Refugees’ protest

KATHMANDU: Women Bhutanese refugees on Tuesday ended their sit-in demonstration in front of UN House in Kathmandu after they were assured by the officials at the UN System that the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would reply to their appeal as soon as possible. Refugee leader Tek Nath Rijal repeated the problems of over 100,000 refugees to the UN officials including Hanne Sorensen, a special assistant to the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal. The women had started their demonstration on November 11. — HNS

Koirala in hospital

KATHMANDU: NC President Girija Prasad Koirala is currently undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi. According to a NC statement, a team of senior doctors headed by Dr Saranjit Chaterjee are involved in Koirala’s check-up. The medical report is due Thursday, the statement said. — HNS

GAESO’s reaction

KATHMANDU: Responding to recent reports that had accused the Gorkha Army Ex-Servicemen Organisation (GAESO) of paying big amount to British lawyers fighting for equal pension for Gurkha lawyers, the GAESO adviser, Gopal Siwakoti Chintan,

said on Tuesday that he has not been acting as a middleman and paying big amount to the lawyers. The GAESO president, Padam Bahadur Gurung, said that the effort aimed at defaming the GAESO will not affect its fight for equality. — HNS

Border meet ends

Nepalgunj: An Indo-Nepal border meeting concluded in Nepalgunj on Tuesday with the agreement to launch a joint operation against terrorism along the border. While the Nepali side was led by the CDO of Banke, Binod Kumar Adhikari, the Indian side was led by the district Magistrate of Baharaich, Anurag Shrivastav. —HNS

Maoist freed

TANAHUN: Suspected Maoist cadre Yam Bahadur Gaha Magar, a resident of Dhowadi village development committee-7, Nawalparasi, was released on Tuesday by the local administration. Magar had been arrested a year ago by the united security force. He was released on Tuesday in the presence of journalists after a long investigation cleared him of wrongdoing, the chief district officer of Tanahun, Tek Birjung Roymajhi, told journalists. — HNS

UNHCR concern

DAMAK: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has expressed its concern over the closure of the Damak-based Suryodaya School due to threats from the Maoist-aligned All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union-Revolutionary. The school has been closed for two months. Shankar Basnet, a local guardian, said that the UNHCR representative to Nepal had telephoned him and voiced UNHCR’s concern. A few days ago some parents had filed a complaint at the UNHCR against the closure of the local school. Some 11,00 students study at Suryodaya school. — HNS

Envoy meets minister

KATHMANDU: The North Korean envoy to Nepal, Hwang Yong Hwan, paid a courtesy call on the Minister of General Administration, Krishna Lal Thakali, at the latter’s office in Singha Durbar on Tuesday, the Ministry of General Administration said, adding that matters of mutual interest were discussed during the meeting. — RSS