Nepal hastens takeover of king’s assets

Nepal’s interim government today approved a high-level ministerial report seeking to nationalise the properties of King Gyanendra and his family and decided to speed up the process by framing laws to legalise the anti-monarchy initiative.

With the political parties set to debate this week the abolition of the monarchy at a special session of the interim parliament, the government today approved the report prepared by a ministerial-level committee to nationalise the kings properties. During the first cabinet meeting, the government decided to establish a trust for the nationalised properties and spend the fund for welfare measures, media reports said.