China, Russia condemn terrorist attacks

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 -People’s Republic of China today supported all the actions taken by His Majesty the King and the government to restore peace and stability in the country.

Issuing a press release, Chinese Embassy in Nepal has expressed concern about the latest development in the country and supported the effective and contingent measures adopted by the government.

Likewise, Russia has also supported the firm intentions of government aimed at securing sovereignty and integrity of the country by declaring state of emergency.

Issuing a press release, Embassy of the Russian Federation in Nepal, too, has severely criticised the Maoist terrorists for breaking the truce unilaterally and launching attacks across the country, which claimed lives of many people.

The release also came down heavily on the terrorists for burning down the helicopter piloted by the Russian crew on November 26.

"Russia hope that the ideas of dialogue and national consensus will prevail in Nepal, violence and bloodshed will be stopped and law and order will be restored," said the release.

‘11 terrorists killed in Dang’
Security situation improving, says minister

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 – The security situation has improved since the state of emergency was imposed earlier this week, officials said today adding that 11 Maoists have been killed in Dang.

"After the declaration of the state of emergency the situation of security has improved and people are beginning to feel secure now," Minister for Information Jaya Prakash Gupta told reporters.

He said the army and all the wings of the security forces have been involved in operation against the Maoists and the operation will continue.

"In the manner the operation is taking place, we believe there will be peace soon," Minister Gupta said. "The activities of the Maoists is at a minimum now and there are only some hit-and-run incidents being reported."

He said the operation would be successful soon and peace restored soon.

The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) was mobilized after the state of emergency was declared on Monday following attacks by the Maoists over the weekend claiming the lives of nearly hundred security personnel.

Secretary at the Defense Ministry Padam Kumar Acharya said the army has encircled the area around Nuwa village in Rolpa district and was closing in on the circle.

He said it would not be appropriate to give out details of the operation but this was the same area where in July this year nearly six dozen policemen were abducted.

In the clash between the Maoists and the RNA, the ministry said that at least 11 Maoists were killed at ward number 3 of Tribhuwannagar in Dang district Wednesday night.

Secretary Acharya said the total number of Maoists killed since the operation began has reached 34 while four army personnel have been killed and another seven injured.

He, however, said the toll could be much higher as Maoists have been carrying away the bodies of their fallen fighters or pushing them into rivers.

At Basantapur in Terhathum district, the army opened fire with long-range arms and foiled a planned attack on the repeater tower of the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation.

In Gorkha, security personnel raided the house of a person identified as Madhukar Ghimire at Karmasingh village and found explosives, camouflage uniforms and pamphlets and also Rs. 33,000 that had been extorted from local people.

Reports from Dang says that the district administration imposed a dusk to dawn curfew in Ghorahi and Tulsipur to ensure "security and peace in the area." Wednesday was the consecutive day of the curfew.

Security has been beefed up in Lamahi, Bhalubang in Dang and the northern villages adjoining Rolpa district since the weekend. The terrorists had attacked and damaged almost all the government offices, looted around Rs. 65 million in cash from three state-owned banks, leaving two dozen security personnel dead on Friday night.

Our reporter from Sindhupalchowk stated soldiers guarding the Tatopani customs point thwarted a Maoist attack at Daklang on Wednesday. According to the RNA officials of Kewal Jungh Gulm, the terrorists had ambushed the RNA personnel at Daklang and opened fire from surrounding hills. But the soldiers retaliated and forced them to flee the scene.

Similarly, a report from the Darjeeling in India stated that the West Bengal state government has the paramilitary forces on red alert on the Nepal-India border in the wake of the state of emergency in Nepal. Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Subarna said the forces were put on high alert in order to prevent the terrorists from sneaking on the Indian territories.

Meanwhile, the local administration in Gulariya, the district headquarters of Bardiya, imposed a ban on leaving their home after 8 p. m. effective starting from this Friday. Chief district Officer Dilliraj Joshi said the ban would apply even to the neighbouring VDCs of the district headquarters. Likewise, the RNA personnel, in charge of the Royal Bardiya National Park, have been assigned to patrol along the busy East-West highway. An all-party meet was held today before the ban was announced.

Our Nepalgunj-based reporter quoted the RNA officials in Rukum as saying that soldiers on Wednesday evening foiled a terrorist attempt of destroying the Salle-based airport tower.

Terrorists attack Coca-Cola factory

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 – A group of armed Maoist terrorists today detonated two powerful bombs in the factory of Coca-Cola, a product of Bottler’s Nepal Private Limited that is located in the Balaju Industrial Estate in the outskirts of the capital.

The bombs blasted early Thursday morning at about 5:00 a.m. have caused massive damage in the factory and its office.

According to the guards of the factory, the terrorist group numbering six forcefully entered into the factory premises, by threatening the guards at gunpoint.

The factory is yet to assess the total loss caused by the attack. Immediately after acquiring the information about the attack, local police and the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) personnel inspected the incident site.

Both the police officers in the Area Police Office, Balaju, and Managing Director of the Bottler’s Nepal N N Singh refrained from giving details of the incident and the loss caused by the attack.

The Maoist attack came in the capital for the first time after the government declared them terrorist and declared state of emergency on Monday.

The sounds of the blasts resonated throughout the valley and the windowpanes of some of the neighbouring houses have been ruptured.

Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference organised in the capital today, cabinet spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communication Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta said two people have been taken into custody in connection with the bomb explosion.

UML supports emergency

KATHMANDU, Nov 29 (PR)- The central committee meeting of the main opposition CPN-UML today supported the decision of the government to declare the State of Emergency.

"Such a decision was made due to the terrorist activities of the Maoists," concluded CPN-UML’s meeting.

"The terrorist activities of Maoists are responsible for the current critical situation as it was they who abruptly broke the talks, killing army, police and looting financial institutions," Madhav Kumar Nepal, the party General Secretary told journalists after the meeting.

The CPN-UML’s Thursday meeting also reached a decision that it was wrong and undemocratic policy of Nepali Congress that is mainly responsible for the present crisis. The meeting also cautioned the government not to take away the Constitutional rights of the people. "Suspension of citizens’ rights is a wrong step taken by the government," said Nepal.

"Declaration of the State of Emergency is not the solution to the present crisis," stated a press release issued after the conclusion of the 24th central committee meeting.

The release also stated that the CPN-UML would emphasis that the government should take into confidence the political forces and parties and work under consensus initiating various reform measures. The release has also urged the government in such situation to hold all party meeting regularly so as to take the country in the right direction.

"The party urged the government to end the present uncertainties faced by the country as soon as possible," stated the release.

CPN-UML’s 24th meeting has also urged the Maoists to abandon violence, come into competitive politics within the parameters of the Constitution, and the need for the government to bring them into the negotiating table.

NRB bars Lumbini Bank from collecting deposits

By Ram Sharan Sedhai

KATHMANDU, Nov 29 - Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has prohibited the Kathmandu branch of Lumbini Bank from collecting deposits for not abiding by the NRB regulations. The central bank sent a notice on Thursday asking it to completely halt deposit collection.

This is the first time that the central bank completely prohibited any commercial bank from collecting deposits. However, finance companies licensed by the central bank have been taken such action in the past.

The notice signed by Rajan Singh Bhandari, chartered account of the NRB, states that the central bank took action against the branch of Lumbini bank as it did not abide by the NRB rules and regulations.

According to a highly placed source at the central bank, the NRB banned the branch on collecting deposit as it violated the NRB directives. NRB is the apex body that has the full authority of licensing commercial banks and inspecting them.

The Chitwan-headquartered commercial bank is said to have not followed the conditions it had agreed while opening up a branch in Kathmandu. The bank has also not submitted necessary financial report to the central bank, says the source.

An inspection team led by chartered accountant Rajan Singh Bhandari had warned the bank to follow the NRB rules and regulations, but the bank did not pay heed towards it and was penalized, said the source.

We had given the bank time to correct its mistakes, but it did not bother to abide by the rules and regulations and we took such an action against it, said the source. However, one of the promoters said that he had no knowledge of the action taken against the bank.

Meanwhile, our Chitwan-based correspondent has said quoting a high level official of the bank that the head office had not received any such information till 5 p.m. Thursday.

Besides, flouting the NRB rules, the bank was mired in controversies right from the beginning of its operation.

The bank had collected a deposit of Rs 2.9 billion and invested a total of Rs 1.79 billion by the end of the last fiscal year. According to statistics compiled by the NRB at the end of the last fiscal year, the bank has a core capital of Rs 351 million.

Though the number of commercial banks increased remarkably in the last 15 years after the government adopted a liberal economic policy, the monitoring of these commercial banks has always remained weak.

However, the recent move of the NRB shows that the central bank would no longer be lenient towards the commercial banks, which do not follow the rules and regulations of the central bank.

To make its monitoring mechanism stronger, the NRB had introduced a new directive in the beginning of the current fiscal year.

Rodrigo reconfirms to hold SAARC Summit

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 - Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Dr Nihal Rodrigo today reiterated that the 11th SAARC Summit, scheduled to take place in the capital after six weeks, will be held on time, despite the nation-wide emergency here.

"Although the situation here has changed now, the SAARC summit will take place as scheduled," Rodrigo said, addressing an interaction programme organised by Nepal Council of World Affairs (NCWA).

Rodrigo said that there is a little chance that the summit will be postponed. "Still, it all depends upon the government of Nepal. It has to tighten security, which is necessary in such conditions," he said.

But he also said that if the situation does not allow the participants to move freely, due to security or any other reasons, they might have to restrain their Summit in one place. "This is why there may be some restrictions."

The Secretary General also said that terrorism will be the hottest agenda in the Summit, among other subjects. "There will be discussions on participation in World Trade Organisation, establishment of researchers’ network, making of ‘people to people’ association of different professionals from the member countries," he said.

He admitted that SAARC is yet to achieve as anticipated by the people in the region but said that it is slowly taking a shape to make a concrete association for regional co-operation. "The beginning has been made," he said.

The president of NCWA Keshav Raj Jha said that South Asia possesses tremendous economic potentials. "If we work together sincerely, setting aside our political differences, we can make a great stride in our economic development," he said.

News monitoring cells formed

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 – The Department of Information (DoI) has formed two news monitoring cells, print and electronic, to keep track of the news related to army and police operation against the Maoist terrorists and other related news.

This was revealed to The Kathmandu Post by the Director General (DG) of the DoI, Dharanidhar Khatiwada today. The print media cell is under Deputy Director Bina Pradhan and the electronic media, including the Internet websites, have been placed under another Deputy Director Basant Chitrakar.

The two monitoring cells will report to the DG on the news that appears related to emergency and Maoist terrorists.

DG Khatiwada said that the press, both national and international, would have to abide by the guidelines given to media personnel yesterday by the Minister for Information and Communications Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta.

The DG also revealed that he would call a meeting of representatives of international media based in the capital "to request them to follow the guidelines in this sensitive time". "We will call them (the representatives) up and tell them very clearly that the guidelines have to be followed," he warned.

Khatiwada added that some mediamen have been found to exaggerate Maoist attacks and other related details.

If the media, be it national or international, fail to comply with the directives and printed or aired inflammatory news, then they would be asked for an explanation and if they still failed to pay heed, then action against them would be taken as per the provision of the ordinance promulgated last Monday, said the DG.

The ordinance defines who a terrorist is and also has the provision of branding a person involved or helping Maoists as terrorist too.

When asked to comment on those media personnel who come from abroad for a few days and file the news which in their opinion was inflammatory, the DG said that the government would lodge its protest to the country from which the journalist(s) hails.

However, he admitted that there were chances of confusion as to what constituted inflammatory article or news since the situation arising out of the emergency was completely new to everyone concerned.

He also clarified that the government would not clamp down on the media reporting on complicity and negligence of the government officials on non-Maoist issues.

Hopes are high in tourism sector, thanks to Nepal-China pact

By Satyendra Timilsina

KATHMANDU, Nov 29 - After signing the historic tourism agreement with China recently, tourism entrepreneurs here are upbeat that the ailing Nepali tourism industry will now see good days ahead. But how realistic are their hopes?

What if Nepal would not be able to attract Chinese tourists with the current Nepali tourism products that are marketed elsewhere? Would Nepal, which has emerged as one of the best adventure tourism destinations in the world, be able to attract the Chinese when its autonomous region of Tibet has the same geo-structure?

"We have to study the Chinese taste and begin our promotion campaign," says Tek Bahadur Dangi, Director at Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). As market study is yet to be carried out, we cannot say what would attract the Chinese tourists. However, he adds, "White-water rafting, jungle safari, casinos and several Buddhist monasteries would undoubtedly be the attractions."

Besides, Nepal has to be developed as a cultural tourism destination along with its image of scenic beauty and adventure. Also, with the prevailing airline facility, Nepal cannot be an alternative for Chinese adventurous tourists against Tibet or Thailand, as the cost of flying to these places is lower than flying to Nepal. It might be relevant here to state that Thailand was ranked first as the country with exotic tourism destination in a survey conducted by the NTB some months ago.

Though Nepal is the first South Asian destination to be listed as an outbound destination for Chinese, it is one of the 15 Asian destinations of China. Despite being the close neighbours, linguistic differences and the rupee-yuan non-convertibility may prompt the Chinese to seek for alternative destinations. In the mean time, India and Sri Lanka have begun lobbying for their inclusions into the Chinese destination list. If they manage to clinch a similar status, the going would be tough for the Nepali tourism sector.

Despite all these facts, we can still be hopeful for an increase in the number of tourists from China. One of the reason for this is a growing concept of near-market tourism that has received much importance recently because of increased fear of the people to travel to the places that are far due to spreading terrorist attacks throughout the world.

Being a neighbouring and friendly country, China is undoubtedly a potential tourism market for Nepal. The recently signed Sino-Nepal agreement on tourism has added a new dimension to the long-standing mutual co-operation between the two neighbours.

If we can attract even a small fraction of outgoing Chinese tourists, that would make a significant positive impact on our industry. According to the latest statistics, a total of 10.47 million Chinese tourists visited several countries last year, out of which 53.77 per cent travelled for private purpose. Currently, Chinese tourists have an average stay of 15 days and spend maximum of US $ 2,200.

Currently, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal is 1.47 per cent of Nepal’s total tourists. After Nepal’s enlistment as a Chinese outbound destination and the recent historic agreement, government officials expect a minimum of 50,000 Chinese tourists coming to Nepal.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on implementation plan for Chinese citizens travelling Nepal was signed last Monday by Tourism Minister Bal Bahadur KC on behalf of the Nepali government and He Guangwei, chairman of National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China for the Chinese government.

According to the MoU, Chinese tourists can come to Nepal only in a group that should contain at least five members. The Nepalese government has already authorised 67 Chinese travel agencies and as per the agreement all the procedures for incoming Chinese tourists would be handled by these agencies.

Kathmandu, Pyongyang Sister Cities

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 – Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and Pyongyang, the capital of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, established a "Sister City" relationship recently.

This recent agreement is expected to promote the friendly relation between the two cities and increase cooperation in various fields, a KMC press release said here today.

This relation would develop bilateral assistance and friendship between the two cities in all matters, the KMC said.

The KMC has said that this new relationship would develop close co-operation in the fields of construction, administration and maintenance of cities, commerce, public service, education and culture.

Both these cities have also agreed to increase cooperation in the fields of public health, sports, landscape, transport, environment protection and improve the living standard of their residents.

Mayor of KMC, Keshav Sthapit and the Mayor of People’s Committee of the Pyongyang City of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ryang Man Kil, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective cities.

SC to look after old writs now

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 - The Supreme Court today passed an order that it can look after old writs that were filed prior to the declaration of state of emergency.

With the decision of the court, confusion regarding whether the court could entertain such writs is removed. There was confusion that with the suspension of Rights to Constitutional Remedy, all the writs (except the writ of habeas corpus), new and old ones, would not be entertained during the emergency.

Supreme Court (SC) special bench comprised of Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya, Justices Laxman Prasad Aryal, Kedar Nath Upadhyaya, Krishna Jung Rayamajhi and Govinda Bahadur Shrestha had issued such an order.

"Article 23 of the Constitution was effective before the declaration of the state of emergency, and the court can look after such writs, as they were filed earlier making Article 23 as the basis. So there is no obstruction regarding the disposition of such cases," said the order read by Chief Justice (CJ) Upadhyaya.

After Upadhyaya read out the order, journalists present in the court room asked about the fate of new writs. CJ then had replied that the case would be considered only after such cases are filed.

Pleading in the court Thursday as amicus curie were Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki, Senior Advocate Mukunda Regmi representing Supreme Court Bar Association and Advocate Satish Krishna Kharel from Nepal Bar Association.

The declaration of state of emergency has suspended some of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, which includes the suspension of Right to Constitutional Remedy. It is the Article 23 that deals with Rights to Constitutional Remedies. However, exception has been made regarding the entertainment of writ of habeas corpus.

Besides Article 23, His Majesty’s declaration of State of Emergency had also suspended other fundamental rights, which included sub-clauses (a), (b), (d) and (e) of clause (2) of Article 12, clause (1) of Article 13 and Articles 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23 of the Constitution. These articles deal with Right to Freedom, Press and Publication Right, Right against Preventive Detention, Right to Information, Right to Property and the Right to Privacy.

‘No talks until Maoists laydown arms’

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LALITPUR, Nov 29 – General Secretary of Nepali Congress (NC) Sushil Koirala today said that next round of peace talks with the Maoists will not take place until the Maoists lay down all arms and come under the present constitution as the Maoists returned to violence breaking the four-month-long truce.

"The next round of peace talks with the Maoists can take place only after they discard weapons and follow the Constitution," Koirala said.

He was speaking at a talk programme on Democracy and Social Justice in Nepal, organized here Thursday by Center for Consolidation of Democracy (CCD). Koirala is also the chairman of CCD.

"They have breached the cease-fire one-sidedly and have resumed violence despite efforts by the government and NC to solve the six-year-long insurgency peacefully through dialogue," he said, giving the reason of the slim chance of resumption of other peace talks with the terrorists.

He further added that to provide social justice to the people, democracy must be saved.

Rhishikesh Gautum, Minister without portfolio at Prime Minister’s Office, said that people at grass-root level are not getting justice from government offices like land revenue, court, land reform even after the restoration of democracy in the country.

"People are being forced to go through agents to get their dealings done from the offices though we have democracy," he said. The government offices have not changed working system of the Panchayat regime even in the post democracy years.

Narahari Acharya, central member of NC, nostalgically regretted for not working towards social justice, political, social and economic equality in the last 12 years of democracy.

"We had to work in bringing about social, political and economic equality in the country but we did not do in the post democracy restoration years," he said.

"We need to democratize the state for social justice," he said. He also asked all the political parties to evaluate the democracy days after the restoration, underlining a need to discard centralized system of ruling for social justice.

Another central member of NC, Bimalendra Nidhi, asked all the political parties to work for identifying the problems hindering social justice. He also demanded to review the mechanism of the state, as, under present centralization mechanism of the state, people could not get social justice.

NC lawmaker Hom Nath Dahal expressed experience of more difficulty to save democracy than to achieve it. "We are facing harder time to save the democracy than we faced to achieve it". NC central member and vice-chairman of CCD, Bhim Bahadur Tamang also spoke on the occasion.

Others speaking at the programme said that people have been refrained of a number of injustice- politics, economic, education, race, caste, gender, religion and so on. They also held the present education system responsible for social injustice in the country. They also criticized political parties and politicians for not being able to provide people the fruit of democracy.

Those speaking on the occasion were: Sagar Samsher Rana, general secretary of CCD, Yagya Prasad Adhikari, executive member of CCD, Khagendra Bhattarai, President of University Teachers’ Association and Dev Raj Dahal, national advisor of Fedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Insurers’ notice frightens banks, financial institutions

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KATHMANDU, Nov 29 - The commercial banks and financial institutions are facing serious problems following the announcement of Nepal Insurers’ Association of revoking the clause of risk premium involving terrorists and sabotage on non-life insurance schemes.

A meeting of the association of 14 insurance companies on Monday took the decision to this effect, putting the commercial banks and other financial institutions in heightened fright.

Issuing a public notice on Thursday, the association took a decision of not bearing the risk of their insured during the state of emergency in keeping with the international practice during the emergency period.

However, Nepal Rastra Bank has said that there is no need of taking such step in spite of the announcement of state of emergency throughout the country.

Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Tilak Rawal said that the insurance companies should not have taken such a decision at this juncture of time.

"We are discussing the issue and are hopeful of finding some solutions to it", said Governor Rawal.

Following the publication of the notice, Nepal Bankers’ Association and the Finance Ministry held separate metings to discuss the issue. The meeting of Bankers’ Association has decided to stop the evening transactions of some banks and fixed the amount of withdrawal at one time, according to a member.

Finance Secretary Bimal Koirala said that the ministry has been working to find out some solution to the problem.

"We have directed the Insurance Committee to find some solution to the problem and solution will be found out", he said.

Representatives of the Bankers’ Association also met with Governor Rawal on Friday and discussed the issue, but no concrete decision has been taken yet, according to the source.