BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

THE LOCAL ADMINISTRATION has sent seven journalists and three computer operators to jail in Kathmandu for three-month long detention. They are being detained at Bhadragol jail in the capital. Security personnel had taken into custody pro-Maoist journalists and computer operators working at the pro-Maoist newspapers hours before the declaration of emergency on November 26, Rajdhani daily reported Tuesday. Those detained include editor of Janadesh weekly Govinda Acharya, editor of Jana Disha daily Om Sharma, executive editor of Dishabodh monthly Iswor Chandra Gyawali and sub-editor at the same monthly Mana Rishi Dhital. Also sent to jail were Nim Bahadur Budhathoki, Ram Bhakta Maharjan and Dipak Mainali who worked as computer operators at the daily. Similarly, three local journalists based in eastern hilly district of Sankhuwasabha, Ganga Bista, Shanker Khanal and Indra Giri have been sent to Khandbari jail in the district. Interestingly, Bista and Khanal also worked for the state-owned Nepal Television and Radio Nepal respectively, Budhabar weekly reported.

TWO IRRIGATION PROJECTS in the eastern hilly district of Panchthar, constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 20 million under Asian Development Bank's assistance, remain unattended even after completion. According to Rajdhani daily, the Durdimba Irrigation Project and Panchami Irrigation Project were constructed under the ADB-funded Second Irrigation Sector Program (SISP). But the irrigation canals in both projects have collapsed before coming into use. Engineer at the District Irrigation Office, Mohan Sangroula, said the projects had failed due to technical error and political pressures. Other irrigation projects under the SISP are also likely to be closed due to the carelessness of the consumers, he said. The 7 km-long Durdimba project aimed to irrigate 150 hectares of land whereas 6 km-long Panchami project aimed to irrigate 200 hectares of land.

TWO BOYS OF A FAMILY were killed when a bomb exploded at a house in Dakalkhet village of Amargadhi Municipality in the far-western district of Dadeldhura, authorities said. According to the District Administration Office, Dipendra Iyer, 15, and his brother Bhim Bahadur Iyer, 11, who were playing with the bomb they had found in the nearby forest, died in the explosion Tuesday. Police have launched an investigation.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS TAKEN several decisions to expedite the Governance Reform Program (GRP) being launched with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Minister for General Administration Khem Raj Bhatta Mayalu told reporters Wednesday that a Reform Coordination Unit has been opened at his ministry, an Efficiency Unit has been set up at the Finance Ministry and a Change Unit has been set up at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Education and Sports. The government has scrapped over 1,000 positions in the central organizational structure and has accepted applications for voluntary retirement from over 2,300 civil servants during the current fiscal year, Minister Bhatta said. These changes are part of the 18-month US$ 1.5 million Governance Reform Program, he said.

THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS decided to extend by three years preferential treatment for Nepalese textile exported to EU member countries for three years. According to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the agreement to provide preferential treatment to Nepalese textile products was due to end at the end of this year. Nepalese textile products will now be able to enter European markets under the scheme by showing certificate of origin until the end of 2004. The EU decision has come at a time when Nepalese textile products are facing tough competition in overseas markets, including the United States.

Q.A.M. ABDUR RAHIM, a former Bangladeshi envoy to Pakistan and Australia, is to succeed Sri Lankan diplomat Nihal Rodrigo as secretary-general at the SAARC Secretariat, reports said. According to Bangladeshi news agency, BSS, the announcement will be made during the forthcoming SAARC Summit in Kathmandu. Rahim will begin the three-year tenure on January 11.

THE GOVERNMENT OF Japan has agreed to provide a grant assistance totaling around Rs. 1,515.9 million to Nepal for execution of three separate projects on improvement of water supply facilities in Kathmandu, increase food production and for debt relief. According to the Japanese embassy, the grant includes Rs. 611.5 million for the implementation of the project for improvement of the Kathmandu Water Supply facilities that aims to improve water supplies in southeast of the capital including Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. Likewise, Rs. 492.8 million has been allocated for Debt Relief Measures and about Rs. 411.6 million for the purchase of fertilizer, procurement services and boosting the agricultural production to meet the growing demand for food. Japanese ambassador to Nepal, Zenji Kaminaga, and Dr. Bimal Prasad Koirala, Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, signed and exchanged three separate notes on the grant last week.

IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS of the current fiscal year, exports of handicraft tumbled by 72 per cent as compared to the same period last year, entrepreneurs said. According to the Handicraft Association of Nepal, the export of handicraft in the first four months totaled only Rs 1.8 billion this year compared to Rs 4.15 billion over the same period last year. The whopping decline in handicraft exports is mainly due to massive decline in the export of pashmina shawls, one of the handicraft products. The association said Nepal had exported pashmina shawls worth Rs. 3,680 million in the first four months of the last fiscal year, whereas it came down to just Rs. 655 million during the same period this fiscal year.