News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

EU Envoys Visit Refugee Camps

European Union (EU) ambassadors in Nepal have expressed concern over the delay in verification of Bhutanese refugees in the country and have called for immediate declaration of the results of the verification that has been completed. Talking to reporters after visiting three refugee camps at Beldangi in the eastern district of Jhapa on Wednesday, Danish charge d' affaires in Kathmandu, Kert Meniecke, said the delay in the verification process "has made us worried and alert". He said there should be a long-term solution to the refugee problem as the refugees couldn't remain dependent on aid forever. He, however, did not say if the EU would take a fresh initiative to ensure early repatriation of the refugees. A Joint Verification Team comprising Nepalese and Bhutanese officilas completed verification of refugees living in one of the seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal some six months back. The refugees have demanded that the results be made public and the process be resumed in the remaining camps. Complied from reports July 4.

Maoists Warn Against Election Campaign

Though their party is yet to make public its policy towards the forthcoming mid-term polls, activists belonging to the underground Maoist party have warned cadres from different political parties not to visit their "base areas" for political campaign, a leading daily reported Thursday. The rebels have pasted hand-written notices at Naumule in mid-western district of Dailekh warning that those entering their areas without prior permission of the local "people's government" would be subject to "physical action." They have identified mainstream political cadres, government employees, businessmen and general public, in that order, for such action. Mayor of Narayan municipality in the district, Rabindra Raj Sharma, said the rebels have conveyed to him "oral warning" not to visit their areas for election campaign. The rebels continue to conduct "security check" of the people who pass through their areas, the report said. Rajdhani July 4.

India Bans Pro-Maoist Outfit

Close on the heels of the state visit to India by King Gyanendra, the Indian government has banned a pro-Maoist outfit, Kantipur daily reported Wednesday. According to agency reports, the Indian government has banned All India Nepali Unity Society (AINUS), holding it responsible for supporting Maoist terrorist activities in Nepal from Indian soil, with effect from Tuesday. A Home Ministry spokesman said in New Delhi that the Indian government had banned three organizations, including two Tamil organizations, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. AINUS is known as a front organization of the underground CPN (Maoist) party that is launching the so-called "people's war" for the last six years against the Nepalese establishment. Compiled from reports July 3.

Local Bodies Demand Extension

Office bearers of the local bodies throughout the country, including District Development Committees, municipalities and Village Development Committees have demanded that the government extend their term by another one year. Addressing a joint press meet here Wednesday, the representatives of the local bodies said as their term expires in mid-July, the government should either hold fresh polls (for the local bodies) or extend their tenure as per the law. They protested media reports saying that the government was considering appointing political cadres to the local bodies after their tenure expires. Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu municipality, Bidur Mainali, warned that they would go to court if the government took any "undemocratic" decision. Compiled from reports July 4.

Rs. 500 Million Revenue Loss

The country is losing revenue worth an estimated Rs. 500 million a year due to illegal imports of popular chewing and other tobacco products from India, a newspaper report said. According to the report, billions of rupees' worth of 'pan paraag,' chewing tobacco and other tobacco products enter Nepal via the common, open border from India without revenue payment. While tobacco companies in Nepal pay up to Rs. 3 billion in taxes to the government every year, the government is not getting even one percent of revenue dues from the import of such products, the report said quoting a recent study conducted by Indian Market Research Bureau. Kantipur July 4.

US Embassy Condemns Explosion

Within hours of the bomb explosion at the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress office, the US embassy in Kathmandu condemned what it described as "terrorist bombing". "The attack on defenseless party workers was a cowardly act intended to disrupt the legal and free statement of democratic rights," the statement said. The press release added that democracy could flourish only when citizens can meet openly and assemble without the threat of terrorist violence. Compiled from reports July 6.

'30 Percent Of Maoist Guerrillas Are Children'

The underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has massively recruited children, as many as 30 percent of its total force, as militia forces, a global report on child soldiers said. The report said children between the age of 14 and 18 years of age were reportedly being used as messengers, sentries and spies, and were also involved in cultural or propaganda activities. The report, jointly prepared by a coalition of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Save the Children Alliance was made public here on Friday. The report contradicts a nearly two-year-old statement made by Maoist supreme Comrade Prachanda saying that their party had a policy of not recruiting children as soldiers. More than 300,000 children under 18 years have been fighting in armed conflicts in over 30 countries worldwide, the report said. Kantipur July 6.

PM Deuba

Congress Youth Wing Backs Deuba

A majority of the members of the party's youth wing, Nepal Tarun Dal (NTD) including its chairman Bal Krishna Khand, have supported Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as their new leader. In a statement on Friday, Khand, considered a close lieutenant of Girija Prasad Koirala, said the decision had to be made considering the need to consolidate prime ministerial system of democracy and also to move forward the ideological struggle to end violence and murder. NTD has also called its central council meeting on July 12 to thrash up its future strategies. Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress central office led by Koirala said the party had dissolved its youth wing for its "anti-party activities." The NC has also formed an ad-hoc committee for NTD led by former MP Mahadev Gurung. Compiled from reports July 7.

Border Demarcation Work Halted

Border demarcation work carried out by a joint team of experts of Nepal and India has come to a halt after the Indian side was found to have unilaterally built a dam over a river inside Nepal causing inundation in some border villages of Morang district. The work of fixing lost border pillars near the bordering Bardanga VDC was suspended last week after the Nepali team found India's unilateral construction of the 300-meter-long dam over the Bakraha River about one-and-half months ago. The dam has submerged around 400 meters of Nepali land in the VDC, about 50-km southeast of Biratnagar. Surveyor of No. 1 Border Demarcation, Purna Bahadur KC, said that India built the dam about 400 meters inside Nepal's territory, which, according to him, is a clear violation of the border point previously fixed by the Nepal-India Joint Demarcation Team. Some of the border pillars erected earlier are on the verge of collapse due to the dam that clogged waters of the Bakraha River. Experts said four villages of Nepal were likely to get flooded due to the four-meter-high dam. A local of Bardanga VDC said that they did not raise any protest when the dam was being built, as they had no knowledge about the exact location of border. Kantipur July 6.

US Firm Refuses To Take Over RBB

The Deloitte Touche Tomatsu (DTT), a US based consultancy firm, has breached its agreement unilaterally to take over the management of the state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank reportedly citing fragile security condition and ongoing political instability, and weak financial condition of the RBB.† The DTT had delayed its take over by nearly five months despite agreeing for the same in an agreement with the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank in the country. Governor of the NRB, Dr. Tilak Rawal, said the central bank was considering suing the DTT in an international court for breaching the agreement and would also seek compensation from them. He said that the NRB would look into other alternatives, capable domestic and foreign private consultants, to award the management contract of RBB. The DTT had bagged the management contract during a global tender call quoting US $ 5.9 million consultancy fee for a period† of two years. As per an agreement on January 31 this year with the NRB, the DTT had agreed to take over the management of the loss-making bank from March. Compiled from reports July 7.

Public Holidays: How Justified?

Public holidays were observed on the day King Gyanendra and Queen Komal left for New Delhi and returned home after completing their six-day state visit to India (June 23-28). How justified is this practice that continues from the Panchayat days? asked Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of Kantipur daily, in his weekly column on Monday. "Perhaps no other country in the world has such a tradition that has got a negative impact on productivity," Ghimire wrote. Isn't it tantamount to `man-hour' or 'man-day' losses caused due to strikes? he asked. Compiled from reports July 8.