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King's death condoled

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar Thursday condoled the deaths of King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya  and other members of the royal family and relatives in a shoot-out at the Royal Palace on June 1.

King Birendra was one of the pioneers and founding fathers of SAARC, he said while inaugurating a meeting of seven foreign secretaries of the regional organization in Colombo. The late King made significant contribution to launch regional co-operation is South Asia, Kadirgamar said. One minute silence was observed as a mark of respect for the royal couple and other members of the royal family. Foreign Secretary Narayan Shumshere Thapa expressed thanks for the tributes paid to the King. nepalnews.com br Aug. 10

Two teenage girls drown

Two preteen girls drowned while on a funeral procession of their grandfather in Chitwan Thursday, police said. Laxmi Pariyar,8, and Sarita Pariyar,9, slipped and drowned in the Narayani lift irrigation system near Bharatpur. The sisters were dead when villagers pulled them out of the water. nepalnews.com br Aug.10

Protest delivered to Indian Embassy

Representatives of the Nepal Heritage Society (NHS) Thursday submitted a protest letter at the Indian embassy addressed to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee condemning the unilateral
construction of a dam in Utter Pradesh that will inundate Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and adjoining areas. President of the NHS Ukesh Raj Bhuju, hotelier Karna Sakya and representatives of Buddhist associations delivered the protest letter personally to Indian Ambassador Deb Mukharji. Officials of the two countries are meeting in September to discuss the issue.

India stopped the dam construction July 10 after Nepali protests. nepalnews.com br Aug.10

Election of NA Vice-Chairman on Friday

The election for the vice-chairman of National Assembly, Upper House of Parliament, is to be held on Friday.

According to Parliament Secretariat, there only two candidates for the post-one each from ruling Nepali Congress and main opposition party CPN-UML. Ashok Koirala of Nepali Congress and Ram Prit Paswan of CPN-UML filed their nominations Thursday.

The time for filing nominations was until 5 PM Thursday.

No party has majority in the National Assembly. Of the 60 total seats in the National Assembly, CPN-UML has 23, Nepali Congress has 21, and Royal nominees are 9. And the rest belong to other smaller parties. The support of Royal nominees is expected to be decisive in this election as it is mandatory to obtain at least 51 per cent of the total members of the National Assembly. nepalnews.com /yl Aug.9

Deuba calls all-party meeting

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has called an all-party meeting Friday to discuss modus operandi of the peace talks with Nepal Communist Party ( Maoist) to end six-year old insurgency and seek suggestions from all political parties in parliament.

Deuba wrote to main opposition CPN-UML, RPP, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, CPN-ML, United People's Front, National People's Front and Nepal Sadbhavana Party asking them to attend the meeting and give their valuable suggestions, said an official at Prime Minister's office.

He said that it is a part of forging national consensus on the modus operandi of the talks with Maoist rebels, which would be held in near future. This is second phase of Prime Minister Deuba's consultation with political parties, In the first phase, he consulted with leaders of different political
parties and others personally regarding the talks.

Soon after coming to power, Prime Minister Deuba halted all offensive action against Maoist workers and appealed them to come to negotiating table to resolve the problem. In response, Maoist leaders also agreed to come to negotiating table and have declared ceasefire to facilitate talks.

Following this development, both government and Maoist leadership have made some decisions to build confidence for the talks. The government has already released all Maoist workers detained under Public Security Act, while Maoist rebels have freed some of the police personnel who had been held captive.nepalnews.com /yl Aug.9

Five killed in Mustang bomb blast

Five construction workers were killed Wednesday afternoon in the outskirts of Lomanthang, the district headquarters of the remote trans-Himlayan district of Mustang bordering Tibet, in an explosion of a bomb left behind by Tibetan Khampa guerrillas nearly 25 years ago, government sources said.

The bomb exploded while workers were erecting a compound wall of a house in the outskirts of the district headquarters. A police inquiry team has been dispatched Mustang to investigate the blast as Maoist involvement has been ruled out, sources said.

Mustang was the base of Tibetan guerrillas for anti China activities from Nepal in the 1960's and the early 1970's. nepalnews.com br Aug.9

Two contestants for Vice-Chairmanship of National Assembly

The ruling Nepali Congress party and the main opposition Nepal Communist party (UML) Thursday fielded a candidate each for Friday's election to the vacant post of the vice-chairmanship of the National Assembly, the upper chamber of the bicameral parliament.

Ashok Koirala is the ruling party's candidate while the UML has nominated Ram Paswan for the contest. The UML is the largest party in the upper chamber.

The nominated royal palace members hold the balance in the 60 member chamber since no political has a majority there. nepalnews.com br/yl Aug.9

CPN-UML demands demolition of dam near Marchabar

The central committee meeting of the main opposition CPN-UML concluded Thursday demanding demolition of a controversial dam constructed by India in Marchabar areas of south-western border, which has caused inundation in large parts of Nepalese territory.

A statement issued by party spokesman Pradip Nepal states that the 22nd central committee meeting concluded with decisiona on several issues including Marchabar dam, left unity, current national politics and several other issues.

The statement says the party demanded that the dam constructed by India in Marchabar of western Nepal near Lumbini has already caused inundation and needs to be demolished with all remaining construction work halted immediately.

The statement says that the party changed responsibility of some central leaders and decided to seek clarification from some party’s lawmakers who were responsible in the decision of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament to take action against former Civil Aviation Minister Bhim Rawal on a deal concerning leasing a jet aircraft from a Chinese company.

CPN-UML said Rawal was innocent and its lawmakers including the chairman of PAC Subash Nembang, K.P. Oli and Ishwar Pokhrel agreed to the decision on pressure from ruling Nepali Congress lawmakers. PAC found Rawal responsible in the shady deal between Royal Nepal Airlines and China South West Airlines for leasing of the jet aircraft.

CPN-UML central committee also decided to take initiative for left unity especially unity with the CPN-ML that had broken away from the mother party three years ago.

Regarding peace talks between the government and Maoist, the main opposition party has asked both the sides to honestly work towards restoring peace and solving the problem through dialogue. nepalnews.com yl Aug.9

Tamang resigns from RPP central committee

Central leader and lawmaker of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Buddhi Man Tamang has resigned from the central committee. Tamang said that his resignation was a protest against the growing violation of discipline in the party.

He accused general secretary of RPP Rabindra Nath Sharma of acting against the party decision in the recent election of a National Assembly member. Tamang met party president Surya Bahadur Thapa and handed over his resignation letter.

Sharma opposed party’s decision and supported rival candidate Jog Mehar Shrestha in the election for the National Assembly member. The official candidate of RPP was Lok Bahadur Thapa.

Although he has not said specifically, his resignation is to put pressure for action against general secretary Sharma. Tamang is known as one of the trusted central committee members of chairman Thapa.

His resignation is expected to be discussed in the ongoing central committee meeting. nepalnews.com yl Aug.9

Life Tenure for Pradhan, Rajbhandari

King Gyanendra  extended the  service of two senior royal palace officials to life tenure coinciding with the 55th birthday of the King by the lunar calendar Thursday, a Royal Palace announcement said.  

Chief of the Royal Household, Sharada Prasad Pradhan, and Private Secretary of Queen Mother Ratna , Kaji Madhusudan Rajbhandari, were  the recipients of the royal honors.

The King's birthday was observed Thursday at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace with special pujas and offerings, an announcement said. nepalnews.com br Aug.9

Nepali, Indian officials to meet in Sept. to discuss controversial dam
issue

Nepali and Indian officials will meet in early September to discuss further the issue of the controversial Russiyal-Khurda-Lautan dam unilaterally constructed by India that is likely to inundate Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and surrounding areas, an official said. 

India has stopped the construction of the dam on July 10 following protests by Nepal.Nepali and Indian officials jointly inspected the construction site 200 metres south of the Nepal-India border on August 6. 

Nepal will continue its diplomatic effort to persuade India to stop the construction and maintain the natural north south flow of the rivers in the area, an official source said. 

India has asked Nepal for data of streams flowing through Lumbini and the villages that will be inundated by the dam construction. nepalnews.com br Aug.9

Government makes public names of 273 detained Maoists

Government Wednesday made public names of 273 detained Maoists earlier demanded by rebels as a pre-condition for talks to end an insurgency that has claimed more than 1,800 lives in nearly six years. They are not being immediately released, a Home Ministry source said.

The government Wednesday  released eight underground leaders detained under the public security after 25 others were earlier freed to pave the way for talks to end what the rebels call a people's war, the Home Ministry said.

Maoists had earlier handed the  government names of 374 missing persons whose whereabouts it wanted made public. Prominent rebels not on the detained list are central committee member Dandapani Neupani, Kamala Sharma and Chitra Narayan Shrestha among others. nepalnews.com br Aug.9

Police shoot and arrest mobster

Police Wednesday shot and arrested a mobster suspected for murder in the capital, police said.

Naresh Ganesh, 21, was shot in the thigh and nabbed as he was trying to escape a dragnet. Ganesh is believed to head the "scientist group" suspected for the murder of Suraj Khadgi in Basantapur, robberies, extortion and vandalism cases in various parts of the city. nepalnews.com br Aug.9