Nepal police arrest 25 Govt officials

     Kathmandu: Nepalese Police have arrested 25 government officials for demonstrating against King Gyanendra inside the Home Ministry, officials said. Those detained included the private secretary to Home Minister Kamal Thapa. The Home Ministry controls the kingdom's police who have been deployed in large numbers to counter growing anti-monarchy protests in recent days. It is the first time officials have joined the opposition protests against the king. Nepal is experiencing food shortages and price rises as a strike called by the opposition enters its 13th day.

Karan Singh to meet Nepal king

     New Delhi: President of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) Karan Singh will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy to Nepal. Karan Singh, who is a Member of Parliament and former Union Minister, will leave for Kathmandu tomorrow. He is expected to meet King Gyanendra, said an External Affairs Ministry official. He may also meet leaders of political parties in Nepal. Nepal in the past days has been witnessing pro-democracy movement. India and the international community has been pressurising King Gyanendra to hand over power that he seized by removing an elected government 14 months ago. The decision comes two days after Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shanker Mukherjee met the King and conveyed India's message for dialogue with political parties and restoration of multi-party democracy.

India urges Nepal king to begin talks

     Kathmandu: India's Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shanker Mukherjee, has urged Nepal's King Gyanendra to initiate a dialogue with various political parties to restore normalcy and reconciliation in the kingdom. Mukherjee is said to have conveyed this advice during a meeting with the king at the Narayanahiti Palace on Monday. Official sources said that Mukherjee underlined the need for immediate dialogue between the royal government and political parties. "The monarchy and political parties should work together for reconciliation and develop national consensus," , External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said. Sarna said India was monitoring the situation in Nepal very closely and in this regard Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a high-level meeting here last night to review the latest developments in the neighbouring country. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, while addressing Army Commanders' conference, said the situation in Nepal was a "matter of great concern." "We are closely monitoring the situation and hope that the ongoing agitation would subside with constructive dialogue between the political parties and the King," he said. The royal government has launched a crackdown against pro- democracy movement which was launched on April 6. As part of government actions, police have been using force, including resort to firing, against the activists.

Political parties ask people not to pay tax

     Rupandehi: Waging a war on country's finances, political parties in Nepal have urged the people to stop paying utility bills and taxes as a part of their ongoing protest against the monarchy. Fuel and food are becoming scarce, as the city is observing 12th day of a general strike called by the seven-party political alliance opposing King Gyanendra's rule in the Himalayan Kingdom. The Maoists are backing the strike, which started on April 6. Political parties have begun a fresh campaign against the King, by calling upon a kind of economic blockade by urging people to not to pay any tax to the regime. "We will continue the protest till the democracy is restored in the country. Until then the public will not pay any tax to the government," said Vijay Kumar, Secretary of Nepali Congress (Rupandehi Unit). Protesters marched through the streets in Rupendehi, a town bordering India, chanting anti-monarchy slogans on Monday. Meanwhile, the Royal government has decided to deploy armed escorts for trucks carrying food into the national capital Kathmandu and also has offered cash incentives to drivers defying the strike. The government has fixed an amount of 48 dollar for each of the truck drivers, who will break the strike and haul food, fuel and other essentials on Nepal's highways, the only means of transportation in Nepal King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed full power in February last year, vowing to crush a decade-old Maoist revolt in the country. He, however, has offered to hold elections by April next year, but the politicians and the activists have demanded immediate transfer of power to an all-party government.

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