News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Talks On Transport Continue

The official level talks between Nepal and India remained inconclusive here Monday (February 10) as both the sides stuck to their guns, reports said. KANTIPUR daily reported that Indian side insisted on opening Nepali territory to Indian passenger and cargo vehicles whereas Nepali side gave preference to the movement of passenger vehicles only. "The talks will continue Tuesday as we need to arrive at a consensus on some key points in the proposed direct overland transport agreement, " said Chhabi Raj Pant, Director General at the Department of Transport Management who is leading the Nepali delegation. Meanwhile, both the countries have also started meeting on finalizing the railway agreement. The agreement is crucial to operationalise the "Dry Port" at Birgunj that was constructed some two years back with the World Bank assistance. Compiled from reports Feb. 11.

Parties Demand Transparency

A meeting of four political parties-those in the government and outside-have demanded that the proposed talks be made transparent. A meeting of the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Sadbhavana Party and Nepali Congress (Democratic) demanded that political parties must be involved in the proposed negotiations. The leaders also agreed that there should be a common package among political parties. Speaking during the meeting, General Secretary of the CPN-UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal, said the monarchy should not come into controversy. Nepali Congress was not represented in Monday's meeting. Compiled from reports Feb. 11.

Pakastani ambassador Zamir Akram

Pak Envoy Refutes Indian Allegations

Pakistan has strongly refuted India's accusation that its ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) was using Nepali soil to pursue its "anti-India agenda". Agency reports of February 8 had quoted Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as saying that Pakistan was using terrorists based in Nepal and Bangladesh against India. "Nothing could be further from truth," Pakistan's Ambassador to Nepal Zamir Akram said at an interaction program here on February 9. "We will not use friendly countries for such acts. We do not engage in such activities in the first place." He further said that the charges were baseless and ridiculous "because it ignores both political and geographical realities". Compiled from reports Feb. 10.

UNHCR Urges Refugees To End Strike

Officer-in-charge of UNHCR, Nepal, Abraham Abraham, has urged the Bhutanese refugees to suspend their strike, as "a major breakthrough has been made" concerning the refugee problem. He also said that a report prepared by Nepal-Bhutan Joint Verification Team (JVT) on Bhutanese refugees in Khudunabari camp would be made public by end of March. Abraham disclosed this during his visit to the Khudunabari camp early this week, where hundreds of refugees have resorted to an indefinite relay hunger strike, pressing Nepal, Bhutan and international community for the publication of the JVT report, among others. The UNHCR country chief also expressed satisfaction over latest development reached during Nepal-Bhutan 12th round of talks on the protracted refugee impasse. "Your demands are justifiable and relevant. But, I think, it is better to suspend the strike because the concerned party has already assured of meeting your demands," Abraham told the refugee community. Despite his call for ending the strike, the refugees said they were determined to continue the strike, as none of their demands had been fulfilled yet. The refugees are on an indefinite relay hunger strike since last month. Compiled from reports Feb. 10.

"We Are Honest Towards Peace Process": Prachanda

Chairman of the underground Maoist party, Comrade Prachanda, has said that his party has taken the proposed peace process with due seriousness and sincerity. In a message issued on the seventh anniversary of the "people's war," Prachanda appealed that the peace talks should be a peace process involving all the political parties, intelligentsia and people in general, instead of limiting it between the government and his party only. Saying that dialogue was also a front of the war, Prachanda said the cease fire had come as an expression of political balance in the context of the "international power balance." Space Time daily reports.

Donors Form Sub-Committee

Major donors have formed a sub-committee to monitor the proposed peace talks between the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels. The British ambassador in Kathmandu, Keith Bloomfield, said that the sub-committee would explore ways to support the peace process in Nepal. In an interview with THE KATHMANDU POST early this week, the British envoy said, "We are ready to extend any support, including the immediate technical assistance needed for the negotiation process and medium term help for rehabilitation and reintegration of the victims of the conflict." Mr. Bloomfield said that the sub-committee met with the government officials last week and expressed its willingness to support the peace process. A counter-terrorism expert, Mr. Bloomfield has called upon the government to form an inclusive democratic team to take on the Maoists. "We will continue to urge the government to carry with it, in the negotiations, the full range of the democratic constituencies," he said. Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has also proposed for a weekly appraisal of the peace process to consolidate the fragile truce and to transform it into a lasting peace, the news report said. Compiled from reports.

Journos Freed

The government has released three people including two journalists as per the Supreme Court order last week (February 7). Those freed include Om Sharma and Krishna Prasad Khanal, affiliated to pro-Maoist newspapers published from Kathmandu. Sharma is the editor of Jana Disha daily while Khanal was affiliated to Dishabodh monthly. Both the newspapers ceased their publication after the proclamation of the state of emergency in November 2001. The release comes a week after the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels announced cease fire and agreed to initiate a peace process. Nearly 150 journalists were detained during the nine-month long state of emergency that ended last year. Media organizations say nearly one dozen journalists are still behind bars in the country. Compiled from reports Feb. 9.

"Nepal Ready To Join WTO"

A senior government official has said that Nepal is ready to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) any time. Addressing a monthly forum organized by the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) and Action Aid Nepal office here early this week, Vice Chairman at the National Planning Commission Dr. Shanker Sharma said that Nepal was ready for the membership of the global rule-based trading regime. He, however, admitted that concrete preparations were needed to thwart the negative impact of the WTO membership and to tap the benefits accruing out of it. Country director of Action Aid in Kathmandu, Dr. Shivesh Chandra Regmi, criticized the government's policy to revoke subsidy on agriculture products at a time when rich countries continued the same. Executive director of SAWTEE, Ratnakar Adhikari, said that there was a need to register Nepal's rich bio-diversity in order to prevent bio-piracy. Kantipur Feb. 10.

NEPSE Index Continues To Improve

Thanks to the cease-fire between the government and Maoist insurgents, Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index, recorded an upsurge of 3.84 points for the second consecutive week. According to NEPSE, the overall index of the sole secondary market went up to settle at 217.14 points on Friday, the closing day of the week, against 213.30 points recorded on Monday, the opening day. Last week, the index had enjoyed a similar gain of 4.51 points while it had recorded a marginal decline of 0.84 point two weeks back. Though the recovery during the week was mainly backed by better transactions recorded in the commercial banks group as well as manufacturing and process group, the overall picture of the secondary market remained mixed. The indices of insurance and finance groups, however, tumbled during the week. Compiled from reports Feb. 9.

NB Bank Selected As PDF Administrator

Nepal Bangladesh Bank Limited has been selected as the 'administrator' for the Power Development Fund, reports said quoting unnamed official sources. A joint team of experts from the World Bank and Department of Electricity Development of HMG/Nepal selected the NB Bank on the basis of its financial and technical proposal, the source said. As the administrator of the Fund, NB Bank along with foreign partner, Asia Brown Boveri, would provide necessary consulting services for implementing various hydropower projects within the country. The World Bank is expected to pump in up to USD 80 million to the Fund for the purpose of developing Nepal's power sector. Compiled from reports Feb. 7.

Dr. Sharma

"Agriculture Needs Improvement": Sharma

Dr. Shanker Sharma, Vice President of National Planning Commission (NPC), has said that agriculture sector needs a great degree of improvement to meet the ultimate objective of poverty alleviation. Addressing a program on "Policy and Strategy for Poverty Alleviation and Food Security" here last week, Sharma said that food security in the country could only be ensured if the agro output growth match the increasing rate of population. Sharma's comment has come at a time when agro experts of the country have expressed their concerns over food insecurity in Nepal owing to the declining rate of food productivity. Though the government introduced Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP) with the assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the mid-nineties with an aim of uplifting the agro-sector, agriculture growth is declining. While the APP has targeted to achieve an annual growth of at least 5 percent, the current growth rate stands at below 2 percent. Compiled from reports.