News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

10 Maoists Arrested In Patna

The police in Patna of Bihar have arrested 10 more Nepalese Maoists on Sunday (October 3). The Maoists were found to be in possession of arms and explosives. Meanwhile, Nepal Human rights Organization (NHRO) has reported that the security forces had killed Maoist leaders Bharat Dhungana and Baikuntha Pokharel after capturing them in Gumdi of Dhading district. The NHRO had conducted a field study about the incident. Earlier, the security forces had claimed that the two had been killed while trying to escape the security net. Compiled from reports.

Officials Leave For The Gulf

With the objective of mending relations in the aftermath of violent September 1 riots in Kathmandu, officials and ministers are leaving on a tour of Gulf countries in the Middle East. State Minister for Labor Urba Dutta Panta left for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday (October 3). Information Minister Dr. Mohamad Mohsin will join him there on Tuesday (October 5). Likewise, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat is also expected to join the Nepalese delegation while he returns from New York, where he has gone to participate in the UN general assembly. The Nepalese delegation will meet with the officials of the Gulf countries and plead the case on behalf of Nepalese workers. Likewise, they will also be meeting with Nepalese workers there. Over half a million Nepalese workers are stationed in various countries in the Gulf. The brutal killing of 12 Nepalese workers in Iraq had sparked off violent protests in Nepal, which had tarnished its image in the region. Leading dailies report

NRB To Issue Treasury Bills To Control Excess Liquidity

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) – the central bank – is going to issue treasury bills worth Rs 6 billion to control the excess liquidity in the market. The liquidity has increased because of lack of demand for loans and rise in deposits. In fact, the NRB has already issued treasury bills worth Rs 4 billion on Thursday (September 30). The new bills were issued because the excess liquidity were dragging the interest rates to historic low point. While the remittances from abroad are increasing, there are limited possibilities of investing them in productive sector thanks to insecurity. According to NRB, the total liquidity of the financial sector at present is around Rs 37 billion – which is 5 percent more than in the same period last year. The commercial banks have already dropped interest rates for deposits. Economists say that the current interest rates are, in fact, negative. They say that since the interest rate of deposits (on average 3 percent) is less than the inflation rate (around 5 percent), it can be considered as negative rate. Kantipur daily reports.

50,000 Pre-Paid Mobiles Sold Out In Two Days

The 50,000 pre-paid mobile SIM cards have been sold out within the two days of its opening, according to the Nepal Telecom. This time, the NT had opened the sales of the SIM cards at 9 counters within Kathmandu Valley. On Saturday (October 2) alone, 28,490 SIM cards were sold while 21,478 of them were sold on Sunday, according to Pramod Kumar Gurung, manager of the New Services Directorate. The officials of the NT have said that new SIM cards will be sold only after a couple of months. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

PF Outraged Over Maoist Attack

The People’s Front (PF) – a radical leftist outfit – has expressed extreme outrage over the attack by Maoist cadres against a rally of its workers near Dhorpatan Deurali of Baglung district on Friday (October 1). Hundreds of masked Maoists had physically assaulted the PF workers including its vice president Pari Thapa. Four of the PF workers were seriously injured in the attack. The Maoists later abducted them. The incident occurred when the PF had been launching ‘Expose the Maoists’ program in various districts following the increasing incidents of Maoist attack against their cadres. Two weeks ago, the Maoists had attacked a public program of the PF in Dailekh district. At a press meet organized in the capital on Saturday, the PF leaders have warned the Maoists to immediately cease attacking their cadres and issue apology for the incidents. They have asked the Maoists to immediately release those abducted by them. The PF leaders also vowed that ‘active protests’ will be organized across the country against the Maoists. Earlier, the Maoists had been claiming that they consider PF as their ‘friendly force’ and had policy not to attack or intimidate them. Leading dailies report.

NTB To Launch Campaigns To Lure Indian Tourists

With the objective of luring Indian tourists, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is going to organize a three-month-long campaign in major cities there. The NTB has been spurred to re-launch its campaign in India after the number of tourists arriving from the neighboring country dropped by 22 percent this September compared to the same month last year. Indians constitute major portion of tourists coming to Nepal. Rajdhani daily reports.

Gold Price Scales New Height

The price of the yellow metal has been increasing of late. This weekend the price of hallmark gold reached Rs 10,160 per 10 grams on Saturday (October 2) – up from Rs 9990 on Friday. The gold price in international market is said to have increased due to persistent turmoil in Iraq and rise in petroleum prices. In the international market, the per ounce price of gold was US$ 409 in the beginning of the last week. It rose to US$ 418 in the weekend. According to Tej Ratna Bajracharya, president of Nepal Gold/Silver Traders Association, the price of gold increase at times of instability because people consider it as safe investment. Kantipur daily reports.

Nepal Clarifies His Call For Unilateral Ceasefire

The general secretary of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that he had urged for unilateral ceasefire from the government to show that the state is responsible. “But unilateral ceasefire does not mean that the state should become a mute spectator even if the other side launches attacks or engages in arms build-up,” said Nepal, adding. “What I meant was that the state should show more responsibility towards the people especially when they are facing their greatest festival of Dashain.” Leading dailies report.

Students Clash With Police

A sit-in rally by the student union of agitating four political parties turned ugly on Thursday (September 30) after they tried to block the movement of ministers from their quarters in Harihar Bhawan prompting the police to intervene. The police had to fire dozens of shells of tear gas to disperse the agitated students who blocked the traffic and burned tires. Dozens of student activists belonging to Nepal Students Union (NSU) were injured in the incident. The students were also protesting the recent hike in the price of petroleum products. Leading dailies report.

Koirala Against Unilateral Ceasefire

Nepali Congress (NC) president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that the unilateral ceasefire by the government will not help the peace process. “Rather, a strict code of ethics should be agreed by both the sides and mutual ceasefire agreed upon,” he told reporters in Biratnagar. Koirala recalled the instances of violence even during mutual ceasefire in the past. “So, announcement of unilateral ceasefire will not work,” he said. Leading dailies report.

Nepal Is Able To Solve The Maoist Problem: Dr. Mahat

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said that the Nepal is able to resolve the Maoist problem on its own. He said that the Nepal government was working for the political resolution of the Maoist problem. He appreciated the goodwill and concern shown by the UN on the peace process in Nepal. He also raised the issue of the Bhutanese refugees and asked the international community to continue assisting the management of refugees. Dr. Mahat also appealed for support to Nepal’s candidature for the post of temporary member of the Security Council for 2007/08. Compiled from reports.

India Stops, Releases Plane Carrying Arms For Nepal Forces

After being stranded in India for a couple of hours, the airplane of a Bulgarian cargo company, which was carrying arms and ammunitions sent by the American government to help Nepalese security forces finally arrived in the capital on Wednesday (September 29) afternoon. The Indian authorities allowed the plane to fly to Kathmandu from Ahmedabad only after its mandatory inspection, according to agency reports. Likewise, an MI 17 helicopter bought by the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) from Russian manufacturer also landed in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Leading dailies report.

Nepal Loses To Malaysia In AFC Championship

After exhibiting remarkable game against Japan and defeating Vietnam, Nepal finally lost to Malaysia in the Under 20 Youth Asian Football Confederation (AFC) championship held in Malaysia. Nepal lost 3-0 to Malaysia. It had earlier lost 3-0 to Japan as well. With this result, Japan and Malaysia have advanced to the second round of the championship. Meanwhile, Nepalese Under 14 team beat Indian Air Force by 4-0 to bag the title of the Subroto Mukherjee All India football tournament in New Delhi. Leading dailies report.

Maoists Torch Ten Vehicles In Highway

On the eve of the two-day long bandh called by them, the Maoists torched around ten vehicles in the Naubise-Mugling section of Prithvi Highway on Monday (September 28) night. Among the vehicles that were torched included two belonging to the participants of the Food Sovereignty Caravan 2004 in which farmer representatives and journalists from different countries were traveling. In a separate incident in Kathmandu, a taxi driver was awarded cash prize of Rs 1000 after he safely disposed off an explosive left behind by Maoists in his taxi. Jit Bahadur Rai suspected something was wrong when unidentified persons got off his taxi less than 300 meters from where they boarded it leaving behind a bag. Rai took the bag and threw it into a drainage where it exploded without causing any damage to person or property. Leading dailies report.

Bhandari Wins Gold Medal In Singapore

Nepalese athlete Rajendra Bhandari won a gold medal at the First Asian All Stars athletic championships held in Singapore. He won the medal in the 5000 meter event by covering it in 14 minutes 16.36 seconds. He had broken the national record in the event in Athens Olympics last month in the same even when he had clocked 14 minutes 4.89 seconds. Bhandari had won two silver medals at the Ninth South Asian Federation Games. Leading dailies report.