NEWS NOTES (Spotlight Weelky)

Deuba Renews His Call For Dialogue

Former Prime Minister and convenor of high level committee to recommend ways to resolve the Maoist problem, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has renewed his call to both the government and Maoist rebels to come to the table of dialogue. " I don't know whether the Maoists are politically motivated or a terrorist lot. All I want is the on-going violence and killing of a Nepali must stop and hence both the sides should prepare for negotiations," said Deuba, addressing a meeting organized by Democratic Press Union, Nepal, a media group, on Thursday. Deuba also called upon the government to create a conducive atmosphere for talks to resolve the insurgency peacefully. Deuba said he had already prepared a report on the insurgency and could submit it to the government any time. "All I am working for is a peace initiative between the government and rebels," he said. A senior leader of the ruling party and aspirant of the top post in Nepali Congress, Deuba claimed that the dissension within the ruling party would not hamper his peace initiative. According to officials, more than 1400 people have lost their lives since the underground Maoist party launched its 'people's war' in mid-western hills in February, 1996. Leading dailies report Sept. 15.

Another Communist Group Calls For 'People's War'

As the country is reeling under terror and violence following the 'people's war' launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), another fringe Communist group, CPN (Masal) has called for launching similar war in Nepal. According to Friday's JANA AHWAN weekly, said to be close to the Maoists, the eighth national convention of CPN (Masal) held recently has decided to forge alliance with revolutionary forces within the country and launch 'people's war.' General Secretary of the little known party, Comrade Ashok, has said his party had arrived at such a conclusion after analyzing the current domestic, regional and global political scenario. CPN (Masal) had undergone split sometime back after its leader, Comrade M. B. Singh, refused to support the on-going Maoist movement in the country. Singh still leads a faction of CPN (Masal) which has sent five members in the House of Representatives under the banner of its front-line organization, Rastriya Jana Morcha (RJM- National People's Front). Compiled from reports.

PAC Starts Probe Into Police-IOC Deal

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament has started probe into a deal between the Nepal Police and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). According to the deal, Nepal Police has agreed to buy lubricants for the next 15 years only from the IOC. The deal between the police and the IOC came after the Corporation helped police build a petrol station at its headquarters at Naxal in the capital last year. Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between IOC and Police Welfare Fund (PWF), the IOC has been given the exclusive right to supply grease and lubricants and also fix their prices without negotiations. Dr. Prakash C. Prakash Lohani, a member of PAC said this is an outright case of corruption and abuse of authority. PAC has now ordered the Home Ministry to provide details and a copy of the MoU between the IOC and PWF on the petrol pump built outside the police headquarters. Kantipur Sept. 15.

Bhutanese Refugees Appeal To The US President

Bhutanese refugees living in refugee camps in eastern Nepal have appealed to the US President Bill Clinton to help resolve the decade old crisis by seeking Indian help. P. R. Dahal, former member of the Bhutanese National Assembly said the refugees had faxed the request to the US President last week seeking his help to involve the Indian government to resolve the crisis. The statement said the request had been sent to coincide with the Indian Prime Minister's visit to the United States. The appeal asks Clinton to request the Indian Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee to help resolve the crisis. India has been saying the issue should be resolved bilaterally between Nepal and Bhutan. The statement also added that they had remained as refugees throughout Clinton's tenure as president since 1992. They refugees have been given shelter in Nepal since 1990 when they entered Nepal through India. Compiled from reports Sept. 16.

Outstanding Loans At NBL Exceed Rs Two Billion

A senior official with the Nepal Bank Limited, the oldest Bank in the country, has said it is yet to recover more than Rs 2.1 billion in loans and accumulated interests. Replying to queries of the members of parliament's Public Accounts Committee on Friday, a senior official at the Finance Ministry and NBL chairman Shambhu Prasad Khanal said bad loans over the years had crossed Rs 2.1 billion. These loans have been overdue for more than five years and there was little chance that it could be recovered, he said. Earlier, officials at the Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) had said the bank had an a bad loan amounting to Rs 9 billion. Both the RBB and NBL, along with several other public banks in the country, are deeply in the red due to corruption and incompetent management, an international accounting group, KPMG Barents, had said in its preliminary report made public by the press early this year. Compiled from reports Sept. 17.

Six Companies Qualified For Mobile Services

The government has approved technical proposals of six companies to start cellular mobile telephone services in Nepal. A total of eight private sector companies had submitted their proposals for this purpose. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) had invited proposals from Nepali and foreign companies to start mobile services six months ago. The companies, whose technical proposals have been approved, include Millicum International Celluar (Asia) Pvt. Ltd., B. P. Broadband Networks (Pvt.) Ltd., Mercantile Investment Pvt. Ltd., United Telecom Pvt. Ltd., Bharatiya Global Limited and Nepal Group, Rumeli A. S. and The Khetan Group. Out of these companies, Khetan Group is the only Nepali company selected. NTA said it will select only one company after out of the six pre-qualified studying their financial proposals. The government-owned Nepal Telecommunications Corporation has already started cellular mobile services in the kingdom. Gorkhapatra Sept. 14.

Minister Gupta Urges The Media

Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Gupta has `advised' the private media to maintain restraint while reporting on Maoist insurgency. "You should not highlight such issues which might jeopardize your rights in future," he said. The Minister has been calling for 'censorship' on press reports related to 'terrorism' (read: Maoist insurgency). Home Minister Joshi also urged the media to play a responsible role. Opposition members and press community present in the interaction, however, protested the government's supposed move to curb the press freedom guaranteed by the country's constitution. Compiled from reports Sept. 16.

India Exerts Pressure Not To OPen Transit Points

Indian Foreign Ministry has pressurized Nepal not to expedite the process to open two more transit points with China saying that it will pose threats to her national security. According to an official at the Foreign Ministry here, who declined to be named, Indian side has been claiming that more transit points would mean more Chinese activities in Nepal, and hence, more threat to India's security. Foreign Minister Chakra P. Bastola, upon returning from his visit to China, had said the northern neighbor had agreed to provide two more transit points to Nepal. The Foreign Ministry later clarified that no such agreement had taken place between Nepal and China. This has made the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu suspicious about Nepal's dual policy, the news report said. Himalaya Times Sept. 14.

Japanese Children Raise Funds For A Nepali School

Japanese children studying at a school north of Tokyo have collected $9,434 to build a school in Nepal by recycling aluminium cans three times a month for the last six months, AP news agency reported on Wednesday. Hanako Takada, 12, sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori telling him that children at her Sakuragaoka elementary school in Fukaya, Saitama prefecture, had collected the fund Mori talked to Takada over a video-phone at the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo Tuesday. The details of the conversation were not released. Compiled from reports Sept. 14.