BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

Queen Aishwarya inspeeting fair organized to mark the Golden Jubilee of Padma Kanya Campus.

NECON AIR, A LEADING PRIVATE airlines, is to fly to three more Indian cities in the near future, the airlines said. The airlines will be flying to New Delhi, Lucknow and Calcutta. The dates of flights are yet to be announced. Necon Air had started its flights to Indian cities of Varanasi and Patna a few months back. Necon is the first private airlines to operate international flights. Necon Air is all set to bringing in two ATR-42 aircraft to be used for the international sector, officials with the airlines said.

THE NEPAL MOUNTAINEERING Association and China's Shichuan Mountaineering Association Wednesday signed in Chengdu a protocol to promote mountain tourism between the two countries, reports said. NMA† FIRST Vice President Ang Tshering and Deputy President of the Shichuan Mountaineering Association Ms. Jhuling signed the protocol. The Associations exchange visits every year alternatively to promote and co-ordinate mountain tourism activities between the two countries.

FOUR MAOIST REBELS, INCLUDING A woman guerrilla, have been killed in an encounter with Police in remote mid-western district of Kalikot on early Friday, reports said. The dead rebels are yet to be identified. According to Police, the encounter had taken place at remote Ruku village in the district after a group of rebels reportedly opened fire at a 75-member strong police patrol team. Police recovered four pieces of locally made guns, 16 pieces of grenade and other explosives left behind by the rebels from the site of encounter.

RECOUNTING OF VOTES STALLED in Rupandehi constitution no.1 last week due to controversy between the concerned parties over the counting process. A Special Election Court had issued orders to this effect earlier this week in response to a writ petition filed by a Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidate Deepak Bohara. In his petition, Bohara said in order to make his rival, Duryodhan Singh Chaudhari of the Nepali Congress, win, election officials counted ballot papers without signatures as valid votes and those which were valid were counted as being invalid. Bohara had lost elections by a margin of 321 votes.

LOCALS PEOPLE OF JORPATI HAVE filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court Wednesday demanding court order to halt the disposal of garbage at the bank of Bagmati River in Jorpati-Guheshwari area. A woman's rights activist, Dr. Renu Rajbhandari, on behalf of local people of Jorpati, filed the writ petition demanding court order for the immediate halt of garbage dumping in the area. The writ petition has made the government and Kathmandu Municipal Corporate defendant. In the writ petition, the petitioner has claimed that the garbage dumping at the bank of Bagmati River has polluted the water of holy river, contaminated the underground water source of Kathmandu, polluted local environment and affected the public health.

THE EXPORT TRADE OF NEPAL has witnessed a quantum jump during the last fiscal year and crossed Rs 50 billion mark, reports said. Robust export growth has been a characteristic feature of Nepal's foreign trade in the last few years, almost doubling the export within three years. According to Nepal Rastra Bank, export volume crossed Rs.51.6 billion mark in 1999/00 up from Rs. 27.5 billion in 1997/ 1998. But import also surged up to Rs. 106.96 billion escalating trade deficit further to Rs. 55.34 billion, 6.7 percent higher than the last year's figure.

AT THE INITIATIVE OF THE National Human Rights Commission, a team of human rights activists will be visiting observing Maoist-hit districts immediately after Dashain (in mid-October) in order to assess the situation and the plight of the locals. Kapil Shrestha, a member of NHRC, made this announcement at a program here on Monday. Prof. Shrestha further said no Communist philosophy allowed to killing of innocent people in the name of revolution. He even invited underground rebel leader, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, for further debate on the issue.

THE MAIN OPPOSITION UNIFIED Marxist-Leninist (UML) party has formed a study task force to study the problems related to the insurgency and recommend ways to resolve it. The task force, headed by party's standing committee member Jhal Nath Khanal, will submit its report within the next four months. The task force will study the violence and terror unleashed by both the state and the rebels, said UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal. He alleged that the rebels were killing UML supporters and common people and terrorizing them.

THE HUMAN RIGHTS AND Foreign Affairs Committee (HRFAC) of the Parliament has begun discussions on the status of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty signed between India and Nepal. According to Som Nath Pandey, a UML lawmaker and chairman of the Committee, most of the participants including former ministers, former Royal Nepali Ambassador to India and parliamentarians have underlined the need to review the bilateral treaty according to the changed context.†Almost all the political parties in Nepal have called for reviewing the five-decade old treaty saying that it doesn't reflect the need according to the changing regional and world scenario.

THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK has approved a US$ 35 million loan to help improve sanitation in Nepal. According to a news report carried by AFP news agency, the loan, which carries an annual interest rate of one percent, is repayable over 32 years and is expected to improve living conditions in Nepal. The project will expand access to safe water supplies and improve sanitation. The sanitation infrastructure in Nepal is one of the worse in the world, the Manila-based Bank said.

THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR Organization (ILO) has pledged to provide financial assistance for the rehabilitation of recently freed 'kamaiyas' (bonded laborers) in Nepal. ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) has entered into an agreement with the District Development Committee of Kailali and Kanchanpur, which will be receiving 350,000 rupees each. The program has provision for education facilities for school going children, coaching classes and temporary child literacy classes for non-school going children. The funds will also be used for providing mid-day meals for 300 displaced children in each district. The Nepal government had issued a decree in mid-July this year freeing nearly 16,000 kamaiyas from debt bondage but the government efforts have been too inadequate to provide relief to the concerned families, reports said.

Hariyali Nepal Party discussed the political and economic situation in the in a central committee meeting a few days back held under its President Kuber Sharma. Girija Prasad Koirala who manipulated to oust his own party's government led by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was severely criticized for his utter failure in all spheres of administrations, to stop rampant corruption and to usher in law and order in the country. The criminal haste shown by the government in passing the anti-national citizenship Amendment Bill was also denounced. The dismal performance of the Prime Minister during his UN Summit Meet at New York has shamed the whole nation, said the statement later. The only political party to publish complete budget, made public the statement of its income and expenditure the C.C. also decided to start their winter program vigorously after Tihar holidays.