News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Maoists' Inability To Contact King Obstructing Talks

According to talks facilitator Daman Nath Dhungana, the inability of the Maoists to make contact with the King has posed as obstruction to the talks. He said it was natural that the rebels would demand commitment from the King to implement decisions reached at talks. The earlier experience of about-turn by the government over the agreement of restricting army movement has made them suspicious and are, therefore, looking for commitment from the King, said Dhungana. Another facilitator Padma Ratna Tuladhar added that since the King had not met either the rebels or the facilitators, there was obstruction in the peace talks. Speaking at a program in the capital on Sunday (August 10), facilitators said the inclusion of political parties in peace process is necessary. Leading dailies report.

Koirala Suspects King-Maoist Relations

Girija Prasad Koirala, president of Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister, has said that both the Maoists as well as the King have joined hands against people's movement. Addressing a public program in Birgunj, Koirala said that the five agitating parties had launched their agitation to protect the democratic constitution ëeven as it is trapped amid guns of two sides'. Leading dailies report.

Counterfeit Currency Seized From Journo

The huge cache of contraband Indian currency notes of 500 and 1000 denomination seized from a journalist at the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) on Saturday (August 9) has turned out to be counterfeit ones, reports say. Lokendra KC, economic reporter of Annapurna Post daily, was arrested on Saturday at the airport as he was trying to send a briefcase through cargo to Birgunj. The police later discovered more than 1.3 million Indian rupees in the briefcase. All of the money was in the 500 and 1000 currency notes ñ both of which are deemed illegal for transaction in Nepal. Leading dailies report.

Marsyangdi Project Come Under Partial Operation

The Marsyangdi hydroelectricity project, which was badly damaged by floods two weeks ago has been repaired and has come under operation partially since Sunday (August 10). The project had gone out of operation for the last ten days. According to technicians, the Unit 1 of the project has been fully repaired and other two units, too, will be repaired soon. The project churns out 60 MW of electricity. Leading dailies report.

Nepalese Team To Make Final Push For WTO Membership

To take part in the final meeting before the Cancun ministerial meeting to be held in November in Mexico, a Nepalese delegation has left for Geneva, Switzerland. The team led by commerce secretary Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, will hold bilateral talks with India, United States, Japan and Australia to make the final push for obtaining the membership of World Trade Organization (WTO). Compiled from reports.

Drug Sales To Be Stopped

In a bid to pressurize the government into bowing before their 12-point demands, the medicine entrepreneurs have threatened to close the sales of drugs beginning today (August 11). "The association has decided to stop billing of any transaction from tomorrow, as part of its protest against the government's laxity on health services," said Kedar Nath Pathak, the first national vice president of the Nepal Chemists' and Druggists' Association (NCDA). The sale of imported and locally produced drugs will be stopped until the government calls for a decisive dialogue, the association stated. The latest move by the druggists came after their talks with the government failed on Saturday. More than 20,000 pharmacists across the country have stopped importing all but life-saving drugs since Thursday (August 7) to protest a hike in customs duties which the government says is needed to check the vast trade in substandard medicines. The government hiked tariffs on medicines imported via dealers abroad from 4.5 to 6 percent in the budget for the current fiscal year that took effect on July 17. The government hiked the customs duty to 5 percent from the previous 1 percent and imposed 0.5 percent of special fee on drug imported. However, the finance ministry has said the tariffs applied only to Nepali pharmacists importing from middlemen abroad. The few Nepalis importers who do business directly with foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers pay no tariff, it said. The Himalayan Times daily reports.

Maoists Ask For Govt. Guarantee

The coordinator of the Maoists talks team Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has asked the government to guarantee they can implement agreements reached during the talks. According to talks facilitator Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Dr. Bhattarai has told him that it would be difficult for the rebels to sit for the talks without the guarantee that the agreements reached will be honored by the King, the army and the political parties. Tuladhar said that Dr. Bhattarai has requested the facilitators to get the bottom line of the King for their sake. Meanwhile, Tuladhar said that the government has proposed August 13 as date for the third talks. But the rebels are yet to agree to that date. Tuladhar added that the two sides were yet to agree upon the venue for the talks, as well. Meanwhile, a senior minister has said that the government is fully capable of implementing past and future agreements with the rebels. Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, finance minister and a member of government talks team, said that the government is fully prepared to sit for the talks. Compiled from reports.

Rebels Attack Security Forces In Kalikot

In a remote part of the mid western district of Kalikot, Maoists rebels attacked security units that were on patrol there, on Saturday (August 9) morning, injuring one policeman seriously. The security patrol came under attack near Chhapre khola of the district. The attack led to one-hour long exchange of fires between the two sides. Police constable Man Bahadur Singh was shot in head. He was rescued by an army chopper and is currently undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital in Kathmandu. Leading dailies report.

Bhutanese Minister Blame Nepal For Delay In Talks

Bhutanese minister Jigme Y. Thinley said that the date of the 15th ministerial meeting has been postponed because there was no foreign minister in Nepal at present, according to Bhutanese paper Kuensel. The 15th ministerial meeting was scheduled to be held on August 11-14 in Thimpu, Bhutan. But last week, the Bhutanese government cancelled the meeting. It has not yet proposed new date. Thinley, who is now the Home Minister of Bhutan, said that the date had to be postponed also because the Bhutanese National Assembly would continue to be in session till the mid-August. Leading dailies report.

Maoists To Enter Into Political Agenda

In his telephone conversation with talks facilitator Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, coordinator of the Maoists talks team, has said that the rebels will not remain embroiled in technical matters like restricting army movement any more and will, instead, enter headlong into the political agenda when they meet with government interlocutors at the third talks. Dr. Bhattarai also told Tuladhar that the Maoists would propose the date for the talks within a few days. Leading dailies report.

Army Angry Over Rebel Attacks

Due to continuous attacks by the rebels against the peace code of conduct, the security forces have lost 12 personnel in the last seven days. According to military sources, the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) will be compelled to take defensive actions if these attacks are not stopped. The army has concluded that militarization is dominant in the Maoists and that their local units have gone out of control. The source said that the recent increase in rebel attacks in Sindhuli district was because of personal vendetta nursed by the local Maoist commander Sher Bahadur Tamang, whose daughter had been killed by the army during the emergency. Kantipur daily reports.

Highway Opened For Heavy Vehicles

The Narayanghat-Mugling section of the Prithvi Highway has been cleared of debris from the mudslides of last week and opened for the movement of even heavy vehicles since Thursday (August 7) afternoon. The section was badly damaged at different places due to landslides triggered by torrential rainfall last week. With the opening of the highway, hundreds of vehicles that were stuck for days have now begun to move to and fro the capital valley, said traffic authorities. Leading dailies report.

Govt. Looking At Bagmati Corridor As Alternate Route

With the vulnerabilities of the existing highways linking the capital valley with rest of the country fully exposed by last week's landslides-triggered obstruction, the government is seriously looking at the Bagmati corridor as the alternate route. According to Dr. Shankar Prasad Sharma, vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), the government is considering the option of starting the construction of the Bagmati corridor route, if possible, within the current fiscal year based on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system. The route will link Kathmandu with Hetauda through a road that runs adjacent to the Bagmati river. Experts say that this route will halve the current distance vehicles have to travel from industrial hub Birgunj to the capital. Kantipur daily reports.

Talks Next Week: Minister

Kamal Thapa, Minister for Information and Communications and spokesperson of the government, has said that the third round of talks between the government and the Maoists will take place sometime next week. Talking to reporters on Wednesday (August 6) after inaugurating a two-day seminar on "Security and Cooperation in South Asia" organized by Spotlight magazine, minister Thapa said he expects Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, coordinator of the rebels' talks team to participate in the dialogue. Leading dailies report.

Political Parties Press For Human Rights Agreement

The five agitating political parties have urged the government and the Maoists to reach into human rights agreement with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Discussing the NHRC's proposal of monitoring human rights situation at a program on Wednesday (August 6), the leaders said they will extend their cooperation in this regard. The commission has already prepared separate drafts agreement that it wants to reach with government as well as the rebels. The drafts have been submitted to the respective parties as well. The commission believes that the human rights situation could be improved and victims could be compensated once these agreements are implemented. Leading dailies report.