Clashes Between Maoists And Locals
Six Maoist activists and two villagers have been injured after clashes ensued between the Maoists and locals on Saturday (September 1) night in Dhairing VDC of Parbat district. Raju Acharya, a local youth, was physically assaulted and abducted by the Maoists. He is said to be a supporter of Nepali Congress. Following the abduction, the villagers attacked the Maoist cadres injuring six of them. The Maoists have claimed that whereabouts of their three cadres is still unknown. The local Maoists have accused the NC of attacking their workers. Meanwhile, in Rasuwa district the local administration has clamped 11-hour curfew in Kalikasthan area on Sunday from 8:30 pm following day-long clashes between Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) and local people. The clash between YCL cadres and locals started after the former thrashed one Chankhe Tamang for drinking liquor. The locals openly came out in defiance of YCL after they also thrashed Yagya Prasad Neupane, who is a local teacher. While the YCL burnt a motorcycle belonging to a local Dal Bahadur Gurung, the locals vandalized YCL office and burnt their furniture. Nepalnews.com reports
NAC To Buy One Boeing, Lease Another
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prithvi Subba Gurung, on Sunday (September 2), said that the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is planning to purchase a Boeing and lease another one. Gurung, who is on his way to Japan, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday to meet UML leaders KP Oli and Bidhya Bhandari who are undergoing treatment here. "The process of purchasing and leasing the Boeings will move forward after I return to Nepal from Japan ," he told reporters on his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. "The NAC has two 757 Boeings currently. However, one is in Brunei where it is being repaired and the other is in operation after the engine of the Boeing in Brunei was brought to Nepal and fitted in it," he said. Asked about possible irregularities while purchasing the aircraft, he said: "The companies that provide Airbuses get a certain commission while there is no such provision while purchasing Boeings and hence the chances of irregularity are less." "We are compelled to buy another Boeing as one of them we have is without an engine," he added. "As problems arise in the engine frequently, flights are not regular," he said. Asked where the funds for the new Boeings would come from, he said: "We have to purchase and lease them, even if that means taking loans." He said he is going to Japan with five proposals of Japanese assistance to Nepal. According to him, they are related to improving the condition of airports in Neejgarh in Bara and Pokhara and renovating 14 airports in hilly and mountainous areas. The Himalayan Times daily reports
Maoists Assault UML Leaders
Maoist cadres in Ramechhap district have assaulted a former Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) MP Dev Shankar Poudel in Sanghutar bazaar on Saturday (September 1). The Maoist cadres intervened the program organized by UML in the area and physically assaulted Poudel and later painted his face black. On Friday, the Maoists had also assaulted another UML leader Chitra Bahadur Karki. The district committee member of UML, Karki, was beaten when he was en route to district headquarters Manthali. He was later taken to police post for safety. In another incident, Maoists in Kalikot district, on Saturday, have barred a team of Armed Police Force (APF) from visiting Raskot village of the district for the purpose of inspecting the area for setting up polling center. The Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) cadres forced the APF team to return saying that they will not allow armed security personnel into the village. The government has decided to mobilize APF to provide security for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election. Compiled from reports
NC, Too, Gears Up For The Polls
Amid charges that it has remained indifferent towards starting election campaigning, the Nepali Congress has decided to form a committee to draft its election manifesto. The Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting, on Thursday, has decided to form a committee headed by Chakra Prasad Bastola and including Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, Narahari Acharya, Arjun Narsingh KC, Bhim Bahadur Tamang, Man Bahadur Biswakarma and Suprabha Ghimire as its members. Likewise, the meeting has also decided to direct the district party committees to propose names of three candidates including one woman for the purpose of November elections. A committee led by Laxman Ghimire has been formed to look into technical aspects of selecting candidates. Leading dailies report
EPS Office Set Up
The Office of the Employment Permit System (EPS) has been set up in accordance with the labor pact with South Korea. The office is located at Balkumari, Lalitpur. The office will provide relevant information to aspiring workers on the procedures for obtaining permission to work in South Korea. According to Keshar Bahadur Baniya, director general of Department for Labor and Employment Promotion, Nepal and South Korea will soon ink an implementation accord after which Nepali workers can start going to South Korea for work under EPS system. In the first phase, Nepali workers are expected to leave for South Korea in March, 2008. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports
Police Arrest Maoists Carrying Weapons; Ycl Loots Police Weapons
The cadres of Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) went on the rampage on Wednesday (August 29), vandalizing a police van and looting police weapons in Chohorwa of Siraha district. The furor erupted after a patrol from Adhar base camp at Sukhipur arrested seven Maoists, including former people's government district chief Bishnudev Yadav, for carrying weapons. YCL cadres went on a rampage after they were arrested. The police weapons were looted after a police team from Golbazar reached Chohorwa to quell the situation, said the Golbazar area police office. DSP Mingmar Lama said the YCL cadres looted four .303 rifles and 115 rounds of ammunition. YCL district president Jagat Yadav said his party cadres snatched rifles and ammunition from the police. He called for unconditional release of all arrested Maoists. The Maoists also imposed indefinite bandh in the area from Wednesday afternoon protesting the arrests. Later, police freed five Maoists while two have been charged under Arms Act. The Himalayan Times daily reports
WFP Concerned By Blockade In Movement
The UN World Food Program has said that despite assurances from multiple parties stating that they will ensure the unhindered movement of WFP staff and delivery of humanitarian food assistance for flood victims in the Terai, there continues to be obstructions. "Despite this assurance, WFP staff and trucks carrying humanitarian food assistance for flood victims are not being permitted to move along highways in the Terai during strike periods," states a statement issued by Richard Ragan, country representative of WFP in Nepal. Over the last week, commercial trucks carrying humanitarian food aid for distribution to flood victims in Kailali, Banke and Bardiya have been blocked along various sections of the East-West Highway, it said. "Should WFP staff and trucks carrying humanitarian food aid continue to face challenges in movement and delivery of services to flood-affected populations, we will be forced to suspend operations to provide humanitarian food assistance to flood victims," the statement adds. Compiled from reports
Gas Shortage Looms
Kathmanduites are likely to face an acute shortage of cooking gas ahead of Dashain, as the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has cut liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply by over 30 percent. IOC took this step as the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) failed to clear its dues. "A serious crisis looms ahead with the demand for LPG rising," says Sabarmal Agrawal, president of the Nepal LPG Industry Association. He says that IOC has cut supply to about 6,000 metric tonnes (MT) for August against a monthly regular supply of over 8,200 MT. After other major petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene, the supply cut has come to LPG, admits Ichha Bikram Thapa, spokesperson at NOC, adding that only about 6,000 MT have been loaded for August. He agrees that the cut has come because of NOC's failure to clear the dues and regular monthly bills to IOC, Nepal's sole petro-products supplier. The NOC's outstanding dues with IOC have crossed Rs 3.2 billion. As a result, IOC has cut regular supply of petroleum products by 45 to 50 percent in the last two months, says Thapa, adding that NOC paid Rs 1.43 billion for the month of August, which was supposed to be Rs 2.30 billion Indian Currency (IC). Currently NOC's monthly loss is over Rs 310 million. Over half of its loss comes from the supply of LPG, since price disparity in LPG is as high as of Rs 277 per cylinder. NOC is losing over Rs 160 million a month on this count, say NOC officials. Agrawal estimates that Nepal needs over 10,000 MT of LPG during the festival time. Leading dailies report
Poor Operation Of Sirshiya Dryport Hurts Trade
Sirshiya Dryport in Birgunj could not meet its target for the fiscal year 2063-64 BS.
Traders blame ineffective operation for the decrease in imports and exports. Hemendra Mohan Shahi, assistant manager of Nepal Multimodal Transport Development Committee (NMTDC) agrees, "The effective operation is a must."
Himalayan Terminal — that has been operating the port for the last three years — has incurred Rs 60 million loss. Now government is planning a concept of 'revenue sharing'. Earlier, the Terminal had agreed to pay Rs 950 million to the government in ten years. Around 16,000 containers were estimated to pass through the port. But in the last fiscal year, 11,8,53 containers were imported and only 2,39 containers of goods were exported, according to NMTDC. In the first year of operation, 5000 containers and in the second year only 9500 container passed through the port. The number is much lesser than the estimated figure. An efficient transit transport system is a prerequisite for trade promotion. "Trade logistics, physical infrastructure, simplification, alignment and harmonization of trade and transport related documents and custom reforms are the most important issues that need to address to effectively run the port," says Rajan Sharma, general secretary of Nepal Freight Forwarders' Association (NEFFA) adding that the government promised a lot in the beginning and could not deliver. The transit transportation for Nepal's foreign trade is characterized by poor transport infrastructure and cumbersome custom procedures, which directly makes transport cost high and causes unreliable and slow movement of import/export goods, leading to trade diversion resulting in increased unauthorized trade. The Himalayan Times daily reports
