Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

King Gyanendra receiving credentials from newly appointed Indian ambassador Shiva Shankar Mukhrjee

THE OPERATORS OF THE MICRO HYDROPOWER projects are going to organize their first national convention on Sunday (October 10). The operators have been complaining that the lack of adequate government priority and lack of capital and resources have hurt them. At present, 1300 micro hydro projects are generating 7.5 MW of power benefiting 200,000 rural population across the country. However, due to lack of support, 25 percent of them have turned sick, claim the operators. They also complain that it is very expensive and cumbersome for them to log on to the national grid.

A TASK FORCE HEADED BY THE COORDINATOR of the Privatization Cell of the Ministry of Finance has recommended privatizing the Royal Drugs Limited (RDL). The task force had been formed recently to recommend ways of helping the ailing RDL. The task force stated that pumping in Rs 266 million – as demanded – would not make the RDL financially sustainable. The task force has concluded that because of its existing assets and business; government’s financial policy and international situation, it would not be appropriate for the government to continue running it. Of late, the RDL has been losing millions of money as the private sector pharmaceutical companies have made swift inroads into its market share. Overstaffing, slipping market share and weak managerial capabilities are some of the reasons for its current plight.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO HAND OVER THE ownership of small roads – except the highways and main roads – to the local bodies. The moves to transfer the ownership has begun following the recent decision to that effect by the National Planning Commission (NPC). The Ministry of Local Development (MLD) has already written a letter regarding the decision to the Ministry of Works and Physical Planning. “After we get the response from the ministry, the implementation of the decision will start,” said Kapil Dev Ghimire, joint secretary at the MLD. According to Suresh Kumar Regmi, deputy director general of the Department of Roads, this decision will mean that the local bodies will now own over 12,000 kilometers of roads. “We will take care of the management of the remaining 5000 kilometers of roads,” he added.

THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers has said that the situation of the Bhutanese people in camps in Nepal is less than encouraging. Addressing the 55th session of the executive committee of the UNHCR’s program in Geneva on Tuesday, he reiterated that the UN would not accept that they remain there indefinitely. “Developments in Nepal since have only made it more urgent to find solutions for the group. We must now redouble the search for a way out of the impasse by examining all possible alternatives,” he said. The alternatives he has given are voluntary repatriation, even if UNHCR is not present in Bhutan; resettlement, including to countries in the region; and gradual broadening of assistance to encompass refugee hosting areas.

PRIME MINISTER SHER BAHADUR DEUBA has nominated renowned industrialist Rajendra Kumar Khetan as a senator of Pokhara university. The involvement of private sector in academic field is expected to help match demand and supply of human resource and develop the over all educational sector. Khetan is the president of Nepal Britain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Insurance Association. He is also honorary consul of Portugal. Recently, Khetan had announced that he would employ one person each from the family of the 12 Nepalese workers killed in Iraq. Khetan, 34, is involved with Gorkha Brewery, Mayos noodles and Everest Insurance - each of them being market leaders in their respective segments.