News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

'Peace Vital To Mountain Development'

A three-day international conference on mountains concluded in the capital Friday appealing for peace in the highland and greater efforts to preserve and protect their fragile ecosystem. Affirming that the mountains sustaining people's material and aesthetic needs had turned into theatres of armed conflicts and violence, the 10-point Kathmandu Declaration adopted by the participants declared that no development was possible in the mountains in the absence of peace. The conference, which coincided with the International Year of Mountains, brought together over 200 experts from 20 countries. The declaration also includes recommendations on setting up and strengthening a repository of mountain knowledge, greater awareness on mountain-related issues and their inclusion in formal and informal educational curricula. The seminar, organized jointly by the Royal Nepal Academy for Science and Technology and Ev-K2-CNR, was sponsored by a number of national and regional organizations. Compiled from reports March 10.

US To Provide Military Aid To Nepal

The US government has offered to provide military advisors and special training to several countries, including Nepal, that have been hit by terrorist activities, an American newspaper reported. The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the Bush administration has sought a 27 percent funding increase for a federal program designed to bolster the military in several countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The newspaper quoted a Defense Department official as saying that the money, material and US military trainers would go to at least half a dozen countries including Nepal. "All these programs were predicated on the idea that if we get together, US values will be transferred and US interests will be served. Right now, our interest is in curbing terrorism," said D. B. Des Roches, a spokesman for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. "We will continue to train and equip countries that face terrorist threats. We will establish or, in some cases, re-establish military-to-military contacts with countries that face terrorist threats," Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday. "The power and reach of weapons today are too great and too lethal to do otherwise." The newspaper, however, did not say how much money or what kind of military material would be made available to Nepal under the new US policy. Compiled from reports March 7.

Budhathoki Under Custody: PM

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has confirmed that the editor and publisher of pro-left Sanghu weekly, Gopal Budhathoki, has been taken into custody by security forces. Budhathoki was reported missing since late Monday. Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Deuba said security personnel arrested Budathokhi for publishing stories that "encouraged and raised morale of Maoists". Addressing a press meeting later, Deuba accused the newspaper of publishing misleading and false information and of spreading propaganda against the security forces. He, however, said the arrest of the editor was not part of an attempt to curtail press freedom in the country. He urged the media to support the government's action against Maoists, saying that democracy and terrorism could not go together. Compiled from reports March 7.

Achham District Offices To Be Re-Built

The government has decided to rebuild government offices destroyed during the Maoist attacks last month. The rebels had burnt most of the offices during the bloody assaults. According to the cabinet secretariat, a high-level committee has been constituted under joint secretary at the Home Ministry, Tika Dutta Niraula, at the central level and under the chief district officer of Achham at the local level to oversee repair, maintenance and construction works. The government has also decided to provide Rs. 5 million to the Home Ministry for the purpose and to reopen the Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) office immediately. The rebels had killed nearly 150 security personnel, including chief district officer Mohan Singh Khatri, during the attacks at Mangalsen, the district headquarters of Achham, and looted over Rs. 20 million from the local branch of the RBB. President of Achham district development committee, Krishna Prasad Jaisi, said according to preliminary estimates, property worth over Rs 500 million might have been damaged during the attacks. Meanwhile, reacting to media reports that international organizations and United Nations agencies were pulling out of the district, a ruling Nepali Congress lawmaker from Achham, Govinda Bahadur Shah, has appealed to all aid agencies to continue their humanitarian and development works in the district at a time of such unprecedented crisis. He also demanded that the government make adequate security arrangements for the local people and aid workers. Compiled from reports March 8.

Abducted Businessman Released

Tulsi Ram Agrawal, a billionaire businessman affiliated to the Vishal Group, returned to his home in the eastern industrial town of Biratnagar late Thursday after 40 days in captivity, Space Time daily reported Friday. Agrawal was abducted by armed people while on a morning walk with his friends and was taken to an unknown destination in India across the border. Nepal Police said they were able to free Agrawal after raiding a house at Farbisgunj across the border with the help of the Indian police. Tulsi's brother, JP Agrawal thanked police and said the family did not pay ransom for the release. The abductors had demanded Rs 250 million from Agrawal's family for his release. Space Time March 8.

Huge Embezzlement In Road Project

Minister for Physical Planning and Works Chiranjivi Wagle, people closely related to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other power brokers have been found unlawfully involved in selecting a consultant for the DFID-funded Road Network Development Project (RNDP), a leading daily reported Thursday, quoting unnamed sources. The news report claimed that Minister Wagle has received Rs 50 million from the Nepal representative of a US-based consulting firm, Louis Berger. Out of the seven international companies pre-qualified for the bid, Louis Berger was in sixth position. Out of the US$ 69.5 million project, consulting fee alone would amount to NRs 450 million. When asked about the irregularities, Wagle rejected the allegations. He said the decision to choose the consultant for the RNDP was to be taken by the Department of Roads itself. The minister's son, Devendra Wagle, was alleged to have kept members of the evaluation committee at Hotel Sunset View at New Baneswore under his supervision. The project aims to maintain up to 300 km of road and construct feeder roads in eastern Nepal. Nepal Samacharpatra March 7.

Pharma Industries Aim High

Nepalese pharmaceutical entrepreneurs say they could meet up to 50 percent of the total annual domestic demand for medicines within the next five years. Nepalese drug manufacturers currently meet 25 percent of the total national demand. Speaking at the ninth annual general meeting of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal here Sunday, association president Pradip Jung Pandey said less than 40 percent of the total capacity of Nepalese pharma industries was being utilized. There has been an investment of over Rs. 3 billion in this sector, he said. Drugs imported from outside (mainly India) have to pay a tax of 3.5 percent, whereas domestic drug industries have to pay up to 14 percent in tax, he said. Minister of Health Sharat Singh Bhandari said the government was introducing a special package including mandatory use of domestic medicines. He said such facilities would not be provided to domestic industries until they produce quality drugs. Kantipur daily reports.

Price Of Gold Surges

The price of gold in the domestic market has surged to one of the highest levels in the last five years, reports said. The yellow metal, which cost Rs 7,840 per ten gram last week, rose to a record of Rs 7,900 per ten gram Monday. The highest gold price in the last five years was recorded on February 8, 1996 at Rs 9,040 per ten gram. Gold traders predicted that international gold price could touch US$ 300 per troy ounce, pushing the local price to Rs 7,920 per ten gram. The depreciation of the Nepalese currency vis-‡-vis the US dollar and lack of viable opportunities for investment in the domestic market are also attributed to hike in the price of gold, experts said. Compiled from reports.