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Nepali media continue to suffer obstruction and intimidation from the Maoists who are now part of the national unity government. Things have gotten worse since the obstruction is deliberate and methodical although the comrades would deny such an approach. Following are some recent sample headlines:
• International media organisations call for an end to attacks on the press, RSF
• Activists concerned with disturbances in media houses, Asia Media
• Nepali media not objective, impartial towards Terai movement, Nepal News
• Community media plays key role in Nepal's transition, Unesco
• Press mission hails info rights Act, The Rising Nepal
• Maoists try to gag Nepal newspapers, The Guardian, UK
• 36 journalists detained in Nepal, DNA
• Maoist, media bigwigs air views at FNJ meet, The Himalayan Times
• Maoists shut radio station HBC, The Peninsula
• Maoists allow critical dailies back on stands, Gulf Times
• Nepal's beleaguered media starts court battle against Maoists, NK
• Nepal editors say Maoists targeting media freedom, Reuters
• Mahara breaks silence, urges FNJ to help end media crisis, Ekantipur
• Maoist trade union backs off from media closure, Nepal News
• Maoists on Media: A Methodical Madness, Nepal News
• IPI criticises disruption of newspapers, IPI
• Outrage as Gorkhapatra fires 45 journalists, The Guardian, UK
• Maoist attack on media continues, printing of THT, AP obstructed, THT
• ubaraj Ghimire: Doing pro-Victim Journalism, Nepal Monitor
• Nepal amends working journalists act, People Daily
• Scribes go on relay hunger strike, Ekantipur
• House passes amendment bill on Working Journalist Act, Asia Media
• Press freedom under pressure in Nepal, MHM

• Over 16000 families displaced by floods; death toll hits 72, Relief Web
• Curfew imposed in Charikot after Maoist-police clash,
• Govt appeals for aid to help flood victims, Hindu
• Monsoon floods, landslides kill 18 in Nepal, CCTV
• PM Koirala 'rests' while Nepal drowns, Times of India
• 18 people killed in monsoon-related incidents in Nepal, RTT News
• Gurkha war hero Pun in struggle to survive, Hindu
• Nepal Army still more powerful than PM: Prachanda, THT
• Maoist union stops distribution of popular newspaper, VOA
• Monarch awaits his fate, Asia Times
• Terai Mukti Morcha kills one in Bara, People
• Alarm as Nepal Maoists build up new clout, the Brunei Times
• Nepal faces food insecurity: UN, Hindu
• Hundreds displaced by violence in southeast Nepal, YubaNet
• Maoists now a registered political party, Reuters
• Civil servants halt work nationwide, People's Daily
• Nepal takes tip from Bhutan, Hindustan Times
• Jolt to Nepal verification, Hindu
• Maoists in fresh spat over ministerial bodyguards, Gulf News
• Elton John AIDS Foundation backs Nepali gay group, UK Gaynews
• Nepal urges Madhesi rebels to join peace talks, Washington Post
• Controversy? Nepal's 'goddess' prefers instant noodles, CNN
• Over 9500 persons living with HIV in Nepal, TRN
• Child soldier issue slows peace plan, IPS News
• Maoists threaten to leave government, Stratfor

Himal, (Nepali word for the Himalayas) for many in South Asia and around the world, is a landmark periodical. Who would have thought that an environmental newsletter would evolve into one of the finest regional publications? (Just see a few copies from 1987). Although, over the years the name remained the same, the editor Kanak Mani Dixit, a Columbia School of Journalism graduate (and a St. Xavierite from KTM) shifted the magazine's focus some ten years ago. More and more, HIMAL became somewhat of a SIMAL (Southern Intellectuals' Major Alliance for Likenesses or something like that...). Be assured this acronym is coined by Newslook, not by Kanak Mani (who, no doubt, is known for inventing new terms). Unlike the mainstream media, Dixit's is a journalism with a declared moral stance. His "South Asian" (oops, it's "Southasian" to use Kanak's own term) periodical has turned 20 this month and the greetings are pouring in like monsoon, just as the monsoon is creating havoc in the SA (only a coincidence, perhaps). Many happy returns!

British news outlets continue to have something to say about Nepal in recent weeks. After Louis de Bernières (The Guardian, July 15), it's Isabel Hilton in the same newspaper. Her long piece is critical about Nepal Army Chief of Staff General Rukmangad Katuwal's visit to England. Critics fire back, though, for her "biased views." Interetingly, search the Web site of the UK Ministry of Defense, the host of Katuwal, and there is nothing you can find that proves that Katuwal even visited the UK!
Other recent related coverage
• Nepal army chief’s UK visit stirs fresh row, Gulf News
• Financial woes may force Gurkha war hero to leave UK, Hindu
• Nepal monarchy watch from Britain,
• The greatest threat to peace in Nepal , Guardian
• CoAS Katawal to face human rights questions while in UK, Nepal News

Here is another potential suspension, after only a month or so. Voice of America's Liam Cochrane quotes Ram Pradhan, editor of the Himalayan Times as saying: [the Maoists] are kind of playing games. The media disruption continues, despite the former rebels newfound love for parliamentary democracy and freedom of the press.
Related articles
• Maoists disrupt distribution of two dailies, Hindu
• Maoist Union Stops Distribution of Popular Newspaper in Nepal, VOA
• Alarm in Nepal as Maoists build clout , The Peninsula
• Maoists disrupt distribution of two dailies, Frontline
• Concern Over Maoist Union Strikes, Stratfor

• 937 Nepalis still missing a year after conflict ended, BBC News
• Death toll in Baglung landslide is 34, China Daily
• Controversial "goddess" returns from US tour, Reuters
• Govt sets 15-day deadline for talks with Terai agitators, Zee news
• Communist Party UML slams Prachanda, Hindu
• Bangladesh beat Nepal to win tournament, CricInfo.com
• Crop prospects mixed as 28 countries face food shortages, Stackyard
• UAE airline to launch service to Nepal from October, People's Daily
• Everest base camp a 'wild-west town', Phayul, Tibet
• The Indian, American and Chinese strategies in Nepal, Nepal Monitor
• Unprecedented crisis to follow if polls not held, Koirala, Telegraph
• China's Everest Highway: development or disaster?, Bangkok post
• A UN plea for mon-violence in Nepal, Nepal Monitor
• Bangladesh and Nepal in ACC women's cricket final, Gulfnews
• Nepal's Maoists now a registered political party, Reuters
• High hopes of Nepal school, Scotsman
• Election impossible in November, Prachanda, Telegraph Nepal
• Terai extremists are terrorists: Maoist leader, Nepalnews
• Rescue teams struggle to bring aid to landslide victims, IRINnews
• DDR model not adopted as claimed by Maoists, says UNMIN, KOL
• At least 28 die in landslides, United Press International

Not to suggest that this piece is perfect in every aspect, but this truly is one engaging look by a Western author about Nepal in a long, long time. British novelist Louis de Bernières visits Nepal and writes in the Times of London: Despite all the mess, Nepal is not a country that provokes despair, and nor does it tempt one to mutter “basket case.” As if to balance that story from Times, which also has some words to spare on king Gyanendra, Dan McDougall of the competing daily The Observer focuses mainly on the fate of the beleagured monarch. Monarchy is always something of a fascination for the British media.

Even as the BBC journalist Alan Johnston is released in Gaza after 4 months of abduction, and a wide press vigilance, less known journalists continue to suffer similar horrors. In Nepal, freelance journalist Prakash Thakuri's whereabouts remain unknown. The pro-monarchist journalsit was kidnapped from his home in Kanchanpur on July 5. The Intl Herald Trib, citing AP, reports that officials received an e-mail Monday night claiming Thakuri had been killed. Read the CPJ report here.
• Gathering Journalists assaulted, threatened over article in Morang, IFEX
• Two journalists beaten by police in Chitwan, RSF
• Journalist beaten, robbed and threatened over article in KTM, IFEX
• Concern over press freedom in Nepal, the Hindu
• Protesting cab drivers attack photojournalist with bricks, IFEX
• In Nepal, journalists kidnapped and threatened , Pinoy Press
• Govt planning to bring code for media: Maoist Minister, Zee
• World press body wants Nepalese journalists protected, New Europe

The "new Nepal" effect is apparent in the old Rising Nepal, too. In that regard, this is an interesting (July 4/07) publishorial by Om Sharma (a pro-Maoist journalist) of, Gorkhapatra Sansthan. The executive chairman says no one will be king or minion in the new dispensation. He announces that with the concepts of new pro-people media, the slogan of a new the Rising Nepal (launched on November 28, 1964 to promote Nepal's equi-distance policy under the Non-Aligned Movement) will now be: autonomy and freedom. The question is who gets to decide what those weighty terms mean and to implement them? Mr. Mahara of the ministry? The autocracy of the ruling alliance? Or the editor himself or herself (not the publisher)? Good talking point for media watchers!
• Efforts on to make Gopa publications people-oriented: Sharma, TRN
• Gathering of Far-west revolutionary journalists, Gorkhapatra
• Media role has incresed in Nepal: Moriarty, VOA
• Press should protect democratic achievement: Sushil, TRN
• Journalists assaulted, threatened over article about police, IFEX
• Nepal media under severe attack, Telegraph Nepal

Catch up with the recent news headlines:
• King celebrates 60th birthday, BBC
• US Ambassador says Maoists biggest threat to elections, VOA
• Koirala, parties express grief over Shekhar death, Hindu
• Jet Airways starts to Nepal, S Lanka, S'pore, Hindustan Times
• Child workers face hazardous environments, Reuters
• Maoists want absolute power, says US envoy, Times of India
• Missing climber's body found In China, CBS News
• Maoists endanger Nepal peace: US, BBC
• Nepali security workers form union, UNI Switzerland
• WWII Gurkha hero meets Brown, Gulf Times
• India to grant Rs700 crore to check Maoist menace, Daily News & Analysis
• Journalists assaulted, threatened over article about police, IFEX, Canada
• Tumour survivor Ken focuses on Everest attempt, Scotsman
• Pivotal moment in Nepali history, Washington Times
• Coke says sorry to Nepal over ad, Peninsula On-line
• Climate change effects on Nepal and Asia, USA today
• Government ministers, key envoys to boycott king's 60th, IHT
• US embassy under threate in Nepal, elsewhere, Foxnews
• Q&A: Kiran Chetry on career transition, Nepal, brodcast J, Nepal Monitor
• Nepali labourers in the UAE get legal recognition, Malaysia Sun
• Harry trains with Gurkhas to improve fighting, Telegraph, UK
• Violence still threatens elections, UPI
• Swiss media uproar over Prachanda visit, Nepal Mointor
• Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav speaks to Tahelka newspaper, Tahelka
• 9 children, 2 adults die in south Nepal tractor accident, Washington Post
• Envoys in Nepal snub King’s invitation, Hindustan Times

One example of how things have changed little or none in the "new Nepal"-- Kumari, the Living Goddess from Bhaktapur (Sajani Shakya) is fired for visiting America (see ABC story. Newlook blurb is here.)! The temple priest, Narendra Pd Joshi, justifies the action for "breaking with tradition." Big media attention (Washington Post, BBC, Daily Mail, Aljazeera, and more) on this topic, for a good reason. Isn't it about time to liberate Kumaris? Ishbel Whitaker must be beaming-- another, and arguably more compelling documentary in the making here?!

India, after arresting Nepali journalist Daya Ram Dahal, for more than a month, released him on Friday. This is one example of how the world's largest democracy treats freedom of the press and prosecutes journalists. Dahal was arrested on 29 May (FNJ denounced his arrest) while he was reporting on Bhutanese refugees' "long march" to their homeland via India. Strangely, the news media were relatively mum on Dahal's ordeal.

Here is a piece of good news, to puntuate the incessant bad headlines. Typhoid fever-- it is a major killer in the Third World. Now some Nepali researchers (principal investigator is Dr. Buddha Basnyat; see photo on the right) have shown [Also see their published study, in PLoS ONE] that there is a better cure for this ailment. The researchers recommend Gatifloxacin in place of the currently used Cefixime for (cost) effective treatment.
• Nepalese researchers identify cost-effective treatment for drug-resistant typhoid, Innovations
• Nepalese researchers identify new treatment for drug-resistant Typhoid, MedIndia
• 'Better and cheaper' typhoid treatment found, SciDev
• Cost-effective treatment for drug-resistant Typhoid, Medical News

This Gulf Times piece is disgusting at the most-- allegedly, in Qatar, one Nepali was killed and eaten up by his colleagues from South East Asia! Qatar, where many Nepali laborers work, is undoubtedly Middle East's media center (Aljazeera TV is located there). Our charge d'affaires in Doha denies anything like that happened. However, The Peninsula, another major English-language daily from Qatar seems to confirm the report. It cites Al Sharq, a local daily (Can you read Arabic?) as reporting that sensational news. The heart of the problem: not clear-- if it's Qatar's journalism or some East Asian taste for human flesh.
• It is just a rumour, says Nepal embassy, Gulf Times, June 25/07
• Embassy rubbishes reports on Cannibalism, Mangalorean, June 25/07
• It’s true! 4 Asians land in jail for cannibalism, The Peninsula, June 22/07

Cath up with these recent headlines:
• Lankan FM Bogollagama Arrives in Kathmandu, THT
• Socialist Intl. urges Nepal to desist from violence, intimidation, SI
• Central bank governor suspended after graft investigation, Intl Herald Trib
• More than 400 Maoists fail UN verification in eastern Nepal, M&C
• Saptari, Siraha and Sunsari reel under strikes, TOI
• Govt to probe 'disappearances', BBC
• 500 Nepalis sick after consuming anti-elephantiasis pills, Xinhua
• New arms groups emerging in Terai, AHN
• Muslims demand seats in national election, Reuters
• Govt to cut King's budget, TOI
• Nepal Baffled by Maoist leader eying presidency, Oh My News
• US senate confirms Powell as new ambassador to Nepal, KoL
• YCL head refutes abuse charges, VoA
• The Growing foreign concern for Nepal, Oh My News
• Torture still rampant in Nepal, TOI
• More Nepalis seeking overseas jobs: report, Gulf Times
• Rare Nepal elephants suffer from TB, CNN

For the first time in human history, more people live in cities (urban areas) than in the country. So says the State of World Population 2007 launched Wednesday. It says though only 17 per cent of the country’s 28 million population lives in urban areas, Nepal has been urbanizing very rapidly, at an average annual rate of 6.65 per cent in the intercensal period 1991-2001. Most of the increase has come from migration, intensified by an 11-year conflict, especially to the southern Terai region and to the slums of Kathmandu.

More on Nepal: Poverty and political instability are blamed for the urban swell. Displacement of people, estimated at 200,000 to 500,000, is another source of the growth.

Reuters' Gopal Sharma reports that more than 1,500 Nepali women have signed up with private firms to train for a possible career with the British army after UK Defense Department allowed them to join the Brigade of Gurkhas for the first time in nearly two centuries. It is not clear how many will be recruited, and the first batch of women Gurkhas (Gurkhinis?) may start work only in about 2 years.

The Guardian's Dan McDougall reports that "many of the women hoping to join the British army are hardened members of Nepal's Maoist rebels." The British embassy does not have anything to say (in fact, nothing) on this new initiative. There are currently 3,400 Gurkha men serving in the British army. Britain began recruiting Gurkhas in 1815. More: Here is the famous monument in London. Here is the inscription.
• After two centuries, Nepal women train for Gurkhas, Reuters, June 26/07
• Women set to join the Gurkhas, Guardian, June 24/07
• Gurkha women being recruited, Strategy, June 24/07
• British Gurkhas to recruit women, Gulf Times, June 11/07

Unesco's World Heritage Committee has removed Kathmandu Valley, with 7 major historical landmarks, from the List of World Heritage in Danger (there are a total of 830 properties). This is good news. The WHC has commended Nepal's efforts to protect the outstanding universal value of the site in the face of urban development. However, the committe leaves unexplained those "efforts." Meanwhile, the committe has added 2 more sites (in Ecuador and Senegal) on the famed list. Here are the other (virtual) heritage sites in Nepal [AMAZING PANOGRAPHIES-- multidimensional views ! Don't forget to move the cursor over the pictures ]
• Royal palaces of Abomey, Kathmandu off danger list, Mathaba, June 26/07
• Two more Heritage sites put on danger list, People's Daily, June 26/07

There are several dozen radio stations in Nepal, but none other makes news as does Sagarmatha, which began as "a pirate radio station" and (the first private FM station in South Asia) in 1997. Jerome Taylor of the UK-based Independent newspaper reports its role after the February 2005 coup. Mohan Bista, the station's chief, tells Taylor that thier role has actually gotten bigger in the new democratic dispensation.
Related:
• Student-run FM station goes international , IJNet, June 13/07
• Radio journalist, station threatened by militant group , IFEX, June 5/07
• Pioneering community radio wins AMARC award, IFEX
• Govt closes down radio station, AMISNET, November 28/05