Nepal to shutdown over India row

8220;Our party calls a nationwide general strike on April 12 demanding annulment of the anti-national move taken in a blatant violation of the existing legal provisions and the prerogatives of the parliamentary Public Account Committee and national security,8221; Maoist chairman Prachanda said in a statement today.

The Supreme Court has stayed the government8217;s decision to award the contract for supplying Machine Readable Passports to an Indian firm after a petition charged that it was given without proper bidding procedures.

A single bench of Justice Sushila Karki issued the stay order yesterday after an initial hearing,according to court sources.

The court has asked the Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala to furnish before the court their reply on the petitioners8217; allegations.

The government last month awarded the MRP contract to the India8217;s Security Printing and Minting company to supply passports at the rate of USD 4 per document.