January

7: The process of discharging disqualified PLA combatants finally begins with the release of 201 disqualified combatants from the Dudhauli cantonment in Sindhuli. UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal bids farewell to the last batch of disqualified combatants in Dahaban of Rolpa on 7 February. UNMIN disqualified 4,008 combatants in 2007 either because they were recruited before they were 18, or because they joined the Maoists after the ceasefire.

11: Top Maoist leaders create controversy by visiting towns along the Indo-Nepal border as part of their movement for national independence, ostensibly to inspect areas allegedly encroached on by India.

February

7: Media baron Jamim Shah is shot dead in broad daylight by two masked gunmen on motorbikes in Lazimpat, in the centre of the capital. Shah founded the first television cable network in Nepal, Space Time Network, and ran two newspapers � Space Time and Space Time Today � before they folded. He was also the president of Channel Nepal, Nepal's first private television company.

26: Nepal Tourism Year 2011 is formally launched when Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal lights a peace lamp brought from Lumbini to Kathmandu. The representatives of political parties and professional institutions promise full support to the initiative; the government hopes to bring in at least one million tourists to Nepal by the end of 2011.

March

1: Arun Singhania, proprietor of Janakpur Today and Radio Today, is shot dead in Janakpur by assailants on motorbikes. Editors of 13 major newspapers condemn the attacks in a joint statement titled 'Violence can't deter the pen'.

20: Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala dies at the age of 87, following a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He served as prime minister five times following the 1990 revolution and despite courting controversy, was widely acknowledged as a champion of democracy in his six decades in politics. He was also the architect of the peace talks with the Maoists, which brought them into the mainstream and paved the way for the abolition of the 239-year-old monarchy.
April

11: The government revokes its decision to award the contract to print Machine Readable Passports to an Indian government company, and initiates a second competitive bidding process as directed by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC had earlier concluded that Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala's move to terminate the initial bidding and award the printing contract to India was wrong.

May

1: Maoists mark May Day by bringing thousands of supporters from across the country to the capital. They also announce an indefinite general strike the following day, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. The general strike affects life throughout the country, and the strike is called off on 7 May following a string of counter-protests, including a peace rally in Kathmandu.

28: The three major political parties agree to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly just minutes before its term is due to expire. Prime Minister Nepal agrees to resign as part of a package deal to make way for a national government.

June

5: Bhaktaman Shrestha, executive director of BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Chitwan, is released after 19 days of captivity but the Maoists are accused of complicity. Shrestha reveals that he was held hostage by an unknown outfit called the Nepal Hindu Janata Party.

30: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal announces his resignation to pave the way for a unity government. He had been insisting he would not resign before a political agreement was reached, including on ex-combatant integration and formation of a national unity government.

July

6: Oberthur Technologies, a French company, is awarded the contract to print Machine Readable Passports, at the rate of US$3.59 per passport.

12: The caretaker government presents a special budget of Rs 110 billion, after the Maoists question the constitutionality of its presenting a full budget.

21: The prime ministerial elections begin with two candidates, Pushpa Kamal Dahal of UCPN (Maoist) and Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress. After contesting for the post unsuccessfully for seven rounds, with UML and the Madhesi parties abstaining from voting, Dahal withdraws his candidacy. Poudel continues in the one-man race, but after 15 rounds parliament still has not elected a prime minister.

28: The Supreme Court scraps a writ petition against Nepal Army recruitment.

August

2: Nepal Army opens a recruitment process, despite the objections of the Maoists, who claim it violates the Comprehensive Peace Accord. Subsequently, the PLA announces its own recruitment process on 3 August.

6: Maoist CA member Ram Kumar Sharma claims he has been threatened with abduction by an official at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. The Parliamentary Committee on International Relations and Human Rights instructs the government to send back the Indian official allegedly involved.

24: A Dornier 228 aircraft of Agni Air, carrying 14 passengers and three crew members, crashes in bad weather while returning to Kathmandu after being unable to land in Lukla. There are no survivors.

30: An investigation team from the CIAA, led by SP Birendra Shrestha, arrests UML CA member Dol Bahadur Karki with his accomplice Brahmananda Udasin (also know as Swami 1008). He is caught red-handed accepting a Rs 100,000 bribe from a man to whom he has promised the post of Inspector in the Nepal Police.

September

4: Various TV stations air an audio tape, purportedly of a phone conversation between Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara and a Chinese man, in which Mahara is heard asking for Rs 500 million rupees to buy off 50 lawmakers to vote for Maoist Chairman Dahal in the ongoing elections for prime minister.

15: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) extends UNMIN's term by four months for the last time, as requested by the Nepal Government and UCPN (Maoist). This is the seventh time UNMIN's term has been extended, and it is due to leave 15 January. Maoist Chairman Dahal and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal sign a four-point agreement that also mandates the Special Committee to implement all provisions in the Comprehensive Peace Accord by 15 December.

21: Sushil Koirala is elected Nepali Congress president, beating Sher Bahadur Deuba and Bhim Bahadur Tamang.

26: UCPN (Maoist) formally withdraws its candidacy in the prime ministerial elections after seven failed attempts.

November

5: The big three parties initiate closed-door negotiations at Hattiban Resort and Gokarna Forest Resort, but fail to reach a consensus on power sharing for a national government.

20: The government presents a full budget through a presidential ordinance. This follows its failure to do so in parliament the previous day, with Finance Minister Surendra Pandey roughed up by Maoist CA members.

21: UCPN (Maoist)'s sixth plenum begins in Palungtar, Gorkha, and runs for nine days. On the last day, Chairman Dahal and the two vice-chairmen, Baburam Bhattarai and Mohan Baidya, present separate political documents, but claim that almost all intra-party differences have been resolved. The meeting declares that the Maoist Party is for 'revolt'.

December

15: A Tara Air crash in Okhaldhunga kills all 22 on board. All 19 are Bhutanese citizens on a pilgrimage.

16: Former crown prince Paras Shah walks out of police custody after allegedly firing his gun in the air at Tiger Tops Resort in Chitwan, following an argument with Rubel Chaudhary, son-in-law of Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala. Shah could have faced multiple charges, but Chaudhary refuses to lodge a complaint.

19: Parliament calls off the special session initiated by the president, with the political parties agreeing to call a regular parliamentary session.

20: A meeting of the High Level Taskforce hands over the task of resolving contentious issues in constitution writing to the 27-party mechanism. It had resolved 127 of 210 issues identified.

26: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs starts distributing Machine Readable Passports.

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