Rewards to DIGs withdrawn; other details

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 2 June: The fourth highest award instituted by the government and rewarded to two DIGs for their contribution was withdrawn by the government Wednesday following a three-hour cabinet, Government spokesman Shanker Pokhrel said.
An honour panel headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar Tuesday asked the cabinet to review a decision to reward DIGs Durjan Kumar Rai and Kuber Singh Rana of Armed Police Force (APF) on republic day Saturday.
Former Army Chief Gen Rukmangud Katawal was also rewarded Saturday.
The DIGs and Katawal allegedly committed abuses during the Janaandolan II.
The honour panel constituted a three-member sub-committee with Dr Dip Bahadur Swar, Dr Ram Sworup Sinha and Dr Govinda Prasad Thapa as members to recomend procedure and standards to select future nominees.
The selection has embarrassed President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, government and even recipients; the president’s office released the honours’ list on the recommendation of the government.
Home Secretary Dr Gobinda Kusum called on Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha Tuesday and apologized for honouring judges without consulting the judicial council.
The chief justice protested saying the government bypassing council was unconstitutional.
INHURED International Tuesday filed a writ petition at the supreme court to overturn the government decision charging some recipients of ‘systematic abuse of human rights’.

Deadline for govt. to resin ends today [Wednesday]


Maoist deadline for PM Nepal to resign ends Wednesday

Kathmandu, 2 June: A Maoist deadline for the one-year government of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to resign ends Wednesday.
Maoists claim there was a secret verbal agreement between Chairman Prachanda and UML leader KP Sharma Oli Nepal would resign to make way for a national unity government ahead of a three-point agreement between three major parties Friday to extend the constituent assembly (CA) tenure by one year until 28 May 2011.
NC and UML deny there was such an agreement just before midnight Friday ahead of the three-point agreement.
Maoists warned of a ‘serious accident’ should Nepal continue in office.
Seven parties have invited the three parties for discussions Wednesday to mediate amid differing claims.
A scheduled meeting of Maoists, NC and UML hasn’t begin until noon to discuss rival claims.
After returning from New Delhi Tuesday, Oli asked why Maoists leaked a secret agreement, if there was any, before the five-day deadline ended.
“If there was a secret agreement Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal would, why was revealed amid a din before the deadline?” he asked.
“Why the loud language of ultimatum if there was such an agreement?”
Oli went on to say if there was an agreement Maoists should have waited for five days before its revelation within 12 hours.
Chairman Subash Nemwang said Tuesday he met the prime minister and asked him to end uncertainty soonest through a tripartite meeting.
Old differences have broken out immediately after the three-point agreement Friday.
PM Nepal is likely to hold a collective meeting with the three biggest parties later Wednesday.
nnnn


Nobody injured in accidental firing at Prachanda residence

Kathmandu, 2 June: Everybody, including Prachanda, was safe in an accidental firing at the residence of Maoist Chairman Tuesday during guard duty change, police and party sources said.
Two bullets hit a wall and another hit a ceiling of the Prachanda residence at Naya Bazzar when a SMG slipped to the ground.
Nnnn

US, British and Danish ambassadors at Bhutanese refugee camps

Kathmandu, 2 June: US Ambassador Scott H. Delisi, British Ambassador Dr Andrew Hall and the Danish ambassador visited Bhutanese refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang and Jhapa Tuesday.
Outgoing British envoy Hall visited the camp as Britain prepare to welcome for the first time refugees from the camp.
Altogether 31,503 of 100,000 plus refugees have been resettled in nine western countries since 2008 with USA accepting most of the forcibly expelled persons from Buddhist Bhutan in an ethnic cleansing policy overlooked by major world capitals.
The refugees are of Nepali ethnicity and are Hindus.
Nnnn

Govt. appointments

Kathmandu, 2 June: Joint Secretary Mukti Bhatta has been appointed chief of protocol.
Bhatta succeeds Mohan Krishna Shrestha who has been appointed ambassador to France.
Career officer Shrestha was nominated after France rejected the nomination of Maoist woman leader Phampa Phusal by the Prachanda government.
Joint Secretary Thakur Prasad Baral has been promoted parliament secretary.
nnnn

President visiting China

Kathmandu, 2 June: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav will be guest of honour on Nepal Pavilion Day at the Shanghai World Expo 3 August, Nagarik reports.
According to the Nepali embassy in Beijing the president’s office has cleared the visit.
Nnnn

Mom Manisha Koirala

Kathmandu, 2 June: Manisha Koirala has finally come of age, repots India Today.
At 39, she has graduated to playing an on-screen mom to an 18-year-old Hansika Motwani in Mappillai, a Tamil remake of the 1989 Rajanikant-starrer.
While contemporaries Ravenna Tandon and Karishma Kapoor are trying to keep heir glamour alive, Koirala seems willing to give it all up.
Maybe she will be better off making a quick dash down aisle with her Nepali beau,
Nnnn

TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY

May tourist arrivals up

Kathmandu, 2 June: Tourism arrivals in May jumped six percent compared to the same month the previous year with 26,634 arrivals, Immigration Office at TIA said.
Arrivals from South Asia, except Sri Lanka, increased six percent.
Indian increased 4.3 but arrivals from China increased a whopping 35 percent; arrivals from Japan also jumped 13.9 percent.
Indian arrivals totaled 37,325 while 11,271 Chinese came the same month.
Arrivals from USA went up 10.4 percent.
Despite the disruption of flights with volcanic eruption in Iceland, western Europe arrivals weren’t affected.
Arrivals from UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Poland went up 4.9 percent, 14.2 percent, 47.5 percent, 12.3 percent, 20.9 percent, 75 percent and 278.6 percent respectively with negligible decline in French and Italian arrivals.
But Spanish and Swedish arrivals dropped 18 percent and 17.7 percent respectively.
Nepalese arrivals and departures in May were 47,740 and 64,652 respectively.
nnnn

Direct Kathmandu, Muscat flights

Kathmandu, 2 June: Oman Air will begin daily direct flights between Muscat and Kathmandu from the third week of June.
Nepal and Oman signed an air service agreement to start operations.
Nnnn

Lentil export ban lifted

Kathmandu, 2 June: A ban on lentil export has been lifted.
Nepal Rashtra Bank lifted the ban through a notification Tuesday.
Lentil is a major agro export.
Nnnn

Rs 9.96b for agriculture

Kathmandu, 2 June: The government is to allocate around Rs 9.96 billion in the agriculture sector in the next fiscal year budget programme via the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC), The Rising Nepal reports.
The Ministry of Finance has given a ceiling for the MoAC to bring the programme within the budget limit.
However, the ministry has demanded around Rs 15 billion for promoting agriculture meeting the growing demands of the food curbing the existing food scarcity in the country.
Hari Dahal, spokesman of the MoAC, stressed on the need to expand the agriculture expenditures to increase the agriculture productivity in line with the growing food demands with sustainable development of the sector in the country.
He said that the country had faced around 316,000 metric tons food deficit in the current fiscal year, which was only 132,000 tons last year.
Nnnn

MEDIA GOOGLE

“Dr Shrestha [Bhaktaman] is safe and our party wants his safe release at the earliest.”

(Dr Baburam Bhattarai, The Himalayan Times, 2 June)
nnnn