News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

"Polls Possible Within Six Months" Chand

PM Chand

Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand on Saturday has said that the elections could be held within six months so as to avert a possible constitutional crisis. He was hinting at the stipulation in the constitution, which makes it mandatory for any person holding a position in the government to become a member in either house of the parliament. As the ministers in the Chand government are not members of parliament, they need to get themselves elected within six months. "As the present government does not want to precipitate any crisis, we may conduct elections within the next six months," said Chand at a face-to-face program organized by the Reporter's Club.† Chand also said that the recent royal audience to the leaders of the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML might open the door for solving the ongoing crisis in the country. King Gyanendra had meetings with Girija Prasad Koirala, NC President last Thursday and with Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the CPN-UML the day after. Compiled from reports Dec. 15

Thapa

Thapa Warns King, Parties

President of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Surya Bahadur Thapa has warned that if the King and parliamentary parties refuse to work together, Maoists will sweep them away. Addressing the third general convention of the party in Pokhara Thursday, the emotionally choked former Prime Minister urged both the sides to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. He also declared that his party could not follow the reactionary path and must uphold its democratic credentials. The party leader and Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand sought cooperation from political parties to his government and said the government was trying to create favorable environment for holding talks with the government. He did not elaborate. The convention will choose a new leadership for the party for the next two years on Saturday. Compiled from reports.

Aids Leaves Behind 13,000 Orphans

The HIV/AIDS has orphaned nearly 13,000 children in Nepal, and there are an estimated 1,500 children living with HIV/AIDS, said the world's children report 2003, released by UNICEF here Wednesday.† The children belong to 0-14 age group and the figures are based on figures updated until 2001-end. The situation is no less appalling in such neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. While the report is silent on the situation of HIV/AIDS among children in China, it says that there are estimate 170,000 children who are living with HIV/AIDS in India, Nepal's giant neighbor in the south with which it shares an open border.† In Bangladesh, the number of children living with HIV\AIDS has been estimated at 310, while 2,100 children have already been orphaned by the global pandemic that made its inroads into South Asia in the late 1980s.† In Nepal, the first HIV/AIDS incidence was recorded in 1988, and it is believed to have affected well over 50,000 people. As of November-end, 2,550 cases of HIV/AIDS have been recorded by the National Centre for AIDS and STD control (NCASC). Compiled from reports Dec. 13

India Revokes Anti-Dumping Duty

The government of India has revoked anti-dumping duty on acrylic yarn and zinc oxide for exports up to the fixed quota specified in the Nepal- India Trade Treaty.† In a statement, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said Thursday that the exports of up to 10,000 metric tones of Zinc Oxide will now be exempt from anti-dumping duty upon entry into India. Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties of the Government of India had imposed the duty provisionally since October 2001 on Nepali exports on value addition items ranging from 18 to 30 per cent.† "The decision was supposed to come earlier following the request by Nepali exporters of removing the anti-dumping duty. However, the delay in decision was because of quasi-judicial nature of the issue," said Sanjay Verma, first secretary at the Indian Embassy. During the renewal of the bilateral trade treaty in March this year, India had imposed quota restrictions on vegetable ghee, copper wire, acrylic yarn and zinc oxide products to be imported from Nepal. Compiled from reports Dec. 13

Belgian Arms Arriving Shortly

The first delivery of weapons has been made from a Belgian arms manufacturer to Nepal in a controversial deal that led to the resignation of a government minister, reports said. The consignment of 500 Minimi machine guns made by Walloon Company FN Herstal is due to arrive in the Himalayan kingdom shortly. The granting of an export license by the Belgian government led to a political row and the resignation of Flemish green minister Magda Aelvoet, who quit because she could not reconcile her part in the cabinet decision to grant the license with her own conscience. The two groups of observers who visited Nepal said the shipment should go ahead because it did not break any Belgian arms sale laws. The shipment comes in the week a new weapons exports law, which tightens existing legislation, is passing through Belgian parliament. The law incorporates many of the provisions of the European arms sale code, which stipulates that no arms will be supplied to countries with child soldiers or where military expenditure is higher than social expenditure. Compiled from reports.

Hillary Sticks To Everest

The world's highest mountain will always be Mt Everest to the New Zealander who conquered it first, nearly 50 years ago. Sir Edmund Hillary said yesterday he was not taking seriously a push by China to rename Everest Mt Qomolangma, Herald Sun, an Australian newspaper, reported. China said last month Westerners should call the 8848m mountain on the border of Nepal and Tibet Mt Qomolangma after the "ignorance and arrogance" of British colonialism continued to refer to it as Everest. China wanted the name changed in time to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent by Sir Edmund and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953. Sir Edmund said in Auckland he had heard the suggestion that the name be changed but different countries had their own name for Everest. "I don't think it is terribly important which name you give to a mountain because I was brought up in the old style -- it will always be Everest to me." In 1955 Sherpa Tenzing called his autobiography Man of Everest and referred to the mountain as Everest. Compiled from reports.

Transit Visa To Be Waived

In a bid to bail out the ailing tourism industry, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has decided to permit visa-free entry to tourists visiting the country for three days. "The decision, however, will come into effect only after the cabinet endorses it," said Rabi Bhakta Shrestha, Assistant Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The decision of the Ministry has come at a time when the tourism entrepreneurs have been asking the government to announce exemption of visa-fee as a part of tourism relief package . Minister Shrestha further said that the government would soon announce a relief package for the tourism industry including hotels. Referring to the financial crisis of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC), Shrestha said that the government's policy is to convert it into a 'public limited company' by floating shares to the public. This complies with the recommendations provided by a task force led by Dr Shankar Sharma, which submitted its report to the government two months back. "However, it will take time to implement it. So, the immediate effort is to curb its leakage and anomalies and close the branches, which have been incurring losses, or where the performance is minimal," he said. Compiled from reports.

Maoists Attack Schools In East And West

While demanding that the government withdraw the tag of "terrorists" from their organization, pro-Maoist students have indulged in violent activities in eastern and far-western Nepal, reports said. A group of Maoist students hurled bombs and damaged three parked vehicles at the premises of Devkota residential secondary school, a private school, in Biratngar on Tuesday. Tika Prasad Upreti, principal of the school, said that the attack has incurred a loss of estimated Rs two million. In a separate incident, an armed band of Maoist students stormed into Bidhya Niketan, another private boarding school, at Dhangadhi around midnight on Monday and set fire on the documents and furniture. The fire was brought into control only next morning. ANNFSU (Revolutionary) has owned up responsibility for both the incidents. Kantipur Dec. 11

Dr. Sharma

Nepal's HDR Awarded By UNDP

Nepal's National Human Development Reports (NHDRs) is one of the six winners selected by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for its awards for human development, the UNDP mission in Kathmandu said Monday. Besides Nepal, the other countries to receive the awards are the Arab Region, Bolivia, Botswana, Chile and Indonesia. The UNDP also selected President Fernando Henrique Cordoso of Brazil for the Mahbub ul Haq award for outstanding contribution to human development. Nepal's NHDR, 2001 entitled "Excellence in Support of the Millennium Development Goals," focused on poverty reduction and good governance. The report uses Nepal's tradition in social mobilization to explain how human development and good governance could create a "virtuous cycle," the UNDP said. Compiled from reports Dec. 11

Economic Growth Turns Negative

For the first time in the last two decades, Nepal's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also known as the economic growth has remained negative in the last fiscal year 2001-02, officials said. According to Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal's GDP growth recorded a negative rate of 0.63 percent last year mainly due to negative performances by the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Earlier, preliminary estimates had project Nepal's GDP to grow by 0.8 percent in the last fiscal year. In the year 2000-01, Nepal's GDP had grown by 4.83 percent. With escalating problems at home and abroad, domestic industries saw and decline of -10.79 percent in the fiscal year ending on July 15, 2002. According to CBS, imports have gone down by 7.7 percent and exports have declined by 14.6 percent. The tourism sector also registered a sharp decline. 19 years ago, GDP growth rate was negative at -2.98 due to a decline in agriculture sector. Leading dailies report Dec. 11