Bhutan takes a dose of Gross Literary Happiness THIMPU, Bhutan - South Asia's love of literature festivals has spread to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which features in many an exotic travelogue but is pretty much a blank space on the global literary map. The Mountain Echoes Festival held this week in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu is part of a growing South Asian circuit that currently comprises thriving literary festivals in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Thimpu event, which was first held in 2010, is by far the smallest, drawing daily crowds of just 300 or so to its community centre venue, to listen to 70 speakers and authors from the region and beyond. In the festival line-up, India's presence dominated, reflecting ... Continue reading →
Nepal faces constitution deadline on path to peace By Deepak Adhikari (AFP) – 1 day ago KATHMANDU — Four years after elections ended centuries of royal rule, lawmakers in Nepal are scrambling to complete a constitution amid widespread doubt that the troubled nation is on the road to lasting peace.Once a Hindu monarchy, the country has evolved into a secular democracy and the new constitution should be a key step towards healing rifts that led to the bloody 1996-2006 civil war between Maoist rebels and the state.But with just days to go until the interim charter expires on May 27, deep divisions remain over proposals for the creation of federal states and a new system for governing the impoverished Himalayan nation."If the constitution is formally ... Continue reading →
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Nepal faces constitution deadline on path to peace By Deepak Adhikari (AFP) – 1 day ago KATHMANDU — Four years after elections ended centuries of royal rule, lawmakers in Nepal are scrambling to complete a constitution amid widespread doubt that the troubled nation is on the road to lasting peace.Once a Hindu monarchy, the country has evolved into a secular democracy and the new constitution should be a key step towards healing rifts that led to the bloody 1996-2006 civil war between Maoist rebels and the state.But with just days to go until the interim charter expires on May 27, deep divisions remain over proposals for the creation of federal states and a new system for governing the impoverished Himalayan nation."If the constitution is formally ... Continue reading →
During the three-day nationwide strike, attacks on Nepali reporters across the country heightened fears among journalists. They became targets for violence as Nepal’s constitutional deadline approaches on May 27. “Journalists during tense times like strikes play an important role informing the public,” said Ujwal Acharya, of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ). “After today’s violence against reporters, it is a dangerous time for journalism in Nepal.” Nepal bandhAcharya reports that FNJ received reports of 24 acts of violence against journalists or media vehicles on Sunday May 20th alone. 7 reporters were injured as a result of clashing with protestors, who attempted to stop all vehicles during the first of a three-day nationwide strike, or localy referred to as Nepal bandh. “These appear to be coordinated ... Continue reading →
Journalists targeted during protests in Nepal New York, May 23, 2012--Authorities in Nepal must protect journalists seeking to report on developments in the volatile run-up to Sunday's deadline for a new constitution, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Dozens of journalists were reportedly attacked by ethnic activists during a three-day general strike that began Sunday, according to news reports. The country-wide strike was called by the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), a coalition that believes the constitution should divide Nepal into ethnically distinct states, the reports said. The Constituent Assembly, which is drafting the country's first constitution since the 2006 end to the decade-long civil war, has repeatedly extended the original 2010 deadline to complete the document due to internal disagreements--a delay that ... Continue reading →
On May 5, 2012, a flash flood surged down the Seti River in Nepal, sweeping away people and buildings along the riverbanks. The same day, a seismic network half a world away detected a large landslide above the river’s headwaters. The landslide occurred on a ridge below the summit of 7,525-meter (24,688-foot)-tall Annapurna IV, one of the peaks of the Annapurna massif. The Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) on the Landsat 7 satellite observed the region before and after the landslide and flood. The top image shows the area on May 6, 2012, roughly 25 hours after the landslide. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same area on April 20. Both images are natural color. The diagonal lines are gaps in the data, resulting ... Continue reading →
