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Major News from Nepal
Forming a National Army
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: Nepalese Defense Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’ after the return from the China visit said that he would like to make Nepali Army a defense-oriented as the army in China, and would make the Nepali Army a National Army after the integration of the People’s Liberation Army into the Nepali Army.
In Pokhara, Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai said that the government would set up a special committee to integrate the People’s Liberation Army into the Nepali Army following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim Constitution; some politicians have been making the integration of these two armies as an excuse to criticize the government and his party; and the opposition parties have been working against the integration of the two armies, and attempting to put hurdles in the way of completing the peace process smoothly.
Environment Conducive for NC to join Government
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: speaking to the reporters on arrival at the Kathmandu International Airport after attending the UN 63rd General Assembly in New York, Prime Minster Prachanda had said that Nepali Congress (NC) would join the government.
Minister for Water Resources Vishnu Poudel said that the government would be creating an environment conducive for the NC to join the government, soon.
Promotion and Transfer of Civil Officials
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: Minister for Civil Administration Pampha Bhusal said that the government would promote and transfer the high-level civil officials after the great Hindu festival called Dashain; the government would also appoint the high-level officials to the vacant positions of secretaries to various ministries. According to the press, fourteen positions of secretaries to various ministries have been vacant. The minister also said that the government would fill out the vacant positions of the officials at the constitutional bodies, too.
Properly Managing Late Night Restaurant
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: Deputy Prime Minister holding the portfolio of Home said that he was not closing the late night restaurants but trying to manage them properly; so far, the restaurant visitors have practiced first to drink, then dance and then start doing things not acceptable to the civilized society; so, the government needed to make them behave properly.
The Deputy Prime Minister also said that if the restaurant workers would not cooperate with the government on the pretext of the government not letting them continue to do whatever they had been doing so far, the government did not need their cooperation if they did not want to perform their duties properly for the benefits of the society.
Pretended Political Confusion
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: while replying to the questions of the members of the Constituent Assembly on the policies and programs of the government, Prime Minister Prachanda had said that the country was not ready for socialism yet but the parliamentary system of governance also had not been working in Nepal.
Other Maoist leaders have been telling the public that they are for setting up the people’s democratic republic based on the multi-party political system, healthy political competition, and competition among the equals.
Leaders of the opposition political parties particularly the Nepali Congress has been telling the Nepalese people that the Maoists have bee heading toward the autocratic rule in Nepal refusing to accept the parliamentary system of governance. They have been complaining that the Maoists have not returned the property seized during the conflict with the State, and have not strictly following the agreements and the understating they have reached with the government and political parties.
Sick Constituent Assembly Members
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: apparently a number of the members of the Constituent Assembly have fallen sick before the largest Nepalese Hindu festival called Dashain. They have been lining up at the Office of Finance of the Constituent Assembly to submit the bills for their health checkup and the claims for reimbursement of the money they have spent on health checkup and medicines.
According to the provision made in the rules, the members of the Constituent Assembly are entitled to receive reimbursement of the 50% of the money spent on health checkup at the private hospitals and clinics and 100% at the government hospitals.
Historically, ministers of the former coalition government headed by Sher Bahadur Deuba widely practiced the misuse of the healthcare provision. In fact, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sent some of the members of his cabinet to Bangkok for medical treatment to avoid their need for voting against him on the no-confidence motion, as they belonged to other political parties that had issued a whip to vote against him.
Dashain Festival in Nepal
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 03, 2008: Nepalis have been almost on the half way to completing the Dashain festival. Both the Nepalese Hindus and Newar Buddhists have been celebrating the largest Dashain festival.
First, they performed the ancestral worship called shrada during the dark fortnight in Aswin (September-October) in the Vikram calendar; then they performed the ceremonies of Ghata-sthapana setting up a ceremonial holy water jar called Ghata at their prayer rooms on the first day (September 30) of the bright fortnight in Aswin. Since then, they have been celebrating Nawarat means nine nights visiting one Goddess at her field shrine at dawn and her town shrine in the evening every night for nine nights. The festival will end on October 14.
Individuals and the State-owned trading company called Nepal Food Corporation have imported a large number of live animals such as castrated goats and sheep. Individual traders have also bringing in a large number of water buffaloes for sacrificing to the Goddess called Durga Bhavani on the day called Maha-navmi (October 8) and for consumption of meat, too. The State-run company has been selling the live goats at the rates of Rs 195 per kilogram to Rs 250. The company manager said that his company has been selling the live goats only after the government veterinary doctors checking up the health of those animals.
On this occasion, Nepalis spend a large amount of their annual savings on buying animals and birds and sacrificing them to Goddess Durga. Some Nepalis advocating animal rights have been asking whether the time has not come to review our tradition of animal and bird sacrifice and stop the wastage of money and precious meat of animals and birds.
Talking to Struggling Armed Groups
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 04, 2008: The government of Nepal formed a three-member team for talking to the struggling armed groups in terai. Talking to the reporters on the premises of the Secretariat (Singha Durbar) in Kathmandu yesterday, Minister for Information and Spokesman for the government Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the government set up a team comprising Minister for Peace Janardan Sharma ‘Prabhakar’ as a coordinator, Minister for Local Development Ram Chandra Jha as a member and Minister for Education Renu Yadav as a member. Minister Sharma is a Maoist, Mr. Jha belongs to CPN-UML and Miss Yadav is a member of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum. Minister Mahara said that the team would invite the struggling groups to a table talk immediately after the Dashain festival. Both Mr. Jha and Miss Yadav are of the terai Nepalis.
The struggling armed groups declared a unilateral truce during the period of a Dashian festival.
Setting Free Some Prisoners
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 04, 2008: Minister for Information and Spokesman for the government Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the Council of Ministers decided to set free prisoners of three categories such as all prisoners that have served 50% of their terms, prisoners indicted for anything based on their political belief, and prisoners of 70 years of age and above; a number of such prisoners altogether comes to 372.
Annul the Law concerning Local Kings
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, October 04, 2008: The Government of Nepal annulled the law concerning the local kings. So, the government will stop paying allowances to the four local kings in western Nepal. In the past, one of the kings made them local kings for himself to be the king of kings at the center. Since then they had been receiving allowances from the State.
