Associate Professor of Rhetoric @ Virginia Tech. Researching disasters & communication, non-Western and feminist rhetorics. Author of Transnational Assemblages
Blacksburg and Kathmandu
Joined September 2011
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The return of Taleju Bhawani remains UNCERTAIN because @artinstitutechi is keeping the necklace hostage.
Thousands of devotees lined up on Nawami, while the necklace sits in storage of AIC.
We need all hands on deck for the return. My opinion
ekantipur.com/opinion/2026/1…
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
“कहिले फर्किएला तलेजु भवानीको हार ?”
सरकारको तर्फबाट र आम मानिसको निरन्तर दवाव पर्ने हो भने अमेरिकी सरकार र त्यस्ता म्युजियमहरूले फिर्ता दिनुपर्ने जस्तो लाग्छ । यसअघि पनि केही यस्ता हराएका सामग्री फिर्ता भएका समाचार पढ्न पाइएको थियो ।
The return of Taleju Bhawani remains UNCERTAIN because @artinstitutechi is keeping the necklace hostage.
Thousands of devotees lined up on Nawami, while the necklace sits in storage of AIC.
We need all hands on deck for the return. My opinion
ekantipur.com/opinion/2026/1…
HALF A DECADE has passed, and yet @artinstitutechi Keeps this necklace a hostage
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
Hindu Goddess Taleju Bhawani’s necklace @ Art Institute of Chicago
My heart decided to bow down and pray ~ while we can only visit Nepal’s Taleju temple once a year ~ here in Chicago it is accessible to all the visitors. 🤔🤔🥺🥺🧐🧐 – at Chicago, IL
For the past 50 years, Nepalis have been barred from the opportunity to view and worship the Taleju Bhawani Necklace. This Nawami festival was the same.
When will the @artinstitutechi return our Bhawani's necklace?
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
Yet another year of Taleju Bhawani being deprived of her sacred necklace.
For years, Nepal has sought its return and provided evidence of its provenance. The Art Institute of Chicago continues to hold it.
It is time for the @artinstitutechi to return what does not belong to it.
स्वेता वानियाँको विचार :
५० वर्षअघि हराएको तलेजु भवानीको हार आर्ट इन्स्टिच्युट अफ सिकागोबाट फिर्ता ल्याउने प्रयास सफल नहुँदा यस वर्षको दसैंको महानवमीमा पनि देवीलाई हारसहित देख्ने भक्तजनको आकांक्षा अधुरै रह्यो ।
ekantipur.com/opinion/2026/1…
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
The Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund stands at Rs. 6.55 billion — Rs. 4.38 billion of it raised since the disaster, with Rs. 2.46 billion arriving in a single day.
Development partners have put a USD 167 million standby credit line and USD 1.5 million in direct cash on the table, alongside 30 Bailey bridges from China. And twenty organisations have moved hygiene kits, tents, generators and NFI sets into Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.
Donate: pmdrf.nchl.com.np
Live updates: nirajbhusal.github.io/rasuwa…
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
Name search is now live on the Rasuwa–Bhotekoshi flood portal.
If you’re looking for someone, you can now search by name across missing, found, rescued and hospitalized lists — all in one place. Filter by source (NDRRMA, Army/heli, Timure) and by Nepali or foreign national.
🔗 nirajbhusal.github.io/rasuwa…
A note on what this is: a compiled bulletin, not the official portal. Confirmed status rests with NDRRMA and Nepal Police. Names and figures here are aggregated from public sources and will change as updates come in.
If you have corrections or additional verified information, please send them
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
21 December 2025/६ पुस २०८२ (आइतबार, दिउँसो २ बजे)
Call for Registration for a Workshop
Qualitative Methods Workshop: Discourse Analysis
with Dr Sweta Baniya, Associate Professor, Department of English, Virginia Tech, USA
martinchautari.org.np/events…
@Sunkesharee
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Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
21 December 2025/६ पुस २०८२ (आइतबार, दिउँसो २ बजे)
Call for Registration for a Workshop
Qualitative Methods Workshop: Discourse Analysis
with Dr Sweta Baniya, Associate Professor, Department of English, Virginia Tech, USA
martinchautari.org.np/events…
@Sunkesharee
---
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
कहाँ छन् राजदूतहरु ?
हामीसँग सबै प्रमाण छ। इतिहास र अभिलेख छ।तैपनि हामीलाई झुलाउन'अन्डा पहिले कि चल्ला' टाइपको प्रश्न गरिंदैछ।
अमेरिकास्थित नेपाली नियोग र राजदूतहरु किन यसरी यतिबिध्न मुर्झाएका हुन् जो सिकागो पुगेरै आफ्ना कुरा राख्न सक्दैनन् ?@Sunkesharee
*
ukaalo.com/art-and-culture/2…
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
@Sunkesharee knelt beside this "exhibit" at @artinstitutechi & wept.
She kickstarted campaign for return of holy ornament offered by Kathmandu king Pratāpa Malla to tutelary deity Taleju.
It was taken illegally from Hanumandhoka Museum in 1970s CE.
Full facebook.com/photo/?fbid=101…
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
तलेजु-हार बारे अनुसन्धान ::
अब पालो आईसीई (Immigration and custom enforcement) को जसले अमेरिकाबाट अवैध बसोबासमा रहेका विदेशी नागरिकलाई धमाधम देशनिकाला गर्दैछ ! @ukaalonews @Sunkesharee @aloktuladhar @KanakManiDixit @NamunaGhar @BhushanTuladhar
*
ukaalo.com/art-and-culture/2…
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
This is a very, very bad situation in Southwest Virginia tonight, y'all
*TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA FLASH FLOODING*
Emergency Manager reporting:
• Multiple homes are starting to go underwater in the town of Raven
• Several swift water rescues are ongoing
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
#Earthquake in #China - Early impact estimation. Modified Mercalli Intensity: 7.9/10 - Population Exposure Estim.: bit.ly/3DH3QKZ
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
Finished reading this amazing book by @Sunkesharee
Very informative and thoughtful. A very timely book on disaster communication and how transnational assemblages come into play in different disaster situations.
Look forward to read more books by Sweta Di 💜
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
Hello, Coalition!
REMINDER: The deadline for proposal submissions for our 2025 Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference held at the University of New Hampshire July 17-19, 2025, is fast approaching.
Please visit our website femrhet2025.cfshrc.org/ and submit your proposal by Dec 4
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya retweeted
My mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris, came to the United States from India at 19. She taught me and my sister, Maya, about courage and determination.
It is thanks to her that I am ready to lead us forward.
