Political Briefs

 

Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala has accused the UCPN (Maoist) of trying to stage "constitutional coup" to remain in power. Speaking at a media gathering organised by the Press Union in Parbat district Tuesday, Koirala said the attempt to forcefully introduce ordinances is a move towards "constitutional coup". He made it clear that no amendment in the Interim Constitution was possible without consensus.

Veteran republican leader Ram Raja Prasad Singh passed away at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital at the age of 77 Wednesday morning. Singh was suffering from high blood pressure, nervous disease, Parkinson's disease and dementia.

The UCPN (Maoist) and Nepali Congress (NC) on Wednesday agreed in principle to go for fresh elections if they failed to settle the contentious issues of a new constitution by mid September.

Amidst differences among the ruling parties, Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Kuber Singh Rana was promoted to the post of Inspector General of Police (IGP) on Thursday. The Cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to promote Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s office Chief Rana to the top post of Nepal Police.

The Nepali Congress Saturday said it was ready for the revival of the Constituent Assembly provided that other parties accepted a multi-ethnic 11-province federal model. NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel told media persons after a meeting of party office-bearers that the CA could be revived if the parties agreed on a multi-ethnic federal model.

The pressure group of Pokhara locals that has been carrying out protests demanding start of construction works of the regional international airport in Pokhara refused to sit for talks with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. A meeting of the 'Pokhara International Airport Concern Group' Saturday decided not to sit for another round of talks as Tourism and Civil Avaition Minister Post Bahadur Bogati failed to fulfill his pledge to take a concrete steps towards the start of construction works within 15 days.

President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has urged the major political parties to end the current political impasse in the country before the Dashain festival. During a meeting with the top leaders of the major political parties at Shital Niwas Sunday morning, President Yadav stressed on the need for consensus among the four major political forces to give the country an exit from the political stalemate.

 

Business Briefs

 

Bhimsaria Group of Companies- Generation Next Communication Pvt. Ltd, an authorized distributor of Dell laptops, desktops, printers, projectors and LCDs has opened a new Concept Store at Glance House, Putalisadak. The Store will have all the Dell products, from laptops to printers and monitors, says the company. Generation Next has also introduced Dell’s Audi Series, PS Ultra book and various 3rd generation Intel Core Processor powered latest laptops.

Gadgets Nepal Pvt Ltd celebrated its third anniversary on Saturday by organizing various programs. Authorized distributors of Bird mobile from all over Nepal were present in the program. In the program, many retailers were presented with motorcycles and laptops as gifts. The program organized at Radisson Hotel had participation of various media houses as well.

Barista Lavazza has launched its first café in Nepal at Metropark building in Lazimpat. The café spreads in an area of 1800 sq feets and can seat around 65 people. The café will offer a complete range of beverages and food items. At present, there are more than 200 Barista Lavazza Espresso Bars and Barista Crème Lavazzas in over 30 cities of India. It also has outlets in Sri Lanka, Oman and the UAE.

MAW Enterprises, the sole distributors of Yamaha Bikes in Nepal have launched scheme on the bikes on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. The scheme is called “Yamaha Dashain TiharAayo –Khusi Laayon”. This scheme would is effective from 16 September. Under this scheme, the company is offering a discount up to Rs 10,000 on all the Yamaha bikes. This offer applies to both cash and finance purchase.

Sony has launched 14 new Cyber-shot cameras under WX, HX, TX and H series. According to the company, these cameras are one of the world’s slimmest, smallest and lightest cameras that offer superior optical performance. These cameras come with Advanced Aspherical lens that reduce the camera thickness and increase the optical performance for better image quality, says the company.

Ncell is going to organize a musical tour named ‘Ncell Rock’ in 6 major cities out of Kathmandu. The series of ‘Ncell Rock’ music concerts will start from Butwal on September 29 and will conclude on October 10 in Pokhara. In Dhangadhi, the performance will be held on October 1 at Dhangadi Stadium and in Narayanghat on October 3. Likewise, the show will be held in Birgunj and Dharan on October 6 and October 8 respectively.

Palm Agrotech and Bio-Energy Pvt Ltd has started the commercial production of aloe vera juice and stevia powder. The factory at Bharatpur of Chitwan has started the commercial production. According to the company, the products will be available in 250 and 500 ml bottles.

Qatar Duty Free, a subsidiary of Qatar Airways has drawn the winner of its latest Dollar Millionaire draw promotion. Indian national Satheesa Babu has won the cash prize of one million Dollars. The draw was conducted inside the Qatar Duty retail area at Doha International Airport. The US Dollar Millionaire raffle was launched in May 2006 giving passengers ant opportunity to win the bumper prize as each draw is made after 5,000 tickets are sold.

The government has fixed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of various food items. The prices of these food items was fixed by a joint meeting on Thursday chaired by Chief Secretary Lila Mani Poudel in the presence of officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS), Home Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and representatives from private sector. The prices of everyday consumable food items like various varieties of rice, lentils, flour, oil and other pulses have been reduced by Rs 1 to Rs 13 per kg.

KFC, Pizza Hut and Cream Bell have resumed their services from Sunday. These outlets have been closed for about a month owing to the dispute between the management and the trade union. The restaurants opened after a three-point agreement was made between the management and the trade union.