DARJEELING: Two top Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, including an executive member of Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA), were arrested on Thursday here in connection with old cases of arson pending against them, the police said.

Benoy Tamang, assistant secretary of GJM and an executive member in-charge of information and culture department of GTA, was arrested early on Thursday morning from Rambi near Sikkim-West Bengal border at Kalimpong sub-division.

He was arrested during a police raid in the area, sources said, adding that he was held for cases related to arson.

Acting on a tip-off, another GTA member and leader of GJM, Satish Pokhrel, was arrested from a different location in Kalimpong, sources said.

He was also arrested for old police cases pending against him, the police said.

With the arrest of Tamang and Pokhrel, 13 GTA members have been arrested so far since the indefinite bandh demanding separate Gorkhaland began in Darjeeling hills.

Two other members of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) were also arrested early on Thursday from Kalimpong.

A total of 685 leaders and members of GJM and bandh supporters were arrested in Darjeeling hills since July 29, the police said.

Meanwhile, normal life continues to be affected in Darjeeling hills with shops, business establishments, offices, schools and educational institutions remaining closed.

As part of their two-day ‘Rasta Janta’ (people on the roads) programme, a huge number of GJM supporters have begun to gather on the main roads of the town and chant slogans in demand for Gorkhaland.

The ongoing rain and storm which uprooted trees and damaged small houses in Darjeeling town has stopped. The roads are still being cleared of the uprooted trees, administrative officials said.

KATHMANDU: India has pledged to build a library building for Nepal Academy. Jayant Prasad, the Indian ambassador to Nepal,  made the announcement in Kathmandu while speaking at a program organized to commemorate the 200th birth anniversary of Adikavi Bhanubhakta Acharya on Friday.
Envoy Prasad elaborated on the importance of Bhanubhakta’s epic work of translating Ramayan into Nepali and said that the Nepali Ramayan has been an important literary between both nations.
He informed that several programs were organized in North-Eastern parts of India to commemorate Bhanubhakta’s birth anniversary while elaborating on the deep cultural and religious ties of people from both nations.

On the occasion he recited lines from Bhanubhakta’s poem ” Amarawati Kantipuri”. The program, Poemandu, was jointly organized by Embassy of India in Kathmandu and the B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation organized.

Inaugurating the 5th Edition of Poemandu,Abhay Kumar, Secretary of BP Koirala Foundation welcomed the audience by elaborating on the historical importance of the Ramayan and the Nepal Bharat Library.

The program was also participated by Bairagi Kainla, Chancellor of Nepal Academy, Kamal Mani Dixit, Former Ambassador of  Nepal to America Dr. Jayaraj Acharya, Ghazal Maestro Dr. Sanat Kumar Bast, eminent and promising poets such as Geeta  Tripathi , Prayagraj viisista, Navaraj Lamsal, Hem Chandra Nepal, Shailendu Prakash , Dhan bahadur Oli, Ram Prasad Kapaadi, Ishowri Karki, Shyam Rimal, Jayanta Pokhrel and Prabha Bhattarai.

KATHMANDU: UCPN Maoist and Nepali Congress has suggested the Khilaraj Regmi government to seek clarification from India over the recent floods in Mahakali River.
Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal and NC Vice President Ram Chandra Paudel claimed that Darchula suffered huge loss of human and physical resources due to Indian negligence in controlling the water at the Dhauliganga Hydropower Project.
In addition to it, the duo has suggested that the government should also seek compensation from India for the damages done by the floods in Nepal.
During his meeting with Regmi, Prachanda had urged Regmi to declare relief packages for flood victims (amounting to Rs 1 lakh to each affected family) and had also urged to provide a helicopter to him for inspecting the area.

Paudel had also made similar request during a separate meeting with Regmi during which he was accompanied by his party’s leaders.

Indian government owned 280 MW DGHP is said to have opened its doors to clear all the silts from its 70 meter high damn along the Indo-Nepal border.

The dam water mixes into Mahakali River after traveling around 5 kilometers down the river near Indo-Nepal border.

Excessive release of water from the damn and natural floods in the Mahakali river had swept the headquarters of Darchula, a district bordering India’s Dharchula in North-West of Nepal.

KATHMANDU: The Nepal-India Home Secretarial-level meeting has kicked off in the capital today.

The talks would focus on the issues of cross-border criminal activities and security situation of the two nations.

Similarly, the Indian team members are likely to raise the issue of Indian fake currency notes strongly. Lately, India has been piling pressure on Nepali officials to curb the smuggling of fake Indian currency.

India’s Home Secretary R K Singh is leading a 16-member talks team while Home Ministry Secretary Nabin Kumar Ghimire is heading the Nepali delegation in the meeting.

Top officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Home, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Department of Immigration and top-level police officials, among other officials are representing the Nepali delegation.

KATHMANDU: Former Member of Parliament and Nepali Congress leader Umresh Singh has claimed that he is not an Indian power broker.

Retorting back at recent claims that labeled Singh as an Indian power broker who played active role in lobbying to appoint Lok Man Singh Karki as the head of the CIAA, Singh said those who accused of such things are lunatic.

However he said that he has been coordinating with national and international friendly forces to ensure Nepal’s development on the occasion, the Onlinekhbar.com reported on Sunday.

” Those who claim that I am an Indian agent are lunatic. The accusations are expressions of their own mindlessness,” the online portal quoted.

He said that he has been never missed out in any important events of Nepal and even claimed that international forces trusted him more than any politician in Nepal.

However he said that he has been working in favor of Nepal and not in favor of external forces, as he has been accused of.

Commenting on a different context, Singh said that external forces were also in favor of holding CA elections in Nepal and said that CA elections will be held in November.

He said that India, USA, European Union and China were backing CA elections in Nepal and expressed confidence that they will be held in November.

KATHMANDU: The Government of India has provided Rs 640 million for 425 small and big projects in education, health and infrastructure development as per Nepal-India Economic Cooperation Program across the country.

As per the program, India is to provide the assistance for the construction of new building of Anbukhairani Campus. The construction cost of the building is estimated at Rs. 40 million.

Mission Deputy Chief of the Indian Embassy, Jaideep Majumdar, laid a foundation stone of the building amid a function on Tuesday, stated the Indian Embassy in Nepal.

The campus has a total of 1,000 students where Bachelor´s level classes are run.

Similarly, Councilor at the Political and Economic Assistance Department, Piyush Shreebastav inaugurated a newly constructed building of Tribhuvan Campus at Rupakot VDC in the northern belt of the district.

India had provided Rs. 14.4 million for the construction of the building.

Besides this, India has provided Rs. 65 million in different projects. It also provided four ambulances for the district

General Secretary of Janta Dal United KC Tyagi, former chief of India’s National Women’s Commission and lawmaker of Congress-I Girija Byas, Overseas coordinator of Bharatiya Janta Party Bijay Joli, former mayor of Delhi Metropolitan City Arati Mehata and others are coming for a two-day Nepal visit.

Though the Indian leaders are attending an interaction on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on March 8, they are scheduled to meet the President, Prime Minister and top leaders of all major political parties in Nepal.

A public function was held in the Embassy premises in Kathmandu mark the Republic Day today. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad hoisted the India’s national flag and read out the Address of the President of India Pranab Mukharjee delivered on the nation on 25th January.

The Indian President’s message has stressed India’s unwavering adherence to democratic principles, poverty eradication, economic stability and food security.

Ambassador Prasad presented 17 ambulances and four buses to recipient organizations from 15 districts while three others were gifted to organizations coming under the consular jurisdiction of Consulate General of India, Birgunj.

Chairman of the party Mohan Baidya aka ‘Kiran’ announced such plans during an interaction program of the Reporters Club Nepal at his residence on Saturday.

The announcement comes some days after the party suspended its ban on the entry of Indian number plate bearing vehicles in Nepal, screening of Indian movies in Nepalese theatres, and airing of Hindi songs on local radios and TV channels for Dashain and Tihar festivals.

With still around a month more for its second stage of protests, termed as national sovereignty campaign by the party, Baidya announcement highlighted the deep struggle with in the party leadership for downsizing the protest programs which were perceived as anti-Indianism and extreme form of nationality by some political analysts.

“We are not in favour of developing sour relationship with India. We are looking for scrapping all unequal treaties between both nations and secure mutual interests of Nepalese and Indians,” Baidya said at the press meet.