Kathmandu, August 20, 2007

The government today withdrew 59 political cases against CPN Maoist leaders — including Prachanda and Dr Baburam Bhattarai —- pending in courts. A Cabinet meeting today also decided to nationalise immovable property that belonged to late King Birendra in the capacity of a monarch and now taken possession of by King Gyanendra. The CPN-Maoist had been demanding for a long time that the cases against its leaders be withdrawn. “Some important decisions taken today comprise the withdrawal of court cases against Maoist leaders. Some of them were about 10 years old,” Health and Population Minister Giri Raj Mani Pokharel said. The cabinet that met today after a long gap also formed a team led by Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula to complete the job of nationalising the property of late king Birendra now in king Gyanendra’s name in the next 15 days.The properties to be nationalised will be owned by a trust. The members of the team are Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung, Land Reforms and Management Minister Jagat Bahadur Bogati, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Narendra Bikram Nembang and Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Dev Prasad Gurung. Minister for General Administration Ram Chandra Yadav said the cabinet will take up the issue of naming 26 secretaries only on Wednesday, pending discussion on the same in two committees. Also today, the government decided to pay Rs 7 lakh to Mukesh Kayastha who was injured in the mass uprising in April last year and has been bed-ridden since.

Nepal, India to meet on embankments

Kathmandu, August 20, 2007

The Nepal-India Joint Sub- Committee on Embankment Construction (SCEC) is scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday. Discussions will be held on the construction of embankments along the Lalbakaya, Kamala, Bagmati and Khado rivers. While the Deputy Director General at the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention (DWIDP), Khomraj Dahal, will be leading the Nepali delegation, it is not clear who will lead the Indian team of six officials that is arriving here on Wednesday. “The status of the embankment construction along the Lalbakaya, Kamala, Bagmati and Khado rivers, and related problems will be discussed in the meeting,” Dahal told this daily today. According to him, the SCEC will hold a “major meeting” on Thursday at the DWIDP office. He said that while the construction of the embankment along the Lalbakaya river has been completed, the construction along the Bagmati is underway, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Kamala river is complete and the construction will begin very soon and the DPR for the Khado river is being prepared.