Govt. set to pave way for an elected government, says PM 

Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa Thursday said that the government is gearing up for holding general elections as early as possible so as to pave way for an elected government. 

In his speech given on the occasion of 54th Democracy Day this morning, Thapa said the government was making preparation for the elections. 

“The government is committed to hand over the power to an elected government as early as possible,” the Prime Minister said, stressing the need for political a broad political consensus. 

Saying that multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy have no alternative, the Prime Minister said that to talk about the past mistakes was not to dent the democratic system. Thapa in his speech called on all the political forces to join hand to bolster the multi-party democracy. 

Reading out his speech at a special program organized at the Royal Nepal Army pavilion, the Prime Minister urged the Maoists to joint the political mainstream by renouncing the violence. 

He also organized a luncheon at his official residence this afternoon. nepalnews.com mbk Feb 19 04 

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Queen Komal turns 54

The 54th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Komal was celebrated by various programs across the country.

A procession comprising of ordinary citizens and dignitaries of various fields went to Narayanhiti Palace this afternoon to wish the Queen a happy birthday and longevity. 

Similarly, a function was organized at the Armed Police Force headquarters at Swyambhu this afternoon to mark the Queen’s birthday. 

Reports from around the country said that the Queen’s birthday was celebrated by organizing various programs. nepalnews.com mbk Feb 19 04 

Five parties stage protest rallies

Coinciding with the Democracy Day, five agitating political parties staged rallies in different parts of the country on Thursday to protest what they call regression. 

In Kathmandu, the five parties took out a procession this afternoon from Ratnapark and marched through city streets. Holding a mass meeting at Indrachowk at the end of the procession, party leaders declared that the agitations would continue until the regression comes to an end. 

They also made it a point to criticize the King’s statements in recent times, charging that he is seeking an active role. “Parties wont rest until they achieve what they have set out for,” said Sushil Koirala, general secretary, Nepali Congress. He maintained that the agitators would in no way recoil just because the government has resorted to clampdown. 

Addressing the program, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Standing Committee member of the CPN-UML advised the King to come to the streets if he has a desire to get into politics. Otherwise, he said, it was no use slandering the political parties. 

United People’s Front Nepal’s Himlal Puri, Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi)’s Rajendra Mahato, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party’s Prem Suwal also spoke on the occasion. 

While the protests in Kathmandu passed peacefully, confrontations were reported in Surkhet district where police beat up Balaram Sharma, former mayor of Birendranagar municipality and two other protestors. 

Similar anti-regression rallies were organized in other parts of the country, reports mentioned. nepalnews.com mbk Feb 19 04 

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Nepal defeat Uganda

Nepal Thursday defeated Uganda by five wickets in the ongoing U-19 Youth World Cup Cricket in Bangladesh. Nepal will enter the Super League, provided, Nepal tops South Africa (SA) in run rate, or England defeats SA.

Uganda, who won the toss, decided to bat first and made 195 runs in 49.5 overs losing 10 wickets. In reply, Nepal met the target in 48.1 overs losing five wickets only.

It was again captain Shakti Gauchan who played a crucial role in Nepal's victory against Uganda. He made 80 runs (not out) off 126 balls and was the declared the "man of the match."

Other batsmen's performance was mediocre, as they could not make more than 30 runs individually.

Nepali bowlers were the initial architects of Nepal's win in the match. Lakpa Lama took four wickets of the Ugandans while Manjit Shrestha and Sashi Keshari took two and one wickets respectively. Three opposition players were run out.

Nepal is now second in Group B after England. South Africa and Uganda are third and fourth in the Group. England and South Africa are playing the last match of the Group on Friday. 
nepalnews.com mr Feb 19 04

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Fire guts three houses at Asan

A fire that broke out at 3:00-3:15 pm on Thursday completely destroyed three houses at Asan, a major thoroughfare of Kathmandu, our correspondent reported.

The three houses, which were quite old, belonged to Dev Ratna Kansakar, Bhuwan Ratna Kaskakar and Uddhar Ratna Kansakar.

Eight fire engines were brought to the incident site and it took almost two hours to completely extinguish the fire. It took sometime for the fire engines to get to the houses, as they were situated at a narrow galley of Asan bazaar, namely Balkumari. 

A mass meeting of five parties at Ason also delayed the fire engines.
No one was hurt in the incident. Police officials were surrounding the site until 5:00 pm. 

Police could not confirm immediately as to how the fire broke out. nepalnews.com mr/rh Feb 19 04

Nepal's Super League dream alive

Nepal has kept its dream to advance to the Super League of the ongoing Under-19 Youth World Cup Cricket alive by pulling-off a dramatic victory against South Africa on Wednesday. 

Nepali colts are now all set to take on Uganda in its Group B match on Thursday. The win against them may ensure Nepal's entry into the Super League.

After their disastrous opening in the tournament against test playing nation England, which they lost by 8 wickets, Nepal achieved a breakthrough defeating another test playing nation South Africa. 

With the win, Nepal and South Africa are in the same position with two points each. But, in terms of run rate South Africa with positive run rate is still in the second position in the group.

Having the situation as such, Nepal must defeat Uganda with big score difference or South Africa should either lose the match against England on Friday or win with a small score margin.

In the last World Cup, Nepal was in the same situation. Nepal and Pakistan were in the same position winning a match each but later Pakistan defeated England and having the lower run rate Nepal had to play in the Plate Championship.

"Let's pray that the history will not repeat," General Secretary of Cricket Association Nepal (CAN), Binaya Raj Pandey told Nepalnews. 

Though he conceded that Uganda is not a bad team, looking at the low profile kept by the team in the tournament, he was optimistic that Nepal will defeat Uganda.

Before departure to Bangladesh, when asked about the target for the tournament, Skipper Shakti Gauchan had replied in the lines of Roy Dias and Ratnayake, "We will divide it into pieces, we will play each match to win."

Gauchan sounded confident and said, "We don't aim to play in the Plate Championship again."

And apparently, the Man of the Match Gauchan did perform in the match against South Africa to rescue Nepal with his unbeaten 52 runs off just 62 balls when his teammates were falling cheaply.

If the Nepali colts achieved the Super League berth, it will give new dimension to the Nepali cricket. President of CAN Jai Kumar Nath Shah's hope of playing test cricket by 2007 will also get enough backing. nepalnews.com rs Feb19 04

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Maoists withdraw five-day strike

Maoists' student wing, ANNISU (R) has withdrawn the five-day general strike, which was called for February 25 to 29 throughout Nepal, Rajdhani daily said Thursday quoting Maoist sources.

Yoga Raj Chaulagain, a central leader of the organization told this to the daily over telephone on Wednesday, the daily said.

"Keeping people's interest in mind, we have decided to limit the 5-day long general strike in the educational institutions only," Chaulagain said. 

"Instead, we have declared a one-day general strike in the eastern region on 26," he added. nepalnews.com pd Feb 19 04  

Petroleum dealers call off strike

Petroleum dealers Wednesday called off the strike after the government agreed to postpone the decision to segregate sales of petrol/diesel and kerosene for six months, various reports said.

The agreement was reached in the more than ten hours long meeting held between the Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association (NPDA) and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). 

The Executive chairman of NOC Sudhir Prasad Upadhaya signed the agreement on behalf of NOC while all the central committee member of NPDA signed the agreement on behalf of the dealers.

The meeting also decided to form a joint committee including the representatives of NOC, PDA and Consumers Group.

According to the reports, the committee will submit a report within a month suggesting the measures to address the financial burden the fuel dealers could face after they are barred to sell kerosene along with petrol and diesel from their selling points.

Confirming to segregate kerosene outlet from petrol/diesel outlet after six months, Joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) and a member of government's negotiation team, Bimal Wagle said that the government has not backed-off from its decision.

"We have just decided to allow more time to the fuel dealers to relocate their physical infrastructure for kerosene sales," the Kathmandu Post quoted Wagle, as saying.

Hinting the acceptance of government decision to segregate kerosene from petrol/diesel selling, General Secretary of the NPDA confirmed about the agreement reached in the meeting, the daily further said. 

NPDA had called for an indefinite strike six days ago defying the government's decision to separate kerosene supply from the fuel stations.

The government took the decision to curb the fuel adulteration. A study has revealed that the petrol pump owners across the country adulterate fuel worth Rs.2 billion per year. nepalnews.com rs Feb 19 04

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Secretary of Pushpalal Memorial Foundation held 

Four men claiming to be security personnel Wednesday arrested Lok Krishna Bhattarai, Secretary of the Pushpalal Memorial Foundation (PLMF) from his own residence in Baluwatar, Kathmandu, a daily said Thursday.

According to Rajdhani daily, family members have urged various human rights organizations for immediate release of Bhattarai. They further said the men who arrested Bhattarai had promised to release him shortly. nepalnews.com pd Feb 19 04

Amnesty International condemns Chilwal's murder

The Amnesty International in a statement issued on Wednesday has condemned the murder of Ganesh Chilwal, President of Nepal Maoist Victims' Association. 

Chilwal was shot dead by the Maoist on February 15 at the Association's office at Bagbazzar, Kathmandu.

The murder of the civilians by the Maoists has proven that they are not committed to the principles of human rights, the statement read. nepalnews.com rs Feb 19 04

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