Electricity price may be up by 30 pc
Decision based on ADB’s loan conditionalities 

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, July 12 - The government may soon hike the price of electricity by up to 30 percent to meet the loan conditionalities set by Asian Development Bank (ADB), top NEA officials said on the eve of signing of a multi-billion loan agreement.

Representatives of ADB and Finance Ministry will Thursday sign a US$ 50 million (Rs 3.5 billion) loan to fund rural electrification and power sector reform programs under the government’s Eighth Power Project, according to them.

"We had committed to hike the electricity price this month (July) according to an agreement we reached with ADB while sanctioning the loan," Executive Director of NEA, Bishnu Bam Malla told The Kathmandu Post today. "There is no way out...Sooner or later, we will have to hike the price."

Malla, however, said that NEA is looking for "alternatives to hike the price by 30 percent within July."

When the ADB loan was sanctioned over two years back, the lending agency had demanded that the price of electricity be hiked by 60 percent within July 2000, and the state-owned entity put its Self Financing Ratio (SFR) at 23 percent and Rate of Return (ROR) at 6 percent.

NEA’s Self Financing Ratio and Rate of Return stood at 23 and 2 percent respectively during the Fiscal Year 1998/1999, while the projection for the Fiscal Year 1999/2000 has been estimated at 13 and 5.6 percent respectively.

Last year, the government hiked the price of electricity by up to 30 percent (25 percent for Industrial purpose and 30 percent for general consumers). At present, a unit of electricty costs Rs 6.50 on an average which even by official admission, makes Nepal’s price the costliest in South Asia and among the costliest in the world.

If hiked by 30 percent once again, as required by the multilateral donor agency, the price will climb to Rs 8.11, say NEA officials.

In the last 10 years, the price of electricity has gone up by 240 percent in Nepal.

Another NEA official, Prachar M.S. Pradhan, Chief of Planning and Administration, said NEA may adjust the price "semi-automatically" based on Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s consumer price index. The new adjustment will be done either from the beginning of a new Fiscal Year or sometime in the middle of the year, he added.

"We are planning to forward such a proposal to them, but we are not pretty sure that they will agree," he said.

What if the government does not hike the price as demanded by NEA?

Pradhan said ADB might delay the disbursement of the soft loan assistance. "The conditions have much to do with the effectiveness of the loan," he added.

According to Pradhan, ADB is insisting that the government make the 15 percent population (that has access to electricity) contribute for the electrification of the remaining 85 percent population.

The loan amount will be spent on, among others, rural electrification, expansion of transmission line, improving distribution system and construction of a computerized building in the capital.

Pradhan said nearly half of the country’s 15 percent population lives in the village. The government plans to make electricity accessible to 25 percent of the population by the end of the Eighth Power Project (2000-2003).

In addition to the ADB loan assistance, the government is also getting an additional loan assistance of US$ 10 million from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to NEA.

Garbage stand-off along Bagmati still on

KATHMANDU, July 12 (PR) - Stand-off between Ministry of Local Development and the locals of Jorpati continued for the second consecutive day today even after the government used police force to dump trucks and trucks of the capital’s unattended garbage along the bank of Bagmati river in Jorpati.

According to Bidur Prasad Mainali, Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolis, seven people sustained minor injuries while one truck conductor was critically injured in today’s police-local confrontation.

District Police Office Kathmandu said it arrested 22 locals. Those arrested include, CPN-UML lawmaker Bidhya Devi Bhandari and the Chairperson of Jorpati Village Development Committee Gopal Baral, also elected from UML. All the detained were, however, released shortly afterwards, police added.

Government sources said, the locals damaged 17 of the 18 garbage trucks owned by Kathmandu Metropolis by pelting stones. The total number of trucks damaged by the locals now stands at 21. Four municipal staff and seven locals were injured yesterday.The renewed confrontation occured after the locals pelted stones at the garbage trucks, which were escorted by police personnel. The trucks were on their way back from the river bank.

Uday Raj Soti, Secretary at the Ministry of Local Development, Uday Raj Soti, issuing a press release here yesterday, had condemned the act of vandalism by the locals. Defending the government position, Soti added that the government had decided to develop the dumping site at Gokarna-Guheswori section of the Bagmati river bank as an immediate measure to manage the garbage problem. The government will find a permanent solution to the garbage problem within a few months, he said.

The Ministry has been maintaining that green belt and gravel road will be constructed along the eight-kilometre segment of the river and initiate measures to make sure that the river water does not get polluted. So far, an agreement has been reached between the locals and the government to compensate the people likely to be affected by the move.

Meanwhile, Ministry for Local Development called an emergency meeting to resolve the problem late today. Deputy Prime Minister and Local Development Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, Secretary Soti, Deputy Mayor Mainali and other government officials were those present in the meeting. The locals, however, boycotted it outright.

Mainali said that the Deputy Premier Poudel assured them of settling the garbage problem. Government has also agreed to provide six trucks to KMC for the dumping purpose as most of the metropolis’ trucks have been damaged in the confrontations. The forcible dumping is likely to resume tomorrow also.The government’s quest for a new dumping site started early this year, when the deadline of an agreement reached between the Ministry and Mulpani VDC to dump garbage in Gokarna dumping site expired.

The haves and the have-nots of the global epidemic

By Suman Pradhan

DURBAN, South Africa, July 12 - The 13th World AIDS Conference underway here in Durban has come up with some good news and some bad news.

First the bad news: There is no major anti-AIDS vaccine announcement yet and an effective vaccine to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, could take another 10 years to hit the market, according to UNAIDS, the UN body that is coordinating the global response to the disease.

The good news is that there are new signs that big pharmaceutical industries in the rich world are launching partnerships with poor Third World nations to make some of the anti-retroviral therapies they have discovered more affordable to the poor populations. These drugs, when given in a cocktail of combinations, have dramatically reduced the presence of HIV in the blood streams of patients living in rich countries allowing them to lead productive lives.

Taken together, these are the two major issues swirling around the 13th World AIDS Conference in Durban where more than 10,000 delegates from all over the world have gathered in a bi-annual ritual to discuss, share and debate the global response to HIV/AIDS.

According to many of the scientists here, while a vaccine is the best defence against the virus in the long run, its development is being pushed back by years due to the clever nature of the virus itself. HIV is extremely mutative and changes its genetic composition frequently, making them difficult targets for vaccines.

At the moment, preventive measures - educating the public, encouraging behavioural changes - combined with access to affordable anti-retroviral drugs such as AZT, DDL and 3TC and expanding health care infrastructure are the only methods to combat the virus and its effects.

While rich countries of the North have effectively used these strategies to slow down the spread of the virus as well as treat their infected brethren, the poor countries of the South are awakening to the huge crisis in their societies due to the HIV overload.

In its latest report, UNAIDS says, of the world’s 34.3 million people infected with the virus at the beginning of this year, nearly 90 percent are living in the developing world - mainly in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and yes, South and Southeast Asia.

In India alone, 3.7 million of its one billion people are carrying the virus, merely 12 years after HIV was first detected in that country. The South Asian giant, which shares a long open border with Nepal, is second to only South Africa - where 4.2 million of its 42 million people are infected - in terms of sheer numbers.

In this context, the official figure of a few hundred HIV positive cases in Nepal do not show the real picture. Many Nepali experts now believe that the disease has progressed from its early "transition phase" to a silent epidemic, and could number well over 50,000 HIV cases at the moment.

In the absence of a cure, are the infected ones in developing countries such as Nepal, India and South Africa consigned to die a painful death? The answer can be NO, but only if the powerful new anti-retroviral drugs are available to them at affordable prices.

The problem is, these drugs are generally out of reach of the poor populations. Their prices are so high that even some in the West are banding together against what they call "Big Pharma" - the manufacturers of the drugs - in a bid to drive the prices down to affordable levels.

According to Martin Foreman, author of the book "Beyond Our Means" which details the growing divide between rich and poor countries in access to drugs and other related issues, the standard combination therapy can cost upwards of US 5000 dollars (Rs 3.5 lakhs approximately) a year. "Very few people in the developing world have that kind of money to spend on health care," he says. And then, there is the scarcity of the specialized and even costlier diagnostic tests that are needed to prescribe the drugs.

Faced with such difficulties, many Third World governments, non-governmental organizations and activists, are banding together to force "Big Pharma" to reduce prices. There are dozens of side-conferences going along the main conference here in Durban that is specifically targeting the question of cost.

"The rising trend of HIV/AIDS demands priority in treatment accessibility (for underdeveloped nations)", argues Dr I S Gilada, the crusading Indian doctor who is synonymous with anti-AIDS activism in India. "The high cost of anti-retroviral confer depression in those who cannot afford it, and debt compounded with fear of irregular supplies in those who can."

The pressures appear to have paid off, at least partially, and only for sub-Saharan Africa. Pharmaceutical giants Merck, Pfizer, MSD, Glaxo-Wellcome, and a few others - who all manufacture one or the other class of anti-retroviral and other drugs used against opportunistic infections - have recently unveiled partnerships with African governments whereby they distribute needed anti-retroviral drugs free of cost or at extremely low prices.

Not that these initiatives have been welcomed by all sides. But at least, poor HIV positive patients, mainly the infected mothers of Africa and their unborn, are benefiting from these measures. The drug Nevirapine, which is a cheaper substitute for AZT and which is given to infected mothers in South Africa by one of the pharma companies under a similar scheme, cuts mother-to-child HIV transmission drastically.

Can govt rein in the private schools?

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, July 12 - This year’s School Leaving Certificate exam results came out with one significant change - only names of girls’ and boys’ toppers were published. All these years, except in 1995, top 10 students were honoured.

The reason is not difficult to find. Schools were found to publicise their names with much fanfare if their students achieved this distinction. Nothing wrong with that. After all, it is indeed a proud moment for any institution.

The Office of the Controller of Examinations says the change was brought into effect to check "unhealthy competition".

The schools allegedly used the distinction as licence to hike fees, which is already exorbitant.

Added to this are the occasional reports of teachers’ alleged exploitation by the school proprietors.

Ministry of Education and Sports at last has decided to act. It has sent to the Law Ministry, an amendment to the Education Act-1971 for its opinion.

This has given rise to speculation of comprehensive policy changes.

"The government has not changed its policy of promoting private schools," says Chuman Singh Basnet, Joint Secretary at Education Ministry. "But this does not mean there is no need for a regulation policy," adds Basnet.

This amendment seeks to put in order certain grey areas that have already attracted much debate and comments.

The legislation will make it mandatory for private schools to state whether they are social service organisations or profit-making enterprises.

If they declare themselves as social service organisations, then they will be entitled to all the facilities provided by the government. But then the government will have a major say in the management of such schools.

On the other hand, schools that claim themselves as business organisations will have to meet certain requirements. Among them are payment of taxes applicable to business groups, providing grants to Rural Education Development Fund (REDF) and providing scholarships to the needy children.

"We are ready to declare our schools as business houses," says Geeta Rana, Principal of Galaxy Public School and Chairperson of National Private and Boarding School Association of Nepal (N- PABSAN). "But we will only meet one of the three requirements proposed in the amendment," adds Rana.

She says this was decided by the Khaniya Commission (formed in 1998 under the chairmanship of Tirtha Raj Khaniya, Associate Professor of Education in Tribhuvan University) after holding discussion for about two and half months.

The Commission, of which Rana was one of the members, had recommended that the private schools either pay corporate taxes or contribute to REDF or provide scholarship.

"If the proposed legislation goes against the interest of the proprietors, we will move to the court," says Rana. She pointed out that there was nothing wrong if the proprietors expected returns on their investment.

Rana, however, admits tuition fee structure needs regulation. "The District Education Office should fix a range of upper and lower slabs," she suggests. "However, the schools should have the independence to determine their own tuition fees."

Principal of Graded English Medium School (GEMS) and current Chairperson of Private and Boarding School Organization of Nepal (PABSON), Rajesh Khadka says, "Government’s role in private schools should be limited to conducting exams, observation and deciding the curriculum."

"Schools being forced to pay taxes as business houses is a wrong concept," says Khadka, adding they too would go to court "if the government interferes in any other affair".

However, the students’ parents seem to welcome the government’s move.

Says Narayan Man Amatya whose two daughters study in Adarsh Vidya Mandir (AVM), Lalitpur, "It is high time the government did something about the unjustified increase in the fees." What baffles him, he says, is that now schools are charging re-admission fees, even from those already studying there. He suggests that the school management should consult parents’ body before deciding any raise.

Agrees Geeta Vaidya whose son is in Little Angels’ School. But she has another concern. "The government should also check the tendency of private schools to declare occasional holidays, on one pretext or another."

Associate Prof Khania says, schools will have to justify their fees under whatever head they collect them. "Fees should be in proportion to the facilities provided," says Khania. "They can charge computer fees if only they provide computer education; if there is no playground, then they cannot collect sports fees."

If the Law Ministry approves, then the amendment is likely to be introduced in the parliament’s current session, and holds a high possibility of being passed, adds Basnet.

Usha Khadgi takes away the glittering crown

By Binaj Gurubacharya

KATHMANDU, July 12 - It was supposed to be a night to rejoice beauty but that soon turned ugly with dozens of protestors trying to block the beauty pageant fought police lines and at least a dozen and half were detained.

The tussle between the police and the protestors, however, did not deter the 20 beauties from contesting for the coveted crown of Miss Nepal.

Usha Khadgi, the 20-year-old from Birgunj, was crowned this year’s Miss Nepal among 20 aspiring women contestants who for over a month took gruelling training and competed in various activities.

Miss Nepal Khadgi will also represent Nepal in the Miss World pageant.

"If a man is given education it is just for himself but if a woman is educated then she would be the source of education for the entire family since she is the mother, she is the sister and she is the wife," Khadgi told the judge.

Khadgi who preferred to speak in Nepali to the delight of the crowd appeared more confident than most of the contestants. While most of them spoke in English and pretended to be comfortable in the language of the West, Khadgi asked the judge to give the question in mother tongue.

Though most of the contestants and one of the two presenters spoke in English, a few like Khadgi did opt to answer in Nepali. At one point, the program was stalled for a few minutes because there were no one to translate her answer in English for the benefit of the judges.

And, one of the contestants did manage to embarrass the judge by asking him to ask the question in English that he had already asked in Nepali. But it was the confidence in the voice and the language that definitely managed Khadgi to win the votes and hearts of the judges and the crowd.

With a degree in Bachelor of Arts, and having interest in painting and dancing, this 5 feet 3.5 inch beauty from the southern border city wants to be a social worker.

"I want to work for the poor and the deprived and to serve the poor," Khadgi said.

Each of the 20 aspirants well dressed and smiling down the ramp did their best to impress the 11 judges and the crowd, but after over three hours, the top-notch spot and the shining crown was taken by the girl from Birgunj.

Biva Maya Ranjit, who most people had guessed would bag the crown, was selected the First Runners-up. She lives in the eastern coast line of the Unites States with her parents but is in Nepal visiting family and relatives.

At least when she goes back to Connecticut, she will have one souvenir to show to her friends that most people would never be able to match with. Jasmine Shrestha was crowned the Second Runners-up. This 19-year-old who likes painting, poems and reading wants to be a public relations officer.

Mallika Pradhan was voted Miss Photogenic, Khadgi was also voted Miss Talent, Ranjeet won the Miss Personality and Smriti Singh won the Best Dress category.

Hwever, some of the dresses worn by the contestants in the beginning of the show by local fashion designers were a little too revealing that was not taken too lightly by the older generation.

The extended commercial breaks and the delay in the decisions reaching the announcers did lengthen the show, however, when the show did end and the crown shined on the new Miss Nepal, the crowd cheered for Nepal’s newest ambassador to represent the country in the Miss World beauty pageant.

Before the show got underway, protesters tried to enter the Birendra International Convention Center but was stopped by the police. Protestors claimed that there were at least 60 detained, however, police official Surendra Singh confirmed that police had picked up 17 protestors.

The annual beauty contest that has been held since 1994 is organized by Kathmandu Jaycees and The Hidden Treasure and is sponsored by Everest Brewery.

Youth still not aware on AIDS prevention

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 12 - Large number of young people, especially girls, in HIV-prevalent countries are either not clear on how to protect themselves or are unaware of the risk from the dangerous disease.

Executive Director of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Carol Bellamy today made this observation while unveiling UNICEF’s new report - The Progress of Nations - detailing the enormous impacts of HIV/AIDS among young people at the International AIDS Conference at Durban in South Africa, says a UNICEF press release issued here today.

The report shows almost a third of all the HIV/AIDS victims are between the ages of 15 and 25 - a total of some 10 million young people. Six young people under the age of 25 become infected every minute with HIV, the report adds.

The report further explores that in several HIV-prevalent countries, almost half of all girls between the age of 15-19 are unaware that a person who looks healthy can be infected with HIV and transmit it to others. In a number of countries where AIDS is an epidemic, nearly half of sexually active girls aged between 15-19 believe that they face no risk of contracting the disease.

Likewise, the report stipulates that a survey in 17 countries showed over half of adolescents (mostly girls) could not name a single method of protecting themselves against the disease.

Given the facts, Bellamy stressed that if the countries hope to defeat the disease they must commit to the "largest mobilisation of resources in their history" and organise themselves as if they were fighting "a full-blown war of liberation," with young people in the fore-front.

UNICEF argues that HIV/AIDS education efforts with involvement of young people in their programmes have shown success, adding that it will focus its resources on strengthening such efforts. HIV rates in the affected countries like Uganda, Malawi, Senegal,Thailand and Zambia have started falling due to such education efforts, the report states.

Although the emphasis in the report is on HIV/AIDS, the spread of this disease among the young people is emblematic of the world’s failure to fulfil children’s rights, mainly the rights of childhood care, immunization and protection from exploitation and neglect, cautions the report.

"In fact, if the governments invested adequate resources in childhood health care and education, care for pregnant women in basic immunization and in straightforward protection of children from exploitation, HIV/AIDS would likely be much less prevalent than it currently is," said Bellamy.

Hard facts on HIV/AIDS in Nepal:

1. Estimated 0.2-0.4 percent of the total population is HIV affected.

2. About half the HIV/AIDS cases in Nepal are in the 20-29 age group.

3. Nepal’s National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC) shows a total of 1,541 cumulative cases of HIV infection, with 342 full blown cases (as on May 31, 2000).

4. But a WHO-UNAIDS sentinel surveillance projects the number of infection at 33,500, of which about 30 percent are injecting drug users.

5. A recent assessment of drugs users and HIV indicates that drugs injection is the predominant mode of HIV transmission, through the sharing of uncleaned needles.

6. It is estimated that the HIV infection would double by 2005, infecting some 60,000 people, if prevention efforts are not intensified.

Rural-urban linkage vital for urban development

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 12 - Urban development is impossible without rural-urban linkage which is essential for a meaningful urban governance, a 3-day South Asian conference on Urbanization and Good Urban Governance concluded, issuing the Kathmandu Declaration 2000 today.

According to the organizers, a rural-urban partnership programme is essential for urban based local development. This programme has already been launched in 12 municipalities including Pokhara, Butwal, Birendranagar, Tansen, Byas and Biratnagar. This programme is the joint effort of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS), which especially addresses urban poverty.

"Sixty percent of total GDP in developing countries is generated from urban areas," said Jonas Rabinovitch, Senior Urban Development Advisor of UNDP at New York, "So, good urban governance is crucial."

"Urban centres must address the needs of the underprivileged section of the society such as women, children, the aged and the disabled," the declaration said. "Technical capability and political will are the basic foundation for strengthening the overall urban governing capacity."

The declaration urged all national and sub-national governments to ensure that the local and urban governments are provided with adequate powers and resources to galvanize and consolidate their governance machinery.

The declaration also urged all SAARC countries to set up a regional mechanism to develop and implement a regional strategy for the effective urban governance. It also urged to give high priority for urban governance issues in their agenda.

It was informed at the press conference that the urbanization trend in Nepal is faster than in China and Indonesia.

The declaration recommended for the formation of South Asian Federation of National Associations of mayors, chairpersons and local authorities for an effective local development.

It also urged the SAARC member states to set up a special commission or task force on urban governance to identify the key areas of concern.