News from Nepal

KATMANDU, Nepal — As Buddhist monks cremated the remains of Sherpa guides who were buried in the deadliest avalanche to hit Mount Everest, some members of the climbing community called on Nepal's ethnic Sherpa climbing guides to boycott the Everest climbing season. A Sherpa boycott could critically disrupt the Everest climbing season, which is key to the livelihood of thousands of Nepali guides and porters. Everest climbers have long relied on Sherpas for everything from hauling gear to cooking food to high-altitude guiding.

The local Sherpa community has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nepalese government, threatening to boycott the upcoming spring climbing season if their demands are not met, after a meeting at Mount Everest’s base camp in the wake of last week's deadly avalanche Nepal’s Sherpa community is calling on the government to provide more compensation to the families of the dead and injured after an avalanche last Friday on the slopes of Mount Everest killed at least 13 guides and support staff. Three climbers are still classified as missing. On Sunday, a meeting was held at Mount Everest’s base camp, during which local guides, climbers and support staff hammered out a list of 12 demands to be met by the government within a week. “The emergency joint meeting of guides and support staff, expedition leaders and climbers held at the base camp on April 20 issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government to address their demands and threaten to stop climbing if the demands a...

The princesses are seen with their father, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in an undated photo. From left: Sahar, Jawaher, Hala (on the king's shoulders) and Maha. Inset: Sahar, the kind's oldest daughter, spoke with The Post about her ordeal as a prisoner in her father's palace. "We are cut off and isolated and alone," she says. It was a life out of a fairy tale — until it became one they couldn’t escape. Sahar, Maha, Hala and Jawaher Al Saud are daughters of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi Arabian monarch who is worth an estimated $15 billion. With such riches, the sisters, when younger, would take ski trips to luxurious resorts in Europe and go on endless shopping sprees, buying silk robes and jasmine oil, while their doting father bought them parures — matching jewelry sets — topped with jewel-encrusted tiaras.

Kathmandu, April 19: A team led by Charge d' Affairs at the Nepali Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, visited 70 Nepalis including nine women, who are currently doing times in different jails in Thailand to acquire information about them. The team led by Charge d' Affairs, Dornath Aryal, comprising officer-bearers of Non-Resident Nepalis Association (NRNA), Thailand, acquired information about their condition in Thai jails. On the occasion, the Nepali prisoners requested the team to help them shift in Nepal so that they could spend their remaining jail term in Nepal.

Kathmandu, 19 April. The search for three missing Sherpa guides on Mount Everest has resumed after 13 were killed by an avalanche. The avalanche struck around 06:45 local time (01:00 GMT) on Friday in an area known as "popcorn field", just above Everest base camp at 5,800m (19,000ft). The Sherpa guides had climbed up the slope early on Friday morning to fix ropes for climbers and prepare the route for mountaineers. The incident is the deadliest accident on the world's highest mountain.

Nepal's Sherpa guides know what it's like to be on top of the world. For more than six decades, the Sherpas have been the unsung heroes of Mount Everest climbing expeditions and have helped thousands of climbers scale the world's highest peak. These elite mountaineers, who also carry heavy loads, have guided adventurers through the treacherous terrain that challenges even the most experienced climbers. Their unmatched skill has made high-altitude tourism a pillar of Nepal's economy.

KATMANDU, April 17- International rights groups said Thursday that parts of a bill proposed by Nepal's government should be rejected because they might allow people who committed serious human rights violations during the country's Maoist insurgency to escape punishment. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement that the provisions in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission bill would violate international law.

KATHMANDU, APR 17 - Nepal has been selected as one of the four countries for promoting forest conservation by controlling deforestation and degradation as well as profiting off forest carbon stocks. During the ninth meeting of Carbon Fund set up under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and implemented by the World Bank (WB) from April 9 to April 11 in Belgium, Nepal was chosen as one of four countries best suitable for results-based payment system for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD plus) scheme, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) on Wednesday.

Written exam on Sept 26, 27 SEOUL, APR 08 - South Korean government has announced that the language tests under the Employment Permit System (EPS) will be held within a year. The Human Resource Department of EPS-Korea organised a programme in Seoul, the South Korean Capital, on Monday and informed about the upcoming language tests. South korean government will be taking language tests in six countries including Nepal. According to the schedule, the announcement of the language test will be made on July 31 while the applications will be received from Kathmandu, Dharan and Butwal between August 13-16.

By Yekraj Pathak / Kathmandu, Apr. 8: If the dozens of misfortunes do not repeat in the name of constitution making like those in the earlier Constituent Assembly (CA), the country will have new constitution within ten months now onward.   The second CA has for the first time, attempted to assure the people by approving a working schedule on Friday.   It is not the time to doubt right now, because this is the first working schedule passed by the present CA.   But it is the right time to alert most of the same old faces who are present in the CA meeting hall, as the first CA working schedule for constitution had to be amended for the 12 Th time in the past that they would not repeat the same fate yet again.

Kathmandu, April 8: The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has decided to remove hoarding boards placed at various towns out of the Kathmandu valley. The Ministry has issued a circular a week ago asking the bodies concerned to remove hoarding boards in Dhulikhel, Banepa, Dhangadhi, Siddharthanagar, Dharan, Biratnagar, Birgunj and Ghorahi by this current fiscal year. The move is aimed at maintaining urban beauty and minimising the road accidents, Ministry's Joint Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Pandey said.

Trishuli (Nuwakot), April 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bhim Acharya has said the government has a plan of purchasing 22 aircrafts within the next five years. Taking part in a programme organised at Bidur-based CPN (UML) party district office today, Minister Acharya stated the government has a plan of purchasing seven large aircrafts for international flights and 15 for domestic flights within the five years. He was here in course of paying homage at the Shreemad Bhagawat Nawaha Mahayagya , a nine-day religious ceremony, organised with a view to promoting Betrawati, the religious site in the district.