Little Miss World 2011- Bipaswi Poudyal

KATHMANDU, Oct 10: Friday, October 7th will go down in history. Nepal has clinched its first ever crown in an international pageant.
Doing the unthinkable or rather the expected, is the 11-year-old Bipaswi Poudyal.

A fifth grader at Wenndy House School, who represented Nepal in the 11th Little Miss World 2011 held in Antalya, Turkey, bagged the crown and the title of Miss Congeniality as well.

The pageant, which was held from October 2 to 7, had representatives from 35 countries. Nepal was represented in this international pageant for the first time.

Speaking at the Tribhuvan International Airport after a 14-hour flight, a very elated Poudyal shared that she was very happy. S

he revealed that the competition was challenging due to the language barrier but eventually even managed to make friends there. “I was closer to girls from South Africa and Kazakhstan,” added she.

“The moment they announced my name I thought about my parents and Deependra sir (Shakya), for he had provided me the platform to reach to this stage. I’m thankful to everyone involved,” revealed a wiser-than-her-age Poudyal.

Judged on the basis of talent and discipline, Poudyal left behind 39 contestants representing 35 countries to clinch the crown. Her answer to the final question, “What is your family tradition?” was “We go to all the temples, celebrate every festival and pray together. In our culture we respect everyone.”

Full of praises for the little wonder who hails from Bihsalnagar, Kathmandu, Deependra Ratna Shakya, executive director of Nepalese Council and national director of Little Miss World said, “We always had high hopes from Bipaswi, and she made us proud in the international pageant. We were the proudest bunch there when her name along with country “Nepal” was announced. It was surreal.”

In a competition dominated by European kids a little Nepali girl making her mark was indeed shocking to many, revealed Rohit Shakya, the director of Nepalese Council adding, “Our aim to produce representative from Nepal in the world arena has come true.”

Reminiscing about the talent round in which Poudyal had donned traditional Nepali gunyo cholo and danced to the tunes of “Nachu Nachu Lagyo Malai…” Deependra R Shakya said, “That act did manage to get the crowd look up and notice.”

Accompanying the newly crowned Little Miss World 2011 in the trip were her parents Raju and Shakhi Poudyal. When asked about their daughter’s performance, they revealed that they were pleasantly surprised but not completely shocked.
"She’s a special kid and we were confident about her chances but it did take some time to register the enormity of the situation.”

“Bipaswi’s win has made critics eat crow. We have the talent and all it takes is proper grooming and belief we can instill in our young ones,” shared Deependra R Shakya adding that such events are instrumental to promoting Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

Yogendra Shrestha arrested

Former Chairman of Nepal Share Market and Finance Yogendra Prasad Shrestha, who was accused of misappropriating over a huge scale of funds, has been arrested. He was accused of embezzling Rs 2 billion in Nepal Share Markets and Finance.

Shrestha was arrested from his hideout in India and has already been brought to the Capital, police said.

The authorities had issued arrest warrants in the name of Shrestha and his family members. But his family members are at large.

A Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) probe committee had found him guilty of misappropriating a huge fund.

The NRB had earlier recommended the Finance Ministry to penalise Shrestha and his family members involved in the misappropriation under the Banking Offence and Punishment Act.

According to the existing law, Shrestha could be slapped up to 5 years of jail sentence.

All 19 killed in Buddha plane crash

A 9N AEK-B190 Beechcraft of Buddha Air hit a tree and then crashed into Kotdanda hill of Bishankhunarayan-2, Lalitpur district, at 5,400 feet Sunday morning leaving all 19 on board dead.

Among those killed are 10 Indians, three Americans, a Japanese, and two Nepali nationals, apart from three Nepali crew members. While 18 died on the spot, Niranjan Karmacharya, a passenger who was rescued alive by locals from the wreckage, died in the course of treatment at B & B Hospital.

The aircraft had left Kathmandu at 6:49 am for mountain flight. It was returning to Kathmandu following zero visibility of Mt Everest when it lost contact with the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) tower at 7:31 am and then crashed.

A Tara Air Pilatus aircraft that was flying from Lukla to Kathmandu and was tailing the Beechcraft first reported the crash to the airport tower at 7:50 am, according to Bimalesh Karna, Air Traffic Control (ATC) manager at TIA.

But confirmation of the crash came only at 8:50 am from the police and locals who had reached Kotdanda by then.

The aircraft´s black box, or Flight Data Recorder, has been recovered from the crash site.

What happened?

According to ATCs at the airport, the aircraft flew two additional miles south of the airport and was at the wrong elevation for that point. This led to the crash.

“The pilots were asked to fly four miles south of the airport tower and align with the runway for landing,” said Karna.

“But the crew flew the plane six miles south of the airport tower. The right elevation for that point is 6,500 feet. But the plane was at 5,400 feet, which was wrong for six miles south of the tower,” he said. The elevation would have been right had the plane been flown just four miles south of the tower.In September 1992, a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed at Bhattedanda, located nine miles south of the airport tower killing all 167 on board.

Raj Kumar Khatri, resident of Lamatar VDC, and an eyewitness of Sunday´s crash, saw the Buddha Air Beechcraft fly just about 200 meters above him.

“There were some branches on top of the plane´s front. The plane had already lost balance. By the time we overcame our surprise over the low elevation of the plane, it crashed at Kotdanda hill in front of our eyes,” Khatri said.

Though Sunday´s visibility cannot be called poor, hanging clouds on the Valley´s sky were repeatedly enveloping the aircraft, which could have led to human error as the plane was flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), one of the two basic regulations governing civil aviation operations around the world.

Flights are conducted under VFR when visibility is over five kilometers, according to ATC manager Karna.

At the time of the crash, visibility around the airport was six kilometers, said Karna.

Under VFR, a pilot navigates an aircraft solely by reference to outside visual cues. But visual cue is difficult to get when a plane is enveloped by cloud and fog. There was plenty of fog around Kotdanda at the time of the crash, locals said.

The other flight regulation, called Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), is applicable when visibility is less than five kilometers. Under IFR, pilots operate flights solely based on data provided by flight instruments. An Agni Air turboprop that crashed in Makawanpur district in August 2010 killing 14 people was flying under IFR owing to poor visibility.

Last contact

There were absolutely no duress signals from the cockpit, according to ATCs.

The tower had two sightings of the plane after it entered Kathmandu Valley, said Purushottam Shakya, another ATC manager, who was marshalling the tower at the time of the crash.

The first sighting was after the plane had entered five miles inside Kathmandu Valley, Shakya said. This was minutes before the tower lost contact with the aircraft.

After seeing the aircraft, the tower instructed Captains J B Tamrakar and Padma Adhikari to fly the aircraft to a point four miles south of the airport from where all planes flying under VFR are aligned with the airport´s runway for landing when the airport uses the 02 runway, or instructs planes to land from the south, like on Sunday. The alignment is different when planes are asked to land from the north, or use the 20 runway.

Thereafter the tower lost sight of the aircraft and also verbal and radar contact.

“But even after that, the aircraft briefly appeared from the clouds and again disappeared to never reappear,” said Shakya.

Following loss of all contact with the aircraft, the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) at the airport was immediately brought into operation and all plane activity at the airport was halted for half-an-hour.

The Tara Air Pilatus aircraft that was tailing the Beechcraft was then asked to try to have a visual of the Beechcraft, according to Karna.

“This is common practice,” said Karna. “The Pilatus hovered over Kathmandu´s sky for about 20 minutes and reported to the tower that the Beechcraft may have crashed in the area where the crash was later confirmed,” he added.

Bodies of 18 who died on the spot were airlifted to the airport by a RAN 38-M18 chopper of the Nepal Army. The bodies were later taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) for postmortem. Karmacharya´s body was separately taken to TUTH from B & B hospital for postmortem.

The government has formed a three-member committee led by Rajesh Raj Dali, former director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, to probe the crash.

Beechcraft safety

The Beechcraft 1900D that was introduced in 1991 following substantial redesigning of Beechcraft 1900C is still regarded one of the safest planes. The US-based manufacturer Raytheon Company built around 440 1900D aircraft and it is estimated that around 400 of them are still in operation worldwide both in military and non-military services.

Impressed by its safety records, the US military has been operating the Beechcraft under the designation of C-12 for its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sunday´s Beechcraft crash is the first of a Buddha Air-operated aircraft in 14 years of its operation.

Happy Bijaya Dashain & Tihar 2068

Respect and Appreciation - CYCC

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Nepali first to spot water signs on Mars

A Nepali undergraduate geophysics student at the University of Arizona, USA was the first to spot signs of possible flowing water during the warmer months on Mars that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced through a press conference on Thursday.

Lujendra Ojha, 21, of Mhepi, Kathmandu, who studied at Galaxy Public School till eighth grade before moving to Arizona with his geologist father Dr Tank Ojha five years ago, is co-author of a new study in the journal Science which has suggested possible presence of briny water on the Martian
surface.

“We knew that he was very interested in research work but realized how big he has made it only after the world media queued up to talk to him after the NASA revelation,” said Lujendra´s elder sister Jaika Pathak over the phone from Tucson, Arizona. Born in Kathmandu, Lujendra studied at Adarsha Yoghari School at Lainchour till fourth grade and was an average student while in Nepal, Jaika said.

“But he improved after coming to the US and had topped Arizona state in SAT scores before joining the university,” Jaika, a PhD in entomology, added. Hailing from Hinnekanda, Mahadevsthan in Doti, Dr Tank Ojha was a scientist with the Department of Mines and Geology before leaving for the United States along with his family after landing a job as research scientist at the University of Arizona.

An undergraduate intern at the university´s Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Lujendra stumbled upon the discovery while working on an independent project with Professor Alfred McEwen, lead author of the study. University of Arizona researcher Colin Dundas, a collaborator in the study, was interested in gullies on Mars which may be remnants of past water activity, a CNN blog by Elizabeth Landau says, and the researchers were looking for seasonal changes in those gullies.

Scientists announced at the NASA press conference that they had detected dozens of slopes across the southern hemisphere of the planet where previously undetected dark streaks come and go with the seasons. When the planet heats up, the streaks appear and expand downhill. When it gets cold, the streaks disappear.
The Washington Post reported: “The dark streaks were initially noticed by a student at the school in images sent back by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The pixelated images were taken as far back as 2007, but with so much data coming in from space missions, they had remained unstudied. McEwan suggested that the student - geophysics junior Lujendra Ojha - examine over time the locations with streaks, and Ojha found that the streaks changed dramatically by season.”

“Lujendra has been working for me while an undergraduate student, producing digital terrain models for stereo images, and asked for an idea for an independent study. I suggested analyzing stereo pairs acquired months apart in time to look for any changes, and he found these slope flows in one location, that were present in the earlier image, then disappeared,” Professor McEwen told Republica through an email.

“I suggested he look for more of these and he did so and performed various analysis tasks such as extracting temperatures and slope profiles. He has participated in all phases of the study and made very important contributions in addition to the initial discovery,” Professor McEwen acknowledged.

"I was baffled when I first saw those features in the images after I had run them through my algorithm. We soon realized they were different from slope streaks that had been observed before. These are highly seasonal, and we observed some of them had grown by more than 200 meters (650 feet) in a matter of just two Earth months." MSNBC has quoted Lujendra as saying.

McEwen´s team took months of research to figure out what it could be and there should be extensive further research to even prove that this is definitely proof of water. “And from that, we can move on: OK if this is water, what are the chances that life could be in these kinds of surroundings?" the CNN blog quotes him as contemplating.

Lujendra is excited by the new discovery that may well be a significant step in establishing the possibility of life on Mars. "That would be exciting. That´s kind of like the holy grail of science: To find our neighbor, to find life on some other planet," the CNN blog quotes him as saying.

Source: Republica

Nepal storms into semifinal as group winner

Nepal stormed into the semifinal of SAFF U-16 Championship Football Tournament as group B winner on Saturday with 6-0 thumping over Sri Lanka at Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.

Following the huge margin win, Nepal, which meets India, the runner-up of group A in the semifinal on Monday, is now ahead of Bangladesh on the
basis of goals superiority.

Both Nepal and Bangladesh have equal four points but Nepal has not conceded a single goal and scored six while Bangladesh has scored six and conceded two.

Nepal and Bangladesh had shared points playing a goalless draw and Bangladesh had defeated Sri Lanka 6-2 in their group matches. Bangladesh will now take on group A winner Pakistan in the first semifinal on Monday.

"We have set the target of winning the match by at least a margin of five goals so we began with an attacking strategy," Nepal´s coach Sunil Shrestha said during the post-match conference.

Suman Lama and Rishi Thapa Magar netted a brace each while Rungri Hang Rai and Bishwas Shrestha were also on target in the match hit hard by heavy downpour from the mid of second half.

Nepal achieved the target only once in the first half while netted five goals in 25 minute of the other half. The heavy rainfall interrupted the movement of ball and balance of players, putting a brake on home team´s goal scoring momentum. Nepal scored only one goal following the rainfall.

The match was one-sided from the start to finish with the home team piling up immense pressure. It was a rare scene to see the ball moving around Nepal´s half. Unlike last match against Bangladesh, Nepali players seemed to be a disciplined lot throughout the match and justified the FIFA´s slogan of ´Fair Play.´

Despite making a couple of attacks on target, Nepal had to wait until 15th minute to open the scoring. Lama quickly slammed the ball in after Sri Lankan goalie Abdulla Mohmad Uzman dropped Bishwas Shrestha´s powerful strike from the box. In remaining time of the first half, Lama squandered two other scoring chances and Shrestha was denied by goalie Uzman with a long stretch dive.

Rai tapped in a Thapa Magar´s pass three minutes after the interval to double the scoring. Lama made it 3-0 when he unleashed an unstoppable shot from the edge of box in the 59th minute. Shrestha achieved the target in the 64th with a brilliant display after dribbling around three Sri Lankan players in the box and beating the goalie Uzman.

Thapa Magar scored the fifth and sixth goal in 68th and 70th minute. Thapa Magar netted his first goal from box on a pass from Umesh Thapa set by Shrestha. Thapa Magar netted the last goal out of scuffle near the goal line which entered net deflecting at Sri Lanka defenders leg.

"The wings could not utilize scoring chances and the team was not well set so we failed to score more goals in the first half," Nepal´s coach Shrestha said.

Shrestha´s counterpart Sumith Walpola lauded Nepal as one of the good football playing nations in South Asian. He also expressed dissatisfaction for not stopping the match despite heavy rainfall. "I am surprised how the match was conducted despite no movement of ball in the pitch due to stagnant water," said Walpola adding, "I appealed the match commissioner several times for stopping the match."

Walpola also termed Nepal as a strong side. He also wished Nepal well for upcoming matches. "I hope Nepal will reach final and lift the trophy," Walpola said.

Source: Republica

Nepal avenges Namibia

Nepal has taken a sweet revenge against Namibia with 8 runs victory in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers on Friday. Nepal had lost a practice match against Namibia by 17 runs ahead of the tournament.

In the match played at Drummond Cricket Club, Northern Ireland, Nepal won the toss and scored 217 runs losing all wickets in 49.4 overs. Nepal restricted Namibia in 209 runs for nine wickets in 50 overs. This is the second best score of Nepal in the ongoing tournament. Nepal had earlier
scored 250 runs against Vanuatu.

Nepal had a good 79 runs opening partnership between Sagar Pun and Subash Khakurel. Khakurel had missed the first three matches due to hamstring injury. He scored 33 runs off 63 balls with four boundaries. Khakurel was the first Nepali batsman to bow out. Another opener Pun was out immediately in the next ball after the fall of Khakurel in the 23rd over. Pun scored 39 runs off 63 balls with five boundaries. Nepal was on 90 for 2 wickets by the end of 23 overs.

Nepal’s middle order did not play well as in the previous matches. Nepal lost two wickets in four balls. Subendu Pandey, who was included in the team instead of regular opener Fajlur Rahman, was out on three runs in the first ball of the 25th over. Nepal suffered another blow as it lost captain Prithu Baskota for duck in the last ball of the 25th over.

Attacking batsman Pradeep Airee and defensive batsman Naresh Budhaayer guided the team to a defendable score. These two batsmen had the partnership of 79 runs in 15.5 overs. Airee was out scoring 33 runs off 50 balls with a huge six. After the fall of Airee in the 41.5th overs, Nepal continued to lose other wickets at regular intervals. Rajesh Pulami (5) was the next batsman to be out in the 44th over.

Rahul BK who came in support for Budhaayer was short to the crease in his personal one run. Budhaayer also gave away his wicket in the 47th over after completing half century. He scored 51 runs off 82 balls with four boundaries. Nepal had scored 205 runs by the end of the 47th over.

Nepal lost its last two wickets for 12 runs. Krishna Karki (8) was the other batsman to be removed from the crease while Bhuwan Karki (9) was the last batsman. Nepal received 34 runs in extras in which 27 runs were from wide.

Christopher Coombe was the most successful bowler for Namibia as he took six wickets in his 9.5 overs conceding 41 runs. Skipper Stephen Baard grabbed two wickets while Pieter Groenewald took one.

Chasing the total of 218, Namibia did not start well. Left-arm fast bowler Avinash Karna took two wickets in the first over. Karna sent Justin Baard (0) in the first ball and Groenewald (0) in the same over. Another pace bowler Krishna Karki sent Baard (4) when Namibia had 11 runs on board.

Spinner Rahul BK caught Gert Lotter (8) in his own ball. Wian Van Vuuren, who was playing well, was short to the crease in a direct hit by Rajesh Pulami. Namibia lost its five wickets in 17 overs with 43 runs on board. MG Erasmus and Coombe had a good partnership to guide the team from 43/5 to 121/6. The partnership of 78 runs nearly guided Namibia toward the win.

Baskota broke the partnership as he trapped Coombe LBW on his personal 44 runs off 73 balls. Erasmus was the highest scorer of the match as he scored 63 runs off 77 balls. Shalako Groenewald scored 44 runs doff 35 balls.

Rahul BK and Bhuwan Karki were punished in the 45th and 46th over by the Namibian batsmen. They both gave away 35 runs in two overs. Shalako Groenewald fell in the 47th over giving Nepal the taste of the victory.

Namibia lost its three wickets for 23 runs. Krishna Karki was the successful bowler for Nepal as he took three wickets. Avinash Karna grabbed two wickets while Rahul BK, Prithu Baskota and Pradeep Airee share a wicket each.

Nepal Vs Namibia Live Score

10 Things we are Proud of NEPAL

1. Mt. Everest, the peak of the world.

2. Hydro-Power, world’s second richest country (83000 MW)

3. World’s best bio-diversity.

4. Pashupatinath, world’s renowned Hindu temple.

5. Lumbini, Birthplace of Buddha, and world heritage site.

6. Eight highest mountains of the world out of ten.

7. Chitwan National Park, the World Heritage Site.

8. World’s youngest Republic.

9. Asia’s highest bungee jumping.

10. “Pokhara, one of the world’s most beautiful cities (city with seven lakes)”

Nepal to take on Canada

Nepal is all set to take on Canada on Wednesday in its fifth ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers match at the Bready Cricket Club in Northen Ireland.

Nepal had earlier met Canada in the 2002 U-19 World Cup held in New
Zeland, registering a nine-wicket victory.

Binod Das and Sanjam Regmi had taken three wickets each restricting Canada to 102 runs. Nepal crossed the target in 22.3 overs losing only one wicket. Yeshwant Subedi was not out with 40 runs while Bardan Chalise had scored 32 runs.

In the current U-19 world cup qualifiers, Nepal has lost only one match against Scotland while Canada has lost two matches. Canada suffered defeat at the hands of Namibia by three wickets while Kenya also beat Canada by 15 runs. In other matches, Canada defeated Scotland by six runs while it registered a nine-wicket victory against Vanuatu.

Meanwhile, Nepal had registered a 42-run victory over Afghanistan in the opening match of the tournament but lost the second match against Scotland by 57 runs. Nepal then defeated Kenya by six wickets and Vanuatu by an impressive 159 runs.

Nepal is at the top of the points table with six points after registering three wins while Canada is in the fifth position.

Nepal´s coach Jagat Tamata is confident of winning the match against Canada. Speaking over phone to Republica, coach Tamata added that the team will be playing in a new pitch so he will not take any risks and field the best players. “Players have a high morale with three wins from four matches and are ready to continue the good form in the match against Canada,” he said.

Subash Khakurel who suffered a hamstring injury during the match against Kenya is still unsure to play against Canada. Coach Tamata said that doctors are yet to clear Khakurel to play.

U19 CWC Qualifier Points Table

ICC U19 CWC Qualifiers 2011

Team P W L T N/R Pts NRR Nepal Under-19s 4 3 1 0 0 6 1.331 Namibia Under-19s 4 3 1 0 0 6 0.906 Scotland Under-19s 4 3 1 0 0 6 0.405 Ireland Under-19s 4 3 1 0 0 6 0.064 Canada Under-19s 4 2 2 0 0 4 0.557 United States of America Under-19s 4 2 2 0 0 4 0.223 Kenya Under-19s 4 2 2 0 0 4 0.088 Afghanistan Under-19s 4 1 3 0 0 2 -0.087 Papua New Guinea Under-19s 4 1 3 0 0 2 -0.79 Vanuatu Under-19s 4 0 4 0 0 0 -3.013
Source: myrepublica.com

Nepal beats Vanuatu by 159 runs

Nepal registered a comprehensive 159 run win over Vanuatu in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers at the YMCA Ground, Dublin, Ireland on Monday.

Winning the toss, Nepal opted to bat first and scored 250 runs losing all the wickets in 49.3 overs. Nepal restricted Vanuatu in just 91 runs off 30.5 overs. With the win Nepal has made its chance strong to qualify for the World Cup.

Sagar Pun and Naresh Budhaayer both completed half centuries creating a base for the total. Pun was run out in 21.5 over while Budhayer was out in the first ball of 30th over.

Nepal did not have a good start as the first wicket fell when the score was 27 runs on board. Fajlur Rahman was out in 5.2 over for five runs. After the fall of Rahman, Budhaayer and Pun built a 76-run partnership to guide the team to 103 runs before Pun was out.

Pun was short to the crease after smacking a four to complete his half century. He faced 66 balls for his 51 runs innings that included eight boundaries. After the fall of Pun, Nepal did not have a good partnership. Budhaayer was the next batsman to be sent back to the pavilion.

Budhaayer scooped the ball over the bowlers head to the mid-off region but was caught. He scored 50 runs off 81 balls.

After the fall of Budhaayer in the 30th over, Nepal continued to lose its wickets at regular interval. Skipper Prithu Baskota was the first to go as the total score of Nepal was 151 runs on board in the 33rd over. Baskota gave away his wicket for a personal score of 18 runs.

Nepal lost another two wickets for just two balls. Pradeep Airee was next to move back to the pavilion. Airee scored 11 runs off 11 balls.

Nepal lost its sixth with Subendu Pandey trapped for leg before wicket on 14 runs. Pandey, who was playing his first match in the tournament replacing Subash Khakurel, faced 18 balls before being out. In the next two overs, Nepal lost another of its two wickets. Krishna Karki and Abhinash Karna were both sent back to the pavilion for duck with total 176 runs on board.

Rajesh Pulami and Bhuwan Karki had the partnership of 46 runs guiding the team to a respectable total. Pulami was out in 45.2 overs on his personal score of 23 runs off 32 balls. Rahul BK who scored 14 runs with two boundaries was the last wicket of Nepal to fall. Bhuwan Karki was not out for 20 runs off 30 balls.

Nepal received 44 runs as extras of which 34 runs came from wide balls. Shem Sala was the successful bowler for Vanuatu as he took three wickets in his nine over spell conceding 49 runs.

As in the earlier games, Nepali bowlers dominated the game to restrict Vanuatu for a low total. Vanuatu lost its first wicket with 16 runs on board. Krishna Karki gave a breakthrough to Nepal as he bowled out Callum Blake on duck.

Black had faced 19 balls before he went back to the pavilion. Karki showed Kendy Kennet (3) the way to pavilion in his next over. Karki was at his best as he again grabbed the wicket of Ronald Tari on duck. Opener Jaxies Samuel (13) was also trapped LBW in the ball of Bhuwan Karki.

Patrick Mautautaava, who scored 13 runs off 20 balls, gave away his wicket when the total was 40 runs on board. With the fall of Mautautaava, Vanuatu continued to lose wickets. Worford Kalwori, Jelany Chili and Jamal Ngwango were shown the way to pavilion by Rahul BK.

All three batsmen were out on duck as the total was 53 runs on board. Apolinaire Stephen (1) was the fourth victim of BK. Nalin Nipiko was not out on the crease for 36 runs off 62 balls.

Nepal beats Kenya by 6 wickets

Nepal beats Kenya by six wickets in the ICC U-19 World Cup qualifiers in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday with more than 30 overs remaining.

Nepal chased Kenya’s 107 in 19.2 overs with captain Prithu Baskota topscoring with 31 not out. Earlier, man of the match Avinash Karn and Krishna Karki each grabbed three wickets to bowl out Kenya for a lowly total.
Electing to field first, Nepal began well with two pacers bowling splendidly. Kenya was 35/6 in 13 overs. It seemed the team that won both of its earlier matches won’t reach 100, but sensible 40 from I Karim took them a respectable total.

Spinners Bhuwan Karki and Rahul Vishwokarma took two each to end Kenya innings in 48.5 overs.

In reply, D Allan took 3 wickets in 3 overs to put Kenya back into game, but some wayward bowling by his teammates and sensible batting from Nepali batsmen put them on bay.

Allan finished with 4/38 in his 8 overs before Nepal raced to an easy victory. Apart from Prithu, Naresh Budayer (18), Subash Khakurel and Pradeep Airee (both 12) scored for Nepal.

It was Nepal’s second win in three matches and will meet Vanuatu on Monday at YMCA Ground.

We want to play World Cup: Captain Baskota

Teenage cricketer Prithu Baskota, who made his national team debut in the 16th Asian Games, is the captain of Nepali U-19 team for the upcoming ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers. Baskota is the only player to lead Nepal in all age groups.

Nepali U-15 team won the ACC U-15 Elite Cup in 2006 in Malaysia under the leadership of Baskota. He, then, led Nepali team to win the ACC U-17 Elite Cup in 2009 in Kathmandu. Baskota was the vice-captain of the Nepali team that participated in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup 2009 in Kuwait, where Nepal could not reach the final for the first time in 10 years and missed the chance
to play World Cup Qualifiers.

However, Nepali team reached the final of ACC U-19 Elite Cup held in Thailand earlier this year and secured its chance to play ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers, scheduled to be held in Ireland from July 28 to August 9. Nepali team, which spent a month and a half in closed camp training, will leave Kathmandu on Sunday. Top six teams of the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers will secure berth in the U-19 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia in 2012 and the Nepali youths are targeting one of the spots.

Republica scribe Nabin Khatiwada talked to Captain Baskota on the eve of departure of the Nepali team.

How was the closed camp training?
The training was good. We were in the closed camp training for a month and a half and we improved with every passing day. We are physically and mentally stonger after the training. We worked to improve in every departments of the game. Meanwhile, we know that the wickets in Ireland will be fast unlike slow wickets of Nepal and we are training to adjust with this during the game.

Will it be that easy to adjust in the conditions of Ireland?

It could have been better if we had reached Ireland earlier than our scheduled time but I´m confident we´ll adjust. We were trying to play quick shots on bowling machine expecting bouncy wickets in Ireland.

What would you say about Nepali U-19 team?

I think the current Nepali team is more balnaced than the team that took part in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup in Thailand. We have a medium pacer, a spinner and a batsmen added in the squad and it has enhanced our bench strength.

What are the strength and weakness of your team?
Spin attack is our most significant strength and we are good in fielding. Overall, we have a balanced team. I don´t see any particular weakness but I would like to say we are improving every day in all departments of the game.

How do you rate your opponents in the Qualifiers?
So far as I´m concerned, Afghanistan could be the toughest for us. European teams - Scotland and Ireland - might be the other tough challengers. We do not know much about other teams and keeping this fact in mind, we´ll take every match seriously.

If so, what is the target of the Nepali team?
We want to qualify for the World Cup. This World Cup could be the last U-19 tournament for many players in the squad if we qualify. We all have a dream of playing the World Cup and I´m hopeful we´ll achieve success.

How desperate are you for playing the World Cup?
In our team, only Rahul dai (Rahul BK) has World Cup experience. And, I already told you that we want to play the World Cup.

Source : Republica

Nepal Vs Jordan : Draw

KATHMANDU, July 29: Nepali football team restored lost pride on Thursday, five days after its 9-0 drubbing, with a 1-1 draw at home against mighty Jordan during the second leg of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers at Dasharath Stadium.

Jordan, having hammered Nepal in the first leg at Amman, advanced into the
group stage with a 10-1 win in aggregate.

To brush aside the humiliating first leg defeat, substitute Bharat Khawas scored the 80th minute goal to earn a draw, as Nepal came up from behind. Earlier, midfielder S. Murjan had put the visitors ahead in the 53rd minute.

In the stadium with a capacity crowd, Khawas achieved his target when he unleashed a powerful shot from the box in a brilliant short pass by Sahukhala, who sprinted the ball a long way before setting it for Khawas.

The draw was no less than a victory for the Nepali team and it was a result not just of the effort of the team but support from the huge home crowd, the enthusiasm of the players and the heavy downpour which started during the first half and subsided in the middle of the second half. The downpour truly favored the Nepali players, disturbing Jordan players´ more than the home side.

"Not only do we know the soil of this stadium and country but the soil also knows us very well," an emotional Nepali captain, Sagar Thapa, said during a post match press conference, adding, "When we play with great support from fans on home ground we feel like we could play carrying all 11 opponent players on our shoulders without feeling tired. I would like to salute the fans."

According to Thapa, the support of spectators at the parapet was a challenge to heavy downpour and it finally gave up. The hooting of ´Nepal, Nepal´ resounded in the 18,000 capacity stadium right from the beginning until final whistle.

"The spectators deserve the win. The crowd was fantastic and showed their pride," said Nepal´s British coach Graham Roberts. "The country has top celebrating spectators," the former England international said, adding, "We matched with Jordan today."

Jordan, which made six changes in the starting lineup including four goal scorer Hasan Abdel Mahmoud and first choice goalie Amer Sh, felt the pressure and failed to coordinate well on the slippery ground.

However, it was Jordan that took the lead with Murjan´s open header in a corner off A Deeb who had netted twice in the first leg match to stun goalie Kiran Chemjong.

But Khawas, who came off the bench in the 66th minute as replacement for Biraj Maharjan, turned the hero for the team when he got back the equalizer.

The goal aside, Nepal squandered about half a dozen scoring chances while Jordan crafted only a couple of attractive moves.

Sahukhala of Nepal, named in the starting lineup, put up a powerful and impressive show. However, he squandered a couple of chances as well. In the 44th minute he failed to hit the ball from the box after brilliantly beating two defenders. In the 35th minute also he was cleared by defenders in the box.

Nepal had nearly doubled the tally in the 46th minute when Anil Gurung´s low header rebounded from the base of the pole. Jumanu Rai hit inches wide from the six-yard box in the 81st minute and skipper Thapa´s header in Nirajan Khadka´s corner flicked by Rohit Chand sailed above the bar in the 35th. Khadka´s long range shot in the 71st minute sailed inches above bar.

Anas Hijah´s powerful freekick shot for Jordan in the 14th minute was punched by goalie Chemjong, and Baha Suleiman´s volley in a rebound went wide. Similarly, defender Chand, as a last man, made a brilliant tackle to clear Suleiman in one-on-one position.

"We dominated the show and every player played fantastic," said Roberts adding, "I have asked the boys to play from the soul for the country and the people and they did it. We also missed a couple of scoring chances." Roberts also lauded the home supporters.

Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=34010

Earthquake Awareness Song (TIME! Album) by Captain "V"

Nobody can never predict what nature has got for you.
When it shows its darkest nature there's nothing we can do
We cannot beat the nature but we can be aware of its action
Spreading awareness among people is the only way that we can "SAVE OUR NATION"

Song Title: Earthquake (TIME Album)
Lyrics/Music/Vocal: Captain "V"

Direction / Edit: Revolution Media
Camera: Ratna Karki

Audio On: Limited Edition
VFX: Sea Horse Production

Ujyalo 90 FM

Pokhara FM

Radio Aawaj

Radio Aawaj

Miss Nepal is conservation ambassador

KATHMANDU: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal today appointed Miss Nepal 2010 — Sadichha Shrestha the fifth Young Conservation Ambassador amid a function in the Capital today.

“I am very pleased to welcome Sadichha as ambassador,” said Anil Manandhar, country representative of WWF, Nepal. “I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Miss Nepal 2009 — Zenisha Moktan — in raising awareness about the Year of the Tiger campaign.”

Sadichha will be involved in promoting conservation issues, especially among the youth. “She will be involved in WWF’s The Generation Green campaign where she will work with students and Eco Clubs of various schools to raise awareness about conservation and develop youth projects focusing on environment and species conservation,” said WWF.

WWF Nepal has appointed each year’s Miss Nepal beauty pageant winner the Young Conservation Ambassador since 2004. Since then, Payal Shakya, Sugarika KC, Sitashma Chand and Zenisha Moktan have already contributed as ambassadors.

Actor Bhuwan K C enters UML भुवन केसी : अभिनेताबाट 'एमाले नेता'

Nepali cine star Bhuwan KC has formally entered polities joining the CPN-UML on Monday.

Prime Minister and senior UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal welcomed KC in the party at a programme organised by the Rastriya Janasanskriti Mahasangh (RJM), sister organisation of UML aligned film artists, to mark its 25th anniversary in the Capital today.

KC, who wanted to be a part of the party since a long time, has been heartily welcomed by the prime minister. KC said that he wanted to be a part of CPN-UML because he is close to Madhav Kumar Nepal and likes him as a politician.

Chairman of RJM, Bijaya Subba said that as KC was keen to join the party since long he was formally inducted amid the auspicious function of the union.

“He will be working as a part of the Janapakshiya Chalachitrakarmi Sangh,” said Subba.

काठमाडौं, पुस २० (नागरिक) - भुवन केसी अभिनेताबाट नेता बनेका छन्। राजनीतिमा कुनै चासो नरहेको बताउँदै आएका भुवन अचानक कम्युनिस्ट बन्लान् भन्ने सायद कसैले पनि अनुमान गरेका थिएनन्। एमालेको भातृ संगठन 'जनसांस्कृतिक महासंघ'को वार्षिकोत्सवमा प्रधानमन्त्री माधव नेपालले टिका लगाएर उनलाई पार्टी प्रवेश गराए। विगतमा राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टीसँग निकट मानिने भुवनले एमाले प्रवेशपछि नागरिकसँग भने, 'मेरो पहिलेदेखि नै यो पार्टीसँग विचार
मिल्थ्यो। केही साथीले पार्टी प्रवेशको प्रस्ताव ल्याएपछि अकस्मात यो निर्णय गरेको हुँ।' आफ्नो जीवनमा धेरै
कुरा अकस्मात भएको सुनाउँदै उनले पार्टी प्रवेशलाई पनि त्यस्तै घटना बताए।

पदको लोभले पार्टी प्रवेश नगरे पनि आउँदा दिनमा सक्रिय राजनीतिमा लाग्ने उनले खुलाए। 'तर मेरा दर्शक निराश हुनु पर्दैन। म फिल्म बनाउने काममा पनि कमी ल्याउने छैन,' उनले भने, 'पार्टी भित्र गुट-उपगुट छ भन्ने सुनेको छु। तर, म सबैलाई सम्मान र सबैसँग सहकार्य गर्छु।'
विदेशी फिल्मकर्मी समेत राजनीतिमा लागेको उदाहरण दिँदै उनले भने, 'आफ्नो राजनीतिक विचार लुकाएर काम गर्नुभन्दा खुलाउनै ठीक लागेकोले यसो गरेको हुँ।'
एमाले प्रवेश गर्नुअघि विभिन्न पार्टीबाट 'अफर' आएको उनले लुकाएनन्, 'सबै पार्टीप्रति मेरो सम्मान छ। अहिले राजनीतिक विचारधारको कित्ता क्लियर गरेँ। मेरो विवाह र डिभोर्स् जस्तै यो काम पनि अचानक भयो।'
फिल्म चलाउनअघि 'स्क्यान्डल'को रचना गर्ने उनको पुरानो बानीदेखि फिल्मकर्मीहरू परिचित छन्। पार्टी प्रवेशलाई धेरैले उनको फिल्म 'साथी म तिम्रो' रिलिजको तयारीसँग पनि जोड्न थालेका छन्। यसबारे नागरिकले गरेको प्रश्नमा उनले भने, 'मैले जे गरे पनि स्यान्डलको रूपमा हेरिन्छ भनेर केही नगरी बस्न सक्दिनँ। बिहे गरे पनि, डिभोर्स भए पनि, नाङ्लोमा गएर कफी खाए पनि स्क्यान्डल बनाइन्छ त के गरूँ?'
फिल्म चलाउन यस्तो कामले सहयोग नगर्ने उनले दाबी गरे। 'म मेरै हैसियतले फिल्म चलाउन सक्छु भनेर विगतमा पुष्टि भइसकेको छ। फेरि भन्छु मेरो राजनीतिक करियरलाई फिल्मसँग नजोडिदिनु होला,' उनले भने।
प्रधानमन्त्रीबाट टिका थापिसकेपछि उनले कार्यक्रममा चाहिँ यसो भनेका थिए, 'देश र जनताको सेवा गर्न नेकपा एमालेमा प्रवेश गरेको हुँ। लेट्स सी (हेरौं के हुन्छ)।'

Source: ekantipur, Nagariknews