King of Nepal is stoned by crowd

Nepal's King Gyanendra has come under attack from a stone-throwing crowd as he travelled in a motorcade.
The monarch, who was on his way to a pilgrimage site in Kathmandu to attend a Hindu festival, escaped unhurt.
Nepal's king, traditionally regarded as an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, has become highly controversial since assuming absolute power in 2005.
The attack is the first of its kind since he stepped down following nation wide protests in April 2006.
Using force
King Gyanendra was on his way to the Pashupati temple in the capital for the Maha Shivratri festival when crowds chanting anti-monarchy slogans pelted his motorcade with stones.
The BBC's Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu says the situation remained tense at the temple for more than an hour as the monarch paid his respects in the temple premises.
The local police chief told the BBC that they had to use force to control the unruly mob.
There has been strong public feeling against the monarch since he gave up power.
Nepal's reinstated parliament has since stripped him of most of his traditional powers as the country gears up for elections in June.
The elected parliament is then set to decide the future role of the monarchy or whether it should be abolished.
The Maha Shivratri festival is attended by hundreds of thousands of people every year, and is famous for its naked Sadhus, or holy men, known as Naga Babas.

PM happy about army democratization

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who also holds the defense portfolio, has said it is the need of the hour for the Nepali Army to change its duty, responsibility and behavior in accordance with the democratic governance system. He has expressed satisfaction over the "positive initiatives" taken by the army to democratize the institution.
While extending his "heart-felt" greetings to incumbent and ex-members of Nepali Army (NA) personnel and their families, the Prime Minister in his message on the eve of Army Day that falls on Friday, has also expressed satisfaction with the "important steps" initiated to democratize the institution. "It is a matter of satisfaction to have positive initiatives begun [in the army] for preservation of democracy, respect for human rights and for co-working with civilian administration in this process [of democratization]," the Prime Minister said in his written message circulated to media on Thursday.
The Prime Minister has also expressed confidence that NA would extend its important contribution to respecting people's aspirations and to protecting democratic norms and values, and life styles in the days to come.
"…All Nepali people, including the NA, need now to commit to protect sovereignty and national reconciliation on the occasion of Army Day," the Prime Minister said.
Likewise, Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rookmangud Katawal, in his greetings to members of the NA on the occasion, has stressed the need for conceptual and organizational changes in the army.
While committing to democratic norms and values, Katawal has reiterated NA's commitment to national and international humanitarian laws, rule of law and to its apolitical image.
In a written message dispatched to media on the eve of Army Day, the army chief has also underlined the need to make the institution more inclusive, transparent and to increase NA's proximity to the people.

Nepal: Minorities Call for Strike in Capital

Opposing the recently promulgated interim constitution in Nepal, minority communities called for a strike in the capital Thursday. The umbrella organization of indigenous communities Nepal Federation on Indigenous Communities (NFIN) called the strike. Owing to the strike, life has been crippled in the capital. The organizers are protesting in various quarters of the city, obstructing vehicular movement and forcefully shutting down shops. The federation activists disrupted traffic movement namely at Kalanki, Balaju, Samakhushi, Chabahil, Gopi Krishna hall, Jorpati, Koteshwor, Lagankhel and Ekantkuna. Similarly, the activists organized protest demonstrations at Putalisadak, Sundhara and Ratna Park. Public transportation has come to a complete halt although a few private vehicles and motorbikes are seen plying the roads. A number of shops at the corners of the city are open while major market places are closed.

Minor scuffles between the protestors and the police as well as locals have been reported. NFIN activists and locals engaged in a scuffle in the morning at Kalanki. The president of the NFIN, Pasang Sherpa, has alleged those who engaged in the brawl with the NFIN activists were hooligans. The Federation claimed that General Secretary Ram Bahadur Tahap Magar was injured on his head and another five activists have been detained from Kalanki.
Owing to the strike, the heart of the city, Ratna Park, remains calm. Nearly 100,000 people are supposed to pass through this way during normal days.

The NFIN had announced the Valley strike on Thursday to press for its demands to amend the interim constitution by addressing the grievances of the indigenous communities. The indigenous communities have been demanding recognition of their mother languages in government works and a guarantee of federal structure based on ethnic, regional and lingual identities. Nepal's southern Terai was crippled by the protests of Madhesis with similar demands for three weeks. Now the indigenous communities have been focusing their protest programs in the capital. The Terai unrest was calmed down after the prime minister assured their demands would be met.

Red Cross says 800 disappeared in Nepal's insurgency

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday said nearly 800 people disappeared during Nepal's decade-long insurgency.

The findings were disclosed in the Nepalese capital Wednesday by Mary Werntz, of the ICRC in Nepal.

'ICRC has the names of more than 800 people who remain unaccounted for in the wake of the armed conflict. The families of these missing persons suffer from not knowing what has happened to their loved ones and they have the right to know', she told reporters.

ICRC said it had collected the names after interviewing family members of the missing people across Nepal.

'The majority of the missing people were allegedly under the responsibility of the security forces,' said Werntz, but declined to give other details.

The ICRC will make public names of the missing people on February 15 in a local newspaper in an attempt to locate them as well as put press on the government and the Maoists to disclose any relevant information.

Both the security forces and the Maoist rebels have been blamed for serious rights abuses including extra-judicial killings, abduction and torture.

In November, the government and the Maoists signed a comprehensive peace deal that formally ended Nepal's decade long insurgency in which nearly 15,000 people died.

Nepal's Maoist ex-rebels are now part of the interim legislature and are poised to enter the government once the United Nations completes registration of Maoist combatants and lock up their weapons.