NEWS NOTES (Spotlight Weelky)

One Woman Killed, Four Injured In Chitwan

One woman was killed and four others injured when police opened fire at a function organized by the All Nepal Women's Association, a pro-Maoist organization, in the central town of Bharatpur Saturday. Reports said police opened fire when the women activists clashed with police who asked them to stop the function. Police said they were trying to arrest pro-Maoist students who had earlier black-painted the face of a schoolteacher and set a vehicle belonging to a private medical college on fire in the district. Five policemen were also injured in the incident. The dead woman has been identified as a graduate student of Nepal Law Campus in Kathmandu who had reportedly gone to the meeting. Space Time Dec. 10.

Hospital Staff Call Off Their Strike

The agitating staff of the radio and pathology departments in government-run hospitals in the capital valley called off their weeklong strike Friday following an agreement with government representatives. The technical staff of the government-run hospitals had gone on strike demanding hazard and risk allowances. The representatives of the government and the striking workers reached an agreement after the officials gave assurances that they would fulfill some of the demands of the hospital staff after a thorough study. The hospital staff had stayed off work despite a government ban on strikes under the Essential Services Act. Compiled from reports Dec. 9.

Nepal Urges Maoists To Join Mainstream

Leader of the main opposition CPN-UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal, has called on activists belonging to the underground CPN-Maoists to seize the opportunity to pressure the government on constitutional amendment and come into mainstream politics. Inaugurating the fourth national convention of his party's youth wing, the Democratic Youth National Organization, in Kathmandu Thursday, Nepal said the CPN-UML was skeptical of the ruling Nepali Congress' assurances that it was open to exploring the possibility of amending the constitution. He added that Maoists should not let this opportunity to slip away. Nepal said Maoists should shun the path of violence and come into the mainstream if they wanted to win the trust and respect of the people. Nepal made the call a day after leaders of CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress agreed to form a task force to study the need for amending the decade-old constitution. Compiled from reports Dec. 9.

Committee Formed To Investigate Adulteration

Amid reports of wide-scale adulteration in petroleum products imported and sold in Nepal, the government has formed a three-member inquiry committee headed by Niranjan Baral, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. The committee members are the director-generals of the Department of Commerce and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology. he ministry said the committee would present the final report with recommendations within one month. The government formed the committee fter Himal Khabarpatrika (a fortnightly newsmagazine) published from Kathmandu published a story saying that adulteration worth nearly Rs 1 billion was carried out during import and sales of petroleum products in the country every year. The story claimed that officials at the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation, petroleum dealers, suppliers at towns near the Indian border and even representatives of consumer organizations were in collusion in the scam. Compiled from reports Dec. 9.

Seven People Arrested

Police have arrested seven people on charges of trafficking women to India in order to sell them to brothel owners there. According to police, all the accused were arrested from their apartments in Maharagunj last week. The six men and a woman are alleged to have taken 21 women to India at different points of time after luring them with promises of marriage and good jobs in India. The activities of the gang became known following the return of the women from brothels in Bombay. The 21 women were rescued by Indian police after being tipped off by a branch of Maiti-Nepal, an organization fighting against trafficking in women and children. Compiled from reports Dec. 9.

Minister Chataut Defends Lauda Air Deal

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Tarini Dutta Chataut has denied any 'foul play' while leasing a Lauda Air aircraft by the state-owned Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation. Talking to reporters at his office Thursday afternoon, Chataut said the deal was made by RNAC in accordance with the directives of the ministry and the cabinet secretariat following norms set by the Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The minister said he and his ministry had high respect for parliament and its Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and did not mean to flout its directives. Earlier, the minister made his position clear before the PAC members. He said the RNAC was forced to bring in the wide-body aircraft despite the committee's directives not to execute the deal. "The RNAC took this decision to save millions of dollars in compensation in case of failing to abide by the contract," he said. The parliamentary committee had claimed that the deal between Lauda Air and national flag carrier contained irregularities. RNAC employees also protested the 18-month deal. The Lauda aircraft joined RNAC's fleet on December 1 for operations in the international sector. Himalaya Times Dec. 8.

CIAA Chief Not To Take Pension

Chief Commissioner of the Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Suryanath Upadhyaya, has announced that he would not accept his civil service pension as long as he remains in his current post. Former bureaucrats appointed to public posts after their retirement usually enjoy both the pension and their pay. "Though there are no legal provisions against taking both pension and the pay, I find it unethical to extract double benefits from the national coffer," said Upadhyaya, who was appointed to the post last month. He retired as secretary to the government sometime back. Compiled from reports Dec. 7.

Cement Factory In Difficulty

General Manager of the Himal Cement Factory (HCF) Subhash Pokhrel has said the factory is facing a number of difficulties, including an inability to procure raw materials in time because of lack of resources, over-staffing and shutdown threats from local people who say it is polluting the environment. "We have tried to reduce pollution from the factory as much as possible," said Pokhrel. We are planning to operate a German plant for pollution control within one month and have asked for resources from the government to install a waste screwer in the Chinese plant, said the 35-year-old general manager. Pokhrel said his company is all set to achieve the annual production target of 1.2 million bags of cement this year if things remained the same. The government should operate the factory instead of privatizing because it is a "feasible" unit, said Pokhrel. Khabarpatrika, Dec. 5.

China Agrees On Constructing rope-Way Link

With a view to discouraging unauthorized and illegal trade across the Nepal-Tibet border at Tatopani, the Chinese authorities have agreed to a proposal to construct a one-and-half km long cable car project from Khasa bazaar in Tibet to Tatopani on Nepalese side, reports said Tuesday quoting chief of the Tatopani Customs, Bharat Raj Subedi. He said he had informed the Ministry of Finance after the Tibetan authorities agreed to the proposal. The project is likely to cost about Rs 200 million, which will be borne by the Tibetan side, Subedi said. Entrepreneurs say a lot of time would be saved once the project is completed. The business community, however, says that a massive restructuring would be required at Tatopani Customs once goods start flowing in via the ropeway. The Nepalese customs premises lack storage space, which would pose a big problem. The Tibetan side says it would complete the ropeway project within two years once the Nepal government agrees to it, reports said. Compiled from reports Dec. 7.

Defense Minister Doubtful About Maoists Proposal

A day after a top Maoist leader wrote a lengthy article in a national daily accusing the government of insincerity for peace talks, a senior minister has expressed doubts over sincerity of the Maoist themselves while making the proposal. Defense and Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya said the words of the Maoists could not be relied upon. "Their (the Maoists') demands keep changing," he said after inaugurating a sub-branch of Agriculture Development Bank at Banigama in Morang district Tuesday. The powerful minister accused the rebels of backtracking from the talks "even after the government had met their conditions. Kantipur Dec. 6.