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COMMISSION FOR INVESTIGATION of
Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has formally lodged a charge-sheet against former
minister Chiranjivi Wagle at the Special Court in the capital on December 18. The
anti-corruption body has charged Wagle with amassing property worth over Rs 32 million by
misusing his public position through illegal means. Wagle has denied the charges and
alleged the CIAA of being politically motivated. The Commission is also probing his son,
Devendra Wagle, on charges of corruption. The Commission has also remanded two former
ministers, Khum Bahadur Khadka, and Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta on charges of
corruption. ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) has
announced a USD 115 million in loans and grants to Nepal for 2003, the Bank
officials said. Resident representative of the Bank in Kathmandu, Dr. Richard Vokes, said
that the sum will be disbursed for five loans and nine technical assistance projects. Dr.
Vokes said that deteriorating security has been the biggest obstacle for economic
development in the country. "Given the continuing political instability and difficult
security situation, the targeted economic growth rate of 4.3 percent in the current year
is clearly not achievable," said Dr. Vokes. In the year 2002, the ADB had approved
two loans totaling USD 60 million for secondary education support project and urban
environment improvement project. HMG/NEPAL HAS launched the official website here Tuesday. The website, [HYPERLINK "http://www.nepalhmg.gov.np"[www.nepalhmg.gov.np, is to combine all information related to the government of Nepal and disseminate it to the public. The website carries information regarding 13 Ministries under the government as well as respective departments. The website was launched by Dr. Upendra Devkota, Minister for Science and Technology (MoST). "The new website will be an upgrade of the old website of MOST," said Atma Ram Ghimire, Director, National Information Technology Center (NITC). "The website is expected to be a platform for information dissemination by the government." WITH A VIEW TO CONTAIN rampant adulteration of petroleum products, the state-owned monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has decided to separate the sales of kerosene from petrol and diesel from a single petrol pump. Going by the latest decision, the new dealers that the NOC would appoint henceforth would be allowed to sell diesel and petrol or kerosene only. As of the existing petrol pumps dealing with all three major petroleum products, necessary arrangements for separating the sales of kerosene and the other two products would be taken after discussing the matter with the Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association, NOC said in a statement. The NOC has adopted a new policy of not appointing new dealers within a distance of one km in cities and extending its supply network of dealers in hills and mountain districts having motor linkage. THE GOVT. OF SWITERLAND has agreed to provide grant assistance worth Rs 576.3 million to Nepal for the implementation of the trail bridge sub-sector project. The five-year project is the continuation of two successful projects namely the suspension bridge project and bridge building at the local level supported by the Swiss government. According to the finance ministry, the grant assistance will be utilized for the construction and maintenance of trail bridges, procurement of construction materials, capacity-building of central and local level institutions and local infrastructure development. It will cover operating expenses including digitalization of maps, local consultancy and local staff cost. The project aims at helping the rural people by providing most cost-effective river crossing facilities and enhancing socio-economic growth through access to market centers, basic services and eventually improving the living conditions of the rural people. The project will be implemented by the department of local infrastructure development and agriculture roads of the Ministry of Local Development, officials said. PRESIDENT OF INDIA, Abdul Kalam Azad, conferred the rank of Honorary General to Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Pyarjung Thapa amidst a function held at the Rastrapati Bhawan in New Delhi last week (Dec. 18). Present on the occasion were Vice-President, senior ministers, high ranking army officials and other officials of India and the Royal Nepalese Ambassador to India. After the function, President Kalam hosted a tea reception in honor of Chief of the Army staff Thapa. General Thapa laid a wreath at the "Amar Jawan Jyoti" built to commemorate Indian soldiers at the India Gate. A guard of honor was offered to General Thapa at the Indian Army headquarters at "South Block," RSS news agency reported. THE GOVERNMENT of Norway has agreed to provide an assistance worth Rs 240 million (2.2 million Kroner) to HMG/Nepal for the repair and maintenance of 12 MW Jhimruk power plant. Maoist insurgents had destroyed the plant, owned by the Butwal Power Company (BPC), in late March this year. Officials from both the countries signed on an agreement to this effect here Friday. The government has sold 75 percent shares of BPC to Interkraft Nepal that had bid Rs 950 million. FEDERATION OF NEPALESE Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and All China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) have signed on a memorandum for effective implementation of agreements, agreed earlier. During the sixth meeting of Nepal-China non-governmental cooperation forum (NGCF) held in Guang Zhou on December 11-12, both the sides have agreed on sharing and updating information regarding trade, transit and industry. "We are very hopeful that Nepal will lure Chinese investment in agriculture, hydropower, civil aviation, tourism, pharmaceutical and construction materials," said Binod Bahadur Shrestha, acting President of the FNCCI, who led the Nepali delegation to China. Shrestha also urged the government to expand air services to other cities of China in addition to existing Shanghai and Hong Kong. |
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