Families of disappeared people give ultimatum

A day after the government made public whereabouts of 24 people said to have 'disappeared' after their arrests, the Society of families of disappeared people has given ultimatum to the government to make public whereabouts of 113 people they say are still missing.

"The list made public by the government on Wednesday only mentions two people out of the list of over 100 people we handed over to them for investigation," a member of the Society told reporters Thursday.

The Society has warned the government that it will organise a relay hunger strike in front of Singha Durbar, the main government secretariat in Kathmandu, if the government did not make public the details about the 'disappeared' people within the next 12 days.

"The report is nothing but an eye-wash," the Society said. 

Human Rights Organisation Nepal (HURON), a rights group, has said more than 1,000 people have disappeared in Nepal after they were allegedly taken into custody by the security forces.

The London-based rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has said Nepal tops the list of countries in the world where people have reportedly 'disappeared' after being detained by the security forces.

The government had set up a committee led by a senior Home Ministry official amid allegations that the practice of making people 'disappeared' after detaining them was widespread in Nepal. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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Two brothers killed in explosion in Dhading

Two brothers, Mohan Singh Shrestha and Ram Bahadur Shrestha, died when a bomb wrapped in a jute sack exploded at the main market at Sunaula bazar in Dhading district.

Mohan Singh, a policeman was on home leave, and was visiting the market with his brother. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosion. But police suspect the Maoist rebels to be responsible for it. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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Nine companies seek permission for domestic flights

Nine companies are vying for permission from the government to operate domestic flights in the country.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, those seeking permission include Shraddha Airways, Ampro Airways, Om Airways, Nepal Airlines, Agni Air, Bholar Helicopter, Gurans Air, Base Air and Blue Sky Paragliding. 

If all these nine companies get permission, it will pump millions of rupees of investment into the aviation sector and create employment opportunities for hundreds of people, reports said Thursday.

The renewed interest among investors to invest in the domestic aviation sector has come at a time when the domestic flights in the country went up by nearly 11 percent last year.

Some one million passengers made use of domestic air services in the year 2003 and passenger share of all the existing airlines companies in the country has gone up, Kantipur daily reported. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

Bus driver killed in explosion

A bus driver was killed when a bomb exploded inside a bus in the far-western town of Dhangadhi Wednesday.

Navaraj Bhatta died on the spot when he was inspecting a bag left unattended inside the bus after all of the passengers had left. The helper of the bus also got injured in the incident. 

The bus belonging to the Dinesh Travels Pvt. Ltd. has also been destroyed completely. Windows of a nearby bus also got shattered in the explosion.

Coming from poor economic background, Bhatta is survived by two infant children and wife. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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Team negotiates for the release of journalists

A team comprising journalists and human rights activists has been trying to negotiate with local Maoist leaders in the far-western district of Surkhet in order to ensure release of journalists detained by the rebels, reports said.

A 13-member team led by vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Bipul Pokhrel, held two rounds of talks with local Maoist leaders demanding immediate release of Durga Thapa, Surkhet-based correspondent of Nepal Samacharpatra daily.

The rebels said they had kept Thapa under 'people's detention' for working against 'people's regime' set up by them. The whereabouts of journalists Dhana Bahadur Rokka Magar, Parek Raj Shahi and Dekendra Thapa said to be under Maoist detention still remain unknown. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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Over 50 people arrested from dance restaurants

Police have detained 53 persons after raiding three dance restaurants in the capital, Kathmandu on late Tuesday.

Police said the raids were carried out in response to complaints that these restaurants were promoting vulgarity in the society.

Police raided Los Angeles and Red & Fire dance restaurants at Thamel and Mumtaz dance restaurant at New Baneswore and made arrests, reports said.

Earlier in the week, police had rounded up some 40 gay people from different parts of the city and 27 persons from massage parlours operating in the Thamel area. 

Over a dozen organizations have condemned the police action against gay people and massage workers and have demanded their immediate release saying that it was an infringement of human rights. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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Govt. prepared to counter Maoists' embargo: Spokesman Pandey

A spokesman at the Home Ministry, Gopendra Bahadur Pandey, has said the government is prepared to tackle the Maoist embargo targeting the capital, Kathmandu.

Mr. Pandey said the government had made 'adequate' and 'reliable' security arrangements to thwart the so-called three-week economic embargo on the capital.

In a statement, Rasuwa and Dhading district committees of the Maoist said they would impose embargo on the capital beginning August 18 against what they said indiscriminate killing of their cadres and sympathisers by the state. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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High level committee formed among coalition partners

A high level coordination committee has been formed to provide support, guidance and suggestions to the government.

A meeting of the top leaders of the parties participating in the government took the decision at a meeting that was held at the Prime Minister's official residence at Baluwatar on Wednesday, reports said.

The committee, to be led by leader of Nepali Congress (Democratic) and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, has UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Pashupati Shumsher JB Rana and chairman of Nepal Sadbhavana Party Badri Prasad Mandal as its members.

The top leaders of the coalition have also agreed on forming a high level peace negotiations secretariat including themselves and Minister for Information and Communications, Dr. Mohammed Mohasin, a royal nominee.

The meeting of the council of ministers is expected to make a formal decision in this regard on Thursday. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

Shoot out at hospital premises in Dang

A shoot out took place at the premises of the Mahendra hospital at Ghorahi in mid-western district of Dang Tuesday evening, reports said. Nobody was injured in the incident, reports said.

Superintendent of Police in Dang, Biswo Raj Singh, said the shoot out took place when Maoist rebels hiding behind the hospital opened fire on a group of policemen who had gone there to escort a sick policeman undergoing treatment.

Patients, their attendants and staff at the emergency services department of the hospital had to run for cover after the shoot out broke.

After the incident, health services staff in Dang have urged both the sides in the conflict to declare the health sector as 'zone of peace.' They said such incidents would lower the morale of health staff and would hamper services including emergency ones. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04

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Three Nepalis die in Qatar

Three Nepali nationals working at a petroleum excavation center in Qatar have died due to suffocation.

Kantipur daily reported Thursday quoting an email sent by a Nepali working at the center as saying that three persons died Sunday when they were trying to clear an underground tunnel at Al Khor, 50 km north of capital, Doha.

Officials at the Royal Nepalese embassy at Doha said they had not received any information about the incident as of Wednesday. nepalnews.com by Aug 12 04