FALL SEASON : The bare trees near the Sahid Gate and the azure sky indicated that winter has really set in the capital with its trade mark chilly days and foggy mornings.

Hopes, doubts ahead of Hoon’s visit 

By Satish Jung Shahi

KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - As British Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon lands in the capital on Wednesday for a two-day visit, former British Gurkha soldiers back home are once again hopeful that the on-going issue of pension parity will be properly addressed by Britain.

However, high-level officials at the British Embassy in Kathmandu are saying that chances of British Defence Secretary coming to the country with a revised pension package is "absolutely nil."

Instead, Embassy officials said that Hoon is likely to raise the issue of "intimidation" of former British Gurkha soldiers by the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organization (GAESO), which has spearheaded the controversial battle against pension parity in the British Army for a number of years.

British officials have been accusing GAESO of raising funds for its movement by threatening former Gurkha soldiers, in some cases even demanding half the amount of their increased pension announced last year. GAESO, however, has denied the charges saying that all contributions have been voluntary.

So far, the British press has termed the visit as an effort to "repair a tarnished relationship" with the Gurkhas.

On the other hand, high-level officials here, both at the Ministries for Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Defense (MoD), are maintaining that there is no fixed agenda on Hoon’s "goodwill visit," and a gamut of issues on Nepal-Britain relations, especially the Gurkha issue, may be informally discussed.

"Defence Secretary Hoon is here basically to inspect Gurkha Welfare Trust. We don’t have any fixed agenda during his visit," said Gyan Chandra Acharya, spokesperson at the MoFA.

Hoon is slated to hold bilateral talks with Minister for Defence and Finance Mahesh Acharya and Minister for Foreign Affairs Chakra Prasad Bastola tomorrow.

"But, the visit is of great importance as we have been sharing an extensive relationship with Britain, not only because of the Gurkha but also because we hold most of our military office training there," Acharya added.

However, reliable sources both at MoFA and MoD say that the Nepal government will mainly focus, during Hoon’s visit, on the issue of Britain denying compensation to Gurkha soldiers who survived the horrors of Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) camps during the Second World War.

United Kingdom recently denied compensation worth 10,000 pounds each to Gurkhas POWs, citing that the Gurkhas at that time were "technically Indian Army Units" before 1947. The decision even incited fury in Britain from a number of MPs.

Meanwhile, the ex-servicemen organizations here are also positive over Hoon’s visit, especially as he is a former MP holding a cabinet ministerial post charged with making and executing Defence policy in Britain. He is also chairman of UK’s Defence Council.

"The government should raise the issue of pension parity in the British Army. The present diplomatic channel is the best way to resolve the deserving issue, which many Gurkha soldiers are deprived of," says MP Narayan Singh Pun, who heads the recently formed Federation of Gurkha Ex-Servicemen Nepal (FOGESEN).

Hotel strike hits tourists

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 – Following the strike called by hotel owners on December 11, most tourists staying in the hotels had to check out the same day. However, a few tourists who checked out yesterday are learnt to have returned back to the hotels after they re-opened today.

Sheldon Hutchins, an American tourist, who had come to Nepal on 27 November, 2000, had to leave the hotels he was staying in, after the hotel to shut down. Hotels were closed for an indefinite period on Monday. Fortunately, Hutchins along with six other American tourists were taken to US Embassy premises for their stay. They returned to Radisson hotel today after employers announced to reopen the hotels.

Hutchins who was to leave for USA Tuesday says, "The strike, whether it is held by hotel workers or employers, will affect tourists visiting Nepal, even if it is one of the best tourist destinations in the world." He says, "Most tourists had gone to stay with their relatives and friends on the day of the strike. Its impact will remain for some time which is bad for this country."

However, it is sad to note that Anthony Orsini, an American citizen, had to leave the hotel yesterday due to inconveniences caused by the strike. Orsini had arrived here two weeks ago, but had had to face difficult time due to the strike called by hotel employers. "It will severely affect the smoothly growing Nepalese tourism," he says.

Ajay Sthapit, Secretary General of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) worried, "About 2000 tourists checked out from the hotels yesterday across the country and moved to non-star hotels, lodges and some of their friends due to the strike. Tourism industry alone lost more than 50 million rupees in revenues in the one-day strike, he says.

All hotels across the country reopened today, after the hoteliers called-off their indefinite strike.

The demand by hotel workers to impose 10 per cent service charge compulsorily in all hotel services had forced the owners to shut down their hotels on December 11. However, hoteliers called off their strike after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala personally promised to resolve the issue within two months, through the high level committee formed by the government under the chairmanship Prithvi Raj Ligal, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Gautam’s document likely to be endorsed

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - The National Convention of Communist Party of Nepal - Marxist Leninist (CPN-ML), which is set to conclude late night today, is about to endorse the political document of former General Secretary Bamdev Gautam with proper changes.

According to Devi Prasad Ojha, coordinator of the Publicity Committee, the party is about to endorse the political document presented by Gautam, with a vast majority. "Other document presenters are also going to endorse the Gautam’s one with proper reforms," Ojha said. "They are holding discussion to reach a consensus."

Other political documents were presented by CP Mainali, Siddhi Lal Singh, Hari Rokka and Shambhu Ram Shrestha.

Controversies had dogged the party, ever since Mainali and other members registered alternative political documents challenging the one presented by Gautam.

The Convention, which started on December 8, will elect about 151 members for the National Council. The Council later on will nominate central committee members from among the council members.

Chitwan bandh peaceful, passengers get stranded

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CHITWAN, Dec 12 – Thousands of passengers were stranded for hours as communist protestors forced down the closure of the entire Chitwan district Tuesday.

Hundreds of passenger buses and goods-laden trucks were stuck on different portions of the East-West Highway and Naryangadh-Mugling Highway as today’s Chitwan bandh got underway.

The bandh was called by six Left parties who were protesting the death of Gauri Sapkota, 24, in a police firing on Saturday. The young woman was killed Saturday when police fired on a meeting which was being held by the Maoist wing of the All Nepal Women’s Association at Chitwan’s Harikirtan Chowk.

Long-distance buses plying on the East-West Highway on Tuesday were forced to halt for hours at Lothar and Gaidakot, respectively in the east and west of Chitwan district. They were allowed to proceed towards their destinations after 4 p.m. today, police said.

Almost all the vehicles plying to Kathmandu from the Terai must pass through Chitwan district if travelling on the East-West Highway.

In Chitwan itself, the bandh passed off peacefully. While the streets remained deserted as vehicles stayed off the roads, major business centres also remained closed throughout the day. The organisers of today’s bandh also staged a protest rally in Narayangadh Bazaar, according to Superintendent of Police, Ramesh Chand.

Various leftist leaders who addressed a mass meeting demanded an impartial investigation and action against those responsible for the death of Sapkota, free-treatment for the injured and release of all those who were detained in police custody.

No clear answer as two branches of Govt fight over turf

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Dec 12 – The recent Lauda Air jet lease by RNAC over the fervent objections of
parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has again brought to the fore the issue of separation of powers between the executive and legislative arms of government.

The question uppermost in government and political circles is: does PAC or for that matter, any of the eight other parliamentary committees, have the mandate to give binding direction to the government? Are these committees pre-empting the government’s functions? In other words, are they becoming more of an activist body instead of remaining within the bounds of recommendations?

The opinions are varied in the absence of any clear-cut definition of the roles of parliamentary committees in the Constitution.

Clause 64 of the Constitution simply states says that the House of Representatives may constitute and manage such committees as required. However, Clause 193 of the Regulations of the House of Representatives says that a committee will present its report, complete with recommendations and comments, to the House after evaluating the programme and policy, resource management, administration and similar activities on the government/ministry/department or any other government agency.

Sub-clauses 1 (with its eight sections), 2 and 3 mention only about presenting reports on various acts of omission and commission of the government and its agencies.

The vagueness of these clauses has given rise to conflicting opinions, depending whom you talk to, or which side the expert happens to be.

For instance, those who are known to be close to the present government say PAC has overstepped its boundary in the Lauda Air jet lease case. Those who are in the opposition, or who are otherwise noted constitutional thinkers but have somehow managed to fall foul of Prime Minister Koirala, argue just the opposite.

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post, Daman Nath Dhungana, former Speaker of the House of Representatives termed the violation of PAC’s directives as the "height of normlessness".

"This unprecedented government action shows that it does not want to be accountable to Parliament. Disobedience of a parliamentary committee is, in effect, disobedience of the Parliament," said Dhungana.

The former Speaker suggested that the government should either prove that PAC is wrong or else it should abide by its directives. "Ignoring a parliamentary committee will disturb the balance of power between the executive and the legislature as enshrined in the Constitution."

However, Krishna Khanal, Professor of Political Science at Tribhuvan University and a former advisor to Prime Minister Koirala, disagrees that a single parliamentary committee constitutes the whole Parliament. "PAC cannot conclude that the whole Parliament was ignored."

The professor cited the practice in the United Kingdom where a parliamentary committee scrutinises the government’s function throughout the year and presents an annual report to the Parliament. The parliament in turn, asks the government for clarification.

Prof Khanal said that although the essence was to make the government accountable, "PAC has, indeed, gone beyond its regular function in directing the government". If it starts pre-empting the government, what will be left for the government to function? The present action of PAC seems like legislative activism, he asserts.

He suggested a debate be conducted in Parliament on the roles of the two wings of the government. The professor added that since the democracy in the country is quite young, it is precedents and practices set now that will be referred to in the future.

However, there is also a third opinion. Some experts point out that although Nepal’s constitution is based on England’s Westminster model of government, but the parliamentary committees are inspired by US Congressional committees. This means committees have a lot of power, including that of directing the government.

The standing and permanent committees of the US Congress are termed nerve centres of legislative activity. They do, in the words of American constitutional experts Richard C. Schroeder and Nathan Glick, nuts-and-bolts job of weighing the proposals, hammering them into shape or killing them completely.

While parliamentary committees in Nepal more or less do the same, they have no authority to confirm or reject executive decisions, like high-ranking appointments, etc.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary of the main opposition CPN-UML and one of the framers of the present Constitution questioned the government’s intention in ignoring PAC. "What precedent are they trying to set? Is the Committee a mere discussion forum? Then it should not remain in the first place," said Nepal.

Lok Raj Baral, who was appointed the ambassador to India during Koirala’s earlier innings as Prime Minister, rejected the notion that Parliament had been challenged. "PAC cannot direct the government. If there will be 10-20 centres of power, what will happen to the governance?"

Good question. Let the debate continue.

NC, UML discuss constitution amendment

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - The Joint Working Group for constitution amendments formed by the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) held its first meeting here today.

NC representatives in the Group said that their party is positive towards the amendment proposals and their formal view will come after the party’s Central Working Committee meeting to be held soon.

The JWG was formed after an agreement between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal last week.

The NC representatives told their counterparts that despite divergent views of various NC leaders, it is they who represent their party’s official line on the issue.

Former PM Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Speaker Taranath Ranabhat have publicly expressed their views against the constitutional amendment.

Ishwor Pokhrel, politburo member of UML and a member of the JWG told The Kathmandu Post that Congress members sought the reasons behind CPN-UML’s move for the amendments. According to him, the ruling party is positive to the proposals.

UML central committee meeting held in second week of November had passed a proposal seeking amendments in the present constitution, which has not been amended so far since its promulgation ten years ago. The JWG includes Narahari Acharya, Jayaprakash Gupta and Govinda Raj Joshi from NC and Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Jhala Nath Khanal and Ishwor Pokhrel from CPN-UML.

Load-shedding to end after Khimti-I repair

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - The evening time power outages will come to an end this weekend after the Khimti-I hydro power plant comes into operation Friday evening, a top Himal Power Limited (HPL) official said today.

The 60 MW Khimti-I hydro power plant, which helped the country get rid of the endemic "load-shedding" after it came into operation last July, was shutdown on December 4 to carry out maintenance works in the penstock pipe.

"Technicians have already repaired the vertical penstock pipe, and now they are filling up the tunnel with water," Harold O’ Skar, General Manager of Himal Power Limited (HPL), the Norwegian company which developed and operates the plant told The Kathmandu Post Tuesday. "It might take four days to fill the tunnel with water. Once the tunnel is filled we will run the plant. Our target is 5 p.m. Friday."

A leakage in the penstock pipe of the plant last week forced authorities to announce power outages throughout the nation.After the plant was shut down, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned power monopoly, announced an indefinite load-shedding in the country for two hours in the evening - from 5:30 to 7:30 in Kathmandu Valley and 6:00 to 8:00 elsewhere.

According to Skar, the leakage prompted HPL to bring in a "flange" - which puts together two penstock pipes - all the way from Norway. The US $ 1,000 worth sparepart was helicoptered to the site on Monday. "We paid thrice as much (US $3,000) in air transport fare alone," he said.

The 60 megawatt (MW) plant had been shut down barely a week after it was officially inaugurated. The Norwegian developed project had been pumping all its power into the national electricity grid managed by NEA.

HPL GM Skar said last week his company could face a loss of between US $ 50,000 to 70,000 a day during the shut down period.

Lawyers demand cancellation of NBA list

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - Forty legal experts today filed an appeal to the election committee of the Nepal Bar Association, demanding cancellation of the membership of "non-practitioner" lawyers all over the country.

The election committee of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) on Monday made public the list of bar members accross the country. The list included Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mahantha Thakur, former Home Minister, Govinda Raj Joshi, Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki, Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Subash Nemwang, among others.

The bar members will be electing office bearers in the coming bar election scheduled for January 13.

Legal experts argued that providing the membership to such non-practitioners is against the NBA’s statute. "NBA’s statute, 2048 (BS) clause 5 states that Senior Advocates, Advocates, Pleader and Agent, certified by the Supreme Court and who are in legal practice are only liable to get the membership of the bar," said advocate Prakash Osti.

According to Osti, the membership list signed and made public by just two members of NBA’s election committee violates the bar’s statute. "The membership list has to be made public signed by all the three members of the election committee," said Osti.

The petition filed also stated that all the members have to pay Rs 15 as application fee, and Rs 200 as membership fee to its bar unit. The bar unit has to send Rs 40 of each Rs 200 collected to the central bar, but there is no bank record of such collected money, stated the petition.

The petition also argued that there are about 90 per cent non-practising lawyers in both the Kathmandu and Patan District Bars, each having about 1000 bar members.

Govt-student dialogue today

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - Officials of Ministry of Education and Sports and representatives of All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (Revolutionary) - a student wing of underground CPN (Maoist) - are set to hold dialogue, on Wednesday, to reach a consensus to open the week-long closure of schools all over the country.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, Khagendra Basnyat, Secretary at the Ministry said, "We are going to hold dialogue with the students tomorrow after 4.00 pm." A preliminary meeting was held between officials, the students and parents’ body yesterday.

According to Basnyat, yesterday’s meeting was held without any homework done by the Ministry. "Today, we did our homework and we are ready to hold the second round of dialogue with them," he added.

Yesterday’s meeting at the Ministry was held on the initiative of the Parents’ Association, aimed at calling-off the strike that began on Friday. "I myself went for the talks with the students without the consent of the Ministry," Basnyat said. The students said their group had called for the strike after the government’s indifference towards their 15-point demand. However, Secretary Basnyat said that the Ministry was ready to fulfil the students’ demands if they come to some compromise.

"Yesterday’s meeting narrowed the distance between the Ministry and us," said Purna Paudyal, General Secretary of ANNFSU (Rev). The meeting was held at the Ministry in the evening. "Why does not the government want to hold the dialogue openly?" Paudyal questioned. "We want open and concrete dialogue," he added.

Chief among the demands of ANNFSU (Rev) are, free education in public schools up to the secondary level, discontinuation of compulsory Sanskrit course from school’s curriculum and the issue of commercialization of education.

Meanwhile, the revolutionary students’ group is going to hold interaction with four other student groups - CPN-UML associated ANNFSU, CPN-ML associated ANNFSU, CPN-Masal associated ANNFSU and ANNFSU (2022), student wing of CPN (Unity Centre) - to jointly organise future protest programmes.

‘Key to progress lies with children’

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - "Investing in the development and care of our youngest children is the most fundamental form of good leadership," Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, argued today at the launch of the State of the World’s Children 2001 according to a press communiqué issued from New York. "The world is squandering human potential on a massive scale as hundreds of millions of the world’s youngest citizens flounder in poverty and neglect in their first years of life," Bellamy added.

In its annual assessment of the well-being of children - The State of The World’s Children 2001 - UNICEF said that far too many political and economic leaders fail to grasp the essential truths about human development.

"The greatest tragedy is that many decision-makers simply don’t know how crucial those first three years of life are," Bellamy said. "But we are now certain that those years are vital to everything that comes later. Investments made today will yield high returns to children and society in the future."

Early childhood years, between ages 0-3, the report notes, influence the way a child’s brain develops through experiences and interactions with parents, family members and other adults, along with other factors such as adequate nutrition, good health and clean water. And how the child develops during this period sets the stage for later success in school and the character of adolescence and adulthood.

In Nepal, the SOW 2001 said, the circumstances of young children are mixed. "On the one hand, child mortality is high, malnutrition is common, sanitation and indoor air quality are poor, and few children receive more than a few years of education," the report said. "On the other hand, some children flourish despite the socio-economic odds against them."

The SOWC 2001 draws its assessment from a recent UNICEF-Save the Children Alliance study, which points out that child care verges on serious neglect in many Nepalese households, especially during peak agricultural seasons. "Small children may remain for hours at a time without any kind of stimulation or adult oversight, or be dependent on the attention of siblings, themselves often young enough to require care," said the study, entitled ‘Bringing Up Children in a Rapidly Changing World’.

"Despite the pressure of economic survival, we have good evidence that Nepalese families are naturally concerned with all aspects of a child’s life," said Stewart McNab, Representative, UNICEF Nepal. "Time and again, we find common practices in villages that draw creatively on minimal resources," McNab added. "It is natural to conclude that good early childhood care is not about alleviating poverty alone. It is about changing beliefs, empowering parents with knowledge, educating not only women but men, and good public investments to help parents in early childhood care."

Early childhood development (ECD), often equated with the idea of pre-school, is now being called on to take on a much broader role, especially the needs of children age 0-3. Within the framework of children’s rights, ECD programmes are required to ensure children grow up healthy and well-nourished, with a sense of identity and self-worth, and are able to learn and interact positively with others, and are protected from factors that may harm their development.

24 Nepalis held in Malaysia

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KATHMANDU, Dec 12 - Malaysian authorities on Tuesday detained at least 24 Nepalis who were allegedly smuggled in from Thailand to work illegally in factories, says a news filed by the Associated Press (AP) from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this evening.

Meanwhile, government authorities here are trying to contact the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Bangkok to confirm the news, said a Foreign Ministry official.

However, Nepal has not yet received any official notification from Malaysia about the arrests.

When asked to comment on the incident, Gyan Chandra Acharya, Spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said "nothing could be said until full information arrives from Bangkok."

All the Nepalese were reportedly detained in a raid conducted by Malaysian immigration officials in Penang, northern Malaysia, on Monday, the AP report says. A Pakistani and two Myanmar citizens were also among the ones arrested.

"If ever the news is true, our measures will be to investigate as to which manpower company illegally flew them out. We will also try to minimize their (the Nepalese detainees) penalty...In many countries such detainees are deported soon," Acharya said.

The AP report adds that more than 140 Nepalese have been detained for working without legal documents in Penang this year.

Malaysia has one of the most harsh labour laws among the South East Asian countries, where hundreds and thousands of South Asian workers flok annually for jobs.

Mohamad Saad Mohamad Akhir, a senior immigration official, was even quoted as saying that his department collected 3 million ringgit (US $ 789,000) in fines imposed on factories hiring illegal workers.

According to the report, one of the Myanmar citizens arrested Monday operated as a recruiting agent for the factories. Each Nepalese had paid US $ 300 (1,140 ringgit) to be smuggled into Malaysia via Thailand, which lies on Malaysia’s northern border.