The Civil Society for Peace and Democracy (CSPD) has urged the government and Maoist rebels to declare ceasefire immediately and begin the peace process.
During a press meet in the capital on Sunday, president of the society Dr Sundar Mani Dixit welcomed the agreement reached between the seven-party alliance and the Maoists and said he hoped the understanding would help bring the rebels into the political mainstream peacefully.
However, Dixit criticised the parties for failing to release a common statement.
CSPD has asked both the rebels and the alliance to adopt a common slogan for election to the constituent assembly to make the movement for restoration of democracy successful.
CSPD said it was concerned about the government’s intention of derailing press freedom through the promulgation of media ordinance and extended its hands to the movement launched by media professionals for press freedom and freedom of expression.
President Dixit claimed that the king was observing the situation and hearing the civil society out, but not taking any decisive move.
CSPD also expressed its concern over the status of the disappeared people and has asked the government to publicise their whereabouts without delay.
Despite political uncertainty and economic slowdown in the country, annual Information Technology show, the 12th CAN Info-Tech is getting popular response from the audience, according to organizers.
People are thronging at the Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC) to take part in the gala IT event being organized by the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN).
A total of 110 companies, including four Indian companies, working in information and communication technology (ICT) are participating in the exhibition. However, most of the stalls at the show are promoting their sales offering various kinds of discounts thereby attracting a huge crowd of people.
The IT fair has become a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to launch their new products and sell hardware and software. They have introduced special discounted prices of their products during the CAN Info-Tech.
“We have launched new “Point of Sales” software in the CAN info-Tech and selling it just at 5,000 rupees, down from the normal price of Rs 12,000,” said Shyamal Jha, General Manager of IT Nepal.
Officials at the Computer Association of Nepal said more than 200,000 visitors have already visited the event till Sunday. Out of which nearly 50 percent were students.
The CAN Info-Tech will come to an end Tuesday.
“The number of visitors was very encouraging but the business could not be as encouraging as we had expected due to various hurdles,” said C N Upadhaya, coordinator of this year’s CAN Info-Tech.
“The government should provide some discounts for such fairs, which will contribute for the development of the IT sector in the country,” Upadhaya added.
“Participants have been able to learn about new developments in the IT sector so the fair is important in terms of providing information about latest development in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) along with sales of hardware,” he added.
CAN expected up to 300,000 visitors in this year’s exhibition. Over 230,000 people had visited last year’s exhibition.
The IT conference is another attraction of the annual IT fair. Altogether 38 experts including 17 experts from ten countries presented working papers during the conference. More than 200 people participated in the conference.
“We have also tried to develop business relationship between Nepali and foreign entrepreneurs by organizing business day for first two days of the fair,” said Ganesh Dhungana, an official at the CAN.
“We have got a very positive response from foreign entrepreneurs to establish joint venture in the field of ICT,” he added.
Nepal is out of the ICC Intercontinental Cup after it could only muster a draw against Namibia at Windhoek.
Chasing a victory target of 369 in 40 overs, Nepal were 70/3 in 24 overs before the match ended. Namibia, needing only a draw to qualify to the only first-class cricket for associate countries, declared its second innings at 239/6 made off 62 overs.
In the first innings, they had scored 272 while Nepal managed just 143.
Chasing almost impossible target, Nepal lost opener Kaniska Chaugai for just 14 runs. Paresh Lohani and Sharad Vesawkar showed a little patience before both fell to AJ Burger. Paresh made 16 while Sharad made 11 runs. At the end of the play, Gyanendra Malla (16) and Shakti Gauchan (9) were at the crease.
Earlier, Binod Das and leg-spinner Raj Kumar Pradhan each took two wickets while Aamir Akhtar and Shakti Gauchan claimed one each but the play was dominated by Namibian batsmen.
Namibia now joins Scotland, Ireland and United Arab Emirates for the ICC InterContinental Cup. The other four teams are Kenya, Netherlands, Canada and Bermuda.
ICC Intercontinental Cup, 2006
Namibia v Nepal
Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek
23,24,25,26 March 2006 (4-day match)
Result: Match Drawn
Toss: Nepal
Umpires: M Gajjar (SA) and RB Tiffin (Zim)
Close of Play:
Day 1: No Play (rain)
Day 2: Namibia 245/6 (DB Kotze 90*, BL Kotze 28*; 104 overs)
Day 3: Namibia 272, Nepal 143, Namibia 10/0
(AJ Burger 6*, Botha 2*; 6.2 ov)
Namibia 1st innings R B 4 6
AJ Burger c Alam b Regmi 43 83 4 1
DH Botha c Katuwal b Akhtar 10 39 1 0
SF Burger c Katuwal b Akhtar 0 3 0 0
LJ Burger c Katuwal b Regmi 5 28 0 0
*DB Kotze c Gauchan b Das 94 270 6 1
G Snyman lbw b Das 60 95 4 2
SJ Swanepoel b Das 4 19 0 0
BL Kotze lbw b Das 32 127 4 0
+H Ludik not out 4 26 0 0
KB Burger c Gauchan b Das 13 10 2 0
MC van Zyl lbw b Das 2 6 0 0
Extras (lb 2, w 1, nb 2) 5
Total (all out, 116.2 overs) 272
FoW: 1-28, 2-32, 3-60, 4-60, 5-157, 6-175, 7-251, 8-254, 9-270, 10-272.
Bowling O M R W
Alam 18 6 30 0 (1nb, 1w)
Das 30.2 7 80 6
Akhtar 7 1 37 2 (1nb)
Gauchan 14 5 20 0
Regmi 23 4 51 2
Pradhan 17 0 39 0
Vesawkar 6 0 10 0
Malla 1 0 3 0
Nepal 1st innings R B 4 6
PP Lohani c Ludik b Snyman 34 74 3 0
K Chaugai c BL Kotze b KB Burger 14 30 3 0
S Vesawkar b Snyman 5 32 0 0
SP Gauchan c Ludik b BL Kotze 11 51 2 0
G Malla c Ludik b van Zyl 7 30 1 0
M Alam c Ludik b van Zyl 13 19 3 0
*BK Das c Snyman b KB Burger 0 10 0 0
B Regmi c AJ Burger b SF Burger 5 57 0 0
A Akhtar run out (Snyman) 18 82 3 0
+M Katuwal not out 16 56 1 0
RK Pradhan lbw b DB Kotze 5 12 1 0
Extras (lb 12, w 3) 15
Total (all out, 75.4 overs) 143
FoW: 1-45, 2-55, 3-56, 4-75, 5-87, 6-91, 7-91, 8-115, 9-131, 10-143.
Bowling O M R W
KB Burger 14 3 42 2 (2w)
Snyman 13 6 14 2 (1w)
SF Burger 16 6 20 1
van Zyl 14 5 29 2
BL Kotze 6 4 12 1
DB Kotze 12.4 7 14 1
Namibia 2nd innings R B 4 6
AJ Burger lbw b Akhtar 18 53 3 0
DH Botha c Das b Pradhan 18 98 0 0
SF Burger c Lohani b Das 8 34 0 0
LJ Burger st Katuwal b Gauchan 58 81 1 4
*DB Kotze b Pradhan 16 32 2 0
G Snyman not out 78 62 3 4
KB Burger b Das 31 13 0 4
SJ Swanepoel not out 2 4 0 0
Extras (b 2, lb 1, w 4, nb 3) 10
Total (6 wickets declared, 62 overs) 239
DNB: +H Ludik, BL Kotze, MC van Zyl.
FoW: 1-30, 2-43, 3-56, 4-88, 5-164, 6-207.
Bowling O M R W
Das 19 6 55 2
Alam 0.1 0 2 0 (1w)
Akhtar 11.5 1 57 1 (3nb, 2w)
Gauchan 10 6 34 1
Pradhan 17 1 77 2
Regmi 4 1 11 0
Nepal 2nd innings (target: 369 runs) R B 4 6
PP Lohani c KB Burger b AJ Burger 16 40 3 0
K Chaugai b SF Burger 10 17 1 0
S Vesawkar c & b AJ Burger 11 32 1 0
SP Gauchan not out 9 28 0 0
G Malla not out 16 25 2 0
Extras (b 3, lb 4, w 1) 8
Total (3 wickets, 24 overs) 70
DNB: RK Pradhan, A Akhtar, B Regmi, +M Katuwal, *BK Das, M Alam.
FoW: 1-14, 2-39, 3-46.
Bowling O M R W
KB Burger 1 0 1 0
Snyman 1 0 7 0
van Zyl 7 1 26 0
SF Burger 5 1 4 1 (1w)
AJ Burger 7 2 12 2
LJ Burger 3 0 13 0
Police opened fire “to control the crowd of students” at the SLC exam at Harinagar Higher Secondary School at Harinagar VDC in the eastern district of Sunsari Monday morning.
According to reports, a policeman on guard at the exam centre opened fire to control the crowd of students who were trying to enter to the exam centre showing their I-D cards.
At least one student was injured after students ran away hearing the gunshot.
“The situation did not call for police firing just to control the crowd of students,” reports quoted eyewitness as saying.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Controller of Examination (OEC) said the first day of the SLC exam passed peacefully across the country.
Over 300,000 students are appearing this year’ SLC exam.
Maoists exploded two bombs at the District Agricultural Development Office in Nepalgunj, Banke district, Monday morning.
The office building was partially destroyed in the blasts, reports said. However, there were no reports of the human casualty in the incident.
The Maoists have carried out a series of blasts in this mid-western town in recent days. They detonated a bomb at the Mahendra Multiple Campus on Sunday when examination was underway at the campus.
The Maoist rebels have strongly denied reports that they have kidnapped a group of four Polish trekkers last week.
Talking to Nepalnews over phone Monday afternoon, district committee member of the CPN (Maoist) in Solukhumbu district, Samul, said it was against his party’s policy to abduct trekkers. He said the trekkers were not in his party’s captivity.
The local Maoist commander blamed what he called enemies “in propagating wrong information” regarding his party. He assured that his colleagues would help in locating the Polish trekkers and escorting them to a safe place.
Earlier, a Kathmandu-based non-governmental group, Nepal Esperanto Association (NEA) had said two of the Esparanto-speaking members of the Polish trekking group had called them and said that they were “abducted” by the rebels. The Association, however, said it wasn’t aware of demands made by the rebels, if any.
The Association said it is yet to hear from the Polish trekkers. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
The group had left Kathmandu on March 21 and was on its way to Lukla in the Everest region via Jiri of Dolakha district—to the east of capital, Kathmandu.
Institute for Development Studies (IfDS), a leading Kathmandu-based think tank has warned that the economic situation of the country is in abnormal and uncertain position due to the government’s passivity to take timely efforts of reform.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, executive director of IfDS, Dr. Raghab Dhoj Pant said that the economic crisis emerged in the country due to over estimation of revenue and under estimation of general expenditure neglecting the ground reality of the country.
He also said that the economic situation of the country reached to the position of “stagflation,” a situation where real income of the people continues to plummet while there is unprecedented rise in prices and fiscal policies did not work.
The IfDS, which in its previous report on February 2 warned that the country may face bankruptcy within the next three months if the government’s expending continued at the current pace, in its second report said, “After the publication of our report on February 2, a new wave of interest was shown by all on the state of Nepalese economy. But no improvements have been noticed yet in the overall performances of the economy. Instead, a number of new policies and programs initiated by the government in the recent past have helped the economy to deteriorate further.”
The report further predicted the high risk of capital flight of the country if the NRB did not change the existing interest rate as per the interest rate of India due to existing policy of fixed exchange rate and full convertibility.
“The problem is expected to increase further due to possible increase in the deposit rate offered by the commercial banks of India which will further widen the interest rate disparity between Nepal and India,” the report added.
The report further said that the government could not achieve the estimated revenue of Rs. 81.82 billion and added that the revenue of the government in the current fiscal year will be lower by Rs. 8 to 11 billion than the original estimates. The regular expenditure is not expected to decline from the original estimates.
“Viewed from this angle, His Majesty’s Government will have difficulty not only to meet regular expenditure but also to pay back its both foreign and domestic loans. Available information suggests that His Majesty’s Government needs an additional Rs. 6.20 billion to meet its regular expenditure and to pay the mature loans,” the report adds.
According to Dr. Pant though the remittance received from foreign employment is giving life to the ailing economy of the country, it is not sustainable source for economic growth, adding, “Job creation in the country is necessary to contribute to both crisis resolution and national development.” The report said that 104,000 youths migrated to countries other than India which will have serious social and economic impact to the country.
The report further said that as the central bank, NRB is free to determine only the exchange rate of the Nepalese currency vis-à-vis the Indian currency, adding, “If Nepal wants full independence in the area of price determination, balance of payments and interest rate, it should follow a flexible exchange rate policy with respect to the Indian currency as well.”
The report expressed serious concern over growing inflation rate of the country and rapped the government for not taking effective measures to check inflation. “The government has not yet adopted any anti-inflation measures. It seems the government is not serious about cutting down financial expenditure to avoid bankruptcy in coming May/June as projected by IfDS; nor is the policy makers and officials clear about what the word ‘bankruptcy’ actually means,” the report adds.
“In order to improve the situation, it is indeed necessary to resolve the complex political crisis facing the country,” the report said, adding, “But in the name of the political conflict, the indifference of policy makers to the need for effective measures to deal with the economic crisis or the misuse of fiscal and monetary policies and programmes are worsening both economic and political problems.”
Pant further said that the economic crisis emerged in the country as all the government following the restoration of democracy neglected the economic issues and focused on political issues.
He also warned that it would not be easier to improve economic situation of the country, even if the political situation was improved.
Latest reports say at least four Maoists and a civilian were killed in an aerial raid carried out by the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) against the insurgents in Thokarpa area of Sindhupalchowk district on Monday.
The RNA launched the aerial raid n the area following information that Maoists had assembled at Baghbhairab Higher Secondary School in Thokarpa for a mass meeting, reports said.
Dead bodies of four Maoists and a local resident were seen around the incident site. The aerial raid that started at around 1:00 p.m.still continues.
More than six houses of locals were destroyed in the raid, reports added.
Meanwhile, officials at the RNA headquarters said they were yet to receive the latest details of the security action in the area.
Expressing serious concern over the deteriorating situation in Nepal, the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has called upon the King and all other political forces to initiate dialogue to restore peace in the country.
Issuing a press statement Monday, the NARA said, “The NRNA appeals to the King and the leaders of all political forces within the country to launch negotiations to restore peace to the country. We believe that continuation of the status quo will inevitably lead to a failed state.”
“The King should demonstrate his true commitment to democracy through actions,” the Association, which represents the non-resident Nepalis across the world, said and added that all restrictions on free speech and the right of peaceful assembly and movement should be restored at the earliest.
However, it has been over a year since the King proclaimed direct rule and the situation continues to deteriorate, it said. “We are alarmed by the escalation of violence and the failure of His Majesty’s Government either to reconcile with the parliamentary political parties or to forge a peace agreement or otherwise deal with the insurgents and are thus compelled to express our concern with the whole situation. Every passing day in this state of conflict is a grievous loss to the nation in lives and resources, which could have otherwise fuelled development and prosperity.”
NARA also urged the Maoists to renounce violence, abductions and extortions and abide by the universally accepted norms of democracy and human rights.
“We call upon the CPN (Maoist) to fully renounce violence as a method of political change and abide by the universally accepted norms of democracy and human rights; to stop their killings, extortions, abductions, and destruction of the nation’s infrastructure; and come forward for a negotiated settlement.”
Due to growing violence and human rights abuses, NARA said, the “image of Nepal has been severely tarnished internationally and Nepal is being isolated in many international forums”.
Reaffirming its commitment to democracy, human rights and overall development in Nepal, NARA said it “stands ready to offer any assistance required in a resolution of the current crisis in Nepal.”
The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has said that four Polish trekkers who were earlier presumed missing along the trekking route of Jiri-Lukla since March 23 are safe and sound.
Issuing a press statement Monday evening, the NTB said the Polish trekkers were found safe in Lukla of the eastern district of Solukhumbu.
“As per the Tourism Crisis Response Action Unit member Mr. Ang Tshering Sherpa’s direct conversation with one of the members of the said Polish team in Lukla, the fact has been established that they were not abducted. Due to the remote nature of trekking trails where no communication facilities were available they could not communicate further after the 23rd March when they had some misunderstanding with locals en-route to their destination,” the statement said.
Saying that the reports of ‘abduction’ [by Maoists] was of the Polish nationals were misleading, the NTB said, “This prolonged suspense without any information had indeed caused misinformation as apparent in the news.”
Earlier this afternoon, district committee member of the CPN (Maoist) in Solukhumbu district, Samul, told Nepalnews over the phone that “it is against his party’s policy to abduct trekkers” and that the Polish trekkers were not taken into control by his party.
“Nepal Tourism Board will update more information after the arrival of all the four Polish trekking team in Kathmandu. This fact has once again established that Nepal has always been a safe destination for tourists despite some baseless and misleading news and views,” the NTB release said.
Earlier, a Kathmandu-based language group, Nepal Esperanto Association (NEA), had said that two of the Esparanto-speaking members of the Polish trekking group had called them saying they were “abducted” by the rebels. The Association, however, said it wasn’t aware of demands made by the rebels, if any.
The group had left Kathmandu on March 21 and was on its way to Lukla in the Everest region via Jiri of Dolakha district—to the east of capital, Kathmandu.