PM SAYS COUNTRY IN CRISIS

UPDATE ON SITUATION

PM SAYS COUNTRY IN CRISIS AFTER MEETING PRESIDENT;OTHER DETAI;LS,

Kathmandu, 28May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal said is in crisis after consultations with President Dr.Ram Baran Yadav and called for national understanding to extend the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) that ends in less than 12 hours at midnight Saturday.
“The country is in crisis, There’s no alternative to national understanding,” he said and asked political parties to cooperate to extend the assembly The army and security agencies have been put on high alert
A parliament session hasn’t begun even four hours after schedule.
Activists of RPP-Nepal have assembled again in front of the International Convention Center where meetings of the assembly and parliament are held demanding the dissolution of CA and fresh assembly elections.
Supporters of Youth Association of Nepal (YSN) affiliated with UML heading the government is also picketing the complex pushing for peace and constitution.
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STRIKES COULD LEAD TO BOOKING CANCELLATIONS NEXT SEASON

Kathmandu, 28 May: tAlthough tourist arrivals in the first four months of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) have been upbeat, constant shutdowns in May have hit arrivals. Travel trade entrepreneurs now fear that they may affect business during the upcoming tourist season, The Kathmandu Post reports.
With NTY running, there was hope that tourist arrivals would remain higher even during the off season i.e. April-May. But, a series of bandas in May have forced tourists to cancel their trip or shorten their stay in Nepal. The statistics of tourist arrivals of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) show daily arrivals have dropped by more than 300 in May from 1,750 in April.
Even though tourist arrivals as of May 26 increased to 34,076 as against 26, 634 in the entire month of May last year, entrepreneurs said that the figure is nominal to what they have been expecting as compared to the increased movement from the beginning of NTY.
April-June is the period where large numbers of Indian visitors travel Nepal to get relief from the hot summer in the plains. This year, the country has targeted attracting 265,000 visitors from the southern neighbor alone. India, which constitutes the major market of Nepal, has recorded a growth of 38.3 percent in April. According to tourism entrepreneurs, arrivals of Indian tourists would have been much higher in May had there been no bandas.
Travel trade entrepreneurs said that the recent spate of bandas could affect not only NTY and the goal of bringing one million tourists but also arrivals next year. “Target of bringing one million tourists is not achievable under these circumstances,” said Rajendra Bajgai, general secretary of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN). “The political unrest has not only affected the NTY target but also the business of travel trade entrepreneurs for this season.”
The commitments made by all political parties that they will support NTY had been spread worldwide to ensure visitors that Nepal is a safe destination to travel now but strikes coming back again had made the situation reverse to convince tourists, said Basanta Raj Mishra, past president of Nepal Association of Tour Operators.
“Why do the potential tourists take risk visiting Nepal when there are lots of options for them to visit to other competitive tourism markets,” he said adding that all political parties and the people should comprehend how sensitive tourism sector is. After an interval of 13 years, the country had made an effort to welcome tourists in a big way. It has targeted to bring one million tourists in 2011 of which 700,000 are targeted from air and the remaining by land.
Entrepreneurs added that May-June was the time when international tour operators prepare packages and publish brochures for the next year, and the shutdowns could bar them to incorporate packages in the world travel trend brochures.
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SC MOVED AGAINST MINISTER SAPKOTA
Kathmandu, 28 May: A writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court today demanding suspension and trial of Minister for Information and Communication Agni Prasad Sapkota for murder, The Himalayan Times reports.

Human rights activists and civil society members Sushil Pyakurel, Prof Kapil Shrestha, Kanak Mani Dixit, Dr Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, Charan Prasai and Mandira Sharma jointly filed the petition demanding his suspension during investigation.

They claimed that despite the investigation started by Nepal Police, Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara has publicly demanded the withdrawal of pending criminal cases against Maoist leaders and cadres.

Sapkota’s appointment to the post of minister poses a serious threat to the investigation into Arjun Lama’s murder, while the Home Minister’s demand for withdrawal of murder cases of Maina Sunuwar and Arjun Lama has created a serious threat to the rule of law and criminal justice system, they stated.

Despite an arrest warrant issued by Kavre District Police Office and the investigation on abduction and killing of Lama, Sapkota is enjoying a free life and has declined to surrender to the police. The human rights activists claim that the withdrawal of criminal cases shows the impunity enjoyed by Maoist leaders and cadres.

The petition ads that the United States and Australian embassies have rejected visa to Sapkota after it was revealed that he was involved in abduction and murder of Lama.

The petitioners sought an order to authorities — Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, Deputy PM and Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Ministry of Home Affairs and District Police Office Kavre — to independently investigate into the case by suspending the minister and creating a favourable environment to provide justice to the victim.

The petitioners also called the government to direct the defendant authorities to promulgate a separate Act to maintain integrity of public posts.
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POLICE STRENGTH REINFORCED IN VALLEY
Kathmandu, 28 May: Nepal Police Headquarters has summoned additional forces from its regional training centres and district posts to help Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office avert any security threats on May 28, when the tenure of the Constituent Assembly expires, The Himalayan Times reports..

The additional forces were summoned amidst the string of Kathmandu-centred protest rallies, sit-ins, assemblies and other forms of strikes to mount pressure on the government not to extend the CA tenure.

A highly-placed source, however, refused to give the exact number of additional forces called to the Capital city citing potential security threats to their district base, but said they were the hundreds.

MPCO has already put the Capital city on high alert and deployed more than 3,700 security forces with major focus on vital installations, including the Constituent Assembly building and Singha Durbar.

Around 1,700 cops, a bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs, special task force and quick response teams, among others, have been deputed to the CA building alone to prevent any untoward incident.

Besides these, the police in association with the local administration has completed its groundwork to impose curfew in and around the CA building, roads leading to Singha Durbar and other sensitive zones

in case the situation deteriorates, in order to safeguard vital installations, lives and public properties.
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