Nagarkoti grabs maiden title

POKHARA, DEC 27 - Bhuwan Nagarkoti clinched his maiden tour title with two-stroke victory over Surya Prasad Sharma in the final round of the Surya Nepal Western Open here at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara on Friday.

The Gokarna Golf Club pro Nagarkoti, who never relinquished the lead from the opening round,shot two-under 68 for a three -day total of four-under 206 to win the fourth event held under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2014-15. With the maiden trophy, Bhuwan, previously known to the local golf ing circuit as Umesh, received a top prize of Rs 95,000.

The Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Sharma also carded a 68 but finished second at two-under 208. Tribhuvan Army Officers Golf Club pro Dhana Thapa also carded 68 to finish third at two-over 212. Surya received Rs 60,000 and Dhana got Rs 44,000.

For the first time in three rounds, four golf ers were able to produce under-par card in the treacherous and demanding course with Nepal No 1 and the defending champion Shivaram Shrestha the best of the lot scoring four-under 66. Despite the excellent card, it was only enough for the top Nepali golf er to finish fourth at three-over 213.

Sanjay Lama of the Army Club ended up in fifth place at 219, while Jayaram Shrestha finished sixth at 220. Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali was seventh at 224, while Bhu Bahadur Gurung (225) and Rame Magar (227) claimed the eighth and ninth places respectively. Ramesh Nagarkoti and Dinesh Prajapati finished tied for 10th at 228.

Nagarkoti opened the final round two strokes ahead of Sharma but that lead was gone by the first nine holes. Nagarkoti shot even-par 35 on the front nine while Sharma caught up with the leader carding two-under 33. But in a reversal of fortunes, Nagarkoti shot two-under 33 and Sharma even-par 35. Nagarkoti parred all the first nine holes before playing two under in the back nine that included four birdies and two bogeys. Sharma, in the meantime, sank two birdies on the front nine before earning yet another shot at No 10. But his chances were reduced when he double bogeyed on the 11th and 13th. By the time he sank two more birdies on the 15th and 16th, Nagarkoti had the title within his grasp.

Arun Tamang shot seven-over 77 to win the Amateur title with a total score of 231. Kamal Thapa (79) was a distant second at 238. Dal Lama was third at 242. In all, 29 pros took part in the tournament organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association. The tournament will conclude on Saturday with a Pro-Am tournament.

Nepali spinners world class: Raju

KATHMANDU, DEC 26 - Former Indian national team spinner Venkatapathy Raju has termed Nepali spinners as ‘world class’ bowlers as the ACC Development Officer arrived here on Thursday.

Raju is here to hone the skills of Nepali spinnersfor the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Division 2 tournament to be held in Namibia from January 17-24.

Along with Raju, former Sri Lankan fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake–also an ACC Development Officer–will assist Nepali cricketers for the all-important Division 2 tournament.

Raju said he is quite familiar with Nepali bowling and would like to see more of them during his week-long stay in Nepal. “I have seen Nepali cricketers bowl in Sri Lanka during their preparation camp for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers. There are world class spinners ,” said Raju who played for India in the 1992 and 1996 World Cups.

Raju and Ratnayake are here as a part of the ACC High Performance Programme. “Me and Rumesh will now remain here for few days and assist the Nepali cricketers to shape themselves up for the Division 2 tournament. We want Nepal to climb above the Division 2 and qualify for future ICC tournaments,” added Raju. The Division 2 tournament will send the top two teams into the ICC World Cricket League Championship and ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Raju is the first renowned Indian international to give specialized coaching to Nepali cricketers although a lot of prominent Indian players have come to Nepal. Once a leading spinner of India during the 1990s, Raju played 28 Tests for India picking up 93 wickets with his best figures of 6-12 coming against Sri Lanka. He has 63 wickets under his belt from 53 one-day internationals for India.

Nagarkoti grabs maiden title

POKHARA, DEC 26 - Bhuwan Nagarkoti extended his overnight one-stroke lead to two in the second round of the Surya Nepal Western Open golf tournament at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course here on Thursday.

Nagarkoti was only one of the two pros to return with an under-par card on the second day at the punishing course. The Gokarna Golf Club pro Nagarkoti carded two-under 68 today for a two-day score of two-under 138. Two strokes adrift at even-par 140 was the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Surya Prasad Sharma. Sharma shot one-under 69 during the fourth event held under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2014-15.

Nagarkoti carded even-par 35 on the first nine that included birdies on the third and seventh against bogeys on fourth and ninth holes. On the back nine, he sank four birdies--on the 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th--against two bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes which ensured his lead on top of the standings.

Sharma shot two-under 33 in the first half but his one-over 36 in the latter half cost him the lead. Sharma dropped a shot on the second hole before sinking birdies on the 5th, 6th and 8th for the two-under first nine score. But he lost momentum in the back nine dropping a shot each on the 13th and 15th holes. His birdies on the final hole helped him close in on Nagarkoti to within two strokes going into the final round.

Dhana Thapa of the Tribhuvan Army Officers Golf Club was in the third at four-over 144 after a second round card of even-par 70. Shrestha brothers--Jayaram and Shivaram--shared fourth position at seven-over 147. Nepal No 1 and defending champion Shivaram carded even-par 70, while Jayaram played three-over 73. Nepal No 2 Rabi Khadka (74) and Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali (75) shared sixth position at 148 whereas Bhu Bahadur Gurung (71) and Sanjay Lama (78) were tied for eighth at nine-over 149. Ramesh Adhikari and Ramesh Nagarkoti were in a tie for the 10th place at 152.

Other pros making the cut for the money-making third and final round were Dinesh Prajapati, Rame Magar, Bikash Adhikari, Bal Bahadur Rai (Mani), Tham Bahadur Rai, Deepak Magar, Pashupati Sharma, Sachin Prasad Bhattarai, Rajendra Kumar Pradhan and Sabin Sapkota. The cut was applied at 24-0ver 164.

Arun Tamang leads the Amateur category after a two-round score of 154. Tamang carded three-over 73 on Thursday for a one-stroke lead ahead over Dal Lama, who also carded 73. Tanka Bahadur Karki was three shots behind Tamang at 157 after shooting nine-over 79. Other amateurs to survive the pro cut include overnight leader Sukra Bahadur Rai, Rajendra Shrestha, Sonam Bhujel, Kamal Thapa and Raju Rai.

In all, 21 professional and nine amateur golf ers made the cut for final round. Top three golfers will earn Rs 95,000, Rs 60,000, Rs 44,000 respectively.

Govt honours Div 3 champions

KATHMANDU, DEC 25 - The government on Wednesday honoured the national cricket team members who were part of the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 campaign with Rs 100,000 each.

Nepal had defended the Division 3 title on October 30 defeating Uganda by 62 runs in the final at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nepal had also defeated Uganda in the final of the Division 3 in Bermuda last year.

Skipper Paras Khadka, vice-captain Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawkar, Subash Khakurel, Basanta Regmi, Shakti Gauchan, Naresh Budhayer, Aarif Sheikh, Bhuwan Karki, Sagar Pun, Sompal Kami, Amrit Bhattarai, Binod Bhandari, Mehboob Alam were the part of the team that won the Division 3 tournament–Nepal’s fourth ICC title.

Coach Pubudu Dassanayake, technical analyst Raman Shiwakoti, team physiotherapist Dinesh Bhatta were also given cash rewards. Youth and Sports Minister Purushottam Paudel, Secretary Dipendra Nath Sharma, Joint secretary Chudamani Poudel, the government-formed ad-hoc committee of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) President Binay Raj Pandey and General Secretary Ramesh Silwal honoured the players and officials.

The government, however, missed to fete assistant coach Jagat Tamatta but joint secretary Poudel said it was a technical glitch. Poudel said the list of the 18 players and officials were sent without enlisting Tamatta by the suspended CAN. “He will soon be honoured,” said Poudel.

Division 3 team manager Deepak Saud–a member of the suspended committee of the CAN–was not honoured. The government had previously honoured the cricketers with Rs 350,000 when Nepal last won the Division 3 title in Bermuda.

Meanwhile, Minister Poudel informed that the government will reward the cricketers with one million rupees each if they win the Division 2 title in Namibia. Nepal are participating in Division 2 which will begin from January 17 to 24. Poudel informed that the decision to honour with one million rupees each has already been made in the recent Cabinet meeting. The government has honoured Nepali cricketers with one million rupees each when they qualified for their maiden ICC World Twenty20 in November last year. The award so far is the highest that the cricketers have received so far in terms of cash.

Dahal on weeklong Rolpa ‘revenge’ tour

KATHMANDU, NOV 11 - After the ruling parties snubbed the meeting of the Political Committee that he had called, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal embarked on a weeklong visit of Rolpa on Monday, pushing the stalled constitution drafting process to the brink by crippling cross-party negotiations.

Maoist leaders read the move as Dahal’s tit-for-tat response to ruling parties and a hint of the slim chances of agreement on the contentious issues of constitution-writing. According to Dahal’s secretariat, he will spend one week in mid-western districts, a heartland of the Maoist insurgency that lasted over a decade.

If there had been a positive gesture from the ruling parties, he could have cancelled the visit but there are no signs of rapprochement, Maoist leaders said. Two days ago, Dahal, as the Political Committee (PC) chairman, called its meeting, promising “closed and focussed talks” on the outstanding issues. The ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML refused to attend the meet saying that the body is not mandated to discuss issues of constitution writing.

Feeling “insulted”, Dahal decided to move out instead. Leaders close to him say Dahal will not attend the PC meeting and cross-party dialogue as the ruling parties “did not recognise” the committee formed to facilitate the remaining tasks of the peace process.

“The [Maoist] chairman is of the view that there is no meaning of talks as the ruling parties refused to attend the PC meeting,” said Dahal’s press assistant Shiva Khakurel. He claimed that Dahal notified the top leaders of other parties about his visit.

Dahal has often said it is impossible to reach consensus at the crowded PDCC. He suggests discussing the disputes at the Political Committee in an arrangement whereby an informal agreement reached at the PC could be formalised by the PDCC later.

Ruling party leaders said Dahal’s visit is a mark of his lack of commitment to promulgate a new constitution by January 22. “He wants to prolong the process by rendering the PDCC ineffective,” said UML Secretary Pradeep Gyawali. “He fears that the PDCC can forward our proposal [to the CA] any time. He does not even fully trust Baburam Bhattarai [PDCC chairman].” The PDCC is set to resume its business on Tuesday but there has been no agreement on the approach to the disputed issues. After pressure, Bhattarai has called a meeting of the PDCC to discuss the proposal tabled by the NC and the UML together with some fringe parties.

Leaders charge that the PDCC will merely be a platform for parties to express views and it will not produce any positive results. Bhattarai announced the meeting after consultation with PM Sushil Koirala, Maoist Chairman Dahal and UML Chairman KP Oli. “We won’t let the NC and the UML send their proposal to the CA at any cost,” said Maoist leader Shakti Basnet.

Despite gaping differences, some leaders are working to find common ground on the contentious issues. UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, UCPN (M) Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha and NC leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula are working to explore a compromise.

BRB becomes Twitter celebrity

KATHMANDU, NOV 11 - Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s followers on Twitter have crossed the 100,000 mark, making him the most popular Twitter celebrity in Nepal.

The New York-based Nepali fashion designer Prabal Gurung has more than 165,000 followers. Gurung has 13,900 tweets while Bhattarai has close to 900.

Bhattarai’s fame is remarkable considering the period he has been on Twitter and the number of tweets.

The UCPN (Maoist) leader joined Twitter in January 2013 with the handle @brb_laaldhwoj. Gurung joined the social media in May, 2009.

Bhattarai has acknowledged his followers: “I thank all fellow 100,000 tweeple. Let us continue to use the social network for healthy debate,” he tweeted in Nepali on Monday morning.

His tweets range from political commentaries to congratulatory notes to the national cricket team.

According to Twitonomy, a Twitter analytical site, the most retweeted tweet of his was the praise for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Modi has won d heart&mind of Nepalese people with his magical address 2 d legislature-parliament of Nepal.” The August 3 post was retweeted 667 times.

His tweets also include political promise: “@OmBhaktaUprety1...Give me single party majority govt. for 5 yrs like in Bihar. If i don’t show results, you can shoot me, young friends.”

Other popular public figures on twitter are Nepali Congress Leader Gagan Thapa, with over 71,000 followers, and Chief CIAA Commissioner Lok Man Singh Karki, who joined Twitter in May last year and has more than 44,000 followers.

Journalists are also popular on the site. Rabindra Mishra has 66,000 followers, Narayan Shrestha has 59,000, Narayan Wagle 55,000 and Sudheer Sharma has 33,000 followers.

There are a total of 64.5 million registered Twitter users worldwide with 135,000 new users signing up every day. The average number of tweets per day is around 58 million, according to Twitter.

While there is no exact number of Twitter users in Nepal, it is estimated around 3 million. Twitter was launched to public on July 15, 2006.

According to a survey conducted in 2013 among Twitter users in Nepal, 84 percent believe celebrities and politicians can benefit on the platform. In the study carried out by the Centre for Media Research Nepal, over 1008 Twitter responses were received, of which only 625 complete responses were considered for analysis.

With over 59 million followers, American Popstar Katy Perry tops the chart, followed by Canadian popstar Justin Bieber, who has over 56 million fans. US President Barack Obama comes third with 49.4 million followers.

Govt weighs options on Modi’s public address request

KATHMANDU, NOV 11 - The government is exploring options over allowing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver public speech in Janakpur and Lumbini.

The government and its agencies found themselves in a tight spot after Modi expressed his desire to address the public in two revered religious sites for the Hindus and Buddhists. Besides security issues, there were concerns over the kind of public platform to be accorded to Modi in Janakpur and Lumbini, said multiple sources. Although the Indian premier is said to have been given a go-ahead at the highest political level, the authorities are keen to keep the functions away from  controversies. After weighing several options, the government has prepared a template of the public function in consultation with the Indian side to avoid embarrassment.

The Foreign Ministry is closely coordinating with other concerned government agencies to honour Modi’s request, but they are yet to come up with a concrete template for the public meeting, conceded Khaganath Adhikari, Foreign Ministry spokesperson. “The best option to have crossed our minds so far is to organise these programmes under the local Nepali banner, where senior Cabinet ministers can address them ahead of Modi. Some local leaders can also deliver make speech,” said another ministry official involved in consultations.

According to the official, the Indian side had assured them that Modi’s speech would not have anything beyond  completely make a speech like in India or his political constituencies so that we should not remain that level of cautious in this respect, said the official adding that Nepali side sees this opportunity to strengthening the bilateral ties.

Should Modi’s Lumbini and Janakpur plans materialise, it would be the first public address in Nepal by any visiting foreign dignitary. In August, Modi became the first visiting head of government to address Parliament.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay are also scheduled to visit Lumbini on the margins of the 18th Saarc Summit.

Janakpur preparations into high gear

Authorities of both Nepal and India have stepped up preparations for a scheduled Janakpur visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month.

The 22 km road linking Vittamod in India to Janakpur in Nepal, which the Indian premier is said to be using during his visit, is being repaired.

Representatives of security agencies and officials from the two sides have started taking stock of development and security situation in Janakpur. That was preceded by the inspection visit by Home Secretary Surya Prasad Silwal, IGP Upendra Kanta Aryal and Jit Bahadur KC, chief investigation director of the National Investigation Department.

Likewise, Indian ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae also visited Janakpur earlier to take stock of security situation of the town.

A helipad is being built on the premises of Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial College at Sursand town of Sitamarhi district in the Indian state of Bihar for the visit. The Indian PM is scheduled to arrive in the Indian town on a helicopter and travel overland to Janakpur.

Army to coordinate Saarc security

The Nepal Army will be coordinating the overall security during the 18th Saarc Summit taking place on November 26 and 27.

The NA troops started patrolling the areas inside Ring Road on Saturday, said the Army spokesperson Jagdish Chandra Pokhrel.

Under the government plan, the NA will provide security to the heads of state and government from the Saarc region with assistance from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department.

Pokhrel said preparations are under way to finalise the integrated security action plan for the summit.

The government has  formed a committee consisting of officials from the security agencies and concerned ministries under Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam. The committee has formed various sub-committees, each commissioned to look after different aspects of the security plan including the transport services arrangements for the VVIPs, traffic management, threat assessment and medical service.

Members of various sub-committees have already completed observations of the Tribhuvan International Airport, hotel and retreat sites and are coordinating with the concerned authorities for security arrangements, the NA said.