14th SAARC summit, a chance for member nations to mutually benefit, says PM Koirala

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Friday said that the 14th SAARC summit was a huge success and that it provided an opportunity for member nations to find ways to mutually benefit from each other.
PM Koirala, who had left for New Delhi on April 1 to attend the 14th SAARC summit, made the comments while talking to media persons upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport this afternoon.

PM Koirala expressed his happiness that the other member nations had conveyed their full support to the proposals made by Nepal during the meet. The PM had forwarded Nepal's proposal on issues including flood control in areas along the Indo-Nepal border, efficient use of resources and poverty alleviation.

PM Koirala also said that the member nations during the two-day SAARC summit reached a consensus on such issues as flood control, energy utilization and poverty alleviation, among others, in a bid to make SAARC a more effective body in the days to come.

During his visit to India this time around, PM Koirala had held separate meetings with Indian Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh along with holding meetings with his other counterparts from participating nations.

The PM opined that the introduction of observer nations and Afghanistan into the SAARC has served to strengthen the South Asian body.

Stating that SAARC will become active within six months, PM Koirala said that the significance of SAARC has grown in the wake of the interest from powerful nations towards this South Asian body.

However, PM Koirala opted to keep mum on queries related to monarchy. A day earlier, talking to Nepali journalists in New Delhi, PM Koirala, in a roundabout way, had hinted at the republican set up. PM Koirala had taken a shot at the press when he answered a question with, "Are you talking about Gyanendra or king Gyanendra?"

Minister for Foreign Affairs Sahana Pradhan, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and other government officials who had accompanied the PM also returned to the capital today.
Foreign Minister Pradhan commented that the international community had attached importance to Nepal because of the example Nepal had set through its peace process.

Informing media persons regarding the discussions about the Bhutanese refugee crisis with her Indian counterpart, Pradhan said that the Indian government had given its word that it would look into this matter.
She further said that India was positive in regards to cooperation in controlling crime in the border region.

On the eve of his departure from New Delhi, PM Koirala also held meeting with former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee. PM Koirala and Bajpayee discussed issues like the peace process in Nepal, recent Terai unrest and monarchy among others.
Similarly, PM Koriala’s meeting with Bhutanese Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk was said to be quite fruitful as the Bhutanese PM gave his assurance that the issue would be resolved during the next bilateral ministerial-level meet.

Police Arrest Four of ‘Black Spider’ Group

Police Arrest Four of 'Black Spider' Group

THT Online

Kathmandu, April 5 Key persons of the so-called International Black Spider Group, who attacked entrepreneurs, businessmen and doctors in various places and threatened them to death, have been arrested. Those arrested are Bir Bahadur Khatri alias Aakash KC of Hatpate-5 of Sindhuli district, Kedar Shrestha of Kamalmai-10 of the same district, Ganesh Kumar Lama of Bengadawar-2 of Dhanusa district and Manoj Tamang of Ratnagar-3 of Chitwan district. At a press conference organised on Wednesday by the Metropolis Police Commissioner Office, Ranipokhari, Metropolis Police Commissioner Dipak Singh Thangden said the four were arrested from the New Bus Park by a special team of the Police Head Office, Department of Criminal Investigation and Metropolis Police Criminal Division. Police have seized a pistol, $500, IRs 5,230, a fake passport and hashish from them. The foursome attacked Dr Hemanga Dixit, Dr Birman Shamsher Rana and LP Sawa, said inspector at the department, Rajendraman Shrestha. The foursome also sought ransom from businessmen and entrepreneurs, Shrestha said. FOUR FOUND DEAD IN CITY KATHMANDU: Four persons were found dead in Kathmandu on Wednesday, police said. The body of a six-year-old, Bhawani Rai, of Udayapur, was found wrapped up in a sack on the ground floor of a house in Naxal. Police said they are investigating the case. Police also found the body of a 50-year-old man at Basundhara on Wednesday. The man has not been identified yet. A 17-year-old, Radhika Shrestha, a resident of Indrayani, was also found hanging from the ladder in her room, police said, adding that a 30-year-old Udaya Singh Baral, cook in Para-Troopers Tranning School, Maharajgunj, was also found dead in his quarter. DOCTOR KIDNAPPED IN RAJBIRAJ RAJBIRAJ: An unidentified armed group kidnapped Dr Murali Prasad Singh of Rajbiraj municipality-9 on Tuesday evening, family sources said on Wednesday. Dr Singh was returning to his residence from his clinic at Rajbiraj-8 when he was kidnapped. He was on leave from the Narayani Sub Regional Hospital situated at Birgunj for the past few months. Dr Singh's wife Dina said she didn't have any information regarding the whereabouts of Dr Singh or why he was kidnapped. Singh's car (Ba 2 Cha 9316) was found deserted near Khado River at Biraul of Saptari, the family sources said. A joint police team from Hanumannagar Kanchanpur Area Police Office and Bhardaha police post arrested two activists of the Jay Krishna Goit-led Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) after conducting a search in the area, DSP of Saptari Yamuna Rajak said. The police have suspected JTMM activists' hand in the kidnapping. However, JTMM's Saptari district deputy commander Bikash denied the allegation. The JTMM activists -Binod Yadav and Umesh Chaudhari- were arrested along with a motorcycle (Ba 1 Pa 240), one homemade pistol and some bullets, DSP Rajak said.

Everest Clean Up Campaign Next Week

Twelve mountaineers, including nine Nepali Sherpas and three Japanese, will climb Mt Everest next week to clean up the north ridge of the world's tallest peak.

Ken Noguchi, a Japanese mountaineer who holds the record of climbing all seven tallest peaks of all the continents, is leading the clean-up campaign. He has led such campaigns to Everest four times earlier and collected trash from the north and the south sides.
The campaign this year will concentrate mainly on the advance base camp situated at 6400m of the north ridge, Noguchi said, adding that they expect to collect as much as one tonne of garbage including tents, ropes, oxygen cylinders and food cans.

"The highlight of this cleaning campaign is that a similar campaign will be going on simultaneously at the Japan's tallest peak Mt Fuji with over 200 participants," he said. "This will be telecast live through satellite television. I, believe this will be crucial for creating awareness among the mountaineers and common people on the adverse effects of litters and their impact on global warming in the Himalayas," Noguchi added.

In addition, two women mountaineers -- one Japanese Kei Taniguchi and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa of Solukhumbhu -- are also eyeing to put their feet on the summit of the world's tallest peak.

The same expedition also has another feature -- Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, the fastest Everest summiteer, is planning to hoist the national flags of all the countries and flags of the eight political parties atop Everest. Sherpa also plans to take photos of Lord Buddha and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala with him to the summit and pray for world peace and fraternity.