Posted by: nomad March 20, 2006
PARAS SAHA
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Besides all this nonsense, aren't the Rhinos listed under endangered species, so they are not to be moved from their habitats? and two dozen people are going with the rhino... http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=68744: Crown prince leaves for Austria Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, March 20 - Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Crown Princess Himani Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah have left for Vienna, capital of Austria on Sunday. The royal couple is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, and about two dozen members, including officials of King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation. However, the trip had already generated controversy even before it began. Against the government claim that the crown prince is visiting Austria at the friendly invitation of Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Wolfgang Schusel, a vernacular weekly has claimed that the visit is taking place at the invitation of an Austrian zoo, the chancellor will be present only at the rhino handover ceremony. The expense of the trip has also made news. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has released about Rs 60 million to finance the visit to Austria and unofficial visits to UAE and France. Since all the Rs 90 million allocated in the budget for high level visits for the current fiscal year has been burned, the MoF had to arrange resources by transferring the budget allocated to finance unplanned employees' expenses for the current fiscal year, said a source. The government has earmarked Rs 190 million to meet such expenses.The trip has also hit the scheduled flights of two Boeings operating the national flag carrier Royal Nepal Airlines.
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