News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Army Resumes Construction Of Karnali Highway

The construction of Karnali highway, which links Surkhet with Jumla, has resumed under the protection of army. The 221 km long highway is said to be the most important venture to develop the mid-western and northwestern region of the country. The army has taken the responsibility of constructing 60 percent of the highway. It is involving local people in the construction. Community-based organizations are also involved in the construction of some section of the highway. The World Bank is assisting in its construction. In the past, the construction of the highway was frequently disrupted due to security reasons as it runs through the heartland of Maoist insurgency. Kantipur daily reports.

Cabinet To Take Serious Measures

The Cabinet meeting held on Friday (December 24) evening took serious stock of the situation prevailing after the Maoist-imposed blockade against Kathmandu and other cities in the country. The cabinet formed a high level committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary to ensure smooth supply of essential goods. The committee – which counts other ministers, secretaries and security officials as members – meeting decided to tighten security arrangements to ensure unhindered supply of cargo and passenger traffic through highways. The meeting has warned the traders against black marketing and creating artificial shortage. It has also announced that petrol stations run by police, army and Sajha will open round the clock. It has also formed district-level committees headed by Chief District Officer to ensure the supply system is not affected. Compiled from reports.

Four Parties Appeal Maoists To Call Off Blockade

Four political parties have appealed the Maoists to call off the blockade as it would only worsen the sufferings of the people. In a joint statement, the four parties - Nepali Congress (NC), Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP), Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP-Anandidevi) and People’s Front – have urged the Maoists to immediately call off their blockades against Kathmandu and other parts of the country. Likewise, they have deplored the present government for failing to hold fruitful peace talks with the Maoists. Leading dailies report.

If There Is Consensus, I Will Not Fight The Election: Koirala

Nepali Congress (NC) president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has hinted that he could stay away from the race for the position of party president in the forthcoming party convention but only if the three younger leaders who have announced their candidature for the same reach consensus. Talking to party workers in Biratnagar, Koirala said that if the three leaders Ram Chandra Poudel, Shailaja Acharya and Sushil Koirala reach an understanding to share the position of president, vice president and general secretary among themselves, he would not fight for the post. “When they are themselves not united, how could one expect them to lead the party cadres,” Koirala said. Leading dailies report.

Maoists Sheltering KLO Activists!

Buddha Dev Bhattacharya, the Chief Minister of West Bengal state, which borders with the eastern and south-eastern parts of Nepal, has accused the Nepalese Maoists of sheltering the activists of the Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO) – a separatist terrorist organization. Bhattacharya has said that in parts of Maoist stronghold, the Nepal government has no presence inferring that such parts could have been used to shelter the KLO activists. Compiled from reports.

Urge To Prove Himself Led Khanal To Rob The Bank

According to teen-ager Niranjan Khanal who made a daring bank robbery in the heart of capital last week, has revealed that he did just because he wanted to expose the weaknesses in the security system of the country. “I wanted to challenge the security system and become known,” Khanal said. He added that he neither wanted to hurt anyone nor earn money. “I knew that the police would not be able to catch me. I had not concealed my identity when I fled the country. They would not have been able to catch me had I not surrendered myself,” Khanal claimed. He claims of having fled to Indian cities before returning to Kathmandu. He had surrendered before the security personnel in Pulchowk on Wednesday – nine days after he robbed the bank. Although the police had discovered the looted money at the residence of his brother in Kathmandu, Khanal himself had slipped from their net. Police is preparing to charge him at the court. Kantipur daily reports.

UML Central Committee Meeting Ends

The marathon meeting of the central committee of the ruling coalition partner Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) ended on Wednesday (December 22) firmly asserting that the party would continue to fight will all kinds of ‘extremism’ by remaining in the government and better implementing the Common Minimum Program. The meeting approved the political resolution prepared by general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal with few modifications. Nepal had asserted that there was no alternative to present government in the prevailing circumstances. The conclusion of the meeting has put to rest speculations that the UML would step down from the government. “The UML has decided to remain in the government because stepping down provides no solution. We had joined government with the objective to give way out to the nation,” said K.P. Oli, standing committee member of the party. Leading dailies report.

Bangladesh Seeks Trade Off From India

Bangladesh is likely to seek unhindered use of an Indian corridor, removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers on its exports and access to hydro power of Nepal and Bhutan as trade-off for transit to the proposed Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline, Xinhua reports. A working paper by the state-owned Petrobangla proposes that to get maximum benefit out of the deal with India, the government should tie it up with trade and security issues. These issues include the use of Kakarbhitta-Banglabandha corridor for trade between Bangladesh and Nepal and some fine tunings of the existing bilateral trade agreements in a bid to ensure unhindered access of Bangladesh exports to India. According to the paper, Bangladesh will ask for access of hydro-power of Nepal and Bhutan on a priority basis. Availability of hydro-electricity from Nepal and Bhutan for Bangladesh will diversify the energy mix to a great extent. The Himalayan Times daily reports.

‘We Are Committed To Accept The Result Of Constituent Assembly’: Prachanda

In an interview he gave to Nepal Samacharpatra daily on Monday (December 20), Maoist chairman Prachanda has said that his party is confident that Nepali people will choose republican constitution through the constituent assembly. “We are confident that the elections for the constituent assembly will give results in favor of complete democracy or republic. But we are committed to accept whatever results the constituent assembly will bring,” Prachanda said. The Maoist chairman warned of grave consequences if the government went ahead with its plans for holding elections for the House of Representatives. Replying to one question, Prachanda said that is party had not stated that it would only talk with the King. “We meant to say that only the dialogue with the force that has the actual control over the old regime and the military can give political way out,” he said. On Dailekh incident – where local people had rebelled against the Maoist atrocities – Prachanda accused the ‘old regime and the Royal Nepalese Army’ for hatching conspiracy against the party. He, however, also agreed that there were ‘weaknesses in the way local party unit functioned.’ Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

Sankhu Attack Due To Lack Of Coordination

Maoists were able to take advantage of lack of information coordination and preparations on the part of the government forces to launch a successful attack at the Ilaka Police Post in Sankhu – 17 km far from the capital. According to local resident Shyam Shrestha, Maoists came with big weapons; seized the area for 45 minutes and fled shouting slogans and ordering the local people to remain indoors. The security reinforcement came good one and a half hour after the Maoists left the scene, he said. There are a number of army and police posts around Sankhu area including army post in Nagarkot (nine kilometers east of Sankhu). Local residents say that majority of the Maoists who came for the attack were children and teenagers below the age of 15. “They had no fear,” Shrestha said. According to a senior army official, the police had to bear the loss because they failed to show necessary alertness in the face of threat. “Neither the police has fired a single round of bullet, nor have they used a single grenade shell,” the official said, adding, “While the police were ill-prepared for resistance, we received the information (of the attack) late.” Pointing to the fact that the police failed to get information from the local people about the presence of the Maoists in the area, the official said, “Police did not have good relations with the local people.” Only a night before, ten additional personnel had been dispatched to the post in view of increased threat. “But those posted there were clearly not sensitive. Some were watching TV, some were cooking meat and some were gossiping in nearby tea-stalls,” he accused. However, a senior police official disagreed with those accusations. “Most of the security agencies are in defensive position. We do not have any clear policy on how to fight with the Maoists,” he said. Kantipur daily reports.

Nepal Offers US$ 100,000 To Sri Lanka

Nepal government has decided to offer US$ 100,000 as relief assistance to Sri Lanka after a huge earthquake – 9 in richter scale - that had the epicenter in the Indian Ocean triggered giant tsunamis killing tens of thousands in the coastal areas ranging from Maldives to Malaysia. Sri Lanka was one of the worst affected. Over 12,000 people are reported to have died in Sri Lanka. It has already announced ‘national disaster.’ Meanwhile, agency reports add that at least six Nepalis have been reported missing in Thailand during the Sunday’s devastating tsunamis. According to Yadav Khanal, charge d’affaires at the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Bangkok, he had received reports that up to six Nepalis were missing in Phuket, a popular tourist spot. “Many Nepalis settled in Burma as well as from Nepal run a number of businesses in the coastal areas,” said Khanal. “All of them have been completely destroyed.” Leading dailies report.

King Postpones His Visit

As India plunged into a state of mourning following the death of its former prime minister and senior leader P.V. Narsimha Rao, the royal couple postponed their visit there upon request from the Indian government. The visit was postponed at the last minute.

Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has expressed regret for causing inconvenience to the King due to the postponement of the visit owing to Rao’s death. It has stated that the visit will be rescheduled as soon as possible. However, foreign official sources said that there is no possibility of the visit taking place before the SAARC Summit, which is going to be held in mid-January in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, King Gyanendra has written a letter to Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam expressing condolences over the death of Rao.