Newslook :: Nepal's Premiere Online Newsmagazine, Since 1999

In late May, an Atlanta attorney who traveled to Europe for his honeymoon inspite of his tuberculosis, became a focus of media attention. A bigger health concern has emerged after Kalpana Dangol, 19, died of tuberculosis on Friday, June 8 in Colorado Springs. The Nepali woman was a student at the local univeristy since Spring 2006.

Local officials are organizing TB testing clinics in two neighboring counties. The city's health official said he feels sad she died because TB is a treatable disease.

It is not yet clear where Dangol contracted TB from-- Nepal (whose health screening standards may soon come under fire) or America (where TB is still live, believe it). Local media report that there are about 120 cases of TB in Colorado each year. The local KKTV said [See reaction news video-- opens in a new window] Dangol first showed symptoms of TB in February 06.

US Assistant Secretary of State for refugees Ellen Sauerbrey said her government is prepared to take in up to 60,000 refugees from Bhutan living in camps in the east of Nepal. It may take only 3-4 years to resettle them in the American homeland. This certainly is a good piece of news for the 100,000 plus refugees languishing in camps in eastern Nepal for more than 15 years. Canada and Australia are also interested in absorbing the refugees. A 60,000-strong American Bhutanese community, no doubt, can eventually exert extraordinary influence on the country's democratic process. However, it will soon be difficult to tell a Bhutanese refugee from a non-refugee since the lure of the American Dream among commmoners to mantris is remarkably intense.
• US ready to absorb many Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, The Hindu
• Breakthrough for Bhutan refugees? BBC News
• US to Take Bhutanese Refugees, OhmyNews International
• US ready to take in 60,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, People's Daily
• Future of Bhutanese Refugees is a Shell Game, News Blaze

This is a bit overdue for our readers in the USA, but may not be so for others. And this one is of interest not only to Asian Indians, but also to all brown folks (with their Karma), including Nepalis-- all those Macacans, estimated at 14 million in the United States alone. When electoral emotions run high, even the presidential hopefuls the like of George Allen (Republican from Virginia) cannot zip their mouths. Also note the power of self-broacasting-- the mainstream media could do nothing but recycle the footage with a heavy doze of newsworthiness. Any rebuttals? Aplenty. Chris Matthew's Hardball, John Stewart's The Daily Show, and the Macacan (?) himself on CNN, to name a few. The effect? ElectionCentral says Allen has already lost 17 points in the race.
• Media outlets ignored Allen's familial ties, Media Matters
• Macaca and media, CNet
• An un-American senator, Los Angeles Times
• Allen makes two xenophobic errors, recognizes only one, SJ Mercury News
• Genius of the Week: Allen and his Macaca Foul, The New York Inquirer

More than 5 years ago, on 04 January 2001, Stratfor, the Austin, USA-based intelligence firm, delcared famously/notoriously that Nepal was likely to be a Maoist state. More or less, if not formally, Nepal has become a de facto Maoist state today. In a concise yet terse analysis (Aug 7/06), Startfor writes: If history is any indication, the Maoists are right to keep their arms until the Nepalese monarchy is eliminated. It adds: "The Maoists cannot afford to give up their arms, and will likely engage in economic blockades until they are certain the king can no longer use the influence he wields in the military to threaten them."
• 'US trying to scuttle peace talks': Maoists say, Times of India
• Nepal's Awkward Alliance, Wall Street Journal
• No Farewell to Arms Yet, Maoists Tell UN,One World
• Meeting halfway for peace in Nepal, Gulf News
• Koirala asks to find consensus on arms issues soon, Nepalnews

Remember reading Broughton Coburn's Aama in America? Coburn took Vishu Maya Gurung (called Aaama), the 75-year-old Nepali widow, to a guided, personal tour of America. He helped her explore America. This story in the USA Today is reminiscent of Nepali Aama, except that the the Amma from the southern Indian state of Kerala has been guiding thousands of Americans to explore their inner self. The newspaper reports: The 52-year-old has hugged more than 27 million people in her life. In the past 18 months alone, she has committed $23 million to tsunami relief and $1 million to Katrina relief [Video adjoining].

American investigators have found a neatly folded uniform believed to belong to Pratistha Budhathoki, 20, a missing exchange student from Nepal. They found the uniform on a rock outcropping near a mountain top restaurant where she was seen four days after she disappeared. Earlier, police said her credit-card records show she spent less than $10 on food on June 22. Appeals are made for help, including one from Rocky Mouintain Friends of Nepal, a local group.
• Missing student mystery deepens in Colorado, Pioneer Press
• Last seen at a Colorado eatery, RMN
• Unusual discovery made, KSTP
• Missing student's credit card use gives police lead, the Denver Channel
• Missing student would talk to anyone, cousin says, Pioneer Press

Two weeks after the Washington Protests by Nepalis, against King Gyandendra’s absolute rule, and an article in Washington Post suggesting royal repression (see bottom of the page), our man at 2131 Leroy Place reacts.