NEWS NOTES (Spotlight Weelky)

First Eyewitness Account

In the first eyewitness account of the palace killings of June 1, 2001, the son-in-law of former prince Dhirendra Shah, younger brother of His late Majesty King Birendra, told reporters on Thursday that it was then-Crown Prince Dipendra who opened fire on the royal gathering. Giving graphic details of Friday’s incident, Dr. Rajiv Shahi said Crown Prince Dipendra, who was in a "very, very intoxicated" state, first opened fire on his father, King Birendra, hitting his neck and stomach. The shootings took place at a family get-together where many members of the royal family, including Queen Aishwarya, Prince Nirajan and Princess Sruti were present. Dr. Shahi said Crown Prince Dipendra "started to go wild shooting at whoever came in front of him. All this time Crown Prince Dipendra was in combat fatigues. He was wielding an assault rifle at different times. An M-16 at times and MP-5, I think, but I am not too sure about what the weapons were... I did not count how many," he said. "It was too far and too terrifying to see what was going on..." After shooting down members of the royal family, the crown prince then turned his gun on himself. Compiled from reports.

Differences Over Adhikary’s Report

A report by the leader of the Unified Marxist-Leninist party Bharat Mohan Adhikary giving a clean chit to UML leader Bhim Rawal in the China South West Airlines (CSWA) scandal has reportedly led to differences among the leaders of the main opposition party. During the party’s central committee meeting on Sunday, Adhikary presented the report that exonerated Rawal and instead rapped the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for arriving at such a decision. A few weeks ago, the PAC had implicated Rawal in the scandal. Rawal was charged with committing irregularities while leasing a CSWA aircraft during his tenure as civil aviation minister. The PAC’s report sparked a heated war of words among the top-notch comrades of the party. The central committee of the party formed a separate committee headed by Adhikary to probe the deal after expressing "surprise" over PAC’s decision. Interestingly, the PAC is headed by UML leader Subash Nemwang and includes top party leaders like K.P. Oli and Iswor Pokhrel as members. A few months ago, the UML had termed the PAC as a mini-parliament and brandished the panel’s report, which charged Nepali Congress minister Tarini Dutta Chataut with irregularities in the Lauda Air deal, to ask for the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. The UML even obstructed the winter session of parliament and organized a three-day general strike over this issue. Many political parties have termed the UML’s behavior as reflecting the party’s "double standard". Meanwhile, the UML central committee meeting on Sunday denounced the government for trying to undermining press freedom and demanded the immediate release of the editor and publishers of Kantipur. Compiled from reports.

Census 2001 Begins

The second phase of the tenth national census started in Sunday in over 30 districts, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. Officials at the bureau say the census has been under way in 40 percent of the districts without any hindrance. Because of the tragedy that occurred at the royal palace last week, the bureau could not establish communication with many districts, the officials said. Over 20,000 enumerators have been selected for the purpose. Training for the enumerators was postponed after the palace deaths. The officials claim that the second phase of the census will start from June 14 in the remaining districts. There have been reports that the Maoists are obstructing the head-count in some districts. In their strongholds, the Maoists are collecting data on their own. The first phase of the census focused on family listings. Over 5,000 supervisors were used for the first phase. In the second phase, the actual head-count will be done. Leading dailies report.

Rumors Still Flying

Panic spread in Mata Tirtha village, some 15 km south of Kathmandu, on Thursday when around 1,000 villagers were told that their water supply had been poisoned. The panic started after local women at the water reservoir reported some noxious smell. Technicians of the Nepal Drinking Water Corporation rushed to the site for investigation. They said some kind of powder or liquid was mixed in the water but ruled out it was fatal. However, the authorities told the local people to use the water only after cleaning the reserve tank. The details of the contamination will be known only after a thorough investigation by Royal Nepal Academy for Science and Technology. Leading dailies report.

Price Rise Due To Uncertainty

Amid the growing uncertainties in the aftermath of the terrifying killings at the Narayanhity Royal Palace on June 1, the people have had to bear hikes in the prices of essential commodities. As many shops remained closed, those that were open were charging exorbitant prices citing "scarcity". The prices of rice, pulse and vegetables have increased. Although the shop owners cited scarcity as the reason for price hike, officials at the retail trade association denied facing problems in supplies. Compiled from reports.

Probe Committee Term Extended

His Majesty King Gyanendra has extended the term of the high-level committee probing the palace killings of June 1, 2001 by four days. The committee is investigating the events that left King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, Crown Prince Dipendra and other members of the royal family dead. The committee headed by Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya asked for the extension to the government. The king granted the extension after the government’s recommendation. The new deadline of the committee ends on Thursday, June 14. Upadhyaya, in his submission, stated that the committee had almost finished with the inquiry but awaited forensic reports and needed some more time to prepare the final report. In his royal address on June 4, King Gyanendra had formed the three-member committee and directed it to submit a detailed report within three days. The committee faced initial hiccups after one of its member, leader of the opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal, backed out, citing procedural reasons. The other member of the committee is Speaker Taranath Ranabhat. Various objects and weapons from the site of killings have been sent to the laboratory in Khumaltar for forensic tests. The two committee members reportedly sought eyewitness accounts from Her Majesty Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah from the Birendra Army Hospital in Chhauni. Leading dailies report.

NC For All-Party Consensus

In the aftermath of gruesome palace killings and emerging delicate political scenario, the ruling Nepali Congress party has decided to strengthen internal cooperation and attempt for consensus with other parties, including the main opposition, on major national issues. During the party’s informal meeting held in Baluwatar on Saturday, Prime Minister and president of ruling party Girija Prasad Koirala reviewed the present situation of the country and urged everyone not to lose patience. Party spokesman Narahari Acharya said that after the incident at Narayanhity palace, PM Koirala and his deputy Ram Chandra Poudel have talked with leaders of the main opposition several times. Now there is a need to give continuity to this dialogue so that the parliamentary session will take place smoothly, said Acharya. For the last few months, the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties were not even on speaking terms, leading to uncertainty over the upcoming budget session of the legislature. Compiled from reports.

Smuggling Leads To Scarcity

The unbridled smuggling of kerosene to India through the porous borders in Kakarbhitta has led to scarcity of the fuel in Jhapa district. The price of kerosene in Nepal is Rs 17. In India, the unsubsidised price of kerosene is around Rs 21. Unscrupulous traders find it lucrative to smuggle the fuel from Kakarbhitta to nearby Siliguri town in India. Just recently, Nepalese workers confiscated 150 liters of kerosene from an Indian trader near the border. According to an official at the Nepal Oil Corporation, the organization had to lower the quota of the fuel it had assigned for the place as in recent months it started to rise astronomically from 4 to 5 tankers per month to 30-33 tankers. Compiled from reports.