7 SUSPECTED ABDUSCTORS ARRESTED IN KAVRE

SEVEN SUSPECTED ABDUCTORS ARRESTED IN KAVRE
Kathmandu, 8 Feb.:: The District Police Office, Kavre, has arrested seven persons on the charge of their involvement in kidnappings, RSS reports from Banepa..

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Office, Surendra Prasad Mainali, they were arrested on the charge of their involvement in kidnapping of Anirudra Gautam (Deepak), 47, of Dhuseni Shibal-2.

He further said Gautam was rescued from Phalape of Kavre district.

Three persons were arrested with two motorcycles from Phalape and four with two motorcycles from Panchkhal last night, added Mainali.

The arrestees are Nawaraj Parajuli, 26, of Wangthali of Kavre, Santosh Tamang, 22, and Bijaya Lama, 20, of Kanpur VDC and Roshan Tamang, 21, of Sarsiukharka.

Similarly, other arrestees are Anil Bhandari, 19, of Pida VDC-5 in Dhading district, Sworoj Kh
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NO HOUSE MEET WEDNESDAY AS WELL
Kathmandu, 8 Feb.: Parliament meet was postponed until Thursday adjourned for the ninth time
A notice was posted on the board.
Seventeen parties , including NC and UML, have been obstructing the sessions.
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BODY FORMED TO INVESTIGATE TIA FIRE TUESDAY
Kathmandu, Feb.8 : Home ministry joint secretary Lokendra Bahadur Chhettri,
heads a three-member probe committee with ministry under secretary Bal Krishna Panthi and Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Krishna Bahadur Thapa as the members to investigate Tuesday’s night fir eat the southern end of TIA and between Pepsi Cola.
Firefighters and security personnel brought the fre under control in two hours.
But flights were disrupted for two hours.
The ministry has asked the body to report findings by Friday.
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The committee has been given three days to submit its reports.

ZERO TARIFF FOR GARMENT
Kathmandu, Feb.8: Morang Commerce Association has demanded that various goods including Pashmina and garment produced in the country should again be given zero customs facility in American markets, RSS reports from Biratnagar.

Chairman of the Association Abinash Bohora demanded this during a meeting with the delegation of the World Learning Institute of America which is on a visit here.

Bohara said the two industries—pashmina and garment in Nepal were in crisis after the facilities were removed by the USA.

He also urged the team to play a coordinative role for reaching Nepali products to markets in USA and to inform about Nepal's tourism sites.

The seven-member delegation of USA is led by Amanda Bischoping and comprises of US senators also. It is in Nepal as part of its world tour.

The delegation assured to raise the issue in US parliament and to enable contact with the US Chambers of Commerce for exchange of information.

MOVEMENT OF DIVISION MAOIST VICE-COMMANDER
RESTRICTED

Kathmandu, Feb. 8: PLA Commanders close to Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal prevented Division Vice-commander Udaya Bahadur Chalaune from going outside the cantonment on Monday evening and Tuesday morning for raising the issue of financial transparency at the Third Division, The Himalayan Times reports.

"They seized the key of my vehicle last night when I was going outside on a personal business and did now allow me to go out. I was constantly kept under surveillance for four hours in the morning," Chalaune, who is close to Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, told Republica.

Chaulaune has received his paycheck for voluntary retirement and wanted to go for shopping on Wednesday before leaving the cantonment. But he was asked to pack up and immediately leave the cantonment with his wife, one body guard and three other PLA members.

"I had said them that I would leave on Wednesday, but they declined my request," said Chalaune, who has been working as the second-in-charge of the Third Division.

The Third Division is the richest in terms of financial resources and Chaulaune had demanded that all the properties of the cantonment should be evaluated and distributed among all PLA members.

"Chalaune had led the combatants who wanted financial transparency and that´s the reason he was harassed," Sixth Division Vice-commander Nep Bahadur Kuwar Magar said.

According to sources, some combatants who had raised the issue of financial transparency were severely beaten up. PLA rank and file close to Dahal faction has also backed Baidya group´s demand for financial transparency.
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INDIA REINFORCING TO COUNTER CHINA
Kathmandu, Feb 8.: In recent weeks, India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier — modernizing its military to face a rising China, AP reports from New Delhi.

India and China have a long history of tension, dating back to a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.

China has financed the development of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, virtually encircling India. Beijing´s recent efforts to get access to facilities in the Seychelles have prodded New Delhi to renew its own outreach to the Indian Ocean island state off its west coast.

With its recent purchases, running into tens of billions of dollars, India is finally working to counter what it sees as aggressive incursions by neighboring China into a region India has long dominated.

"The Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean," James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee last week.

India has created new infantry mountain divisions and plans to raise a strike corps aimed at countering aggression by China. Their border still has not been agreed upon despite 15 rounds of talks, and patrols from the two sides frequently face off on the ground.

Analysts say that although the probability of a conflict between the two Asian giants is remote, a short, sharp conflict in the disputed Himalayan heights can´t be ruled out.

"Over the last couple of years, the Chinese have been acting more and more aggressively in the political, diplomatic and military arena," said retired Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal, director of the Indian army-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi.

Indian leaders and defense strategists have watched with alarm as China modernized its forces and extended its military advantage over India. For some in India, countering China is taking precedence even over checking longtime rival Pakistan.

"Of late, there has been a realization (in India) that China is the real danger of the future," Kanwal said.

To compete, India has embarked on a long-overdue drive to modernize its forces and replace their obsolescent, Soviet-era weapons.

Its orders for fighter jets, naval frigates, helicopters and armaments have made India the world´s largest importer of arms. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9 percent of all the world´s weapon imports in 2010, the latest year for which figures were available.

Last week´s order of 126 combat aircraft, won by France´s Dassault, followed a bitter battle by global jet manufacturers hoping to entice India.

The initial cost for the 126 planes is estimated at about $11 billion, but on-board weaponry, technology transfers, maintenance, warranties and other costs are expected to almost double the price.

The Indian navy last week took command of a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine, renamed INS Chakra-II, at the Russian port of Vladivostok, propelling India into an elite group of countries operating underwater nuclear-powered vessels. Others in the club are the United States, France, Russia, Britain and China.

The Chakra-II, on lease from Russia for the next 10 years at a cost of nearly $1 billion, is expected to be inducted into the navy by March. Later this year, India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier.

In addition, six Scorpene subs being built in India under license from France in a $5 billion deal are expected to start going into service in 2015, three years behind schedule, said Defense Minister A.K. Antony. Labor problems and difficulties procuring needed technology have hampered the project, he told the Indian Parliament recently. Critics also blame India´s sluggish bureaucracy for the delays.

"India´s efforts at modernizing its forces have been very slow," said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a defense analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

Some Indian military experts complain that the country is not doing enough to upgrade its forces to the level befitting the regional power it aspires to be.

"It´s not only China that is rising. India is on the ascent too, and it´s a trend that will continue for some decades," said retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.

India may be watching China´s overtures to its neighbors with alarm, but New Delhi has also embarked on its own effort to reach out to the Southeast Asian and East Asian countries in Beijing´s backyard.

India has struck a strategic partnership with Vietnam, including helping Hanoi beef up its defense capabilities. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been actively pursuing a "Look East" policy, engaging the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, among others. The policy has resulted in a troupe of high-level visits to India, bolstering trade and economic cooperation.

Nowhere is the contest between China and India more evident than in Myanmar, where both of the energy-seeking Asian giants are caught in a race to gain access to the country´s natural gas sources.

India has regularly conducted defense exercises with countries in the region. It is scheduled to host the navies of 14 Asian countries in maritime exercises later this week; the Chinese and Pakistani navies have not been invited.

And, while India is increasing its defense capabilities, China is doing the same, but faster, making it difficult for India to catch up. The Chinese government´s military budget is the second largest in the world after the United States.

India has raised two mountain divisions of soldiers to add to its existing high-altitude troops. Around 36,000 soldiers and officers of the divisions have been posted in the remote northeast, not far from India´s Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims as part of its territory.

A proposal for a mountain strike corps is awaiting clearance by India´s Cabinet, and an independent armored brigade for the mountain region also is in the works. India hopes to show it can strike deep beyond its neighbor´s borders to serve as a deterrent for any Chinese aggression, Kanwal said.

"India is building up its capability for offensive operations in the mountains with a view to taking the fight into Chinese territory," Kanwal said.
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