BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

King birendra inaugurating Lalit Buddhist Fine Art Exhibition

KALA-AZAR HAS CLAIMED NINE lives at Karuni village in Morang district, a local official said. Two others are seriously ill from the disease. Poor people belonging to the Musahar community have been affected by the disease, reports said. Kala-azar is an infectious disease marked by fever, progressive anemia, leukopenia and enlargement of the spleen and liver caused by a flagellate transmitted by the bite of sand flies.

AT LEAST THREE MAOIST rebels were killed in an encounter at Ragani village development committee in the eastern hill district of Okhaldhunga on Thursday. According to police sources, the rebels were killed as the police patrol team opened fire in response to the firing by a group of rebels. No major casualty was reported on the side of the police.

TWO LAWYERS HAVE FILED a writ at the Supreme Court demanding abrogation of the deal reached between the state-owned Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) and Lauda Airlines in September this year. In the petition, human rights activist and lawyer Gopal Siwakoti 'Chintan' and member of the National Concern Society and lawyer Rajaram Dhakal have made plaintiff the prime minister, concerned officials, the local agent of the Lauda Air in Kathmandu ICTC and Nepal Rastra Bank. The national flag carrier had entered into an agreement with Lauda Air to lease purchase a wide-body jet for a period of 18 months at a cost of nearly Rs 1.88 billion. A parliamentary committee is also probing into alleged irregularities in the deal.

THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN is to provide a grant assistance of Japanese Yen 537 million (approximately Rs 369.4 million) to Nepal for the implementation of the project for improving storage capacity of iodized salt. Iodized salt helps in eliminating iodine deficiency disorders. The assistance will be used to construct storage facilities for about 7,000 metric tons in Biratnagar and Janakpur. The assistance will also be used to increase transportation capacity for the distribution of iodized salt and to set up a laboratory for identifying iodine content in the salt. The government will contribute Rs 7.35 million to provide basic facilities. The project is expected to be completed within a year.

PRIME MINISTER GIRIJA PRASAD KOIRALA has announced that the government has decided to extend the area of the Royal Bardia National Park (RBNP) to twice its present size. Addressing the opening session of the World-Wild Fund For Nature (WWF)'s 39th annual conference in the capital, Koirala said the area of the national park had been extended as a gift to the earth in support of the WWF's Living Planet campaign. Out of the total area of 893.26 square km after the extension, the park will occupy around 550 sq. km. and the remaining land will be its buffer zone. The park is home to eight types of ecosystems that contain 124 species of trees supporting 34 species of mammals and over 300 birds. Nearly 36,000 people spread over 80 villages inhabit the buffer zone.

NEPAL MAY FACE A LABOR SHORTAGE in future, experts said. Tunga Kumar Bastola, team leader of a study, said by 2016 Nepal will be a nation of significant agricultural surplus if the Agricultural Perspective Plan (APP) production growth is achieved. But the country might face a labor shortage if the ambitious growth targets of the Ninth Plan are attained. Presenting the finding of the study at the Ministry of Population and Environment, Bastola said though 28 out of 75 districts in the country will face food deficit by 2016, the country will be self-sufficient in food production. Bastola also said that there would be greater pressure on land in 2016. ìA comprehensive plan in the use of land and nutritional food surveillance are necessary,î he said.

THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR Organization (ILO)-initiated convention aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labor came into force from Sunday (Nov.

19) in 40 countries that have ratified it. ILO's Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention No. 182 was adopted unanimously by the International Labor Conference on June 17 this year. The convention defines the worst forms of child labor as slavery, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography, forced recruitment of children for armed forces, among others. The cabinet has already approved the convention and sent it to Parliament for ratification during the upcoming winter session.

NEPAL'S STOCK MARKET continues to maintain its bullish trend in terms of the number of shares and value traded last week. Analysts say the surge is a result of lack of better investment opportunities and declining bank interest rates in the market. The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index rose to 540.28 points last Friday as the transactions closed, up from 507.51 points last Sunday. During the week ending November 17, more than 92,000 units of shares were traded for Rs 123.2 million, the Stock Exchange said. Shares belonging to commercial banks maintain lead in terms of transactions in the country's only stock market at NEPSE.

Maobadi Thanks Kuber Sharma

In his reply letter written to Kuber Sharma, President Green Nepal Party (Hariyali Nepal Party), the Secretary General of the Nekapa Maobadi, who prefers to call themselves Jungalbadi, has expressed their heartfelt thanks. The gist of the letter received at our office from Sharma is as follows: "The letter written by you as a sequel to your Party's central committee's decision on 16 Kartik 2057 regarding the talks between the Maoists and the government was received. Your assessment that the Maoist People's war has generated hopes of deliverance from poverty, corruption and misrule deserves commendation. We have greatly appreciated and given importance to your suggestion that our party should give top priority to confiscate the illgotten properties of the corrupt politicians and jail them as a condition for the talks. Consequently, our party heartily accepts your selfless sacrifice and your resolution to face any consequence including jail sentence which concurs with our party principles. With thanks — Secretary General Nekapa (Jungalbadi)."

The Greek Ambassador to Nepal Yannis-Alexis Zepos has said that Greece is very keen to develop all round relations with Nepal. Yannis-Alexis, resident in the Indian capital New Delhi, was on his routine visit to Nepal. Yannis-Alexis told a small group of journalists at Hyatt Regency hotel a few days ago that Greek Foreign Minister George A. Papandereou would be visiting Nepal in a few weeks. At that time he is going to discuss how Greece can cooperate with Nepal in the fields of environment, tourism or any other field Nepal may suggest. The honorary consul General for Greece Jay Kumar Nath Shah was also Present on the occasion.