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CAN reconstituted

Kathmandu, May 24: Jay Kumar Nath Shah continues to be President of the re-constituted 17 member Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). A meeting of the National Sports Council (NSC), the kingdom's apex sporting authority, reshuffled the Association at a meeting Wednesday. Binay Raj
Pandey continues as General Secretary; Sashi Dutta Pandey was re-appointed Treasurer. nepalnews.com br

Maoist hold abducted ruling party activist hostage

Kathmandu, May 24: Maoists for the first time have demanded the release of  five detained insurgents within three days for the freedom of a ruling party activist and former member of parliament Mukti Prasad Sharma abducted from his home in Pyuthan district Tuesday night. Several
newspapers Thursday reported a "senior" unnamed rebel made the demand in conversation with their correspondents and warned of severe consequences if the demand is not met. The Maoists fighting for a communist state have demanded the release of Dandapani Neupane, Milan Nepali, Matrika Yadav, Ishwar Dahal and Lokendra Bista.

The Nepali Congress party has condemned the abduction. In a statement Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel asked donors to to "continue their development activities without being perturbed by acts of violence and that government is committed to making necessary security arrangements for running development programmes." Donors have already withdrawn from certain volatile districts as commercial banks re-locate to safer locations after robberies of millions of rupees in deposits. The unusual statement came after the EU withdrew from Gulmi following the torching of a vehicle of the Gulmi Arghakanchi Development by suspected Maoists this month.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON ) in a strongly worded statement denounced what it said were recent Maoist excesses against police in Okhaldungha by killing them; Nepal's oldest rights body also condemned death sentences against captors even after it was abolished in Nepal 11 years ago. Rebels have been dispensing justice through their own courts in what they call liberated areas especially in far west Nepal. In an escalation, government has decided to mobilize the army for the first time in seven of 75 administrative districts beyond headquarters. nepalnews.com br

Chilean woman, Turk climb Everest for first time

Kathmandu, May 23: Three Chilean women and a Turk scaled the 8848 metres high Mount Everest for the first time Wednesday, the Ministry of Tourism said quoting reports from the summit of the world's tallest peak. Leader of the eight member Chilean Women expedition Ms.Vivianne Cuq Maggi, 48, Christina Prieto Overem, Patricia Solo Borquez, 31, stepped on the highest point on earth at 9 AM Wednesday after a 13 hour summit attack from the fourth camp in pitch darkness.
Turkey's Tuno Findik, 39, stepped on the summit at the same time.

Altogether 37 climbers with five teams stepped on the summit in two days; 34 climbers stepped on the summit Wednesday, the Ministry of Tourism said. The Chilean women were members of a Chilean Women Everest 2001 expedition while the Turk was climbing with "Anything is Possible"
expedition led by Michael Trueman, 49, a British mountain guide. Nepalis, Indian soldiers, Spaniards, Americans and a Canadian climbed the peak through the normal south east ridge.
The climbers waited for a break in bad weather to have a crack at the summit. Altogether 13 expeditions are attempting Everest this spring from Nepal.

Speed climbing record holder Babu Chiri Sherpa died on the peak this month after falling into a crevasse. Meanwhile, four Russians made the first ascent of the 8413 metres high Lhotse Middle through the west side Wednesday, the Ministry of Tourism said. Leader of the 11 member team Serguei Timofeev, 44, and three other Russians climbed the peak at 8 AM and returned to the assault camp at 4 PM at the South Col. Other team members are making another summit bid Thursday. nepalnews.com br

King witnesses Bhoto Jatra

Kathmandu, May 23: King Birendra witnessed the traditional Bhoto Jatra of Rato Machindranath at Jawalakhel Wednesday afternoon. The King later received prasad from Machindranath, Minnath and
Kumari. For the first time, government offices were open Wednesday in government efforts to curb public holidays. The festival heralds the beginning of the rainy season. The bhoto is a replica of the original on display at a museum in California in the USA. nepalnews.com br

Nepalis to get Thai citizenship

Kathmandu, May 23: Several hundred Nepalis who have been living in Thailand for several decades will benefit from a Thai government decree to give them citizenship, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. About 1,300 persons of Nepali origin will benefit, the Ministry said. Other details were not announced. Nepal had been pressing the Thai government for granting the citizenship rights for several years. nepalnews.com br

Nepal blasts latest Taliban move

Kathmandu, May 23: Nepal Wednesday blasted the latest Taliban decree imposing a dress code for Hindus in Afghanistan and wearing a tag to demonstrate their minority identity in the hard-line communist state. "The act is reprehensible and deplorable," the Foreign Ministry said in a short statement. The move defies international human rights codes, the Ministry said. Nepal earlier condemned the destruction of an ancient and the world's tallest Buddhist statue in the the hard-line Moslem state by the Taliban. The latest Taliban move has been condemned by the international
community, including the United States and India. nepalnews.com br

Maoist abduct another activist of ruling party

Kathmandu, May 23: Maoists Wednesday abducted an activist of the ruling Nepali Congress party from a village in Pyuthan, police said. The rebels abducted Mukti Prasad Sharma from his home in Bijutar village in the west Nepal district and his whereabouts are not known. Sharma was elected village chief. Four insurgents abducted Sharma from home as he was having dinner with family members. nepalnews.com br

Ministry of Social Welfare, ILO accord to prevent girl trafficking

Kathmandu, May 23: The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and the International Labour Organization (ILO) signed a $112,970 agreement Tuesday to extend a joint programme to check girl trafficking  from Nepal to neighbouring India from 26 districts in the kingdom. The government and the ILO have been running the joint programme from 1997 to 2000. The agreement was signed by Secretary at the Ministry Urmila Shrestha and ILO Country Director Layla Tegmo Reddy.

The money will finance new rehabilitation centres, strengtheninformation exchange and education units, collect data through computer, review a national working plan and publish a newsletter. Village level viligilence groups will be set up in districts with high level of trafficking and run special programmes at border crosssing points in Jhapa, Parsa, Rupandehi and Banke districts. Thousands of girls go tomajor Indian towns willingly or are trafficked to work as sex workers every year. nepalnews.com br

Exports up 9.3 percent

Kathmandu, May 23: The Rs. 22.38 billion exports to countries other than India was up 9.3 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, the Trade Promotion Centre (TPC) said. Pashmina, Nepal's hottest export, touched Rs.3.81 billion-- up 59 percent from the same period the previous year. Lentil export soared 51 percent as the country exported 8,800 metric tons valued at Rs.371 million; tea export increased 20.5 percent while goat hide export soared 135 percent. Wollen carpet exports fell 14.3 percent to 1.67 million square metres worth Rs.7.51 billion. Handicraft, jewellery, silverware and cotton handkerchief exports also fell during the period under review. nepalnews.com br

Maoists release three UML activists

Kathmandu, May 23: Maoists Monday freed three activists of the main opposition in parliament, the Nepal Communist party (Unified Marxist Leninist), captured recently in Rukum, party sources said. Those released are: Vice President of the Rukum district committee Khagendra Puri, member
Jagan Prasad Jaisi and Ganesh Khatri. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel Tuesday evening called for direct talks with rebels to end a communist insurgency in Nepal even as a group of human rights activists are making a fresh bid to broker a peace to end the conflict that has claimed nearly 1,700 lives in more than five years.

"The dialogue should take place directly between the government and the Maoists and not through mediators," Paudel told a meeting of Amnesty International Nepal (AIN). Human rights activists, including Padma Ratna Tuladhar, met Paudel this month to broker a peace ahead of a meeting with insurgents. Tuladhar brokered the first direct meet between Paudel and a senior rebel leader in Kathmandu Valley last year. nepalnews.com br

Bastola inaugurates conference

Kathmandu, May 22: Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola Tuesday inaugurated a two-day seven nation ministerial conference to highlight problems of children in South Asia ahead of a special UN session on Children this September in New York. Ministers and representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are participating in the joint conference organized by Nepal and UNICEF. "The children will benefit from current and future investments in children," Bastola said. Fifty percent of the world's underprivileged children come from the South Asian region.

The Kathmandu conference is the third of four regional gatherings on children and young people in May after meetings in Beijing and Berlin; the fourth meet will be held in Cairo as UNICEF designated May as a "major month for children". Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, two meetings were held beginning Saturday; one workshop for 17 children to change makers for South Asia discussed and prioritized issues critical to children; corporate leaders from South Asia also met in a closed session to share experiences on private sector investment in social development programmes for children. The meeting aims to achieve a consensus on investments in children despite political differences amongst member states of SAARC. nepalnews.com br

Korean Climbs Lhotse

Kathmandu, May 22: A 41-year-old Korean general manager of an advertising firm from Seoul climbed the 8516 meter high Lhotse from the west face on May 16 to establish his claim to be the first South Korean to climb all 14 of the 8000 meter high peaks of the world. Um Hong Gil climbed the peak with Ra Kwan Ju, 34, and Ang Babu Sherpa, 34, the Ministry of Tourism said. Um's claims of previous ascents of Lhotse and the 8064 meters high Sisha Pangma in Tibet were disputed in climbing circles. Um will attempt Sisha Pangma in autumn, his Nepali guide said.

Another Korean, Park Young Seok, climbed Lhotse earlier this spring to claim his 13th conquest of an 8000 meter high peak. The race between Um and Park continues to become the first Korean to step on the summit of the world's 14 tallest peaks.

"Um's ascent of 13 tallest peaks should now be undisputed," said Ang Karma Sherpa. Italy's Reinhold Messner was the first to complete climbing's grand slam. nepalnews.com br

Opposition legislator arrested on assault charge

Kathmandu, May 22: Siraha police have arrested a legislator from the main opposition in parliament, Hem Narayan Yadav, on an assault charge against Chief District Education Officer Ashrat Ali. Police arrested Yadav of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist Leninist) after Ali lodged a complaint at the District police headquarters Sunday. Ali said a group of students loyal to the UML and Yadav attacked him at his office during opposition protests against the government's education policy. nepalnews.com br

Seven dead, 39 injured in three accidents

Kathmandu, May 22: Seven persons were killed and 39 others were injured in three separate bus accidents Sunday and Tuesday. Three persons died and  15 others were injured, two seriously, Tuesday morning when a bus  overtaking another vehicle met with an accident near Babar Mahal in the capital. 

The bus was travelling to Kathmandu from Panauti; the driver has  been taken into custody. One person died and 21 others were injured when a bus skidded off the  Mahendra Highway near Piple village in Chitwan Sunday, as the driver  braked the vehicle to save a man crossing the highway, police said. Three  persons died and three others were injured when a bus travelling to  Fattehpur in Rajbiraj hit a stationary truck at Theliachowk Sunday.  nepalnews.com br

Four killed in bus mishap in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, May 22: Four people died, three on the spot and one in a hospital, when a passenger bus overturned near Babarmahal in Kathmandu, Tuesday morning. Police said several other passengers were also injured, three of them critically. The seriously injured persons are undergoing treatment in Bir Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital. 

Others were discharged after primary treatment. The passenger bus with registration number Ba Aa Kha 6391 overturned when it tried to overtake another passenger bus in the busy road near Babarmahal. The bus was coming to Kathmandu from Panauti. Police said the cause of the accident could have been overload and high speed. The bus driver has been arrested and investigation is underway. Nepalnews.com/yl/at

Police bust gang of thieves

Kathmandu, May 22: Police Sunday busted a gang of five thieves allegedly involved in daring robberies at 35 hotels in the capital over several months. Police recovered goods and cash in local and foreign currency from the group, Hanumandhoka Police said. Police nabbed the thieves as they were trying to sell the stolen goods, including four colour television screens. nepalnews.com br