A good thread In Nepal, these days, no one talks about "bir Nepali" anymore. Even the Indians are expressing doubts about RNA. oohi ashu ***** Nepalese Army not effective to quell Maoists: Mukherjee KOL Report KATHMANDU, Aug 8 - Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Sunday that the Royal Nepalese Army, the RNA was not so effective in tackling the Maoist insurgency in Nepal and expressed fears that its failure to do so would further aggravate the situation. "The RNA is trying to contain the Maoists. But its efforts are not effective. We hope it successfully tackles them, otherwise, the situation will go out of hand," Mukherjee told reporters during a function in Kalkota yesterday. Mukherjee said, "We are trying to impress upon the Nepalese government to tackle the Maoists. But, unfortunately, certain recent developments in that country like the suppression of its constitution and the multi-party system had set back anti-Maoist initiatives.? Referring to possible affinity between the Nepalese Maoists with many militant left groups in India, he said, "many of them have the fancy idea of setting up a liberated corridor starting right from the Terai region and going through parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra." Indian government has suspended its arms supplies to Nepal following the royal takeover on February 1. (hb)