News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Deuba Rules Out Talks With Maoists

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has ruled out any talks with Maoists unless the latter surrender their arms and renounce violence. In an interview given to BBC Nepali Service, Deuba said that the country could be greatly jeopardized if the government went for talks with the rebels. "Already we have been betrayed once. Earlier I had released their colleagues from prison and even dropped the internal security regulations. But in the name of talks they re-grouped and strengthened themselves. Who will guarantee that similar act will not be repeated," said Deuba. He also said that he would be consulting with all the political parties before making any decision about the extension of state of emergency that is going to expire less than two weeks from now. The Prime Minister was in London where he met with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Compiled from reports.

Maoist Destroy Sanskrit University

Maoists have set ablaze the office premises of the Mahendra Sanskrit University in Dang last week. The fire destroyed the administrative and various other buildings of the university. Properties worth nearly 30 million rupees has been destroyed by the fire. Important documents have been ruined by the fire although no one was injured. Meanwhile, it has been learned that five civil servants, too, were killed by Maoists during the Gam fight last week. The civil employees were there to initiate development process side by side with the security operations. Leading dailies report.

Herbal Exports Come Down By 50 Percent

The herbal exports has been hit severely with the persisting environment of insecurity. The collection of the products has come down heavily since the imposition of state of emergency. Likewise, the strict imposition of quarantine charge by the Indian government has drastically hampered its exports. As there are no quarantine facilities in every transit points, their movement has been severely restricted. The herbal entrepreneurs say that their business has come down by as much as 50 percent in recent months. The demand for rare herbal products found in Nepal are quite high in Indian markets. Ninety-percent of the herbal exports of Nepal go to India. Studies have shown that herbal products worth more than two billion rupees are exported annually from Nepal. Compiled from reports.

Local Bodies To Receive Full Budget

Amid apprehensions that there could be budget cut for them in the upcoming fiscal year 2002/2003, the Ministry of Local Development has assured that there would not be any budget cut for the local bodies. As such, the 3913 VDCs across the county would continue to receive the annual development fund of Rs 500,000 from the center despite the fact that the government had halved the fund in the current fiscal year. The VDCs have been using the development fund in human resource development, school management and other constructive purposes. Leading dailies report.

Blair Assures Deuba Of Help

British Prime Minister Tony Blair assured visiting Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of help in Nepal's current military campaign to crush terrorism. Deuba met with Blair at the latter's office in 10 Downing Street in London on May 13 and discussed wide ranging issues of mutual interest with special focus on the current campaign to crush terrorism. Blair also pledged assistance to Nepal on economic fronts. The two leaders also discussed matters related to development cooperation and the pensions of ex-British Gurkha soldiers. Senior British ministers including Clare Short, Secretary of State for the international development, Adam Ingram, minister for armed forces and senior officials from the foreign, commonwealth office and ministry of defense were also present during the meeting. Meanwhile, Deuba urged Britain to provide military and financial aid to help the government counter Maoists. Ahead of his talks with Blair, Deuba speaking to BBC Radio asked for weapons, military logistical support, training as well as financial aid to maintain peace, tackle poverty, reduce unemployment and improve education. Leading dailies report.

Koirala And Nepal Reject Deuba's Plea

Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the ruling party and Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the main opposition met on May 18 to discuss the government's proposal of extension of the state of emergency. During the meeting, the two leaders charged the Deuba government of misusing the constitutional provision by going ahead with the proposal without consulting with the political parties. Though the two leaders did not specifically rule out supporting the extension of emergency, they expressed surprise over the sudden decision by the government to introduce the proposal, which came days after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba hinted that there was no need to extend the emergency. The present state of emergency expires on May 26 and needs to be ratified by two third of the parliament if it is to be extended by further six months. Leading dailies report.

Emergency Extension Vital: Gupta

The spokesperson of the council of ministers and Minister for Information and Communication Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta has said that it was vital to extend the state of emergency as the next few months of army deployment would render final blow to the rebels. Clarifying the government's intention for extending the emergency situation, Gupta said rebels would benefit if the state of emergency is lifted. He said all security apparatus, too, were in favor of the extension of the emergency state. Gupta said the government's efforts to control terrorism through the army mobilization for the next six months had been received in good light by the friendly countries. He said the government would soon receive military hardware from India. He said India was also cooperating by giving vital information on rebel movement across the border. He claimed the security operation till now has scored definite breakthroughs as it had caused serious setback to the rebels on a number of fronts including recruitment, arms procurement and supply. Minister Gupta also rejected rebels' latest peace bid saying they were merely intent on buying time to regroup. Meanwhile, Minister Gupta also confirmed that the United Kingdom was holding an international meeting in June to assess Nepal's need to combat terrorism. Leading dailies report.

Maoists Attack SOS Children's Village

In an act of outright terrorism, Maoist rebels exploded pressure cooker bomb and destroyed bed and mattresses of destitute and orphan children at the school of SOS Children's Village in Kalagaon in Surkhet on May 17 night. Although no one was injured in the incident, the attack has been condemned by all as being barbaric and inhumane. The center generally looks after the destitute and orphan children who have no one to take care of. Besides giving them much needed homely care, the SOS also runs classes up to the tenth standard. Most of the beneficiaries of the center are the children from backward and underprivileged section of society. Presently 474 children were studying in the village out of which 121 were orphans. "We are absolutely stunned by the attack," said principal Bijaya Jung Rana. Police have rounded up those involved in setting off the explosion. The SOS Children's Village has its main branch in capital Kathmandu and has been running villages for poor and orphan children in various parts of the country. The village runs on the strength of funds donated by individuals in the European countries. In fact, part of the fund is generated by school children in the European cities by cutting down their snacks. Meanwhile, in their spree of destroying education infrastructures, the rebels have attacked Parshuram Sanskrit College in Dadeldhura, Ratna Chandeshwor Sanskrit school in Jumla and Mahendra High School in Tulsipur. Compiled from reports.

Indian Army Chief Pledges Assistance

Talking to reporters in Kathmandu before he returned home after completing the 4-day official visit, the chief of the Indian army staff General S. Padmanabhan said that India would provide modern weapons including armed helicopter to help Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) in its current fight against terrorists. He said India would provide any additional military assistance to its friendly neighbor in times of need. After the state of emergency was imposed in last November, India has already provided 2 Cheetah helicopters and one hundred trucks and other military equipment. This time, Padmanabhan said, India would supply weapons including small arms, armaments of various kinds like mortar, gunship helicopters and a variety of vehicles and ammunition. The India has also been providing equipment and training to armed police force set up one and a half year ago. The Indian army chief, who returned late afternoon to New Delhi, praised the efforts of the security forces engaged in anti-terrorist operations. "As a person involved in various kinds of emergency in my own country, I can say I am very pleased with what I have seen," he said. "The tactics taken seem to be very sensibly formulated. There is a problem but it is being contained very fast, if not controlled completely. I think they are doing a great job." Meanwhile, The Himalayan Times reports that an Indian military team will arrive shortly to assess the needs of security forces fighting Maoist terrorists in the country. Gen. Padmanabhan also called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday and discussed on issues of dealing with terrorism. The Kantipur daily adds that army chiefs of two countries also talked about the open border. As it was not possible to regulate it in short term, the two sides agreed to set up information system to check the hazards of the open border. Compiled from reports.

Appa Sets New Record As 54 Mountaineers Scale Everest

In the continuing spree of breaking records, the roof of the world witnessed record 54 mountaineers crowd its summit together on Thursday morning (May 16). Likewise, Appa Sherpa, 41, has set new record by scaling the Everest for 12th time. Pemba Dolma Sherpa, 31, has become the second Nepali woman to conquer the Everest from both Nepali and Tibetan faces. Sean Swarner, a cancer patient from the United States, also made a successful ascent. Ellen Miller, 43, of North Carolina, USA, climbed the mountain from the southern side becoming the first American woman to scale the peak from both the northern and southern faces. Phil and Susan Ershler of the United States also made successful ascent on Thursday becoming the first married couple to climb the highest peaks on each of the world's seven continents. These apart, nationals from Korea, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Iceland and New Zealand were also successful in scaling the peak on Thursday. Leading dailies report.