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Speaker Taranath Ranabhat has formed a nine-member Parliamentary Privilege Committee to probe into the incident of June 20 in which police in Lalitpur allegedly molested two opposition lawmakers.

The members are Ananda Prasad Dhungana, Govinda Prasad Shaha, Gopal Man Shrestha, Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, Birod Khatiwada, Mrigendra Singh Yadav, Ramesh Lekhak, Shiva Prasad Humagain and Subash Nembang. The committee was formed following the complaints of Narayan Man Bijukchhe of Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party and Lila Mani Pokhrel of United People's Front Nepal in the Parliament Secretariat demanding action against police personnel involved in arresting and molesting them.

They claimed that police arrested them in contravention with the constitutional provision. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal states that no member of parliament can be arrested once the parliament is summoned and until it is prorogued. Bijukchhe and Pokherel said that they were arrested and mishandled by the police on their way to participate in a political rally in Lalitpur.
nepalnews.com yl July 6

HAN demands waiver of visa fees for tourists

Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has demanded some immediate measures including waiver of visa fees for tourists wanting to visit Nepal to save Nepal's ailing tourism industry.

A HAN delegation met with Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat Thursday and handed over an 11 point memorandum for saving the tourism industry. The demands and suggestions of HAN include, among others, waiver of visa fees, open sky policy for international airlines, and introduction of refinancing schemes to hotels through commercial banks.

In its suggestions, HAN says that keeping in view of the present situation, visa fees should be waived until the tourism sector fully recovers. HAN asked the government to give the management contract of Royal Nepal Airlines to an international company and ultimately privatize it to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

The demands of hoteliers came following the decline in the arrival of tourists to Nepal. nepalnews.com yl July 6

Lunar eclipse sighted over capital

A lunar eclipse was sighted over the capital and many parts of the kingdom Thursday evening despite threatening monsoon clouds. The eclipse was visible for several minutes but was clouded out later in the evening.

The eclipse began at 7.24 PM and ended at 9.58 PM. Many Hindu devotees had an early meal Thursday; the belief is eating during the eclipse is unhealthy. nepalnews.com br July 5

Nepal Sadvabana party central committee re-organized

The Nepal Sadvabana party central committee has been re-organized by its president Gajendra Narayan Singh, an party announcement said Thursday.

Badri Prasad Mandal and Hridesh Tripathy, members of parliament, have been nominated vice-presidents. Rajendra Mahato has been appointed general secretary. The terai-based party is the fourth largest in parliament. nepalnews.com br July 5

Task Force for children formed

A national task group to monitor and direct activities of the global movement for children in Nepal has been formed at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW), an ministry
announcement said.

Minister of State for Social Welfare Kamala Pant heads the task force. The global movement for children aims to promote their welfare. A UN General Assembly special session on children is being held September this year in New York. nepalnews.com br July 5

More devices in valley

Six small explosive devices planted inside effigies and banners were found in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur Thursday in what appears to be a continuing anti-government campaign by underground Maoists in the capital.

Nobody was injured when two of the devices went off even while police and army bomb disposal squads tried to defuse them at Sanogaucharan in the capital. Four of the eight devices were in Mangal Bazar in Patan and went off as they were being defused, eye witnesses said. The devices were either dangling from effigies of  King Gyanendra, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and banners with slogans against the United States and India. Maoist leader Prachanda has alleged that the royal massacre of 1 June was masterminded by Indian and American intelligence agencies.

Another small explosive was defused in Bhaktapur. The booby-trapped devices appear to be part of a campaign to sow confusion and panic in the capital ahead of a nationwide strike called by Maoists next Thursday to protest the government's public security regulations. They do not appear to be powerful enough to cause major injury or damage. Slogans against the regulations were also strung on red banners at the places where the devices were found. 

Reports from the eastern town of Itahari also said there were booby trapped explosives on the main road which exploded early Thursday. nepalnews.com br July 5 

Diarrhoea kills 10 in Nawalparasi

Diarrhoea has killed 10 persons and affected 270 others, 60 seriously, since Tuesday at Deurali village in Nawalparasi district, local health officials said.The sick are being treated at a temporary health camp.

Meanwhile, 17,119 vials of drugs for the treatment of kalazazar have been sent to affected areas, officials said. The government supplies free drugs to patients at hospitals and health centres. nepalnews.com br July 5 

Nepal gets walkover

Nepal got a walkover from West Africa Tuesday to gain the third spot in the 2A group ICC tournament trophy being played at Toronto, reports from Canada said. West Africa did not turn up for the match. Nepal lost a match to Namibia and won against Gibraltar. Namibia tops the group followed by Germany. The tournament aims to popularize the sport outside limited test playing nations.  nepalnews.com br July 5

Family killed in landslide

Four members of a family were buried by a mudslide triggered by heavy rains at Phagu village in Dailekh district Tuesday night, local officials said.

Dil Bahadur Singh, his wife and two sons were killed by the landslide. A daughter who was not at home survived. nepalnews.com br July 5

Unprecedented fall in tourist arrivals in June

Kathmandu, July 4: There was an unprecedented fall in tourist arrivals in June following a carnage at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace culminating in the killings or injuries of 14 members of the royal
family and relatives including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya. "This has never happened in living memory," Pradip Raj Pandey, Chief of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), told Nepalnews Wednesday. Overall arrivals fell by 56.83 percent in June while Indian arrivals plummeted by 72.48 percent in the month, figures issued by the Board said.

"The Indian market does not look good. A lot of damage has been done by adverse television coverage of events in June. It will take a lot of effort to recover," said Pandey. Only 10,238 tourists flew in to the kingdom in June, the Board said and among them were 4,101 Indians and 6,137 others. But overall arrival figures for the first six months were not depressing. Arrivals for the first six months of 2001 were almost constant compared to the previous year with 166,649 flying in, Board records said; arrivals declined only by 0.69 percent during the period compared to the previous year.
Despite dismal figures, arrivals from countries other than India increased by 5.55 percent in the first six months of this year, the Board said. nepalnews.com br

Maoists escalate violence

Kathmandu, July 4: Maoists have escalated attacks against targets nation-wide, killing, injuring or abducting more than 60 policemen Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of a nation-wide strike next Thursday to protest what they call arbitrary imposition of stiff rules to curb freedoms. Three policemen were killed and more than 50 others abducted in separate incidents in Banke and Rolpa districts in far west Nepal, police said. Rebels torched a vehicle ferrying officials of a corporate body in the city outskirts Wednesday morning at gunpoint, police said. More than 1,700 persons have been killed in a communist insurgency in more than five years. nepalnews.com br

Explosion outside PM residence

Kathmandu, July 4: A small explosive device planted near the prime minister's residence went off loudly early Wednesday morning in Baluwatar. The device, planted under a tree outside the Chief Justice's official residence was of the same intensity as the ones found in Kel Tol last week,
police sources said.

The explosion occured at 06:45 and appears to have been set off more for a big bang than to cause casualties, is believed to be part of the Maoists' psychologial build-up for their protests against the government's new security regulations. Maoists have called a nationwide strike on 12 July to
protest the rule. nepalnews.com/kd

Nepali rupee dips to lowest level

Kathmandu, July 4: The Nepali rupee fell to its lowest price against the dollar Tuesday as the value of the rupee dipped by 30 paise to the greenback. The selling rate of the dollar was Rs.75.40 and the buying rate was fixed at Rs.74.65. The value of the Nepali legal tender slipped as the demand for the dollar upped in neighbouring India pushing down the price of the Indian rupee against the dollar sending a rippling effect in Nepal. The value of Nepali rupee declined to maintain a cross exchange rate to stop convertible currency outflow. The exchange rate is fixed with the Indian currency while the Nepali rupee is floated with convertible currencies. nepalnews.com br

Budget on July 9

Kathmandu, July 4: Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat will present the annual budget for the fiscal year 2001/2 to parliament Monday, sources said. In the new budget, government agencies will be encouraged to promote domestic products through their purchase to promote industry. Poverty
alleviation programmes will be brought under one umbrella to reduce costs and improve efficiency, Dr.Mahat said.

New regulations will be announced to regulate private banks, finance companies and insurance companies in the next fiscal year beginning mid July. Mahat  is expected to announce curbs in regular government expenditure as the current fiscal year saw its spiralling increase and reduced revenue collection raising alarms. nepalnews.com br

Ruling, opposition parties declare truce

Kathmandu, July 4: After more than six months of direct confrontation, the government and opposition parties have finally announced a truce following the announcement of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's 14-point agenda for national consensus. Representatives of the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML met and agreed on a 17-point agenda for a
resolution (3 more points were added during the talks) in order to end months of confrontation with the opposition and give a tangible outlet to the political deadlock in the country.

Prime Minister Koirala put forth a 14-point agenda for national consensus during his speech on the opening day of the 20th session of parliament amidst threat of opposition parties to stall the proceedings of the House. Opposition parties, which had stalled the 19th session of parliament,
threatened to repeat in the 20th session as well if Prime Minister did not step down.
Prime Minister had also hinted to step down if a national consensus was reached.

Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and central leader Chiranjibi Wagle of the Nepali Congress heldtalks with CPN-UML leaders Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Ishwar Pokhrel, Subash Nembang and KP Oli on the Prime Minister's 14-point agenda and other
issues pertaining to the national crisis. They finally agreed on 17 points ranging from political, social and economic issues of the country. CPN-UML leader briefed leaders of other opposition parties about the talks with the government Tuesday. The final announcement of both the parties is
expected to come Wednesday following the talks between Prime Minister Koirala and CPN-UML general secretary and opposition leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

KP Sharma Oli, CPN-UML leader, said that if the Prime Minister gave a time frame for his resignation, the party would withdraw its protest. According to CPN-UML sources, the Prime Minister has expressed a desire to quit after parliament approves the policies and programmes of the government and the presentation of budget in parliament. However, the Prime Minister's aide denied that Koirala agreed to step down. Other opposition parties, which had been supporting CPN-UML in parliament to protest against the government, have not given their reaction over the new development between the government and CPN-UML. nepalnews.com yl