BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

THE GOVERNMENT OF NORWAY HAS agreed to provide an additional 13.3 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) (approximately Rs. 89 million) as technical grant to complete the final design study of the Melamchi diversion scheme component of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. Earlier, Norway had provided 19.9 million kroner in two installments for this purpose. An agreement to this effect was signed here by Finance Secretary Dr. Bimal Koirala and Charge d' Affaires at the Norwegian embassy, Ms. Unni Poulsson, on behalf of their respective governments, the Finance Ministry said.

THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY of Nepal (CAAN) has permitted Gulf Air and Singapore Airlines to increase their flight frequencies to and from Kathmandu. According to CAAN, the Gulf Air will now operate five scheduled flights in a week to and from Kathmandu beginning September 11 this year. The international airline will operate in the Kathmandu-Abudhabi-Baharain routes. The Gulf Air has also been authorized to operate three extra weekly flights to and from Kathmandu. Similarly, CAAN has also allowed Singapore Airlines to operate four scheduled weekly flights along Singapore-Kathmandu-Singapore route beginning October 2, this year. Around 90 percent of the tourists visiting Nepal arrive by plane. Nearly 500,000 tourists visited Nepal last year.

NEPALI CITIZENS RETIRED AFTER being disabled while fighting for the Indian Army since 1948. According to the Pension Delivery Office based in eastern town of Dharan, the amount is supplementary to the regular pension of the retired army personnel. Indian Rs 50,000 will be provided to the family of the ex-soldiers if they are already dead. The announcement has been made on the occasion of Indian Independence Day on Tuesday.

THE SALT TRADING CORPORATION Limited, a leading private-sector dominated trading company, has agreed to take over the management of loss-making public enterprise, Nepal Coal Limited. An agreement to this effect was signed at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies on Tuesday, RSS news agency reported. According to the agreement, the Salt Trading will provide at least 10 percent dividend to the shareholders of Nepal Coal Limited (NCL) every year whether it runs in profit or loss. Salt Trading itself is one of the shareholders of the NCL. Set up to supply coal into the country, the NCL had closed down its operations 12 years ago after incurring huge loss.

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER Yoshiro Mori reached Bangladeshi capital on Saturday as part of his week-long visit of South Asian countries. He is visiting Islamabad and New Delhi early this week urging the Pakistani and Indian leaders to sign on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as soon as possible, Japanese officials said. He will ask them to cool down tensions along the unofficial border in divided Kashmir and show their commitment to peace by signing on the CTBT. Nepali officials have attached high priority to Mori's visit, who will spend a few hours in Nepal later this week.

DESPITE A SIGNIFICANT UPSURGE in the NEPSE index, the overall transaction on the trading floor at Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd. in comparison to the previous week has declined by almost 100 percent. However, the general trend of the stock market is still volatile, reports say. A total of 28,279 shares amounting to Rs 16.33 million were traded through 440 transactions last week (Aug. 14-18) in comparison to 140,500 shares amounting to Rs 55.59 million traded the previous week. Nepal Industrial and Commercial (NIC) Bank continued to dominate transactions at the trading floor last week also.

The 'HURPEC-SAARC Bicycle tour for human rights and peace' was started on 9 August from Mahendranagar of Nepal. The three persons, President Milan Karki, Secretary General Ms. Anju Bista and Member Shobha Karki are participating in the tour. The tour participants reached New Delhi on 11 August at evening time and stayed at Royal Nepalese Embassy, Barhakhamba Road. They will move to Pakistan on 18 August after meeting the human rights activists, journalists, intellectuals, etc. in New Delhi.

Members of Nepalese community in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane staged a protest in front of the Indian Consulate Office on Sydney in 30th July demanding the demolition of Laxmanpur barrage and to compensate the victims of the inundation caused by the barrage. A protest letter was presented the following day to the Indian High Commission in Canberra by Dr Pramod Adhikari and Dr Krishna Hamal, President of Australia Nepal Friendship Society, Canberra. The participants of the rally demanded that India should respect international norms and human rights of the people living in the inundated area. The protest was coordinated by Ms Indra Ban and Shamsher Thapa (Sydney), Dr Pramod Adhikari (Canberra), Dr Raju Adhikari (Melbourne) and Dr Bhesh Bhandari (Brisbane).