BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

Prime Minister Koirala (right ) talking with Indian cine star Amitabh Bachchan who recently visited Kathmandu

HOTEL EMPLOYEES UNIONS waging months of protests demanding mandatory introduction of 10 percent service charge filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court Thursday. Nepal Independent Hotel Workers Union and Nepal Tourism and Hotel Workers’ Association jointly filed the writ petition demanding that the court issue mandamus terming the government’s ban on strikes in hotels as illegal. The government had included the hotel and resort services under the Essential Services Act and declared strike in those establishments illegal early last month. The government’s move was not only in contravention of the Labor Act and Trade Union Act, but also violates the constitutional provisions, the petitioners argued. They claimed that the government decision was also against the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and International Labor Organization conventions to which Nepal is a signatory.

THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT has agreed to extend a loan assistance of US$ 44.60 million (approximately Rs 3.29 billion) from Japan Bank for International Cooperation for the ambitious Melamchi Water Supply Project. Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged on Friday by Japanese Ambassador Mitsuaki Kojima and Finance Secretary Dr. Bimal Koirala. According to the Japanese Embassy, the loan will be used to construct a water treatment plant at Mahankal village development committee near Sundarijal, north-east of Kathmandu. The plant will obtain water from the trail race of the tunnel constructed under the Melamchi diversion scheme component. In this facility, the water will be converted into WHO-standard potable water through a treatment process. Upon its completion, MWSP will bring in 170 million liters of water per day to the capital valley. The Asian Development Bank is coordinating a consortium of donors and financiers in the US$ 464 million project.

IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS of the current fiscal year 2000/01, total government expenditure has slightly accelerated mainly due to significant growth in regular expenditure while the growth in both development and freeze expenditures have decelerated, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said. According to the central bank, of the total government expenditure, regular expenditure went up by more than 24 percent whereas development expenditure increased only by 9.3 percent thereby registering a higher budgetary deficit of Rs 5,918.4 million. During the review period, the revenue collection increased by 18.4 percent to Rs 24,632 million. In the external front, exports registered a decelerated growth of 21.8 percent to Rs 33,751.8 million out of which exports to India grew by 29.3 percent whereas exports to third countries went up by 16.2 percent only. A decline in the export of readymade garments, woollen carpets and jewellery to third countries has been noted whereas export of pashmina, tanned skin and pulses has increased significantly.

SUSPECTED MAOIST REBELS attacked a police post at Pourai VDC in the central terai district of Rautahat in broad daylight last Friday, reports said. According to police, the rebels attacked the police post at around 10:30 a.m., killing a police officer and looting two rifles and nearly 100 bullets. Police have launched a massive search operation to find out the assailants.

JAPAN HAS BECOME THE first foreign government to welcome the Bhutanese refugee verification process that began in eastern Nepal early this week. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry of Japan welcomed the start of the verification process and expressed hoped that fair and smooth verification would be carried out, bringing the decade-old problem to an early solution. Japan has extended assistance to nearly 100,000 Bhutanese refugees through the World Food Program and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

THE BODIES OF TWO Australian trekkers, a mother and her daughter, have been recovered near Deurali in Kaski district in western Nepal Wednesday, reports said. Four trekkers, including three Australian and an Israeli national, had been reported missing since Saturday afternoon. Police suspected they were buried in a snow avalanche.

THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT HAS agreed to extend a grant assistance of US $936,000 to Nepal in fiscal year 2000 for the promotion of food production in the Himalayan kingdom. Finance Secretary Dr. Bimal Koirala and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Mitsuaki Kojima signed and exchanged the notes Wednesday on behalf of the respective governments. According to the Japanese Embassy, the grant will be used to procure fertilizers and gear up agriculture production to meet the growing demand for food in Nepal. Under the agreement, the government would deposit in the KR II counterpart fund, in Nepalese currency, two-thirds of the grants amount. The currency thus deposited would be used for economic and social development, including agriculture and fisheries development and increasing food production in Nepal. Japan had provided KR II grant assistance of 700 million Yen for a similar purpose in its fiscal year 1999.

THE FEDERATION OF NEPALESE Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) presented a proposal to the government Wednesday on making provisions related to duty drawback and checking imported goods at the godowns of businessmen in the upcoming budget. A team led by FNCCI President Pradip K. Shrestha told Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat that it had been very difficult to get refund on the money deposited by export-oriented industries for the import of raw materials through the government’s one-window committee. The blocking of the capital has had an adverse impact on the running of industries, production and the export trade as a whole. The FNCCI demanded provisions of adequate money in the budget to immediately refund such deposit. The government owes millions of rupees in the form of duty drawback to exporters.