NA Chief indicates he is against integrating politically indoctrinated combatants

The Chief of Nepali Army (NA) General Rookmangud Katawal has indicated that he is against integrating the politically indoctrinated Maoist combatants into the army.
Talking to reporters at the airport before he left for China, General Katawal said that the NA does not believe in any political 'isms.'
His comments have come in the wake of debates on the integration of Maoist combatants into the NA following the submission of verification report by the UNMIN.
General Katawal further said that the NA, as a professional army, is not guided by any 'political ideology' but only the 'chain of command' system.
He said NA would always fight for the sake of 'peace and stability' in the country.

PM Koirala's health improving

Amidst rising concerns over his health condition in the country, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala met with media-persons in his official residence in Balulwatar Wednesday.
PM Koirala who is under close observation of doctors from the past 11 days met three media persons including a television reporter and a photo journalist to dispel worries about his health among the people.
"I am sure you are assured (about my health) now?" the ailing 84-year-old leader asked,"Now you can go."
Sitting in a chair donning a overcoat, Daura Suruwal and his trademark Bhadgaule topi, Koirala was taking artificial oxygen through a breathing device as he spoke to the journalist.
Immediately after this doctors involved in his treatment held a press conference in Baluwatar and informed that the prime minister's health is improving.

33,000 refugees to be resettled by 2009

The Kathmandu-based representatives of the Core Group of Nations working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to support the refugees from Bhutan has stated that in 2008 more than 13,000 refugees will be resettled from Nepal.
"By the end of 2009, we hope that an additional 20,000 or more refugees who have chosen resettlement will be starting new lives in the United States, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere," said a statement issued on Wednesday by US Ambassador to Nepal Nancy J Powell as Chair of the Core Group of Nations -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the US.
The Core Group has emphasized that the offer of resettlement goes hand in hand with continuing efforts to urge the government of Bhutan to accept the return of the refugees. "Repatriation and local integration are recognized by all of us as being equally desirable durable solutions," said Powell in the statement.
The Core Group nations and other nations have extended the offer of resettlement as a durable humanitarian solution for the refugees only after many years of attempts by the governments of Nepal and Bhutan to negotiate a repatriation solution, Powell said.
"I want to express our pleasure at the official opening on January 9 of the refugee resettlement processing center in Damak for the Bhutanese refugees," Powell said. The center is operated by the International Organization for Migration.
The group members have called upon the government of Nepal to approve expedited exit permits for all refugees who are eligible for resettlement and to establish for future use a standardized process for the expeditious departure of refugees who wish to be resettled.

Parties agreed in 23 points

Even as the big three parties claimed they have reached 23-point understanding to break the political deadlock, they have decided to confer with representatives of civil society on Sunday before endorsing the same through seven party meeting.
The agreement to confer with the civil society gathering was reached as a compromise on Maoist demand for roundtable meet. The Nepali Congress (NC) and Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) rejected the roundtable demand but agreed to confer with a gathering of civil society.
Following the meeting of top leaders of NC, UML and Maoists, on Saturday, they called a civil society leader Padma Ratna Tuladhar and requested him to organise an interaction.
“Since the leaders said they needed to confer with civil society on some important matters, we have called a civil society gathering at 11 am on Sunday at Hotel Himalaya,” he said.
He said that civil society representatives will listen to the decision of three parties and give their opinions.

Nepal Telecom's shares to be floated at Rs 600

There has been a decision to sell the shares of Nepal Telecom (NT) at the minimum rate of Rs 600 each, reports said.
The government had fixed the minimum rate after seeing investors' eagerness to buy the shares of this most profitable state-owned enterprise.
The share value was fixed to float shares amounting to Rs 1.5 billion (10 percent of NT's total share) to the general public, according to Kantipur Daily. NT officials said this was done to lessen government's ownership in the largest telecommunication service provider in the country. The Ankit Mulya of NT's shares is Rs 100. Finance secretary Bidhyadhar Mallik affirmed that the government has reached the decision to sell the telecom's share at the minimum rate of Rs 600 each. The government would make at least 9 billion rupees from this.
The government is doing necessary preparation for it so as to float the shares to the public by April this year.
Similarly, along with the general public, NT has also decided to float its shares worth Rs 750 million (5 percent shares) to its employees

businessman Murarka freed by abductor's

Businessman Mahesh Murarka, CEO of Pashupati Paints, returned home safely on Saturday, five days after being abducted by an unidentified criminal gang from Baneshwor area while returning home. family sources said that Murarka came back home alone at about 9pm. They however did not disclose further details, only adding that he is physically all right but in little bit of mental stress. Murarka was abducted while he was traveling in his car with license plate number Ba 3 Cha 3298. A blue vehicle had intercepted his car at Maitidevi area. Soon an armed group dragged his driver out of the car and took Muraka along with the vehicle. But the car was later found abandoned at Pingalasthan in the same evening.

China to provide loan of Rs 13 billion

The Chinese government is going to provide a loan of Rs 13 billion at concessional interest rate.
“The Chinese government has moved forward with the process of providing the concessional loan,” Nepalese ambassador to China, Tanka Karki told today.
The loan totaling $200 million will be used to build Upper Trishuli hydropower project and other development programmes.

ADB extends US$ 100 million grant to Nepal

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has extended US$ 100 million in grants to help reduce poverty in isolated areas of Nepal to ensure more inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
A statement issued Wednesday by the ADB said the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Development Program would also receive a US$ 10 million loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development. The loan will be managed by ADB.
Through this support, ADB said it would provide much needed resources to promote good governance and poverty reduction by improving the policy environment for inclusive growth and reconstructing and rehabilitating rural infrastructure in remote areas of Nepal,
The assistance package is made up of a US$ 50 million programme grant from ADB, and a project grant, which will be funded by another US$ 50 million grant from the Bank, the loan from OPEC Fund for International Development, US$ 15.7 million from the government of Nepal, and US$ 2.7 million from beneficiaries.

Sushil blames Maoists for deadlock, polls delay

Acting president of the Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala has blamed the Maoists of their resistive stand on demands that brought deadlock in the political process.
Speaking at the national gathering of the Nepal Press Union on Friday, Koirala said his party now has no inch to go ahead for consensus on the issues raised by the communist parties.
Koirala also blamed Maoists for the failure of holding the CA polls for the second time in pretext of Nepali Congress not agreeing with republic and their other agendas. He said his party was not an obstacle to establishing republic.
Expressing concern over the increasing attacks and intimidation of journalists, Koirala appraised that journalists are the first pillars to institutionalising democracy.
Speaking at the same programme, President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Bishnu Nisthuri urged the journalists for unity for security. He flayed the government for failure to bring those involved in targeting journalists to book.

Governor case decision deferred again

The Special Court has once again deferred the decision on the case against governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Bijaya Nath Bhattarai.
The court deferred the decision date by 15 more days after disputes arose regarding the authenticity of a letter said to have been sent by KPMG, Sri Lanka.
Earlier, the court had said it would give the decision on the case on Friday.
Bhattarai and another senior NRB official, Surendra Man Pradhan, have been accused of embezzling Rs 195.319 million that Nepal had received in foreign aid for financial sector reforms.