Kathmandu, Nov 14 : Nepal Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang today said that the constitution drafting process will be initiated within a couple of days and completed on time stipulated.

Speaking at a programme here, Nemwang said,"The new constitution will be drafted within 18 months, nobody needs to worry about that."

He further underscored the need for high-level consensus among the political parties for the drafting of a new Constitution.

Kathmandu, Nov 14 : UML General Secretary Jhala Nath Khanal has alleged that the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist) were extremists as far as their views on integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants into the national army were concerned.

Nepalnews quoted Kanal as saying that the Nepali Congress''s stance not to allow PLA integration into the Nepal Army and Maoist''s stressing to induct all of them are extremist ideas.

He asked both the parties to work as per the agreement reached in the past so as to find solution to the problem amicably.

Kathmandu  - Nepal's former royal family has sought a waiver to avoid millions of rupees in unpaid electricity bills following threats to cut off their power supply, officials said Friday.

Utility officials said former king Gyanendra's daughter, nieces and nephews wrote to the government seeking the waiver for unpaid bills up to May when the country abolished monarchy and declared itself a republic.

Kathmandu - The Nepalese government has held first informal talks with armed rebel groups operating in southern Nepal in a bid to end years of violence in the area, a media report said Thursday.

The meeting is the first reported between the Maoist-led government and the armed rebels groups since a new government was formed in August.

The meeting took place in a border town in India between the local development minister, Ramchandra Jha, and representatives of a few of the armed groups based in southern Nepal, Kantipur newspaper reported.

Kathmandu  - Nepal's exports of ready-made clothes have suffered considerably because of the financial crisis in the United States, officials said Wednesday.

The United States is Nepal's main buyer for ready-made clothing, importing as much as 85 per cent of Nepal's garment exports.

"The export of ready-made clothing to the United States fell by 47 per cent until October 2008," the Garment Industries Association said. "The fall in exports was aggravated by financial crisis in the United States."

Kathmandu - The rise in global temperatures and climate change caused by greenhouse gases are posing risks for Nepal's Himalayan glaciers and glacial lakes, official media reported Wednesday.

Global warming has affected northern Nepal considerably, causing the melting of glaciers, the state-owned Gorkhapatra newspaper said, quoting government officials.