The BBC has a free news ticker tape which you can download and keep on your desktop. Its headlines (for selected subjects) are updated in the background when you're online and clicking a headline will take you to the relevant page online. There are also links to weather forecasts etc.

The Economist offers a free screensaver which is interactive, displays different world times and geographic, population & economic data on a range of countries (India is covered by unfortunately, Nepal is not). To download, users must first register - without having to sign up for junk mail.