LIGHTNING KILLS TWO, INJURES ONE AND DESTROYS 30 HOUSES IN DHADING Kathmandu, 2 June: Lightning overnight killed two persons and injured another Saturday at Mahadebsthan, Rawaldanda, Dhading. Thirty houses were destroyed. nnnn. STRIKES ADVERSELY IMPACT TOURIST ARRIVALS IN MAY Kathmandu, 2 June; For the first time after tourist arrivals increased every month following the end of a 10-year Maoist people’s war more than four years ago, arrivals dropped 9.3 percent in May compared to the same period the previous year because of prolonged strikes. Strikes were called by various groups to push their agenda to be incorporation in a constitution by 27 May; the basic law wasn’t promulgated creating unrest and uncertainty. Tourist arrivals in May fell 9.3 percent to 42,820 and could slip further in the months ahead affecting growth and investment in tourism sector. Arrivals fell 47.1 percent compared to the previous month. But Immigration Office at TIA said arrival from South Asian, including India, increased 13.9 percent. Indian arrivals recorded a 16.1 percent rise Arrivals from China slowed down 10.2 percent with 20,126 Chinese visitors. Arrivals jumped of 23.1 in the first four months of 2012 but with the May fall average arrivals in the first five months of the currnt year slipped to 20.5 percent. Average arrivals from Europe and USA grew 8.3 and 12.3 percent. Nnnn ________________________________________ BROADER MADESH FRONT MEETS TO CHALK OUT PROGRAMMES, STRATEGY Kathmandu, 2 June: A Broader Madesh Morcha chaired by MJFN Chairman Upendra Yadav is holding a meeting as the group is divided between supporters and opponents of Maoists leading a government with another group of Samyukta Madesh Morcha Loktantrik led by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar. The Madeshi front in government is firmly behind Maoists and supports announcement of fresh elections of the constituent assembly (CA) 22 November. “The action is unconstitutional, Bhattarai is only a caretaker prime minister There has to be a government to national consensus. “Without removing Bhattarai there can be no consensus government,” Yadav said. Yadav hasn’t so far joined an alliance of 19 parties, including NC and UML, that decided Friday to come out on street protests against the Baburam Bhattarai government. Nnnn , WITH NO HERB PRODUCTION, PROCESSING PLANTS CLOSE DOWN Kathmandu, 2 June: Three herb processing plants built with the investment of some two million rupees have gone unused after the farmers quit herb productions, RSS reports from Kanchanpur. . The plants established at Jhalari VDC in Kanchanpur district have been left in limbo after the farmers quit herb farming saying lack of market for their products. Some 200 farmers quit the production of chamomile, menthe and other herbs citing lack of market. The plants were used for producing oil through the herb-processing. Chairman of Sundevi Consumers´ Committee Pratap Singh Dhami said the plants were brought from Lucknow of India. He said the farmers quit the herb- farming as the traders slashed the price of processed oil of chamomile from Rs 30,000 to Rs 10,000 per liter. He said the farmers switched to other options as they were in loss following the heavy slash in the price of the chamomile. It is said that over 60 farmers have yet not gotten market to sell their about 100 kgs of oil. Nnnn ________________________________________ ________________________________________ NEPALI SQUAD PICKED FOR 1-19 ASIA CUP Kathmandu, June 2: Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Friday selected 15 members for the upcoming U-19 Asia Cup to be played in Malaysia 23 June to 1 July. They were pocked from 24 players selected earlier for a closed camp. Hasim Ansari, Gopal Kumar Singh, Saurav Khanal and Ram Naresh Giri are new faces in the team. Eleven others selected are: Prithu Baskota, Pradeep Airee, Rajesh Pulami, Sagar Pun, Naresh Budhayair, Krishna Karki, Avinas Karn, Faizlur Rehman, Subhas Khakurel and Rahul BK. Baskota was retained captain while Airee is his deputy. Pawan Shrestha and Prajesh Bahadur Singh are also considered as the reserve players. Nepal plays India, Pakistan and Malaysia in the group matches. nnnn ________________________________________