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THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE went to the
Narayanhity royal palace Sunday to greet King Gyanendra on His Majesty's 56th
birthday. This was the first official celebration of King Gyanendra's birthday after he
ascended the throne in the aftermath of the death of his elder brother, King Birendra, in
a palace shootout. People belonging to various ethnic communities, religious groups,
school children, young men and women joined the celebrations by playing traditional
musical instruments and donning traditional attire. King Gyanendra decorated nearly three
thousand people on the occasion of his birthday. The government also released 150
prisoners by waiving their remaining terms. SWITZERLAND HAS agreed to provide a grant assistance equivalent to Rs. 73.7 million (Swiss Franc 1.41 million) to the Nepalese government for the implementation of the fourth phase of the Arniko highway project. According to the ministry, the grant will be utilized mainly for the improvement of the Banepa market area, upgrading works from Barhabise to Kodari and Charnawati rehabilitation works of Arniko highway project. PER CAPITA INCOME of the Nepalese people has declined from US$240 in the last fiscal year to US$226 this year, an official report said. According to the Economic Survey for the year 2001-02 made public on Sunday, the decline in per capita income is primarily due to low growth rate and depreciation of the Nepalese currency vis-a-vis its US counterpart. While the rate of inflation remained at a low of 3 percent, increased remittance and foreign aid resulted into healthy foreign currency reserves worth Rs 103.9 billion, the report said. The survey, however, reveals shrinkage in both exports and imports. The delivery of most of the basic services during the period squeezed by the escalation of the Maoist-led violence, the report said. THE GOVERNMENT of Japan has extended a grant assistance worth Rs. 543.5 million (approximately US $ 6.96 million) to the Nepalese government as debt relief measures, the Japanese Embassy said. This is the first grant extended by the Japanese government in fiscal year 2002, the embassy said. Japan is the single largest bilateral donor to Nepal. AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION of the journalists has announced a 15-day campaign to press the government to make public the whereabouts of a pro-left editor. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) demanded Thursday that the government form a judicial commission to probe into alleged death of Krishna Sen, editor of 'Jana Disha' daily and 'Janadesh' weekly, said to be close to the Maoists. President of the FNJ, Taranath Dahal, said that the protest programs would include boycotting reporting of government ministers and publication of their photographs in the media for two days. The Federation has also urged the media persons to put on black bands on their arms while on work for five days beginning next week. Dahal said the FNJ would announce second phase of protest programme if the government did not fulfill their demands within the next fortnight. Local media reports said security forces took Sen into custody in the third week of May who was then allegedly tortured to death sometime last month. Officials have denied arresting Sen. In a statement Thursday, the Home Ministry said Sen was the central adviser to the Maoist terrorist group and that the government had already announced a reward of Rs 2.5 million (approximately 32,000 US dollars) to the person submitting him dead or alive. THE WORLD TRADE Organization (WTO) council responsible for intellectual property has recently approved a decision extending until 2016 the transition period during which, least-developed countries (LDCs) do not have to provide patent protection for pharmaceuticals. The council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) also approved a waiver in the last week of June that would exempt LDCs from having to provide exclusive marketing rights for any new drugs in the period when they do not provide patent protection. The waiver is to be submitted to the WTO General Council for final approval on 8 July 2002. The TRIPS Agreement now allows developing countries extra periods to delay providing patent protection for pharmaceuticals. But countries making use of the extra period still have to allow inventors to submit patent applications during the period. The latest waiver comes as a relief to all the LDCs including† Nepal. "The waiver gives Nepali pharmaceutical manufacturers time to comply with the provisions in the TRIPS Agreement, hence it is welcome," said P.R. Pandey, President of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers' of Nepal. Nepal does not own any patents in allopathic medicines. |
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