YCL blocks highway traffic

Seeking the release of their leader, cadres of the Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League today blocked traffic for three hours in Sarlahi's Nawalpur along the Mahendra Highway. They warned that a decisive agitation will be launched tomorrow if their leader, Thagaram Chamar, is not freed.

YCL's Sarlahi's coordinator Keshar Karki said the highway was disrupted seeking the release of CPN (Maoist)'s Sarlahi area no 5 in-charge Thagaram Chamar. Over 200 Maoists staged a demonstration and shouted slogans against the police administration. Hundreds of travellers were affected due to the disruption in vehicular movement on the highway.

Personnel of the APF had arrested the Maoists' in-charge at the APF base camp at Sundarpur Chuadawa today. Police inspector KP Sharma said a home-made pistol and seven bullets were confiscated from him. Sharma said Chamar will be sued for possessing illegal arms.

Pavlovian response to abdicate-soon remark

Himalayan News Service
PM downplays it; royalists tight-lipped

Kathmandu, June 18:

 

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's widely-reported comment that if king Gyanendra and his son, crown prince Paras, abdicated, the ruling establishment could think of a minor as the monarch, triggered a knee-jerk reaction today, and Koirala, according to reports received by the newsdesk, downplayed the import of his remarks.
Reacting to Koirala's reported "suggestion" to the king and his son, Maoist generallisimo Prachanda said Koirala was trying to protect the monarchy by going against the decisions of the eight-party alliance.

"This indicates that the Nepali Congress is against the eight-party unity and it wants to see
the monarchy continue," Prachanda told reporters after addressing Maoist MPs in Singha Durbar.
His remarks undermine the second amendment of the Interim Constitution and also intimidate the importance of the decision the parliament has taken," Prachanda said.
Prachanda said his party does not want monarchy in any form.

Prachanda also accused the government of not showing eagerness to hold a Constituent Assembly election.
"Our leader (Prachanda) called upon us to prepare for Jana Andolan-III as Jana Andolan-II could not meet our demands in reality," Maoist MP Khim Lal Devkota said.
Prachanda said that the 12-point agreement between the seven-party alliance
and the Maoists was very clear on bringing in a republican set-up.

His deputy Baburam Bhattarai called upon the MPs to create an environment that would be favourable for state restructuring.
But Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala claimed that the remarks were "misreported by the media due to low English comprehension level."
He said this while talking to a group of reporters who had gone to Koirala's residence to cover the Nepali Congress (NC) Parliamentary Party (PP) meeting.
"I was misquoted. May be the problem was I had spoken in English and the mediapersons who disseminated my views had low English comprehension level," Koirala said, whenreporters asked him about his remarks reported in THT and other dailies.

Members of a delegation which had accompanied visiting Pakistani journalists to the PM's residence yesterday had said that Koirala had told them that he had told King Gyanendra and his son Paras "to abdicate before the elections, if they were keen to see that monarchy continued in Nepal." Koirala was also reported to have said that since Gyanendra and his son Paras were unpopular among the masses, they should leave the country before the elections, or stay on as businessmen, pure and simple.

Koirala also denied having said that a minor could be picked up as the monarch if king Gyanendra and his son abdicated. Meanwhile, talking to representatives of the striking teachers, Koirala said that he was committed to holding elections by mid-December and that the nation and the people could come under a worse scenario if the elections were not held. "I have taken the responsibility of my lifetime. I will see to it that elections take place."
AFP reported UML leader Jhala Nath Khanal as saying: "The PM's attempt to save the monarchy is unacceptable. Our party has always been in favour of abolition of the monarchy and will not review our decision in the future," he said.

A thorough scanning of the Internet and news agencies failed to provide any response by the royalists or yesterday's royalists to the PM's widely-reported 'abdicate-soon' suggestion.

Who called the Valley bandh? No idea, say all

Though Kathmandu Valley remained partially closed today, most of the denizens didn't have the faintest idea as to who might have called for the shutdown.
Most of the educational institutions and a few private offices remained closed.
Though work in government offices went ahead as usual, the number of vehicles plying on the roads was very low.
"We didn't receive any report of bandh supporters demonstrating on the streets or picketing," said a police official at the Metropolitan Police Control Room.
"Usually during bandhs, we used to get reports of incidents like bandh supporters taking out rallies or forcing people to get off vehicles. However, the control room phones didn't ring for such reports today," the official added. This reporter asked people from different walks of life on who might have called the shutdown.
"I heard an association of landless people has called the bandh, but, I am not sure," was the reply the reporter got from almost all of them he queried. Media houses also didn't receive any press release on the bandh. This reporter at long last, but unofficially, found out that it was the Nepal Basobas Basti Samrakshan Samaj (settlement protection society), who had called the bandh. No one was able to tell him who the people associated with the organisation were or where they could be contacted. All he came to know was that the samaj had been formed by people who were displaced after the government acquired their land at Tinkune

Koirala, Prachanda smoke the peace pipe

Maoist chairman Prachanda and his deputy Dr Baburam Bhattarai met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter's residence this morning. They sorted out differences that had surfaced after the PM's comment on the activities of the Young Communist League (YCL) last week.

The trio agreed to form a committee under the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to make cases of disappearances public.

A Maoist source told this daily that the PM "realised" that he should not have publicly branded the Maoists' youth wing as a criminal league. Koirala called the YCL a criminal league after the latter captured businessman Sitaram Prasain and handed him over to the police.

Prasain was wanted by the Nepal Rastra Bank for irregularities in a financial institution he chaired.
The source said the PM was "positive" on institutionalising the agenda of a republican order through constituent assembly election for which he expressed his "firm commitment."

The meeting mainly focused on the issue of republic through the election, the source added.
The leaders agreed not to make public issues on which they differ, and committed themselves to resolving those issues through dialogue.

They also agreed that the eight-party unity must be kept intact until a new constitution is drafted.
Poudel also said that a committee would be formed to make public the cases of disappearance.
According to the Human Rights Year Book, 2007 published by Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), 783 people were disappeared by the state and 105 by the Maoists.

No question of doubting India, says Prachanda

Maoist supremo Prach-anda today said his party has no doubts on India's intentions. Prachanda had rapped India after reports appeared in the media that India favoured an alliance between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML.

Those reports had said that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a recent meeting with a UML delegation in New Delhi, stressed the need for a permanent alliance between the NC and the UML to ensure democracy and lasting peace in Nepal.

In a a statement issued here today, Prachanda denied his party's involvement in hurling stones at a vehicle carrying US Ambassador James F Moriarty in Jhapa. He said his party did not target any foreigner even during the decade-old conflict and it was unimaginable to do so at the time of the peace process.
"I would like to remind all that we had asked the government to investigate the Jhapa incident immediately after it occurred, "he said Prachanda and another Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai also met United Nations secretary general's personal representative, Ian Martin at his residence today and discussed the verification process of the Maoist combatants in cantonments. They agreed to start the second round of the verification at the earliest. The process has been stalled due to differences between the government and the Maoists over payment of monthly allowance to the fighters.

In the statement, Prachanda stressed the need to create a new basis for political unity among the parties. "People will not be assured of the assembly election unless the date is fixed," the statement said.

Prachanda said the government was reluctant to release political prisoners, make public the status of the disappeared, provide relief to victims of the conflict, reconstruct destroyed infrastructure and manage cantonments and combatants' allowances.

According to IANS, Prachanda also recalled India's positive role during the ongoing peace negotiations as well as New Delhi's pledged assistance to the CA election.

No business, no issue. Visa for the asking!

Kent Bruce Crane, a Belize national, has been obtaining business visa for the last 14 years, even though his firm's registration has not been renewed for the last seven years. His business visa was extended on February 17, 2007, for five years.

The company — Nepal Wildlife Development Company Pvt Ltd (NWDC) — was set up in 1993 and was registered at the Company Registrar's Office (CRO) and the Department of Industry (DoI) for promotion of eco-tourism and hospitality business through a golf course and a luxury resort.

However, the company could never be operational in over 14 years. A report prepared by the DoI monitoring team in January this year states construction of a seminar hall, guest house and few buildings has started at Lapsiphedi, VDC-3, where he purchased 519 ropanis of land in 1994. Later he also managed to get on lease an additional 150 ropanis of land in the VDC.

The Immigration Rules, 1994, say investors can get a one-year visa during the start-up phase of their venture, and for five years after the investment is made.

"We are bound to issue a visa if the DoI recommends someone," says Durga Prasad Pokhrel, director of the department. "We do not investigate every application", he added. Crane has used five different passports issued either by the London High Commission or by the Embassy of Belize in Washington DC. The latest passport (No 004954), in which he obtained the five-year business visa, was issued on February 8, 2007 from the Embassy of Belize in Washington DC.

Crane had two passports which have not expired. The Passport (No 0290773) that was issued on January 25, 2005 will expire on January 24, 2015, while the second passport will expire on October 4 next year. Of these two passports, the first one was issued from the Embassy of Belize in Washington DC and the second one from the Belize High Commission in London.

According to a source, Crane had used a different passport when he first came to Nepal 13 years ago. Later he used the passport (No A 000666) issued from the Belize High Commission and obtained business visa for a year. The passport expired in October 2004.

Despite repeated orders of the Company Registrar's Office to NWDC to furnish the annual report and audit report from the fiscal year 1998-99 to 2006-07, the company submitted them on January 14 this year. These reports are to be submitted annually.

Ashok Kumar Dahal, director at the Foreign Investment Section of DoI, said the visa extension was made on the ground that Crane's property worth millions of rupees is still in Nepal. "We recommended the DoI to extend the visa as he has invested a huge sum of money in Nepal and he has to frequently visit the country," he said.

The project could not kick off due to a court stay order against him, Dahal said. He said Crane got his visa extended on the pretext that he could not start the project due to the adverse situation here.
Crane could not be reached despite several telephone calls and e-mails sent to him. When contacted, an employee at Crane's office at Lakhankhel said he is out of the country.

Nepali Tourism Promotion in SE Asian Countries

The stakeholders of Nepali tourism industry are organising South East Asia Sales mission in three countries beginning from June 5.

The mission, which is targeted at the outbound travellers potential in the South East Asia Region, is being jointly organised by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and PATA Nepal Chapter in cooperation with Nepali embassy in Thailand, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), and Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) in three countries - Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. The event will last till June 8.

The programme is scheduled for June 5 in Bangkok, where Lumbini- the birthplace of Lord Buddha and Buddhist pilgrimage sites are going to be highlighted as the major attractions. Likewise, being also a pioneer country in adventure activities, Nepal will be focusing its soft adventure attractions, too. The sales mission also aims to promote the idea of - exchange the tang of mountain with beaches - among the visitors' experience of the two countries.

In Malaysia and Singapore, the road show will be graced by Prithvi Subba Gurung, minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation. Madhav Prasad Ghimire, secretary of ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation is scheduled to address the road show in Singapore.

During the road show, Mt Everest summiteers from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia will be felicitated. The organisers say that the event would help fetch more tourists to Nepal from this region.

Recently, numerous international airlines have increased flight frequencies to Kathmandu, and some new ones have also started their operations to Nepal. The positive trend in international visitors' arrival to Nepal continued with a staggering growth of 78.8 per cent in April 2007.

This is a record high growth by air route in April since 2002. Asian countries (Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand) have contributed a substantial growth of 137.4 per cent.

The Nepali delegation will be led by NTB and PATA Nepal along with 12 private companies during the event.

Nepal to hold delayed elections in Nov/Dec

Nepal will hold elections near year's end for a constituent assembly to decide the fate of its monarchy, capping a peace deal with former Maoist rebels after a decade-long insurgency, political officials said on Thursday.
The vote was once expected in June but officials had said they did not have enough time to organise it that soon.
The agreement will help end political uncertainty sparked by the election delay and aid in sealing the peace deal that ended a civil war which killed more than 13,000 people.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala met with Maoist chief Prachanda and other leaders from the ruling coalition and agreed to reschedule the polls for the Nepali month that starts on November 17.
"The cabinet will formally decide the exact date for the elections soon," said Prakash Sharan Mahat, senior leader of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, a key member of the ruling coalition.
"The timing was suggested by the prime minister and other leaders agreed," he said.
Maoist politicians also said the election would be held in that period.
But senior Maoist leader Dinanath Sharma said supporters of the king or "forces who believe in the status quo" could try to sabotage the elections.

Nepal to hold delayed elections in Nov/Dec

Nepal will hold elections near year's end for a constituent assembly to decide the fate of its monarchy, capping a peace deal with former Maoist rebels after a decade-long insurgency, political officials said on Thursday.
The vote was once expected in June but officials had said they did not have enough time to organise it that soon.
The agreement will help end political uncertainty sparked by the election delay and aid in sealing the peace deal that ended a civil war which killed more than 13,000 people.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala met with Maoist chief Prachanda and other leaders from the ruling coalition and agreed to reschedule the polls for the Nepali month that starts on November 17.
"The cabinet will formally decide the exact date for the elections soon," said Prakash Sharan Mahat, senior leader of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, a key member of the ruling coalition.
"The timing was suggested by the prime minister and other leaders agreed," he said.
Maoist politicians also said the election would be held in that period.
But senior Maoist leader Dinanath Sharma said supporters of the king or "forces who believe in the status quo" could try to sabotage the elections.

Oil Supply Situation to Normalise by Monday: Mahato

At a time when the whole country is reeling under a severe petroleum supply crisis, Rajendra Mahato, minister for industry, commerce and supplies on Saturday claimed that supply would be back to normal within a couple of days.
However, his claim after the state-run petroleum entity - Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) yesterday warned that the supply of petroleum products would worsen further unless an immediate arrangement to clear the dues of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is made.
Speaking at an interaction organised by the Reporters' Club here on Saturday, Mahato said that the government would clear the last two months' dues of about one billion rupees to the IOC by Monday. "The government, in principal, has agreed to release Rs 1.0 billion to clear dues and import bills for the months of April and May," he informed.
He further said that the senior leaders of eight ruling parties have been apprised about the supply situation and NOC's financial condition. "The present crisis, mainly, is due to our inability to pay the dues on time," Mahato said, adding that the government has now left with two options either support NOC with Rs 500 million each month or adjust the prices of the petro products at par with the international price.
He, however, said that final decision to adjust the prices of petroleum products lies with the eight parties and the government. "If the eight-party alliance gives a green signal, government will make a gradual upward adjustment in prices. So, people won't feel a huge burden of price hike," Mahato said.
He also disclosed that options have been sought to involve private sector for the trading of petroleum products. "At the beginning, government plans to handover the trading of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to private parties," he said.
To ensure smooth supply of the petroleum products, the government needs to provide the NOC with financial support of about Rs 4 billion, if the prices are kept static unless the constituent assembly elections is held. The support is required to meet the monthly losses of Rs 254.8 million and additional payment of Rs 240 million to clear dues to IOC.
According to him, NOC's current total liabilities stand at Rs 10.20 billion including Rs 5.96 billion dues of IOC and Rs 4.26 loans of various domestic financial institutions.
Most petrol pumps went dry four days back, while the NOC's stock yesterday dropped to an all-time-low at 'dead stock' level. NOC has already stopped distribution of petroleum products from Friday evening in the valley, stating that it cannot use the dead stock.

Hundreds flock to Nepal shrine for 'sweating' idol

Hundreds of people have flocked to a remote village in eastern Nepal to see a "sweating" idol of a Hindu god, a sign of impending turmoil or natural disaster for the devoutly religious nation.
Witnesses said that sweat seeped out of the idol of the Bhimeshwor god at a temple in Dolakha, a few hours drive from Kathmandu, during evening prayers at the weekend.
"I saw the right side of the black stone idol had become wet because of sweating," said Shanta Krishna Shrestha, chairman of a committee responsible for maintaining the temple.
"This denotes something like major political change or a natural calamity," said Shrestha.
"We must hold special prayers and make sacrifices asking for forgiveness."
Sacrificing animals such as goats or roosters to appease gods is common among Hindus in Nepal.
Sweating was seen on the idol in 2001, media reported, months before a palace massacre when King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family were shot dead in a drug-and-drink fuelled shooting spree by the then crown prince, who later turned the gun on himself.