News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

King Can Reinstate House: Koirala

Since the King misused the Article 127 of the Constitution on October 4, it is up to him to rectify the mistake by reinstating the House of Representatives, according to president of Nepali Congress (NC) Girija Prasad Koirala. "The House may be reinstated by the King on his own or through the recommendation of the council of ministers. Thereafter the steps taken according to the parliamentary decisions will be constitutional," Koirala told reporters in Biratnagar on Sunday (June 15). Koirala said that then only can the all party government resolve the problems with the Maoists. Koirala also termed the recent statements by Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa who had said he was willing to discuss the issue of reinstating the House of Representatives as "conspiracy to sabotage the agitation launched by five parties". Koirala said the agitation would be further intensified in the days ahead. Kantipur daily reports.

Dissenters Call For RPP Central Committee Meeting

Around a dozen of dissatisfied central committee members of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have decided to request party president Pashupati SJB Rana to call the meeting of the party's central committee within a week. The leaders made the decision after an informal meet on Sunday (June 15). They have criticized Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, who is a senior leader of the party, for forming cabinet without taking party suggestions into consideration. PM Thapa has already said that forming cabinet and choosing ministers is the prerogative of a Prime Minister and is not subject to dictation from party. Leading dailies report.

'Technical Error' Blamed For The 'Friendly Fire'

Authorities have said that the Saturday's 'friendly fire' in Banke district, which resulted in the death of two army personnel, was because of human error due to technical problem. The patrol team of Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) and Armed Police Force (APF) had opened fire against each other on Saturday evening suspecting each other as Maoist rebels. The authorities of the RNA and APF have not laid blame on each other for the incident and instead pointed to technical problem. The authorities have said that the full report of the incident can be described only after detail has been investigated. A high level source even said that the soldiers died after the grenade they were carrying exploded accidentally triggering others to open fire suspecting they were being hit by rebels. Sources say there is heavy deployment of security forces around the Dang-Banke border area due to reports that Maoists may be smuggling arms from India through that route. Kantipur daily reports.

Pemba Discredits Lhakpa Gelu's Claims

There is an utter confusion regarding who climbed the Everest fastest this season after Pemba Dorje Sherpa raised questions regarding the veracity of the claim made by fellow Sherpa climber Lhakpa Gelu. Pemba, whose record of climbing the Everest in 12 hours 45 minutes was broken three days later by Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa who clocked 10 hours 56 minutes, said he was the authentic fastest climber and doubted Lhakpa Gelu's claims. Pemba has requested the Ministry of Tourism to probe the whole affair and decide who is the fastest. Lhakpa Gelu, on the other hand, stood by his original claim saying he has proofs. He accused Pemba of making counter claims because he was angry that his record was broken. Compiled from reports.

Govt. Preparing For Third Round Of Talks

Speaking at an interaction program in the capital on Saturday, Kamal Thapa, Minister for Information and Communications and the spokesperson of the government, said that the new government is preparing to hold the third round of talks with the Maoists immediately. He said the government was studying the decisions of previous talks. "After a series of informal meets, the third round of talks will be held officially," he said. Minister Thapa said the decisions to keep facilitators and 13-member monitoring team will remain in force. Meanwhile, Thapa said the new government will not try to impose any restrictions or control on the media. Thapa assured of full freedom to press. Leading dailies report.

National Assembly To Lose 20 Members

As the tenure of 20 members of National Assembly including its chairman expires on June 26, the only existing Upper House, too, will be without leadership. Beginning June 26, tenures of 7 members of Nepali Congress (NC), 7 members of Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), 3 members of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and 3 Royal nominees will expire. With its 3 members losing their tenure the ruling RPP will now have nil representation in the Upper House. The 60-member strong Upper House will then shrink to 39-member one with 16 members of NC, 17 members of UML and 6 Royal nominees. A royal nominee member Dipta Prakash Shah had resigned from the post more than six months ago. The Upper House is the only remaining representative body at present as the House of Representatives and local bodies lie dissolved. Compiled from reports.

Badal Says Dialogue Is Currently Broken

Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, politburo member of the Maoists and a member of its talks team, said that the talks between the government and the Maoists currently lay broken. The dialogue has certainly broken but there has been no announcement made so far, Badal said. He said that the Maoists are still patient and are waiting for the talks to resume. Badal also said that frequent media reports about Maoists extortion are misplaced. He said collecting donation is their right. Spacetime daily reports June 15.

Former RNAC Boss Lands In Jail

The Special Court on Friday (June 13) handed over a three-year sentence to then executive chairman of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) Hongkong Rana Magar on charges of corruption. The court decided that he was guilty on charges of corruption regarding the lease agreement with Chase air, an American company. The court also awarded two years' imprisonment to Cecil Winters, executive officer of Chase Air, for entering into agreement with the RNAC but failing to supply airbus even after payments were made. An American district court has already ordered Winters to return $895,574 including compensation to the RNAC, as per its claim on February 1, 1999. Chase Air has only returned $383,000, but the RNAC wants the full amount returned. The Himalayan Times reports.

Bhattarai Goads Parties For New Constitution

The coordinator of the Maoists talks team Dr. Baburam Bhattarai urged all political parties to reach an agreement on framing new constitution. He warned that failure to do so would result in the re-start of "war". Speaking at an interaction program organized by National Joint Movement Committee, Dr. Bhattarai said there was alternative other than constituent assembly to frame new constitution. Compiled from reports.

Oli Unsure About Joint Movement's Goal

Senior leader of Unified Marxist Leninist Khadga Prasad Oli said that the joint movement organized by five political parties lacked clarity. "The parties demand the reinstatement of house or formation of all party government. But when such government is formed, they do not participate. Isn't it unclear?" he asked. Saying that he has no ambition to join the current government as deputy prime minister or whatever, Oli said it is up to the monarch to bring the constitution back to track.. He asked the King to return to constitutional framework and not get involved in governance or controversy. Oli also criticized the five parties' narrow-mindedness for not involving Nepali Congress (Democratic) in the joint movement. Compiled from reports.

SAARC Standing Committee Meet

With the objective to hold the stalled 12th summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a special meeting of the SAARC standing committee is going to be held in Kathmandu in the second week of July. All preparations to hold the meeting are nearing completion, according to Q.A.M.A. Rahim, general secretary of the SAARC Secretariat. Foreign secretaries of the seven member states will take part in the meeting. The 12th summit could not be held this year due to disputes between Pakistan and India. Compiled from reports.

NTC Slashes ISD Tariff

The Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) has announced its decision to bring down the tariff of international ISD calls. The new tariff will be effective beginning June 15. The new system introduces a budget call system o ISD, granting special discounts in current tariff rates. It also reduces the rate of ISD calls to SAARC countries by 50 percent during the normal and off hours. According to NTC there, will be two types of budget calls. The rate of ISD calls to all counties worldwide, except SAARC members will be reduced to Rs 45 per minute from the existing Rs 74 per minute to countries in Asia, Europe, Australia and the North America, and Rs 45 from Rs 90 per minute to African and South American countries. As per the new provision, customers now have to dial a new international access code "1445" instead of the present "00". The second type of budget calls are for those who want to make ISD calls for long durations. Under this provision, the rate of ISD calls has been reduced to Rs 25 per minute and basic call unit time will be eight minute and one should pay Rs 200 even if one talks for less than eight minutes. For this, the new international access code will be "1425". The Himalayan Times daily reports.

Demand For Nepalese Guards In Iraq

An employment agency has submitted an attractive proposal to Nepal to send workers to Iraq. In the first phase, the agency has requested for 50 Nepalese who will have to work as security guards. As per the proposal, aspirants will not have to pay a dime to go to Iraq. The agency itself will bear the air travel expenses and give US$ 1150 as monthly salary. But the person who wants to go to Iraq will have to be former security/army personnel with knowledge on spoken and written English. The government is expected to accept the proposal soon. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

Indian Envoy Speaks

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran expressed anguish at the portrayal of his country as a negative factor in the kingdom�s politics by certain quarters, including the media. "Some people, for whatever reasons, are out to malign India and do not like to see that there be friendly sentiments between India and Nepal," said the Ambassador. He said that, at present, the bilateral relations are �excellent� and there was huge potential to strengthen the relations. Speaking on the current political scenario in the kingdom, he reiterated India�s position of viewing constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy as the twin pillars of political stability in Nepal. "It is on the basis of these principles that, we hope, a certain national consensus is reached in Nepal, which not only will carry forward the peace process but also makes possible the early holding of elections," said the Ambassador. "It is through the holding of elections that political stability and normalcy will return to Nepal." He denied that India wanted Nepal under its security umbrella. "There is no security umbrella over Nepal or any other country. There is, however, security cooperation between the two countries." He also denied reports that there was competition or rivalry between India and the US in Nepal. The Kathmandu Post daily reports June 11.