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DRAFT OF THE LETTER CIRCULATED TO THE SCHOOLS WITHIN PROPOSED GORKHALAND AREA BY GORKHA JANMUKTI MORCHA

To

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Sub: Gorkha Traditional Dress for the Gorkha Students

Sir/Madam,

This is to inform you that Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, Central Committee has decided to appeal to all the Gorkha students from class X onwards to wear Gorkha Traditional dress i.e. Daura Surual for boys and Choubandi Choli and Fariya for girls compulsorily to preserve the age old culture and tradition of the Gorkha community and as a part of cultural revolution from 7th October to 7th November 2008 in the proposed Gorkhaland Area.

You are, therefore, requested to kindly instruct all Gorkha students and teaching and non-teaching staff to wear our traditional dress. This cultural agitation of ours is to boost the demand for the creation of a separate state of ‘Gorkhaland’.

Yours sincerely,

Roshan Giri,

General Secretary,

GJMM, Central Committee

Three dead in New Delhi blasts: TV report

FROM AFP [BREAKING NEWS]

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Three people were killed as a series of blasts hit the Indian capital New Delhi on Saturday, television reports said.

India’s Star News network said the three died in an explosion in the central Connaught Place district. Another Indian television network CNN-IBN also reported three people had died.

Police and media reports said blasts occurred in swift succession in three busy shopping areas, wounding more than 40 people.

Television channels showed footage of bleeding people lying on the ground and rescuers carrying them away along with pictures of mangled wreckage of vehicles.

Triple blasts in New Delhi in October 2005, blamed on Pakistan-backed Islamic rebel groups, claimed nearly 70 lives, while a 2001 attack on India’s national parliament complex also blamed on Muslim militants killed 14 people.

“We can confirm four blasts. We can’t say if they are bomb blasts,” said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

Bhagat said police were still trying to confirm whether there had been any deaths

Serial Bomb Blasts in New Delhi

BREAKING NEWS

There have been reports of serial bomb blasts in New Delhi – reports are just coming in.

More detailed reports on this Delhi Bomb Blasts are awaited.

NDTV TV Channel reports say Blasts at GK, Connaught Place and Gaffar market in Delhi

News says that these bomb blasts were through Gas Cylinder. Aaj Tak TV says there are at least 3 Bomb Blasts in Delhi.

‘India is the lifeline of Nepal’

FROM EXPRESS INDIA

Kathmandu, September 13: Nepal’s new Maoist Prime Minister, Prachanda, arrives in New Delhi on Sunday seeking to allay fears that Kathmandu would now move closer to China, dumping its traditional friendship with India.

Such doubts gained ground in New Delhi after Prachanda travelled to China last month for the Olympics closing ceremony, departing from a tradition which has seen incoming Nepali leaders make New Delhi their first foreign port of call.

There is little doubt that ignoring India is almost impossible for Kathmandu: India is landlocked Nepal’s major economic as well as trade partner, and supplies the bulk of essential goods. It is also Nepal’s sole supplier of fuel.

“Whatever ties it seeks with China, India is their lifeline and they would want it to remain that way,” Indian analyst Bharat Karnad said in New Delhi.

“He definitely wants a normal friendly relationship with India.”

Experts say New Delhi would be keen to find out from Prachanda how he planned to take bilateral relations forward after the Maoists made anti-India rhetoric an integral part of their decade-long insurgency that ended in 2006.

The huge trade imbalance in favour of India riles Nepal, and the Maoists also seek the scrapping of a 1950 bilateral treaty defining travel, business, social and economic ties, saying it short-changed the Himalayan nation.

On the trail of a colleague’s killers – a journalist’s mission

FROM INDIA ENEWS

She heads what is often referred to in the university as the bravest class in town. For over a year now, Asra Nomani, a journalist and activist who teaches at Georgetown University, wants to finish the work the FBI started – trying to track down the killers of Daniel Pearl.

Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic radicals in Pakistan in early 2002, a few months after the 9/11 attacks.

Called the Pearl Project, which has already drawn over 20 students, mostly female, from as far away as Qatar and Lebanon, the investigation is trying to figure out the real identities of 15 of the estimated 19 suspects still at large. Many of them were previously known only by aliases.

The next task of the project members is to determine their whereabouts.

Though four men have been convicted of the murder in Pakistan, including Omar Sheikh, Nomani is not convinced that the whole story has been told. Sheikh, who once studied at the London School of Economics, was freed along with two other Islamic militants, in exchange for more than 160 people aboard an Indian Airlines jet that had been hijacked from Kathmandu, Nepal, in December 1999.

Another man, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an Al Qaeda terrorist who is currently in US custody for masterminding the 9/11 attacks, has claimed he personally killed Pearl. Nomani’s class is looking into whether he’s telling the truth or trying to thwart investigators.

Off The People, Bye The People

FROM GORKHAPATRA SANSTHAN

This scribe’s last week’s article ‘Dealing with Ex ternal Influence’ (dated September 06) has received some responses. One of the valued readers has written a letter to the editor (dated September 08 and has sought further elaboration as to why people think differently from what members of the Constituent Assembly and the political parties are doing at the moment. This question was directed to politics, in general, and federalism and foreign policy, in particular.

Referendum

Though principally, we are a federal state, many people have reservations about federalism itself. They are aware of the fact that any attempt to turn back the clock will cost heavily. But people must have well understood the political behaviour of our leaders. My finding tells me that had we gone for a referendum on the two issues, that is, on federalism and secularism (I am not sure about the monarchy as King Gyanendra was unpopular), perhaps, the motion would have been defeated.

Musician with a difference

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

BY D B RAI

Gangtok: “Kati Kura Nabhanera nai; Mitha Mitha Mitha hunchan. Bhaniyeka Kura Baru; Jhuta Jhuta Jhuta Hunchan.” (Some matters are interesting when not talked, while the talked matters sometimes become wrong and only wrong)

Four years back when Nepali people of Darjeeling, Nepal and Sikkim were waving their heads in the mood of music by the song of Deo Narayan Pradhan, a Kathmandu based renowned singer, Madhusudhan Lama was lonely doing his bit in his Ragini Studio at Panihouse, Gangtok. Pradhan’s song was so popular that more than one lakh albums were sold like hot cake in the market. But very few people knew that the famous song was composed by Madhusudhan. Mr. Lama not only composed the music for that song, he also composed the music for a number of songs which are still doing rounds mouth to mouth.

Mr. Lama is a Nepali Post graduate teacher of Ranipool senior secondary school. He was born and brought up in Kalimpong. But for more than 25 years he has been in Sikkim all by himself. He has opened a music studio, Ragini Studio, which has the facilities comparable to those in Mumbai and Kathmandu. “I have every facility in the studio like Sangam studio of Kathmandu, a renowned studio of Nepal with 24 tracks of recording machine,” Mr. Lama said. He rued that still the people go to Mumbai and Kathmandoo for recording and said “it is just waste of money and time.” Regarding the prospect of his studio, he said “It is not that I do not have good business. We have been given entrepreneurship award by NBCFD, New Delhi, and SABCCO, Gangtok, as best performing enterprise”.

Sikkim University: A reason to introspect

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

The cloud has finally cleared over the great dilemma and its Prof. Lama who’s had the last laugh….perhaps. The HRDD and the Government of Sikkim have reiterated their faith on the stand that the Sikkim University is ready to start the undergraduate courses in the different colleges of Sikkim. It’s now show-time VC Sahib and your deeds must speak stronger than your words. After all it’s our children’s future.

A University in Sikkim was like a dream come true for all the Sikkimese people. Even our neighbours from adjacent hills rejoiced and were envious when we got one. I too felt the same-that our children would be able to study the syllabus which is relevant to our State and one which matches with national and international standards. I know there are teething problems when something new starts but I am sorry to say, what a start. The VC, (a press savvy person), has been going to the media and stating his claims of having an OXFORD or JNU in Sikkim. Sir, we want Sikkim in Sikkim (of course, matching global standards). The Department has voiced its apprehensions regarding the infrastructural inadequacies at Sikkim University. I am not sure if the recent decision had been taken after re-inspection of these inadequacies. Please speak out clearly HRDD, we all want to know what these inadequacies are or was it just a political and bureaucratic gimmick.

I know what it takes to make a University. Are we ready to start in such a hurried manner? That too, with a syllabus made in just few days? I do not question the standard of the syllabus as it is yet to be tested, however I do question the process of framing it. If Oxford and JNU takes at least six months in reviewing their syllabus, how could Sikkim University do in a matter of few days? So, if the HRDD feels that there are problems then certainly, there are problems, and we have no reason to disbelieve them. SU a newcomer and till date the Education Department aka HRDD has been taking care of the education in the State and they have been doing their duties to the best of their ability (no wonder Sikkim was awarded the best performing state in education among small states in the country.

But yes, HRDD has problems and a University should guide, not blame. VC Sir, do not stay in a fools paradise. Be gracious enough to face the ground reality. Do not feel that change can be brought about overnight, it is process driven.

As for the voices raised by our student bodies in blindly backing Sikkim University, I would like to add a word of caution. The Government has complied with your demands, now it’s your turn to gauge the credibility of Sikkim University and put forward the positive and negative aspects .A college student told a local TV new channel that the Sikkim University syllabus was very simple and they could get more marks. Is that the reason to go to Sikkim University? VC Sahib, if these voices are true then what happened to your global standards? We do not want our children to get good marks but rather like them to get the marks they deserve (unlike NBU, which was frugal in awarding marks). Sikkim University, please give a serious thought on this. Again, as I said earlier, it is process driven, so VC Sahib, get the right type of people to advice you and that includes people from our State who think about education and society.

It is a time to seriously put on our thinking caps and do the necessary churning of ideas. Why are the academicians quiet on this whole affair? It is also a time for you all to wake up and rise up to the occasion and guide the State and the University. These are testing times, when the intellectual fraternity should help in nurturing the newly constituted University (provided the Sikkim University is ready to accept their advice, circulating a draft reform is just not enough). And yes, the media has really not played its role. The media should not have only reported but should have tried to do a reality check on the status and claims of both sides and then should have given us the real and whole truth. And last but not the least, thanks to the politicians including the opposition for staying out of it, even though it is election year.

We, the Sikkimese populace have put our faith on you Prof. Lama, but now you have to deliver and deliver fast. We are all looking up to you at the same time watching you and your aides closely. Time is ticking away!

A Concerned Citizen,
Gangtok

Local taxis in Darjeeling next in the line for number plate changeover

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

DARJEELING, September 12: Now, it is the turn of taxis in Darjeeling Hills to sport GL numbers. The first priority will be given to local taxis of Darjeeling to change over to the GL number plates. This was confirmed today by Norbu Lama, the president of All Transport Joint Action Committee while talking to SIKKIM EXPRESS here today.

He said that during the first phase of the changeover, taxis plying along the Singmari-Lebong, Takvar valley and Singtam in Darjeeling will be covered.

The deadline for changing the number plates of all vehicles in the proposed area of Gorkhaland is September 15, Monday.

According to Mr. Lama, vehicles plying to Darjeeling-Siliguri-Sikkim would be kept out of the GL purview.
On the other hand, KL Tamta, IG, North Bengal has said that strict action would be taken against those vehicles bearing GL number plates plying between Siliguri and Dooars.

NPHC to stamp its footprints in Myanmar

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, September 12: The National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) is all set to set its footprints in Myanmar. NHPC Chief Managing Director SK Garg today told mediapersons here that they will be signing MoUs with Myanmar government next week for developing two power projects totalling to 1800 MW as joint ventures.

This will be the second foreign outing for NHPC after developing hydro power in neighbouring Bhutan. Mr. Garg said that the MoU will be signed with Myanmar government for 1200 MW Tamanthy and 600 MW Shwzaya projects.

Regarding the corporation revenue position, the CMD said NHPC has seen an increase of 33 percent profit in 2007-08 with a net profit of Rs.1004 crores. The trend of last quarter of 2008 -09 showing significant growth, he added.

EIILM affiliation under scanner

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

BY NIRMAL MANGAR

GANGTOK, September 12: The affiliation issue in the State do not seem come to an end. After the Sikkim University and the North Bengal University’s tug of war over affiliation, the Eastern Institute of Integrated Learning Management University (EIILM), Jorethang is now under the scanner.

The students pursuing their education in BTech (IT) final year from EIILM has raised several doubts on the University being affiliated with the University Grant Commission (UGC).

“We feel we have been duped by the University as they have not shown us the UGC letter of recognition” said Nimesh Kumar Singh, a student while talking with SIKKIM EXPRESS today.

Presently, there are five students in the final year of BTech (IT) studying at the University. There are a total of 180 students in various courses such as BBA, MBA, Bio-Tech, MA and others at EIILM.

The students also complained shortage of the faculty members in the University in violation of the UGC norms.

“We have only one lecturer for the subject on data structure and we are made to attend only a single class in a day,” another student said.

Six senior leaders quit SHRP – SHRP confining itself only on cheap politics: Adikhari Foolish to give electoral mandate to Dr. Subba: Basnett

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, September 12: Internal party rumblings within Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad (SHRP) today fissured out with six party members including party spokesperson Biraj Adikhari submitting their resignations citing ‘ideological differences’.

This rupture comes swift after the SHRP recently dismissed its central executive committee and set up an adhoc central body. Elections for the central executive committee were supposed to be held in one month.
Questions are being raised on SHRP’s challenge in 2009 hustings with this clutch of resignation.

Apart from Mr. Adikhari, the other party members who have quit SHRP today are Sonam Tsehring Bhutia (secretary) Adino Lepcha (secretary), Tikendra Sharma (publicity secretary), Bharat Basnett (convener) and Tseten Dorji Lepcha (vice president).

“We found ourselves ideologically incompatible with SHRP party which is confining itself in cheap issues and not taking up core issues for the people and Sikkim”, said Mr. Adikhari on his and other party members’ resignation. There are many issues to be taken up for the people in Sikkim but SHRP found no other issue than BPL rice politics, he added.

Accusing the party being run on personal egos, Mr. Adikhari said that he and other party members cannot stay in SHRP which cares only for cheap publicity stunts.

INVOKING THE GUARDIAN DEITY

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

Local artists giving finishing touches to the mask of Dzonga, to be used during Pangtoed Chaam at Rabong on Sept 15. A. SE pic.

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BIG BANG, SUPERSTITION AND GORKHALAND

BY BIBEK SHARMA

The experiment to prove BIG BANG theory has begun and thank god we are still alive. In a country which produces 200 scientists who are instrumental in designing that particular experiment it is highly unbelievable that the same country was more engrossed in all the superstition attached to it. The accomplishment of those scientists was shadowed by all the bantering about how this experiment is going to bring this world to an end. At some point of time I was thinking did not the BIG BANG create the universe, and did not it lead to the formation of earth, the earth we live on.

The point which I wanted to make was why are we Indians still superstitious? In this world of science and technology why are we still clinging unto the things which in this modern society make no sense? That brings me to the question that has been haunting me for past few months. Believe me it has nothing to do with Big Bang, but it is related to the overall issue of being why we do Gorkhas have to be so superstitious to get Gorkhaland? In the past few months in all national level papers ( The Telegraph, The Statesman, The Times of India) the headline news for Gorkhaland has been all kinds of rituals which are been done for formation of Gorkhaland.

I until now thought Gorkhaland is a political issue and had to be won by providing the national and state level politicians and bureaucrats with all possible arguments in terms of paper work and not ritual work. I am a believer in God but that does not mean that we have to cling to the almighty for giving us freedom. Eventhough, the said prayer meetings/rallies were organized for show of unity I personally felt that it left wide open the large number of linguistic groups which make up the Gorkhaland. If we follow the news closely, it has also been a big pain for the current political set up to come up with a consensus dress to wear for the so called one month period of festivities.

Tea, Toy Train and Tourism in Darjeeling

FROM ASIAN AND OCEANIA TRAVELOGUE

It is the garden that serves you your daily cuppa in the morning. Nestled in the Himalayas, Darjeeling is situated at an altitude of 2134 meters and has close to 70 tea gardens that produce the finest tea in the world.

For rail enthusiasts, however, Darjeeling is better known for its “Toy Train”. This famous narrow gauge steam railway plies its way from Siliguri in the plains below up to Ghoom and Darjeeling in the hills and the ride transports one back to childhood days.

Getting there
If you want to get to Darjeeling by air, the closest airport is Bagdogra that is directly connected to Calcutta, Delhi and Guwahati. The nearest railhead is at New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri and both are connected to all the major places in India.

What to See

Batasia Loop
A marvelous feat of engineering, this Railway Loop provides a delightful view of the ‘toy’ train as it winds its way round the loop.

Darjeeling- Rangeet Valley Passenger Ropeway
This ropeway is situated at North Point which is 3 km from the town. The first passenger Ropeway to be constructed in India, this 5 km stretch connects Darjeeling and Singla Bazar, a beautiful picnic spot.

Dhirdham Temple

Situated next to the railway station, the temple architecture has been inspired by the famous Pashupatinath Temple at Kathmandu in Nepal.

Ghoom Buddhist Monastery
A typical Tibetan monastery which enshrines an image of the coming Buddha.

Tiger Hill
Tiger Hill has earned international fame for the fabulous view of the Sunrise over the great “Kanchenjunga” and the great Eastern Himalayan peaks that can be seen from here. If you are lucky and the day is clear even Mt. Everest is visible. The sunrise is simply beautiful as the golden glow of the rising Sun changes the colour of the snow capped peaks to crimson, pink and then auburn. A definite must do. Besides these attractions, don’t miss a trip to the lovely tea plantations and discover how your tea is brewed right from the planting of the tea leaf to its final destination.

Gangtok: Gateway to Heaven

FROM ASIAN AND OCEANIA TRAVELOGUE

Some places defy description. The capital of Sikkim is one such place. Nestled in the lap of the mighty Kanchenjunga with the meandering Teesta flowing below, a breathtakingly beautiful landscape dotted with exotic flowers and orchids and colourful monasteries with little lamas in their red robes running around, Gangtok is perfect for a quiet idyllic vacation or great for mountaineering and trekking opportunities.

Imbued with a strong Buddhist culture, Gangtok blends the old with the new and it is commonplace to see urban settlements rubbing shoulder against old monasteries.

Getting there
Gangtok is well connected by air, Bagdogra being the nearest airport approximately 124 km from Gangtok. If you are traveling by train, the closest railheads are Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri, from where buses and taxis are available to Gangtok. Gangtok is connected by road with Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Siliguri.

What to See
Besides offering myriad opportunities for trekking, mountaineering, white water rafting and jeep safari, Gangtok has a number of attractions for tourists.

Chorten
The Do-Drul Chorten or Stupa was built in 1945 and houses relics and other religious exhibits. There are 108 prayer wheels around the Stupa. Chorten Lakhang and Guru Lakhang are around the Stupa. There are also two huge statues of Guru Rimpoche (Guru Padmasambhava). Situated near the orchid sanctuary, one can see the young lamas here working, learning and worshipping.

Deer Park
Near the Secretariat, the Deer Park provides a panoramic view of the expansive valleys surrounding the city of Gangtok. If you are lucky, you may spot the Himalayan spotted and musk deer.

Int’l marathon on Sept. 20

FROM GORKHAPATRASANSTHAN

KATHMANDU, Sept. 12: Real 2nd Kathmandu International Marathon-2008 is set to be held on the 20th of September from Dashrath Stadium.

Speaking at a press conference, chief of the organising committee Nilendra Raj Shrestha informed that the marathon would be held in the six categories including full marathon (men), half marathon (men\women), five Km school (boys\girls) five Km (men\women) five Km Veteran above 40 (men\women) and three km wheel chair.

The marathon starting from Dashrath Stadium will finish at the same place via Thapathali, Patan, Gwarko, Bhaktapur, Koteshwor, Tinkune, Gaushala, Chabhil, and Maharajgunj.

The top three runner in the full marathon will be awarded with the cash prize of US $5,000, $3,000 and $1,500 respectively. The total cash prize for the full marathon is US $12,600.

The organisers have
expected the participation of at least 6,000 runners including Nepali and the foreigner players. In the first edition held in 2007 about 6,000
runners participated including the foreigners from 20
different countries.

Likewise, the top three players of the half marathon in both men’s and women’s category would receive a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, 25,000 and 10,000 each respectively.

Similarly, top three players in the five Km. men and women category will be awarded with the cash prize of Rs. 25,000, Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 5,000 respectively.

Prachanda quits as chief of militia

FROM TIMES OF INDIA

KATHMANDU: On the eve of his visit to India, Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda began distancing himself from controversies with his party on Friday choosing a successor to replace him as the supreme commander of the once-dreaded People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Nand Kishore Pun, a 28-year-old ex-school teacher, was chosen by the central secretariat of the Maoists to head the PLA. Nepal’s major political parties, donors and even India had been urging all PLA officials who had entered politics to quit their posts.

Pun, who has assumed the name Pasang, was the seniormost deputy commander of the guerrilla army after two of his seniors contested the April election and won.

Nepal prime minister to arrive tomorrow

FROM THE PENINSULA

New Delhi/Kathmandu: India yesterday announced the first official visit of Nepal’s Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, who comes here tomorrow on a five-day trip that has the potential to modernise ties between the two neighbours, bound by close cultural and fraternal relations.

“The visit will provide the opportunity for discussing the entire gamut of issues between our two countries,” India’s external affairs ministry tersely said in New Delhi while announcing Prachanda’s maiden visit to the country after assuming office. No new pacts are likely to be signed as it will be primarily a goodwill visit meant to reaffirm ties between the two countries, official sources said in New Delhi and Kathmandu.

In a bid to soothe frayed nerves in New Delhi following Prachanda’s visit to Beijing to attend the closing ceremony of the Olympics last month, the new regime in Kathmandu has taken pains to package the Maoist leader’s India trip as his “first formal political visit” to any country.

Sections of the Indian establishment felt uneasy about Prachanda’s visit to Beijing as New Delhi has traditionally been the first port of call for a newly-elected Nepali prime minister.

India, too, has indicated it would regard the five-day visit as a “political” one that will provide New Delhi an opportunity to understand the mindset of the new dispensation in Kathmandu and enable the two countries to share their perspectives on the course of bilateral ties in the days to come.

Nepal to deport illegal Tibetans

FROM BBC

Nepal will start deporting Tibetan exiles living illegally in the country, a government official has said.

Home Ministry spokesman Modraj Dotel said 106 Tibetans had been detained recently by police to check if they had valid refugee certificates.

Tibetans in Nepal have staged months of protests against China, accusing it of religious repression in their homeland.

More than 20,000 Tibetan refugees live in Nepal. Nepal’s government is a staunch ally of neighbouring China.

Nepal’s new Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda visited China soon after taking office in August.

‘Tougher policy’

The Nepalese government spokesman said the verification of papers was being done with the help of officials from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) in Nepal.

“We are screening this first group [of Tibetans] and those found without proper documents will face deportation to where they came from,” Mr Dotel said.

Nepal parties urge Prachanda not to strike deals with India

FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA NEWS

Kathmandu, Sept 12 : Nepal’s major political parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA) have suggested to Prime Minister Prachanda that he should not to strike any new deal with India without wider consultation during his upcoming visit to India.

The political panel wanted him to take up all problems in bilateral relations openly.

The parties gave this suggestion during a meeting called by Prachanda at his office.

“The Prime Minister should not strike any new deal that could have long-term consequences without wider consultation and national consensus,” said Nepali Congress leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat.

“We suggested that the Prachanda must focus on issues of immediate concern as this is a ‘goodwill visit,’ he added.

He said issues like review of the 1950 Treaty and an alternative Koshi Barrage need to be discussed in detail and a national consensus arrived at. Treaties and agreements are of long-term concern so they need comprehensive homework.

CPN-UML General Secretary Jhala Nath Khanal said his party has suggested to Prachanda to raise issues like border disputes, the Koshi Barrage and the trade deficit between the two countries.

Khanal also asked him to raise the issue of repatriation Bhutanese refugees, the quarantine imposed by India on Nepali tea products and rights of Nepalis living in India.

Prachanda is scheduled to visit India on September 14.

This will be his first visit to India after becoming the first elected Prime Minister of the federal republic Nepal.