PM’s commitment

Kathmandu: PM Girija Prasad Koirala on Friday reaffirmed commitment to work to hold a constitutent assembly election. He also expressed commitment to peace while reassuring the members of the High Level Media Commission (HLMC), which submitted its recommendations to him . “I am committed to election to a constituent assembly. There is no need to doubt what is being done for that,” PM Koirala told the HLMC delegation headed by Radheshyam Adhikari. The assurance from Koiralacomes at a time when a large section of the parties have expressed doubts on his motives. — HNS

Traffic comes to a halt

Kavre: Traffic on the BP Highway has been affected for four days after two bus entrepreneurs’ committees in Kavrepalchowk barred microbuses from plying here. Tipling Transport Services Pvt Ltd was going to run microbuses on this highway from Tuesday, but, the Kavre Bus Entrepreneurs and Kavre Minibus Service Committee prohibited them from plying. — HNS

Martin-Nepal meet

Kathmandu: Personal Representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Nepal, Ian Martin, on Friday met CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and discussed the ongoing development in the peace process. “A lot more discussion need to take place and the peace process needs to move forward for UN to play its role,” Martin told reporters. He hoped that the peace process would move forward. “Management of arms is a complicated issue and its relationship to the overall political process is also complicated, that was a part of discussion,” Martin added. UML leader Nepal said the PM should initiate talks with the Maoist leadership for resolving the issue of political settlement and arms management sooner than later. —HNS

Indian team in City

KATHMANDU: An Indian team including Sarad Yadav of Janta Dal, spokesperson for Indian Congress MP Rajeev Shukla, Water Resources Minister of Bihar Government, am Ashrya Prasad Singh, Professor of Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Aananda Kumar, Leader of Jan Satta, Pradip Kumar arrived in Kathmandu on Friday. The team is here to attend a seminar on Democracy in India and Nepal on Saturday to be organised by the Mahendra Narayan Nidhi Memorial Foundation in Kathmandu. — HNS

UN agencies’ concern

KATHMANDU: Expressing concern over the practice of encouraging streetchildren and children without family support to take part in rallies, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UNESCO, in a release issued on Friday, urged the organisers of rallies not to put the children at risk by encouraging them to take part in such programmes by offering them food or money. — HNS

Hunger strike begins

BARA: Assistant-level health workers of Bara, who are on strike demanding promotion, started an indefinite relay hunger strike in the district headquarters Kalaiya from Friday. Twenty-five health workers started relay hunger strike in front of the district administration office, Bara. — HNS

NC, NC(D) differences

GAIGHAT: Nepali Congress-Democratic central member Dr Minendra Rijal on Friday said the NC and NC-D differ on the issue of giving the King a ceremonial status. Inaugurating a party workers’ training programme, organised by the Nepal Students’ Union in Udaypur, he said, “Our party will not go for unification with the NC if it keeps harping on retaining a ceremonial kingship. This is the line put out by our party president Sher Bahadur Deuba.” — HNS