Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

Women throng at the Pashupatinath Temple on the occasion of Teej festival.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS HISTORY, the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has decided to recruit women officers paving the way for women to get promoted up to the army chief level. The RNA has initiated process to call for the application from interested women for the position of Second Lieutenant on the basis of open competition. According to the Brigadier General Rajendra Bahadur Thapa, spokesperson of the RNA, the army was recruiting women officers based on the government policy of recruiting at least five percent of women in the military. As per the RNA notice, the required qualification for the interested women candidates would be Intermediate level pass for those single women who are under the age of 21. For graduates, the age limit is 23 years. Earlier, the RNA had recruited over 300 women in the non-technical positions. “They had shown remarkable dedication. So, we have decided to recruit women in officer position also,” said Thapa.

THE HOME MINISTRY HAS MADE PUBLIC THE whereabouts of additional 54 persons. The Committee headed by joint secretary at the Ministry Narayan Gopal Malegu formed to probe the incidents of ‘disappearances’ came out with this report. According to its report, out of the 54 persons, seven have been listed as having been killed in encounter. Likewise, 18 are in government custody, 21 have been released after interrogation, 7 were never arrested while one had surrendered, the report stated. Earlier, the committee had made public the whereabouts of 24 persons on August 11. The government has extended the tenure of the committee by one more month.

FOLLOWING THE MASSIVE LOOTING AND VANDALISM of around 300 manpower agencies during the riots of 9/1, the government has decided to provide half a million rupees each to the agencies that suffered the damages as relief. The government has decided to hand back Rs 500,000 that have been mandatorily deposited by the manpower agencies when they received the license to operate. The money, however, will have to be returned after one year.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO INCREASE the number of beds in various hospitals across the country. The Health Ministry has taken this decision without putting additional financial pressure on the government. According to its decision, 1546 beds will be increased in total. The hospitals will have to bear the additional financial pressure from their own resources.

THE WORLD BANK HAS DECIDED TO PROVIDE around Rs 3.73 billion to the government of Nepal to carry out projects to expand basic health facilities in the country. According to the Bank, out of the total assistance, Rs 2.98 billion will be provided as grant assistance and the rest as loan. The assistance is aimed at improving the quality and accessibility of the basic health facilities.

AIR SAHARA, ONE OF THE LEADING PRIVATE AIRLINES operators of India, has started its operation to Kathmandu sector beginning September 17. It started its daily Delhi-Kathmandu-Delhi flights on Thursday. In the near future, the airlines is expected to expand its operations from many other cities of India as well.

THE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (AI) HAS WRITTEN another open letter addressed to Maoist chairman Prachanda appealing for the release of 12 persons said to be in Maoist captivity. The letter urged the Maoists to immediately and safely release them. Likewise, it has also urged the Maoists to uphold the previous commitments made by them regarding human rights and international humanitarian law.

NEPAL CIVIL SERVANTS ORGANIZATION HAS asked the government not to make any amendment in the Civil Service Act at a time when there was no parliament. The organization has claimed that ‘the amendment being processed under pressure from the Asian Development Bank would create upheaval in civil service.’ “Even if the government wants to amend the act, it should do so in a transparent manner,” said Murari Bhattarai, president of the organization. He also raised objection at the move to cut down the number of civil servants to 80,000 in the name of governance reforms. The civil servants have claimed that in proportion to the country’s population, even their current number is inadequate. The organization has also criticized the plan to rope in 24,000 staffs on contract to perform specific jobs after downsizing the service.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS RELEASED TWO LEADERS of the pro-Maoist All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) as per the agreement reached in order to open the industries. ANTUF central committee member Bishnu Thapa Magar and Lalitpur district coordinator Resham Lama were handed over to the human rights activists on midnight Friday (September 17). The negotiations facilitated by the rights activists had brought about the reopening of different industries across the country. The two ANTUF leaders had been arrested on August 24 – a week after the trade union imposed strike on 12 industries. As per the agreement reached to reopen the industries, the government will now have to make public the whereabouts of other ANTUF workers within a month.

THE NEPAL WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION (NWSC) has increased the tariff of drinking water by 15 percent. However, the increment will be effective to only those customers who consume more than 10,000 liters per month. Likewise, the NWSC has also adjusted the tariff in order to encourage the customers use meter in their system.

ON BEHALF OF THE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY based in Kathmandu, Russian ambassador to Nepal Valery V. Nazarov, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, issued a press release deploring the recent attacks targeted at the diplomatic missions. The press release jointly issued by Heads of the Diplomatic Missions, UN Resident Coordinator, Representatives of the European Commission and SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu, after their working meeting on September 16, reads, "Heads of Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations in Kathmandu condemn the attack by a mob on the Egyptian Embassy on September 1 and the bomb attacks against the American Center on September 10, 2004. They deplore all targeting and threatening of diplomatic personnel and property and strongly urge that such attacks and threats not be repeated."

GREEN NEPAL PARTY (GNP) HAS EXPRESSED regrets over the recent remarks made by Nepali Congress president and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala disrespecting the Supreme Court. In its press release, the party has termed the remarks made by Koirala - in which he stated that the Supreme Court (SC) had passed a verdict against his favor under the influence of the Royal Palace - as a reflection of his autocratic nature. The party has stated that his remarks have hurt democracy as well as the apex court. "He played a key role in the dissolution of all the three elected parliaments in the past. His remarks make it clear that he sees democracy as a tool to uplift only him. For democracy to function smoothly, monarchy, Supreme Court, parliament and executive need to be respected," states the GNP release. "The GNP believes that the leaders of the bigger parties must translate their democratic actions in reality." The party has also stated that remarks such as those made by Koirala should not slow down the anti-corruption drive by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).