BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

Christian offering prayers at the assumption Church of the Christmas

NEPAL RASTRA BANK (NRB), the country's central bank, is to take punitive action against several commercial banks for violating its directives. Banks that have borrowed amounts more than their investments and those functioning as private companies despite being licensed as public limited companies will face punitive action, official sources said. The central bank's action, however, will not affect depositors' interest and the overall national economy, the sources said. The NRB has already sent warning letters and sought clarification from the commercial banks in this regard, reports said.

INDIAN Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will not hold a bilateral meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Kathmandu early next month. "The question of talking to Pakistan given its attitude and unresponsiveness in taking action against terrorist groups operating from its soil against India really doesn't arise," an Indian Foreign Ministry official told reporters in New Delhi. Nepali officials have, however, said the escalation in India-Pakistan tensions would not affect the SAARC summit's regional agenda. According to officials, the summit is expected to endorse regional agreements on poverty alleviation, terrorism and trade. Preparations are also under way to sign regional conventions on prevention of trafficking of women and children and on the welfare of children.

THREE MAOIST INSURGENTS, including a district commander of Palpa, have been killed and dozens others arrested in ëcordon and search' operations launched by the security forces, reports said Friday. Likewise, two Royal Nepal army personnel lost their lives in an ambush laid down by the Maoists at Deurali in their stronghold in Gorkha district. The army has intensified aerial operations after the incident. In a separate incident, a powerful bomb explosion severely damaged the house of Minister of State for Water Resources Narayan Sharma Poudel at Gunjanagar in Chitwan district Wednesday night. No one was injured in the attack. Police have arrested over a dozen people for interrogation.

A HUMAN RIGHTS BODY has urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to make public the whereabouts of people arrested since the declaration of emergency late last month. Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON) said journalists, human rights activists, lawyers, teachers and innocent people have been arrested since November 26. HURON has urged the government not to arrest innocent citizens and to protect them from the operations of the security forces.

ALL THE JUDGES AND justices in the country have declared their property with Judicial Council, a leading daily reported. Supreme Court Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyay said the move would help promote transparency in the judiciary and control corruption. The move came amid growing criticism of rampant corruption in the judiciary.

FIVE MAOIST INSURGENTS were killed and 21 suspects arrested Thursday as security forces continued their cordon and search operations in different parts of the country. The security personnel arrested 24 more people in six districts on Friday. According to Defense Ministry, three Maoist insurgents died in Gorkha including a team commander of their militia, Radhika Adhikari. Two other insurgents died when they reportedly tried to escape from the custody of security forces. In a separate incident, suspected Maoist terrorists shot dead Dip Narayan Chaudhary, a police constable, posted at Mainapur ilaka police office in mid-western district of Bardiya Saturday morning. Chaudhary died on the way to Nepalgunj. A search is being conducted for the Maoist insurgents, police officials said.

MAOIST REBELS DESTROYED the Agriculture Services Center at Deurali VDC in Nuwakot district last Thursday, according to Rajdhani daily. The newspaper quoted Agriculture Development Officer Narayan Prasad Khanal as saying the insurgents also set on fire windows and doors of the government-run center. The rebels disrupted communication links by snapping the line of the only public call office of the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation at the same VDC in the district.

THE UNITED NATIONS Development Program and the World Wildlife Fund have signed an agreement to run a landscape level bio-diversity conservation project. Under the agreement, the two organizations will work together to formulate a joint program for landscape level bio-diversity protection in the western terai region of Nepal and in the eastern hilly region. The program will comprise bio-diversity management along with income-generating programs with the participation of the local people.

THE FEDERATION OF Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has welcomed the liberal monetary policy measures announced by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Thursday. The FNCCI said it hoped that the liquidity flow of nearly Rs 2 billion expected to be pumped in the market as a result of the cuts in cash reserve ratio would have some positive impact on the economy provided the capital was invested in Nepali industries. The apex private sector chamber also welcomed the cuts in the interest rates of export credits and refinancing rates as ëpositive step'. It urged the government to implement the policy measures effectively and ensure that industries have easy access to such credits. The NRB had announced cut in the cash reserve ratio, bank rate and refinancing rate by up to two percent in order to prop up the economy.