Kathmandu, March 10, 2006

Strange as it may sound, but it is true. For the last two years, the wife of a former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) has been trying in vain to lodge a complaint against him for bigamy. The police have not cared to register her First Information Report (FIR) against him. A woman claiming to be the first wife of the former SSP tried to file an FIR against him when he was not retired. The woman accused him of having married another woman but the Bhaktapur District Police Office (BDPO) is yet to accept the FIR. Now, she is waiting for a judicial order to the police to accept the FIR against him but matter is hanging in uncertainty. Sangam Chaudhary (name changed) had tried to file the FIR against her husband, former SSP Chunda Bahadur Shrestha, at the BDPO but the police did not accept her FIR citing the reason that she moved in the wrong place for the case. Chaudhary claimed that she married SSP Shrestha 12 years ago and that her husband contracted a second marriage with Ramita Locksom (name changed) two years ago. Immediately after he did so, she tried to file an FIR against Shrestha. Not only did she try to register the FIR but also moved the Patan Appellate Court for its order to the BDPO to accept the FIR. The court, however, said that she could move the concerned police office, and so there was no need to issue an order to the police office.

ADBL’s lending close to Rs 34b

Kathmandu, March 10, 2006

The investment of Agriculture Development Bank Ltd (ADBL) has increased to Rs 33.94 billion in various sectors. On the occasion of its halfyearly performance review meeting held recently, the newly elected general manager of the bank Hari Gopal Gorkhali directed employees of ADBL to expedite recovery of loans and interests effectively, says a press release issued by Arjun Bista, spokesperson at the Bank. Similarly the bank, in the current fiscal year’s six months, has shown improvement in its financial indicators. Speaking at the meeting, chairman of the bank, Prof Dr Bijay K C stressed on the need to change the working style of employees considering the increased competition in the financial sector.

The staff of the bank should be able to deliver sound services to customers which will ultimately benefit the bank, said KC. GM Gorkhali said that the training programmes conducted by ADBL would be a milestone in knowledge enhancement of employees and help compete with other financial players. As per the half-yearly performance report for the current fiscal year, the bank has increased its lending, principal collection and interest by 15 per cent, 16 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. The ratio of non-performing assets has also gone down, as per the report.