Maoist Rebels Loot A Bank

Maoist rebels have looted about Rs one million from the local branch of Rastriya Banijya Bank after making captive its branch manager at Malunge in remote central district of Dolakha on Wednesday night. In a shoot-out that followed, two rebels and a policeman died, BBC Nepali Service reported on Thursday. According to Regional Police Office in Janakpur, the armed rebels also looted four pieces of 0.12 bore rifles and 40 rounds of bullets. They exchanged fire with the policemen positioned within a nearby Police Post for nearly four hours. Injured policemen have been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment. The rebels had also planted bombs around the Police Post but nobody was hurt, reports said. The rebels had also looted a local branch of a bank in the adjoining district of Ramechhap a few months back. 

Compiled from reports Dec. 3.

Minister Acharya Blames Vested Interest Lobby

Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has blamed what he called "the powerful vested interest lobby" against privatization for the lower than expected achievements in the privatization in Nepal. He, however, did not elaborate about the so-called lobby. Addressing the SAARC Privatization Summit organized by the Ministry of Finance and London-based Adam Smith Institute here on Thursday, Minister Acharya said that privatization was a strategy of compulsion for resource scarce economies. He also added that it was not the business of the government to carry out commercial activities. Terming Nepal's privatization program as moderately successful, Minister Acharya admitted that performance of some of the privatized enterprises were not as anticipated. Nepal embarked upon privatization of state-owned enterprises during Nepali Congress government's tenure (1991-94) when Acharya held the same ministry. A total of 16 SOEs have been privatized so far. 

Leading dailies report Dec 3.

`NC Should Hand Over Its Leadership'

A pro-Nepali Congress academic Dr. Minendra Rijal has said that the party should initiate the process of handing over its leadership to the second generation without further delay. The transfer of leadership should be based on certain procedures rather on the basis of personal choice, he said. The main problem is that Nepali Congress never tried to function in an institutional way. There is no mechanism to give and take cooperation between the ruling party and government, said Dr. Rijal, who has served as advisor to former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. It is the duty of the ruling party to formulate programs to be implemented by its government. A mechansim should be sought in which both the party and government are involved in the decision making process, he said. 

Deshanter Dec. 4.

Hetauda Chamber To Take To Streets Against Price Hike

Hetauda branch of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has decided to take to streets to register protest against recent hike in the price of petroleum products and electricity. "At a time when most of the industries were suffering from losses, the recent price hike has made it very difficult for us even to operate," said Hitler Biset, President of the Chamber. The Chamber has also termed hike in electricity tariff as 'unwanted and irrational.' Hetauda houses some 60 industries in the largest industrial zone of the country. Subsidiaries of renowned multi-national companies, Nepal Lever, Colgate Palmolive, Kodak and Asian Paints have their manufacturing plants located in this town. 

Himalaya Times Dec. 3.

Govt To Provide Telephone Lines To All VDCs

The state-owned Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) has said that it is working so as to install at least two telephone lines in all of the nearly 4,000 village development committees across the country within the next three and half years as per the government's policy. According to NTC, more than 1500 VDCs in the country already have access to telephone services through VHF, PMP, MARTS and VSAT system. In its newly unveiled four-year-long program, the Corporation has said it will gradually replace the existing VHF and MARTS system by the modern WLL system. Of the Rs five billion project to achieve this goal, the government will bear 60 percent of the total project cost whereas the NTC will bear 40 percent of the cost by mobilizing its own internal resources, said Bhesh Raj Kandel, deputy general manger of the Corporation. 

Nepal Samacharpatra Dec. 2.

US Company Granted Approval To Operate Life Insurance

The  Ministry of Finance has approved the entry of a US company, American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) to operate life insurance business in Nepal. The American Company is, however, yet to get the Letter of Intent (LoI) from the Insurance Board, a government authority that looks after the insurance sector in the country. One of the leading insurance companies of the world, ALICO has been operating in Bangladesh and Pakistan for the last 25 years. The government decision has come despite reservations from Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of the country that had reportedly recommended the government to open up the lucrative sector to local companies in the first phase and then allow the entry of joint venture and foreign companies. There are two companies, one public and another private, operating in life insurance sector at present. 

Kantipur Dec. 2.

'Opposition Should Raise People's Issues'

Senior UML leader K. P. Sharma Oli has said that though it is sure that the motion to be moved by the main opposition party demanding withdrawal of recent price rise will get defeated in the forthcoming special session of the Parliament, future of  the motion will depend upon what the Congress MPs say about the issue. "Will they say it is right?" asked Oli. If the congress had the slightest of wisdom they shouln't offend the respectful organization like Parliament. In the parliamentary system a majority government is never defeated and the opposition should never go to the parliament clinging to the mentality that it would make the existing government is defeated. It is meaningless to participate in the parliament with such things in mind. It is not that one shouldn't bring the issues related with people in the parliament only because it doesn't have the majority. CPN (UML) is a big and powerful party. Other smaller parties also can put forth their point of views in the parliament, said Oli. 

Budhabar Dec.1.

RNAC To Buy Wide-body Planes

Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation has informd that necessary procedures to buy the wide body plane required for its international flight is actively underway. According to the Corporation,  the process to buy the medium tsize plane required for its domestic flight is also underway apart from the wide body plane required for its international flight. The corporation has also mentioned that it is going to start flights twice a week to Bangalore since March 2000 and add a flight to existing two flights to Osaka making three flights a week to Japan with the planes it now possesses. 

Himalaya Times Dec. 2.