Politicians are responsible for corruption: CIAA

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) stressed on the need of regulating the financial activities of the political parties including the management of election expenditure to control the corruption in the country, The Himalayan Times report stated. 

“To do that, it needs a political leadership with a vision to combat graft”, The Himalayan Times quoted CIAA chief Surya Nath Upadhaya as saying while he was addressing 

a function organized jointly by the Nepal Council of World Affairs and Transparency International Nepal on Wednesday.

Upadhaya accused the political leadership and high ranking bureaucrats for contributing in the spread of corruption and described the land and revenue administration, customs and police and the immigration offices as the most corrupt sectors. 

According to Upadhaya banking and financial sectors, public construction agencies, defence, oil and gas, telecommunication, civil aerospace and forestry are some other major areas of corruption.

Upadhaya cited the lack of evidence and punitive measures as the motivating factors for the spiraling corruption and irregularities. Besides due to the open boarder with India, the corrupts hide their illegal property and easily escape to India. 

He further said that to curb corruption, public offices must have a high standard of accountability, monitoring, transparency and clearly defined policy regarding financial controls. nepalnews.com rs Jan. 15 04

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IOC warn to suspend NOC

International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned to bar Nepal from participating in any international sports events if the Nepalese government doesn’t lift its decision to de-register the Nepal Olympic Committee, the Rajdhani daily reported as stated in the press conference organized by Nepal Olympic Committee on Wednesday.

According to the report, President of IOC Jacques Rogge, in a letter to Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa condemned the decision and threatened to suspend the Nepal Olympic Committee on the ground of Rule 31.9 of Olympic Charter if the situation is not satisfactorily solved with in 30 days. 

The letter has been forwarded to the Minister for Education and Sports, Member Secretary of National Sports Council and the sacked NOC and other International Sports Councils. Referring the letter sent by National Sports Council on January 5, IOC said that the controversial election held by NOC has been considered valid by both IOC and Olympic Council of Asia.

The daily quoted President of sacked NOC, Rukma Shumsher Rana as saying that he is hopeful the situation will be back to normal as the PM has been approached directly by the President of IOC to sort out the problem. nepalnews.com rs Jan. 15 04

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Maoists declare People’s government at Magrant

The Maoists have declared a regional people’s government with executive and managerial rights at Magrant, situated in remote hilly district of Mid-western region, the Rajdhani Daily reported.

They have appointed the ministers to operate the so called government. The government was formed by the assembly of a free house of representatives with 27 members.
nepalnews.com rs Jan. 15  04

Dorje Wangdak Dongtotsang dead

An era of Tibetan history came to an end this week with the death at age 91 of Dorje Wangdak Dongtotsang in Kathmandu.

The elected ruler and resistance leader of Kham in eastern Tibet, Dorje twice escorted the Dalai Lama out of the country to safety 
in India at great personal risk.

Immortalised in such movies as Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet, he had led a quiet and reflective life in Nepal as head of an extensive
family.

Dorje showed unfailing kindness and understanding despite the loss of 
his beloved country which stayed in his heart until the end.

Dorje was cremated at daybreak on Tuesday at Swyambhunath at a function attended by 550 monks and nuns. 
nepalnews.com kd/dr Jan 15 04

Finance Ordinance today

The Finance Ministry is presenting the new finance ordinance on Thursday’s cabinet meeting for approval. The ordinance has, among others, proposed administrative reforms, slashing of the prices of mobile sets and some electronic goods. 

According to the various published reports, the ordinance is a constitutional compulsion to the government as last year’s ordinance announced in July expires in six months. 

According to the sources in the ministry, there will be no major changes in the existing customs rates. However, customs duty on mobile sets and some electronic goods among others would go down. 

This ordinance has been formulated due to recent Indian "mini budget", which has slashed rates on mobile phones and electronic goods. 

Similarly, the government is lowering its share in the revenue of community forestry, which is expected to resolve a dispute between the government and community forest consumers’ association. 

The source also said that the ordinance has brought no changes on excise duty and income tax, but a minor change has been made on a list of goods under the VAT net. Likewise, no changes have been made on existing ceiling of internal borrowing. 

Finance Minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani has conformed that the upcoming ordinance would bring no major changes. "The up coming finance ordinance would be a continuation of the programs and policies announced in the budget of last July, with no remarkable changes" Dr Lohani told The Kathmandu Post. 

The development expenditure allocated for the current fiscal year has not been changed, but some changes are expected to boost the sluggish development expenditure. nepalnews.com pd Jan. 15 04

Maoists cautiously welcome UML roadmap

The Maoists has cautiously welcomed the roadmap recently made public by the CPN-UML saying it was one step forward in the democratic movement. 

It has, however, expressed suspicions that it might be a move to scale down the growing demand for republic by youths and students, the Kathmandu Post said Thursday.

“We have expected that the next move of the CPN-UML will be towards making the constitution through constituent assembly elections,” Maoist leader Babu Ram Bhattarai told Janadesh in an interview. 

“However, the UML leaders are not yet clear regarding the formulation of the new constitution,” said Bhattari. 

It may be noted that the Janadesh is the Maoist mouthpiece. nepalnews.com pd Jan. 15 04

Troika provisioned in SAARC

At a time when SAARC is accused of remaining in papers for decades, a SAARC troika has been provisioned for the first time with the vision of making the same implementation oriented.   

According to the Kantipur Daily, the Foreign Ministers from the former, present and the upcoming presiding countries’ constitute the newly formulated troika committee. 

Troika is to perform the role of a catalyst in developing relationship with other international organizations and activate SAARC in the region, among others.

Troika is constituted by the foreign ministers of Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively.  According to the reports, SAARC secretary will coordinate the program for troika.

There is a similar committee in the European Union. 
nepalnews.com pd Jan 15 04

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Mayor of Birgunj shot dead

A group of suspected Maoists shot dead the Mayor of Birgunj, Gopal Giri around 9 in the morning Thursday, reports said.

According to Ajay Dwebedi, President of NC (D) of Birgunj, Giri was shot 6 times and declared dead at the local Shiva hospital. Giri was shot by Pipariya Hanuman stan, at Bypass road, in the heart of the city. 

According to our sources, the Mayor had received death threats by the Maoists. Giri was an active member of the RPP. He was appointed the Mayor by current Thapa government.

The police in Kathmandu also confirmed the incident. Giri is survived by his wife and two sons. nepalnews.com pd/dr Jan 15 04

'Over 90 Maoists surrendered in a month'

Over 90 Maoists rebels have surrendered to the administration in the last 30 days of the government announcing amnesty and incentives to those who give up rebellion, a report said Thursday, quoting security sources.

Those who surrendered to the security forces and the chief district offices were armed Maoists as well as others involved in various  Maoist activities, reported the Himalayan Times.

The data regarding the surrendering Maoists provided by the Ministry of Home and the Royal Nepal Army Headquarters, however, differ slightly, according to the news report.

"While the army data shows that only 75 people have surrendered till date, the ministry's data says that 93 people have surrendered already," the report said.

The government, while offering amnesty, had planned "detention centres" for the rehabilitation of those who surrender. "But the government has not been able to make such plans operational due to a lack of adequate funds," it added.

"The army had asked for Rs 4 million to form each detention centre, but the government has so far released only a million rupees," the report quoted unnamed Defence Ministry sources, as saying.

For rehabilitation purpose, the government had planned two "detention centres" - one in Sundarijal, Kathmandu and another in Dhakaltar of Tanahu district. nepalnews.com mr Jan 15 04

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Religious felicitation to King planned

World Hindu Confederation had decided to offer a grand Religious Felicitation to His Majesty the King on January 23 in Kathmandu, Space Time said Thursday.

According to Bharat Keshar Singh, president of the Confederation, King is the incarnation of Lord Bishnu in Hindu mythology. "So we are felicitating him," he said. 

The felicitation will be in accordance with the religious traditions of Hinduism, he said. People who follow Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism will also take part in the felicitation, the daily said. 

Distinguished guests from 12 countries such as Bhutan, America, Brazil, Germany, Italy and India will be guests of the function, Sing said.

The King earlier received civic felicitations in Biratnagar, Dhangadhi and other places of the country. nepalnews.com mr Jan 15  04