Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

King Gyanendra and Queen Komal being feted by the World Hindu Fedreation

CROWN PRINCE PARAS BIR BIKRAM SHAH DEV met with Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday (January 21). Currently, Crown Prince Paras and Crown Princess Himani are in New Delhi at the invitation of Indian vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Crown Prince Paras and Crown Princess Himani also visited the historic Taj Mahal by the side of Yamuna river in Agra. Princess Purnika was also present.

INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO ISSUE IDENTITY CARDS to its citizens residing in 13 states including those that share border with Nepal. Nepalese and Bhutanese living in those areas for the last many years would need to provide evidence of their Indian citizenship to get the identity card. As a pilot project, the decision will be implemented in states including Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu Kashmir, Rajasthan and Tripura.

THE INTER GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE (IGC) meeting between the senior officials of Nepal and India is going to start in Kathmandu beginning Thursday (January 29). Nepali traders and entrepreneurs have asked officials to raise the issue of unnecessary taxes, administrative hassles and impractical provisions imposed by different states of India, which is hurting Nepal’s trade with India, at the meeting. The IGC meeting is held every six month but this time it is taking place after a gap of more than a year.

DESPITE THE LACK OF SATISFACTORY IMPROVEMENT in the situation of security, the level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has risen substantially by 33 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year. According to data released by the Department of Industry, along with the growth in FDI, the total cost and number of projects have also increased; but the job opportunities have not grown. Compared to the investment amount during the same period in the previous fiscal year, the FDI during the first six months this year increased by 33.5 percent whereas the number of projects increased by one. During the period, 32 different projects involving foreign investment drawing FDI worth Rs 3.41 billion has been approved by the Department. But the number of job opportunities that have been opened up by these projects is 1689 – down from the total of 1823 out of 31 project approved during the same period previous year. It is stated that due to political instability and insecurity capital-intensive investments have dominated. Out of the total FDI, India leads the pack followed by China, Britain and the United States respectively. Germany, which was the top investor previous year did not invest this year. Indian investors have pumped in Rs 1.78 billion in the period.

THE PROCESS OF REHABILITATING THE REBELS who have surrendered renouncing Maoist violence has began at Dhakaltar in Tanahun district. The surrendering rebels will be kept at the residential complex within the Marsyangdi section. “At present there are facilities to provide shelter to 250 people,” said Gobinda Mani Bhurtel, chief district officer of Tanahun. There are about 150 small and big houses in the complex. These buildings had been built one and a half decade ago by the donors. The surrendering rebels would also be provided different kinds of skill-oriented training. Recently, spokesperson of the Home Ministry Gopendra Bahadur Pandey had said that till now more than 170 rebels have already surrendered.

THE MAIN CONTRACTOR OF THE 70 MW Mid-Marsyangdi Hydroelectric project signed an agreement with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Wednesday (January 21) to resume the stalled work from February 1. Deputy Project Director Govinda Sharma Pokharel said the contractor, German based DDC-JV, has agreed to finish the work by December 15, 2006. Germany has pledged an additional assistance of 212 million euros to cover the cost overruns, stemming from the security environment at the project site. With an initial estimate of US$ 190 million for the project, Germany had pledged 85 percent assistance towards the project cost.

THE DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION HAS terminated a Canadian national’s visa and ordered him to leave the country after the Ministry of Defense claimed that he had been assisting Maoist rebels. “Dr. Jono Lineen, of Canada who is a doctor, was actively involved in conducting meetings and assisting the rebels,” said a military source. The Ministry of Defense had sought details regarding the doctor’s activities from the Ministry of Health before requesting the Immigration Department to quash his visa. “Dr. Lineen was working in Jumla district of west Nepal. He has already left the country after his visa was canceled,” said the Ministry of Home Affairs sources. This, perhaps, is the first time that Nepal has canceled visa of a foreign national.

EDUCATION SECRETARY BIDYA DHAR MALLIK HAS SAID that the present available resources does not permit the government to declare the education up to secondary level free, as demanded by various student organizations. Mallik said that the financial burden will double on the government if it is to make education up to that level free. This year the government has apportioned 15 percent of the total budget to education sector. Out of the total, 20 percent is for the secondary level and 55 percent for the primary level. “The resource set aside for secondary level is just enough to pay salaries. The government would require Rs 30 billion to make it free,” he said.

REVATI SUBEDI, THE OLDEST NEPALESE WOMAN, DIED at the age of 116 on Monday (January 19) at her own residence in Sudal, Bhaktapur. Subedi was born on 1945 B.S. in Fatkashila VDC of Sindhupalchowk district. She is said to have 75 offspring in all. She is said to have been lucky to see five generations. She had been feted by the Social Welfare Council as the oldest Nepalese woman four years ago.

NI delegation meeting with ADB officals (left)

A DELEGATION OF CONFEDERATION OF NEPALESE Industries (CNI) met with the officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Kathmandu recently. The visiting Director General of ADB’s South Asia department Yosihiro Iwasaki and Country Director of the bank’s Nepal Resident Mission Sultan Hafeez Rahman met with the CNI delegation led by its president Binod Chaudhary, Narendra Kumar Basnyat and Rajendra Kumar Khetan, who is the coordinator of its Policy Dialogue Forum. The two sides discussed ADB’s assistance to Nepal, administrative reforms, setting up of Special Economic Zones, industrial investment and so on.