Nepal halts use of currency with image of ex-kings

Kathmandu, Mar 15 (PTI) Nepal on Tuesday stopped the
use of currency notes with the image of former kings, nearly
three years after it abolished the centuries-old monarchy in
the country.
A deadline set by the country's central bank, Nepal
Rastra Bank (NRB), to stop the use of currency notes with
kings' heads expired yesterday.
The central bank had given the public until Monday to
exchange old notes with the image of former kings with new
ones depicting Mount Everest.
NRB ordered banks and businesses to stop using
currency notes with kings' heads on them.
To stop the public from panicking, it said few of its
counters at NRB and commercial banks will continue to exchange
the old notes.
However, it caused panic among some people who went to
different banks to exchange their old currency notes today.
Kings' image has been on the country's currency for
decades.
Mass protests against unpopular Gyanendra Shah, who
became the king in 2001 after the death of his elder brother
Birendra in a palace massacre, finally culminated in the
abolition of the monarchy soon after the United CPN-Maoist
emerged as the largest party in the 2008 assembly polls.
The 65-year-old former monarch has kept a low profile
since he left the Narayanhiti palace in June 2008, when the
country's governing Constituent Assembly voted to abolish the
240-year-old monarchy and declare a republic.