News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Dozens Atop Mount Everest

Following the path first trodden by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa fifty years ago, dozens of mountaineers climbed atop the 8848 m high Mount Everest on Thursday (May 22). Taking advantage of the clear weather, at least 44 climbers scaled the peak on the day, according to tourism ministry officials. Yuichiro Miura, a Japanese national, set the record of being the oldest person on Everest summit. Miura is 70-year-old. One and a half dozen of Sherpa, too, climbed the summit along with their expedition members. Seven members of joint Indo-Nepal Army expedition team, too, successfully climbed the peak. Likewise, Ang Chhiring Sherpa of Kantipur Publications became the first journalist to climb the peak. Compiled from reports.

Parties Picket District Administration Offices

As a part of their protest programs against regression, activists of five parties picketed the district administration offices across the country on Thursday (May 22). The protestors obstructed the activities of the administration offices. In some districts, police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse them. In Kathmandu, a group of protestors organized a sit-in in front of district administration office obstructing traffic flow towards Singhdurbar. They also raised slogans against CIAA. Leading dailies report.

Hillary Arrives In Kathmandu

Sir Edmund Hillary arrived with his wife on Friday (May 23) from Bangkok. Though Hillary was in ill health, he decided to come to Nepal to join in the gala celebrations of the golden jubilee celebrations of the first ascent of Mount Everest. Hillary, together with Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, was the first to climb the 8848 m high mountain on May 29, 1953. This week a number of celebrations are planned to mark the historic event. Hillary is also scheduled to receive honorary Nepalese citizenship. Leading dailies report.

Parties Boycott All Party Meeting

Major political parties boycotted the all party meeting called by the government to discuss forming all party committees to take over the management of local bodies on Friday (May 23). Prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand had called the meeting to form all party committees to operate the local bodies. "Unfortunately, the parties did not participate. We hope they will cooperate because it has been the consistent policy of the government to consult political parties before major decisions are taken," said Ramesh Nath Pandey, Minister for Information and Communication and spokesperson of the government. Only the leaders of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) took part in the meeting. Despite the parties' opposition, the government is planning to form such committee. Leaders of Nepali Congress and Unified Marxist Leninist have said that it was useless to fill the local bodies with nominated members. According to sources close to the cabinet, a process is being initiated beginning next week, when all party committees would be formed to run the district development committees and municipalities. As soon as this is completed, similar bodies would be created to run village development committees. "It is our belief that the entire process would be completed by the second week of June," the source said. The Maoists are believed to have given an official but tacit nod to the government proposals, sparking off speculation that the Maoists may have struck a deal with the government. There are 75 district development committees, 58 municipalities and 3913 village development committees. These bodies were elected last in 1997 but their terms expired on July 16 last year when then government of Sher Bahadur Deuba decided to hand over the local bodies to the care of bureaucrats. The Himalayan Times daily reports.

Former Ministers Appear Before CIAA

Former ministers Arjun Narsingh KC, Bal Bahadur KC and secretary at Ministry of Population and Environment Lokman Singh Karki were among those who appeared before the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Monday. They were summoned by CIAA to seek clarification regarding their property details listed in the report of Judicial Investigation on Property Commission (JIPC). The CIAA has summoned 40 persons including political leaders. The political parties have criticized the latest CIAA move terming it as being politically motivated. President of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala has also been summoned today. But sources close to Koirala say that the Congress chief is seeking legal counsel from top lawyers and may file a petition against CIAA move rather than present himself before the commission. Compiled from reports.

Defense Ministry Refutes Reports, Warns Maoists

The Ministry of Defense has refuted the reports that appeared in Rajdhani daily on Saturday (May 24) stating that the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has agreed to confine its activities within 5 kilometer radius of its barracks. The daily had quoted RNA spokesperson Deepak Gurung of saying that the RNA would follow the order of the government and would from now onwards restrict itself within the 5 km radius. The press release by the Ministry, however, refutes the reports and adds that Gurung had only said that RNA would follow the order of the government. Likewise, in the strongly worded statement released on Saturday, the Ministry of Defense has taken a strong exception at the apparent breach of code of conduct by the Maoists, who it alleges of abducting and killing after torture its unarmed personnel in Makwanpur a few days ago. The Ministry has warned that if the Maoists continue to breach the peace code of conduct, it would be compelled to take necessary steps to establish law and order in the country. This is one of the most strongly worded reaction by the Ministry after the ceasefire four months ago. Compiled from reports.

RPP President Nominates Vice President

Pashupati SJB Rana, president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party has nominated Padma Sundar Lawati as the vice president of the party. Likewise, he nominated Kamal Thapa as the general secretary, Deepak Bohara as treasurer and Roshan Karki as the spokesperson. Meanwhile, the dissidents within the party have criticized Rana of ignoring all his opponents. Leading dailies report.

Education Impasse Ends

The agitating students of Maoists' student wing have agreed to call off their ongoing lock-outs in scores of private schools after they reached into an agreement with the representatives of the government. Education Secretary Lav Kumar Devkota had held talks with revolutionary students and representatives of schools organizations. The agreement was reached after the government agreed to fix the fees of private schools beginning next month. The Maoist students are currently engaged in agitation against the private schools and have padlocked accounts section and principal's office of dozens of private schools. They have demanded that the private schools slash their fees down. Meanwhile, the government has agreed to waive all costs up to secondary level in public schools. Compiled from reports.

Third Round Talks Within Two Weeks

Significant progress has been made in the two round of talks government had with the Maoists, said Narayan Singh Pun, Minister for Works and Physical Planning and a member of government negotiating team. Speaking at a program in Gulmi district on Friday (May 23), Pun said that the third round of talks would be held within two weeks. He asked the political parties to make their agitation peaceful and cautioned them against obstructing peace process. Leading dailies report.

NRB Warns Commercial Banks Of Takeover

Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) — the central bank — has warned the commercial banks to improve their performance as per NRB's directives or face takeover. "Commercial banks should provide efficient financial services to the customers, abiding by the directives issued by the central bank, as some of the banks' non-performing assets have already reached 40 percent, which is dangerous for an economy like ours," said Dr. Tilak Rawal, presenting a paper on Corporate Governance and Finance Sector Reforms In Nepal, at a gathering of over 50 bankers and professionals on Friday. He cited the example of Lumbini Bank, which was controlled by the NRB a few months back due to its deteriorating performance. Now the Lumbini Bank is in a sound position, thanks to NRB's timely interventions, he said. He also said that the Nepal Industrial Development Corporation, a government-owned development bank established in 1959, is in serious financial crisis currently. He termed the NIDC as "technically insolvent" as per recent findings and said it may be liquidated. The Himalayan Times daily reports May 24.

Nepal-Bhutan Talks Makes Little Headway

Contrary to expectations, the 14th ministerial meeting between Nepal and Bhutan could not make any serious headway towards repatriation of Bhutanese refugees. The meeting between delegations of Nepal and Bhutan led by their respective foreign ministers ended on Wednesday agreeing to meet again in Thimpu in August. "People verified in the Kudunabari camp will be repatriated as soon as possible," said Jigme Y. Thinley, Bhutanese foreign minister. He, however, did not fix the date for repatriation. The meeting, however, agreed to immediately start the verification of remaining 600 refugees of Khudunabari camp. It has also given 15-days time for refugees to register their complaints over the list of verified refugees of the camp. Compiled from reports .

Nepalese Rupee Strengthens

Nepalese rupee appreciated by 23 paise against the US dollar last week. On Monday the purchase rate of one dollar decreased to 76 rupees. The depreciation of dollar, the strongest currency of the world, has continued since last few weeks in the international market. The existence of dollar in the commercial banks and their falling demand is the principle reason for its depreciation, say experts. Kantipur daily reports.