Malik expelled from NSP

President of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party Badri Prasad Mandal has suspended party national working committee member Bharatendu Kumar Malla from the party general membership for acting in contravention of party interests, RSS said quoting the party. nepalnews.com br Sept.12

Four killed in bus accident

Four people died in an accident Friday morning when a Siraha-bound bus from Biratnagar collided head on with a truck in Shripur-8, Juddhagunj in Sunsari, radio reports said. 

The truck with registration number Na 1 Kha 3473 collided with the bus killing bus driver Santosh Bhattarai, truck driver Har Binder Singh and one passenger each of the bus and truck. 

Radio Nepal said 17 persons were injured in the collision. The injured are undergoing treatment at BP Koirala Institure of Health Sciences, Dharan, the reports said. nepalnews.com mr Sept 12

Blasts rock Hetauda

One person has been killed and nine injured, three seriously in multiple blasts in Hetauda, a local journalist told Nepalnews over telephone.

The four blasts rocked the industrial town of Hetauda around 10:00 am in Makhwanpur district, around 200kms west of Kathmandu. The district police office at Hetauda also confirmed the blasts over telephone.

A local journalist over phone told Neplanews that one blast went off in a store near a school inside the city, one in the area post office in the industrial section, one at the regional office of the Election Commission and one at the Hetauda Municipality. 

The dead person has been identified as Sunil Sakya who was near the store in the city center. An Indian national, Ashok Gupta, injured in the store blast was evacuated to Kathmandu.

The market has been closed after the blasts which went off simultaneously. The police are out in strength at the scene, police said.  

Information and Communications Minister and one of the former third round peace negotiators Kamal Thapa is from Hetauda. nepalnews.com rh/dr/br Sept.12

Foreign reserves up

Gross foreign exchange reserve until mid-July 2003 reached Rs.110.4 billion of which convertible currency reserve increased 23.5 percent during the fiscal year 2002-03 while non-convertible currency dropped 56.1 percent compared to the same period last year, the Nepal Rashtra Bank said.

Remittances from Nepali workers increased contributing to the balance of payments surplus of Rs.5.2b during the same period. Trade deficit widened 26.2 per cent to Rs.76.3b. nepalnews.com br Sept.12

Nepal enters WTO

Nepal has entered the WTO at a meeting in Cancun, Mexico, a radio report said quoting the world trading body's official website. The membership will be effective after six months only.
nepalnews.com  br Sept.12

Supreme Court issues stay order

The Supreme Court Thursday issued a stay to the Public Service Commission and the promotion Committee of the Ministry of General Administration with regard to their one-week-old  decision concerning promotion of some  officials to the posts of joint secretaries and under secretaries, RSS said.

The order was issued by a single bench of Justice Ram Nagina Singh responding to writ petition filed by some officials including the  under secretary Raam Bhakta Malla. nepalnews.com br Sept 12  

US, India can help Nepal tame rebels: Rocca

The United States and India can help Nepal defeat the "ruthless" Maoist rebels who last month ended a ceasefire, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca said in New Delhi Thursday, according to AFP. 

Rocca told this to a luncheon in New Delhi, the AFP report said. "The Maoists have shown themselves to be a ruthless enemy by their tactics in the field and through terrorist attacks against both government and innocent civilian targets," Rocca said. 

"India's historic, cultural and social ties with Nepal continue to make it the most important outside influence on events in that country," she said. Working in tandem, our governments can help Nepal defeat the Maoist threat and re-establish democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people, she added. 

Rocca said US involvement in Nepal was "to facilitate the efforts both to restore security and to focus on development and poverty eradication - the ills that gave rise to Maoists." nepalnews.com mr Sept 12

Mysterious illness affects 800

Nearly 800 people are affected with a mysterious illness in Chhinamakhu VDC in Bhojpur since the past week, a published report said Friday. 

The illness has affected almost all people of ward no. 8 and 9, Nepal Samcharpatra reported.  The illness has symptoms like fever, cold and throat pain. These symptoms slowly lead the patients to a serious condition, according to a local health post staff, Kameshor Yadav. 

Chhinamakhu health post has, so far, carried out medical check ups of 300 affected people. The District Public Health Office, meanwhile, said the office has not received any information of such illness till date. nepalnews.com mr Sept 12

Dr. Bhek Bahadur Thapa special representative

Dr. Bhek Bahadur Thapa has been appointed special representative for foreign affairs, a Royal Palace announcement said Friday. 

Dr. Thapa will work on the advice of the Prime Minister, the announcement said. Dr. Thapa will also advise the prime minister and represent the prime minister at ministerial meetings abroad, the announcement said. nepalnews.com br Sept. 12

Maoists kill NC leader

Maoists Friday morning killed a district leader in Nawalparasi, Radio Nepal said. Rebels murdered Gyanendra GC. Other details were not available. nepalnews.com br Sept. 12

Two murders in capital, other details  

Two suspected Maoists have shot a civilian, Ram Shrestha and an activist of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Dipendra Thapa at Basundhara, Kathmandu at 6:45 a.m. Friday morning, eyewitnesses said.

Shrestha died on the spot. Shrestha was a rice mill owner who also had a grocery shop at Basundhara. 

Thapa died on the way to TU hospital, Maharajgunj. Thapa was former central leader of RPP's student wing - National Democratic Student Union. He also owned "Darpan Stationary and Communication Centre" at Basundhara. 

Thapa was later cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat. Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa paid homage to Thapa, a student leader of RPP. The police said the attackers used a 7.26-calibre pistol. The motive of the murder was not known. 

The assailants, who came on foot, fled towards Dhapashi after the incident, according to the eyewitnesses. The incident site is now crowded with security forces and people.

One person was injured when Maoist overnight bombed Jitpur village development committee office overnight in the Valley, a radio report said. A parked motor vehicle was damaged. Rebels also planted a bomb at Matathirtha. nepalnews.com br/dr/mr/rh Sept 12

First beating heart bypass surgery

An off pump coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as beating heart bypass surgery was performed at Bir Hospital for the first time in Nepal, a published report said Friday.

A team led by Dr. Damodar Prasad Pokhrel successfully performed the operation on 51-year-old Shrawan Kumar Chhetri of Fularpang Kot-5, Sindhupalchowk, The Himalayan Times reported.

During the angiography, it was found that his major vein on the left side of the heart had about 95 percent blockage. Chhetri, who underwent the surgery, is recovering well and will be discharged within three or four days, Dr. Pokhrel said. nepalnews.com mr Sept 12

Nepal nears WTO membership

If things do not take a dramatic turn, Nepal will formally become a World Trade Organisation (WTO) member on Friday at 5:55 a.m. (Nepali time), a broadsheet reported from WTO conference venue in Cancun, Mexico Friday.

"Nepal and Cambodia will become the first least developed nations (LDCs) to the fulfill accession process of WTO," The Kathmandu Post reported. "There are 30 LDCs who are members of WTO by virtue of being member of GATT."

According to Posh Raj Pandey, a Nepali delegate, it is unlikely that the meeting will fail. "Yet negotiations will be very tough," he said.

The fate of the current round of meet will depend on what actually the developed countries would offer on farm subsidy and textile imports from poor countries and how much the developing countries would be ready to liberalise their investment, competition, trade facilitation and public procurement policies - collectively known as "Singapore issues", the report said.

Trade ministers or representatives from 146 nations have gathered in Mexico for the ongoing conference. nepalnews.com mr Sept 12

King set condition for House revival?

A senior Nepali Congress leader Thursday claimed that the Royal Palace asked agitating parties to drop demands related to the monarch and Royal Nepal Army (RNA) from their 18-point "forward looking agenda" as a pre-condition to reinstate the dissolved House of Representatives, a published report said Friday.

NC central committee member Narahari Acharya revealed the Palace's request at an interaction program Thursday, according to a report in The Kathmandu Post.

Five political parties formulated the 18-point agenda before they launched the "anti-regressive" movement in May.

Refuting to say whether the parties would accept the request, Acharya said he put the information in the public domain since such information "should be made public so that there can be debate", the report said.

The program was held to explore possibilities of the revival of the House of Representatives. nepalnews.com mr Sept 12

Compulsory medallion

Officials will henceforth have to wear a medallion at work that says service is the highest form of worship. 

"Swea nai param dharma" the medallion says. Translated it means; "Service is the highest form of worship." 

Radio Nepal said the government made the decision to force officials to put on the medallion at an unspecified date. nepalnews.com br Sept.11