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One killed during
anti-Koirala protests
Kathmandu, May 27: One person was killed and 35 others were injured
nation-wide on the first day of a three-day communist protest against Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala whose resignation
is demanded for his alleged involvement in the controversial deal to lease a Boeing 767
aircraft for state owned Royal Nepal Airlines at inflated costs from an Austrian
airline. One injured person died en route to hospital in the capital after
receiving injuries in a police firing at a village in Lamjung district,
police said.
The strike supported by four other left parties paralysed life throughout the country, latest reports said. Protesters torched a motorcycle of the Bangladesh embassy in the
capital and six other vehicles defying the strike, a Home Ministry spokesman said. Violence has been reported from other parts of the kingdom,
including Gorkha, Tanahu, Pokhara where tourists were inconvenienced.
Police arrested 10 persons in the capital as the Nepal Communist party (Unified Marxist Leninist) reported detentions nation-wide. Protesters attacked a moving train between Janakpur and
Jayanagar. Krishna Gopal Shrestha, the convenor of the Kathmandu Valley protest, told a corner rally in the capital activists will target
government vehicles when offices re-open Monday after a two-day weekend.
Youth converted the deserted streets of the capital into cricket pitches and football fields after vehicles stayed off the streets;
protesters deflated bicycle and motorcycle tubes and burnt newspapers carried by hawkers, eyewitnesses said. The protesters disrupted examination at centres throughout the
country, officials said. Government asked the opposition to call off the strike to normalize
life.
Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Prajatantra party, the third largest party in parliament, also demanded Koirala's resignation Sunday for his
alleged involvement in the controversial deal.
nepalnews.com br
Six
policemen injured in clashes with Maoists
Kathmandu May
27: At least six policemen were injured in two separate clashes with
Maoists who destroyed a police outpost at a remote village in Tanahu
district and overran another in Sarlahi Friday night, police said.
Insurgents overran a group of 15 policemen taking shelter from a heavy
downpour at a village in Bhirkot in Tanahu district in west Nepal, captured
arms, ammunition and communication equipment and completely destroyed a
nearby police post, police said. A policeman injured in an exchange of
gunfire was airlifted to the capital for treatment Saturday.
The rebels also
destroyed the home of an activist of the ruling Nepali Congress party. Five
policemen were injured in an exchange of gunfire with Maoists who completely
overran an outpost at Pattaharkot in Sarlahi district. Some Maoists
are suspected injured in the first rebel operation in Sarlahi district,
police said. The injured are being treated at a hospital in the capital. nepalnews.com
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Communist
protest against Koirala
Kathmandu, May
27: A three-day nation-wide communist protest against Prime Minister
Girija Prasad Koirala for alleged corruption paralysed life in the capital
and other parts of the country Sunday, first reports said. The strike called
by six left parties including the Nepal Communist party
(Unified Marxist Leninist) was supported by four other communist parties;
the communists went ahead with the protest despite calls by businesses to
call off the strike which will hamper the economy and cause inconvenience.
The communists say
Koirala as Prime Minister was personally responsiblefor the controversial
Lauda Air deal to lease a Boeing 767 aircraft for Royal Nepal Airlines at an
inflated price. The Commission investigating corruption and fraud last week
charged 10 persons, including then Tourism Minister Tarini Chataut, for
corruption involving Rs.380 million. The investigating authority also
cautioned the government through a letter after earlier questioning the
government head through a letter on his involvement in the deal; Koirala
hautily told the Commission it had no authority to investigate him.
Independent analysts say the latest development has embarrassed beleaguered
Koirala who has been advised to resign by Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra
Paudel and Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat. A planned news conference
by Koirala was postponed Saturday. nepalnews.com br
NEPSE
index gains 6.24 points
Kathmandu, May
27: The NEPSE index gained 6.24 points at the end of five-day trading
Friday after dramatic falls for two consecutive weeks. Trading opened
at 333.00 points Monday and closed at 339.24 points Friday. Altogether
49,789 shares of 41 listed companies valued at Rs.27.061 million
exchanged hands. Altogether 77.57 percent of total shares were of commercial
banks. nepalnews.com br
Thomssen wins 5th National Mountain Bike Championship
Kathmandu, May 26: John Thomssen from
New Zealand won the fifth National Mountain Bike Championship completing the
22.5 kilometer mountain bike race ahead of 40 other participants.
Thomssen walked away with a trophy and cash prize of 10,000 rupees. Richard
Turgen, a Canadian national and Suresh K. Dulal emerged second and third in the championship.
Besides trophies, the second and third won cash prizes of rupees 7,000 and
5,000 respectively.
The Nepal Mountain Bike Association organized the fifth National Mountain Bike
Championship held in Swayambhu Gairigaun today. There were two categories,
senior and junior, in today’s race. In the junior category Arjun Ghale won the first
prize trophy and 5,000 rupees cash. Sanjiv Thapa and
Ravindra Dhikari were declared second and third in the junior category. The second and third prizes
in addition to trophies, also had cash prizes of rupees 4,000 and 3,000
respectively. The participants had to be under 18 to take part in the junior category.
In today’s mountain bike championship, Heman Pun, 11, was the youngest participant while Sonam Gurung, 47, was the oldest one.
Both the youngest and the oldest participants were given prizes. Nepal Mountain Bike Association started the first National Mountain Bike
Championship in 1996 and since then it has been organizing the national tournament every year, said Chhimi Gurung, president of Nepal Mountain
Bike Association. According to Gurung, the two top Nepali participants would be sent to
South Korea to take part in the Asian Mountain Bike Association event to be held in October 2001.
There were 26 participants in the junior category and 41 in the senior category in today’s tournament.
Among them, there were 8 foreigners, 7 in the senior and one in the junior category.
The total course for the junior category was 9 kilometers and 22.5 kilometers for the seniors.
nepalnews.com
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Bhutan fails to block rights group at UN
Kathmandu, May 26: Bhutan lost a major diplomatic battle Tuesday
when its efforts to block accreditation of Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Development
(PFHRD) Bhutan to the forthcoming World Conference against Racism (WCAR) being held in Durban, South Africa, in August,
2001, was defeated at the ongoing WCAR Preparatory Committee (Prep Com) meeting in Geneva, dissident
sources in Nepal said. Bhutan had challenged the PFHRD accreditation on grounds that the
rights group was not a Bhutanese organization, nor was it based in Bhutan and its members
including its Secretary General were non-Bhutanese. The meeting is being attended by all UN member states and NGOs
worldwide.
'The European Union (EU) challenged the Bhutanese assertion and requested a roll call vote. The results of the vote were; 42 in
favour, 32 against and 34 abstentions, dissident sources said. Sweden is currently chairman of the 15-member
EU. The defeat of the Bhutanese government at the UN comes as a victory for the
Bhutanese people and the refugees and is the proof that Bhutan is losing its
grounds slowly at the international level, an analyst said. nepalnews.com br
Lakpa
Sherpa sets Nepal record
Kathmandu, May
26: The petite Lakpa Sherpa became the only Nepali woman to climb Mount
Everest, the world's tallest peak, for the second time Wednesday, her Nepali
sponsors said. She climbed the peak from the north in Tibet with an
international expedition led by a Japanese. Lakpa is also the only Nepali
woman to climb the peak from Tibet and Nepal; Nepal and Tibet share the 8848
metres high peak. Lakpa climbed Everest twice in one year; she climbed
Everest from the south last May. Only three Nepali women --all sherpanis--
have climbed Everest. Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was the first Nepali woman
to climb Everest but died during descent after a bivouac below the summit. nepalnews.com
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Monsoon
to enter Nepal sometime June 5
Kathmandu, May
26: The monsoon rains will enter east Nepal June 5 about five days ahead
of normal, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said. Pre monsoon
rains were above normal in May. Kathmandu, Dhankuta and Birendranagar
recorded 36, 55 and 117 percent above average
rainfall respectively in the first 25 days of May. nepalnews.com br
94
scale Everest in four days
Kathmandu, May
26: Altogether 94 climbers scaled the 8848 metres high Mount Everest in
four successive days beginning Tuesday from the Nepali side setting several
records. Edurne Pasaban Lizarribar, 37, became the third Spanish woman to
climb the peak when she stepped on the summit
Wednesday and Ivan Vallejo Ricurta, 42, made a rare Ecuadorian ascent of the
mountain the same day. Altogether 13 teams were climbing Everest from Nepal
during the current spring climbing season ending Thursday. Climbers from
various nations also scaled the peak from the north in
Tibet. nepalnews.com br
CIAA
cautions Koirala on Lauda Air deal
Kathmandu, May
25: Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a high
level anti-corruption body, cautioned Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala
that there were massive irregularities in the controversial Lauda Air deal
on the protection of the Council of Ministers. However, it did not directly
implicate the Prime Minister but told the Prime Minister to remain cautioned
and in future not to allow corruption to influence the protection of the
Council of Ministers. CIAA filed a criminal lawsuit in the Lalitpur
Appellate against seven persons including former Civil Aviation Minister
Tarini Dutta Chataut Friday. The court interrogated the two accused-Hari
Bhakta Shrestha and Tirtha Lal Shrestha-- Friday. As interrogation was not
complete, court remanded all the six accused to police custody. The court is
to resume its interrogation Monday. Former Minister Tarini Dutta Chataut was
not present in the court. nepalnews.com yl
Nepal
welcomes proposed India, Pakistan summit
Kathmandu, May
25: Nepal Friday welcomed the proposed summit between India and Pakistan
being held nearly after two years. Nepal said the new development was a
"positive development" that will contribute to "peace and
stability in the region." The statement was issued by the Foreign
Ministry Friday. Pakistan has reacted positively to the proposed summit
between Indian and Pakistani leaders suggested by Indian Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee. The SAARC summit that was to be held in Nepal in 1999
received a setback because of India, Pakistan differences following a
military takeover in Pakistan. Nepal has failed so far to revive the summit
amid Indian objections. nepalnews.com br
British
team climbs Lhotse
Kathmandu, May
25: Two Britons, including a woman, and a Mexican scaled the 8516 metres
high Lhotse, the world's fourth tallest peak, Thursday, the Ministry of
Tourism said. Leader of the 11 member expedition Mrs. Peta Watts, 41, Joby
Ogwyn and Mexican Yuri Contreras Cedi, 38, climbed the peak from the west
face at 10 AM. Two Poles, two Spaniards and
a Sherpa guide with two other teams also scaled the peak Monday and
Wednesday, the Ministry said. nepalnews.com br
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