Koirala Says He Is Ready To Step Down
In view of increasing 'mutual consent' among the Maoists and the UML
on the issue of president and both of them refusing to back his
presidential bid, Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) president
Girija Prasad Koirala has hinted that the NC would not be part of the
next government. Speaking during a meeting of the seven-party alliance
at his Baluwatar residence Thursday (June 19) evening, Koirala said he
was ready to step down and that he was not willing to hold any
position. Koirala said he would resign as soon as the seven parties
suggested him where he should submit his resignation letter. The NC,
he said, will fully involve itself in the constitution-making process. He spoke for three minutes at the start of the meeting and left the meeting hall, reports say. Compiled from reports
Minister Yadav Defends His Action
Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, Matrika Yadav, has defended
his action of locking up a Local Development Officer (LDO) of
Lalitpur, Dundu Raj Ghimire, in the toilet of the ministry on Tuesday
(June 17) for not following his orders. Organizing a press conference
at the ministry Thursday, Yadav said he would not apologize for his
action against LDO Ghimire and that he would keep on taking similar
actions against corrupt officials. "I don't think I should apologize
for locking up a corrupt person in the toilet. There will be more
stringent action against corrupt officials in future," Yadav, who has
frequently courted controversy for his maverick actions in the past,
added. Accusing the protesting government officials of supporting a
corrupt official, the minister said that such pressure applied by "a
bunch of government employees" would not intimidate him. He also came
down hard against media for helping the 'corrupt.' He accused that a
section of media run under the investment of 'corrupt and smugglers'
had become a shield for 'corrupt employees.' He further said, "My
latest action must have raised the hackles of the corrupt lot." He
however, urged the protesting officials to return to work. Local body
officials, Wednesday, shut down the local bodies throughout the
country protesting the minister's action against the Lalitpur LDO.
Compiled from reports
Civil Servants Up In Arms Over Yadav's High-Handedness
Civil servants Wednesday protested at what they described as the
illegal, inhumane and uncivilized behavior of the Minister for Forest
and Soil Conservation Matrika Yadav, who allegedly tormented the
Lalitpur district Local Development Officer on June 17. The civil
servants demanded Minister Yadav, who called the LDO to the ministry
and locked him inside a toilet, to publicly apologize. Minister Yadav
allegedly locked Lalitpur LDO Dandu Raj Ghimire in the toilet of his
office on Tuesday for allowing a boulder mine at Lalitpur community
forest. The local government employees have announced to shut down
VDCs, DDCs and municipalities across the country on Thursday.
Employees associated with Nepal Civil Servants Association, Civil
Servants Union, Federation of District Development Committee,
Federation of Professionals and Employees at Lalitpur District
Development Committee (DDC) took out the protest against the Forest
Minister's brutal behavior. The agitating civil employees at the
Ministry of Forest and Lalitpur DDC decided to halt their work for
Wednesday. Likewise, Employees at Lalitpur Department of Forest staged
a demonstration in front of the district forest office at Hatti Ban in
protest of the incident. A statement released by Lalitpur chapter of Civil Servants Association mentioned that Minister Yadav's use of force to lock up an employee was a blatant attempt to exercise feudal
punishment. Stating that the incident was a slap in the face of the
law, the civil employees warned the minister not to repeat the act
again. Meanwhile, local people of Lalitpur vandalised the District Forest Office and torched an effigy of Minister Yadav accusing him of unlawfully arresting one Giri Prasad Timilsina in his direct order.
The locals have accused that the Minister arrested and sent Timilsina
– who is a district member of Nepali Congress (NC) – to Nakhu jail for
'encroaching forest land.' "Can a person like a minister arrest people
unlawfully? He has been arrested without fulfilling legal procedures
in a direct violation of rule of law," said Khum Prasad Ghimire,
president of NC of Lalitpur-1 constituency. Compiled from reports
Martin Urges Nepal Govt To Define UNMIN's Role
Chief of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), Ian Martin, called
on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in Baluwatar Wednesday (June
18) and discussed the mission's role in Nepal's ongoing peace process.
According to Prime Minister's foreign affairs advisor Aditya Baral,
Martin said that the Nepal government should now explain the role it
wants the UNMIN to play. In response, Prime Minister Koirala said the
government very soon would take a decision regarding the UNMIN's role
after consultations with the parties. UNMIN's term, which was renewed
by six months, ends on July 23. It is not yet clear whether the
government will ask the UN or some role in the proposed army
integration. Army integration has been the one of the hotly debated
issues in the meetings of the three main parties, as they are sharply
divided on how and when the integration should proceed. Nepalnews.com
reports
Experts Stress On Use Of Ethanol And Biodiesel
Experts have stressed the need to switch to the use of ethanol and
biodiesel to lessen the financial burden created by spiraling price of
petroleum products. According to Professor Amrit Nakarmi of Energy
Study Center of Pulchowk Engineering College, only the use of such
alternative fuel can provide relief to consumers. Even though the
government has authorized the mixing of 10 percent ethanol in petrol
four years ago, it has not been implemented. Professor Nakarmi said
that up to 20 percent ethanol can be mixed in petrol. Likewise, up to
20 percent biodiesel can be mixed in diesel. Ethanol can be produced
from molasses – the byproduct generated during the process of
producing sugar from sugarcane. Biodiesel can be produced from various
plants. As per the data of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), Nepal consumes
144 million liters of petrol a year. Ten percent of that will mean
14.4 million liters. If ethanol is used as a substitute, the import of
petrol can be reduced by 14.4 million liters a year – valued at Rs
1.44 billion at current market price. Likewise, if up to 20 percent
biodiesel is mixed in diesel, yearly import of diesel can be reduced
by 84 million liters equivalent to Rs 7.56 billion at current price.
The annual consumption of diesel stands at 420 million liters. "These
substitutes are being used all over the world. Here we have not done
anything to provide relief to consumers," said Nakarmi. According to
sugar industrialist Diwakar Golchha, a liter of ethanol costs Rs 58 to
60 – much cheaper compared to the cost of petrol at Rs 100 per liter.
Golchha added that local sugar mills can produce 10 million liters of ethanol a year. Kantipur daily reports
Human Error Caused UNMIN Chopper Crash
The government-formed commission to investigate into the UNMIN chopper
crash in Ramechhap district concluded on Tuesday (June 17) that the
human error was the reason behind the incident, which took lives of 10
persons on March 3. The MI-8MTV-1 helicopter Ra-27019, operated by
Vertical-T for the United Nations Mission in Nepal, crashed in
Bethan-9 in Ramechhap, killing all seven passengers and three-member
crew. "The investigation has concluded that the chopper crashed due to
the violation of regulation, lack of experience and familiarization
with local terrain and weather as well as poor handling of flight
control system by the flight crew in an emergency situation," said
Dron Raj Regmi, the chief of the commission. The report raised doubts
over the ability of Russian pilot. However, it failed to elaborate why
and how both engines were shut down. "There was no record of the
crew's conversation in the flight deck," Regmi said. The Cockpit Voice
Recorder also could not be used in the course of investigation, as it
was not set to the starting position before the first flight of the
day, he said. "The crew conducted flight in a helicopter certified for
Visual Flight Rules into Instrumental Meteorological Condition and
encountered the clouds. Severe turbulence and absence of visual cues
led to spatial disorientation among the crew members, leading to loss
of control of the helicopter," the report states. "The flight crew
decided to take the flight to 4,000 metres to avoid difficult terrain
and weather without acquiring a weather forecast and without route
planning." The report adds that after the engine shut, the pilot in
command was unable to bring the helicopter safely to the ground in
autorotation. The Russian pilot was said to have only 10 hours of
flight experience in Nepali terrain and also had problem in
communicating in English. The commission has recommended the Civil
Aviation Authority of Russia to take steps to prohibit the wrong
practice of flight crew of helicopter carrying out Instrumental Flight
Rules flights for VFR certified helicopters. "The UN should designate
responsible persons for engineering, quality control, chief pilot,
store in-charge," the report adds. It states that the Civil Aviation
Authority of Nepal should make the foreigners operating aircraft here
aware of safety regulations of the country. The report was handed over
to the secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation,
Lilamani Paudyal. The Himalayan Times daily reports
Rs 200 B Budget Likely
Senior finance ministry officials said the budget for the fiscal year
2008-2009 could go up to Rs 200 billion. The accumulated demand from
different ministries, constitutional bodies and government agencies
stands at around Rs 240 billion, though. The projected outlay is 20
percent more than the revised total expenditure of Rs 165.50 billion
in the current fiscal year ending in mid-July. "The budget of Rs 200
billion is manageable at the current state of economy and the total
amount is about 22 percent of the GDP," finance secretary Vidyadhar
Mallik said. "The actual budget size, however, would depend on new
government's policies and programs," he added. He said the delay in
formation of new government could have some impact on finalizing the
budget even as its technical part was ready and the Finance Ministry
officials were fully involved in the preparatory works. Krishna Hari
Baskota, chief of budget division at the ministry, said ministries of
health, education, local development, forestry and physical planning
had demanded comparatively more budget than the other ministries.
Health Ministry alone has asked for at least 10 percent of the total
budget, according to Baskota. The demand from the Ministry of
Education and Sports is also significant, as it has stressed the need
for providing education to all. The ministry has sought budget for
recruiting 62,000 teachers, supporting over 23,000 public schools and
launching new schemes to increase girls' enrolment nationwide. The
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has proposed many exciting
programs including subsidy on chemical fertilizers to farmers that
would require Rs 9 billion a year. The Peace and Reconstruction
Ministry has demanded Rs 7 billion to implement the peace process,
management of the Maoist combatants in cantonments and to rehabilitate
the internally displaced people and other post-conflict activities.
The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has demanded budget for
Kathmandu-Terai fast track road and development of alternative routes
to minimize traffic congestion in urban areas, particularly in the
Valley. The Himalayan Times daily reports
