News from Nepal

Kathmandu.Nepal’s much delayed peace process which began in 2006 with end of the decade long civil war has finally reached conclusion. The end came on Friday with dissolution of the Special Committee entrusted with supervision, integration and rehabilitation of thousands of Maoist combatants who had given up arms. “The committee has been dissolved and with it the peace process has ended,” committee member and Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) leader Bhim Rawal told journalists. The tenure of the committee which came into existence in 2008 as per Nepal’s interim constitution to act as a transitional mechanism for overseeing the Maoist combatants ended on Saturday. The final meeting of the committee chaired by former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai has asked the government to conduct an audit of the expenses incurred on the Maoist rebels and their camps. Discrepancies in the total number of Maoist combatants when the peace deal was signed and in sub

By Bharath Ramaraj With those majestic mountains, thundering rivers, frozen valleys and forested hills, Nepal is a spectacularly beautiful country for an adventure tourist. These days, the landlocked country isn’t just famous for its tourism; with the advent of cable television in the late 90′s; people across rural areas of the country have been hooked to a game called cricket. There is feeling that cricket will soon overtake football as the most popular sport in Nepal. An average turnout of 11,000 raucous supporters during the ACC T20 Trophy held in Nepal this year, which tells you how cricket is a game that binds the entire nation. Cricket was introduced to Nepal almost a century ago by the Rana dynasty, but it was mainly played among the elite in Kathmandu. It was only in the 90′s, when the sport grew in stature, and became extremely popular outside the confines of Kathmandu. They were granted ICC affiliate status in 1988 and since 1996; Nepal has been recognised