Author: Anand Nepal

Charles Sobhraj married Nihita Biswas in Kathmandu

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Murder convict Charles Sobhraj on Wednesday tied the knot with his 20-year-old Nepali fiancée, Nihita Biswas, on the day of Bada Dashain, greatest festival in Nepal. Nihita, 44 years younger than Charles, married in the jail where he is kept, after being sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2004.

There was no priest though the bride’s brother and mother Shakuntala Thapa turned up to show their support. Thapa, a leading lawyer, is also fighting Sobhraj’s case in Supreme Court, challenging a lower court decision that declared him guilty of the murder of an American backpacker, Connie Jo Bronzich, in 1975. (indiatimes)

Sobhraj has in the past admitting to killing several Western tourists, and is serving a life sentence for killing a Canadian tourist in Katmandu in 1975.

Agreed, love is blind and love doesn’t see the barrier of age, sex or anything. But loving and marrying a killer with approval of a lawyer mother looks a bit fishy! Many questions remain unanswered like – how could a girl fall in love with a man so famous for killing women? Or how could they fall for each other in mere few visits of 20 minutes each?

It it Charles making some plans and Nihita being used? Or is it like Charles want to settle down and Nihita want to enjoy the sudden limelight?

 Continue reading

New Living Goddess in Nepal

Posted on by Anand Nepal

The last Kumari, the Living Goddess, who retired recently was sort of a rebel in the age old Nepali tradition of worshiping little girls as goddess.

Amidst child right groups’ objection on the tradition itself, three and half year old Matina Shakya has become the new Kumari. She has become the first Kumari who was shown to the general public without being observed by the King. Traditionally Kings used to worship Kumari before she was shown to the public.
 Continue reading

Dangerous airport – 18 killed in a crash

Posted on by Anand Nepal

The Lukla airport, (Tenzing-Hillary airport) in the eastern Nepal is considered one of the world’s most dangerous airports.

In today’s news, a Yeti Airlines plane crashed during landing at the airport killing at least 14 passengers, mostly tourists. It is told that the sole survivor is a Nepali passenger.

The airport is located at an elevation of 9,380ft (2,860m) and is popular with mountaineers and trekkers heading for expeditions in the Himalayas.

Following video shows how a plane lands and takes off in the airport (it’s not a crash video!).

Record-setting bird’s friend – Birdman of Nepal

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Gautam Sapkota, from Hetauda, Nepal has set a World Record for most birds-calls imitating. He mimicked 151 different types of birds-setting for the record.

It is told that Gautam Sapkota has visited more than 6,500 schools in 45 districts of Nepal, interacting, entertaining and educating the kids about birds, their habitats, their ways of life and their calls. 
Photo by Sanjib K. Chaudhary (source)

He is also planning to release an album of popular Nepali folk songs remixed in the voice of different birds.

A Youtube user, Suren Shakya, met Sapkota in Hetauda and he managed to record 26 of his bird calls in the videos. Shakya has posted five video clips of the amazing Birdman including three popular songs in bird voice. Here are the videos:

He is speaking in Nepali in between. But the bird’s language is universal so I don’t think translating is that much necessary.

 Continue reading

Beijing Olympic 2008 – Much Ado About Nepali Flag

Posted on by Anand Nepal

I argued about Nepali Flag to be one of the top flag design owing to its uniqueness and beauty. But not only the Yard Flags think otherwise, the Chinese Olympic committee was unsure on what to make up of the unique flag. They had to call a professor in vexillology to assurance that the flag of Nepal meets the requirements for this international event and is in fact a proper flag!

After all, according to a high Chinese official, the flag ‘looks a little unusual, it has a tattered look, ripped so to say.’ Also no one is sure which way is up. (fdrnepal)

It was nice to see the flag being carried in the opening ceremony of the Olympic 2008 arena. I wish good luck to the eight member Nepali player team for medal in the games. Have nothing to say for the unnecessary, irrelevant, scandalous 28 member official team (About the team in Nepali language blog).

Warming and Warning – Mt. Everest, Arctic

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Melting ice in Arctic have been the hot news lately. Today there was another news about a 20 sq km (eight sq miles) of ice from the Ward Hunt shelf that split away from Ellesmere Island. This split is thought to be the biggest piece of ice shed by one of Canada’s six ice shelves since 60 sq km of the nearby Ayles Ice Shelf broke away in 2005. In an article in the New York Times in late July 2008 by an author promoting a forthcoming book about “global warming” calls the Greenland ice-sheet “one of ‘global warming’s’ most disturbing threats”. The article says: “The vast expanses of glaciers – massed, on average, 1.6 miles deep – contain enough water to raise sea levels worldwide by 23 feet (link). It is also told that the ice roads that were open 245 days a year have been restricted to only 100 days a year in Alaska.

That was North Pole; what about the third pole, the top of the world? Scientists and climbers are also witnessing the rapid melting of snow cover exposing bare rock on the climbing route.

“Climbing is becoming more dangerous, and I think we will start to see more injuries and even fatalities because of the difficult terrain,” said Dawa Steven Sherpa, team leader of Eco-Everest Expedition 2008, who successfully ascended Everest for the second time this May.

According to him, there was only 50 meters of rock to climb on the famous Hillary Step last year. This year, there was about 150 meters of rock. “Wearing crampons (metal shoes made for climbing in snow and ice) and standing on the bare rock at over 8,600 meters was a very scary experience,” said Sherpa. “At one point I slipped and if I hadn’t been clipped in I would have fallen 2,000 meters to Camp Two. (kantipur)

Some people claim that the Nature has its own way of doing things and we have done nothing much to upset it. Most others however disagree. Melting of Arctic ice seems way faster than some computer models predict.

Do we need to do more to offset this? Are we in the right direction?

Miss Venezuela crowned Miss Universe 2008

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Miss Venezuela, 22-year-old Dayana Mendoza, won the Miss Universe pageant held in Vietnam on Monday, beating models from three other Latin American countries and Russia.

Mendoza, 178-centimetre (5′ 10″) beauty, clinched the diamond-studded gold crown after answering a question on the difference between men and women.

“Men think that the fastest way to go to a point is to go straight,” explained the trilingual contestant from Amazonas state. “Women know that the faster way to go to a point is to go to the curves.”

Mendoza’s Venezuela is a “pageant superpower” with 4 previous Miss Universe and 5 Miss World winners. (Read more about her in Wikipedia and official Miss Universe site)
 Continue reading

13 year old Kid rescued a toddler

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Heroic act of a 13 year Kid, Kamal Nepali, saved the life of a two and half years old Aradhana Pradhan who fell into the gorge of Seti River in Pokhara, Nepal.

Aradhana fell some 60 meters into the Seti River gorge while she was following her father who was going towards the Seti River.

Several rescue attempts by the Military People, Armed Police Force, and the local people went in vain. Even a A rescue squad from the Franch Embassy in Kathmandu was also sent to aid the rescue operation. It was because the gorge was dark and too small to go in for the rescue squad the rescue squad couldn’t rescue the toddler.

Kamal Nepali volunteered himself to make an attempt to rescue the girl by crawling into the gorge with ropes attached to him. He was a small kid so he could reach places adults couldn’t get in.

Finally, the little girl was rescued 22 hours after she fell down the gorge. She was rushed to the local hospital after her rescue. She had suffered only minor bruises, but was kept in hospital to check whether she sustained internal injuries.

The incident made headlines and Nepal is Nepali was awarded various prizes. More photos of the incident in phokharacity.

Weight loss game

Posted on by Anand Nepal

The alarming number of overweight folks are affixed either to their work, or TV, or computer with not much time for physical activities.

Canadian video game developer from Toronto has an idea to cash on these unhealthy habits of the video gamers. Well, it is a game for hand held device; but don’t expect to loose weight in the bus/train on your way to work even though the game is made for the Nintendo DS personal hand held gaming system. It is only a motivating device to make you eat healthy and be more active to loose weight.

It is told that “My Weight Loss Coach,” the new game, deals with healthy weight loss and provides users a way to track eating and exercise. It allows its users to design and chart a course toward healthier habits and eating lifestyles, including weight, age and objectives that are set up for people of their age and sex. The single user game allows the user to enter personal information and to design their own personal profile that will assist them in weight loss and healthy eating. (source)

Former king of Nepal handed over his crown to the government

Posted on by Anand Nepal

In a historic declaration, Nepal was converted to a newest republic of modern time. The former king was told to leave the palace within 15 days and he has left the palace within the given time frame. Before he left he delivered a lengthy press statement, in which he told that he has no plans to leave the Himalayan country, amongst a huge crowd of press personals.

The former king Gyanendra Shah Wednesday relinquished the crown and Narayanhiti palace to move to the western outskirts of the capital, to the retreat at Nagarjun forest.

Before leaving the former palace of the Shah kings, he said that the country imagined and established 240-years ago by his ancestors is passing through a serious transitional phase and that he has no plans to leave the country. He also said the crown and sceptre has been handed over to the government for safekeeping.

As per the government’s decision, a total of 75 security personnel—50 Armed Police Force and 25 Nepal Army—will be providing security to Gyanendra.

The former King had been residing at the Narayanhiti palace after he ascended the throne in 2001 following a palace massacre in which a gunman, allegedly the then crown prince, assassinated King Birendra and other royal family members.

Cow urine anti-diabetic ?

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Do you know Hindu people drink cow urine for therapeutic and religious purposes? Sounds awkward but it is true. Now, researchers are trying to prove it is not a mere myth.

But it is not to be forgotten that urine is a product excreted through kidneys and contains the waste metabolites. It can also contain the bacteria, bovine tuberculosis for example, and other harmful germs and metabolic products.

Researchers of pharmacology and toxicology department, Veterinary College, Hebbal, India are conducting a study on ‘pharmacological and therapeutic evaluation of cattle urine’. In the first year of study, cow urine, which has traditionally been used only in clinical applications, has shown anti-diabetic properties. (times of india)

In another news, Uttarakhand (Indian province) Government in Feb 2008 announced that it will procure cow’s urine, on the pattern similar to the procurement of milk by dairies, refine it and sell it to Ayurvedic pharmacies. (tmmkonline)

Apart from cow urnine there are some who claim magic healing powers of drinking one’s own urine, called Shivambhu. Some claim that it contains antibodies which act against the harmful diseases affecting our body, but analytically and biochemical it has not been proven so far.

In one more news from Indian Express, Mumbai edition (published on the January 14, 2000 – clip attached), states that Gomutra (gomutram) or the Cow’s Urine highly beneficial in the treatment of Asthma, headache and tooth problems.

 Continue reading

World’s newest republic, Nepal

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Nepal has registered itself as the newest republic in the world with a recent declaration to convert the kingdom to a federal democratic republic. Now onward the king is considered an ordinary citizen.

The first sitting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) unanimously declared Nepal a republic late on Wednesday night, with only four votes against the declaration. The CA, elected through the landmark election held last month, formally passed the proposal, bidding farewell to the only Hindu King of the world.

The former rebels, CPN-Maoists, won 220 seats in the April 10 ballot, Nepali Congress won 110 seats, while the CPN -UML secured 103 and the newly emerged party Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF), representing Madhes the country’s southern plains along the Indian border, won 52 seats.

The Shah Dynasty that unified and ruled Nepal for the last 240 years, often through bloodshed, came to a peaceful end on MAY 28, 2008. If the rise of the Shahs was spectacular, so was their downfall. In modern history, hardly any monarchy has been abolished either through the ballot or so peacefully.

New Records on top of the world, Mt. Everest

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Two new records were set by two Nepali mountaineers on the top of Mt. Everest.

The first record was set by Appa Sherpa, 48, who climbed the highest peak for the 18th time.

The second record was set by a 76 year old (turning 77 in a few days) senior Min Bahadur Serchan. Sherchan has broken the previous record held by Japanese schoolteacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa, 71, who scaled the Everest in the last year. It is told that Serchan is in good health after the climb in spite of his age.

National Geographic writer Ian Baker accused of stealing statues of archaeological importance

Posted on by Anand Nepal

A person claiming to be writer of National Geographic was found to be trading animal parts and statues of archaeological importance in Nepal.

41 years old Ian Baker, living in Nepal for the last 24 years, had stored statues of archaeological importance, vestiges of various wild animals including skin, skeleton and statues in his Baluwater residence. The police said 121 kinds of goods of archeological importance were seized from the two flats. According to the police, most of the idols, torans (embossed metal plates) and thankas were stolen from temples. The seized items include tiger skins, skeleton of tigers’ heads and other animals.

He escaped being arrested as he is told to be living in Bangkok these days. The house owner Rajesh Maharjan was arrested by the police for the investigation.

This site tells that Baker :  Continue reading

Moral brigade for Bollywood actresses

Posted on by Anand Nepal

A hindu organization in Tamil Nadu, India seem to be forming a ”moral brigade” for film actresses these days. Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) wants to enter actresses’ wardrobes to choose which dress is decent and which is not. The group has filed a complaints against bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat over the issue of improper attire at a film function.

HMK accused the actress of wearing transparent and skimpy clothes. (source)

Mallika does wear bold dresses but I don’t think it is problem of a religious organization to point fingers on them.

 Continue reading