Call to free Maoist

KATHMANDU: Maoist inmates at the Nakkhu Jail on Sunday demanded the government immediately release Krishna KC, a leader of the rebels’ student-wing, who was taken ill on Friday and rushed to hospitals. “We are worried about his health,” a statement issued form the jail and signed by Himal Sharma said. — HNS

Schools renamed

LAMJUNG: Maoists have changed the names of two schools in Lamjung. At a gathering of locals on May 18, they changed the name of Mahendra secondary school at Pyarjung VDC to Basanta memorial school after Prakash Rijal (Basanta), a Maoist leader killed by security forces. Similarly, they changed the name of Mahendra primary school to Sushil memorial primary school after another rebel, district secretary of ANNISU-R Apsara Dhakal said. — HNS

Speaker’s assurance

Kathmandu: Speaker of the House of Representatives Subhas Nemwang on Sunday said the Committees of the House would be activated soon. He was speaking at an interaction. While talking about the undisclosed expenditure and misuse of the Nepal Army’s Welfare Fund, he said since the matter is in the Supreme Court, “ we hope it will decide the case

soon. Otherwise the House will work to make transparent the expenditure of the fund.” — HNS

EU man coming

KATHMANDU: Deputy director general for Asia and Latin America of the European Commission, Herve Jouanjean, is arriving in Kathmandu on Thursday on a two-day working visit, the delegation of the European Commission to Nepal said on Sunday. — HNS

Additional portfolio

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has assigned Minister for Physical Planning and Works Gopalman Shrestha to look after the portfolio of the Foreign Ministry in the absence of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Sharma Oli who left here on Saturday to take part in the fifteenth ministerial meeting of the non-aligned member states to be held in Putrajaya of Malaysia. This was stated by the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers on Sunday. — RSS

Artists’ body formed

KATHMANDU: A meeting of local artists held here on Saturday constituted an 11-member Nepal Fine-Arts Forum under the convenorship of Shanta Kumar Rai. The members are: Deepak Joshi, Srijan Rajbhandari, Rajan Kafle, Jivan Rajopadhyay, Bhuwan Thapa ‘Bahubi’ among others. — RSS