Police Make Public Four Arrested Over Kathmandu Blasts
Police made public, Sunday (September 30), four of the accused in the multiple blasts that hit Kathmandu city on September 2. Those made public by the police include Ram Lakhan Thakur from Bara district and three others – Jagat Narayan Thakur, Upendra Shah and Sanjiv Shah from Rautahat district. Upendra Shah used to work as a police constable in Kathmandu. According to Additional Inspector General of Police Keshab Prasad Baral, they were involved in providing support to the bombers. The police also said that nine others including the mastermind Kaushal Sahani alias Mr. John (who claims to lead an outfit called Terai Army), Ajaya Sahani, Babban Singh, Ramakanta Thakur, Raj Narayan Thakur, Jagat Shah, Rampriya Sahani, Dhuran Thakur and Parindar Baidha of Rautahat are at large. "The arrested men identify themselves as members of Teari Army," said Baral. He said the group outlined the plan in Rautahat and arrived in the capital on September 29. "The group had originally planned to carry out blasts at Singhdurbar, Gongabu bus park, and Nepal Bangladesh Bank. It later changed its plans due to the security that was in place at these places," said Baral. On September 2, three bombs had exploded, one each in Balaju, Tripureshwore and Sundhara killing three persons and injuring around two dozen others. Leading dailies report
King Visits Kumari As A Commoner
Although Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala visited Kumari on the occasion of the last day of Indrajatra festival, King Gyanendra, too, visited Basantapur to seek blessings and receive tika from the Living Goddess on September 30. PM Koirala went there in his capacity as acting Head of State. The King, however, went there as a commoner for the first time in over two and half century. The King went to Basantapur at around 9:30 pm on Sunday night. There were some people who chanted pro-King slogans in the area. Compiled from reports
Mahato Joins Anti-Poll Bandwagon
A day after Election Commission (EC) recognized the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) led by Anandidevi Singh as legitimate on September 28, the dissident faction led by Rajendra Mahato has threatened to disrupt the Constituent Assembly election in Madhes. Mahato, who resigned from his position of Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, has announced agitation program aimed at foiling poll schedule. Mahato and his party's two dozen activists were briefly arrested and then subsequently released on Saturday after they launched protest programs and burned effigies of election commissioners. The Mahato-led faction also refused to register as a separate party as requested by EC. Leading dailies report
Maoists Register Motion Demanding Special Session
The Maoists and two other left parties have jointly filed a petition demanding the special session of the parliament. They registered the application at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Friday (September 28) afternoon. Apart from 83 Maoist MPs, two MPs each of CPN (Ekikrit) and CPN (United Leftist Front) also have signed the petition. Maoists have been saying that they want the special session summoned to declare republic before the constituent assembly elections are held on November 22. As per the latest understating among parties, they have agreed to pass a commitment proposal on republic through the parliament. Compiled from reports
Govt Speeds Up Labor Attaché Deployments
To address the mounting problems related to Nepal's overseas laborers, the government has speeded up the process of deputing labor attachés in the countries where a significant number of Nepali laborers are working, State Minister for Labor Ramesh Lekhak said on Saturday. He said that the ministry on Friday had decided to forward a proposal to the Ministry of Finance asking for the necessary budget. The existing Labor Act requires the government to deploy labor attachés in countries absorbing more than 5000 Nepali workers. But so far, it has not done so for any of these countries. There are almost a dozen countries which have over 5,000 Nepali workers. In the absence of attachés, the concerned embassies are looking after the labor issues. "Labor attachés will be deputed on a need and priority basis in these countries," Lekhak said. He added that the final decision will be taken in co-ordination with the finance and foreign ministries. In yet another development, Nepal is likely to sign a memorandum of understating (MoU) with Malaysia soon. "Preparation for the signing with the South-east Asian country is in its final stages," he said on Saturday at an interaction program on Foreign Employment and the Media. Observing that the competition among unskilled laborers from different countries is intensifying, he underlined the need to produce semi-skilled and skilled laborers to meet the demand of the international labor markets. "It is an irony that we are still exporting unskilled laborer who are now facing a cut-throat competition. This has resulted in their wages declining," he said. Presenting a paper, Dr Bishwambher Pyakuryal said about 26 percent of the growth in convertible currency is from remittance, indicating its rising importance in the country's economy. Kiran Nepal, president of Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) said that foreign recruiting agents must maintain transparency and improve their behavior to minimize negative news in media as well as establish the profession as a dignified one. LP Sanwa Limbu, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agents (NAFEA), expressed commitment to instill corporate culture and professionalism in the sector. Saru Joshi, regional manager of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) urged the government to make a legal framework to facilitate women talking up overseas jobs. The Kathmandu Post daily reports
SC Says Rayamajhi Commission-Accused Can Contest Polls
Nullifying a provision in the Constituent Assembly Member Election Act that bars those named as accused of suppression during People's Movement II by Rayamajhi Commission report from contesting CA elections, the Supreme Court (SC), on September 27, has said that the provision is against interim constitution. The five member bench decided in favor of petitioners on the basis of majority. Three judges Balram KC, Tapa Bahadur Magar and Kalyan Shrestha upheld the right of individuals to contest election whereas two judges Anup Raj Sharma and Damodar Sharma said that the decision by the parliament should not be overruled. The Rayamajhi Commission report had named 202 persons as accused of suppression of the uprising. Following the SC decision, former Home Minister during royal regime Kamal Thapa expressed happiness. He said that the decision would allow them to exercise their fundamental rights. Leading dailies report
Continuation Of Attacks Can Spoil Political Relation: Nepal
The UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the continuation of physical attack against his party's cadres by the Maoists will spoil the political relation between the two parties. After visiting the UML workers injured after they were attacked by Maoists in Dhading in the Teaching Hospital, Thursday (September 27), Nepal told reporters that he expected the Maoist leaders to come clean about their policy. "Either they should come clean or we would deduce that the workers have gone beyond their control," he said. On Wednesday, 30 UML cadres were injured after they were attacked by YCL cadres. Compiled from reports
NC Opts For Federal Republic
Ending months of speculations, Nepali Congress (NC) formally adopted the policy of federal democratic republic by ditching its traditional policy of favoring constitutional monarchy. A day after NC and NC-Democratic united, the joint Mahasamiti meeting on Wednesday (September 26) approved the election manifesto and political resolution that have made federal democratic republic as the party's political line. According to Dr Prakash Saran Mahat, a central committee member, more than 90 percent Mahasamiti members stood in favor of the republican agenda. The Mahasamiti later reached unanimous decision following hours of debate on the draft manifesto. The election manifesto also commits to multilingual federal state, liberal economy, religious secularism and independent judiciary. It also proposes that the President as Head of State be elected by the central and provincial parliaments. Compiled from reports
Bhattarai Severs Ties With Congress
Even as the unified NC unanimously adopted federal democratic republic as its official party policy, the only surviving founding leader of the party Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has issued a letter on Wednesday (September 26) announcing that he wishes to part his ways for good. Kishunji who was given the second senior-most position in the unified Congress after party president and prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, has written a letter to party president and all the Mahasamiti members stating that they were involved in a "long but meaningless" exercise to adopt federal democratic republic line. Kishunji added that the exercise smacked of total disregard to the policy propounded by "evergreen leaders BP Koirala and Ganesh Man Singh." "Therefore, from now onwards, I will have no relation or contact with that party," Kishunji further writes. Kishunji has noted that he had attended the unification function on Tuesday by forgetting his health problems to be a part of unity celebrations. Kishunji had attended Tuesday's party function after a gap of five years. He had vowed not to take any side after Congress split into NC and NC-D five years ago. Compiled from reports
ANTUF To Launch Struggle
The sixth federal council meeting of All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) affiliated with the Maoists has decided to intensify their protest after submitting 22-point charter to the government with a month-long ultimatum. The meeting has decided to begin a struggle against irregularities in the import and sales of petroleum products, government's conspiracy to sell state-owned industries and against bank frauds. The ANTUF has also decided to end all irregularities in cabin restaurants. According to a press release issued, Thursday, by the ANTUF, the federation would also take initiatives to open the industries that were closed. Leading dailies report
Laxmi Bank Launches Email Banking Service
Laxmi Bank has launched a new automated service that allows its customers to bank through eMail. A first of its kind service in Nepal, eMail banking comes right to customer's desktop, providing them with instant updates on their financial transactions, according to a press release issued by the bank Thursday (September 27). Laxmi Bank customers who have signed up for the eMail banking services receive advice in the form of an eMail on a nominated email ID as soon as a debit or a credit transaction is made to their account, the release said. "This service allows our customers not only to get instant updates about their banking transactions but also provides alerts on loan repayments, eStatements for credit cards, exchange rates, newsletters, fixed deposit and credit card expiry details and update on the products and services of the bank," said Jiwan Limbu, Head IT, Laxmi Bank and the chief designer of eMail Banking. "Laxmi Bank eMail Banking service keeps customers informed and helps them monitor their accounts more closely. Introduction of this service reinforces the Bank's position as a leader in innovation and technology in the Nepali banking space." Compiled from reports
