News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Government Condemns Killings

In the emergency cabinet meeting held after the news of the assassination of chief of Armed Police Force (APF) Krishna Mohan Shrestha broke out, the government sharply condemned the killing calling it as a reflection of "defeated mentality". Although no one has claimed responsibility for the killings, the government has blamed the Maoist rebels for it. The government said that although it lost a committed and dedicated security officer, the incident would not hurt the high morale of its security personnel. Meanwhile, many political parties including Nepali Congress (NC), Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), NC (Democratic) and several rights organization. All of them condemned the ruthless killing of "dedicated and patriotic" officer that served no purpose whatsoever. Rights organization termed the killing of a person on a morning walk was nothing more than a brutal criminal act. Compiled from reports.

Shah Returns With Promises

Foreign Minister Narendra Bikram Shah returned on Sunday after completing his interesting three-day informal visit to Thimpu, Bhutan. Shah said that within weeks Bhutanese Foreign Minister would be coming to Kathmandu to hold the stalled 12th round of ministerial meeting to resolve the refugee impasse. Likewise, the 13th round would also be quickly held after that. Shah claimed that after the 12th meet, the process of repatriating the refugees that have been already verified by the Joint Verification Team would begin. The Bhutanese King Jigme Singhye Wangchuk in Thimpu granted an audience to Minister Shah on January 25. The Bhutanese King expressed the hope that friendship and interaction between the two neighboring countries would continue to grow. Minister Shah's visit, according to Bhutanese foreign ministry officials, was a part of the regular consultations between the two countries, according to the Internet edition of Kuensel, Bhutan's weekly newspaper. Shah also met Bhutan's Prime Minister Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji and foreign minister Lyonpo Jigme Thinley and discussed matters of mutual interest, said a Bhutanese foreign ministry official. Among other issues, the two foreign ministers were reported to have discussed the bilateral efforts to find a solution to the problem of Bhutanese refugees living in refugee camps in Nepal. Compiled from reports.

Bullion Price Rises

With marriage season on its peak, the price of gold continued to rise. Following the upsurge in its price to six-year high in the international market, the domestic price of the yellow metal went up further by Rs 130 per 10 grams on January 26. Leaving behind all previous records, the price of gold went up to touch a new height of Rs 9360 per 10 grams, that is Rs 10,917.50 per tola. The rise in its prices in domestic market is solely attributed to increasing international price. It comes at a time when marriage season is at its peak. The consumption of gold goes up during such season. However, gold traders say that because of high price the consumption has come down at the moment. "The demand of gold has slid drastically during the span of a week. However, the rise in prices across the globe is triggering the price rally," said a member of Nepal Gold Silver Dealers Association (NGSDA). The sale of the gold has confined to those buyers who have no old stock to fulfill the requirement of the marriage season, added Rojan Shakya, a Nardevi-based gold dealer. "Most of the people have opted recycling of old ornaments for meeting the seasonal demand," he said. According to NGSDA, the daily demand of gold stands at 25 kg. During the marriage season it crossed 30 kg in normal circumstances. However, given the current decline in the purchasing power of middle class families, which has been further aggravated by the rise in prices, the demand has slid to below 15 kg. Moreover, the rush for resale of old stocks during high prices, which used to be witnessed in the past, is also not happening this time. Traders say this is because customers keeping track of international market speculate that its price would rise further. Given the international environment of uncertainty and war clouds looming large on Iraq, the gold price has risen more than 15 percent in the past two months in the international market. The weakening of alternative investment in such as stocks and the US dollar has also fueled the price rise. On January 24, gold prices surged to a new six-year high at US dollar 366.30 per troy ounce in London. The last high price of gold was recorded on January 2, 1992 in London at US dollar 366.55. Likewise, in the New York Commodity Exchange, gold closed at US dollar 368.20 per troy ounce on January 24. Gold is a safe haven for investors as it is priced in dollars in world market. The Kathmandu Post reports January 27.

PM Chand

Chand's Party For RPP

In order to appease the growing restiveness within the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), to which Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand belongs to, regarding the functioning of the government, the Prime Minister, held a lunch reception at his official residence. At the reception he asked the central members of the RPP not to raise questions about the party's representation in the government as it was formed under extraordinary and difficult circumstances. "My political priority is holding of the local elections. I am at the final stages of homework for the same," he said to the senior party members. "As soon as the preparation are completed, I will announce the dates for the polls in consultation with political parties." Chand said that the government is in constant touch with the Maoist rebels through "contacts". However, he did not furnish any details. "Things have not arrived at a decisive point. I should not give you any false assurance," he was quoted as saying. Chand hosted the lunch reception in honor of the newly elected central committee in an apparent move to establish a cordial relation with the party following sharp criticism of the government's performance at the central committee meeting last week when a number of party leaders made scathing remarks at Chand's performance and said the government, in no way, has done any good to the party. Leading dailies report.

Aryal

Plans For Rehabilitation In The Offing

Top government official claimed on Saturday that the government was preparing a "working plan" to rehabilitate Maoist rebels who have surrendered to the security force and the Maoist victims. The plan will be finalized by the next week. "In the meantime, secretaries of ministries of Home, Defense and Physical Planning and Works and other high ranking officials at the National Defense Council (NDC) are working together to ensure effective implementation of the working plan," said defense secretary Madan Kumar Aryal. Currently, there are about a thousand displaced families and rebels who have surrendered to the security forces. The NDC secretariat will form rehabilitation centers in all five development regions — eastern, central, mid-western, western and far-western — at the earliest to rehabilitate them. Speaking at an interaction program in the capital on January 25, Aryal said that although the terrorist activities have been controlled significantly, it would take a long time to put an end to the unrest. He said the government was planning to raise the strength of the army to 66,000 from the present 60,000. According to him, 244 army men have lost their lives and 363 have been injured till date, while 3590 rebels were killed after the imposition of emergency in army operations; 1026 Maoists were killed before it. Meanwhile, Aryal said that around three dozen US Army were currently in Nepal in order to provide a 4-week training to their Nepalese counterparts. He added that such training cooperation has been running for the last one decade and that it was a part of continuity of that tradition. He rejected "baseless news reports' regarding the American army presence and training. Aryal also stressed that the government was serious is protecting the human rights. Leading dailies report.

Control In Tobacco Ads

Dr. Upendra Devkota, Minister for Health, said that the government is preparing to bring a new ordinance to control the advertisements of tobacco and alcoholic products. Addressing a national third national convention of ENT specialists in Bharatpur on Saturday, Dr. Devkota said that smoking, tobacco and alcohol were main causes of cancer. Dr. Devkota said that although controlling of such advertisements could result in loss of billions of rupees in revenues, it could not be compared to human life, which is priceless. Compiled from reports.

IT Equipment To Get Cheaper

Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada, member of National Planning Commission (NPC) said that the government was preparing to slash down import tariffs for computers and other Information Technology equipment. In order to materialize the strategy of the Tenth Plan, which envisages to alleviate poverty also by using the IT, it was imperative to encourage use of computers, which in turn, could happen only if they get cheaper, said Dr. Khatiwada, addressing an IT seminar held as a part of ongoing CAN InfoTech in the capital on Saturday. He also said the government would quickly finalize the IT part that has been under development for the last ten years. Speaking at the same program, Lochan Lal Amatya, president of the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), criticized the government for failing to live up to its past commitments regarding the development of IT in the country. Compiled from reports.

RPP And NSP Reject Charges Of Being Regressive

After they were not invited to crucial all party meet of January 22, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) have clarified that they are not regressive as hinted by bigger parties. Since the top leaders of RPP and NSP are currently the head and deputy head of the government respectively, they were not invited to the meeting. In a statement released yesterday by RPP central leader Khem Raj Pundit, the party has said that dialogue between the King and the political parties is the only way out of the current crisis. He said that RPP would still pursue with its cooperation with other six political parties. Likewise, NSP leader Rajendra Mahato expressed "surprise" over the decision of the political parties not to invite them at the meeting. He said NSP always believed in democracy and it can never become regressive. Compiled from reports.

DPM Hints At Local Polls In May

Even as the bigger political parties continue to remain adamant on their positions that the current government is unconstitutional, a senior minister has hinted that the government may hold polls for local bodies in May. Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal said that the government is preparing to hold the local polls in May. Addressing a workshop in the capital, Mandal said the government is committed to hold the election by maintaining law and order in the country. However, bigger political parties have said that this government has no constitutional authority to hold local polls. Compiled from reports.