THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL of the United Nations Kul Chandra Gautam held talks with the government negotiating team on Saturday. He discussed the modalities about the UN involvement in peace process with the government team. He said that the UN will immediately dispatch a team of experts to Kathmandu once it receives the letter from the government. Gautam told government negotiators that the UN was willing to extend any kind of cooperation. Earlier, addressing a program in Kathmandu , Gautam who is on a private visit to Nepal , said that it could take anywhere between four to five months for the UN to dispatch its monitoring team for the purpose of arms management. Gautam also held talks with deputy prime minister and foreign minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE current fiscal year, the volume of micro credit has increased by 17.3 percent compared to the same period previous year. During the period, over Rs 17.36 billion were provided as micro credit by nine rural development banks including four from private sector, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). Last year, these banks had given micro credit to the tune of Rs 14.35 billion. The NRB data shows that micro credit – which is provided without any collateral and under collective guarantee – service has been availed by 2,77,825 persons in this year. Of them, 1,30,276 are members of private sector rural development banks. The micro credit service is aimed at catering to the rural people who have no access to mainstream banking services.
A TWIN OTTER BELONGING TO YETI AIRLINES crashed near Jumla airport killing all nine persons on board including three cabin crew members. The aircraft crashed after it lost balance as it neared Jumla aircraft. The aircraft was flying from Surkhet to Jumla. Meanwhile, the government has formed a committee to probe the crash.
THE KOREAN FEDERATION OF Small and Medium Enterprises has refused to provide quota for Nepalese workers to the government of Nepal . According to officials at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management, the federation has sent a letter to the government saying it cannot provide the quota to the government. Earlier, the government had requested the federation to provide the quota to it, claiming that its official representative Moondrops Manpower Agency had committed irregularities in the selection of candidates. According to the officials, the Korean federation has stated that since it has an agreement with the private company for recruitment of workers, it cannot provide the quota to the government. Furthermore, in its letter the federation has indicated that if the Nepal government has revoked the license of Moondrops, it would be compelled to recruit workers from other countries. In reply to the letter, the government has informed the federation of latest situation clarifying that it has not revoked the license of the agency and had merely suspended it. The government has requested the federation to maintain the quota to Nepalese workers.
A SOLDIER OF NEPALESE ARMY and a kid have died in an explosion of a stray bomb in Pagma of Hariharpur village in Surkhet district. Two others have also been injured in the incident. Soldier Sher Bahadur Karki and Home Bahadur Rana, 11, died of the explosion. Karki had gone to his village on a vacation.
ALTHOUGH THE PEACE TALKS BETWEEN THE government and the Maoists is going on, one dozen soldiers of Nepalese Army (NA) who had been abducted by the Maoists in different times are still missing. According to high-level source at the NA, there is no information about their whereabouts. “At a time when the Maoist detainees have been released, it is the duty of the Maoists to release them,” said the source. The data at the NA headquarters show that 12 soldiers are still missing following abduction by the Maoists since 2059 BS. “These are the ones who have gone missing after abduction. There are others who have been missing in action,” the source added.
THE UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM (WFP) has started supplying essential food stuffs to remote areas in mid and far western regions. The supply would provide relief to around 225,000 people living in this drought-hit region. According to WFP/Nepal official, the supply started after WFP headquarters in Rome approved the program. In the first phase, food will be supplied to Jumla, Kalikot, Dailekh and Jajarkot. Beginning first week of July, food will be supplied to other districts including Bajura, Humla, Mugu, Rukum, Rolpa and Dolpa. The cost of the supply operation would be around $3 million.
INDIA , AS PER PREVIOUS AGREEMENT, will pay the amount towards refund of excise duty to Nepal within two to three days. The Central Excise Duty Center (DRP Refund Section) told this to the Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi . An official of the economic affairs section at the Nepalese Embassy in India, Lal Mani Joshi, told The Himalayan Times that they received information, on Monday, about the release of Rs 41 crores Indian currency that Nepal has to receive under excise duty refund. India had stopped releasing the amount to Nepal after the royal move of February 1, 2005; however, India has started to release the amount after the success of people’s movement. India , immediately after the success of the movement, had released Rs 76 crore to Nepal and Rs 25 crore a day before PM Koirala’s visit to India . “ Nepal has to get more than Rs 20 crores even after the release of Rs 41 crores,” said Joshi.
IN SUPPORT OF THE NEW NEPAL Government, US Ambassador James F. Moriarty thanked Minister for Local Development Rajendra Prasad Pandey for working with the Embassy to send 5,500 copies of the book “On Democracy” to all village and district development committees in Nepal . Ambassador Moriarty visited the Minister at his office in Pulchowk on June 26 to officially hand over the books. “On Democracy,” by Robert Dahl, is often used in the United States as a textbook and resource for students of political science. The U.S. Embassy’s American Center Library translated the book into Nepali last year. The volume proved so popular that the Embassy printed 20,000 more copies and has worked with the Ministry since April to send them out across the country to all local government offices. “Such partnership is a good example of our support to the Nepal Government,” said American Center Library Deputy Director Laura Lucas at the event. “The government is working hard to put the nation on a path to democracy, peace, and prosperity, and information about democracy itself is critical to fulfilling those goals.”
