BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

AT LEAST 53 CHILDREN UNDER the age of 18 have been killed since the Maoist rebels launched so-called "people’s war" in the western hills in February 1996, a child rights watchdog said. According to Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), an NGO, of the 53 children, 42 were under 16 while ten were 17. Of them, police killed 37 while Maoist rebels killed 15. Spokesman of CWIN, Tarak Dhital, said killing of children during armed conflict is a new phenomenon in Nepal. He said neither government nor non-government agencies have done anything concrete to improve the situation of children under risk.

POLICE RECOVERED NEARLY Rs.3.5 million worth of pashmina shawls from a gang of thieves in the capital on Tuesday, police said. Altogether 12,200 pieces of shawls were recovered from a gang of nine thieves, police said. Pashminas are Nepal's latest export item popular mainly in Europe and the United States.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED to waive the remaining interest, if the interest equal to the principal has been paid, for loans up to Rs 30,000 borrowed from the Agriculture Development Bank by small farmers in the country for one or more objectives, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. This is the first time that a provision has been made for waiving such a big amount of interest of farmers. The decision was made taking into consideration the unfavorable conditions created by adverse weather conditions, prices and production, the ministry said.

PRIME MINISTER G. P. Koirala has said his government is going to ratify two more conventions on the elimination of child labor. Addressing an International Labor Union (ILO) seminar in the capital last week, Koirala said elimination of child labor from third world countries like Nepal posed a serious challenge. "Eliminating child labor represents a real challenge to developing countries like Nepal where socio-cultural and economic factors are not apparently conducive," said Koirala, adding that the government was preparing to ratify two more conventions in this regard. Nepal has already ratified ILO's four core conventions, including convention 182 to protect children from the worst forms of labor. There are four more conventions on fundamental rights that remain to be ratified.

STUDENTS BELONGING TO the ANNFSU (Revolutionary), a pro-Maoist wing, set the offices of campus chief and assistant campus chief at the Ratna Rajya Campus in the capital on fire on Tuesday after police intervened in their meeting. According to reports, the clash erupted after the police forced their way into a closed-door meeting of the union inside the campus on Tuesday afternoon. After a brief clash inside the campus and amid student protests against the intervention, the police retreated outside. The police and students clashed for about two hours. The pro-Maoist students had also set the P. N. Campus in Pokhara on fire a few months back after police intervened in their meeting.

TEACHERS WORKING IN THE government run schools in Kathmandu valley shut down their schools for four days last week demanding the right to raise tuition fees from students. The teachers have been demanding adequate security in the face of threats from the Maoist affiliated students union not to raise tuition fees. Some 2,000-school teachers picketed Kathmandu district Education Office Tuesday forcing the closure of all government-run schools in the valley. The teachers say the government grants to schools were inadequate and they were forced to raise money from students through tuition fees and other charges.

THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION (ILO) has announced that it is going to run a special project to ensure freedom and future of the freed bonded laborers, known as kamaiyas, in Nepal. At a press meet in the capital on Tuesday, ILO officials said the United States Labor Department had agreed to provide US$ 3.5 million for the project entitled "Effective Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal." Director of ILO, Roger Woning, said the project would prove to be useful for the upliftment of nearly 75,000 former kamaiyas including 16,000 families. He said the project will also play a vital role in protecting the basic rights of laborers in Asian countries. According to ILO, the project will reinstate freed kamaiyas to jobs, free them from landlord dictatorship, educational opportunities, opportunities for training and overall advancement of their living standard. ILO said the government, non-government and local participation will be activated in the running of the project. The government had declared all the kamaiyas in the country free in July this year.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERAL Republic of Germany has informed the government that in addition to funds for financial cooperation for the period 2000-01 totaling DM 33 million, a further amount of DM 12 million will be made available to Nepal government as a financial contribution to the implementation of already existing projects within the bilateral financial cooperation programs. Out of the additional DM 12 million a sum of DM 8 million is to be earmarked for financing a medium-sized run-of-river hydropower station within the framework of the project "Renewable Energy" and DM 4 million are to be used for the establishment of small hydropower plants, the German Embassy in Kathmandu said.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THAILAND has provided an assistance of US$ 20,000 to Nepal Red Cross Society to rehabilitate former kamaiyas or bonded laborers in western Nepal. The government had declared kamaiyas free from their landlords early this year. Kamaiyas have criticized the government, NGOs and INGOs for failure to launch follow-up measures to integrate them into society while demanding land for agriculture and homes. The money will also be used to rehabilitate people displaced by floods and landslides during the monsoon this year. Thai Ambassador Powthep Vanachida handed over the cheque to Ramesh Kumar Sharma, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, amid a function last week.

THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW Zealand has abolished import tariffs on Nepali goods. The decision will benefit Nepali products as Nepal has been included in the list of countries entitled to special concession, said Jim Sutton, New Zealand's Minister for Trade Negotiations. Nepali ready-made garment exports will be exempted from 19 percent customs duty, he said. Sutton also said that New Zealand would support Nepal's entry into the World Trade Organization. New Zealand was keen to boost imports of Nepali carpets manufactured from the world's finest wool from the island. Nepal imports nearly one billion worth fine wool from New Zealand every year.

NEPAL CRASHED OUT OF the Asian Cricket Council Trophy after losing the semi-final match against Hong Kong in Sharjah, AFP news agency reported on Tuesday. A blistering knock of 145 not out from Rahul Sharma set the foundation for Hong Kong's huge score of 268 for three in 50 overs. That total was completely outside the reach of the Nepali batsmen who were bundled out for 89 in 25 overs. "We played very badly, particularly our batting. They saw a big target and we panicked," said Nepal captain Pawan Agarwal.