Panel begins work

KATHMANDU: The Special Committee, formed by Council of Ministers on February 26 to bring the property of late king Birendra, Queen Aisharwa and other members of the family under the control of the government and to establish a trust to use the property for the benefit of the nation and to nationalise all the property acquired by king Gyanendra in the capacity of a king under the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 BS, has begun its work from March 4. — RSS

Arms registration

KATHMANDU: Seventy-nine out of 85 weapons retained for the security of the Maoist leadership have been registered, and the Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC) is finalising the modality for the second-stage verification of the registered ombatants. “Seventy-nine out of 85 weapons have been registered and the rest six will be registered soon,” Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) commander, Nanda Kishor Pun, alias Pasang, said. — HNS

PLA men hurt in blast

DHARAN: Three personnel of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were injured when a socket bomb went off at Pragatichowk of Dharan on Sunday, police said. The injured were identified as Dawa Sherpa, 18, Pramosh Tamang and Kirant Limbu of Dharan, 19. The socket bomb, kept in Sherpa’s bag, went off when the three were heading towards Dharan from the first division camp at Chulachuli. — HNS

$5 lakh in food aid

KATHMANDU: New Zealand will provide $500,000 to the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Emergency Food security programme in Nepal,” New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters announced recently. “Nepal has now entered into a peace process and our contribution will go towards the community-based care of acutely malnourished children,” The New Zealand Herald quoted Peters as saying. — HNS

Dr Ruit honoured

NEW DELHI: Magsaysay award winner and Nepal’s renowned ophthalmologist Dr Sanduk Ruit has been honoured with “Asian of the Year, 2006” by the illustrious Reader’s Digest. The Digest honoured him at a ceremony held here on Monday evening. Indian Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramados presented the award. Eight editors of the Reader’s Digest had nominated Dr Ruit for the award. “For a Nepali like me, it is an honour to have this award. I am thrilled,” said Dr Ruit. Dr Ruit, who is associated with Tilganga Hospital in Kathmandu, is famed for ophthalmological skills throughout Asia. — HNS

Park officials released

RATNANAGAR: Assistant protection officer of the Chitwan National Park, Kamal Jung Kunwar, and ranger Ritesh Bhushan Basnet were released from custody on Monday. The two had been remanded in custody on the charge of torturing to death a person who had been taken into custody on the charge of killing a one-horned rhino. — RSS