BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

Crown Prince Dipendra observing the Madhyapur-Thimi Festival organized by Nepal Tourism Board

AT LEAST SEVEN PEOPLE died and over 60 people injured when a bus on the way to Syabrubesi in northern district of Rasuwa from Kathmandu fell some 200 feet off the road in Goldhunga VDC, 20 km north-west of the capital Thursday. The passenger bus fell off the road when it tried to pass a parked truck in high speed. According to police, most of the injured have returned home after treatment. Only last week, 21 passengers were killed and nearly 50 others injured in two bus accidents and a separate incident of electrocution Tuesday, reports said.

GARMENT EXPORTS HAVE registered a negative growth rate, sending signals of worry among officials and entrepreneurs. According to the Garment Association of Nepal (GAN), exports to the United States -- which absorbs nearly 85 per cent of the total Nepalese garment exports -- slumped by more than 5 per cent in the first four months of 2001 as compared to the corresponding period last year. In the month of April this year, exports tumbled by 33 percent in comparison to the same period last year. During the first four months of 2001, Nepal exported garments worth US$ 70.8 million only. The total exports to the American market in the year 2000 had stood US$ 178 million. "For a sector that has enjoyed growth up to 30 percent per annum, the present decline is depressing," said Uday Raj Pandey, general secretary of GAN.

THE GORKHA WELFARE Scheme (GWS) of the British government has opened Shree Primary School in the eastern town of Dharan. Colonel Mark Dowdle, Commander of the British Gurkhas in Nepal and Director of the GWS recently opened the school. He said that as part of the GWS’s continued commitment to community aid, over 60 schools have been built so far in Nepal. He said more than 1,400 students were benefiting directly from the education scheme being implemented by the GWS at a cost of Rs 8.9 million each year. A British Embassy press release said that in Dharan area alone Rs 5.1 million had been spent during the last five months on community aid, with projects ranging from school construction to the construction of a tarmac road.

DAYS AFTER THE PRESIDENTS OF 30 out of 75 district units of the ruling Nepali Congress issued a statement asking Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala not to resign under pressure, another 15 district presidents of the ruling party have come out in support of the prime minister. In a joint statement issued Wednesday, the Koirala loyalists have asked the premier not to succumb to any pressure and continue to fulfil his responsibilities toward the nation, people and democracy. They have also requested Koirala, who is also party president, to take decisive steps in time to check undisciplined activities that are gaining ground within the party.

THE GOVERNMENT IS CONSIDERING increasing the price of electricity by a maximum of 5 per cent annually, a government notice said. The notification that appeared in the gazette on Monday allows the authorities to hike the price on a semi automatic tariff adjustment (SATA) basis tied with the consumer price index (CPI) of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank in the country. To this effect, the government has already amended a rule at the Electricity Tariff Fixation Regulation-2050 B. S.. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has already sent price revision proposal to Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission (ETFC), reports said. The proposal is based on the gradual increase of per unit price of electricity, with the increase of capacity of ampere meter installed in each household and firm.

THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (PAC) of the House of Representatives has said it has discovered yet another case of financial irregularity while leasing an aircraft for state-owned Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation. The parliamentary committee is probing the leasing of a Boeing 757 plane in 1999 with the China Southwest Airlines. The PAC meeting on Wednesday concluded that the leasing of the plane without going through global tender was against the interests of the national flag carrier. The deal was made when the UML’s Bhim Rawal, held the civil aviation portfolio.

FOUR POLICEMEN WERE KILLED when a landmine laid down by Maoist rebels exploded early Tuesday within the premises of the Ilaka Police Post at Chisapani in the western district of Syangja, officials said. According to a spokesman at the Home Ministry, three policemen died on the spot and another succumbed to his injuries later. All 27 policemen under the command of a police inspector were returning to the post after spending the night outside. The rebels had earlier warned them to surrender their weapons. The rebels were suspected to have laid down the landmine when the post was empty. Police in remote areas reportedly seek safety outside the post during the night. This is the first incident where policemen have been killed inside their own post by a Maoists-triggered explosion.

THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM (WFP) has agreed to provide financial assistance of Rs 568.3 million to supply food to around 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal for the last 11 years. The amount will be spent to procure food between July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. The Nepal government will also provide US$ 100,000 for the program. WFP Nepal Representative Douglas Cason Coutts and Foreign Secretary Narayan Shumsher Thapa signed an agreement to this effect here Tuesday. The WFP has been providing food assistance for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal since 1992.

PRIME MINISTER GIRIJA Prasad Koirala initiated conservation work of the ancient artifacts of the Mayadevi temple excavated at Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, on the occasion of the Buddha Jayanti Monday. The ancient artifacts excavated at Lumbini will be conserved under the first phase, the temple of Mayadevi — mother of Gautam who later was known as Buddha — will be restored in the second phase and a market stone will be covered with a bullet proof glass and a golden roof in the third phase. All three phases are expected to be completed within the next three years.

IMPROVED VARIETIES OF maize, wheat and rainbow tout fish fingerlings developed in Nepal are quite popular in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Thailand, officials said. Officials at the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) said they have also developed a package of cultivating baby corn and popcorn and artificial insemination for cows and buffaloes. They said NARC has also successfully developed a technology of impregnating very young calves through balanced fodder. NARC has also drafted a strategy for the next 10 years in order to make its programs more integrated and result-oriented.