The royal palace recently conveyed to the Supreme Court (SC) that King Gyanendra will not attend the three-day-long golden jubilee celebrations of the Supreme Court that will begin on May 21.
The Himalayan Times daily quoted SC Bar Association President, Dhruba Nath Pant, who is also a member of the golden jubilee celebration preparation committee as saying that the SC informed the committee that the King would not attend the fest.
“The officiating SC Registrar Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena Tuesday informed that the King will not attend,” Pant said on Wednesday.
The SC had invited the King to participate in the concluding session of the convention.
Three children were injured when a bomb planted by Maoists in the back of a house in Chhatre Banjha VDC-3 of Kavrepalanchowk went off on Wednesday.
A press statement issued by Directorate of Public Relations of Royal Nepalese Army said those injured children are 11 year old Asmita Timilsina, 8 year old Susmita Timilsina, daughters of Arjun Timilsina and 15 year old Dipak Lamichhane of Phulbari VDC.
According to reports, the bomb was left by the Maoists during the clash with the security forces on March 20. Thirteen security personnel and one Maoist were killed in the clash.
Members of the newly formed committee of National Women Commission (NWC) resigned en masse from their posts on Wednesday.
They submitted their resignation letters to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Wednesday afternoon.
Report quoted chairperson of the NWC Bandana Rana as saying that they had decided to step down to make things easier for the newly formed government and allow it to work freely.
Rana said that the NWC was facing myriad challenges of resource crunch and mismanagement at the time when she was appointed as the President. The posts at the NWC had remained vacant for two years and phones, email, internet, fax and vehicles were not functioning. She said that it was without proper and skilled human resources.
She said that a team of NWC had carried out onsite visit of Belbari and investigated the case of Sapana Gurung, who was shot dead some days back. She said that the report was ready and it would be handed over the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare.
The seven-member NWC had been appointed on March 23 by the royal government.
At a time when the economic condition of the country is dire due to political instability and Maoist insurgency resulting in limited job opportunities, the number of foreign job seekers went up considerably in recent days.
The number of people leaving the country for employment purposes surged by 44.9 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of last year.
According to the statistics of Department of Labor and Employment Promotion (DoLEP), a total of 136,131 people left the country for several labor destinations in the Gulf and countries such as Malaysia, between mid-July 2005 and mid-April 2006, compared to 93,942 for the similar period last fiscal year.
The statistic shows that most of the job aspirants had left for Malaysia during the period, followed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the data, a total of 65,216 workers had accepted employment in Malaysia in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, compared to 45,569 for the similar period last year.
The number of people leaving for Qatar also increased by a remarkable 60.6 percent in the current fiscal year as compared to same period of last fiscal year. A total of 44,367 workers left for Qatar this year, compared to 27,624 of the similar period last fiscal year, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the number of women leaving the country for employment recorded an increment of 110 percent. Statistics show that a total of 863 women left the country for various labor destinations such as Israel, Hong Kong, Maldives, South Korea, UAE, Qatar and Malaysia during the review period compared to 410 for the similar period last fiscal year.
A noted paediatrician and prolific writer, Prof. Dr. Hemang Dixit, 69, has been shot at and injured this morning.
According to police, two unidentifed people on a motorbike shot Prof. Dixit when he was on his way to Kathmandu Medical College (KMC) at 9:40 a. m. near Maitidevi bridge.
Talking to Nepalnews, Achyut Adhikari, administrator at the Kathmandu Medical College at Sinamangal, said Dr. Dixit had received bullet injuries on his neck. He said Dr. Dixit’s condition is stable, he is out of danger and is undergoing treatment. Dr. Dixit is the principal of KMC.
According to reports, the assailants opened fire at Dr. Dixit from close range. He was then rushed to the hospital by his driver.
According to Adhikari, some unidentified assailants had also made a shooting attempt at one of the board members of the KMC some four months ago.
Police said they had no idea about the assailants or their motives and that an investigation was underway.
Dr. Dixit has written some ten books with the ‘pen name’ Mani Dixit. His books include “The Adventure of Chandra and Damaru: Two Boys of Nepal” and “Anapurna Fantasy.” A member of PEN Nepal chapter, Mani Dixit has has also authored a number of books for children.
The Tribhuvan University (TU), Office of the Controller of Examination Wednesday announced fresh dates for conducting the postponed examination of Humanities, Management, Education, Science and Technology and Law faculties.
The examination controller has fixed the dates for the conducting of the exams of different levels and faculties- Proficiency Certificate Level (PCL) of second year, Bachelor level third year and second year on May 25, 24 and June 8 respectively.
The Examination Controller had postponed all levels of examinations of 2063 BS citing ‘unfavorable situation’.
Visiting Norwegian Minister for International Development Erik Solheim has called on Prime Minister, Finance Minister and UML General Secretary on Thursday.
Norwegian Minister for International Development, Erik Solheim, shaking hands with…
Solheim called on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at Koirala’s residence at Maharajgunj on Thursday morning.
Talking to reporters, after the meeting, Koirala informed that the duo held discussion on mutual interest and Maoist insurgency.
Responding to the journalist’s query, Koirala said that Maoist should be positive and come for talks as per the mandate of the people.
Similarly, Solheim also called on newly appointed Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and discussed about the economic assistance to Nepal.
Norway is a major donor of Nepal. It stalled assistance to Melamchi Drinking Water Project following the royal takeover of last year.
The Norwegian minister also called on CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and discussed the current political situation of the country.
The Norwegian minister is also scheduled to meet Deputy PM KP Sharma Oli and World Bank’s Nepal Ken Ohashi to discuss current political and economic situation of the country.
Solheim who arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday evening for a four-day long official visit of Nepal, called on UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal Matthew Kahane and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shanker Mukherjee Wednesday.
On Friday, the minister is scheduled to meet ambassadors of US, UK, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, Germany and France.
He is also scheduled to hold a press conference about his visit to Nepal on Friday.
The local administration removed curfew orders in Dang district after five years citing improvement in the security situation of the district.
The local administration had been imposing nighttime curfew order in the district since November 26, 2001 following the Maoist attack at all government installations in Ghorai, the district headquarter of Dang district on November 23.
Maoists launched major attack on Ghorai, the district headquarter of Dang district following a break in a four month truce.
Talking to Nepalnews, acting chief district officer of the district, Sundar Raj Aryal, informed that they removed the curfew after five years keeping in view the recent political development of the country and improvement in the security situation.
Local administrations in various districts have been imposing curfew orders in the night to avoid probable attack of the Maoists.
The government on Wednesday removed terrorist tag and red corner notice from Maoists and reciprocated the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Maoists.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Thursday shifted to the Prime Minister’s quarters at Baluwatar from his residence at Maharajgunj after nine days of his appointment.
Despite request from leaders of civil society not to follow the tradition of sacrificing a black goat while shifting house, PM Koirala followed the tradition and also offered prayers before shifting there.
“He shifted to the PM’s quarter at 9.30 a.m. in the morning,” an employee of the PM’s quarter told Nepalnews.
“Though PM Koirala is yet to appoint employees for his take care, he came here along with his personal secretary Bal Krishna Dahal,” the employee added.
The almost desert looking Baluwatar saw presence of political activists after 15 months.
Unlike the previous time, there was not much crowd of party workers due to the ill-health of PM Koirala.
This is the fifth time Koirala shifted to Baluwatar following the restoration of democracy in the country in 1990.
The quarter remained vacant since the last 15 months after His Majesty the King sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba from the post of Prime Minister and formed a abinet under his chairmanship through February 1 royal takeover of last year.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has said that intimidation, harassment, attacks and detention of media professionals, particularly in the districts, continue unabated in Nepal.
In its annual report on the situation of press freedom worldwide on the occasion of press freedom day on Wednesday, IFJ has criticized the action of then then royal government to culminate the existence of free and independent media bodies in Nepal.
“Private and community FM radio stations bore the brunt of the government’s attempt to prevent independent news from being aired across the geographically challenged country, to a largely non-literate population,” the report said.
The report further said, “Journalists faced continuous threats from Chief District Officers (CDO) and security personnel for writing news regarding conflict and government policies and actions. Hundreds of journalists were arrested and detained for varying lengths of time.”
The report also state the journalists have been subject to threat and harassment by Maoists, though such actions has reduced, especially after the understanding reached with the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) in November 2005.
The IFJ has said the government’s attempt to form Media Council and Broadcasting Authority were measures meant to increase control over all forms media including broadcasting and online journalism. The report further stated the government tried to promote pro-king media through misuse of state fund.
IFJ was one of the members of International Media Mission that visited to Nepal three months ago to reviews the state of press freedom in Nepal after the royal takeover of February 1, 2005.