Thirty-three stranded Mansarovar pilgrims evacuated to Nepalganj

September 22nd, 2009 LAHORE - Over 350 Indian Sikh pilgrims, in Pakistan to attend the death anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, have urged New Delhi and Islamabad to allow pilgrims to travel without visas. The Sikhs, travelling under the aegis of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee, arrived here Monday and would be visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib situated in Narowal district of Pakistan.

July 4th, 2009 LAHORE - A travel agency scam has stranded as many as 800 Pakistani pilgrims in Saudi Arabia after their travel agents refunded their tickets in Pakistan. The Daily Times quoted one pilgrim, as saying that his visa for staying in Saudi Arabia would expire in a couple of days.

June 20th, 2009 LAHORE - A group of 500 Sikh pilgrims will arrive in Lahore on Sunday by special trains to observe the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh from June 27-30. The pilgrims are scheduled to visit Gurdwara Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib, where they will stay till June 26.

June 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan government Wednesday abolished the Haj quota of all parliamentarians, including president and prime minister, in order to "provide equal chance" to every aspirant. Announcing a new Haj policy for 2009, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said the government and private tour operators will equally share the Hajj quota this year.

June 14th, 2009 KATHMANDU - "We will take you on a four-star tour of Mt. Kailash and the Mansarovar," a New Delhi-based tour operator promised Rajendra Harsh, a 52-year-old financial consultant from Ahmedabad.

June 14th, 2009 KATHMANDU - When she first went on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, joining the tour organised by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in 1997, Aruna Pratapsinh Rathore, an official with a state enterprise, was impressed by the order and care that characterised the trip. Twelve years later, when the retired deputy director of the Gujarat State Financial Corporation went on a trip to Kailash once again with a private tour operator who has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kathmandu, she found it a hellish experience.

June 13th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Even as a 54-year-old man, officially the seventh Indian pilgrim to have died while attempting the gruelling Kailash Yatra in Tibet, was cremated in Kathmandu Saturday, two fellow travellers had seizures and were rushed to hospital, pilgrims returning to the Nepal capital said. P. Mohan, a resident of Madurai, was cremated at the Arryaghat in the Pashupati temple premises in the presence of his grieving wife Kalyani Mohan, their three sons and other relatives who had flown to Kathmandu for the last rites.

June 12th, 2009 KATHMANDU - One more Indian pilgrim on the yatra to the holy Mount Kailash in Tibet died Friday, travellers returning to Kathmandu from the gruelling overland journey said. The man, said to be in his 50s, was admitted to a medical clinic in Khasa town on the Nepal-Tibet border but discharged after the doctors said he was beyond help.

June 12th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Another Indian pilgrim on the yatra to the holy Mt Kailash in Tibet died Friday, travellers returning to Kathmandu from the gruelling overland journey said. A man, said to be in his 50s, was admitted to a medical clinic in Khasa town on the Nepal-Tibet border but discharged after the doctors said he was beyond help.

June 11th, 2009 KATHMANDU - As details start to come in about the casualties among Indians who went on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and the Mansarovar lake, the picture emerges of appalling ignorance about the weather conditions in Tibet and the hardship the land journey entails. "We were shocked to see an 83-year-old woman going on her own," said a pilgrim who identified himself as Ravi and who was part of a group of people from south India that returned to Kathmandu from the gruelling journey this week with one casualty -- the 83-year-old woman who was not escorted by any relatives or friends.

June 11th, 2009 KATHMANDU - With the death of six Indian pilgrims during the gruelling overland pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and the Mansarovar lake in Tibet, Nepal's concerned tourism board Wednesday issued a travel advisory for travellers, asking them to get acclimatised first. "(Some travellers) face difficulties due to their age, health and (lack of)acclimatisation," the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said in a press statement Wednesday.

June 9th, 2009 KATHMANDU - At least 10 Indians were killed while attempting to undertake the pilgrimage to the Mount Kailash in Tibet and the nearby Mansarovar lake, venerated by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains alike. The deaths occurred due to high-altitude sickness as most of the pilgrims were above 60 years and came from cities in plains like Bangalore, Chennai and Lucknow, tourist agencies in Kathmandu said.

June 1st, 2009 KATHMANDU - Their dream to visit Mt Kailash, one of the holiest pilgrim spots in the world, and take a dip in the revered Mansarovar lake in Tibet has turned into a nightmare for hundreds of Indian tourists who remain stranded in mountainous northern Nepal for four days. More than 1,000 pilgrims and tourists, mostly Indians, now face either losing large sums of money or landing in Chinese jails as a disruption in north Nepal has led to the blockade of the highway connecting Nepal with Tibet.

January 28th, 2009 KATHMANDU - India and Nepal have agreed to revamp two key border check posts by February 2011 for greater security as well as better trade and traffic. A bilateral Project Steering Committee comprising India's border management secretary Shantanu Consul and Nepal's secretary for physical planning and works Umakant Jha met in Nepal's border town Birgunj Thursday to draw up a fast-track road map for upgrading the key check posts at Birgunj in Nepal's Parsa district and Raxaul in India's Bihar state, via which nearly two-thirds of Indo-Nepal trade takes place.

January 23rd, 2009 KATHMANDU - They came to Nepal to view the shrine of Lord Pashupatinath, one of the holiest Hindu deities, and offer their prayers. However, they stayed on - and began robbing other Indian devotees who flocked to the 17th century temple in Kathmandu daily.