 |
||
|
||
BRIEFS |
|
||
|
||
BRIEFS |
ACCORDING TO THE PRESS RELEASE ISSUED HERE on Saturday (July 19) by the Indian Embassy, the Indian government has refunded Rs 2.37 billion excise duty to the Nepalese government. "The amount of duty refunded constitutes a 14 percent of the total customs revenue of Nepal. The excise duty on Indian manufactured goods imported into Nepal is refunded regularly to Nepal as per the Nepal-India Trade Treaty," states the press release. This year the amount of refund has increased by 39 percent over the disbursed amount of around Rs 1.7 billion in the fiscal year 2001-02. As the trade between Nepal and India is strengthening and growing, this amount has grown almost four folds in 10 years from Rs 562.20 million in 1992-93 to Rs 2.37 billion in 2002-03. A NEPALESE DELEGATION LED BY FOREIGN SECRETARY Madhu Raman Acharya has left for the United States to woo the American senator who had , last month, withdrawn a significant bill from the senate. The bill, if passed, would have provided duty and quota free access to Nepalese garments. Californian senator Dianne Feinstein withdrew the bill last month deploring the Nepalese government's steps in sending back 18 Tibetan asylum-seekers to China. The delegation also includes representatives of Nepalese garment industries. The delegation will attempt to convince the senator that the particular action was an isolated case and that the Nepal government's policy of handing the Tibetans to UNHCR has not changed. Already the government has handed over two batches of dozens of Tibetans to UNHCR after that incident. THE NINE TIBETANS WHO WERE ARRESTED BY the police in Okhaldhunga have been handed over to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday (July 15). The Tibetans were arrested on charges of illegally sneaking into Nepal without proper documents. On Monday they were transferred to the Immigration office in Kathmandu. Hundreds of Tibetans cross over to Nepal every year on their way to Dharmashala in India where they live as refugees. Since April this year, 46 such Tibetans have already been nabbed. GERMAN AMBASSADOR RUDIGER LEMP HAS SAID that the Nepal government adopted face saving method in the resolution of Bhutanese refugee problem. Lemp said there were enough rooms for suspicion on the recent report by Joint Verification Team (JVT) which stated that over 70 percent of the refugees at the Khudunabari camp belonged to the category of voluntary migrants. ABRAHAM ABRAHAM, THE CHIEF OF UNHCR Nepal office, said that he considered the recent call by the American Ambassador for re-examination of the JVT report as "clear and thoughtful". Abraham said, "We are ready to provide necessary assistance in resolving the problem as per the suggestion of the American ambassador. If the governments of Nepal and Bhutan request, we can provide this assistance immediately." He said that the UNHCR was finding it difficult to have direct contact with the Bhutanese authorities as there is no UNHCR office because the Bhutanese authorities have not approved its proposal to set up one there. He said that UNHCR cannot poke its nose when two countries have bilateral talks. However, he complained the absence of ëindependent institution' to investigate the appeals against the JVT categorization. Abraham warned that the Bhutanese refugees issue was becoming ëdifficult and long term'. He said UNHCR and all other international community were closely watching how the upcoming 15th ministerial meet unfolds in Thimpu next month. Meanwhile, Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal has said that he had received a letter from British government expressing ëconcern over JVT report'. According to D.P. Kafle, general secretary of People Forum for Human Rights, said that the Bhutanese authorities have destroyed his house in Samchi, Hatkhola in Bhutan recently. WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF DECENTRALIZING the authority, the government has given more authority to regional administrators. From now onwards the regional administrator will be responsible for all matters including transfer and evaluation of government officials, except those from judiciary and military, in the region. The regional administrator will be allowed to use vehicle with flags. The Home Ministry had recommended giving more teeth to regional administrator to make the job attractive since bureaucrats showed little excitement at the post. Despite complaints from the Law Ministry, Prime Minister Thapa overruled in favor of the Home Ministry recommendations. The Law Ministry had raised doubts about the recommendations saying they could become controversial as they were not present in the earlier act governing the regional administrators. TO MARK THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Zenji Kaminaga, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, handed over two units of ambulances to the hospital on July 17, 2003. Japan has provided the ambulances through the Society for Promotion of Japanese Diplomacy, Tokyo to strengthen emergency services of the hospital. The ambulances have been donated by Utsunomiya city and Yamato city of Japan and the transportation costs for the ambulances from Japan to Nepal were borne by the Government of Japan. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Kaminaga expressed his hope that these ambulances would help upgrade the existing emergency services of the hospital and provide timely emergency services to needy patients. |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
