PM seeks private sector cooperation

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 23: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has said that His Majesty's Government would exert itself with utmost seriousness to give the country, now passing through a difficult situation, a clear sense of direction and bring about peace and security and law and order.
Prime Minister Chand said this in a meeting with a business delegation which had come to offer him congratulations.

"We are faced with the great challenges of peace and security, combating corruption and holding the general elections. The need of the nation today is to advance with unity and will power for coping with these challenges instead of getting bogged down in minor disputes", the Prime Minister said.

He said HMG attaches great importance to the private sector and the cooperation of private sector organisations and associations is indispensable in the coming days for the effective implementation of economic policies and regulations.

According to Nepal Chamber of Commerce, its chairman Rajesh Kazi Shrestha who led the delegation expressed confidence that effective measures would be taken to development the industry, commerce and economic sectors and added that HMG should come up with a 'special economic package' as soon as possible.

Nepal renews support to UN Charter

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 24: The 57th UN Day is being celebrated throughout the world today.In a message given on the occasion, Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has said that ever since Nepal acquired membership of the United Nations, it has subscribed to the UN charter and has also been involved in peace-keeping duties in different parts of the world.

It is the inherent right of every nation to protect its nationality, he said in the message, expressing confidence that the various problems that are before us today could be resolved by promoting mutual relations between various nations on the basis of peaceful co-existence.

Incidents like killings, violence and terrorism that are taking place in the world today have surfaced as the problem not of a single country but as a worldwide problem, Prime Minister Chand said in the message and stressed that the solution to all these problems is also possible through the joint initiative of the entire world.

Expressing the confidence that this day would inspire one and all to seek a solution to unilateral and multilateral problems and in maintaining world peace, the Prime Minister has pledged Nepal's unflinching participation in UN activities.

NHRC urges Maoists to stop atrocities

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 23: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has drawn the attention of the CPN (Maoist) regarding their responsibility on the basis of conclusion drawn after conducting on site monitoring of the human rights situation in 35 districts of the country from last Asar through Asoj.
According to the Commission, the CPN (Maoist) cadres and fighter squads were found involved in activities like politically-motivated assasinations, killing in the name of someone being an informer, abductions and 'disappearance' of those kidnapped by them, meting out harsh and inhuman torture, torturing security personnel captured by them and murder of innocent citizens.

The commission has stated that it found the Maoists have recruited even children in their fighter squads, have used land mines in an indiscriminate manner and in several places, selected targets against the rules of war.

It was found that the CPN (Maoist) cadres and fighter squads were involved in extortions, forcibly using houses belonging to people not affiliated with them, blocking and looting food-grains, medical goods and basic consumer goods and also attacking health posts.

Extortion of donations from teachers, murdering them as political vengence and creating obstacles to the right to education were found to be indulged in by the Maoists.

The CPN-Maoist military units and cadres were also found to have neglected and violated at many places provisions of the common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, adds the Commission.
The Commission has urged the CPN-Maoists to stop all types of killings, abduction and murder of unarmed security personnel on leave and retired security personnel, to stop every kind of torture and not murder the people captured.

It has also urged the Maoists to not attack and destroy structures and goods of civil importance and public utility, to protect cultural traditions and heritage, not use children as soldiers, not use landmines indiscriminately and follow the rules of war.

Urging the Maoists to respect the people's right to food, education and health and facilitate the reach of the government and national and international organisations like UNDP, the World Food Programme, the Red Cross and NGOs which guarantee such rights, the Commission has also requested them to respect the public right to vote and travel freely.

HMG mulling POL price hike

By Rajkumar K.C.

KATHMANDU, Oct 23: His Majesty's Government is mulling over increasing the price of petroleum products at par with the existing price of oil in the Indian market. Sources at the Ministry of Industry Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) say that the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) - that is providing cross-subsidy on kerosene and diesel - has been bearing losses amounting to millions of rupees each month owing to considerable rise in the price of oil in the international market.

For the last six months the NOC has been bearing losses of more than Rs 500 million every month, according to Rudra Bahadur Khadka, acting General Manager of the corporation. "Due to rise in the price of oil in the international market, the increment of price of petroleum products has become essential," he said.

The NOC, the state-owned enterprise, has urged the government to raise the price in order to check unwanted leakages of petroleum products across the border.

Khadka also hinted at the possibility of narrowing down the differences in prices of kerosene and diesel.

The variation of prices of kerosene and diesel is considerable in Nepal and India. The price of diesel is Rs 26.50 per litre and that of kerosene is Rs 17 per litre in Nepal as against ICRs 33 and ICRs 27 respectively in India.

Internationally, the prices of petroleum products have increased by almost 40 per cent in the last 12-15 months, and Nepal cannot avoid it, said Khadka.

NOC has not revised the price of petroleum products for the last 20 months.

The NOC is providing cross-subsidy to kerosene and diesel from petrol and aviation fuel. Because of the subsidy, the price of kerosene and diesel is relatively cheaper in Nepal than in Raxaul and other bordering areas of India.

Due to the open border that stretches to more than 1,100 kilometres, a huge quantity of petroleum products is smuggled across the border causing an enormous deficit to Nepal's national coffer.
The international donor agencies are learnt to have pressed the government either to increase the price of petroleum products or check the leakages into the Indian market. But it needs stern measures to curb the illegal flow of the petroleum products across the border, said Sunil Manandhar, a consumer rights protection activist.

"The donor agencies have emphasised that the real beneficiaries of the subsidy should be Nepalese," Dr. Shankar Sharma, former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) said recently.

For the last 2-3 months the government has been considering about increasing the price of petroleum products, said a high-ranking official at the Ministry. He said the NOC could no longer bear such heavy losses.

Senior officials at the MoICS and NOC are calculating the permutations and combinations to fix the prices of the POL products. "Decision regarding the increment of price is yet to be taken," he clarified.

The NOC has been compelled to increase the price to make it at par with India because of illegal trade in the border areas. Keeping the prices of the POL products constant artificially would have multiplier effect on the national economy, said an official at the Ministry.

Every month the NOC purchases petroleum products worth Rs 1.5 billion. According to NOC the total consumption capacity of Nepalese market per day is 2200 kiloliters. The NOC buys nearly 35,000 kiloliters of kerosene per month with the India Oil Corporation. Similarly, NOC purchases 5300 kiloliters of petrol, 4400 kiloliters of super oil, 24300 kiloliters of diesel and 5200 MT of cooking gas.
In order to curb the adulteration of diesel and kerosene the NOC is going to introduce a new system to reduce the variation of their prices, according to an official at NOC.

Most of the petrol pumps in the country are suspected of selling diesel and petrol by mixing them with kerosene.

American Centre Director visits TRN office

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 23: Director of the American Centre Ms. Constance Colding Jones visited the office of The Rising Nepal today and met with senior journalists of the newspaper. Ms. Jones is also the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy.

During the meeting, Ms. Jones said that the American Centre is willing to develop relations between the Centre and the media based on mutual trust and confidence. Ms. Jones talked about the priorities of the US government and the specific interest of the American Centre in developing better relations with the media.

She enquired about different activities in the Gorkhapatra Corporation and The Rising Nepal. The new Director of the American Centre also visited the newly constructed building within the Corporation's premises and observed the newly installed press.

Effective revenue policy stressed

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LALITPUR, Oct. 23: Minister for Finance Dr. Badri Prasad Shrestha has said that to make people feel positive changes in the fields of revenue administration and people's participation is the first and foremost duty of His Majesty's Government.

Minister Dr. Shrestha made this remarks while inaugurating a three-day seminar on custom administration organised by Revenue Administration Training Centre here today.

Referring to the complex situation the country is passing through at present moment, he said all the government officers should discharge their responsibilities with loyalty and integrity.

The Minister for Finance made it clear that given an urgency to give swift revenue administration, there should be stringent policies regarding revenue mobilisation to carry out all the programmes mentioned in the annual budget of current fiscal year.

Officiating secretary at the Ministry of Finance Pramod Karki stressed that Revenue and Custom Administration should rationally put into action the rights provided for by the Constitution to ensure clean administration, a priority agendum of the present government.

Director General of the Department of Custom Ramchandra Man Singh said despite limited human resources and physical facilities at its disposal, custom administration has a responsibility to maintain transparency in its dealings.

About 25 government officials associated with Revenue and Custom Administration are taking part in the seminar.

21 rebels killed in army operation

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 23: The security forces killed 21 terrorists, 19 of them in Bardiya and Rolpa districts in mid-west Nepal, during the search operations on Monday, the Defence Ministry said today.
In their encounters with armed terrorists, the security forces killed 15 terrorists - eight at Bhimapur and Durganagar, three at Badalpur, two at Khushini and one each in Patharaiya and Baphukhola - in Bardiya district.

Four terrorists were killed in clashes between the security forces and the terrorists at Ghodagaon of Rolpa district. The ministry said Janardan Khatri, the so-called chief of the people's government, was among those killed.

The security forces have found grenades, guns, socket bombs, explosives and 800 metre long coil, which could be used to set ambushes, from those sites.

One terrorist was killed during a search operation of the security forces at Govindapur of the eastern Terai district of Siraha. The dead one is identified as Mahendra Mahato, the district committee member of the terrorist group. The forces also found explosives and socket bombs from the place.
On the same day, one more terrorist was killed in an encounter at Mauba area of Panchthar district in eastern Nepal. The security forces found socket bombs and documents related to the terrorist group from the place.

The Ministry said a woman, who was injured in a cross-fire during the encounter between the security forces and the terrorist in Bardiya on Monday, has been airlifted to the Birendra Military Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu for treatment.

All party meet ends without conclusion

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 23: The three-hour-long meet of the six mainstream political parties today ended inconclusively as the leaders and the representatives of the political parties remained stuck to their stances.

The CPN-UML had called the meeting to discuss on the political situation after royal address, and to forge a consensus to find a way out of the existing situation.

A press statement issued after the meet said the Nepali Congress party, which was represented at the meeting by its president Girija Prasad Koirala, had reiterated its stance on the revival of the dissolved parliament would be the only constitutional way of getting out of the situation saying that there was no possibility of holding a timely election.

But other political parties were disinterested in the NC's proposal, rather they opposed it. Their grudge was that the government was formed without taking consensus among the political forces.

RPP's Vice President Prakash Chandra Lohani said that his party was proud that the leader of his party has been made the prime minister.

After the meeting Narayan Man Bijuchhe, the President of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party said the bad governance of the major political parties has invited the current political situation was invited. He said that Sher Bahadur Deuba was primarily responsible for the present situation. "All those responsible parties who were in power in the last 12 years should make self-criticisms," he said.

Hridesh Tripathy, General Secretary of the Nepal Sadhvabana Party said that this sort of meeting would be given continuity.The parties will meet again on Friday.

SAARC Fair to boost intra-regional trade

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 23: With the objective of promoting the intra-regional trade, investment and other economic activities, the fourth SAARC Trade Fair is going to begin here from Friday. More than 200 exhibitors, trade representatives and promoters from the SAARC countries are taking part in the four-day exhibition.

"The trade fair will provide a unique opportunity to share experiences of traders and investors," said Vasudevan, Chairman and Managing Director of the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) at a press conference here today.

The stage is set at the Fourth SAARC Trade Fair to witness the presence of a "Hi-Tech India". For the first time, 80 frontline Indian companies will be showcasing their strengths in key areas of modern science and technology as also manufacturing - a show case of 'Hi-tech India'," he said.

"With such a strong presence of Indian companies spread across diverse areas like infrastructure, design, telecommunications, consumer products and manufacturing, the fair is likely to be an effective interface for enhancing trade relations by means of exchanging ideas and dissemination of expertise in various fields of business and industry," said Vasudevan.

The ITPO is the only multi-disciplinary export promotion body of the Government of India, and it runs the largest trade fair ground in New Delhi, the Indian capital.

India is the largest trading partner of Nepal and is also the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) partner in Nepal. It is hoped that the Indian participation will help enhance bilateral trade and encourage Indo-Nepal joint ventures in this country.

At the fair there will be the state-of-the art technologies developed by leading Indian laboratories. Emphasis has been placed on those areas that are particularly relevant for Nepal and other constituent SAARC nations, said ITPO officials during the press meet.

Participation of leading Indian companies in infrastructure areas like low-cost housing, construction materials and power generation & transmission has been confirmed. Companies like National Hydropower Corporation, Power Grid Corporation of India, National Thermal Power Corporation will be exhibiting state-of-the-art technology and know-how and would be available for consultancy and interaction.

Housing & Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO), which has pioneered low cost housing in India, will be displaying its materials, models and expertise, which can prove to be immensely beneficial to Nepal and other SAARC nations.

In the area of construction, Overseas Construction Council of India along with HUDCO and other leading manufacturers of construction materials such as JK White Cement, Ion Exchange and Sunhill Ceramics will display products and offer consultancy, products and information about its range of services.

Biotechnology is a rapidly developing field in India and products in the areas of diagnostics, vaccination, plant tissue culture, bio-pesticides, bio-fertilizers etc., will be on display at the fair. The Department of Biotechnology will make available its technical expertise at the trade fair, said Vasudevan.

Besides, the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Development Authority (APFDA) which looks after the development of products like processed food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, cereal products, gaur gum, horticultural and floricultural products, herbal and medicinal plants and rice and animal products, will be present.

A unique feature of the Indian pavilion will be its design section. For the first time, Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in collaboration with the National Institute of Design will portray products that have been designed in India and made for the world market. Some of the leading world brands that have been designed in India such as Titan watches (the slimmest watches in the world), Samsonite suitcases etc., will be on display.

These will be supplemented with a host of other manufactured products relating to engineering, plastics, shellac, paints, polymers, asbestos, insulators and automobiles.

A separate theme pavilion on Information Technology will depict the current state of the industry in India.

The automobile pavilion would have the theme "Manufactured in India, Made for the World". Indian companies will put on display their expertise in manufacturing state-of-the-art 4-wheelers, 2-wheelers, tractors, buses and bicycles. In addition to these, eco-friendly cars will also be displayed.

ITPO has also selected manufacturers who would offer quality consumer and white goods for retailing.
The Indian display will be a combination of the expertise available in the country in knowledge-based areas, services, products, infrastructure, designing and consultancy.

The Indian exhibitors say they are optimistic that their showcase will provide an excellent platform for turning mutual strengths and opportunities into mutual benefits, according to ITPO.