Kathmandu, April 4 (PTI): A day after the Maoists joined the interim government, some activists allegedly sent an extortion note to the management of a higher secondary school in southern Nepal which was constructed with Indian assistance.

The rebels warned the management of the Khajuri Higher Secondary School in Dhanusha district that if they didn’t get Rs 4 lakhs , the Maoists would explode a bomb at the school’s newly-built building, sources said.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the school’s management and the Indian embassy in November 2004 for the project and the Indian government had provided Rs 15 lakhs for its construction.

The school management has informed the Indian embassy about the incident. The embassy has asked the Nepal government to provide security to the school.

Last year, the Maoists had extorted Rs 2.5 lakh from the contractor who built the school whose inauguration will be held in May.

Everest garbage

A dozen climbers from Japan and Nepal hope to clear away up to a tonne of rubbish from Mount Everest, the latest in a series of campaigns to keep the world’s highest peak clean, the leader of the team said today.

Every year more than 50 climbing teams from around the world carries tonnes of supplies and climbing gear to the Everest slopes, much of which is left littering the mountain.