News from Nepal

NEW DELHI — Nepal’s dominant Communist party was routed, the country’s politics swung sharply to the right and India’s influence in Nepal is likely to soar after the first set of results from last week’s election was finalized on Monday. The Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest political party and one that favors close ties with India, won 105 of the 240 directly elected seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) came in second with 91 seats. Despite their party’s name, the Marxist-Leninists are considered centrists in Nepal. The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the dominant Communist party, secured only 26 seats in the direct election, a small fraction of the total it earned in the 2008 elections. The majority of seats in the Constituent Assembly will be determined by proportional votes, and in those preliminary returns the Nepali Congress is again first, followed by the Marxist-Leninists, according to the Election Com...

Archaeologists in Nepal say they have discovered traces of a wooden structure dating from the sixth century BC which they believe is the world's oldest Buddhist shrine. Kosh Prasad Acharya, who worked with archaeologists from Durham University, said on Tuesday that the structure had been unearthed inside the sacred Mayadevi temple in Lumbini. The Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, is generally thought to have been born in about the sixth century BC at the temple site. The findings were published in the December issue of the journal Antiquity. Acharya said the traces had been date tested using radiocarbon and luminescence techniques. The archaeological team dug underneath previously known brick structures in the temple, and experts from the University of Stirling examined and collected the samples, he said. The team has been working at the site for the past three years. Previously, a pillar installed by the Indian emperor Ashok with inscriptions dat...

David East presents Paras Khadka of Nepal with the man of the match award. Nepal qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 2014 in Bangladesh with a thrilling, five-wicket win over Hong Kong off the last ball in the quarterfinal of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (November 27). Sent in to bat, Hong Kong lost its first wicket in the second over,  with Irfan Ahmed falling to Jitendra Mukhiya, the medium-pacer, for 8. Avinash Karn then struck after three overs to remove Jamie Atkinson, the Hong Kong captain, to leave the side struggling at 25 for 2 in 4.1 overs. Waqas Barkat and Nizakat Khan scored 25 runs each as Mukhia and Karn continued troubling the batsmen with disciplined bowling. Late cameos from Munir Dar (20) and Tanwir Afzal (25) took Hong Kong to 143 for 8 in its 20 overs. Mukhiya was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal bagging 3 for 32 runs in his four overs. Nepal got off to a steady start i...