Banke, November 2, 2005

The implementation of the I-card must rule has inconvenienced many. With its implementation at the Rupaidiah transit point on the Indo-Nepal border from yesterday, Nepali citizens who had gone to India to seek employment were unable to return home to celebrate Tihar. Such Nepali citizens who could not return were from the mid-western and far-west regions. With the requirement that ID cards needed to be shown to enter Nepal, many Nepali citizens preferred to stay in India rather than return, said Kaliram Chaudhary of Dhanauri-9 of Dang district. He added that the implementation of the system of ID cards has resulted in a decrease in the number of people entering Nepal as well as India. The number of people supposedly entering both the countries has suddenly decreased by 75 per cent, said sub-inspector Chhabi Rana in-charge at the Jamunaha-based police post. According to him, two check posts have been established at Jamunaha on the Nepal side, while two check posts have been set up at Rupaidiah on the Indian side by the government of India. The people without ID cards are not allowed to enter either country, officials said. Unlike before, people are increasingly travelling with ID cards, said SP Shiva Lamichhane, chief at district police office, Banke. Due to the implementation of the system of ID cards, there has been a loss in business, said Mohmod Jupher, pradhanpanch of Rupaidiya Gram Panchayat of India.

PM or no PM, New Year show will go on

Kathmandu, November 2, 2005

For the first time in one and- a-half-decade of Nepal’s history after restoration of democracy, the function to celebrate the Nepali calendar New Year 1126 was held today without a representative from the government. Since 1991, prime ministers have been chief guests of the event here. “Traditionally, the PM is invited. Since there is no one holding the post, we found it disconcerting to invite the chairman of the cabinet due to security and other reasons. Hence, we did not invite anybody,” said Hikmat Bahadur Maili, the chairmanof the New Year Celebration Committee 1126 (NYCC). Nepal Bhasha Mankaa Khalaa (NBMK) has been organising cultural rallies for past 26 years, through NYCC, which is reconstituted every year.

Around 50,000 people, including 150 troupes playing traditional musical instruments, marched along the lanes of the capital and prayed for people’s prosperity and long-lasting peace. Similar rallies were held in Lalitpur, Bhaktpaur and other townships in the Valley. Addressing a mass meeting at Basantapur, NBMK chairman Padma Ratna Tuladhar demanded a strong national policy for formulating the national calendar.