Plain-clothed security personnel on Monday have taken firebrand student leader, Khim Lal Bhattarai, from Lekhnath Marg in the capital, Kathmandu, Monday.

President of the CPN (UML)-affiliated All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), Bhattarai, was arrested this afternoon from Thamel shortly after taking part in a protest rally organized by the group of eight student unions against the royal takeover of last year.

Bhattarai is being kept at the Police Training Academy at Maharajgunj, according to reports.

Hundreds of political leaders, human rights activists and media personnel have been detained across the country ahead of the municipal polls announced by the government.

The opposition parties have called to boycott the civic polls slated on February 8 saying that the exercise aims to further consolidate the direct rule of the king.

Officials, however, say municipal poll is a meaningful exercise of democracy.

In what is seen as an important initiative, leaders of major faiths in the country have urged His Majesty King Gyanendra to take initiative to kick start peace process in the country by calling up the political parties and Maoists for dialogue.
At the end of an interaction and discussions held in Kathmandu on Sunday, respected leaders of major religions in the country said the main responsibility to give a way out to the long-drawn crisis in the country had fallen upon the shoulder of HM the King. “Hence, he must take initiative to start a peace process,” they said.

According to a joint statement issued by Dr. KB Rokaya, vice chairman, and Keshab P Chaulagain, secretary of the Inter-Religious Peace Committee—Nepal (IRCN) the religious leaders said since the military solution to the armed conflict in the country was not feasible, a peaceful solution to the conflict must be worked out through dialogue and negotiations.

They also suggested that calling off the municipal polls would be in the overall interest of the country as this poll could not offer any solution to the problems facing the country and was likely to further widen gap between the political forces and invite more bloodshed.

The religious leaders said durable peace could be restored in the country only by ensuring justice.

Senior leaders of Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Bahai communities in Nepal had participated in the interaction, according to the IRCN.

A four-member team of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), an umbrella organization of working journalists visited Doti and Dadeldhura with the objective of studying the problems faced by journalists of the far-western region in present situation.

The team reached Dadeldhura on Thursday and Doti on Friday and studied the problems faced by the journalists from both the State and the Maoists, according to reports.

The team met security authorities, including division commander of the far-western division headquarters Rajendra Thapa and discussed about measures that can be taken to address the difficulties faced by the journalists.

The team will visit Bajura and Achham districts and acquire information about problems facing journalists. DR Pant, central vice-president of the FNJ’s far-west chapter, is coordinator of the team.

In a bid to protest the municipal polls, Nepal University Teachers’ Association (NUTA), has called for a pen down program in all the campuses on February 1.

The teachers’ body also demanded the immediate release of all students and teachers in detention and annulment of the upcoming polls.

All teachers affiliated with the NUTA will wear black arm bands on February 1 as a sign of protest.

An NUTA meet here on Saturday decided to hold a gathering at Tripureshwor and a protest rally at New Baneshwor on February 3, the NUTA said thorough a press release. On the same day, the body’s district units will orgainse protest rallies in all the district headquarters.

The NUTA has also demanded immediate release of Shiva Chandra Mishra, vice-president of NUTA, Bhimsen Das Pradhan, former president of NUTA, Amar Kant Jha, former NUTA vice-president, and Kailash Kumar Thakur, the campus chief of Palhi Multiple Campus, Nawalparasi, who were arrested during the seven-party alliance called strike this weekend.

Meanwhile, in a bid to foil the protest programmes of the seven student unions, the Tribhuwan University Administration has abruptly extended the winter vacation in campuses to Feb 9, which was earlier scheduled to end on January 29.

Seven student unions along with their mother parties are organizing various protest programme to disrupt the February 8 municipal election demanding early restoration of democracy.

Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala.

Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala.
(Photo source : rediff.com)

Manisha Koirala, a popular actress of Bollywood, is facing opposition for her support of the municipal polls and February 1 royal takeover of last year.

The eight agitating student unions, that had announced a ban on screening of Manisha’s films, burnt posters of actress Koirala in Tanahun on Saturday.

This was done as the actress was involved in the publicity for the municipal polls, the students said.

The students also submitted memorandums at all the cinema halls in Tanahun urging them not to screen Koirala’s films.

The students had gathered at Bhorletar chowk at Damauli and burnt her posters. They also disrupted the Prithvi Highway for 15 minutes.

In an interview with state run medias, Manisha, urged the seven party opposition alliance to participate in the upcoming municipal polls and to work towards building consensus for resolving the present crisis of the country.

The Nepal Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC), an ailing state-owned financial intermediary is all set to be converted into a company.

“The corporation has already initiated necessary process to register itself as a financial company of class ‘B’ as per the Bank and Financial Institutions Ordinance (BAFIO). Soon after completion of the registration process, it will start functioning as a public company,” reports quoted Milam Bikram Shah, general manager of NIDC as saying.

“Once the corporation is enrolled in the new system, its own act promulgated in 1989 will be automatically annulled and will have to function as per conditions laid in the ordinance,” Shah said.

An official at the Ministry of Finance also said that the government will start privatization process of the corporation soon after NIDC is converted into a company.

“A private accounting firm has already been hired to evaluate its assets and once it submits the report, we will determine the privatization modality,” he added.

Established in 1959 through ‘Special Charter Act’, NIDC has been extending financial and technical support for establishment and expansion of industries.

It was known as one of the most profit making financial intermediaries till 1995. However it started to bear losses due to political intervention and various other reasons.

Price Water House Cooper (PWHC), a renowned international accounting and consultation firm, in its report prepared on July 2003, had suggested the government to liquidate the corporation within a two-year period.

The corporation currently possesses assets worth Rs 4.83 billion, including land, buildings and credit and share investment, whereas its liabilities stand at Rs 1.76 billion.

According to officials, although NIDC had managed to generate an operating profit of Rs 120 million, Rs 61.3 million and Rs 55.3 million in fiscal years 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05, respectively, the corporation’s cumulative loss stands at Rs 870 million, according to the Kathmandu Post daily.

The European Commission has approved three projects worth € 1.898 million for Nepal under “NGO co-financing” scheme.

A press release issued by the EC on Friday said the contributions are provided through the global EC budget line “NGO co-financing” and intend to strengthen partnerships and learning between European NGOs and civil society organisations in Nepal.

The three projects that will be implemented in Nepal are:

Saamarthya; Sustainable Development of Disadvantaged Ethnic Communities in Nepal. The project activities will benefit ethnic communities in the Eastern and Central Development Regions.

The project will be implemented jointly by ActionAid UK and three Nepalese NGOs: ActionAid Nepal, Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and Sahakarya–NGO/CBO Participatory Learning and Advisory Project.

The second project is improving livelihood security of socially excluded communities in Nepal. Communities in Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western Development Regions will benefit from the project.

Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD) and Dalit Welfare Organisation (DWO) will implement the project.

The third project ‘Dalit Empowerment Programme”, will benefit Dalits of Far Western, Mid Western and Central Development Regions.

DanChurchAid and four Nepalese NGOs: LWF Nepal, Feminist Dalit Organisation, Dalit Welfare Organisation and Nepal National Depressed Social Welfare Organisation will jointly implement the project.

“I would like to stress that this kind of cooperation is part of the European Union’s commitment to combating poverty, promoting Rule of Law, and respecting fundamental freedoms. We are here to emphasise these aspects of our philosophy and presence in Nepal”, the release quoted Eduardo Lechuga-Jimenez, Acting Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Nepal as saying.

Friends of the Bagmati has been organizing various events during World Wetlands Day 2006 celebration, including Taudaha Jamboree to undertake actions aimed at raising awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention (click for details) in particular.

The celebration began on 21st January with Clean Up Campaign at Taudaha and will conclude on 2nd February with ‘Workshop on Ponds of Kathmandu Valley’.

During this celebration, interactions and features about wetlands of Nepal are being broadcast through various FM Radio, reports said.

The main attraction of the celebrations is the Taudaha Jamboree that includes activities such as Cycle Rally, Bird Watching, Nature Hike Race and Exhibitions.

The major objectives of this celebration are disseminating information on values and benefits of Ponds of Kathmandu Valley and promoting Taudaha as a tourism destination, especially due to Water Fowl Habitat.

Taudaha is one of the largest ponds in the Bagmati watershed area. It has also contributed to recharge the groundwater of the Bagmati Watershed.

Martyrs Day is being celebrated throughout the country today in remembrance of the known and unknown martyrs who sacrifice their lives in the revolution of the 2007 BS for establishing democracy in the country.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Dilip Kumar Paudel, offering garlands at the Martyrs’ Gate marking the Martyrs’ Day, Sunday, Jan 29 06. nepalnews.com/rh

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Dilip Kumar Paudel, offering garlands at …
A morning procession was organized in the capital to mark the day. Ministers, the Chief Justice, heads of the Constitutional Bodies and other dignitaries offered garlands to the statue of Martyrs to pay homage to them.

Shukra Raj Shastri, Dharma Bhakta Mathema, Dasrath Chanda and Gangalal Shrestha attained martyrdom in 1997 BS on the charges of misleading the country’s youth and spreading rebellion in the country.

The country observes Martyrs week by organising various programmes to mark incident throughout the week.

The index of Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) posted a nominal growth of 0.98 points last week as compared to the previous week.

The Nepse index, the country’s sole secondary market started at 305.30 points on Sunday and went up to 306.28 points on Thursday, the last day of the trading under the regular lot.

According to the data of Nepal Stock Exchange, a total of 62,532 units of shares worth Rs 23,173,158 were traded through 698 transactions throughout the week as compared to a total of 147,068 units of shares worth Rs 48,324,994 from 1,286 transactions last week.

The weekly trading report of Nepse shows that the index of the commercial banks group, posted a sound growth of 2.11 points, reaching its index to 330.52 points up from 328.41 points.

The insurance group showed an increment of 0.87, as its index climbed up from 330.82 on Sunday to 331.69 on the closing day. The hotel, manufacturing and trading group saw no change in their respective indices and their indices remained static at 181.26, 274.42 and 142.78 points respectively.

Like the previous weeks, the commercial banks group continued to capture the lion’s share with 68.37 percent of the total transaction. The share of development banking group comprised 20.53 percent of the total transaction, while the other group followed it by 4.30 percent.

The trading group and insurance group captured a meager 1.08 percent and 1.46 percent respectively.