BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

Foreign Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat expressed serious concern over the nuclear states' growing reliance on nuclear weapons. Addressing the 12th Regional Disarmament Meeting on Strategic Stability, Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament in the capital on February 15, Mahat said Nepal will always support disarmament. "Until and unless weapons of mass destruction particularly the nuclear weapons are eliminated from the world, peace and security cannot prevail," he said. Jayantha Dhanapala, Under Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations raised concern over the growth of military expenditures in Asia. "While military expenditures declined globally during the decade of 1990s, Asia was the only region where there has been unabated rapid growth in military expenditures," he said. Dhanapala said there has been 27 percent increase in Asia's military expenditure. He said Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998 have caused a setback to the progress in nuclear disarmament and nuclear non proliferation. The three-day meeting was participated by 39 participants from 24 countries. It is the 12th in a series of annual meetings known as Kathmandu Process. The meeting was organized by UN Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific.

Caravan, a Nepali film, has been nominated for this year's 72nd annual Oscar Awards. The film, directed by Eric Valli, a French cameraman lauded for his documentary The Honey Hunters Of Nepal, has been nominated in foreign film category along with four other films from other countries. This is the first time that any film of Nepali origin had been nominated for the coveted award. Caravan, a film shot entirely at the Upper Dolpa region of Nepal's western Himalayas, portrays the hard life of salt traders of the region. It was nominated for the award by US Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. The film was completed last year after fifteen years of study and nine months of shooting. Caravan has been running with packed houses for the last four months in local Jaya Nepal Cinema Hall, Kathmandu. Nir Shah, the senior actor/producer, who is one of the co-producers of the film, will be representing the film on behalf of Nepal during the Oscar Award Ceremony scheduled to be held in Los Angeles, USA, on March 26.

Minister for Commerce Ram Krishna Tamrakar, addressing the UNCTAD-X in Bangkok, Thailand urged the UN body to work for the welfare of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Tamrakar said UNCTAD should work for opening market for all the products of LDCs to get zero tariff, simpler rules of origin, GSP facilities and relaxation of trade rules. Hitting at the negative impacts of globalization Tamrakar said, "Process of liberalization and globalization has fallen short of expectation. Instead of accelerating growth and interdependence, these processes have widened income inequality among countries. The flow of international capital, technology and trade are found uneven which has led these countries to remain out of economic integration." Meanwhile, Tamrakar met with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Commerce Dr. Supachai Panichpakdi and discussed about promoting more Thai investment in Nepal. He also urged Thai minister to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries.

The Danish government has agreed to provide a grant assistance of about Rs 603.3 million for the implementation of rural electrification project in far western districts of Kailali and Kanchanpur under the energy sector assistance program. The project, which aims at increasing the quality of life in rural areas and to support agricultural and industrial development through electrification, expects to directly benefit about 20,000 people of the districts. The project will be completed over a period of three and a half years. A letter to this effect was signed in Kathmandu last week by Finance Secretary Ram Binod Bhattarai and Charge D'Affaires of Danish Embassy Lars Hormann.

The Chinese government has agreed to provide a grant assistance of Rs 254.6 million to the Nepalese government under an agreement on economic and technical cooperation, according to the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, two separate letters were exchanged between the two governments. Under the first letter, the Chinese government has agreed to dispatch seven technicians for 21 days for the study of project on improvement and development of Nepal Television. Likewise, under the second letter, six Chinese technical personnel will be sent for a period of two years to undertake equipment maintenance at the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur.

The meeting between the government officials and donor agencies based in Nepal recently held a meeting to take stock of the preparation for the meeting of Nepal Development Forum -- formerly known as Aid Group Meeting -- scheduled for spring. They agreed to hold the meeting of Nepal Development Forum in Paris in the third week of April.