Nepal parliament cuts king to size

KATHMANDU: Nepal's reinstated parliament on Thursday unanimously approved a sweeping plan to curtail the powers of the king and take away his control over the army.   

The following is a list of the powers and privileges that have been taken away from the monarch:   

The king loses his control over the military and his title of supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The Royal Nepalese Army has been renamed the Nepali Army, with the army chief to be appointed by the cabinet.   

The Raj Parishad, or privy council, the principal advisory body to the king, has been scrapped and the monarch's actions can be challenged in court.   

The king's secretariat, part of the royal palace administration, has been brought under the national civil service.   
 
The king will have to pay taxes and parliament will have the power to decide on the perks and expenses of the king.

The expenditure of the king and the royal palace in 200506 totalled more than $5 million.   

Parliament will also have powers to make laws on the heir to the throne and be responsible for the king's security.   

The government will no longer be called "His Majesty''s Government" but just Nepal government. Nepal also stops being a Hindu nation and instead becomes a secular State.