Thapa Arrested, Refuses To Cooperate
Former Home Minister Kamal Thapa has demanded that he be properly summoned by either the Parliament Secretariat or by the parliamentary probe committee. Thapa, who had been produced in the parliament by the police on Saturday (January 13), said that he will continue to refuse to cooperate with the parliamentary committee until he is detained. "I am currently being detained. And I will not cooperate or record my statement until I remain under arrest. First they should release me and then summon me properly. Then after, I am willing to cooperate," Thapa told reporters. Earlier, Thapa was brought before the parliamentary committee formed to probe the killings of Nagarkot and Belbari during the royal regime. He was later released. In Nagarkot and Belbari incidents a number of civilians had been killed in army firing. Compiled from reports
Goit Against Interim Constitution
The leader of the faction of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), which has imposed three-day Terai bandh from Friday (January 12) has said that his party is against the interim constitution finalized by the eight parties. Talking to BBC Nepali Service, Goit said that the interim constitution was "prepared by Nepalis" and had not addressed issues of "people of Terai." The two factions of JTMM – one led by Goit and another led by Jwala Singh – have intensified their violent activities in eastern Terai region in recent months. Both of them have expressed willingness to talk to the government and both have put forth identical preconditions, which include declaration of Terai as independent state and eviction of Pahades (people from hilly region) from civil service, army and police organization in Terai, among others. They have also demanded fresh delimitation of electoral constituencies based on population and have demanded that Madhesi (Terai) administrators be allowed to distribute citizenship to Madhesi people. The normal life in some districts of eastern and central Terai region has been paralyzed due to bandh called by JTMM (Goit). Transport movement in and around Siraha district came to grinding halt while schools, institutions and business remained shut down. According to police, JTMM cadres exploded a bomb in front of a shop belonging to businessman Dinbandhu Shah on Thursday night in Siraha. They also held torch-lit procession and set a motorcycle to fire. In Janakpur also the bandh affected normal activities. In Saptari, one Ram Bahadur Basnet was abducted. The bandh also hit Morang, Sunsari, Rautahat, Bara and Prasa districts. nepalnews.com report
Mero Mobile Plans New Value Added Services
Spice Nepal 's Mero Mobile is now poised to launch the next phase of expansion with a string of value added services. The telecom player is targeting February to unravel these services that are being extended to it by its service provider based in Kazakhstan . While CEO Dmitry Zaika makes no bones about Mero Mobile's aim to provide Nepali consumers all the telecom services available globally, and eventually beat Nepal Telecom in the number game, he refuses to divulge the details of services to be launched in February and thereafter. But according to sources, to begin with Mero Mobile plans to come up with an interactive campaign with consumers for Valentine's Day for which it has already tied up with Kantipur Television. "Our focus in 2007 will be on extending the mobile phone service into the arena of entertainment and information and providing state of the art services. That is where the world market is headed," claims Zaika. The management of Mero Mobile is spending substantial advertising budget. While the launch budget alone stood at Rs 10 million in 2005, the current budget for advertising, events promotion and outdoor campaign this year is said to hover between Rs 25-30 million. The Himalayan Times daily reports
BJP Delegation Concerned About Fate Of Monarchy
A delegation of five leaders of India 's main opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), met with president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Pashupati SJB Rana and expressed their concerns about the fate of monarchy. "They showed interest about the political developments and about the issue of monarchy," Rana later told media persons. The delegation led by Surendra Kumar Arora, head of the Foreign Department of the BJP, also held talks with other political leaders including Maoist spokesperson Krishna Mahara. During their four-day stay in Katmandu , BJP leaders are scheduled to meet with senior leaders including Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Friday. The team had arrived here on Wednesday. They have already met with UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal . The BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, which has been supportive of monarchy in Nepal , had expressed displeasure over the reinstated parliament's declaration to turn Nepal into a secular state. Compiled from reports
Eight Party Leaders Divide 48 Seats In Interim Parliament
The meeting of the top leaders of the four big parties – NC, Maoists, UML and NC (Democratic) – held at Baluwatar on Wednesday (January 10) decided to divide the 48 seats in the interim parliament among the eight parties. As per their decision, NC, Maoists and UML will get 10 seats each; NC (Democratic) will get 6 seats; and smaller parties People's Front, United Left Front, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi) and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) will get 3 seats each. NC-D president Sher Bahadur Deuba is said to have expressed dissatisfaction over the decision to grant his party lesser number of seats. The 330-member interim parliament is all set to be formed on January 15. This parliament will have 209 members from the existing parliament plus 73 members from the Maoists and 48 nominated ones. The parties have said they will nominate civil society representatives, women, Dalits, Madhesis, Janajatis and other marginalized community members in the 48 seats. Likewise, the Wednesday's meeting also decided to present the interim constitution to the House of Representatives at least one day before promulgation to allow for general discussion. Leading dailies report
Maoist Clarify Their Foreign Policy
The chief of the foreign relations cell of the Maoists Chandra Prakash Gajurel aka Comrade Gaurav has said that his party will adopt practical foreign policy based on the principles of Panchasheel – which focuses on mutual respect. Releasing his party's foreign policy, Gajurel said the Maoists will adopt equi-distance between two neighbors. He, however, deplored the policies of 'rampant interference' by the United States . He said that his party will continue to embrace Marxism, Leninism and Maoism. "We will have fraternal relations with RIM, CCOMPOSA and proletariat organizations around the world. But this relation will not come in the way of foreign policy," he said. Leading dailies report
Maoists Assigned To Talk With JTMM: Sherchan
Deputy Prime Minister Amik Sherchan has revealed that the government has assigned the Maoists to hold talks with the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), which is engaged in violent activities in Terai region. The JTMM is a splinter of the Maoists. It has two factions. However, Sherchan added that the government will not hold talks with the JTMM faction led by Jwala Singh. Compiled from reports
Badu Presents RTI Bill At The Parliament
The government spokesperson and Minister of State for Information and Communication Dilendra Prasad Badu presented Right To Information (RTI) bill at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The bill aims to make information accessible to the public and institutionalize the public's right to information. The government plans to pass the bill in a few days before the current House of Representatives is replaced by an interim parliament. Leading dailies report
Minor Technical Corrections Made In Interim Constitution
A team of the government and Maoist representatives made some minor technical and grammatical corrections in the finalized interim constitution. The corrections were carried out by members of government talks team including Home Minister Sitaula and Minister of State for Labour Ramesh Lekhak and a Maoist representative Khim Lal Devkota. They, however, did not amend any provision. "There was no question of touching any provision as the eight party leaders have already said that they will not amend the provisions of the interim constitution," said Devkota. Despite demands for some amendments raised by Supreme Court judges, bar association representatives and even voices of dissatisfaction raised by the Prime Minister, the interim constitution has not been amended. Compiled from reports
PMO To Be Upgraded
Given the sweeping authorities vested in the Prime Minister by the interim constitution, the Prime Minister's Office is poised to undergo drastic reforms in its organization and physical facilities. A proposal to this effect has been presented at the cabinet. The proposal was prepared by a six-member team led by secretary Dipendra Bikram Thapa. In order to expand the space of PMO, other offices located at the main building of Singhdurbar could be displaced. The proposal also calls for appointing several expert advisors on various matters to suggest the Prime Minister in policy-making and execution. Meanwhile, preparations are afoot to make the foreign ambassador-designates to present their diplomatic credentials to the Prime Minister. Till now, the King used to receive the credentials. Kantipur daily reports
Development Budget Diverted To Subsidize Petroleum Products
As the government is selling petroleum products below their cost price, billions of rupees that could have been used in development have been wasted. To benefit the urban people, the rural people are bearing the cost. In the last four years, the country has lost Rs 22 billion in petroleum transactions. Had this money been saved, it could have funded 29,000 primary schools – each with 250 students capacity; or it could have funded setting up of 74,000 sub health posts; or it could have funded 1700 km road construction in hilly region (2250 km road in Terai). This estimation based on per unit cost calculated by the National Planning Commission (NPC). It shows that the government is subsidizing Rs 15,000 to every motorcycle or vehicle owner in Kathmandu valley – which consumes 65 percent of the petroleum products. "It is the height of inequality to be wasting such a huge amount of resources," said Dr. Posh Raj Pandey, a member of the NPC. Experts have said that since the price of petroleum products have declined in the international market in recent months, it is the right time to liberalize the petroleum sector. Kantipur daily reports
Chilime Works To Resume
Following an understanding between the Chilime hydropower company and Maoist leadership on Thursday in Kathmandu , the stalled works of the project is set to resume. Since Tuesday, the works of the project had been stopped after Chilime public concern committee formed by villagers of Chilime, Goljung and Syaphru raised various demands including free electrification. The stoppage of the project had resulted in the loss of Rs 1.9 million everyday. The talks held between company director Dambar Bahadur Nepali and Maoist commander Barsha Man Pun concluded to resume the project by positively taking up the demands raised by villagers. Following the agreement, Pun telephoned Maoist in-charge of Rasuwa district to withdraw obstructions. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports
NBB Is Improving: NRB
The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has informed that the loan recovery and overall financial situation of Nepal Bangladesh Bank (NBB) has been improving. Two months after the NRB took over the management of ailing NBB, Rs 700 million of loan have been recovered, claims Maha Prasad Adhikary, the coordinator of the management committee appointed by the NRB. "Loans from promoting agency NB have also been recovered to a certain extent. We have recovered Rs 237 million from the NB group. Still, principal amount of Rs 1.3 billion and interest amount of Rs 230 million remains to be recovered from the group," said Adhikary. Other debtors owe Rs 460 million to the bank, he added.
Kantipur daily reports
