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| NEWS FLASH 2000- LAST UPDATED : Friday, December 08, 2000 09:11 AM + 5:45 GMT | |
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UML youth wing’s national convention begins Kathmandu, Dec 7: The fourth national convention of Democratic National Youth Organsiuation, youth wing of the main opposition CPN-UML, started in Kathmandu Thursday. CPN-UML general secretary and main opposition leader in parliament Madhav Kumar Nepal opened the convention in which he said that youth need to work to change the society for better. According to Nepal, the problems at present are feudalism, exploitation and discrimination against which youth have to fight. Opposition leader also used the forum to urge all political forces to support CPN-UML’s move and proposal to amend the present constitution. He called upon the under ground Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) also come forward with the proposal for the amendment in the constitution and join the mainstream politics. As the government and other opposition parties in parliament have agreed to do homework for the amendment in the constitution, Maoists also should come to join hand with us for the change in the constitution and work for the development and progress of the nation and the people. The convention would adopt policies and the programmes for the future and elect new leadership of the youth organization. nepalnews.com yl PAC summons Minister on Lauda Air deal Kathmandu, Dec 7: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament summoned Minister for Tourism and Civil violation Tarini Dutta Chataut and asked to clarify the issue concerning the deal of Royal Nepal Airlines (RNAC) with Lauda Air to bring the Boeing 767 aircraft on lease. Committee members showed their clear dissatisfaction over the leasing the aircraft despite clear instruction of PAC not to bring the plane unless the parliamentary committee completes its probe into it. RNAC brought the aircraft last week on lease for 18 months. PAC members said that it was violation of PAC’s instruction and contempt of parliament. Minister Chataut said that RNAC is an autonomous body and brought the aircraft for the best interest of the organization. However, PAC members were not satisfied with the statement and logics of the Minister and asked to further clarify Friday.nepalnews.com yl Man, Woman Injured in Rhino Assaults Kathmandu,Dec.7: A man and a woman were injured in two separate assaults by rhinos outside the Royal Chitwan National Chitwan where they are protected, reports said. Chandra Bahadur Lohar,39, is undergoing treatment at Bharatpur hispital after being gored by a rhino Monday at Amaltari. Ratama Majhi,40, was injured in an assault by a one horned rhino near Meghauli airport Saturday. The one horned rhino in only found in Nepal and India's Assam state. nepalnews.com br Government to Give Land to Kamaiyas Kathmandu,Dec.7: Government Wednesday decided to give minimum land to nearly 70,000 kamaiyas or slave labourers for housing and agriculture, an official source said. central committee to identify and rehabilitate the kamaiysa headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel made the decision. The kamaiyas from five districts in west Nepal criticized the government, INGOs and NGOs for failure to take follow-up action to integrate them into society after freeing them through public campaign and government decree earlier this year. Each family will be awarded five katthas of land. The International Labour Organization and several donor countries provided grants to rehabilitate the slave labourers from feudal landlords. Government is identifying the slaves for their rehabilitation. nepalnews.com br Child
Drowns at Convention Centre The infant was identified as Nonu Agrawal from New Delhi. The body was handed over to the parents by police after post-mortem Wednesday. nepalnews.com br CPN-ML’s national convention to begin Friday Kathmandu, Dec 7: The national convention of the CPN-ML is going to be held in Kathmandu from December 8, Friday. This is the first national convention of CPN-ML that was created three years ago after breaking away from CPN-UML. R.K. Mainali, central leader of the CPN-ML, said that all the preparations regarding the national convention have been complete. The convention would review the party’s policies and its performance in the past and future strategy. It would also elect a new leadership of the party. The convention is likely to endorse the present leadership including general secretary Bamdev Gautam and chairperson Sahana Pradhan. However, another central leader CP Mainali is vying to snatch away the post of general secretary from Gautam. In a communist party’s convention, one, whose political documents are approved by the convention, becomes the general secretary. Both Gautam and CP Mainali have presented their separate documents to be considered by the convention. It is likely that Gautam’s documents are likely to be approved by the party. Gautam’s documents follow late Madan Bhandari’s line “ People’s Multi-party Democracy”, the official political line of the main opposition CPN-UML. CP Mainali wants to make CPN-ML different from CPN-UML and is trying to justify the split from the mother party three years ago. “ If we adopt the same line, what is the justification of reconstitution CPN-ML”, said Mainali. CPN-ML describes the split from CPN-UML three years ago as the reconstitution of CPN-ML However, Gautam and his supporters say that the best option of the communist party at the present context is the “ People’s Multi-Party Democracy” propounded by Madan Bhandari, the then general secretary of CPN-UML, who died in a jeep accident seven years ago. Senior communist figure Shambu Ram Shrestha, Siddhi Lal Singh and young leaders Hari Roka, Gopal Shakya are also presenting their own documents in the convention saying both Gautam’s and Mainali’s documents have a lot of flaws.Nepalnews.com yl Opposition parties oppose Lauda Air deal Kathmandu, Dec 6: Opposition parties in parliament opposed the decision of Royal Nepal Airlines (RNAC) to bring Lauda Air’s Boeing 767 aircraft despite instruction from the Public Accounts Committee of parliament not to implement the deal with Lauda Air. CPN-UML, RPP, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, National People’s Front and United People’s Front met today and discussed the joint strategy against the decision of brining the Lauda Air plane on lease. Public Accounts Committee had clearly instructed the government and RNAC not to implement the deal with Lauda Air regarding the leasing the plane. The aircraft arrived last week and started its operation as per the deal with RNAC to lease the aircraft for 18 months. Opposition parties have flayed the government and RNAC for ignoring the instruction of PAC, which they say, is contempt of parliament. Today’s meeting of the opposition parties decided to launch a joint protest against this move. The meeting concluded that the decision of brining the Lauda jet against the instruction of parliamentary committee is contempt of parliament. nepalnews.com UML holds talks with govt on constitution amendment Kathmandu, Dec 6: The main opposition party CPN-UML, which has proposed amendment in some provisions of the present constitution, discussed it with the government today. CPN-UML met with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and other representatives of the government and the Nepali Congress in the official residence of Prime Minister in Baluwatar and put forward its proposal for the constitution amendment. CPN-UML specifically put forward the provisions of the constitution it seeks amendment and their justification. After listening to the CPN-UML’s views, Prime Minister Koirala asked all to do serious homework before doing anything about such an important and sensitive issue like constitution amendment. General Secretary of CPN-UML and opposition leader Madhav Nepal said that if some provisions of the constitution were not amended, it would invite serious political as well as social problems in the near future. CPN-UML wants change in the provision of parliamentary constituency delineation, role and composition of Upper House of parliament and reforms in the electoral system It wants to change parliamentary constituency only in every 25 years, instead of present 10 years, ensure the provision of caretaker government to conduct the general election and make the Upper House of parliament the House of different nationalities.Nepalnews.com CIAA Chief Renounces Pension, Other Details Kathmandu, Dec.6: Newly appointed Chief Commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority Suryanath Upadhaya has set an example by renouncing his pension while serving as chief of the anti corruption bureau. Upadhaya is a civil servant who was appointed Commissioner after retirement. Upadhaya acted on the principle that a person should not draw a pension and salary simultaneously from the state coffer. Mohan Bikram Singh has been sacked as General Secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Mashal) for marrying Durga Paudel, a woman much younger than him earlier this year. Singh married for the second time. Singh was replaced by Ram Singh Shrish at a meeting to discuss unity between the Mashal and Nepal Communist Party ( Unity Centre) at an undisclosed place in Lumbini Anchal recently. Hotelier B.K.Shrestha has been unanimously elected Chairman of the Nepal German Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a second three-year term. nepalnews.com br Nepal Aims to Eradicate Polio, Other Details Kathmandu, Dec.6: Nepal hopes to eliminate polio through a national campaign to administer polio drops to reach 3.9 million children upto five years of age on Saturday and January 20 next year. An estimated three to five percent of the targeted children missed the two-day annual campaign in the last four years to eliminate the crippling disease by the year 2002. Nepal is still not polio free; two cases were detected in 1999 and one this year. In an intensified effort, teams will be despatched the next day of immunization to detect if children again missed the campaign and administer the drops. Nepal is one of 21 countries where the disease in still prevalent. The Kingdom stands a good chance of curbing tuberculosis in the next two years. " Nepal has a good chance of becoming TB-free society in a couple of years," said internationally renowned TB specialist Dr. Dirgha Singh Bam. In Nepal, the number of TB-related deaths has been reduced to 9000 a year from 18,000 several years ago after a DOTS( Directly Observed Treatment Short Course) freely administered national campaign. But the national drive has been complicated by the increasing incidence of TB/HIV in the Himalayan kingdom where 12,000 patients are suffering from both TB and HIV/AIDS. nepalnews.com br Crown Prince Highlights AIDS Concern Kathmandu, Dec.6: Crown Prince Dipendra said Tuesday HIV/AIDS was still in a concentrated epidemic form in Nepal where the killer disease could be contained before it reaches epidemic proportions by reaching a large majority of the infected core group. Nepal's most eligible bachelor said 40 million people- half of Nepal's population- have been affected by the disease world-wide and is a problem that cannot be ignored. Speaking in impeccable English, the Eton educated heir to the Nepali throne said the centre of gravity of the disease is shifting from sub-Saharan Africa to South Asia. " We, as a nation, are at a crossroads as HIV/AIDS in Nepal is still in a concentrated epidemic from," the Prince said in only his second public speech in three years. nepalnews.com br Kathmandu, Dec.6: Former Chairman and General Manager of Rashtriya Samachar Samiti, Nepal's only news agency, died Tuesday, according to his family source. He was 67. Rajbhandari was suffering from diabetes. Rajbhandari joined RSS as an English translator 36 years ago. He was cremated Tuesday. nepalnews.com br Kathmandu, Dec.6: Nepal Marwari Council has decided to give its Rs.100,000 national award for selfless social service to Health Assistant Indra Prasad Nepal for treating the sick continuously for the last 50 years,an announcement said. Nepal,75, still bicycles to homes of invalids to treat them free of cost. Nepal started work as a Health Assistant at the Bhaktapur Hospital 58 years ago and also worked at the Bir Hospital; he resigned from government service after working for seven years only. Nepal is a founder and life member of Paropakar. nepalnews.com br Kathmandu, Dec.5:
Nepal's hotels have notified travel agents they will be unable to
provide full services to guests following a threatened strike by employees
demanding a compulsory slapping of 10 percent service charge on all
services from December 11, hoteliers said. Travel agents had
demanded such advance notification from hotels to advise their clients and
protect themselves from possible compensation claims. Earlier, the Nepal
Association of Travel Agents issued a statement condemning hotel employees
for not co-operating with a government appointed committee headed by
National Planning Commission Vice- Chairman Prithvi Raj Ligal yo resolve
the issue last month. The committee was formed
last month following the first round of threatened strikes to resolve the
issue. A cloud hangs over the
tourism industry at the peak of the winter tourism season attracting
thousands of visitors; the threaten strike will affect associated
businesses hampering the national economy, economists said. Hoteliers charged the
ruling Nepali Congress party and the main opposition communists of
inciting rival unions to strike and cripple the industry. Hotel workers, meanwhile, claim many establishments are already charging 10 percent service charge and are not sharing the tax with employees who say the tax will encourage transparency in the industry to government's gain. Hoteliers say the tax will be counterproductive.nepalnews.com CPN-UML starts discussion on constitution amendment Kathmandu, Dec 5: As part of its nation-wide debate, the main opposition party CPN-UML initiated discussion with intellectuals and constitutional experts on the possible amendment of the present constitution. The discussion programme was held in CPN-UML’s parliamentary party office in which constitution experts, lawyers, political leaders and intellectuals presented their views on the issue of constitution amendment. Some of the prominent figures that were present in today’s discussion were former speaker of parliament Daman Nath Dhungana, main opposition leader in parliament Madhav Kumar Nepal, Supreme Court Justice Laxamn Aryal, Senior lawyer Mukunda Regmi, central leader of CPN-UML Bharat Mohan Adhikari, senior lawyer Sindhunath Pyakuryal, former Minister and diplomat Nilambar Acharya and lawmaker and chairmen of parliamentary Public Account Committee Subash Nembang. Dhungana, Nepal, Aryal, Adhikari and Regmi are members of the Constitution Recommendation Committee that wrote the present constitution. In the discussion, mixed reactions were expressed about the amendment of the constitution. Most people said that the issue of constitution amendment is very important which needs serious discussion among all political forces of the country both within and outside parliament. CPN-UML has proposed amendment in some provisions of the constitution like change in the parliamentary constituency in every ten years and make it in every 25 years, making the National Assembly (upper House of parliament) an assembly of different nationalities and addition of the provision of caretaker government representing all political parties in parliament to conduct the general election. All other opposition political parties have supported the idea. However, Nepali Congress has not made its position clear. CPN-UML has already decided to launch a nation-wide discussion to muster support from the people of ever level for the constitutional amendment.nepalnews.com yl Nepal achieves two major gains in health sector Kathmandu, Dec 5: Nepal has made two significant gains in the field of health as iodine and Vitamin A deficiency related diseases are almost eliminated because of the nationwide campaign against such diseases. According to a nationwide survey on micronutrient status of Nepal, the finding of which was released on Monday, iodine deficiency disorders, which retard children’s cognitive development, is nearing elimination in Nepal. Similarly, Vitamin A deficiency, which decreases the ability to fight illness, has almost disappeared among the pre-school children, the report states. Iodine and Vitamin A deficiencies had been major problem in the health sector of Nepal. The government in support from various international agencies like WHO, USAid and Unicef launched nationwide campaign against these diseases. Minister for Health Dr Ram Baran Yadav released the Survey findings in Kathmandu on Monday in which he said that the remarkable progress in this sector is attributed mainly to two successful public health interventions. The survey was conducted randomly among the 15000 households in different parts of the country. Over four million Nepalese children in 69 districts are administered Vitamin A capsule twice a year. Similarly, all salt sold in Nepal is iodised and social marketing campaign is underway to promote iodised salt as an intervention against iodine deficiency related diseases. The findings of the Survey shows that visible goiter, a common sign of iodine deficiency, is no longer found in school-aged children and affects only 1.3 per cent women. Night blindness is detected in 0.27 per cent people and Bitot’s is detected only in 0.33 per cent pre-school children in Nepal.nepalnews.com.yl Irate PAC Summons Minister Singh demands special CWC meeting of NC Kathmandu, Dec 5: Central Committee member and lawmaker of ruling Nepali Congress PL Singh demanded an early special meeting of the Nepali Congress central working committee to sort out the issues relating to active membership and solve the problems within the party. In a letter to the party president Girija Prasad Koirala, Singh said that the decision pertaining to active memberships of the party has been violated and the party has made preparation for the tenth national convention without sorting out the problem. He asked Koirala to call the special meeting of the party in order to solve the anomalies and problems. If special meeting fo the central committee was not called and these anomalies not solved before the tenth national convention, he would not take part in any activites of the party. He has written to Koirala that if those problems were not solved, he would resign from the party’s central committee member. “ Consider this letter as my resignation, if the issues I have raised not solved by calling special meeting of party’s central committee”, he said in his letter. Singh boycotted the convention of the Nepali Congress Kathmandu district committee citing irregularities in distributing party’s active membership However, Koirala does not seem to pay attention to Singh’s demands. Koirala, in a function in Biratnager, Monday, said that some unwanted elements within the party have been removed through election at different level. “ Half of such unwanted elements have already been removed and the rest would be eliminated in the tenth national convention of the party”, Koirala said. However, he has described the decision of Sher Bahadur Deuba to contest against Koirala for the party president as a democratic exercise. These exercises do not cause split in the party rather consolidate the party organization and democratic practice. nepalnews.com yl Nation-wide
Load Shedding After Closure of Power Plant Kathmandu, Dec.5:
Nepal Electricity Authority Tuesday announced nation-wide load shedding
following power shortage after the temporary closure of the 60 MW Khimti I
hydropower plant Monday. The Authority announced a
two-hour power cut once every week in Kathmandu Valley and another
two-hour disruption of electricity once a week outside the Valley during
the onset of winter until the plant is repaired. The sole distributor of
electricity through the national grid has asked consumers to minimize the
use of electricity. Nepal's first hydropower
plant in the private sector was closed down for repairs of the penstock
pipe days after its formal inauguration by King Birendra. The Authority buys and
distributes power of the Khimti I. nepalnews.com br Campuses
Closed down in Kathmandu Valley Kathmandu, Dec.5:
Students loyal to underground Maoists forced the closure of most campuses
and higher secondary schools in the Kathmandu Valley to protest
earlier arrests and police intervention in educational establishments
during protests t demand subsidized kerosene. Radical leftist students
organized a march past campuses Tuesday demanding the closure of
educational establishments. The students disgraced
the Principal of Champidevi Higher Secondary School in Lalitpur Tuesday by
blackening his face with soot for allegedly abusing a student. Meanhile, Maoist student
loyalists have called a nation-wide weeklong strike in educational
institutions from Friday to stop singing the national anthem at schools,
discontinue Sanskrit, free education, among other things. nepalnews.com
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