MAOISTS WELCOME ARMY PLAY FOR INTEGRATION OF THIR FIGHTERS

FURTHER DETAILS OF ITAHARI COLLISION

Kathmandu, 4 April: Three passengers died on-the-sport and five en route to hospitals Monday on the Mahendra Highway near Ihahari, Sunsari, in a direct collision between two buses,
A police van collided in the wreckage injuring some policemen.
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MAOISTS POSITIVE ON ARMY PLAN AT INTEGRATION

Kathmandu,.4 April: Following a meeting of the Maoist standing committee the powerful policy-making body of UCPN (Maoist), Secretary CP Gajurel said the latest proposal of Nepal Army (NA) for the integration of 19,000 former rebel fighters in a separate force was positive.
‘We take it positively. Nepal Army proposal is positive. The proposal has come at a time when some parties still have mixed feelings,” he told Kantipur Radio Monday.
The army has circulated the proposal for reaction a d suggested a separate force with three state security agencies and former Maoist fighters.
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FOUR NEPALIS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN IDENTIFIED

Kathmandu, 4 April: Four Nepali guards with the UN killed Friday in northern Afghanistan have been identified by the foreign ministry.
They are: Min Bahadur Thapa, of Tanahu, Chabi LaL Purja of Myagdhi, Narayan Bahadur Thapa of Butwal and Dil Bahadur Gurung of Kaski.
The Nepalis died in remote Afghanistan after irate Afghans attacked the UN office to retaliate the burning of the holy Koran by a pastor n USA.
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CHINA DELIVERS AYURVDA RESEARCH CENTER

Kathmandu, 4 April: Outgoing Chinese Ambassador Qui Guohong Sunday handed over a National Ayrvedic Training and Research Center in constructed at the Tribhuvan University complex in Kirtipur to government.
The 25-bed hospital and training and research divisions.
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MAOIST VOLUNTEERS COME OUT IN CAPITAL’S STREETS

Kathmandu, 4 April: Members of the newly created Maoist Janaswoyak Sewak Prichalan Bureau appeared on the capital’s streets Sundau for the first time.
Politburo member Shakti Basnet and bureau member Dilip Prajapati led the rally.
Top party leaders, in Sindhupalchowk for a standing committee meet, weren’t present.
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BHUTAN REFUGEE RESTTLEMENT AT ANOTHER SITE PROTESTED

Kathmandu, 4 April:In the wake of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) final preparations to house refugees from Goldhap camps, who were sent to Beldangi-based camps, Hanse Dumse Community Forest Committee has urged the concerned authorities to halt the process, Chetan Adhikari reports in The Kathmandu Post from Jhapa.

The committee fears that the additional number of refugees in the vicinity of their community forest will aggravate deforestation. The animosity between the refugees and the host population is as old as the camps themselves.

The committee has submitted a memorandum to the District Administration Office (DAO), District Forest Office (DFO), the UNHCR office and Damak Municipality about this issue four days ago. It said that the forest has been getting severely depleted since the establishment of refugee settlements two decades ago.

“Hundreds of refugees enter the forest on a daily basis. They retaliate if forest guards try to prevent them from using the forest products illegally,” said forest users group Chairman Mahendra Singh Niroula. He said the deforestation increased after the refugees started rearing goats and pigs. He also complained that timber worth millions of rupees is getting lost yearly due to the DAO’s and DFO’s negligence.

The camps cover over one kilometre of the forest and the forest, spanning around 400 kilometres, is situated between Camps no. 1 and no. 2. According to Hanse Dumse Range Post, some 60,000 saplings around the camps were planted by the post and the committee this year. “Most of them have been destroyed. This is a perennial problem,” said Assistant Forest Officer Jivan Pathak.

The UNHCR has fixed the northern area of Camp no. 2 for settling the refugees from the Goldhap camp. Local constructors said that around 700 huts are to be erected there. Committee Member Narayan Baral said that committee would not allow the construction if its concerns aren’t addressed.
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FOREIGN CARRIERS BENEFITING

Kathmandu, 4 April: International airlines operating in Nepal saw a 20.19 percent rise in passenger movement in 2010 compared to 2009, The Kathmandu Post reports..

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the sole international airport in Nepal, reported that passenger volume in 2010 reached 2,436,558 against 2,027,147 in 2009. All the major airlines, particularly those connecting labour destinations, witnessed greater business compared to 2009.

According to the TIA report, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Etihad Airways, Fly Dubai, Bahrain Air and Oman Air reported the strongest full-year passenger growth.

TIA statistics paint a bleak picture of the national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). Marred by series of controversy and inability to purchase new aircraft, the NAC recorded a negative growth in passenger movement in 2010. It lost 2.17 percent to take the third place in terms of passenger movement. Thanks to the healthy growth in migrant workers’ departure, most of the airlines from Middle East registered handsome growth in 2010.

Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Etihad Airways and Bahrain Air recorded passenger growth of 19.49 percent, 18.84 percent, 49.39 percent and 42 percent, respectively.

New entrants Oman Air and Fly Dubai also saw a healthy passenger growth in 2010. However, Gulf Air posted a negative growth in passenger movement with the number of passengers dipping by 25 percent. Except Indian Airlines, airlines based in India reported a healthy growth in passenger movement last year.

The entry of more India-based airlines in Nepal saw the Indian Airlines losing passengers. While the Jet Airways and Jet Lite International posted 52 percent and 4.46 percent growth, respectively, Indian Airlines recorded degrowth of 12.38 percent. Same was the story with airlines from China, with all three Chinese airlines - China Southern, China Eastern and Air China- enjoying growth in 2010.



Int’l Airlines passenger movement

Airlines 2009 2010

Qatar Airways 251,214 300,184

Jet Airways 167,849 255,161

Nepal Airlines 237,751 232,577

Gulf Air 238,527 178,887

Thai Airways 186,466 175,422

Indian Airlines 199,770 175,022

Air Arabia 131,386 156,147

Etihad Airways 77,981 116,496

Jet Lite 107,271 112,060

Biman Bangladesh 70,727 105,971

Fly Dubai —— 81,446

Dragon Air 47,658 68,977

GMG Airlines 37,077 60,425

Kingfisher —— 55,470

Silk Air 52,372 52,906

Pakistan Int’l 58,161 47,610

Bahrain Air 32,877 46,726

Air China 29,620 36,536

Korean Air 33,099 31,528
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