Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

KING GYANENDRA EXPRESSED deep condolence at the demise of Nepal expert Dr. Toni Hagen. In a letter addressed to the daughter of Dr. Hagen, King expressed deep sadness at his demise stating that Nepal would never forget his contributions. Dr. Hagen died at the age of 86 in his hometown in Switzerland early this week.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS WITHDRAWN restrictions imposed on Nepalese laborers to go and work in Kuwait. The cabinet on Friday decided to withdraw the restriction after the improvement in the situation in the Gulf region. The government had imposed the restriction after the war in Iraq started a month ago.

A STRONG RAINSTORM THAT LASHED the eastern parts of the country on Sunday morning (April 20) destroyed lives and properties. At least nine died, 20 were injured and several properties including electricity lines were destroyed by the storm. The storm lasted for one hour. Trees were uprooted and houses collapsed due to the storm. The power was out in various parts of the eastern region on Sunday. April marks a season of hurricanes and storms in Nepal.

THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT HAS AGREED to provide Nepal with grant assistance worth Rs 324 million to be utilized to enhance the food production capacity in the country. Japanese government will be providing chemical fertilizers worth Rs 324 million to increase agricultural productivity. An agreement to this effect was signed on Monday (April 21) by Bhanu Prasad Acharya, Finance Secretary, His Majestyís Government and Zenji Kaminaga, Japanese Ambassador to Nepal on behalf of their respective governments.

IRATE STUDENTS TORCHED THE press of the Tribhuwan University (TU) on Monday afternoon (April 21) destroying hundreds of thousands of rupees worth of property. Meanwhile, the seven student organizations have announced further agitation programs. According to their program, they will bar the vice chancellor and rector from entering campus premises on April 24. They will campaign for their program and collect donations on April 25. They have also demanded that the Devi Lal Poudel, who died in Butwal in police firing, be declared martyr. They also denounced the government for "mere marginal" reduction in the prices of petroleum products. They have also called for Nepal Bandh next week on April 28 and 29.

IN BREACH OF THE PEACE CODE of conduct, the Maoists have abducted 27 people. The rebels abducted 22 people from Taplejung district, 3 from Tanahu and 2 from Sarlahi district. A local Maoist leader in Taplejung said that they had taken those people under their control for the sake of some investigations. Meanwhile, police have arrested 24 Maoist cadres who were collecting donations in Malangawa, Sarlahi.

RAMESH NATH PANDEY, MINISTER FOR Information and Communication, reviewed the progress of two big telecommunication projects. Pandey inspected the two mega-projects being implemented in Nepal by Indian companies. The two projects include East-West Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) project being implemented by Telecommunication Consultants Indian Limited (TCIL) and the project for provision of basic telephone service based on wireless in local loop (WLL) to be implemented by United Telecom Limited (UTL). Officials of the TCIL and ULL made separate presentations on the progress of their projects respectively to the minister. The Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), the state-owned telecom monopoly and the government of India, through TCIL, have come together to implement a 880-km super information highway from Bhadrapur, Jhapa in the east to Nepalgunj, Banke in the west by laying an OFC at an estimated cost of about Rs 1350 million. The project, under the grant assistance of India, provides state-of-the-art broadband network linking 80 cities along the East West Highway. On the other hand, UTL, an undertaking of the Indian government, is introducing latest technology by way of installing CDMA 2000-IX equipment. This project is likely to bring in foreign investment to the extent of Rs 2400 million in the first year and over Rs 4300 million in the next three years.

MAJOR PREM SINGH BASNYAT has become the first person from the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) — excepting those in medical profession — to have achieved Ph.D. degrees. Major Basnyat was awarded Ph.D. for his dissertation on "A Military Study of Nepalese Forts and Fort Battles Against Foreign Powers By The Royal Nepalese Army". He was awarded the degree two weeks ago by the history department of Tribhuwan University (TU). Major Basnyat is also the first Nepalese to have done MSc in Global Security from the United Kingdom and the first Chevening scholar from the RNA.

THE UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND (UNFPA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the District Development Committee (DDC) Mahottari for the implementation of Population and Reproductive Health Integrated (PRHI) Project. The UNFA representative J. Bill Musoke and Local Development Officer of the DDC Mahottari Surya Bhakta Khanal signed the MoU. The project will be implemented in Mahottari, one of the six districts identified for the project, from 2003 to 2006.