Kathmandu - Nepal's Maoist-led government has called on dozens of armed groups operating across the country for talks to end hostilities, official reports said Saturday.

Most of the armed rebel groups are based in the southern Nepalese plains known as Terai and are demanding a greater political voice and ethnic rights.

A few of the groups have also demanded a separate state with the right to self determination for ethnic Madhesi communities.

Kathmandu - The number of tourist arrivals in Nepal in the first nine months of 2008 rose by 2 per cent over the same period last year, officials said Friday.

The rise in the number of people visiting the Himalayan nation was seen as the tourist season got under way and the country expected a surge in the number of arrivals over the coming three months.

Kathmandu, Oct 2 : Former Nepalese King Gyanendra Shah on Thursday met visiting Indian guru Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj at a Hindu religious sanctuary, Shyama-Shyam Dham, at Thimi in Bhaktapur district.

According to reports, both held spiritual discussions during their ten minute meeting.

This was King Gyanendras’ first public visit as a civilian after being dethroned from the county’s centuries-old institution of monarchy.

While talking to media persons, the former King wished for the peace in the country.

Kathmandu, Sept 29 : CPN-UML General Secretary Jhalanath Khanal today said that the Maoist must implement all the past agreements in order to take the peace process to a logical end in Nepal.

Speaking at a programme here, Khanal said that process of drafting the new Constitution will be initiated soon.

He highlighted the need of all the political parties to get involved in making the constitution as per the people’s mandate.

He also said that the parties should not create obstacles in the process of constitution formation.

Kathmandu, Sept 29 : As a follow up of the decisions taken in Delhi during the recent visit to India of Prime Minister Prachanda, a high-level secretarial meeting of Nepal-India Joint Committee on Water Resource (JCWR) commenced here today.

The Indian delegation is headed by Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources Umesh N. Panjiyar and the Nepalese delegation by Water Resources Secretary Shanker Prasad Koirala.

The three-day meeting will deliberate upon hydro-power generation, irrigation, flood control and other water-related cooperation.

Kathmandu, Sept 29: The CPN-Maoist is planning to split its youth wing, Young Communist League (YCL), under two separate units which include production force and construction force to support the economic activities of the government.

Nepalnews quoted Maoist lawmaker and former YCL in-charge for the Kathmandu Valley, Chandra Bahadur Thapa, saying it was important to keep the youths employed, for the unemployed youth bulge is more than likely to drive the country to conflict again.

"We will bring reform among those youths already organised under YCL and also bring together those who are not organised yet," Thapa said.