LIGHTNIN INJURES SIX IN PARBAT Kathmandu, 16 April : Six people were injured in a lightning at Phalamkhani VDC of the district yesterday, RSS reports from Parbat. The injured were Gita BK, Suman BK, Krishna Bahadur BK, Sunita BK and Puran BK, said Govinda BK, teacher at Phalamkhani lower secondary School. The injured Gita BK and Suman BK were still unconscious until the preparation of this news. The injured have not been taken to hospital due to lack of transportation facility. Nnnn DETAILS OF TONGUE PIERCING TRADITION Bode, (Bhaktapur), Apr 16: The most fascinating of events of Bisket Jatra, the tongue piercing ceremony, was observed in Bode village of Thimi on Monday, The Rising Nepal reports from Bode in bHaktapur.. The festival is observed on the second day of Nepali New Year in the nine-day Bisket Jatra. Juju Bhai Basan Shrestha has again pierced his tongue in order to preserve the dying tradition. This is the fifth time that Shrestha has pierced his tongue with a sharp metal. On the occasion, a tongue piercing fast for three days began from the last day of the last Nepali month of the bygone year. The nine-day festival of Bisket Jatra kicked off on Wednesday last week by pulling chariots of Bhairahnath and Bhadrakal. The town of Thimi, which lies adjacent to Bhatakpur, enjoyed the day with its ceremony at Bode village. The ritual of tongue piercing is believed to reserve a special seat in heaven for the persons participating at the tongue-piercing festival. Krishna Chandra Basan Shrestha had pierced the tongue of his successor Juju Bhai this time at Layakutole near the Pachu Gansesh temple’s inn in the mid-day. After the tongue was pierced by a 10-inch long and 3 line thick iron needle, Shrestha visited different toles of Bode for two to three hours carrying a crescent shape Mahadeep which is made by using 13 sticks of Nigalo ( a type of nettle). The chariot pulling activity was stopped in Bhagutole after taking a round of several localities ending the tongue piercing festival. After that the iron needle took out in the Mahalaxmi temple and the hole in the tongue was filled up with the mud from Mahalaxmi temple and the needle was kept at the Ganesh Temple door, which is located at the right side of the Nrityanath temple. The tongue piercing event is one of the main attractions of the Jatra. Many people visited Bode Village to observe tongue piercing. The festival is popular since the Lichhavi period. nnnn CDSC FULLY OPERATIONAL Kathmandu, 16 Apri1:: The Central Depository System and Clearing Company Ltd. (CDSC) has come in full operation from Monday, The Rising Nepal reports.. After the testing of its software for a couple of weeks, CDSC has begun its live operation from Monday. The CDSC was established as a subsidiary of Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) in financial and technical assistance of Government of India. Technical assistance to the CDSC was obtained from SDSL (India). Speaking at a function organized to inform about the operation of CDSC, Finance Minister Shankar Koirala said that operation of CDSC would significantly contribute to attract more investors in the capital market. He stressed on the need to make the Nepalese capital market more compatible with the international capital market for its development. Saying that Nepalese capital market was in an infant stage, he said that it would become mature soon in the collective efforts from concerned stakeholders. "Development of the capital market was a priority of the government and the Ministry of Finance is always ready to help develop the capital market," he said. Dr. Yubraj Khatiwada, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), said that the CDSC was an important infrastructure for the development of the Nepalese capital market. It will also help in developing linkage of Nepalese capital market with international capital market in future, he said. The reduction in cost and time in transaction after the operation of CDSC will ensure the mobility and sustainability in the capital market, he said. He urged the investors of gold to turn into share market saying that investment in shares would be more beneficial in the present scenario when the gold price is continuously declining. Babu Ram Shrestha, Executive Chairman of Security Board of Nepal, said that Nepalese capital market would take a U-turn within one year as important infrastructure including CDSC and credit rating agencies have come in operation. Jaideep Mazumdar, Charge D’ Affaires, Embassy of India, said that assistance of government of India establishing CDSC was as per the India’s policy of enhancing development ties with Nepal Dr. Jibnath Dhital, chairman of CDSC, urged all the listed companies and investors to enter into electronic service of CDSC. With the online operation of FDSC, transfer of ownership and clearance of the transaction of Demat shares will be completed within the T+3 days of transaction. According to Subodh Sharma Sigdel, Chief Executive Officer of CDSC, the company would perform only electronic clearance and settlement within six months of its formal live operation as law enforces registered companies and beneficial owners to come under the net of CDSC by then. Until now, six registered companies have been affiliated with the Demat account while 7 depository participants have got license form CDSC. Two DPs are in pipeline to get license from CDSC. A total of 6,561 shares have been deposited in CDSC in 252 Demat account of Beneficial Owners'. Similarly, a total of 15 registered companies are in pipeline for admission of their securities in CDSC. Nnnn THREE KILLED, OVER 100 INJURED IN BOSTON MARATHON BOMB BLASTS Kathmandu, 16 April: Two explosions struck one of America´s top sporting events Monday, killing at least three and wounding more than 100 as the Boston Marathon erupted in a maelstrom of blood, screams, smoke and panic, AFP reports from Boston, USA.. As cities from New York to Los Angeles went on high alert, Americans with ever-vivid memories of the September 11, 2001 suicide airliner attacks automatically wondered if the country had been hit again by terrorists. President Barack Obama went on national television to say it was not yet clear who was behind the blasts. He said the perpetrators would pay. He did not utter the word "terror." "We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn´t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts," Obama said. "But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this, we´ll find out why they did this." A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said later that "any event with multiple explosive devices -- as this appears to be -- is clearly an act of terror." At the blast scene, a horrific chorus of high-pitched wailing and screaming rang out as bewildered runners and spectators fled the carnage and debris. News reports said one of the fatalities was an eight-year-old boy and that some of the injured lost limbs. One woman told CNN the blast was the loudest sound she had ever heard, and it made the ground shake. The thunderous blasts struck near the finish line of the marathon, long after the winners had crossed. Competitors who were still running when the blasts rocked downtown Boston were diverted elsewhere. Some 27,000 people were entered to take part in the event. Video footage on American TV showed the moment when the first blast apparently struck: the detonation came on the left side of the course, behind spectators and a row of colorful national flags showing how runners come from around the world to take part. Security people in yellow jackets threw their hands to their ears as the blast took place and at least one runner was thrown to the ground as white smoke billowed upward. The already waving flags whipped violently with the shockwave of the explosion. Grisly accounts abounded. "We saw people with their legs blown off," Mark Hagopian, owner of the Charlesmark Hotel, told AFP from the basement of a restaurant where he had sought shelter. "A person next to me had his legs blown off at the knee -- he was still alive." "It was bad, it was fast," he said. "There was a gigantic explosion... we felt wind on our faces... Police were saying: ´Get out, get out, leave, leave there may be more bombs.´" Boston police chief Ed Davis raised the death toll from two to three at a late evening news conference at which other officials fended off a barrage of questions about the investigation into the explosions. FBI special agent Rick DesLauriers did say: "It is a criminal investigation that is a potential terrorist investigation." More than 100 were injured, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick said, without giving an exact figure. The Boston Globe said it was at least 125. NBC News, citing officials, reported that police had found "multiple explosive devices" in Boston, raising the possibility of a coordinated attack. The twin explosions come more than a decade after nearly 3,000 people were killed in airplane strikes on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. The sense of panic in the immediate aftermath of the blasts, and fear of more explosions, was so acute that Boston authorities urged people not to congregate in large crowds. Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she believed the blasts were in fact an attack but it was unclear if the perpetrators were homegrown or foreign. Asked if this was terrorism, she told reporters: "It looks that way." Security was stepped up in New York and Washington -- both sites of 9/11 attacks -- as well as in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In the Big Apple, police said they were boosting security at hotels and "other prominent locations in the city." The blasts in Boston rattled US markets, sending the Dow and the S&P 500 down at the close. The Boston Marathon is one of the biggest annual athletic events held in the United States. Racers must qualify to compete and there are tens of thousands of spectators. The race attracts world-class athletes, most of whom would have likely completed the race a couple of hours before the blast went off. The video clip of the blast showed the marathon timeclock at 4:09:44. Hours later, the flag at the majestic white dome of the US Capitol in Washington was lowered in honor of the blast victims. Nnnn