BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN, Children and Social Welfare and the International Labor Organization (ILO) have signed an agreement on matters relating to consolidation of the Ministry efforts to check girl trafficking. The agreement is to extend the programs run jointly by the Ministry and ILO between 1997 and 2000. The agreement includes reviewing the national working plan, newsletter publication, establishment of resettlement centers, strengthening of the information exchange and education unit and collection of data through a computerized system in the ministry. The agreement also includes programs related to consolidation of the district committees in 26 districts recording high incidence of girl trafficking, running of special programs in the bordering districts of Jhapa, Parsa, Rupandehi and Banke and establish vigilance groups at the village level. Secretary at the Ministry Urmila Shrestha and ILO country director for Nepal Leyla Tegmo Reddy signed the agreement under which the ILO has agreed to provide an assistance of US$112,970 for the programs.

THE RASTRIYA PRAJATANTRA Party has asked Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to resign immediately on moral grounds to end the current political stalemate. In a statement, the party said the decision taken by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority in connection with the Lauda Air deal clearly indicates that the council of ministers was involved in corruption, RSS news agency reported.

LAKPA SHERPA HAS BECOME the first Nepali woman to climb Mt. Sagarmatha from both sides, reports said. Lakpa reached the top of the highest peak in the world last Wednesday from the Tibetan side. Earlier, she had climbed the mountain from the southern side. Similarly, Erik Weihenmeyer has become the

first blind climber to scale the world’s highest mountain. According to Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture, Erik reached the summit last week.

THE NEPALESE GOVERNMENT HAS deplored the decree reportedly passed by the Taleban regime of Afghanistan requiring the Hindu community to adopt a dress code. In a statement issued here Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is a reprehensible act, which defies all norms and universal principles of human rights thereby isolating the Hindu minorities living together in amity with Muslims in Afghanistan.

A TOTAL OF 37 CLIMBERS succeeded in scaling the world’s highest peak within the last two days, officials said. Among them, 34 climbers including 15 Nepali Sherpa guides reached the summit on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism, two American climbers and one climber each from Canada and Turkey along with Sherpa guides reached atop Sagarmatha Wednesday. On Tuesday, a Spanish expedition of three climbers reached the summit by another route. All these climbers were the first climbers of the highest peak in this season.

OFFICIALS HAVE SAID THE job of distributing land to former Kamaiyas (bonded laborers) has been completed in the mid-western districts of Dang and Banke while the process is under way in Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts. The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management announced Wednesday that work of land distribution is over in the two districts. Similarly, 1,123 families in Bardiya, 870 families in Kailili and 1304 families in Kanchanpur have been resettled so far, the ministry said. The government had declared ‘kamaiyas’ free from debt bondage in July last year but is facing criticism for its dilly-dallying in rehabilitating them.

A KATHMANDU UNDERSTANDING was adopted Wednesday, urging the governments and other concerned agencies to invest on children, at the end of a two-day South Asian High Level Meeting on Investing on Children. The meeting organized that governments, the corporate sector, civil society, communities, young people, international organizations and media need to work jointly to ensure adequate, timely and productive investments in fulfilling the rights and achieving the well being of all children in South Asia, and in strategies toward poverty alleviation. The meeting was held Tuesday and Wednesday with participation of the political leaders, corporate leaders, and 17 selected children and young people from seven South Asian countries. It noted the progress South Asian countries are making in the field of protection of child rights but said there is still much to be done to attain most of the goals related to young people’s survival, health development and protection through access to quality basic social services.

NEPALESE EXPORTS TO THIRD countries (other than India) have gone up by more than 9 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, reports said. According to Trade Promotion Center (TPC), Nepalese exports to the third countries during this period reached worth Rs 22.38 billion. The major export items from Nepal include carpet, garments, pashmina shawls, lentil, tea goat hide and the hide of other animals, paper products, electrical transformer, buttons and handicrafts. The TPC said that there was over 59 percent rise in the export value of pashmina shawl during the period touching Rs 3.81 billion. Similarly, the export of lentils to the third countries increased by 51 percent during the review period. The export of woolen carpet, however, went down by 14.3 per cent during this period, the center said.

THE BUDGET DEFICIT HAS WIDENED by 35 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2000/2001, a new report said. According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), total government expenditure registered a comparatively higher growth of nearly 24 percent amounting to Rs 43865.6 million as against a

growth of 11.6 percent during the same period last year. Of the total government expenditure, regular expenditure, development expenditure and freeze expenditure increased by nearly 29 percent, 13.7 percent, 5.3 percent respectively. On the external front, exports registered a decelerated growth of 21.5 percent to Rs 43441.0 million during the review period compared to a growth of 37.6 percent during the same period last year. Exports to India and third countries have decelerated by 35.1 percent and 11.9 percent respectively. The rate of inflation, on point-to-point basis, was recorded at 2.2 percent, mainly because of the decline in the prices of food and beverages group. The overall balance of payments recorded a surplus of Rs 4993.4 million, the bank said.