COURT FREES INDIAN HOSTAGES IN SIRAHA Kathmandu, 16 Jan.:The District Court, Siraha on Tuesday freed Indian workers held hostage at a brick kiln at local Belhakatti VDC, RSS reports from Golbazzr.. The 65 workers were being held captive by the Om Brick Industry at the VDC. A team led by the District Court Judge following orders from the Supreme Court set free 65 Indian nationals working as labourers at the brick kiln who were said to be held captive by the brick kiln. The freed labourers said that they hail from Phattehpur Gram Panchayat, District Samawal in Uttar Pradesh, India. Registrar at the District Court, Durga Bahadur Bhusal said that following the Supreme Court orders they have freed the 65 Indian nationals who were held captives and forced to work at the brick kiln without food, clothes and wages by the proprietors. Twenty among the freed workers are children. A person by the name Sewaram, a relative of one of the victims, had registered a habeas corpus writ at the Supreme Court on November 22 last year and the Supreme Court had on January 11 issued an order in the name of the Siraha District Court for freeing the Indian workers. The freed workers have been kept at the Nepal Red Cross Society, Siraha after their release. Many of them are said to be sick as they were not provided with food and adequate clothes in the present extreme cold conditions. Twenty-five of them are said to be seriously ill. The proprietors of the brick kiln – four people in all including Moti, Ram Prasad, Bijaya and another unidentified person from Belhakatti VDC—have been served a date for today to deposit themselves at the Supreme Court in this connection. RSS Nnnn FIRE RAGE IN MOHOTTARI Property worth over three hundred thousand rupees was destroyed by fire at a settlement in Maisthan-8 here on Tuesday night. The fire is believed to have started from a cow-shed belonging to Rajendra Saha Kanu around midnight on Tuesday which also gutted his house. The fire was brought under control by locals one hour after it started. Household goods and property including jewelry were destroyed by the fire , the Area Police Office, Bardibas stated. The Kanu family has been displaced after their house was completely gutted by the fire . Nnnn TWO BANK CHIEFS APPOINTED Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: Noor Pratap Rana was elected Tuesday chairman of Kumari Bank NMB has unanimously appointed Atmaram Murarka its chairman. nnnn INDO-NEPAL ARMS TALKS NEXT MONTH Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: The Nepal Army and the Indian Army have agreed to take a formal call on expanding military cooperation between the two national armies at the upcoming meeting of the Nepal-India Bilateral Consultative Group, scheduled to be held in New Delhi next month, The Kathmandu Post reports.. Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Gaurav SJB Rana and Indian Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh agreed to formalise Indian aid to the NA at the upcoming meeting of the bilateral security mechanism, said a press statement issued by the Nepal Army on Tuesday. The mechanism comprises officials from the home, foreign affairs and defence ministries of the two countries to discuss security cooperation and border management, among a host of other issues. Gen Rana completed his 10-day official visit to India and returned home on Tuesday. The NA said that Gen Rana's visit further strengthened age-old historical ties with the Indian Amry. During CoAS Rana's visit, the chiefs of the two armies discussed initiating a formal request for military aid on behalf of the Nepal government at the next meeting of the bilateral consultative group. During the visit, Rana was conferred the title of honorary general of the Indian Army by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. Rana also met senior Indian officials including Defence Minister AK Antony, his counterpart Gen Singh, Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon. According to the NA statement, Gen Rana was briefed on India's security perspectives during discussions held at Indian Army Headquarters. Rana also visited the Delhi-based Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping/Defence Research and Development Organisation; the Madhya Pradesh-based Indian Army War College; the Southern Command in Pune; the Eastern Command in Calcutta; and the Northern Command in Udhampur, Jammu. NA second-in-command Lt Gen Nepal Bhusan Chand welcomed the Army chief on his return at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday afternoon. Nnnn