HM greets Saddam Hussain

KATHMANDU, July 17 (RSS) - His Majesty the King has felicitated President Saddam Hussain of the Republic of Iraq on the occasion of the Republic Day of Iraq.

In a message of felicitations, His Majesty has extended best wishes for the President's personal health and happiness and for the progress and prosperity of the people of Iraq.

Press freedom under threat

By Meena Kaini

KATHMANDU, July 16 - The Amendment Bill on Communication Act 1991 presently tabled in the parliament empowers the "local authority" to cancel the registration of a newspaper. This could, say analysts, curtail the press freedom guaranteed by the present constitution.

The bill requires a publication to renew its registration every two years; failing which, "local officer" can cancel the registration. Plus the bill does not specify who the "local authority" is. Communication Act 1991 does not have a provision for renewal.

Article (5) of Communication Act 1991, which deals with newspapers, says "any firm or person applying for permission of the publication of papers would get a permanent certificate".

But the new arrangement stipulated in the Bill, likely to be presented to the House of Representatives during the current session, could seriously jeopardize the rights granted to the press by the Constitution, analysts say.

Media analyst Pratyush Onta questions the motive behind the provision to renew the registration of the papers. "On what basis is such a provision to renew the papers' registration introduced?" asks Onta. "No provision that makes registration renewal of the papers mandatory can be imposed."

Article 13(3) of the Constitution states that except for publication of news items or articles that undermine the sovereignty and integrity of the country, "registration of a newspaper or periodical shall not be cancelled".

"If the publication finds itself in financial or any other problems, then it is the right of the concerned investors to close down the publication," says Onta. "But a local administrator cannot be given the authority to close down a publication."

Lawyers see that the provision, if enforced, could pose a great threat to the free press since it remains largely at the mercy of local administrators who decides its fate. It sends a very intimidating message to those who have invested heavily in the media, or the prospective investors. 

"The new provision in the Bill undoubtedly violates and contradicts the rights conferred by the constitution," says Gopal Siwakoti "Chintan" of INHURED International, a human rights group. "No such law that gives arbitrary authority to the local administration, to the extent that they can cancel the registration of newspapers on purely technical and procedural grounds, should be passed by the parliament. It impedes the freedom of press and publication and the Parliament does not have the right to do so."

"The rights guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be made idle by an Act passed by the parliament," says Dinesh Tripathi, an advocate at the Supreme Court.

"Amendments in the Act should have come after wide consultations with the media which would have largely addressed the inconveniences and complications faced by the press," says Tripathi.  "This provision in fact weakens the power of the media."

Chintan suggests that the "unconstitutional provision" must be challenged in the Supreme Court if the Parliament goes ahead to adopt the bill.

Rights activist also contend that Nepal, as a signatory to International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, is obliged to meet its international commitments. "Since International commitments get supremacy over domestic laws, those laws that are contradictory to international obligations can be challenged before the United Nations Human Rights Commission in New York by any citizen or groups in Nepal," says Chintan.    

Chandrika is no more

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 16 - The one and the only lioness in Nepal, Chandrika, died at the Central Zoo early morning today.

Chandrika had been undergoing medical treatment since the last few months. Her illness was attributed to old age.

"She was wriggling and moaning from excruciating pain," said Ram Chandra K.C., guard at the Zoo, who rushed to the den and remained by her death bed.

This voracious lioness used to consume 40 kg meat each day. But due to the old age her consumption had reduced to just 2 kg. 

In 1976, the then Sri Lankan government presented a lion and a lioness to Nepal as a token of goodwill. Chandrika was 24 years old when she came to Nepal. Her partner, Singha had died of gout in 1992.

35 houses flooded by Dhobi Khola

KATHMANDU, July 16 (PR) - The Dhobi Khola on Saturday night suddenly burst its banks, flooding at least 35 houses on the stretch from Maitidevi to Anamnagar.

Most of these houses belong to "so-called" landless squatters who have illegally built houses along the banks of this river. At least one of these houses have collapsed due to the flooding. No one has been injured in the flooding.

Local residents said that the incomplete stone wall that was being built to stop such flooding was the main reason for the inundation. Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolis Bidur Mainali who visited the site this morning assured the work on the wall would resume soon.

The flooded river also swept a narrow iron bridge near the Hira Ratna theatre that was used by at least 1,500 people daily. The road along the river from Maitidevi and Anamnagar has also been flooded.

People in these houses spent much of the day today pumping water and slush out of their house and assessing the damage.

"I lost not only my books but also my certificates and documents," Bachelor of Education student Mohan Bhusal said.

Sona Tamang who was living in the house that collapsed said all the belongings were swept by the water leaving them nothing.

Most of these houses were one-storey houses while two of them were two-storey. Most of these people either took refuge at these two houses or left for safer grounds at Baneshwore height.

At one point, the water had risen two feet above an old wooden bridge used by the locals, eyewitnesses said today.

Extension decision quarries outcry over Godavari Marble

By Utpal Raj Misra

KATHMANDU, JULY 16 - Environmentalists today began a campaign to scrap the government's decision to allow 10 years time extension to the Godavari Marble Factory to blast and quarry marble at the Godavari area.

The permit to the factory was due to expire next year. However, a decision by the then government in 1996 had extended the permit for another 10 years after the date of expiry.

"The decision of the Supreme Court as on 1995 clearly identifies the environmental hazards the Marble Industry is causing in the Godavari Region. And now the permit has been extended by another 10 years," said Prakash Mani Sharma of PRO-public, a watchdog group.

Sharma said a committee which was formed by the Government a few years ago to evaluate the environmental damages caused by the Marble Industry has clearly stated that the Marble Industry has to be closed down.

"The lease term of the Marble Industry has been extended till 2011 and that too without letting anybody know and before the Environment Act was implemented in 1997," Sharma said.

He was talking to reporters at a press conference here today conducted by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ).

Bhairav Risal of NEFEJ said they would first seek explanation from the responsible government authorities about the extended lease term. None of the invited government officials were present in the program.

Archana Karki, a social activist revealed that the Marble Industry paid only Rs. 16,400 in royalty while 1992 statistics show that the Industry sold pebbles and stones worth around Rs. 700,000 every week. "The Industry has shown loss all along and has not paid any income tax," she added.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, A.K.Banerjee, General Manager at the Godavari Marble Quarry, however, said the Industry is running at a loss. He cites drop in the demand for marble in the Indian Market as the main cause. "We are thinking of reducing the production from the next fiscal year to minimize our loss," he adds.

Guheswari Raj Manandhar, Technical advisor at the Marble quarry admits that things were not up to the standard back in 1990-91. "But there should be no problem to anyone now. We work strictly under the guidelines of the Department of Mines. Our company has done a lot for the environment."

Explaining that the term extended to the Industry is according to the law, Janardan Acharya the company's DGM said; "We asked the government for extension as we were investing Rs. 10 million on the industry then. We went through legal process and were assured by the Government that we would be allowed to operate for 10 more years with the government conducting yearly inspection through the Department of Mine."

The Department of Mine has however remained mum about the issue. Nanda Ram Sthapit, Director General, Department of Mines could not be contacted for comments. Other officials at the department declined to speak on the issue.

Irrigation Department fires all its planning staff

By a Post Reporter

MAHENDRANAGAR, July 16  - The Irrigation Department has dismissed all the staff in the planning department of the Mahakali Irrigation Project, officials said today.

According to Chief of the project Bishomvar Regmi, the department had faxed the decision on Friday after office hours. This decision would affect at least 112 permanent staff members and scores more temporary and wage workers.

In retaliation, the project staffs today began a campaign seeking reinstatement of their dismissed colleagues to their old positions.

The letter from the department has said that the cabinet had reached the decision since the Mahakali Irrigation Development Committee had been dissolved already. The government had dissolved the committee few months back.

"This sudden move without time to arrange an alternative has made our work difficult," Regmi said adding that these dismissed people were responsible  for handling equipment worth millions and now it was not clear who would be getting these.

Gongabu Bus Park is still on the first gear

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, July 16 - The construction work at Gongabu Bus Park is yet to begin, a month after its much hyped handover by Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) to Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd (LM).

On May 15, KMC had handed over the 161-ropani (82,000 sq km) Gongabu park, at north-west of Kathmandu to a newly formed private company LM for 45 years. According to the terms of the KMC-LM agreement, the bus park will be developed into a well-managed bus terminal with modern facilities added to the existing facility.

The immediate need is to build 26 tellers, clean the shrubs, repair lightings and provide passengers with up-to-date information on the arrival and departure of buses.

Now, about 150 buses use the ill-maintained bus park and over 15,000 passengers visit it each day.

"It's time LM showed some evident construction works at the park," says KMC Under Secretary Surya Silwal on Friday. He argued that one month is long enough to start the construction and sort out the past mismanagement.

LM signed an agreement with KMC to develop the bus park area into a modern complex within five years at a cost of Rs 327 million. There will be a petrol pump, workshop, garage, supermarket,  hotel, additional parking space, first-aid centre, restaurants, and a green park within the bus terminal.

"We have a dream," says Gehendra Bahadur Karki, the chairman of ML . "We will make this bus park a model for the whole country."  LM is to pay an annual Rs 5.1 million in lease to KMC which will then increase every year. As the first instalment, KMC has received revenue of Rs 1.7 million from LM.

The park was set by the Japanese government at a cost of Rs 260 million in 1994 and handed over to Nepal. The ownership was eventually transferred to KMC which additionally spent Rs 33.7 million to expand it. Before the handover, the Japanese Embassy objected to KMC's plan  to transfer it into a private company. It wrote a letter to the Finance Secretary on April 10, asking it to intervene. In response, Ministry of Local Development (MLD) urged KMC to stop the handover, quoting a Japan-Nepal agreement which requires the two sides to agree in case of reconstruction. The Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is currently probing the case.

Kathmandu Mayor Keshab Sthapit urges that despite such "minor problems which are common in Nepal", construction of the bus park will go ahead. He said KMC has spent around Rs 4 million every year in maintaining the bus park. "The private party now is giving us 5.1 million. That means, in all KMC will gain Rs 9.1 million every year," he says.

Kathmandu's Deputy Mayor Bidur Mainali himself is not fully convinced, however. "I am not against privatisation. But the procedure must be transparent."

But Under Secretary Silwal claims that every step of KMC is transparent and regular. An MLD official said that the Ministry is not satisfied with the way the Mayor has moved ahead with the transfer. "He has neglected legal aspects," he says.

GP, KP exchange accolades, brickbats

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 16 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai exchanged volley of satires and compliments in a program organized today to felicitate Bhattarai by PM Koirala.

On the occasion, Bhattarai, who was deposed by Koirala just three months ago, said there were no conflicts between the two leaders.  However, he made a point to mention that it was not possible for any prime minister to salvage the country from the current pathetic situation. "Be it KP, GP or Madhav Nepal, to improve the situation of the country immediately is possible for none," he said.

In a bid to assure Prime Minister Koirala, Bhattarai said the present government would complete its term in the office. He, however, stressed that "the political leaders should cater to needs of the people rather than that of family and friends."

Honouring Bhattarai by wrapping a shawl, Prime Minister Koirala said that he felt honoured to have such an opportunity. He said that Bhattarai's personality should not be confined only within Aawa Welfare Society (Bhattarai clan's society), as he was "an international figure".

Koirala said the function provided a platform for him and his long time peer Bhattarai to be closer.

26 Tibetans arrested

By a Post Reporter

JIRI, Dolakha, July 16 - Twenty-six Tibetan refugees were arrested at Dhunge Bazaar, Jiri on Saturday, police said.

According to the police, the refugees had illegally entered Nepal from the border of Solukhumbu district. The refugees were arrested from a hotel in Dhunge Bazaar in Jiri.

According to Inspector Dam Bahadur Rana, those arrested will be taken to Immigration Department in Kathmandu tomorrow.

The number of refugees coming to Nepal from Dolakha border which stood at 125 last year has reached 203 this year.

Irrigation Department fires all its planning staff

By a Post Reporter

MAHENDRANAGAR, July 16  - The Irrigation Department has dismissed all the staff in the planning department of the Mahakali Irrigation Project, officials said today.

According to Chief of the project Bishomvar Regmi, the department had faxed the decision on Friday after office hours. This decision would affect at least 112 permanent staff members and scores more temporary and wage workers.

In retaliation, the project staffs today began a campaign seeking reinstatement of their dismissed colleagues to their old positions.

The letter from the department has said that the cabinet had reached the decision since the Mahakali Irrigation Development Committee had been dissolved already. The government had dissolved the committee few months back.

"This sudden move without time to arrange an alternative has made our work difficult," Regmi said adding that these dismissed people were responsible  for handling equipment worth millions and now it was not clear who would be getting these.

World population: Six billion and still going

By Tilak Prasad Pokharel

KATHMANDU, July 16 - As you go through these lines for a second, five new human faces would have come into existence to this already over-crowded world.

Five infants get birth every second worldwide, according to UNFPA.

Fifty years ago, world population was 2.5 billion and there were only 3 newborns every second. It made a big leap and has come to this alarming state with over 6 billion population .

Nepal celebrated the XIVth World Population Day recently with much pomp: organizing seminars, talk programmes and rallies, as usual. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been observing 11th July as World Population Day (WPD) since 1987 when the world population crossed the 5 billion mark.

"Nepal's population was only 5.5 million a century ago which climbed to 8.2 million 50 years later. Now, it has crossed 22.9 million," informed the Secretary at Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE) Dr Govinda Raj Bhatta. There are 1,482 newborns every day.

While analyzing the overall growth rate during the first half of this century, it was only 49.09 percent. But it remained 179.26 percent during the last 50 years. This period saw unprecedented population boom in the history of Nepal.  According to the projection of MoPE, Nepal's population will cross 32.2 million within next 16 years if the present annual growth rate of 2.37 percent remains the same.

"We heard gloomy warning on October 12 last year when the world population crossed 6 billion," said Acting UNFPA Representative Stewart McNab, "If the six billionth infant was born in poverty, his growth and development would have already been affected by malnutrition; if she was a girl, she might be worse off than a boy almost anywhere."

As women are in a disadvantaged position all over the world compared to men, this year's WPD slogan was Saving Women's Lives. According to Dr Nafis Sadik, the executive director of UNFPA, a woman dies every minute due to pregnancy related complications. They are prone to be the victims of domestic violence causing life-long disability or casualty too.

According to information provided by UNFPA, at least one woman in every three has been coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Even more disappointing fact is that two thirds of the world's 960 million illiterates are women. McNab said that 70,000 women die each year due to unsafe abortions.

In Nepal, women are looked upon as second class beings. Due to lack of education and exposure to the outside world, a majority of them--primarily in villages--meekly accept their second class status. Average marriage age of women in Nepal is 18 years, which has been preventing them from getting higher education.

MoPE has estimated the maternal mortality rate (per 100,000) to be 415. The Ninth Plan has intended to carry out preventive and curative measures to reduce this rate.  The Ninth Plan aims to integrate the activities of population, development and environment. It also focuses on the reproductive and child health.