Kathmandu - Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Thursday said he was postponing his tour of Norway and Finland because of political and other problems at home.

Dahal's week-long tour had been scheduled to begin on Saturday.

"With the country facing many problems, it did not seem proper to undertake a foreign visit at this juncture," Dahal told reporters in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu - Thousands of people demonstrated in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu Thursday, protesting crippling power cuts that have badly affected industries and businesses.

On Sunday, the government announced 16-hour power cuts across the country, saying electricity production and supply was just a third of the total demand.

About 5,000 people representing small-scale industrialists and operators of three wheeler electric vehicles known locally as Safa Tempos or "Clean Vehicles," locked up the main office of the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority that distributes power.

New Delhi, Jan 14: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Nepalese Commerce Minister Rajendra Mahato here on Wednesday.

Rajendra Mahato is the Commerce Minister of the newly elected Maoist Government headed by Prime Minister Prachanda.

India is major economic as well as trade partner of landlocked Nepal, and supplies the bulk of essential goods to the Himalayan nation. It is also Nepal''s sole supplier of fuel.

Rupandehi (Nepal), Jan 14 : Ethnic Madhesis living in the Terai region of Nepal staged protest against the ruling Maoist Government accusing it of discriminating against them and treating them as outsiders due to their Indian roots.

Hundreds of Madhesis protesters under the aegis of Terai Madhesi Democratic Party (TMDP) took to streets here on Tuesday holding placards and chanting slogans demanding their rights.

The protesters said the new government in the country was not addressing their demands.

Kathmandu  - At least seven people were killed and two others injured in a truck accident early Monday in western Nepal, police said.

The truck fell 50 metres off a highway in Palpa district, about 230 kilometres west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, and plunged into the fast-flowing Tinau River, the police said.

The truck driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle on the narrow, winding mountain highway.

Police said seven people died instantly while two others were rushed to hospital in serious condition.

Kathmandu- Private Nepalese television stations Thursday announced several hours of cuts to regular broadcasts, citing growing power outages.

Television Broadcasters' Nepal, an umbrella body of five private stations, said they would no longer be able to keep up round-the- clock broadcasts due to power outages.

The government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) earlier Thursday announced 12 hours of power cuts across the country, saying it was unable to meet demand.