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Crown Prince Paras and Crown Princess Himini at 20th Birendra Shield sports competition in Pokhara |
FOLLOWING NEWS REPORTS OF detection of bird flu in western India , the Department of Livestock Services has decided to ban all kinds of poultry imports into Nepal including live fowl, frozen meat, unprocessed meat, egg and other related items. Stating that Nepal runs high risk of receiving bird flu from India , the department has informed all the 24 quarantine posts across the country to remain on high alert. “We are on high risk due to open border with India ,” said Dr. Dhanaraj Ratala, program director at the Department. The department has also urged people to immediately inform the authorities if they see sudden death of large number of birds.
CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF, RNA, General Pyara Jung Thapa has said that the RNA has and will continue to remain firmly committed to protect the human rights and security of innocent persons. Addressing soldiers and offices in various security camps in eastern and central RNA division, General Thapa ordered them to unify to protect human rights. He said, “We must remain committed to abide by the frequent orders by the army headquarters on human rights protection.” Saying that even the Maoists were Nepali brothers and sisters, General Thapa said they should be welcomed if they wish to renounce ‘terrorist’ activities and join national mainstream. He said that the security forces were able to successfully carry out its duty while conducting the municipal elections.
THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION is preparing to bring religious schools like Madrassa, Gumba (monastery) and Gurukul into mainstream. The effort is aimed at roping in students of all ethnic communities in a national mainstream. Following that, the national curriculum will be used without affecting the teaching of religious subjects. The Department has informed that it has formed a seven-member advisory committee headed by the director general of the department to suggest ways for mainstreaming them. According to available data, out of 1481 Gumba in the country, 500 are providing educational services. There are 3000 Madrassa and 80 Gurukuls.
A UN AGENCY ON DISAPPEARED persons has issued a one-month ultimatum to the government to make public the whereabouts of disappeared persons. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID) has urged the government to make public the whereabouts within the first week of Chaitra (third week of March). Otherwise, the government could face additional targeted actions in the forthcoming UN Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva . Such actions could include passing Resolution under Item 9, which could unleash further international actions against Nepal like visa restrictions and so on.
THE OPERATION OF PREPAID mobile phones has resumed since Thursday (February 16) – one month after their services had been suspended by the government. Prepaid mobiles of both Nepal Telecom (NT) and Spice Mobile have resumed operation. NT alone has 207,000 prepaid subscribers in Kathmandu Valley . It has further 47,000 customers outside the valley. The Spice, too, has 70,000 prepaid subscribers.
PAKISTAN HAS RATIFIED THE South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) formally ending speculations that it could refuse to do so. The Pakistani cabinet decided to adopt the SAFTA opening the way for its enforcement in the region. Earlier, Pakistan had indicated it would not sign SAFTA before the resolution of political problem of Jammu and Kashmir . It delayed the formal adoption of SAFTA by one and a half month. Now only Sri Lanka remains to formally notify the SAARC Secretariat of the adoption of SAFTA. The Sri Lankan government has already committed to adopt the SAFTA. It has said it would adopt it after the parliamentary elections.
FOLLOWING THE LACK OF INTEREST shown by Indian side, the government has decided not to award the 300 MW strong Upper Karnali hydropower project to India . The government had written a letter stating that it would develop the project itself if India did not show interest. The letter submitted to the Indian Embassy had also given specific deadline for the latter to react. Source at the Ministry of Water Resources said that since no reply came from the Indian side in the prescribed period, the government believes all previous informal understanding regarding the project development as null and void. Indian side had been informed that since Nepal was facing acute load shedding, it needed to quickly develop power projects and since Upper Karnali was one of the attractive projects, the Nepalese government could not linger on anymore. Since February 1, 2005 , India has suspended all water resource-related dialogue with Nepal . Earlier, India had, in principle, agreed to invest 51 percent in the project. Since the per unit cost of the project is said to be less than Rs 2, domestic experts had been urging that the project be developed for the sole purpose of fulfilling domestic demands.
