the coalition, Nepalnews.com reported yesterday from the capital, Kathmandu.

    Puspa Kamal Dahal, the former rebel leader, resigned two weeks ago as prime minister after a dispute with the army over integrating his former fighters into the military as part of a 2006 peace accord that ended the insurgency. The new coalition wants to disrupt the peace process, Dahal said yesterday.

    Dahal took office in August after his Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) formed a coalition government. The collapse of his administration is delaying writing a new constitution for Nepal after lawmakers a year ago voted to scrap the  240-year-old monarchy and turn the country into a republic.

    “On the surface, it looks like an attempt to bring down the Maoist-led government,” Dahal told supporters in Kathmandu yesterday, according to Nepalnews.com. “Their intention is to disrupt the peace process. They want to push the country into disarray.”

    The Maoists will “fight peacefully to make sure that the new constitution is drafted and the peace process concluded,” he said.

    Stepped Down

    Dahal stepped down when President Ram Baran Yadav rejected his decision to fire the army chief of staff for refusing to integrate former rebel fighters into the military.

    Yadav said he will accept a new government formed by a coalition that has a majority of lawmakers in the 601-seat National Assembly.

    The Unified Marxist Leninist-led coalition has the support of 350 lawmakers including members of the Nepali Congress, the second largest group in parliament, Nepalnews.com said.

    Parties sent members’ signatures backing the coalition to the parliamentary speaker to avoid disruptions in the assembly by Maoist lawmakers.

    The Maoists have prevented parliamentary business by chanting slogans and blocking the speaker’s chair to demand the president rescind his decision to reinstate the army chief.

    The speaker may decide today when parliament will meet to vote in the new administration, Nepalnews.com said.
    About 23,000 former rebels are confined to United Nations- supervised camps as part of the peace agreement that ended the civil war in which more than 13,000 people were killed. The army rejects their integration, saying the fighters won’t become non- partisan soldiers.

Nepal ends monopoly of Indian priests on Pashupatinath temple

Now any one, including Nepalese and Indian nationals, who are qualified can apply for the jobs, he said. 

Local religious activists, however, rejected the Ministry's decision saying it was "illegal and impractical". 

Maoists' government last year sacked three Indian priests serving at the temple and replaced them with Nepalese nationals, triggering widespread protests across the country. 

Prime Minister Prachanda, who is also the patron of the temple, was forced to reverse the decision by issuing a statement in the Parliament. 

Prachanda had said he did not intend to displace the South Indian 'Bhatta' Brahmins, who had been overseeing the rituals at the temple for the past 300 years. 

The appointment of Nepalese priests in place of Indians was a "mere coincidence" and not intended to oust the former, he had said. 

It is learnt that the local Bhandaris were also not satisfied with the new arrangements as they were getting very little money as compared to what they used to get in the past.

"We welcome the decision to make the Pashupati's fund transparent and arrangements to provide fixed salary and benefits to the Priests at the temple, but the decision was made by the Maoist government unilaterally and it was illegal," said Narottam Vaidya, former member of the PADT and a Nepali Congress activist. 

The decision should have been made by the cabinet not by the ministry and now as Prime Minister Prachanda has already resigned from the post the legality of the Maoist government's new decision can be questioned, he said. 

PADT's member secretary Shakya, however, claims that he was informed about the decision one week ago. But sources at the Trust said that they were informed about the decision only on Tuesday. The decision might have been made by the Ministry through a back dated minuting after the PM's resignation, Vaidya suspect. 

The chief priest will now receive NRs. 1,000 daily allowances and monthly NRs. 21,000 salary and other priests will receive daily NRs. 700 allowances and NRs. 19,000 monthly allowances, as per the new arrangements. 

Earlier, the chief priest, priests and their Nepali aides who are known as Bhandaris were also entitled to get share from the cash offered by the devotees at the temple. 

Now all the cash and goods offered at the Pashupatinath temple are collected and deposited in the PADT's fund. The Bhandaris who are appointed to aid the priests will also get fixed allowances from the temple as per the new arrangement. 

Each of the 108 Bhandaris will get Rs. 100,000 allowance turn by turn and Rs. 25,000 will be provided for their assistants.

Bad weather box on climbers on Mt Everest

Fresh snow and high winds on Mount Everest have forced climbers to delay plans to scale the world’s highest mountain, an official said Tuesday.
    

A snowstorm has created less-than-ideal weather conditions for climbing the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) peak, said Surendra Sapkota, chief of Nepal’s mountaineering department.

    Some of the climbers and members of their support team, waiting out the storm at base camp, were reportedly sick, and a Nepali Sherpa guide may have died, he said.

    The harsh weather on Everest allows only about two windows – anywhere from a couple of days to a week – in May when conditions are favorable enough for the push to the summit.

    Snowstorms in the past few days have blown away tents, buried camps and destroyed paths set by the climbers in preparation for their final climb to the summit.

    An avalanche on Everest last Thursday left a Sherpa guide missing and presumed dead, while two Austrian climbers with him were rescued.

    A total of 65 teams have been given permission by Nepal’s government to climb various mountains this season. Of them, 25 teams are attempting Mount Everest.

Associated Press

How fierce will the Maoists be now?

Frustrated by an unbiddable general, the Maoists quit the government, and Nepal’s hopes for peace recede

IF NEPAL’S mainstream politicians, army and Big Brother, India did not like Maoists in government, it is hard to imagine how the scrubbed-up guerrillas will be improved out of it. The resignation of the Maoist prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, or Prachanda (“fierce”), on May 4th offers a chance to find out. Mr Dahal was protesting against a move by the president, egged on by the aforementioned critics, to reverse his sacking of the country’s army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal. Unless President Ram Baran Yadav relents, the Maoists say they will not rejoin the government. The debacle has jeopardised an already flagging peace process.

General Katawal deserved the boot. A devotee of Nepal’s deposed king, Gyanendra, whose office was abolished last year to draw the Maoists into Nepal’s first post-war election, he has never hidden his hatred for his former foes in a decade-long conflict. In December, he refused to curtail a recruitment drive, which the UN called a violation of the 2006 peace agreement. When the government then refused his request to extend the service of eight brigadier-generals, he again resisted. After he forbade the army to take part in an athletics contest last month because the Maoists’ former army, currently corralled under UN supervision, was also to take part, the government asked General Katawal to explain himself on all three issues. His haughty response prompted Mr Dahal’s action.

The general’s insubordination conceals a more serious disagreement: over how to dispose of the Maoists’ former fighters. Under the terms of the peace agreement, negotiated between the Maoists and their political opponents under India’s aegis, some of the 23,000-odd corralled must be recruited into the army. The instrument of a power grab by Gyanendra in 2005, the army must meanwhile be made less elitist and more accountable. But General Katawal, with India’s blessing, has resisted these reforms. Pointing to the Maoists’ continuing revolutionary rhetoric, his backers argue that only an unreformed army can defend Nepal from its elected government. Kumar Madhav Nepal, a leader of a mainstream leftist party known as the UML, and touted as the next prime minister, says they “clearly want to capture power”.

The Maoists’ rhetoric is certainly worrying. So is the thuggery of their storm-trooping youth wing. Yet Maoist leaders also hint that their virulent rhetoric is to placate their frustrated rank-and-file. On May 6th, Mr Dahal said he would not join a national-unity government, as his opponents say they want, unless Mr Yadav reversed his decision; but the Maoists’ democratic commitment was unchanged.

No doubt, he has given reason to doubt this. Yet worries about how easily the army might be corrupted by Maoist recruitment may be overblown. And the peace process, which should also entail accounting for the war’s atrocities, is on hold. So is work on a drafting a new constitution, with which Nepal’s elected assembly is primarily entrusted. With almost half its two-year term gone, little progress has been made, and, needing a two-thirds majority, is unlikely while the Maoists, who control 38% of the house, are in opposition.

Even with more goodwill, this exercise would be contested. The Maoists, in a draft constitution released in March, demand an executive presidency and extreme devolution of powers from the centre to 13 ethnically-based provinces. The UML wants a ceremonial president, a directly elected prime minister and a similar devolution, but to less ethnically-tinged states. The Nepali Congress, the third main party, advocates a Westminster-style parliamentary system, and less devolution.

While squabbling continues in Kathmandu, organic devolution is taking place in many mutinous places. It is most extreme in the southern Terai region, where a 2006 insurrection by ethnic Madhesis has sparked agitations by their neighbours. A militant group of Tharus, who claim to be the region’s original inhabitants and 42% of its population (or double the government’s estimate), rose up this year in protest against their official classification as Madhesis, and to demand Tharu control of an autonomous Terai.

This week, in response to Mr Dahal’s resignation, the group ended its second two-week blockade of Kathmandu, which has worsened the capital’s existing fuel shortage. Asked when this agitation might resume, the group’s leader, a 34-year-old former Maoist fighter called Laxmi Tharu, replies cheerily: “As soon as the next government is formed."

The Economist