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| NEWS FLASH 2001- LAST UPDATED : Wednesday, March 21, 2001 11:32 PM + 5:45 GMT | |
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Essential services to remain open Sundays Kathmandu, March 21: Offices providing essential services in the Kathmandu Valley will not close Sundays starting Nepali New Year's Day on 14 April, the Ministry of Communications said Wednesday. These offices will remain open for six days from 10am-5pm to "reduce pressure on vehicles and render services to people." Other government offices in the capital will continue to have a two-day weekend. The Nepal Water Supply Corporation, the Nepal Electricity Authority, the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation, some government operated banks and financial institutions are some of the essential services mentioned in the notice. The move comes after official holidays were slashed by 12 days starting 14 April. Nepalnews.com/br/at Opposition continues walk out US to $20 million annually into Nepal Kathmandu, March 21: The United States will give $20 million to Nepal annually as aid for the next five years from 2001-2005, a Finance Ministry announcement said. Nepali and American officials Tuesday discussed a new country assistance strategy for Nepal emphasising on health, natural resources management, hydropower development and democracy and governance. Representatives of the two governments expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the second Nepal USAID programme consultation meeting. The US team was led by Ambassador Ralph Frank and the Nepali side was led by Joint Secretary at the Finance Ministry Madhav Prasad Ghimere. Nepalnews.com/br/at National football coach resigns Kathmandu, March 21: National football coach Stephen Constantine bid a tearful farewell Tuesday as rivals continue a six-month power struggle to retain control of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). "As has been widely reported over the last six to seven months, there has been a power struggle for control of ANFA and as a result my job has been directly affected. There is little left for me to do other than to resign," the British coach seconded to Nepal by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) two years ago told reporters. National players have refused to join a training camp for the World Cup qualifier that was to have been played in Nepal but whose venue has now been shifted to Kazakhastan and Iraq because of the ongoing controversy. Soccer world governing body and AFC recognises the ANFA headed by Ganesh Thapa while the government, National Sports Council and the Nepal Olympic Committee back the rival ANFA headed by Gita Rana. Constantine has been credited for upgrading the quality of Nepal’s most popular sport. He has called for a compromise and an end to the controversy. Nepalnews.com/br/at Seven quintals of fish die in Ranipokhari Kathmandu, March 21: Receding water level in Ranipokhari and pollution has killed seven quintals of fish at the historic pond in the heart of the capital in the last one month, caretakers said. To save the fish, experts are toying with the idea of transferring some of the fish to another pond in Balaju. The water level will continue to fall until the onset of the monsoons in mid June. Water level in the pond has been receding during the dry spell for the last five to six years. The temple in the middle of the pond is open to the public once every year on Bhai Tika. Nepalnews.com/br/at King grants audience to Dr Tsuboi Kathmandu, March 21: King Birendra granted an audience to visiting president of the Japan Medical Association Eitaka Tsuboi at the Royal Palace Tuesday, an announcement said. Public health care expert of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA) Masamine Jimba was present on the occasion. The Japan Medical Association has been providing primary health care in some villages of Kavre district. The King conferred the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu on Dr Tsuboi last year for his work in Nepal. Nepalnews.com/br/at Nepal Bhutan to begin refugee verification Kathmandu, March 21: For the first time in a decade, Nepal and Bhutan will begin joint verification of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in seven camps in Jhapa and Morang districts Monday as an initial step for their eventual repatriation, an announcement said. The verification will begin from Khudunabari camp in Jhapa. A five member Bhutanese team led by Dr Sonam Tshering arrived in Damak on 11 March to begin preliminary work for the verification. Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Mrs Usha Nepal heads the five member Nepali team. The joint verification office has been established at Damak. "We cannot say how long the process will take at Khudunabari," Home Ministry spokesman Gopendra Bahadur Pandey said. Khudunabari is home to nearly 12,000 refugees. The refugees have called for UNHCR mediation to resolve differences that might crop up. Refugee leaders have welcomed the decision of the two states to begin verification although the repatriation may take some time. Thimpu initially said the refugees were illegal immigrants who left Bhutan willingly as displaced persons but the refugees have said they have documents to prove their Bhutanese citizenship and were forcibly evicted from their homes in southern Bhutan. Nepalnews.com/br/at Holidays curbed by 12 Days Consul for Fukuoka
appointed Fire at Biratnagar Jute Mills All opposition parties boycott House Kathmandu, March 20: The Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) has now joined the protest against the two ordinances issued by the government, one relating to the creation of the Armed Police Force, and the other regarding the appointment of regional administrators. NSP MP Hridesh Tripathy announced in the Lower House that his party would boycott today’s parliamentary proceedings to protest the two ordinances, which he said were against the spirit of parliamentary democracy. After the NSP boycotted the House, all other opposition parties followed suit. Speaker Taranath Ranabhat then adjourned the House as the opposition bench was empty. The House was to discuss today the two ordinances issued by the government just a day before the current session of parliament was summoned. Five opposition parties including the main opposition CPN-UML have been continuously disrupting the House for over five weeks, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Koirala over the controversial lease of a Boeing jet from the Austrian Lauda Air. Opposition parties allege the Prime Minister was involved. The NSP had until now opposed the disruption of the House by the other opposition parties. Nepalnews.com/yl/at Kathmandu, 20 March: Pneumonia has killed 12 people in Lambagar village in Dolakha district recently, the district health office said. Another 100 persons were treated in an
attempt to contain the outbreak of the disease. The disease has also
broken out in Dadakharka, and a medical team has been dispatched there
too. Spacetime Network to begin satellite broadcast Kathmandu, 20 March: Channel Nepal of the Spacetime Network P Ltd (STNPL), the largest cable network in the country, will begin satellite television transmission on 14 April, Nepali New Year. The initial relay will be four hours a day. Programmes will be beamed to 52 countries, will be 24 hours within five months, Jamim Shah, Managing Director of the STNPL said. 70 percent of the channel’s programmes will be in Nepali, and will reach six million Nepali viewers. Nepal Television also plans to begin satellite broadcasts soon. Nepalnews.com/br/at Kathmandu, 20 March: Rupak Kunwar, a 15-year-old boy on a study tour through the Royal Chitwan National Park was gored to death by a rhino Monday. Kunwar was rushed to Bharatpur Hospital where he died. Kunwar’s group were eighth standard students from Balprabhat School in Pokhara. Park officials say the rhino was with its baby when the group chanced on it, and this was why it was aggressive. Nepalnews.com/br/at 5th National Games to be held on 6-13 May Kathmandu, 20 March: Preparations for the 5th National Games to be held 6-13 May are underway. Binod Shankar Palikhe, member secretary of the National Sports Council, said that necessary arrangements can be made for the Games despite the budget crunch at the country’s governing body for sports. Palikhe announced that Rs 260 million has been allocated for the 5th National Games. The Games are part of Nepal’s preparation for the 9th SAF Games to be held in Pakistan later this year. Players will be selected from different districts to take part in the national games. "Those succeeding in establishing a national record or whose performance is otherwise significant will be selected for the SAF Games," Palikhe said. Nepalnews.com/yl/at CPN-UML vows to remove Koirala Kathmandu, 20 March: The main opposition CPN-UML, which launched a series of protests to oust Prime Minister Koirala, has vowed to continue its efforts in parliament as well as on the streets. In a press conference at the party’s central office in Balkhu Monday, CPN-UML leader KP Oli said his party would launch street protests to force Koirala to resign. He also announced nation wide mass meetings on 8 April to "expose the Prime Minister before the general public and mobilise people in the Koirala removal campaign." "The ongoing protest is not merely against the Prime Minister but his corrupt attitude and system," Oli said. He said other programs would be announced later and that other parties would also be asked to join in. Nepalnews.com/yl/at Kathmandu, 19 March: Two policemen were injured Sunday in gunfire exchange with Maoists at a village in Kavre when the police tried to disrupt a mass meeting being held by the rebels. Police arrested more than 60 people from the site, eyewitnesses said. Meanwhile, rebels last week released Bishwanath Khanal, a teacher abducted from a village in Jajarkot district. Nepalnews.com/br/at NC special meet adopts four point resolution Kathmandu, 19 March: The special meeting of the Nepali Congress that discussed the present political crisis and sought suggestions from party workers concluded in Kathmandu Monday expressing full faith in Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s leadership in both the party and the government. The meeting also adopted a four-point resolution concerning the present political situation of the country. The resolution describes the ongoing disruption of parliamentary proceedings by five opposition parties as "opposed to parliamentary norms and unconstitutional" and condemned the move. The meeting also pledged to support every move taken by the party president and the central committee to resolve the crisis. The resolution has asked all party leaders and workers to be untied and foil the opposition move against Koirala and the Nepali Congress and suggested the premier to not give in to opposition pressure. Nepalnews.com/ylat National Assembly disrupted again Kathmandu, 19 March: Protests by the five opposition parties in the Upper House of Parliament continued Monday forcing chairman of the National Assembly Dr Mohammad Mohasin to adjourn the House until Wednesday. The opposition blocked the proceeding of the National Assembly demanding Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s resignation. As soon as the chairman started Monday's meeting, opposition members went in front and chanted slogans against the premier. The opposition has been demanding Koirala’s resignation over his alleged involvement in the controversial Lauda Air scam. Nepalnews.com/yl/at Fire
in Sindhuli, Dharan Kathmandu, 19 March: Fourteen persons were injured, some seriously, in two separate bus accidents in Chitwan district Sunday. Eleven persons were injured when two passenger buses collided near Mugling. One bus was travelling to Bhairawa from Pohkara while the other was going to Janakpur from Pokhara. Another bus travelling to Nayayanghat from Khairini collided with a tractor near Mugling injuring three persons. The injured are being treated at Bharatpur hospital. Nepalnews.com/br/at |
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