SC verdict on MPs' perks soon

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - On March 17, the Supreme Court (SC) will decide on the writ petition filed seeking the cancellation of the special allowance provided to the Members of Parliament after the completion of their term.

The nine-member special bench fixed the date after completion of the pleadings of the lawyers. The special bench comprises of SC justices Bhairab Prasad Lamsal, Dilip Kumar Poudel, Gopal Prasad Khatri, Gyanendra Bahadur Shrestha, Hari Prasad Sharma, Kedar Nath Acharya, Kedar Nath Upadhayay, Krishna Jung Rayamajhi and Laxman Aryal.

The writ petition was filed by Bharat Jungam of Kathmandu stating that the provision of special allowance was unconstitutional.

Young hoodlums hit 8 in spine chilling fashion

By Sanjeev Ghimire

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - A murderous gang of young hoodlums brandishing khukris and knives went on a rampage at different parts of the capital last night and early this morning, seriously injuring eight people, police said.

All the victims have been admitted to the emergency ward of Bir Hospital.

Police, meanwhile, have arrested dozens of people who are suspected of being involved in the indiscriminate attacks on innocent passersby. Police say, most of the suspects are teenage drug addicts who may have gone on a rampage for money to satisfy their drug habits.

The attacks occurred in separate incidents at six different locations in the capital - Teku-Pachali, Teku, Lagan, Yangal, Khushibhu and Vanasthali.

The Jana Sewa Police Office at New Road, which patrols both Yangal and Lagan, said that by today afternoon, more than 20 people had been arrested and submitted to the Crime Branch at the Valley Police Office for the necessary investigations. More suspects were being rounded up as the day progressed.

"We suspect that there is close link between Teku Pachhali, Yangal and Lagan stabbings," said Jansewa’s Assistant Sub Inspector Ashok Kumar Jha.

The rampage began with the stabbing of Suresh Anand last night. Anand, 32, of Vanasthali was attacked by a group of teenagers and stabbed at about 9:00 p.m. near his house. Another victim, Lek Bahadur Adhikari, 27, of Aginchowk VDC-6 (now residing in New Baneshwor) was stabbed at Khushibhu at about 9:30 p.m., said the police.

Anand sustained deep injuries on both his thighs and a deep cut on his right hand. Adhikari has a deep cut on his back. Both are critically injured and are admitted to emergency wards.

Likewise, Thakuri Rai Yadav, 70, of Khairawa VDC- 6 Sarlahi and Naresh Mandal, 35, of Darra Chhavi VDC-2 of Sarlahi were stabbed at about 5:45 a.m. Tey were stabbed near at Teku Pachali.

Yadav sustained injury on his head but was later discharged by the hospital. Mandal is still nursing his head and hand wounds in the emergency observation ward.

"We poor Madhesiya away from our homes are most vulnerable at the hands of such hooligans," said the blood-soaked Yadav, who deals in scrap. "They even took away my hard earned Rs 800."

Prakash Pandey, 20, and Khem Raj Rai, 18, students of Deurali Multiple Campus at Pachali-Teku were stabbed at Teku on their way to college at about 6:20 a.m. near the campus. Both the 10+2 students sustained deep wounds and under went plastic surgeries.

Rai, of Pauwakot VDC-3 of Khotang (now Ghattekulo) had his face slashed horizontally. Likewise there is a similar cut just above his nape of the neck. His right hand has been virtually smashed to pieces.

Similarly, Pandey of Pogati VDC-6 of Dhading has almost identical but still larger cuts. There are wounds on his chest and both his hands are crushed. He is in the most critical condition.

Rai, with extreme difficulty, told The Kathmandu Post that a gang of seven, mostly teenagers, blocked their way near the campus and started to attack them. "Three of them charged at me with Khukuris which they took out from their jackets while four charged at Prakash," said Rai. "I still managed to run towards the college till I lost my consciousness." His friends found him near the college.

Rai’s description of the culprits resembles the one provided by Yadav.

Meanwhile, Durgesh Shah, 18, of Pipariya VDC-3 of Sarlahi was also stabbed at Yangal at 5:45 a.m. "We were in a state of chaos," said his landlord who declined to be named. "I wonder who shall protect us."

Meanwhile, at about 9:15 a.m., Nilesh Dangol, 20, of Lagan Tole was stabbed at the heart of the busy market place outside his house. Eyewitness said there were 5 people between the age 15-25.

"We saw them run away. Two of them were carrying a sword and a Khukuri each," said a shopkeeper, insisting anonymity. "The whole market at the heart of the capital is the eyewitness of the violence."

Many local residents of Teku-Pachali appear to have lost faith in the police for failing to maintain law and order. "We no more trust the police," said agitated Shyam Krishna Maharjan.

India may have own security at TIA

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 (PR) - Despite denials by its ambassador here, India has not dropped its idea of stationing its own security personnel at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

A report headlined "India for IA Security Officer in Kathmandu" published in the January 31 edition of The Hindustan Times, said, "India has decided to impress upon Nepal to permit Indian Airlines to station a security officer at Kathmandu for supervising its flight arrangements or allow New Delhi to position a liaison officer at the immigration control there."

The report said that the measures would be "to ensure fool-proof security at Tribhuvan Airport."

Quoting unidentified officials from India’s Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, The Hindustan Times further wrote, "...these are the bare minimum measures that need to be taken at the Kathmandu airport if the hijack episode is not to be repeated."

The push for Indian security personnel comes just weeks after Indian Ambassador to Nepal, K V Rajan, in a face-to-face programme with reporters here, categorically ruled out stationing Indian security men at TIA.

What he had said at the time was that Indian Airlines, however, would station its own security men inside all IA aircraft that lands at TIA, but that they would remain inside the aircraft and not disembark.

The Hindustan Times story also comes at an interesting moment. It was published with a New Delhi date-line on January 31, just a day before senior Nepali and Indian government officials were to meet in Kathmandu as part of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on border management. As such, the Times story is being seen here as a result of generous "background briefing" to Indian journalists by senior Indian bureaucrats who wants the message to be heard in Nepal.

Nepali officials, meanwhile, appeared not to have heard the message. They declined to comment on the story. They also declined to provide details of the on-going JWG meeting. Special Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Narayan Shumsher Thapa, said, "there has not been any decision as yet to inform the press about."

Reforms top DPM’s priority

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - A day after he was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Ram Chandra Poudel is already planning reforms in government policies.

"There is a need to review our policies...economic, foreign and development," Poudel told The Kathmandu Post. "...I will work towards giving direction to the policies."

He pointed out that the government has been taking wrong decisions like cancelling food depots in remote mountainous districts, privatising Agricultural Input Corporation (AIC) and removing subsidy on fertilisers.

"India is increasing the subsidy while we are reducing it," he said. "When electricity tariff is already very expensive in Nepal, we are increasing it more to get foreign aid from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. We have been working according to their priority. Now we have to work as per our needs...It’s time we reviewed our policies."

"I hope to work on these with the prime minister’s faith on me and the fellow minister’s cooperation," said Poudel. "It is not difficult to develop Nepal if one works sincerely. Nature has endowed it with immense wealth."

When asked if his appointment as DPM signified the step towards handover of leadership to the second generation of the Nepali Congress leaders, Poudel, 56, a strong contender for prime ministerial candidate, was non-committal. "It is not the time to claim premiership. The transition will take place at the right moment as and when necessary."

"...The prime minister has a vision and has tried to work to control corruption and depoliticize bureaucracy. But anyone’s activity depends on his or her physical sound-being," said Poudel, pointing out the frail health of Bhattarai. "I will have to meet his and the nation’s expectations from me."

Asked why the party did not stress on the complete hand over of leadership to second generation when the health of septuagenarian prime minister was not upto the mark, Poudel said "May be he will do it when he realises it. We cannot ask him to do that."

To the question on how he visualised to meet his aspiration of taking over the party leadership since he didn’t have much clout inside the party, Poudel said "I don’t have a group but I have the support of the general people. I want to remain away from groupism and do politics of policy."

Poudel, one of the three contenders for the coveted position -- Sher Bahadur Deuba and Shailaja Acharya being the other two -- is said to have a very little hold among party workers. He is basically perceived as an intellectual leader who follows a middle path and has remained away from being too close to either of the two leaders -- party president Girija Prasad Koirala and prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.

When asked if it was possible to succeed in politics in Nepal without the backing of strong followers, he said "One has to be able to take risk."

"I want success on the basis of my work, my policies and programmes," he said. "We have to try to influence people to encourage politics of policy. We need to promote value-based politics. The current trend of politics will harm democracy."

Poudel, however, has not been sworn in yet. All because the Prime Minister is sick without whose presence Poudel cannot be sworn in. He said the swearing-in ceremony could be postponed to Monday.

"The swearing-in may be postponed till Monday. Even then I’m not sure. It’s all confusing," Poudel said. "I was supposed to be sworn-in on Friday but the prime minister cannot move around as he has been told to take bed rest till Friday. And after that I’ve heard His Majesty is going to Pokhara."

Bill to coordinate valley’s planned development soon

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - Despite some opposition, the government is intent on introducing a Bill aimed at developing Kathmandu Valley in an integrated and sustainable manner in parliament’s upcoming winter session.

"This is a pledge, not political slogan...We will push through this Bill in parliament’s upcoming winter session," Minister for Housing and Physical Planning, Bal Bahadur KC, said here Wednesday, referring to a draft Bill which plans to re-structure Kathmandu Valley Urban Development Committee under the Ministry.

He added, "It is very important to regulate all kinds of development works being pursued independently by Valley’s local bodies in view of Valley’s cultural, tourism, and commercial significance. This haphazard and messy Valley needs to be well-managed."

KC was speaking at an interaction programme on re-structuring the Committee, which was formed during late Panchayat days in 1989. The programme was participated by representatives from most of the Valley’s five municipalities and nearly 100 Village Development Committees.

Standing committee member of Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML), Iswor Pokharel and a few others, however, objected the move, blaming that the government decided to introduce the Bill without discussions at political level.

The Bill will be drafted within a few days based on the suggestions put forth during the interaction programmes, according to Housing and Physical Planning Secretary, Khagendra Basnet. The ministry had also held a similar meeting on the first week of January.

The proposed Bill aims to form an autonomous council which, among others, will formulate a long term plan for the Valley’s overall development, besides monitoring the development activities pursued by the local bodies.

Dotcom students depend less on books

By Satish Jung Shahi

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - Gone are the days when thick books adorned the student’s room. With the computer literacy rising worldwide, a world of information is only a hit away.

What is on offer is just mind-boggling. You can chat on the net, browse websites of universities abroad, or simply listen to your favourite music. And it’s the new generation that seems to be making benefit most by the information superhighway.

According to organizers of CAN Info-Tech 2000, the five-day computer exhibition which ended Monday, over 50 percent of their visitors were young students. Around 10,000 visitors attended the exhibition this year.

According to Pawan Tuladhar, senior executive of Mercantile Communications who has participated since CAN Info-Tech kicked off in 1995, the number of students flocking to such exhibitions on their own has shot up. They used to earlier be pushed and prodded by their parents.

"The rise in computer literacy amongst the youth is likely to create more human resources within the country who will find jobs more easily. Their output will also definitely be better," says Tuladhar.

Even the price of computers has decreased tremendously in recent years targeting middle-class houses, shifting its ownership from a handful of INGOs. Computers cost Rs 2,00 thousand when it was first introduced in the country in the late eighties.

"I just visited a stall offering cloned computers at Rs. 27 thousand at the exhibition. Another was even offering computers on instalment," says Vikram Gopal Shrestha, a college student who attended the exhibition all five days. "However, the number of softwares in the offering has decreased compared previous years."

"The exhibition was packed from 11 am to 1 pm with students from various schools," says Marketing Officer at Infocom Pvt Ltd Sachin Shrestha. "Young students visiting the exhibition were receptive to our products as they were more computer literate unlike the higher age group."

Nayantara Kakshyapati, who was at Infotech on a school trip with 17 of her friends from Shuvatara School, said she was there to check out on the latest softwares and the best deals that various companies had on offer. Others said they were trying to familiarize themselves with new websites on Nepal.

Among the non-resident Nepalis, the site nepalnews.com has become a rave, providing information on events and happenings back home through its various publications. Most include Nepali students studying abroad.

Mercantile Office System, which runs the site, claims that The Kathmandu Post has 11,860 visitors each week while its sister publication Kantipur has 8,316 out of an average of 25,374 visitors who visit its main page.

"Presently, we don’t exactly know where our viewers are from as we are only in the process of preparing an on-line registration to know their whereabouts. As per what we know, most come from United States, France and some even from Rwanda," said Rajat Kayastha of Mercantile, which holds the trademark of the web-site and hosts half a dozen other publications.

According to Tuladhar of Mercantile, the number of Internet users has already reached 3000 within the country. Mercantile has around 1000 users.

APP needs a thorough review: Bastola

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - Minister for Agriculture Chakra Prasad Bastola today said the 20-year Agricultural Perspective Plan (APP) needs thorough review.

"This is the third year of the implementation of APP and the ninth plan as well. Achievement in these three years of implementation have not shown any encouraging results as the growth remained at 1.7 percent in agriculture against the targeted growth of 4 percent in these years," said Bastola.

"What has happened to APP’s and Ninth Plan’s implementation strategy? This needs, at this point, therefore, a thorough review."

Bastola was addressing a 2-day workshop "Transformation of Rural Asia: Lessons for Nepal jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Asian Development Bank Nepal and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

According to Winston Rudder, Resident Representative of FAO the workshop seeks to identify the changes in overall macro-economic development and sectoral policies and programmes which have been introduced in Nepal since the Rome Declaration on World Food Security to require a modification and adjustment in the national agricultural development strategy.

He said a strong inter-ministerial and inter-agencies coordination is needed at the implementation level. According to Banstola, there are technical flaws with strategy as well.

"APP as a growth strategy, has the underlying objective of triggering-off economic development through commercialisation of agriculture and its multiplier effects on no-agricultural sectors," he said. "But the effective enforcement of this strategy requires the backup of several supplementary strategies which are not explicitly spelt out in APP."

Issues of ensuring food security and sustainable growth are also not made explicit, said Bastola. Speaking on lessons for Nepal Richard Vokes, Resident Representative of ADB, said agricultural development remains the heart of rural development in Nepal.

Rudder, also stressed on the role of agriculture in rural transformation. He said the significance of a sound, realistic agricultural development strategy as a major underpinning for rural transformation cannot be over emphasised in the Nepal context. "Happily, the APP has been available to inform and guide strategic action in this regard," he said.

Amended law on child abuse soon

By Suman Subba

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - On May 18 last year, Christopher Fraser, a suspected child abuser and owner of the Starlight Child Home in Pokhara, was arrested in a hotel in Thamel for "having sex with two boys," according to the police at the time.

He was taken into custody and tried under the Public Offence Act because a law covering paedophilia or the sexual abuse of children does not exist. Ultimately, Fraser was released on bail on June 26th by the Kathmandu District Court. He was never prosecuted due to lack of appropriate laws.

The government and experts now agree that the Child Act of 2048 remains unclear in its definitions of child sexual abuse and needs clarification. As a result, activists are working in tandem with government officials to introduce major amendments to the Act, which they hope, will close the loopholes and clearly define child sexual abuse.

"The Child Act of 2048 only specified rape but the details were too ambiguous. It did not take into account the special circumstances of what child abuse actually is," said Kashi Raj Dahal, spokesperson for the Supreme Court and part of the team organising an amendment to the Child Act of 2048 with the coordination of NGO group, SAATHI.

"We are making the bill more abusive-specific, especially, abuse committed against under-age boys. But, as to date, it is still in its draft stage," said Priya Pandey, a member of SAATHI.

Supporters hope the new bill on child sexual abuse will be introduced and passed in the upcoming parliamentary session.

When complete, the draft will first go to the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare for approval. From there it will be sent to the Law Department for further study and to the cabinet for final ratification. Upon ratification it will be up to a parliamentary session to grant ultimate approval.

"We are incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as well as International bills which have been passed by other governments around the world," she added.

The CRC was adopted by the UN in 1989 and signed by Nepal in 1990 at the World Summit for Children. Article 19 of the Convention states that the child must be protected "from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse... maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse."

It also allows for "judicial involvement" and investigation into issues of "maltreatment."

"From now on there will be provisions to combat child sexual abuse in addition to the Child Act of 2048. The police will also have all rights of investigation along with the Public Prosecutor," said Dahal.

"Rather than go for an outright new bill, it would be better to add the draft bill on Child Sexual Abuse as an Amendment to the Child Act of 2048," added Dahal. "We are also in the process of legalising juvenile courts which will specifically deal with cases involving anyone under 16."

But Ram Prasad Bhandari, a lawyer acting for SAATHI, said that the original idea was to create a distinctly separate bill from the Child Act of 2048. "Due to time constraints and the fact that the new parliamentary session is less than a month away, the Amendment was agreed upon by all those responsible for its drafting. Therefore, it is not exactly a new bill," he said.

"The bill itself will strengthen the laws on the deportation of foreign individuals who commit such crimes. It will also ensure that the alleged molester and the victim will be separated as soon as possible. There will also be provisions made for a medical examiner. We are also looking at a maximum of 50 lakhs as a fine and also jail terms," said Priya Pandey.

"All in all, we are hoping that once the bill is passed, it will act as a deterrence," she added.

Child abuse is a traumatic experience for children. According to a survey carried out by the European Union, 1 in 5 molesters have been the victims of abuse, and 1 out of every 4 children who have been abused turn into sexual molesters. Meanwhile, Christopher Fraser is still at large, running the Star Light Child Home in Pokhara.