WB denies Kathmandu has dirtiest air

The World Bank (WB) Nepal office has denied a recent news report that placed Kathmandu on the top of the 17 Asian cities with the dirtiest air, saying, the WB did not come up with any report like that, the Kathmandu Post said Wednesday.

The daily, quoting a senior WB official, said, the Associated Press (AP) report datelined December 18 and filed from Manila, the Philippines, "misrepresented" what was said and presented at a workshop on Better Air Quality.

"The press picked up the pollution data presented at the workshop out of context and made its own judgment," the daily quoted Asif Faiz, WB's Acting Country Representative to Nepal, as saying.

"The AP report misrepresented what the presenters at the conference including what Christopher Hoban, Acting Country Director of the World Bank in the Philippines, said during the conference," Faiz said.

The organiser of the workshop, the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, an Asian Development Bank-supported project has informed the World Bank that it would soon write to concerned media organisations for correction of the misrepresented news report, he said.

Aside from AP, the Asian Wall Street Journal also ran the report, which created a furor in Nepal, the daily said.

Kathmandu's Mayor Keshav Sthapit last week sought explanations and publicly announced that he would sue the Bank for bad publicity of the city, according to the daily. nepalnews.com mr Dec 31

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Commemorative coins on Crown Prince's birthday

On the occasion of the 33rd birthday of Crown Prince Paras, silver coins of Rs.300 denomination have been brought into use from Tuesday, RSS said.

The coins were introduced also to commemorate export promotion year 2003, the national news agency said.

The coins can be purchased from the Department of Mint of Nepal Rastra Bank at Sundhara, according to the agency. 

On the same day, rallies and various programs were organised through out the country to mark the 33rd auspicious birthday of the Crown Prince. nepalnews.com mr Dec 31

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Students continue protest

Students affiliated to five agitating parties continued their anti-King protests in and outside Kathmandu on Tuesday. 

The students continued to shout anti-King slogans taking out mass and torch rallies in the capital. Nearly a dozen students were injured when the police charged them with batons.  

Some students were arrested in Mahottari district in course of the protests, radio reports said. 

Meanwhile, the students' meeting held at the central office of ANNSFU in Kathmandu has decided to announce more protest programs on January 1, according to sources.  

Students have been launching more protests since the police arrested three student leaders during five parties' protest a few weeks ago. They were charged of sedition for shouting derogative anti-King slogans during the protests.  

The government has already freed them of the sedition charge. However, students have been continuing the protests pressing the government to apologize for the arrests. nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

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Nepal Olympic Committee dissolved

The government has dissolved the Nepal Olympic Committee, a Home Ministry statement said Tuesday. The committee was dissolved in accordance with Clause 6 (2) of National Directives Act, the statement said. 

"The committee ignored the government's directives by not following legal provisions giving rise to several disputes within the committee," the Ministry said citing reasons for the dismissal of the committee. nepalnews.com mr Dec 26

Pokhrel's arrest insulting: UML

CPN-UML, in a statement on Tuesday, has termed the arrest and interrogation of its leader Ishwor Pokhrel by the Indian authorities in New Delhi "objectionable" and "insulting."

"It is objectionable and insulting that Indian authorities arrested and interrogated Pokhrel," said the statement.

"We demand with the Indian government to make public the real details of the incident," the statement said. As Pokhrel said earlier, the Indian immigration officials took control of him and interrogated him in the Indian capital for hours on Monday.

The UML statement has further termed the incident an "unethical behavior" of the Indian authorities. The party has also demanded with the Indian government to "apologize" for the incident.

Indian embassy in Kathmandu confirmed the interrogation on Tuesday, expressing ignorance about the content of the interrogation.

The party, to this regard, has called a press conference on Wednesday. nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

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Maoists shoot three soldiers

Maoists shot dead three soldiers and wounded one more while attempting to loot a bank's valuables in Kapilvastu district Tuesday, radio reports said.

The clash occurred when the soldiers were getting off a vehicle near the branch office of Rastirya Banijya Bank (RBB) in Taulihawa, the district headquarters, the reports said.

"Due to the growing bank robbery cases, the RBB branch started keeping its cash and valuables at the nearby army barrack during the off hours. The army vehicle was there to return the same properties belonging to the bank," the reports said.

Name of the dead soldiers could not be known immediately. The injured army man was admitted to a local hospital, according to the reports. The Maoists, a group of 7-8 persons, fled the scene on motorcycles.

Maoists also looted another Rs.145,000 from Narayani Industrial Development Bank in Chitwan Tuesday, reports said.  Maoists Monday looted Rs.150,000 from the same banks' Bharatpur branch.

Meanwhile, security sources here in Kathmandu said one Maoist was shot dead in Basey Gaon area of Nuwakot district on Monday. nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

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UML leader arrested, released in Delhi

Indian authorities Monday detained a senior CPN-UML leader, Ishwor Pokhrel from New Delhi airport and released him after midnight, a radio station said Tuesday. Indian embassy in Kathmandu confirmed the incident, the radio said.

According to Kantipur FM, Indian immigration authorities stopped Pokhrel from boarding a flight to Kathmandu Monday, saying, they wanted to ask him something. 

"They told me not to board the plane and stay with them," the radio quoted Pokhrel as saying at the Kathmandu airport Tuesday. 

"They asked me about Maoists' activities in India and the recent meeting of our general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal with the Maoist leaders in Lucknow," Pokhrel, who is a standing committee member of the UML, said. 

"I was in Delhi to take part in a program of Non-Resident Nepalis' Association in India and to participate in their protest program," he said. "I told the same thing to them, but they tried to cross the limit as they started to ask questions related to Nepali politics, such as why UML is not for a constituent assembly etc," he said.

Pokhrel further blamed the Indian ambassador of playing a "dirty politics" here in Nepal. "Everybody knows that the ambassador is crossing the limits of a diplomat by showing unnecessary interests in Nepal's internal politics," he told the radio station. "This (the arrest) is a practice to make two countries' relations bitter."

Meanwhile, Sanjay Verma, first press secretary at the Kathmandu-based Indian Embassy confirmed the arrest and release of Pokhrel, according to the radio. "The interrogation was held on suspicions that Pokhrel met Maoist leaders in India," the radio quoted Verma, as saying. "But I have don't have complete information about the incident," Verma said. 

Pokhrel is now in Kathmandu. nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

Nepali arrested in Bangkok

Thai police Monday arrested a Nepali, Birkha Ghale from Bangkok airport while attempting to smuggle marijuana into Thailand, agencies said Tuesday.

Ghale, 29, will be convicted for 15 years if he is proved guilty, the agencies said without giving details about his identity. nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

Joshi to spend 12 days more in custody

The Special Court on Monday ordered 12 days more custody for Govinda Raj Joshi, a corruption-indicted leader.

According to court officials, the CIAA (Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority), the plaintiff, had demanded 30 more days' custody to Joshi, but the court agreed only for 12 days.

Joshi has been refusing to give a statement at the CIAA. nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

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India not for interference: Indian Foreign Minister

India never wants an interfering role in Nepal, Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said Monday. "We always stick to the choices of the Nepali people. We have been supporting constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy because these were the choices made by Nepali people themselves."

"Our strict policy is non-interference," Sinha said in an interview to "Dishanirdesh" of Nepal Television on Monday. "We never impose our views on Nepal. India and Nepal are two of the closest neighbours and we give friendly advise to Nepal only when we are asked or if it is very essential," Sinha said.

On a recent statement issued by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Sinha said, the statement should not be taken as "interference" in Nepal's internal affairs. "We, (in the statement), suggested an all party government, thinking that, such a government would be better than one party government and that, perhaps it will improve the situation in Nepal," he said.

On allegations that India has been providing shelter to Nepali Maoists, Sinha said they are just "rumours." "We feel concerned about Nepal's Maoist problem," he said. "If we encourage Nepali Maoists, then we would be encouraging MMC (Maoist Communist Centre) and PWG (People's War Group). It's not in India's interest."

MMC and PWG are two of India's largest rebel groups fighting for autonomy and "people's state" inside the Indian territories.

He, in the meantime, admitted that Nepali as well as Indian people cross the Nepal-India border with ease due to its openness. Nepali Maoists also are not the exceptions, according to Sinha. "It is worrying that Nepali Maoists are operating from India."

On UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal's recent meeting with Maoist leaders in Lucknow, India, Sinha said, "We felt embarrassed."
Commenting more on the Maoist problem of Nepal, the Indian Foreign Minister was of the view that dialogue is the best way to resolve the problem.

"Our guts feel that the Maoist problem should be solved only through talks," he said. On bilateral economic cooperation, Sinha was of the view that Nepal and India can best extend cooperation in the field of energy and flood control. "We need energy. And Nepal can produce energy," Sinha said.

Summarising the Nepal-India relationship, the Indian Foreign Minister said, "We have fraternal relationships. What we need now is to give a modern dimension to our ancient relationships by increasing economic, social and cultural ties." nepalnews.com mr Dec 30

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