BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

Spotlight family wishes King Birendra a very happy birthday on the auspicious occasion of His Majesty's 56th birthday.

CROWN PRINCE DIPENDRA INAUGURATED the Nepal-Soka Gakkai International Peace Center building at Bafal, Kathmandu, amid a ceremony Friday. Constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 27.5 million on 6.5 ropanis of land, the center aims at promoting Buddhism, peace and culture, education and social service in Nepal. An international exhibition comprising more than 300 paintings selected from nearly 100,000 entries from 161 countries was also organized.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECLARED a holiday for the government employees belonging to the Gurung community on the occasion of `Lhosar,' the new year day that falls on December 30, this year. Members of the Gurung community had threatened to launch a nation-wide protest if the day was not declared a public holiday.

THE NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT HAS agreed to provide additional technical assistance of Norwegian Kroner 33.9 million (approximately Rs 545 million) to Nepal for the continuation of the final design of the Melamchi diversion scheme of Melamchi Water Supply Project. The technical assistance is in addition to NOK 33.2 million already provided by the Norwegian government for the project, the Ministry of Finance here said. Madhav Ghimire, joint secretary at the Finance Ministry and Ingrid Afstad, ambassador of Norway to Nepal, signed Addendum 3 to the agreement on behalf of their respective governments last week.

PRIME MINISTER GIRIJA PRASAD Koirala has said his government has decided to waive interests on loans of up to Rs 30,000 borrowed by farmers. Addressing the national industrial exhibition in Butwal last week, Koirala said stocks of rice and paddy will be maintained under an integrated program for distribution.

SRI LANKAN FOREIGN MINISTER Lakshman Kadirgamar has said the SAARC process is moving ahead despite some hurdles. Kadirgamar was on a two-day visit to Nepal as part of his government's efforts to reconvene the stalled SAARC summit. Kadirgamar left for New Delhi on Monday en route to Colombo. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has seven member countries including Nepal.

THE SECOND MEETING OF THE SAARC People's Forum (SPF) has demanded that the 11th SAARC summit be held immediately. A statement issued by the Forum Thursday said the excuse given for not holding the summit was against the SAARC Charter. Such excuses are not congenial for the spirit of cooperation and are against the interests of the people of the region, the forum said. The 11th summit, scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in November last year, had been postponed indefinitely on Indiaís request following the military takeover in Pakistan. The four-day forum also called for a memorandum on the production, import, distribution and sale of genetically modified plants and food products, which were threatening food security in the region.

INDIA HAS AGREED TO support and train Nepali air force personnel in India. The agreement was made during a meeting between Defense Minister Mahesh Acharya and visiting Chief of the Indian Air Force Chief Marshal A.Y.Tipnis, official RSS news agency reported. Minister Acharya had asked for training personnel of the air transport wing of the Royal Nepal Army in India during his meeting with Tipnis last week. Nepal does not have an independent air force.

THE ASIAN PAINTS (NEPAL) Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture with the Asian Paints (India) Ltd., has declared 150 percent dividend to its shareholders in the current fiscal year during its annual general meeting held recently. According to the company, it has also paid Rs 20 million to the government as taxes in the current fiscal year. Established 15 years ago at the Hetauda Industrial Estate, the company was recently awarded ISO 9002 recognition