Stepped out of a shop,and suddenly there were 1000's

Fifth convention of NWPP kicks off Himalayan News Service Kathmandu, August 22:A three-day fifth national general convention of Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (NWPP) kicked off in Kathmandu today.Earlier, NWPP organised a rally in which thousands of people of Bhaktapur participated. After passing through main thoroughfares of the city, the rally converged into a gathering on the premises of National Academy.Inaugurating the national convention, Narayan Man Bijukchhe, president of NWPP, said the nation should be made self-dependent.He said the dependency of Nepal on aid and relief from international communities has to be changed. “We should be capable of providing relief and support victims of natural disasters,” he said.The goal of national development cannot be achieved without advancement in the field of field of science and technology, he said.“Every party is opting for the Ministry of Defence, but none is interested in handling the Ministry of Science and Technology as well as education,” he said, adding, “ The budget for science, technology and education sector has to be increased.”Altogether 200 party members from 35 districts have arrived in Kathmandu to participate in the general convention. The party will have a closed session tomorrow. The election of the executive committee will be held on Sunday. The committee will have a tenure of five years.

The Prime Minister has been chosen

Nepal braces for revolution with ex-warlord as PM 1 day ago KATHMANDU (AFP) — Nepal is set for more major change after the Maoist leader and former warlord Prachanda was declared prime minister promising to deliver a left-wing revolution. The charismatic leader -- whose nom-de-guerre means "the fierce one" -- was overwhelmingly elected as the impoverished country's most powerful man in a vote by lawmakers late Friday. His ascent from rebel to national leader cleared the way for his band of ultra-leftists, who feature on a US terrorist blacklist, to forge ahead with their vow to radically reform the country. Nepal, the world's newest republic, has already undergone momentous change over the past two years, which have seen the Maoists end a decade-long revolt, unpopular king Gyanendra sidelined and then sacked and the 240-year-old monarchy abolished. The Maoists' number-two leader and top ideologue Baburam Bhattarai hailed a "golden dawn" and vowed historic change. "We feel that Nepal has found its hero. For any epoch-changing society, we need a hero," he said of Prachanda, a 53-year-old ex-school teacher. "After Europe's capitalist revolution, Napoleon came along. To institutionalise socialism in Russia, Lenin appeared. "In Nepal, to institutionalise the federal democratic republic after 10 years of People's War and mass popular movement, Prachanda is here. "We have already finished destroying the roots of feudalism in Nepal. Under the leadership of Prachanda , the main agenda of the new administration will be nationalism, republicanism, economic and social transformation," he said. The former rebels were on Saturday locked in negotiations with their allies to form the nation's first post-royal government. "We're in talks with the parties in our alliance and hope to form a government in the next few days," Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said. Prachanda has come a long way. Until 2003, there was only one photograph of him in public circulation, but as he began work as prime minister, his picture was splashed across the front page of every newspaper Saturday. He was profiled largely sympathetically with writers charting his progress from teacher to revolutionary and finally prime minister. "New Nepal turns left, Prachanda turns PM," the Himalayan Times said in a banner headline. Naya Patrika (New Paper) went with "From the bunker to Baluwatar," referring to the prime minister's official residence. In April, Prachanda steered his party to victory in elections for a new national assembly, set up as part of a peace deal to abolish the monarchy and write a new constitution. But as premier he will face major challenges, including urgently dealing with soaring food and fuel prices that have paralysed an economy struggling to recover from the civil war. There is also the issue of integrating the 20,000-strong rebel army, currently confined to UN-monitored camps, into the national army. "The integration of the People's Liberation Army into the Nepal Army will see lots of arguments and counter-arguments. The way they deal with the army is very crucial," said Amit Dhakal, editor of the Kathmandu Post newspaper. "The Maoists will try to bring in populist and radical economic reforms. But financially they will have lots of constraints." Prachanda, who was inspired by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong and Peru's Shining Path guerrillas, has also had trouble shaking off his image as a ruthless warlord. Critics say the ultra-leftists have yet to fully abandon violence and that their feared youth wing -- the Young Communist League -- must disband to prove they are committed to peaceful democracy. "He is a communist hardliner, but now he has a responsibility to meet the standards of democratic principles," said top Nepali Congress party official Narhari Achayra. "This is an acid test for him to prove his commitment to democracy."

News snips

• Well, there will be no pics for this update. Here are some news briefs. Unfortunatley, I have not been able to figure out why blooger will not recognize my separate paragraphs. I will try bullets.
• Saraswoti's father passed away suddenly two weeks ago in the hospital. It was unexpected, as he was just checked in and was talking to people. He had a serious infection, but it all happended so quickly. Within minutes, the body was taken. Cremation is normally within the day or so. So, I did not see Saraswoti for two weeks after that, as that is the standard time for funeral traditions.
• Cholera is here. When we go to Patan Hospital, some halls are lined with the extra patients. It's a bad deal.
• The rains are beginning to lessen in frequency. During monsoon, it can take days and days for laundry to dry. I'd never ironed my socks before now.
• Got another leech (thankfully much smaller, and I interrupted his meal this time).
• There was a snake incident at the lab. I have pics but cannot post them...
• My laptop fan died. Therefore, my laptop will not turn on. A computer repair place (rare find) just let us know 2 & 1/2 weeks after inquiries were made that they may be able to fix it. I am to give them my laptop (on which my clutch is pretty tight), they will take a look, see if they can order parts and then see what they can do. Ho long do you think that may take?
• We sent a -80C freezer to a repair shop in March. They just notified us (August) that they cannot fix it. That is a reputable and good repair shop.
• I like my laptop.
• Anyway, the snake (maybe 4ft long; grayish with slight yellow bands; 2" diameter) was hiding in the overhang above the back door of the lab. I was able to watch as two of the guys used sticks to pop it out. Then Ganesh with a stick and Dil Bahadur with a brick rendered it dead within seconds. I was impressed with Dil Bahadur's aim.
• As we are a lab staffed with scientific thinkers, the bulge in the snake's abdomen incited curiosity.
• Yes, we did. Silwar used a scalpel. It was a baby bird (rather large - a bit bigger than a mockingbird).
• This is the season for drying kursani (chili peppers). The people somehow weave the stems to form long bundled chains of peppers that are hung to dry out second and third story windows. Beautiful. But of course, I cannot show the pics to you now.
• You would not believe the size of the slugs here. Think snickers bar.
• Which brings me to language. The other day, someone was talking about eating "slud."
• Wanna guess?
• Salad.
• "Suviets"
• Australian for napkin (serviettes). :)
• However, I'm probably the only one for some distance that uses the word "ya'll".
• Also, this week for journal club, the clinicians had wanted to have a special talk on "flu therapy". Someone else told us that there would also be discussion of "research station". It turned out to be "Fluid therapy and resuscitation".
• I can almost count to forty in Nepali. This is a big deal, since the number system renders practically every number 1-100 a different word. The second digit is actually hinted at by the first word.
• A baby has been born within the last 24hrs to Abidan and Muna, compound staff. Yes, there is a pic. A really nice one also with Jwala - but you cannot see it.
• In the previous post, I asked what you thought Dil Bahadur was doing. He is mowing the lab lawn. I have other pics to show you the small area that he spent the morning mowing in that position. It is not an easy job, and he was not even half way finished. No envy. If any one I knew from home did that, they would not be walking right for days. It was good thing the next day was Sunday and he was off. I've heard a rumor that someone in KTM has a push blade lawnmower (manpowered). I've yet to see a gasoline run lawn mower.
• I heard a story of a previous patient from a nearby village. She was working a threshing/grinding wheel (rotating stone on stone - probably by water buffalo). Her braided hair got caught up in the wheel. She carried her scalp in a plastic bag while she walked hours to the hospital. Dr. Wim Theuvenet, a plastic surgeon, was med superintendent of Anandaban at that time. He was able perform surgery on her.
• Today we had some new patients come to Patan clinic in KTM. Two of them were women. One wept as she did the preliminary tests to confirm her diagnosis. Another young one was 8m pregnant in reaction. Her husband came with her for this visit.
• But it can be very hard. Husbands can cast them out over this diagnosis.
• Please pray for them.
• Dhanyabad (Thanks)