IN A LANDMARK MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS of 16 countries belonging to the International Committee on Development of Lumbini (ICDL), the member states agreed to develop Lumbini – the birthplace of Lord Buddha - as the World Peace City. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The member states of the ICDL include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Japan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, among others. The foreign ministers also agreed to regularly hold the meeting of ICDL and decided to meet in Nepal next year. Nepalese foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey attended the meeting representing Nepal. King Gyanendra had also sent his message to the meeting.
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN has recently approved the utilization of the counterpart fund for Rs 500 million under the non-project grant aid in Japan’s fiscal year 2003 for implementing nine projects. The projects come from sectors like rural electrification, local infrastructure, education, drinking water and water-induced disaster management.
FOREIGN MINISTER RAMESH NATH PANDEY, who is currently in New York, has met with Joseph Verner Reed, Under Secretary General and Special Adviser to the UN. Pandey discussed about the current Nepal situation and briefed Reed on government’s efforts towards restoration of peace in the country. Pandey met him on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the UN.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS ALREADY obtained overdraft of Rs 2.5 billion from the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in the current fiscal year. According to recent data by the central bank, the government sought for the overdraft after being unable to mobilize revenue as per the target, or obtain adequate foreign loans and grants. According to existing rules, the government can obtain overdraft only up to 5 percent of total revenue mobilized in the previous fiscal year. The government had collected total revenue of Rs 70.12 billion in the previous fiscal year. The government has been compelled to make use of overdraft after the World Bank decided to stop budgetary support of Rs 7 billion. Last year, the government obtained Rs 5.24 billion worth of foreign grants compared to its target of obtaining Rs 11.17 billion. Likewise, it received only Rs 2.2 billion foreign loans against the target of Rs 8.81 billion.
THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK’S latest economic update has stated that continuing conflict-related disruptions have suppressed the tourism and industry sectors in recent years. In the wake of that dismal performance, agriculture sector in 2005 has also followed suit, pushing down the real GDP growth to two percent, which is less than half of the government’s initial projections. Agriculture sector grew by 2.8 percent in fiscal year 2005 compared with 3.9 percent in fiscal year 2003 – contributing 1.1 percent point of GDP growth. Paddy, one of the major components of food grains, which comprises almost of 20 percent of the agricultural GDP, declined to 3.7 percent due to poor monsoon and a decline in the cultivated area of paddy. The conflict and expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) has added fuel to the fire to the already downtrodden external sector. Consequently, readymade garment exports fell by over 50 percent, pushing imports and tourism receipts down, says the economic update of the ADB. However, the current account surplus widened to 4.4 percent of GDP in the first nine months of fiscal year 2005 compared to 3.3 percent of GDP during the same period previous fiscal year. Growth in manufacturing sector, which accounts for about 40 percent of GDP, improved to 2.8 percent from 1.7 percent in 2004 – but it is still much lower than the average growth of 9.6 percent in the decade before 2001, says ADB. Economic growth in fiscal year 2005 was, thus, largely led by remittance-driven consumption, which contributed almost 1.8 percent points to GDP growth in 2005.
THE VISITING SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR of the UN Commission on Human Rights on Torture Manfred Nowak, has said that torture and ill treatment is ‘systematically being practiced’ in Nepal by the state and the Maoists. At a press meet on Friday (September 16), Nowak urged the government to make a statement against impunity and urged the Maoists to end all forms of torture. He said that the police, armed police and RNA torture detainees to extract confessions and to obtain intelligence. He said he found ‘shocking evidence of torture and mutilation carried out by the Maoists’ to extort money and intimidate those who refuse to cooperate. He said that the security forces have been using various methods of torture like beating with batons, hanging victims upside down from a pole, giving them electric shocks and blindfolding and handcuffing them for a long duration. Nowak is here at the invitation of the government. He met with government and security officials and visited detention centers and army barracks in Kathmandu and Nepalgunj.
THE U.S. EMBASSY in Kathmandu is providing $73,094 in grants to restore two temple sites in Kathmandu Durbar Square, states a press release issued by the American Center in Kathmandu. Through the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, the Embassy is providing the money to the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, which has overseen the restoration of many public and private historical sites in the Kathmandu Valley. A grant of $42,500 will help rebuild the Lakshmi Narayan Temple, and a grant of $30,594 will help rebuild the Mahadev Temples. Under terms of the grants, the work on both sites is to be completed by summer 2006. "Grants from the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation underscore the commitment of America and its people to help others - in this case Nepalis - to preserve their national cultural heritage," said Laura Lucas, assistant public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy. Her office arranged the grants.
THE MAOISTS HAVE RELEASED 60 soldiers abducted after the Pili attack. The soldiers were handed over to the representatives of the ICRC and local human rights activists near Lamidanda –east of Jajarkot district headquarters. The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has been claiming that 64 soldiers were missing since Pili attack.
CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Nayan Bahadur Khatri has urged the government to take some steps to respond to the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Maoists. Member of the Commission, Sudip Pathak asked the government to at least bring back the soldiers to the barracks if it cannot announce ceasefire. Pathak said that after the announcement of ceasefire, the incidents of killings and torture have come down by 90 percent whereas the incidents of abductions have continued.
