Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

THE GOVERNMENT HAS INFORMED THE DONORS of multi-million dollar Melamchi Drinking Water Project that the project would complete only by the end of 2010. Earlier, the project was expected to be complete by 2009. The government has told donors that the reasons for the delay are dispute with contractors and insecurity. After the completion of its first phase, Melamchi will pump 170 million liters of water everyday (MLD). At present, Kathmandu valley is reeling under acute water scarcity. While the demand for water is around 190 MLD, the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) can supply only around 90 MLD during dry season.

FOLLOWING THE REQUEST BY INDIA TO PROVIDE transit facilities via Nepal to move good to and fro Tibet Autonomous Region of China, the government has started study to find out the likely impact of providing such service. “In order to give them concrete reply after studying likely positive and negative impacts, we have started the study,” said Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. Some experts have said that Nepal can benefit from the rising trade between India and China.

THE FEDERATION OF NEPALESE JOURNALISTS (FNJ) held meeting with editors and publishers of various media houses on Tuesday (April 20) to discuss its programs to protest the police atrocities against media personnel. The editors and publishers advised the FNJ to go ahead with its movement against attempts to repress press freedom. The federation has announced its movement against the attempts to repress press freedom following last week’s police atrocities against journalists.

THE SUPREME COURT HAS APPROVED THE five year plan formulated for the comprehensive development of judiciary. This is the beginning of planned development of judiciary in the country. The full court meeting of the SC judges headed by chief justice Gobinda Bahadur Shrestha approved the plan. The plan aims to strengthen the independent and capable judiciary. The five year plan needs Rs 6 billion to fund. The SC has said that it will approach the government for the funding. Donor support will also be sought. In the last fiscal year, the government had set aside Rs 570 million as annual budget for judiciary, which is less than one percent of total budget. The lack of adequate budget has also been pointed as being one of the reasons for poor infrastructure, delay in justice delivery and so on.

THE SUGAR INDUSTRIES AS WELL AS government-owned National Trading Limited (NTL) have suddenly hiked the price of sugar in the retail market. The NTL increased the per kg price of sugar from Rs 27.5 to Rs 28.5. Likewise, the private sugar manufactures, who have with them 70,000 metric tons of sugar, increased the price to Rs 32. Shashi Kanta Agrawal, president of Nepal Sugar Industries Association, has termed the price hike as being normal. “We had to hike the price,” he said. On the other hand, Bimal Chandra Poudel, general manager of NTL, said that they had to hike the price due to market pressure. At present, the NTL has 105,000 metric ton of sugar in its store.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS RELEASED 29 leaders including Lilamani Pokharel, vice chairman of People’s Front (PF). Most of the PF leaders were arrested for the last 17 days and charged under Public Security Act. The government had charged that PF leaders were in close contact with the Maoists. Among the 29 released, 23 belonged to PF and six belonged to Nepali Congress (NC) and Unified Marxist Leninist (UML). The five agitating party had refused to meet with the King and had said that the government should first release those leaders and lift prohibitory orders. The latest government decision is seen to be a response from the government to that demand.

WOMEN ACTIVISTS FROM VARIOUS SECTORS of life went to the Royal Palace on Monday and submitted a petition demanding that the King appoint a woman Prime Minister. One and a half dozen women activists belonging to political and social sector went to the Palace and also submitted their roadmap. Led by former minister Anuradha Koirala, former chairperson of National Women’s Commission Dr. Durga Pokharel and activist Shanta Thapaliya went to the palace with the request under the banner of Solidarity of Women for Peace and Dialogue. According to Dr. Pokharel, they made the request to appoint a woman PM because Nepal had seen many male PMs but none could perform.

DESPITE THE INSURGENCY AND UNREST, the country will witness 4.5 percent economic growth in the current fiscal year. This was stated in a report by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) – the central bank of the country. The NRB stated that although persistent insecurity, non-improvement of sick industries and stagnant development expenditure has hurt the economy; the favorable weather, improving trend in global trade and growth in tourist arrival helped the sector to register the growth.

King Gyanendra met with the president of Green Nepal Party Kuber Prasad Sharma on April 26 to discuss political situation in the country. Along with Sharma, the King also met with four more leaders the same day including Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, Chairman of Raj Parishad Parshu Narayan Chaudhary, President of Nepal Samata Party Narayan Singh Pun and President of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) Rajeshwore Devkota.