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Journalists take to street to protest police action Hundreds of journalists took to street Saturday afternoon to protest the arrest and manhandling of dozens of journalists on Friday covering the agitations of five political parties. The rally organized by Federation of Nepalese Journalists that began at 2.30 from Sinamangal marched through various thoroughfares and concluded at Ratnapark. The FNJ has said the rally is the first phase of the protest program against the attack on press freedom. Some 60 journalists arrested on Friday were released on the same day following condemnation from press-related organizations and human rights groups whereas two journalists associated with Kantipur Publications were released this morning. Meanwhile, the FNJ, after an emergency meeting this morning, condemned what it called blatant attack on the free press, demanding resignation of Home Minister and Minister for Information and Communication Kamal Thapa. FNJ has also demanded that the PM apologize publicly for the misdeed against journalists. nepalnews.com mbk April 17 04 Related
News South Asian Maoists to intensify 'people's war' A secret gathering of South Asian Maoist insurgents has decided to intensify the "people's war" in all South Asian countries including Nepal, a pro-Maoist website said Saturday. According to Krishnasenonline, such a decision was taken at the conference of Coordination committee of Maoist Parties of South Asia, or COMPOSA, held on March 16-18, 2004. The website has not disclosed where the conference was held. There were seven participant parties and two observer parties at the conference, the report said. "Parties who took part in the conference include CPN-M [Nepal], PBSP-CC and CPEB-ML [Bangladesh], and MCCI, CPI-ML (PWG), CPI-ML (Naxalites) and RCCI-LML [India]." Likewise, Bhutan's newly formed party - Bhutanese Communist Party-MLM and Bangladesh's PBSB-MBRM were the observers of the conference, it added. "The conference endorsed a "political resolution" which has named the US imperialism and Indian expansionism as the common foes of South Asian people," it further said. nepalnews.com mr Apr 17 04 'Nepal's GDP may increase by 3.5 pc' An economic and social survey of Asia and the Pacific released on Friday has projected that Nepal's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may grow by 3.5 percent in 2004 and 4.5 percent in 2005. The survey report says progress in peace talks, higher productivity in agriculture, rebound in exports and manufacturing production, and a revival in tourism will determine the projected GDP. Nepal's GDP in 2003 increased by 2.4 percent, according to the report. It was the result of ceasefire and return of some degree of normalcy in major sectors of economy including agriculture, industry and trade-in-service for the growth, the report said. The report says the inward remittances from the migrant workers exceeded the amount of external in the year 2003, which was a sort of budgetary target. The survey was by done by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and was launched by the UN Information Centre (UNIC) and Centre for Policy Research and Analysis. nepalnews.com mr Apr 17 04 Related
News Measles claims 8 minors, nearly 100 infected The outbreak of measles in two villages of Dang in west Nepal has claimed the lives of eight minors infecting nearly 100 of them, a report said Saturday. The measles outbreak was in the Yadav communities of Bela and Rajpur VDCs three days ago, the report by Space Time daily said. All the eight dead were aged below eight. They were a seven-year-old son of Prem Yadav, eight-year-old daughter of Sukei Yadav, three-year-old sons of Sadhuram Yadav and Harijan Yadav, two-and-half-year-old daughter of Asharam Yadav, three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter of Malikram Yadav and three-day-old infant daughter of Puran Yadav. A first-aid treatment team of Lamahi village was sent to the two VDCs after the outbreak came into public, the report quoted RD Shah, in-charge of the regional health office, as saying. The measles outbreak has affected nearly 75 children in the nearby Bhairhawa and Basantapur villages, the report further said. nepalnews.com mr Apr 17 04 Govt. redefines 'riot-prone areas' The government Friday redefined the "riot-prone areas" in Kathmandu Valley, as it excluded two sites of the capital - Sano Gaucharan playground and Lagankhel - from the list of such areas. In two different notices and with effect from midnight Friday, the District Administration Offices of Kathmandu and Lalitpur declared that the two sites would no more be the riot-prone areas in the Valley. Lagankhel, where the protests are allowed, covers the area east of Patan Hospital, west of Batuk Bhairabsthan, south of Thahiti Chowk and north of Lalitpur district court. According to the notices, areas other than the Sano Gaucharan playground and Lagankhel inside the ring roads of Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts in the Valley are still riot-prone areas. The notices have said that the government will have the right to arrest suspicious persons without warrant. The government has already banned the assembly of five or above in the capital clearly aiming at disrupting the parliamentarian parties' anti-government protests. nepalnews.com mr Apr 17 04 Related
News Writs challenge detention of PFN leaders Two separate writ petitions have been filed at the Supreme Court on Friday challenging the ‘preventive detention’ of 21 leaders of People’s Front Nepal (PFN) under the Public Security Act (PSA). Both the writs demand that the court issue a habeas corpus order. Sashi Shrestha Pokhrel, a central committee member and wife of vice-chairman Lila Mani Pohrel who is one among the 21 detainees and Bir Bhadra Shakya, a party loyalist filed the writ petition at the court this afternoon. Shahi’s writ deals with 16 leaders while Shakya’s is about the remaining five. The Home Ministry, Kathmandu District Administration Office, District Police Office and the Crime Investigation Branch of the police headquarters have been made defendant in both the writs. Along with hundreds of protestors, police had arrested PFN leaders, including Pokhrel, central committee members Pari Thapa and Hari Acharya from the five-party demonstrations on April 2. Charging them of cultivating contacts with the Maoist leadership, the government sent them on a preventive detention under the PSA from April 12. “We do not understand why the government is trying to harass us. We will fight the challenge legally as well as politically,” PFN general secretary Naba Raj Subedi told Nepalnews. nepalnews.com mbk April 16 04 Related
News Sixty journalists arrested, Govt. condemned Police Friday baton-charged and rounded up nearly 60 journalists in two different incidents in Kathmandu, amid five parties' stiff protests for the restoration of democratic process. Among the 60 journalists, nearly 47 were detained while they were covering the protest news at Ratnapark area. According to witnesses, police first baton-charged the journalists and dragged them unto the trucks before they were loaded and driven away. Sources said they were kept at Singhadurbar police station, and were not released until 9:00 pm. 13 other journalists were detained in the evening after they marched in protest of the arrest of their colleagues at Bag Bazaar in the afternoon. The 13 were brought to the headquarters of Armed Police Force at Halchowk near Swayambhu and were not released until 9:00 pm Friday. Meanwhile, various political, human rights and media organisations have strongly condemned the arrests of the journalists by the police. In different statements, Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Press Chautari Nepal and Reporters Club, among others, have flayed the arrests. The statement by FNJ, the umbrella organisation of Nepalese journalists, has further warned of "resorting to stiff agitation", if the government does not release journalists and refrain from arresting them again. While contacted, family sources of FNJ General Secretary Bishnu Nishthuri said he and other FNJ officials were in the detention centres to seek release of the arrested journalists. In the meantime, NC President Girija Prasad Koirala and UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal went to the detention centres and expressed solidarity with the journalists. Some of the journalists arrested on Friday include Hari Bahadur Thapa, Balram Baniya, Tanka Panta, Rishi Dhamala, Ujir Magar, Khim Ghale, Ramji Dahal, Saroj Dahal, Sharad Chandra Osti and Lilaraj Khanal, among others. nepalnews.com mr/mbk Apr 16 04 Related
News Two Maoists killed in Dhanusha At least two Maoist militants were killed in security operations in Dhanusha district Friday. One Maoist named Rudal Mansoor, member of the district committee of the rebel outfit, was shot dead in a retaliatory action by the security forces at Prasadi VDC this morning, reports said. In
a similar incident, one rebel was killed at Bhatihan area in the same
district. The identity of the dead has not been disclosed. Meanwhile, reports citing a statement of the District People’s Government of the Maoists said security forces killed Rudal Mansoor after arresting him from his home. nepalnews.com mbk April 16 04 Related
News NC-D begins protests, five party protests continue Nepali Congress Democratic (NC-D) Friday organized a fresh round of protests against 'regression' with a mass rally in the capital while the protesters and former parliamentarians of the five agitating parties’ continued to defy the prohibitory orders. NC-D
protests began at Dozens
of NC-D leaders and protesters including party President Sher Bahadur
Deuba, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar and Pradip Giri, were arrested. Police
entered the Bagbazaar area where the five party protests are usually centered remained tense with irate protesters chanting anti-king slogans and pelting stones at the police as usual. Hundreds of protesters including Shakar Poudel, Shiva Raj Joshi, Dr. Arun Koirala and Ram Bahadur Bista were arrested. Journalists and human rights activists were also baton-charged by the police. After the incident, journalists staged protests against the police act at Mahendra Police Club. Following that protests, dozens of reporters were also arrested. The
protests were continuing at Related
News Nepal has an estimated 340-350 Royal Bengal Tigers in different national parks in the country, a Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation statement said. The
Royal Chitwan National Park has the most tigers followed by the Related
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