Govt shelves vehicle plying rule

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 25 : The government today said that it has withdrawn its ‘odd-even-plying rule’ for vehicles for the time being.

In a press statement issued here today the Ministry of Labour and Transportation Management said that the government has taken the decision, following the Supreme Court’s interim order to revoke the decision today.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued an interim order to revoke the government decision of ‘odd-even-plying rule’ of vehicles following writ petitions filed yesterday.

A single bench of the Chief Justice Kedar Nath Upadhyaya in its order stated that the government decision was taken without formulating any laws.

The court order asked the Attorney General to withdraw the decision until a final dissolution of the case.

Since the decision of allowing the plying of odd-numbered vehicles on odd dates and even-numbered vehicles on even dates was against the fundamental rights of the public, the decision should be immediately retracted, the order said.

Govt jacks up petro prices

By Milan Mani Sharma

KATHMANDU, March 25 : Left with no alternative to ease the worsening financial health of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), a special meeting of the Cabinet today decided to raise the prices of all petroleum products bringing them on par with the prices across the border.

However, to relieve the middle and lower class of society from the brunt of increased petro-prices, the government reintroduced duel-pricing mechanism for kerosene. The government has also decided to constitute a separate Price Fixing and Monitoring Committee (PFMC) to oversee the pricing of petroleum products in future.

With the latest Cabinet decision, price of kerosene - previously standing at Rs 17 per litre - has gone up to Rs 28 in the open market. It will cost Rs 23 per litre under rationing. The increment is high by 64 percent in open market price and 35 percent under rationed price.

The government also increased the prices of petrol and cooking gas, whose prices were revised four moths ago, on November 22, 2002. The price of petrol has been raised to Rs 56 per litre from previous Rs 52 and price of cooking gas has been increased to Rs 700 per cylinder from previous Rs 650.

Likewise, the price of diesel, which has been fixed at Rs 35.50 is a 35 percent increase from the previous price Rs 26.50. The price of aviation fuel too has been raised to Rs 34 per liter.

Under the ration system, which will soon be introduced, every family will get 10 litre of kerosene every month. Ration coupons for the purpose would be developed by the NOC, its distribution and management would be undertaken jointly by Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS), Ministry of Homes (MoH) and Ministry of Local Development (MoLD).

"Of the major shift, the government has decided to constitute PFMC, freeing the pricing mechanism from political interest," said a highly placed government source, adding that the ministries and agencies, which would represent in the committee would be made public later.

Price changes in all petroleum products have been enforced as per the recommendation of the NOC. The state-owned monopolist in petroleum imports had been seeking such changes in prices since over eight month.

However, the government had been declining to increase the price of kerosene, as it is the preferred household fuel among the poor and lower middle-class. Also, price rise in diesel - consumed in industrial and transportation sectors - had been halted fearing that it would shoot up inflation.

"The government could not withstand the pressure of price hike, especially in the wake of financial crisis seen in the NOC," added the source. Owing to monthly losses running into millions, due largely to disparity between import and selling prices, the NOC has come to such a state that the government and experts have been raising question over its capability to import oil in future.

So much so, it has sought Rs 1 billion from the government to settle oil import accounts of January with the Indian Oil Corporation.

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post, Rudra Bahadur Khadka, acting managing director of the NOC, meanwhile, said that the latest changes have addressed the root of the NOC problem.

"The increased price is equal to NOC’s import price," he said, adding that the corporation would still require time to stand on its own resources.

25 Maoists released, eight re-arrested sent to jail

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 25 : At least 25 Maoists were released from different parts of the kingdom today. However, eight other who were re-arrested on Sunday under Public Security Act immediately after their release by Janakpur Appellate Court were sent to jail.

The Supreme Court today issued an order under habeas corpus to release three people of a family, who were detained in the capital on charges of their association with the Maoists. Among those ordered for release are Dhirendra Basnet, Puspa Raj Basnet and Birendra Basnet, all from Damak, Jhapa. But it could not be ascertained whether they were actually released.

Similarly, according to our Dang reporter, the district administration office freed 12 Maoists from Tulsipur jail. Superintendent of Police Purna Singh Khadka said that they were released as decided by the district security committee.

Those released today include Muna Chaudhary of Saudiyar Village Development Committee (VDC), Sushila Sharma of Sonpur VDC, Dulnani Chaudhary of Narayanpur VDC, Bhagirathi Sharma of Goberdiha VDC, Chandralal Chaudhary of Duruwa, Bhagidas Chaudhary of Laxmipur VDC, Jeet Bahadur Hamal of Purandhara VDC, Pratibha Chaudhary of Tulsipur Muncipality and Chandra Prakash Chaudhary of Dhikpur VDC in Dang.

Likewise, others released from the detention have been identified as Hurmat Sharma of Badagaon VDC in Salyan, Gobardhan Gharti Magar of Rolpa and Sushil Adhikari of Tiram VDC in Pyuthan district.

Officials said that they were released under the personal guarantee of their close relatives. There are still 31 Maoists detained in Tulsipur jail, according to police.

Our reporter in Ilam said that the Ilam Appellate Court today ordered the local administration to release six alleged Maoists from the Jhapa jail. However, two of the six Maoists, who were about to be re-arrested shortly after their release, managed to dodge the policemen. Security sources said that the local administration had planned to re-arrest Dharma Budhathoki and Naresh Sanjel.

Other Maoists to be freed include Gopal Prasain, Tara Adhikari, Nawaraj Adhikari and Rajendra Chaulagain, all from Jhapa district. They were imprisoned under the Terrorist and Destructive (Prevention and Control) Act for the last eight to 11 months.

Likewise, a report from Manthali, the district headquarters of Ramechhap, stated that four Maoist cadres were released after one year of detention. Ramechhap district administration said that there are 14 Maoists still in the jail. They have been identified as former Chairman of Manthali VDC Dhruba Kumar Karki, Goma Thapa Magar of Betali, Dil Bahadur Tamangof Bhaluwajor and Kali Ghising of Sukaujor VDC.

Meanwhile, our Sarlahi-based reporter said that the local administration today remanded eight Maoists to jail defying the Janakpur Appellate Court’s order.

When asked about the reason of their re-arrest, Sarlahi Chief District Officer Ratna Raj Pandey said they were hard-core Maoists and were involved in destructive acts. "They will not be released until the government-Maoists peace talks progresses towards positive direction," he said.

Dissidents ‘slighted’ over rigid Mandal stance

By Yuvraj Acharya

RAJBIRAJ, March 25 : The fourth General Convention of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) kicked off here today amidst severe dispute between the two rival factions over the future leadership and party’s present policies.

A split in the party seems imminent after the group of 15 members, led by party vice-chairman Bharat Bimal Yadav and deposed general secretaries Hridayesh Tripathi and Rajendra Mahato, was not invited by the party leadership to share the dais during the opening ceremony.

All the dissident members stayed in the backside of Raj Stadium, behind the spectators. After the conclusion of the opening function, they flayed Mandal’s leadership for being "unwise, undemocratic and shortsighted".

The dissident faction of the party has held a secret meeting to thrash out strategies to show their influence in the party.

There have been no efforts made for reconciliation, claimed the dissident faction, during a press conference held here late night today.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, leader of the dissident faction and vice chairman Bimal, who was observing the opening ceremony from the backside of the Raj Stadium, said Mandal’s leadership has done as far as it could, to sideline the devoted party leaders and wanted to humiliate the senior leaders.

"It is the climax of lack of wisdom in Mandal and his camp," said Bimal. "Only those who have supported the king’s regressive steps and favoured anti-democratic line in the party were invited to the stage," he said.

He also informed that the dissident faction was going to take a strident action immediately to end the "arbitrary and undemocratic line" of the party leadership.

Today’s move of the party leadership not to invite the senior leaders to the stage has signalled that split in the party is imminent, if dramatic changes do not occur overnight.

The last meeting of the outgoing national working committee on Monday had ended inconclusively after the group of 15 members refused to approve the political proposal presented by the Mandal faction, claiming it lacked the party’s stance on the current political scenario, party’s policy to accommodate other political parties and the government-Maoist peace process.

Both the factions are trying to persuade Anandi Devi, widow of late Gajendra Narayan Singh, founder leader of the party, to lend her weight behind their respective factions. There is a possibility that Anandi Devi would refuse to contest the elections for the party’s chairmanship. She said she was ready to become the national working committee chairperson, provided she was the sole candidate for the post. Her refusal to contest the elections, to be confirmed by Wednesday morning, will pave way for the Mandal-led faction to wrest control of the party.

The three-month-old conflict in the party, that revolved around the expulsion of general secretaries duo, Hridayesh Tripathi and Rajendra Mahato from their post, was normalized a couple of week ago, with the Mandal faction consenting to the dissident faction’s proposal to make Anandi Devi the new party chairman.

Speaking at the opening ceremony today, most of the national party leaders urged the NSP leadership to choose a democratic line and stand by other political parties in their struggle for restoration of democratic constitution in the country.

Mahantha Thakur, treasurer of Nepali Congress urged the NSP to seek solutions for all the problems through a democratic way and not to support regressive steps. He said the revival of the dissolved House was the only way to right track the derailed political process and return the country towards normalcy.

Bimalendra Nidhi of NC (D) also urged the NSP to support the other political parties against October 4 royal move.

Mandal, delivering his inaugural speech said the party would continue struggling for the betterment of the backward community in the hills and all the people in Terai. However, he did not out spell out a single word about the present political turmoil, parties’ role in the present context and NSP’s growing disputes.

Deuba backs US war over Iraq

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KATHMANDU, March 25 : Sher Bahadur Deuba, former prime minister and the president of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) today expressed his party’s support for the current efforts of Britain, the US and other countries to disarm Iraq.

In a press statement issued by the party central office, Deuba said that the party values peace as an essential precondition for ensuring complete and unfettered freedom for human beings to exercise their inalienable democratic rights.

Unfortunately, the present Iraqi regime has, by refusing to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, as required by the UN Security Council decision, precipated the current war, the statement said.

It also said that the NC(Democratic) respects the democratic rights of Iraqi people and hence attaches importance to the commitments expressed by both the US president George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to honour Iraqi peoples’ right to make that decision and establish democracy in Iraq once the war is over.

The US and its allies had started bombing Iraq on March 20 with an aim of decapitating President Saddam Hussein and establishing a democratic government there.

Gupta released on bail

KATHMANDU, March 25 (PR) - The Special Court today released Jaya Prakash Gupta, former minister for information and communications on a bail of Rs 20.25 million.

Gupta was taken into police custody last week on charges of amassing huge amount of money in illegal manner.

Speaking to journalists after his release, Gupta said that he had been made a victim of a ‘hate campaign.’ Answering to question on whether he would oppose the decision of the Special Court at the Supreme Court, he said, "I will decide on that after consulting with my lawyers."

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against Gupta seeking a bail of Rs 20.50 million and minimum of a five-year jail term.