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Rain will end Friday 

The continuous heavy downpour since Wednesday will end Friday, senior meteorologist Krishna Bhakata Manandar at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said. 

"The weather is expected to clear up by Friday," he said. Kathmandu experienced another heavy spell of rainfall Thursday. Pokhara recorded 21.5 mm rainfall Wednesday; Kathmandu recorded 9.8 mm of rainfall the same day. 

Parts of Nepal, including Kathmandu valley, recorded the heaviest rainfall in 34 years although the far western region received below average rainfall this year.

Kathmandu Valley recorded 205 mm precipitation between July 23 and 24 after the monsoon broke on June 12. nepalnews.com br Sept.26 

Amnesty calls to stop rights violations

London based human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) Thursday asked the government and Maoists, in an appeal through a newspaper, to stop human rights violations. 

The AI asked the rebels to end killings, torture and recruitment of child soldiers. The organization also asked the insurgents to stop killings of captured security personnel and abductions and respect international human rights laws.

AI asked the government to stop extra judicial killings, stop abductions and torture; Amnesty asked the government to direct security personnel not to abuse human rights.

AI asked the government to prosecute security personnel guilty of rights violations while appealing to the government to help the National Human Rights Commission work independently and effectively.

A three member AI team visited Nepal to study the rights situation. nepalnews.com br Sept.26 

Morang and Sunsari Congress forwards names for polls

A meeting of the Nepali Congress (NC) Morang district committee has recommended party President Girija Prasad Koirala's name to contest the impending November elections from Constituencies no: 1 and 5 of Morang district.

Koirala had won the general elections of May 1999, from Morang-1 and Sunsari-1. He had later vacated Morang-1 Constituency. Similarly the meeting of the NC Sunsari district committee held Wednesday stated that it had given an open choice to Koirala to contest from any Constituency in Sunsari. 

Koirala's daughter, Sujata Koirala has been recommended for Sunsari-5. Apart from Koirala the other names recommended to the centre to contest from Morang-1 include that of Nona Koirala and Aamod Prasad Upadhyay.

Morang NC district president Ashok Koirala who is currently a sitting member of the National Assembly has been recommended for Morang-6. 

Likewise the names of Basanta Bhattarai, Sanam Palung and Shekhar Chandra Thapa have been recommended for Constituency no: 2 while the name of district secretary Gopalman Singh Rajbhandari has been recommended for three constituencies.

Central member Shailaja Acharya has been recommended for her old constituency no:7 in Morang.
Meanwhile the Sunsari District Committee has decided to forward 19 names for the five constituencies in Sunsari.

The meeting of the Sunsari Congress that was held under the Chairmanship of district President Ram Bahadur Basnet has recommended the names of Chandra Prasad Shrestha, Bhisma Kafle, Meena Sunna and Giridhar Acharya for Sunsari constituency no: 1. Similalry those recommended for Sunsari constituency no: 2 are Bodh Narayan Sardar, Amar Bahadur Gauli, Jaya Hari Sharma, Tirnaryan Chaudhary and Ram Narayan Chaudhary.

For constituency no: 3, the names of Prakash Koirala, Bindeswor Yadav, Nakcchedi Meheta have been recommended to the centre while Ramjanam Yadav, Abdul Satar and Mishri Lal Shah have been recommended for constituency no:4 in Sunsari.

The name of ex-lawmaker Hari Prasad Sapkota has been recommended for Sunsari constituencies 2, 3 and 4 while district President Ram Bahadur Basnet has been recommended for constituencies 3 and 4.

Reports from the district said that the name of NC central committee member Mahesh Acharya was not recommended for any of the constituencies since his name was not proposed. Acharya had contested the last elections from Morang constituency no: 5. nepalnews.com am Sept 26

Six political parties to submit memorandum to PM

All six political parties in the dissolved House of Representatives are submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Deuba Thursday stating that the government had failed to guarantee an atmosphere of security for the upcoming polls slated for November 13.

The leaders of the Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), Nepal Sadbhawana party, United Peoples' Front Nepal (UPFN) and Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party are going to ask Prime Minister Deuba to present the basis that guarantee peaceful elections.

An all-party meeting of the six political parties that had been held at RPP President Surya Bahadur's residence a few days back had concluded that the government had not been serious about doing the necessary homework to hold the elections in a free, fair and impartial manner.

Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka however has been assuring all the political parties that the government would do everything possible to provide maximum security for the elections and hold the elections on time. nepalnews.com am Sept 26

The army shot dead at least 74 Maoists in a major military operation in Rolpa Monday, the Defence Ministry said Wednesday. Twenty-four bodies have been recovered and the rebels carried away the  bodies of others, the Ministry said quoting eyewitnesses. 

Three soldiers died in the operation which is continuing, reports from the region said.  The army shot dead two rebels at Bharatpur in Chitwan Tuesday. 

The army recovered arms, ammunition, explosives, guns, pistols, revolvers and 20 batteries from Rolpa, Chitwan and Udaipur. 

Maoists killed UML activist Khadga Bahadur Rai at Ramite village in Morang overnight and Nepali Congress activist Rajendra Sahani in  Rautahat Wednesday, police said. nepalnews.com br Sept.25

King shocked by terror attack in Gujarat 

King Gyanendra in a message to Indian President Abdul Kalam Wednesday said he was shocked by the "dastardly " terror attack at a temple in Gandhinagar killing nearly two dozen Hindus Tuesday. 

"Nepal supports India's fight against terrorism," he said in a condolence message to the government and the families of those killed. "Nepal denounces all forms of terrorism," he said. 

The King called on all nations to unite in a fight against terrorism. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sent a separate message to his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee denouncing the Gujarat attack. nepalnews.com br Sept.25 

Khadka says elections will be held 

Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka reiterated Wednesday elections will be held as scheduled on November 13. "The elections are crucial for the consolidation of democracy and the constitution," he told reporters. 

Khadka said this as many express doubts if the elections will be held. "There is no point in postponing the vote. Government is committed to holding elections," he said.  

Parliament will not be reinstated or Article 127 as some have suggested in the absence of the vote, he said. "Those who say elections will not be held are afraid of the coming vote," he said. 

Government has suggested a seven phase vote to the Election Commission, he said.  "It is for the Commission to decide. We will give the security whatever its decision," he said. nepalnews.com br Sept.25 

Rural transport meet being held 

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) are jointly organizing a conference on rural transport infrastructure development in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region in the capital from October 1-4 as part of the International Year of the Mountains, an announcement said Wednesday. 

"The meeting will provide a forum where people can exchange ideas, share stories of success and failure, learn from each other, and identify best practices, pooling their wealth of experience for the benefit of all," the announcement said. 

Fifty professionals from different institutions and organizations concerned with rural transport infrastructure in development in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan are participating.  

The four day conference will prepare a conference declaration and a set of policy recommendations that will be presented at the Global Mountain Summit being held from September 28 to November 1 this year Bishkek, Kyrgyzsthan. nepalnews.com br Sept.25 

TIA re-opened from 2 AM Wednesday

Tribhuvan International Airport re-opened at 2 AM Wednesday for international flights, a duty officer from the airport told Nepalnews.com.

All international and some domestic flights were halted from Monday, after an army helicopter crashed in the northern end of runway. International flights departed to their destination from early Wednesday, the officer said.

He further said the airport authorities had completed the repairs of the damaged part of runway and all international flights will arrive in Kathmandu by this afternoon.

Passengers were waiting at the airport all day yesterday to catch flights to Hong Kong, Delhi, Amsterdam and Doha were taken to hotels by the airlines, whom have claimed big financial losses. 

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, it incurred a loss amounting to 1.7 million rupees owing to
the suspension of the international flights during the closure. nepalnews.com rh Sept. 25

Unidentified disease claims 32 in remote Makwanpur village

Thirty two people have died so far in the remote Khairang VDC in the west of Makwanpur district after the outbreak of an unknown disease accompanied by headache nausea, fever and giddiness, reports from the district said.

The ward no: 2 of the Khairang VDC having a dominant Chepang Praza community has been most affected from the disease, which leads to the death of the infected person within four to five days.

It is learnt that the disease has affected 200 others. Medical teams are being sent to the VDC to identify the disease and provide the necessary treatment. nepalnews.com am Sept 25

Three soldiers killed

Three soldiers died Monday as Maoists suffered heavy casualties in the rebel stronghold of Rolpa in a shoot-out with the army, the Defence Ministry said. Exact rebel casualties were not available. 

Earlier, at least 69 Maoists were killed in combined ground and air attacks on rebel shelters in Rolpa and neighbouring Rukum where one soldier died and several others were injured Sunday. 

The army shot dead five rebels in operations in Dandeldhura, Humla, Salyan, and Kavre Sunday and Monday, the Ministry said. Nandalal Dangi was shot dead in Salyan and Man Bahadur Ghale alias Gyandhoj in Kavre. 

The army recovered utensils in Rolpa from the rebels Monday. Army medical teams treated 493 persons in temporary medical camps Rukum, Gorkha and Dolakha recently. 

Rebels overnight destroyed the district court in Jajarkot, local officials said. nepalnews.com br Sept.24

Crown Prince inaugurates Mustang festival

Crown Prince Paras inaugurated the Mustang festival 2059 BS at a special function organized in Jomsom Tuesday, Radio Nepal reported. 

The Crown Prince also observed the exhibits in different stalls put up to mark the festival aimed at giving a fillip to the country’s tourism industry. 

The festival jointly organized under the aegis of the Nepal Tourism Board and the Mustang District Development Committee has put on display different herbs, home products, agro products, off- season fruits and vegetables. 

Various recreational programmes such as rock climbing, horse racing, beauty pageant contest, marathon race and food festival will be organized at the festival. 

Mustang is developing as a tourism center because of its unique Thakali indigenous culture; eye catching Himalayas and different spots carrying religious importance. 

Crown Prince Paras also inaugurated a small-scale hydro-electric project in Lomanhang of Mustang Tuesday. Following the inauguration, the Crown Prince observed the various sections of the project with keen interest. 

The project launched by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation's Annapurna Conservation project has been completed at the cost of around RS 9,200,000 with the cooperation of local people, the American Himalayan Foundation and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. 

The project, which generates power from the waters of the Surau stream is of 29 kilowatt capacity and will directly benefit 138 households, it is stated. 

The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation has so far constructed one such project in the Annapurna conservation area and four more in the Manaslu conservation area. It has also been providing various kinds of cooperation for three other small scale hydel projects. 

Earlier, upon arrival for the inauguration function, the Crown Prince was welcomed by the Raja of Mustang Jigme Parwal Bista, the Khempo, local political workers, social workers, project director of the Annapurna conservation project Gehendra Gurung, the chief of the upper Mustang area conservation office and heads of the conservation area management committee and women's groups. 

On the occasion, the former chairman of Lomanhang VDC, members of the conservation area management committee, the Raja of Mustang, representative of UNDP Alexandra Tissot, King Mahendra Trust for nature conservation member secretary Arup Rajuariya and trust employees, the chairmen of the women's groups and local residents were also present. nepalnews.com am Sept 24

IPI condemns terrorist attempt 

International Press Institute (IPI) Nepal National Committee has, in a press statement, condemned the placing of explosives at the gate of the residence of Mahendra Sherchan, chairman and managing director of Utsarga Publication Pvt. Ltd. which brings out Rajdhani national daily, at Kopundol, Lalitpur municipality-1. 

The explosives believed to have been placed by the terrorists were de-activated by security personnel. 
In the statement, IPI Nepal National committee chairman Pushkar Lal Shrestha has stated that since free press forms the very foundation for democracy, no attempt should be made from any quarters to coerce and exert influence on it. 

The committee has also demanded that the government take adequate measures to ensure security to media and media persons. nepalnews.com am Sept 24

TIA closed until Wednesday morning (update)

Tribhuvan International Airport, the only international airport in Nepal is closed until 6 AM Wednesday for international flights, airport sources told Nepalnews late afternoon. The airport has been closed to repair the damage to the northern end of the runway after an MI 17 army helicopter crashed on the runway Monday. 

Earlier reports said the airport would be open for international flights Tuesday evening. Rains today hampered the reconstruction of the damaged runway, airport sources said. 

Domestic airlines are operating using half the runway. nepalnews.com br Sept. 24

Deuba sees off Nepali Asiad contingent

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba Tuesday morning bid farewell to the 50 member Nepali contingent participating in the 15 Asian Games starting in Busan, South Korea, Sunday. 

National Sports Council (NSC) member secretary Binod Shanker Palikhe was present on the occasion at the official residence of the prime minister in Baluwatar. 

Nepal is participating in athletics, boxing, gold, judo, karate, swimming, shooting, taekwondo, soft tennis, weightlifting and wushu. For the first time, Nepal is participating in golf. 

Nepal bagged one silver and two bronze medals in taekwondo and one bronze in karate in the last Games in Bangkok. nepalnews.com br Sept.24

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