The festival of colours, Fagu, popularly known as Holi, began from Tuesday following the erection of the Chir- a pole at the premises of the Basantapur Durbar at the auspicious time of 9:29 a.m.
According to Tej Ratna Tamrakar, chief of the Monument Conservation and Caretaker Office of the Royal Palace, the festival of colours begins with the erection of the Chir pole from Tuesday and lasts for the next seven days.
The festival which is also called Fagu Poornima, would conclude in midnight of the next full moon day with the fall of the Chir at Tundikhel.
Chir were also erected at Mohan Kali Chowk and Dakh Chowk inside Hanumandhoka and also inside the Narayanhiti Royal Palace Tuesday morning.
Hindus in Nepal, India and elsewhere in the world smear colors and exchange greetings during the main Holi celebrations next Tuesday.
However, over the last few decades, Holi has been witnessing wrong trends such as forcible smearing of colors and use of dirty water in water-filled balloons, causing inconvenience to others.
The government has formulated policy to address the issues of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), which is expected to be endorsed by the cabinet on Thursday, a newspaper report said.
Nepal Samacharpatra daily quoted a high level government source as saying that the policy was discussed by the bill preparation committee of the cabinet early this week. Minister for law and parliamentarian affairs, Secretary at the same ministry, State minister for labour and transport management, representatives from the Home Ministry and other concerned authorities also took part in the meeting.
The policy has been prepared amidst criticism from national and international bodies saying that the government had ignored the plight of internally displaced people.
According to the report, the new policy will empower the chief district officers (CDOs) to issue certificates confirming a person’s displacement. The certificate will be valid for receiving facilities like citizenship and passport from any part of the country, getting old age allowance from the place displaced people are living at present and arrangements for lodging and food for old people.
The policy also states that the displaced persons will be provided with loans for those willing to go for foreign employment and will also enjoy right to vote from any part of the country. Special arrangements will also be made for education of displaced children.
The policy was prepared by the Home Ministry and sent to the committee for review after one round of discussion at the Council of Ministers.
The UN Rappoteur on IDPs will be presenting the situation of internally displaced people in Nepal during the meeting of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva beginning Monday. Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey is leaving Kathmandu later this week to attend the meeting. He is expected to present the government’s policy, among others, at the meeting.
Special representative of the UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, Prof. Walter Kalin, last year had criticized the Nepal government for not addressing the issue and had recommended for immediate formulation of policy to that effect.
The government had reported to the UN that there are less than 8,000 internally displaced people in the country while national and international organisations estimate the number to be more than 200,000.
Latest reports say two security personnel were killed and three others injured when Maoist rebels attacked a number of government offices in the southern town of Bharatpur Wednesday morning.
According to security sources, nearly three dozen Maoist insurgents opened fire at a number of government offices at simultaneously at around 10:45 a. m. Officials suspected that the rebels might have targeted the local branch of Agriculture Development Bank. They said the rebels, however, fled immediately after the security personnel retaliated.
It could not be known whether there had been any casualty on the part of the rebels.
Details are still awaited.
The Indian government has extended assistance of NRs. 24,820,359 for construction of buildings of Shree Secondary School and Mahendra Library in Nepalgunj.
A press statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, laid the foundation stone for the construction of School building on Tuesday.
The school building named ‘Nepal Bharat Maitri Bhawan’ will be constructed with grant assistance of NRs. 23,600,928 from Government of India, the release adds.
Ambassador Mukherjee also inaugurated the Mahendra Library at Nepalgunj built with assistance of NRs.1,219,431 from the Government of India.
“These projects are a testament to the deepening ties of India-Nepal economic cooperation, and are examples of India’s commitment to strengthening and diversifying this cooperation in education,” the statement further said.
The recently unveiled Nepali tourism brand will be unveiled in the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin, Germany on March 11 at ITB Berlin complex.
A high level Nepali delegation led by Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yankila Sherpa left for Germany on Tuesday to participate in the ITB Berlin for the launching of the new Nepali tourism brand, newspaper reports said.
Some ‘art’ posters depicting the ‘New Tourism Brand’.
Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has launched a ‘New Tourism Brand’ with the slogan ‘Naturally Nepal, Once Is Not Enough’ to promote and market its tourism product in a complete package.
The world’s largest travel show ITB is taking place from March 8 and ends on March 12, 2006.
Altogether 17 Nepali travel trade companies are participating in ITB Berlin this year.
ITB is the only forum for travel trade industry, which is represented by the Tourism Ministers and high-level delegations of 180 countries.
The Special Court in Kathmandu has convicted three Kashmiris on charge of sedition and slapped them a sentence of one year imprisonment each.
In its verdict on Tuesday, the Special Court held Bashir Ahmad Mir, Mustak Ahmad Dadu and Azaj Ahmad responsible for supplying information and financial assistance to Kashmir-based separatist group, Hizbul Mujahideen. All three were residents of Indian-administered Kashmir and were staying in Kathmandu for sometime.
The court said the culprits had been found working against a friendly country, India, from Nepal. The court, however, acquitted five co-accused, including four Nepalese nationals, in the same case citing insufficient evidence.
All three would be released immediately as they have already spent more than a year in Nepali prisons, according to officials.
Police had arrested all the accused in August 2004 from different parts of the capital, Kathmandu, and booked them under the Offence against State (and Punishment) Act. Court officials said orders had already been issued to free all three Indian nationals as they had already spent more than one year in Nepalese prison.
A section of Indian media and Indian intelligence agencies have accused in the past that Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, was operating out of Nepal to carry out subversive activities India. Pakistan refutes such allegations. Nepali officials say they have the policy of not allowing its territory to be used against any of its neighbours.
A group of unidentified people brutally killed five members of a family in Nepalgunj on Tuesday night.
Reports quoted the district police office as saying that an unidentified gang broke into a jewelry shop at Tribhuwan Chowk in Nepalgunj municipality and murdered all five family members.
The deceased are identified as Deepak Hemkar, 26, his father Jagdev, 65, mother Sita Devi, 50, grandmother Gulav Devi, 85 and house servant Harish Chandra Chaudhary, 18.
“Preliminary investigation has shown that the killers also made away with various properties after the murder,” Thapa said.
According to local reports, the incident occurred when the curfew was in place.
His Majesty the King has granted an audience to visiting US Principal Deputy Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Donald Camp at Ratna Mandir palace in Pokhara on Wednesday.
His Majesty the King and the top US official held discussion about the recent political developments of the country and other issues of bilateral interest, according to local reports. However detailed report about the meeting was not available immediately.
Camp had arrived in Kathmandu this afternoon on a two-day visit to Nepal.
Camp will call on Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey on Thursday. He is also scheduled to meet with Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and NC (Democratic) President Sher Bahadur Deuba and some representatives of the civil society.
The top US official will leave Nepal On Thursday evening after holding a press conference.
The purpose of Camp’s visit is said to convey elaborated message of the crisp statement on Nepal made by US President George W Bush in New Delhi recently and also to get updates on the new developments here.
Addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi last week, the US President said he and the Indian premier “agreed” that the Nepali monarch should restore democratic process.
“On Nepal, we agreed that the Maoists should abandon violence and that the King should reach out to the political parties to restore democratic institutions,” the US president told reporters.
Along with India and the United Kingdom, the US suspended its military assistance to Nepal in the aftermath of the royal takeover of February 1, 2005.
The US has been reiterating on the need for reconciliation between what it calls the constitutional forces, that is, the King and the mainstream political parties in the country.
The United States is firm in its stance that the King should reach out to the political parties to restore democratic process in Nepal and address the Maoist insurgency, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
“It’s very critical for the Maoists to give up violence and the King to reach out to the political parties,” Elizabeth Millard, Senior Director at the National Security Council for Central and South Asia of the US, told Nepali media persons from the Washington DC in a video conferencing.
She said, “Dialogue does not mean fighting. It means talking. We are not looking at the words but the actions.” Saying that the US was worried that the “deteriorating situation could lead to chaos”, she made it known that the US would continue to send its emissaries to Nepal to discuss with different sides about the current situation.
Millard, who served in Nepal for 17 months until a few weeks earlier as the Deputy Chief of Mission, informed that US President George W Bush during his recent visit to South Asia had extensive discussion with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Nepal and added that the Maoists should give up violence.
The US official, who accompanied President Bush during his South Asian tour, said that though she was unable to divulge the details of what transpired between Bush and the Indian PM over the Nepal situation, the US believed that the February 1, 2005, royal step was a step backward.
“February 1 was very troubling for us,” she said, adding, “It was unhelpful also in terms of addressing the Maoist insurgency and the situation [since February 1] has deteriorated.”
Even as the US and India have common view on Nepal, the US however, “does not see Nepal from India’s eye”, she clarified. Citing strategic location of Nepal – between two regional superpowers, China and India – she said the US would also be discussing the Nepal situation with Chinese officials as well.
US has “deep concern” over the human rights abuses by the Maoists and the state, she said, informing that the US military assistance to Nepal remains under constant review. “I think we have to continue to look at the developments. Arms assistance [to Nepal] is constantly under review,” said she.
On a question about former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s upcoming visit to the US, Millard said it was “good news” but she had no information about the visit. “I am very very pleased to learn about Deuba’s release [from custody] and the Supreme Court’s decision to dissolve the RCCC (Royal Commission for Control of Corruption). But I am unaware about the tour.”
A Nepalnews investigation reveals that there are dim prospects of the state-owned monopoly, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), being able to raise a short-term loan of whopping Rs two billion from commercial banks within the next four days.
In a public notice published in the state-owned Gorkhapatra daily on Wednesday, the Corporation called upon the commercial banks to make a bid if they were ready to lend huge funds to it for a period not more than six months.
The notice said the NOC would pay back half of the loan (that is, Rs one billion) within the first three months while the rest of the loan (Rs one billion) would be paid within the next three months. “The commercial banks must submit their proposal with details on what condition and at what rate of interest they would be able to provide loan by 12:00 p. m. Friday,” the notice said.
The NOC had raised the price of petroleum (POL) products only three weeks ago.
Talking to Nepalnews, spokesperson of the NOC, Sushil Bhattarai, said the NOC had a monthly transaction of Rs 2.75 billion while it had dues worth over Rs 3.15 billion to be paid to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) immediately.
This is the second time that the NOC has sought short-term loans from the commercial banks. “There was no overwhelming response in earlier bids,” Bhattarai admitted, adding, “We are paying back our installments to the lenders.”
When contacted by Nepalnews, a senior official with a leading private sector bank in Kathmandu said the bank he was affiliated with was not going to bid to provide loan to the NOC. Requesting anonymity, he said (the bank) did not have confidence that the NOC would be able to repay loan within such a short period.
Similarly, a senior official at the public sector Nepal Bank Limited told us that the bank would consider the matter only if the NOC approached them for loans. He, however, admitted that NBL didn’t have such a large liquidity to provide loans to the NOC.
NOC officials too are well aware about questions related to their creditworthiness. Bhattarai of the NOC tried to brush aside such suspicions saying that the NOC had enough liquidity to pay back the loans it would borrow. “We are a government-owned Corporation. So, banks should not worry about repayment of the loans,” he added.
According to NOC officials, the monthly loss incurred by the Corporation was running at well over Rs 570 million until last month. NOC continues to incur heavy losses despite the government raising price of POL products five times over the last 14 months, officials said.
Earlier, the NOC had demanded a long-term loan of Rs three billion from the Ministry of Finance to pay its dues to the IOC. The government, however, replied that it should try to manage its financial matters on its own. Owing to continuous demand for hike in POL products by the NOC and under pressure from donor agencies including the World Bank and IMF, the government gave the nod to raise the price of petroleum products last month as soon as the municipal polls were over. The donors have advised the government to break the monopoly of the NOC in the import, sales and distribution and involve private sector in the oil business.
From last month, the NOC has allowed the petroleum dealers to fix rates for retail sales from gas stations.
The tradition is such that NOC procures crude oil from the international market and later buys refined oil from the IOC depots near Nepal-India border. The IOC has recently said it will slap 10 percent interest if the NOC failed to make monthly payments in time.
As commercial banks look less than interested to come to the rescue of the loss-making state-owned Corporation, NOC officials are facing have hard times to arrange money to pay back their dues to the IOC.
Analysts say deregulation of the oil sector as well as promoting healthy competition in the petroleum business would go a long way towards easing burden off the consumers as well as the state-owned NOC.