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Special Tribunal to Try Maoists

Kathmandu, Dec.26: Government formed a three- member special tribunal headed by judge of Rajbiraj appellate court  Mohan Prakash Situala Monday to try maoists under the State Offence and Punishment Act 2043, an announcement said.

The tribunal can also consider cases related to human trafficking and foreign exchange irregularities.

The tribunal with headquarters in the capital has judge of Ilam appellate court Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and judge of Pokhara appellate court Jagannath Pathak as members.

The tribunal can set up benches anywhere in the kingdom, a gazetted notification said.
The establishment of the tribunal comes amid charges that arrested insurgents are never charged and produced before the courts as specified in the constitution within a specified time.

The formation of the tribunal comes  six days after the supreme court issued a show cause notice to the government on a petition to stop any moves to establish such a tribunal.
Immediate reaction from Maoists fighting for a communist state in Nepal was not available.
More that 1500 persons have been killed in a six year insurgency that enters its sixth year February.

Government has in the past defied court orders that released arrested Maoists. nepalnews.com br

Govt forms special tribunal

Kathmandu, Dec 26: The government Monday formed a three-member special tribunal headed by Appellate Court Judge Mohan Prakash Sitaula to deal with the cases related to Maoist insurgency, human trafficking and violation of foreign exchange regulations.

According to a notice published in the government’s Gazette, the other two members of the special tribunal are appellate court judges Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and Jagannath Pathak.

The special tribunal is to start its work within 15 days.

Some lawyers have criticized the decision of the government to form special tribunal as a writ petition against the Act pertaining to Special Tribunal is pending in the Supreme Court.

Some lawyers had filed writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding annulment of the provision of Special Tribunal citing the reason that it was against the spirit of the Constitution.

 It is the first time that the government has formed special court to deal with some particular cases after the restoration of democracy in 1990. Prior to 1990 political change, the creation of special tribunal was a common practice specially to try the political opponents.

Ever since the talks with Maoist rebels failed, the government has decided to take tough measures against Maoist insurgents. nepalnews.com yl

Nepal, Bhutan Begin Refugee Talks

Kathmandu, Dec.25: Amid protests by Bhutanese refugees, Nepal and Bhutan Monday began the tenth round of ministerial talks in the Nepali Monday capital to identify 100,000 refugees in camps in east Nepal for their repatriation.

The talks will extend for three days. The first round of talks were held in a cordial atmosphere, a Nepali Foreign Ministry source said without going into details.

Nepali Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola and his Bhutanese counterpart Jigme Y.Thinley headed their respective delegations to the negotiations.

The two Himalayan kingdoms have failed to resolve the issue in nearly one decade. Bhutan has opposed Nepal's proposal to include international observers in bilateral teams to identify the refugees in Morang and Jhapa districts for their identification and eventual repatriation.

While Bhutanese refugees protested and handed over memorandums to negotiators of the two countries at the venue of negotiations Monday, Nepali human rights activists including Padma Ratna joined protests at Shital Niwas.

Nepal wants identification of displaced persons by interviewing family heads while Bhutan insists on identifying them by personal interviews of 18-year-olds or older persons that would make many stateless in the camps. nepalnews.com br

King Inaugurates KIDS' GUERNICA 

Kathmandu, Dec.25: King Birendra Monday inaugurated an international children's peace mural exhibition-- KIDS' GUERNICA-2000 at Tundikhel in the heart of the city where murals drawn by 10,000 children from various parts of the world, including seven from Nepal, are on display. 

Each of the seven murals were drawn by 625 Nepali children in November and December this year. 
The exhibition sends a message of peace from children around the world to people in the global community in the 21st century. 

The murals measuring 3.5 metres wide and 7.8 metres in length are of the same size size as Pablo Picasso's masterpiece GUENICA. 

The KIDS' GUERNICA programme was initiated in Japan over the internet in 1995 by Art Japan Network by inviting children the world to express their messages of peace by panting the murals. 
Altogether 54 murals from 18 countries have been painted in five years. nepalnews.com br 

Students Destroy Video Cassettes of Hritik Roshan

Kathmandu, Dec.25: Leftist students have been destroying video cassettes of Indian actor Hritik Roshan's movies and stopping screening of his films in various parts of the kingdom protesting what they claim are derogatory about Nepal and Nepalese.

The actor reportedly said that he disliked Nepal and Nepalese the most in response to a question which nation and nationality he most detested over a television network. Protest reports have been received from Kathmandu, Makwanpur and Biratnagar so far. Cassettes were destroyed in the Thali area of the capital Sunday.

President of the Thali Youth Federation Yogendra Shrestha said his organization would prevent the screening of films in which Roshan has acted. Students in Biratnagar stopped the screening of Roshan's  " Kaho Na Pyar Hai " at the Jaljala movie hall Sunday.

Students plan further protests by burning cassettes and postcards. nepalnews.com br

British Gurkhas a Human Rights Issue

Katmandu, Dec.24: Gurkha veterans of the British army Sunday will hold an international human rights conference in the Nepali capital from March 9 to 11 after deciding to continue a five-year peaceful protests as a legal and human rights issue.

President of the Gurkha Ex-Servicemen's Organization President Padma Bahadur Gurung made the announcement at a news conference in the Nepali capital Sunday after a meeting in the resort town in Pokhara in west Nepal on December 18.

The Organization has so far failed to convince the British government for equal pensions and benefits at with their British counterparts. " This is not going to be a trade union movement for increased pensions. This is a human rights and legal issue, " said Hiranya Lal Shrestha, a former communist member of parliament. " The Nepali soldiers are an integral part of the British army."

" It is a laughable argument that Gurkha veterans of the Second World War were not a part of the British army. It is sad the Nepali government, opposition and Nepali embassies abroad are silent on an issue of national pride," said gopal shibakoti Chintan, a human rights activist.

A senior British minister this month said Gurkhas were not eligible like British soldiers to a 10,000 pound sterling from the Japanese because Nepalis were part on the Indian army then.

Gurung said 135,000 persons were still missing or unaccounted for after the World War II and some women were still expecting their husbands to return in Nepal. nepalnews.com br

Rishikesh Shaha Hospitalized

Kathmandu, Dec.24: Former foreign minister, author and human rights activist Rishikesh Shaha was admitted to a cardiac care centre in a city's hospital Saturday for observation. Shaha also suffers from diabetes.

Shaha is a former President of the Human Rights Association of Nepal. nepalnews.com br

NECON Air to Phase out HS-748s

Kathmandu, Dec.24: NECON Air, Nepal's first private airline, will phase out its second ageing HS-748 on New Year's day and press an additional ATR-42 into service on its domestic and international sectors, company sources said.

The company has already received its second ATR-42 in France. The airline will replace its third HS-748 by April to modernize its fleet which also has a single engine Cessna208.

The airline serves seven domestic destinations besides Varanasi and Patna in India. NECON Air is the only private airline operating international flights. nepalnews.com br

Nepal, Bhutan to Again Discuss Refugee Issue

Kathmandu, Dec.24: Bhutanese Foreign Minister Jigme Y.Thinley arrived here Sunday to resume talks to untangle the Bhutanese refugee issue with Nepal after a break of seven months. The two Himalayan kingdoms will attempt for the 10th time in almost as many years to begin a process to identify and repatriate 100,000 displaced of Nepali and Hindu ethnicity from UNHCR administered camps to their homes in the Buddhist kingdom from  where they were forcibly expelled in what some call an ethnic cleansing drive.

Bilateral talks will he held Monday through Thursday to work out a mechanism to identify the refugees in the camps in Morang and Jhapa districts in east Nepal; Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola will lead the Nepali team to the talks. Bhutan backed out of a deal to name verification teams after the 9th round of talks in Thimpu in May to identify the refugees.

Nepal wants to identify refugees by interviewing family heads and has rejected a Bhutanese proposal to identify persons individually which will effectively render many stateless. The officials of the two states are meeting for the first after the United States earlier this month tried to work out a compromise formula.

"Major donors extending financial assistance to Bhutan have said they will divert their assistance to the refugee camps if Bhutan was not positive in resolving the refugee issue. Nepal has an upper hand in the coming talks," former Foreign Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat said ahead of the talks.
But Bhutan has been banking on the support or non-intervention of India despite Nepali efforts to draw New Delhi's good offices to resolve the problem; India is Bhutan's security shield.

Meanwhile, Bhutanese human rights activist Tek Nath Rijal in a telephonic interview with daily newspaper, Naya Sadak, said Sunday he should be included in the ministerial level refugeetalks.
"The refugees should be allowed to return home immediately in an atmosphere of peace and mutual understanding," Rijal told the Kathmandu publication.

Bhutan claims the refugees are illegal Nepali immigrants. nepalnews.com br

NEPSE Index Registers Slight Growth 

Kathmandu, Dec.24: For the first time in one month, the NEPSE index registered a slight growth of 1.66 points at the end of five-day trading Friday. Trading opened at 487.40 points on the first day of trading Monday and closed at 489.07 points Friday. 

Index of commercial bank shares rose marginally to 588.17 points from 586.26 points; the index of manufacturing and processing industries rose to 374.34 points from 355.35 points; index for hotels declined from 361.80 points to 355.35 points. 

Altogether 93,684 shares of 46 companies valued at Rs.57.27 million were traded during the week- a fall from the previous week. nepalnews.com br 

SAARC Engineers to Meet

Kathmandu, Dec.24: About 300 engineers from seven South Asian nations will meet in the Nepali capital for a two-day conference beginning on New Year's eve to discuss common problems, an announcement said.

The second such meeting is being organized by SAARC Diploma Engineers' Forum.   Engineers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are participating in the meet. nepalnews.com br

Sunday Marks Anniversary of Flight  IC814 Hijack

Kathmandu, Dec.24: Sunday marks the first Christmas eve hijack of Indian Airlines Airbus flight IC814 with 187 passengers and crew on board on a routine flight to New Delhi from the Nepali capital by suspected Kashmiri militants killing  one person.

An Indian passenger of the Airbus was shot dead by the hijackers at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan before a negotiated end to the skyjack.

Hijackers commandeered the aircraft over Indian airspace and forced it land at Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai before freeing the passengers in Afghanistan.

Indian Airlines resumed its Nepal operations only six months later on June 1 after obtaining secondary baggage and ladder point checking rights at Nepal's only international airport.

The tourism industry is still reeling under the impact of Nepal's second hijack as overall arrivals declined by 11 percent and arrivals from India fell by at least 20 percent.

The industry received another blow with the year end dispute between hoteliers and workers to slap a 10 percent service charge-- the dispute remains unsettled yet.

Bilateral relations were strained after Indian accusations of Nepali laxity that supposedly resulted in the hijacking.

It took a series of high level meetings, including security talks, to steer relations back to normal culminating in the official visit of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to India.

In the first hijacking incident in Nepal, exiled Nepali Congress activists fighting for the restoration of multiparty democracy hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines Twin Otter on a  flight from Biratnagar to Kathmandu in May 1973 with money of Nepal Rashtra Bank and forced it to land across the border in Farbesgunj.

PM Koirala and Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola were implicated in the hijack. nepalnews.com br

Temba to climb Mt. Everest again

Kathmandu, Dec 24: Temba Chhiri Sherpa, who abandoned the expedition from 20 meters below the summit of Mt Everest in May this year, announced Saturday that he would try to climb the tallest peak again and become the youngest person to reach the top of the world.

Temba,15, told Gorkhapatra daily on Saturday that he would try once more and become the youngest person to climb Mt Everest, “ if I get adequate support for my expedition”.

He, however, did not elaborate his plan of climbing the Everest again.

He was 14 when he attempted Sagarmatha to set a new world record.  Although he abandoned the expedition from 20 meters below the Everest peak, he still established the world record by reaching the altitude of 8428 meters at the age of 14.

Temba had to abandon his expedition as his fingers were frostbitten.

He later lost his four fingers at a hospital in Kathmandu  in order to save his other fingers, doctors said.

Sambhu Tamang has set a world record by climbing Mt Everest at the age of 18. Temba wanted to break this old record and establish a new world record by climbing at the age of 14.

Another teenager Arbin Timilsina also attempted to climb Mt Everest at the youngest age last year. He also abandoned from 40 meters below the summit. nepalnews.com yl