Nepal Tea Producers Association (NTPA) has expressed concern on the abduction of member of the Association and Technical Manager of Mittal Tea Estate Private Limited, Kamala Singh, and head clerk Raju Dewan and Technical Manager of Nepal Tea Development Cooperation from their offices on Sunday and Monday respectively.

A press statement issued by the NTPA and published a newspaper on Wednesday demanded immediate release of all employees and added such acts will create fear in the employees and force the industry to shut down production.

The NTPA also appealed to the National Human Rights Commission, Human Rights organizations, media, Nepal Bar Association, International Committee of Red Cross, Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Federation of Nepal Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Tea Producers’ Federation to initiate efforts for safe release of all the employees.

Son of late Hindu preacher Narayan Prashad Pokhrel organized a daylong ‘Bhagbat Purana’ (a holy Hindu scripture) on Saturday from Dudhrakshya VDC of Rupendehi district, where his father was shot dead last year.

Dinbandhu Pokhrel, the eldest son of late Pokhrel, said that he started reciting the ‘Purana’ to fulfill the dream of his father to do social work through religious preaching.

A group of unidentified gunmen shot dead Pokhrel at Dudhrakshya VDC of Rupendehi on 6th May 2005, where Pokhrel was reciting a week-long ‘Sri Madbhavat Purana’ raise donations for a local campus at Rampur.

A famous orator, Pokhrel had earned fame for reciting ‘Sri Madbhagavat Purana,’ and helped raise tens of millions of rupees from devotees for charities. A number of schools, hospitals, houses for elderly citizens and roads were constructed across the country from the donations collected from religious functions conducted by Pokhrel.

Maoist-affiliated Dalit Mukti Morcha (Dalit Liberation Front) acknowledged their mistake in the murder of Pokhrel and regretted it.

‘World Consumer Rights Day’ is being celebrated across the world on Wednesday amidst various programmes to raise awareness about consumer rights.

Nepal is also observing the day amidst various programmes though many Nepalese consumers are not informed about their rights guaranteed in various national and international laws.

In his message on the occasion of the Consumers’ Rights Day, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Buddhi Man Tamang has said that His Majesty’s Government has guaranteed the rights of all consumers through the existing Consumer Rights Protection Act and Regulations and that efforts were also being made to provide goods and services to the consumers in an accessible manner even during the difficult situation in the country.

“Although all the consumers should get essential goods as well as other consumer goods, including services, at a fair price and in an easy and accessible manner through an open and competitive market system, it has been felt that the public do not have adequate awareness on topics like the price, quality, weight of goods and services used by them and their consumer rights,” Minister Tamang stated.

Likewise, Assistant Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Rajesh Kaji Shrestha in his message said that since each person is a consumer, the ultimate objective of producing every goods and service is to meet the needs of the consumers. He added since all industries and businesses are related to consumers, the state has guaranteed the consumer rights to protect the rights and interests of the consumers by clearly delineating the legal responsibility of the industries, businesses and service providers.

The World Consumer Rights Day commemorates the day on which the then US President John F Kennedy for the first time, on March 15, 1962, announced in the US Congress the consumers’ rights through the ‘Bill for the Rights of the Consumers’.

China’s state councilor Tang Jiaxuan is arriving in Kathmandu on Thursday for a three-day long official visit to Nepal.

Tang is scheduled to meet cabinet vice-chairmen, high-ranking government officials and senior opposition leaders during his stay, reports said.

His Majesty the King will grant an audience to the visiting Chinese dignitary, according to officials.

Upon arrival, Tang will directly head for Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

He will return to Kathmandu the same day.

Meanwhile, participants of an interaction held in the capital Wednesday on the visit of China’s state councilor said Tang’s visit was significant from political and economic perspectives.

Former Nepali ambassador to China, Rajeswor Acharya said the visit was being made under special circumstance and in a special manner.

Referring to Lumbini visit that tops Tang’s itinerary, Acharya opined that the Chinese dignitary’s visit was aimed at helping restoring peace in Nepal.

Another erstwhile Nepali envoy to China, Yuvraj Singh Pradhan expressed confidence that the senior Chinese officer’s visit will be a milestone in favor of peace in Nepal.

Expert on Chinese affairs, academician Govinda Bhatta said Chinese state councilor’s visit will be aimed at helping Nepal restore political stability, economic progress and peace.

Foreign policy expert Dr Mohan Lohani also spoke along similar lines.

Unlike other countries, China has described February 1 royal takeover of the King as internal affair of the Country.

Family members of people who have gone missing after being arrested by the security forces submitted one million signatures to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Nepal on Tuesday to pressure the Nepal government to stop ‘extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances’.

Issuing a statement Wednesday, the group of family members of involuntarily disappeared people submitted the signatures collected from various parts of the country to OHCHR spokesman Kiran Dieyer at the OHCHR office in Kathmandu.

“The signatures submitted to the OHCHR-Nepal will help create pressure on the royal government during the OHCHR’s upcoming convention in Geneva,” the statement said.

Some 70 family members of the involuntarily disappeared persons were present on the occasion.

Addressing the family members of the disappeared persons, Dieyer said the OHCHR was committed to protect human rights in Nepal and that due attention would be paid to the concerns raised by the campaigning family members.

Rights activists Dr Sundar Mani Dixit and Padma Ratna Tuladhar said they expected a proactive role of the OHCHR in pressuring the government to reveal the condition of the involuntarily disappeared persons.

Although the government has periodically disclosed the condition of hundreds of persons said to be disappearing, human rights groups believe there are still dozens of persons whose condition has not been revealed.

One civilian was killed and another injured when plainclothes policemen indiscriminately opened fire in the mid-western town of Nepalgunj, Banke district, Wednesday evening.

Reports quoting eyewitnesses said Sahadev Prasad Tiwari, principal of a local school, was killed when three plainclothes policemen indiscriminately opened fire in front of Laxmi Cinema Hall at Biskurian Chowk at around 5:00 p.m.

Tiwari who received severe bullet injuries died while being rushed to the local Bheri Zonal Hospital. Another local resident injured in the incident has been undergoing treatment at the same hospital.

Two plainclothes policemen involved in the reckless shooting have been taken under control while another is absconding. Local security authorities have not said anything officially about the incident yet, reports added.

Maoist rebels have stepped up their attacks against civilian targets and ambulances, spared even during a full blown war, to enforce the “blockade” of the capital, Kathmandu and district headquarters across the country.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense said that the rebels opened fire at an ambulance carrying a sick child to Pokhara at Kotre area of Kaski district in western Nepal on Tuesday. The frandfather of the sick child, Ram Bahadur Rana, was seriously injured in the rebel firing.

Similarly, Maoist guerillas shot dead Bindiya Rana Magar, a civilian, at Sangrampur ilaka of eastern terai district of Sarlahi on Monday. Two other persons were injured. The rebels also set a truck on fire on the same day at Kusaha ilaka of Saptari district and abducted its driver and helper, according to the Ministry.

On Tuesday, the rebels set fire on a tractor owned by one Tejendra KC at Sakaniyar ilaka of the western district of Baglung and abducted him, the Ministry said.

The rebels bombed the bridge over Holeri River along the Prithivi Highway in the western district of Tanahu Tuesday night. Officials said security personnel have cleared obstructions placed by the rebels at several places in Dhading district on Tuesday.

Public and private transport across the country came to a halt and tens of thousands of people across the country were stranded in the wake of the Maoist blockade, according to reports. Prices of essential goods soared up and people began to keep stocks of essential goods.

Talking to Nepalnews, Sub Inspector of Police at the Thankot police post in Kathmandu, Indra Bahadur Sirish, said that number of vehicles leaving Kathmandu went up on Wednesday compared to Tuesday. Similarly, number of vehicles entering the valley has also increased, he said. According to Sirish, most of those leaving Kathmandu were tourist buses going to Pokhara. Normally, over one thousand big vehicles leave and enter the capital valley on an average every day.

An official at the Agni Yatayat said they were not sure when will they resume their service. “Though we have stopped ticket booking, people continue to flock to our counters asking if there were any buses going out of Kathmandu,” he said.

Security forces have been providing escorts to passenger buses along the Prithvi Highway and security patrolling has been intensified. According to the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police office, passenger buses are being escorted between Chitwan and Nagdhunga of Kathmandu. Officials said that teams of Armed Police Forces and Royal Nepalese Army officials have been stationed along the highway at a distance of one kilometer to foil any disturbances by the rebels.

People could be seen inquiring about essential items like cooking gas in the market. Owner of the Rajbhandari Store at Tinkune in Kathmandu said people have begun to keep stock of essential food items.

Prices of vegetables have also increased sharply. According to an official at the Kalimati Vegetable and Fruits Market Development Committee, supply of vegetable to the market from outside Kathmandu had reduced by about 50 percent. “On Tuesday, only 200 trucks carrying fresh vegetables arrived at the market against the normal supply of 450 trucks,” he said.

The National Human Rights Commission, the seven party opposition alliance and rights groups have urged the rebels to withdraw their blockade and strikes saying that it will add to the woes of ordinary people.

The CPN (Maoist) is yet to respond to such calls.

Maoist insurgents have killed two villagers following their abduction in the south western district of Rupandehi.

A group of armed Maoists shot and killed a resident of Dhasuwa area of Suryapura VDC on Wednesday afternoon. The rebels took the victim, Chure Thapa, to Mainahiya area and shot him, reports said.

In a similar incident, the Maoists shot and killed Bikram Thapa, a resident of Manmateriya-9, Rupandehi, on the same day.

Reports said the rebels killed them on charges of being involved in ‘anti-Maoist’ activities.

On Tuesday, the Maoists had killed a local resident after abducting him from his home in Mankapadi.

Minister for Education and Sports Radha Krishna Mainali has urged the Maoists and political parties to fully cooperate with the government in holding the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations that will start on March 27.

Minister Mainali is making the request one day before the beginning of the blockade and bandh called by the Maoists.

This year 332,134 students, 260,000 regular examinees and 72,134 exempted students are appearing in the SLC examination. Mainali informed that around 40,000 government staffers and 14,910 security personnel would be mobilised for the examination. There will be 16,609 superintendents in 994 exam centres across the country.

Minister Mainali also informed that the government would provide opportunity to all students carrying admit cards irrespective of their political affiliation to appear in the forthcoming SLC examinations.

Last year, some of the students affiliated to the student wing of Maoists were arrested from the examination centres.

Speaking at the same programme, Mohan Gyanwali, president of the Nepal Teachers’ Association (NTA), said even though the teachers were agitating demanding the government meet their 16-point demand, their protests would not affect the SLC examination.

Suprabhat Bhandari, president of the Guardians’ Association of Nepal, said the 13 years of hard work of students should not go wasted due to the vested interest of certain groups.

Maoists are expected declare a truce in the second week of April to help the seven political parties in their stir, an English-language newspaper reported Tuesday quoting a leader of the seven-party alliance as saying in New Delhi.

The Himalayan Times daily quoted the leader as saying that Maoists have agreed not to obstruct the peaceful street movement and take the alliance with the political parties to the village level. No big programmes will be launched till April 6 to give the King time for reconciliation, he added.

Leaders of the seven parties are holding talks with the Maoist leadership in New Delhi on ways to effectively implement the 12-point understanding reached between the two sides in November last year.

CPN-UML leaders Jhal Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam, NC leaders Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Mahantha Thakur, Chairman of People’s Front Nepal Amik Sherchan and spokesman of CPN Unity Centre Mashal Narayan Kaji Shrestha had left for New Delhi to hold talks with the Maoists to improve upon the understanding and persuade the Maoists to call off the blockades and strikes.

Shrestha is not the member of the alliance but is reportedly facilitating talks between the two sides.

However, the Maoist side, led by Dr Baburam Bhattarai, is learnt to have told the alliance leaders that they would call off the protest programmes including blockade and indefinite strike only after both the sides agree upon a common programme of agitation, the newspaper report said.

There has been no official statement from both the sides regarding the latest talks.