Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times.
Articles by Utpal Parashar
Maoist in Nepal leave cantonments
Six years after bidding adieu to violence, thousands of former Maoist rebels in Nepal started leaving the cantonments that had been their homes since end of the civil war on Friday. Utpal Parashar reports.
Updated on Feb 04, 2012 12:12 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Fuel crisis deepens in Nepal
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Residents of Sallaghari in Bhaktapur neighbouring Kathmandu did just that on Wednesday.
Updated on Feb 03, 2012 12:32 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Policing the media through policy?
Apart from trying to stay alive, the five-month old Baburam Bhattarai government in Nepal has got caught in a web of self-created problems.
Updated on Feb 01, 2012 11:42 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal: A transit point of worries
Kristian Peter Stiegler, 45, thought he had a foolproof plan. But after successfully executing it for nearly two years, it fell through, and the US citizen was arrested this week by Nepal Police from his rented accommodation at Swayambhunath in Kathmandu.
Updated on Jan 26, 2012 12:16 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Nepal
Nepali Cong seeks global pressure on Maoists for peace
Nepal’s fragile peace process has come to a standstill after progress towards end of 2011. Now Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest party, wants international intervention to put it back on track.
Updated on Jan 23, 2012 12:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Law catches up with lawmakers
Sixty-five-year old Shyam Sundar Gupta should have been busy this Wednesday posing for photos with family members, friends and relatives for the family album. Instead he was getting clicked by news photographers and posing for the police cameraman.
Updated on Jan 21, 2012 12:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Chinese premier visits Nepal
Less than a month after postponing his trip, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made a sudden stopover in Nepal on Saturday on way to a six-day visit to the Middle East.
Updated on Jan 15, 2012 12:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Rewriting a royal past for Nepal
If winds of change had not swept Nepal six years ago, the country would have celebrated the 290th birth anniversary of its founding father Prithvi Narayan Shah on Wednesday and his descendent Gyanendra Shah would have presided over the festivities.
Updated on Jan 12, 2012 12:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal's troubled peace process hits roadblock
Nepal's troubled peace process that saw some headway towards last quarter of 2011 has got stuck in New Year.
Updated on Jan 08, 2012 11:34 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Counting chickens before they hatch
Tourism is Nepal’s golden goose. The country has been named as one of the best countries for adventure destination (National Geographic) and one of the 50 places to see before you die (BBC Holiday).
Updated on Jan 05, 2012 12:16 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal debates nature of government
With less than five months left to adopt a new constitution, Nepal’s political parties are engaged in a debate over what form of government should the country have. Utpal Parashar reports.
Updated on Jan 03, 2012 12:09 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal's latest headache: Forms of govt
With less than five months left to adopt a new constitution, Nepal's political parties are engaged in a debate over what form of government should the country have. Utpal Parashar reports.
Updated on Jan 02, 2012 03:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
An avoidable confrontation during transition
Tuesday was a bad day in office for Nepal's prime minister Baburam Bhattarai and constituent assembly speaker Subhas Nembang. The country's supreme court rejected their petitions seeking review of an earlier order passed last month.
Updated on Dec 29, 2011 12:53 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
The mother of all treks and climate change
Nepal is known for its beautiful and challenging treks like the one to the Everest Base Camp and attracts thousands of adventure seekers from across the globe every year. But a new one hopes to test both skill and endurance limits of even the most diehard trekkers.
Updated on Dec 22, 2011 01:37 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Strike by Nepali Congress paralyses Nepal
Normal life across Nepal remained paralyzed on Monday due to a strike called by opposition Nepali Congress in protest against death of a cadre following assault inside prison.
Updated on Dec 20, 2011 12:50 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Treasure hunting the royal fortune
Interested in taking part in a treasure hunt? If yes, here’s your chance to earn a reward for this Christmas and New Year festivities. But there’s a catch. There’s no map to follow clues and no guarantee how much you can expect to win, if you manage to trace the ‘hidden fortune’.
Updated on Dec 15, 2011 01:49 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Chinese PM Wen’s Nepal visit postponed
The much anticipated Nepal visit by Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao has been postponed due to unspecified reasons.
Updated on Dec 13, 2011 08:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar/HT Correspondent, Kathmandu
Nepal readies for Chinese PM’s visit
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will touch down at Tribhuwan International Airport here on December 20 on a three-day official trip. And Nepal is bracing itself to welcome this special guest.
Updated on Dec 12, 2011 01:30 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal readies itself for Jiabao’s visit
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will touch down at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu on December 20 on a three-day official trip. And Nepal is bracing itself to welcome this special guest.
Updated on Dec 11, 2011 02:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Another UN body shown the door
Following exit of the UN Mission in Nepal in January without completing its task, another UN body — Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is also on the way out even as the country passes through transition from conflict to peace.
Updated on Dec 08, 2011 02:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Prachanda's Lumbini association irks Nepali Buddhists
On Thursday Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai announced 2012 as the year to visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. But instead of rejoicing Buddhists in Nepal are angry.
Updated on Dec 04, 2011 03:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
India-Nepal deliberate over repairing strained ties
Often accused of playing a negative role in Nepal, India seems interested in reshaping its ties with the Himalayan nation in a new way with stress on economic cooperation.
Updated on Dec 04, 2011 12:21 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Mystery of missing Maoists in Nepal
Everyone loves a gripping mystery. And the one that's raising a number of questions in Nepal these days is about the thousands of Maoist combatants of the Peoples' Liberation Army who have 'disappeared' from their cantonments.
Updated on Dec 01, 2011 12:46 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Justice eludes Nepal civil war victims' families
The recent attempt by Baburam Bhattarai government to grant pardon to a Maoist lawmaker convicted by Supreme Court in a murder case has again brought to focus plight of families who lost their dear ones during the civil war.
Updated on Dec 01, 2011 12:31 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal extends constituent assembly tenure by six more months
A day prior to end of its tenure, Nepal’s Parliament amended the interim constitution for the 11th time on Tuesday extending the constituent assembly’s (CA) tenure by six more months. Utpal Parashar reports.
Updated on Nov 30, 2011 12:18 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Stalled Indo-Nepal talks will resume by Feb: Pranab
Meetings of the Joint Commission between India and Nepal, which have remained dormant since 1991, will resume next year to review the entire gamut of relationship between both neighbours.
Updated on Nov 28, 2011 12:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Mukherjee signs new DTAA with Nepal
In continuation of their recent economic bonhomie, India and Nepal signed a revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) today to boost trade ties between both neighbours.
Updated on Nov 27, 2011 03:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
India, Nepal to sign accord to avoid double taxation today
India and Nepal will sign a new agreement for avoiding double taxation between the two countries when finance minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Kathmandu today. The treaty will replace the 1987 accord. Utpal Parashar reports.
Updated on Nov 27, 2011 02:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Finally, some progress on peace
Nepal’s peace process that began in 2006 with signing of a Comprehensive Peace Accord between the government and Maoist rebels turned five on Monday. Utpal Parashar writes.
Updated on Nov 24, 2011 12:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu
Nepal begins Categorisation of Maoist combatants
Ending years of uncertainty, Nepal’s political leaders agreed earlier this month to conclude the stalled peace process by integrating 19,000 Maoist combatants into security forces or rehabilitating them.
Updated on Nov 20, 2011 02:30 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu