Govt again spurns CIAA's demand

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 8 - A Bill brought to amend the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Act was finally presented for discussion in the House of Representatives today.

However, the Bill sought by CIAA for the past few years to enable the watch dog agency to check corruption and financial irregularities once again hit a snag drawing criticism from the opposition parties for the timing of its presentation.

Lawmakers in the opposition questioned the government’s intention of bringing the Bill just after forming a Corruption Control Recommendation Committee and not waiting for its recommendations.

"The government on one hand forms a working committee to recommend on ways to strengthen agencies involved in anti-corruption but forwards the Bill without even waiting to include the recommendations," CPN-UML lawmaker Subash Nemwang said.

The committee has already submitted a preliminary report about two weeks back.

"This Bill does not reflect the determination expressed by government in checking corruption. What if we adopt one Bill and the committee makes entirely different recommendations," Nemwang said.

Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka who presented the Bill for discussion told the members that the recommendations made by the committee will be included in the Bill while it is discussed and amended in the concerned parliamentary committee.

Nemwang, replying to the minister’s reasoning, said that new clauses could not be added nor major changes made in the Bill during discussion at the parliamentary committee. Whatever has to be done it has to be done before it is brought to the parliament.

The Bill has failed to address outlines made by CIAA like the provision that would allow the commission to investigate on sudden accumulation of property and wealth by any official.

Similarly, the Bill is silent on CIAA’s demand for a special court to deal with cases of corruption and financial irregularities.

Maoists invited for dialogue

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 8 - A day after the underground Maoists threatened to continue with their movement if the government didn’t take immediate steps to meet their demands, the High Level Consensus Seeking Commission formed to tackle the problem, today appealed to the Maoists to come forward for dialogue immediately.

In a press release issued today, the Commission has called on the insurgents to stop issuing statements and sit for a dialogue immediately.

"Incidents like those in Achham and other places while the government and the Commission is working towards creating a conducive environment for the dialogue has raised in our minds the doubt on the NCP (Maoist’s) seriousness in sitting for talks," the release states.

Hundreds of armed Maoists had looted Rs 10 million including gold from the local branch of Nepal Bank Limited in Achham and abducted two police personnel on Friday night.

"It is important for all concerned parties to be cautious while the environment is being developed for the talks," states the release. The government and the Commission both are serious on holding the talks and creating a favourable environment for the same."

The release also adds that hopes are rising among people that the issue will now be resolved. "People now want to see the dialogue take shape," states the release.

In a press release issued by the NCP (Maoist) yesterday, the rebels had demanded again that the government stop the killings immediately, release the activists who were arrested and had disappeared from custody and create conducive environment for a dialogue.

The Maoists had first issued a press release on February 25 stating that they were willing to sit for a dialogue if the government met their demands and created favourable conditions for the same.

Former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chairman of the high-level Commission, had called on Maoists to sit for a dialogue on February 10. He had also said Maoist’s reaction to his call was encouraging and positive. The 6-member Commission was formed on November 30 last year. 

Activists want Muluki Ain altered

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 8 - The proposed Bill to amend the Muluki Ain (country code) that is to be discussed this session has been a major concern for the activists -- lest the policy makers ignore it once again.

At a two-day workshop Reproductive Rights, "under the framework of Human Rights," organised by Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN), activists expressed the hope that the Bill would be passed by the parliament this session.

This 11th amendment aims to address the abortion rights of women. According to Kedar Poudyal, International Law and Human Rights Expert from the Ministry of Law, the Bill aims to give rights to women to abort a foetus of 12 weeks if both the parties agree or if the conception is due to circumstances like rape, incest, abnormality in the foetus or if the life of the mother is threatened.

"I hope that the Bill is passed this session," said Kamala Panta, Minister of State for Women and Social Welfare. She also said that the law alone is not enough. "There has to be awareness on the issue," said she.

Treasurer of FPAN, Sabitri Malla said that the Bill has to be passed. "It is a step towards the implementation of the international conventions to which Nepal has been signatory," she said.

Nepal has been a signatory to various international conventions which pledge to promote the human rights situation as well as the situation of women in Nepal. "The International Convention on Population Development that was held in Cairo in 1994 had established that the reproductive health comes under human rights," said Sharda Sharma from FPAN. She also added that the conventions have also established that the reproductive health does not only encompass physical health but also the process of conception and the various factors related to it.

Senior advocate Radheshyam Adhikari said that the lacuna in the law are not as great an impediment as the social, cultural and religious laws. He also said that the current law does not provide for abortion unless it is for medical reasons. "Since Nepal has been a signatory to international conventions which promotes reproductive rights, it is possible to challenge the policy makers into making such laws," said he.

"The difficultly lies primarily in the implementation of the law (abortion not included) and this could be solved by a joint effort of government and non government organisation," he said. 

Road director in the dock

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 8 - The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today decided to arrest and interrogate the Director at the Mid-west Regional Road Office Shyam Prasad Adhikari alleging him of corruption in procurement of tar for his office.

According to a source, he was locked at the Dillibazar Jail after he failed to deposit security worth Rs 4.3 million as demanded by CIAA after an investigation officer at the CIAA Govind Bahadur Shrestha unravelled his involvement in the financial irregularity of Rs 2.2 million.

Global warming hits Nepal too

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 8 - Temperature of the Kathmandu Valley is increasing at an alarming rate of 0.12 degree Celsius per year as global warming continues to show its effects in Nepal, experts said here today.

A recent analysis of the temperature data from 1977 to 1996, which was made public today, also reveal that by the year 2030, the temperature change over the country could range from 1.7 to 4.2 degrees Celsius.

Furthermore, "the anticipated change in precipitation could be anything from 36 to 67 percent from the baseline while the peak discharges in run-off could shift to the month of July instead of August by 2030".

Likewise, total carbon dioxide emission is estimated to increase from 770 to 7590 giga gram by 2030.

These shocking facts were revealed by Dr Adarsa Pokharel, Director General of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology at the inaugural of the fifth session of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an INGO jointly established by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) in 1988.

IPCC was established with the main objective to assess all available factual information on the meteorology to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to try to mitigate serious climatic changes by providing technical and socio-economic advices to the countries who are signatory to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 1994. Nepal is also a signatory to the convention.

Even though the global warming effects have been observed globally, regional peculiarities have been very conspicuous like the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers, Dr Pokharel said, giving instances of the Rikha Samba and other glaciers in the mid-Himalayan region, whose width has shrunk substantially over the past few decades.

According to him, the Rikha glacier appears to have retreated to a distance of 100 meters over a period of just 20 years within 1974 to 1994.

"Tsho Rolpa glacier lake in Dolakha district, which was a tiny dot during 50s extended to such an extent that HMG had to take immediate mitigation measures to save the lives of thousands of people in the downstream region from the potential Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)," he said, attributing the cause of such kind of event to the global warming phenomenon.

Some 150 specialised participants from more than 100 countries are participating in the international conference. The conference is to focus mainly on methodological and technical issues in technology transfer and emission scenarios.

Addressing the function, Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel today urged the affluent international communities to help Nepal in its effort to address efforts on climatic changes by developing the "appropriate technologies" that are "affordable" to poorer countries, adding that the government was "fully aware of the alarming impact of climatic changes."  

Maoists hold first press conference

By Gunaraj Luitel

RUKUM, March 8 - For the first time after the underground Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) waged their "people’s war" in February 1996 they organised a press conference here on March 5.

The local chief Ramesh K.C shared their painful experiences with the reporters who were present at the press conference.

The Maoist guerrillas talked about the incident in which the police burnt to ashes about 100 houses and killed 15 persons in Khara VDC Rukum last month.

A Maoist platoon comprising around 30 persons, its leader, political commissioner, local leaders and locals attended the programme which was organised at a local farmer’s house. K.C welcomed the reporters with bouquets and garlands.

K.C informed that they were collecting food grains as relief materials for the victims. He said they had already collected around a 100 quintal of rice.

Referring to the calls for talks by the government, K.C said "Even the cadres want the talks to take place but until the government stops the series of violence, the talks cannot take place," he said.

Nepal, India body yet to submit report

By Yagya Bikram Shahi

NEPALGUNJ, March 8 - The Nepal-India joint committee which was supposed to submit the report on the magnitude of the inundation in Nepal due to the construction of afflux bond (embankment) in Laxmanpur Barrage, by March 7 are still way behind schedule.

India, in the meantime, has already finished the construction of the 22-kilometre embankment.

The 10th meeting of the Standing Committee on Inundation between Nepal and India had delegated the bilateral survey team to submit a report on the recommendations for solutions by January 31 but the team started its report only on January 17. The team is yet to complete its survey.

Engineer Binod Jha of Mid-western Regional Irrigation Directorate (MWRID), Surkhet, in a telephonic interview told The Kathmandu Post that the survey work will be complete in a week.

The report will be complete only after the topographical map is designed which is possible after the survey. The land that could be inundated can only be estimated from the topographical map.

"We are late by around two weeks," said Jha. "Since the two sides are involved the work was delayed."

Acting Divisional Engineer of District Irrigation Office, Banke, Basanta Raj Poudel said the work is not moving ahead as per the schedule because of the poor visibility. "In fact at present the place where the study has to be conducted has tall wheat plants."

Overseer Sukdev Sharma who is involved in the survey said the field work will take a week and the paper work two more weeks to complete.

Sources said the Ministry of Water Resources has been requested to pressurise India to stop the construction work until the report was complete.

"India constructed the embankment at the breakneck speed before the report was complete. It is already complete now. What will happen to the report now?" asked the source.

The embankment has blocked Sonouti and Gandhauli canals which flows through Bethani and Holiya. A Nepali official said there were informal talks to let the canal flow. "But they have blocked it saying it can be opened later," he said. "That is just a ploy."

It is estimated that the embankment will inundate thousands of bighas of land in Bethani, Holiya, Fattehpur, Gangapur, Matehiya, Narainapur, Kalakot, Laxmanpur and Katkuinya VDCs of Banke.

While India has already resettled people from 52 villages that could be inundated, Nepal has not yet done anything to resettle those who will be affected by inundation.

The report will be submitted to the Standing Committee on Inundation between Nepal and India after it is read by the MWRID, Department of Irrigation and River Control Division.

The first meeting of MWRID had in 1991 formed a Nepal-India joint team to conduct survey and submit a report. 

Rights activists call for concrete agenda

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 8 - World Women’s Day was observed here today with activists and experts urging policymakers and communities alike to come up with concrete programmes aimed at empowering women, and improving their living conditions.

In two separate functions held in the capital city Wednesday, activists and experts spoke at length on the problems dogging Nepalis women, while pointing at Nepal’s notoriously high maternal mortality rate.

"Nepal’s maternal mortality rate still remains notoriously high at 539 per 100,000 live births. That is, one out of 32 women die in pregnancy while the figure in developed nations is only 1 out of 10,000," experts participating a conference organized to mark World Women’s Day said, citing latest reports.

The conference was jointly organized by Safe Motherhood Network, an organisation built through a conglomeration of a number of NGOs, INGOs and government agencies.

"Let’s Make Motherhood Safe" was the approach aired at the conference by members of the Network. Arju Rana Deuba, the Network’s Honorary Chairperson, said, "More than ever, now is the time for creating more awareness in the communities for safer pregnancies and births."

Two years ago, the government’s policy was to have all mothers attended by trained Maternity Care Providers by the year 2000.

However, recently, there have been allegations of care providers carrying out illegal abortions in the communities.

When approached with the allegation, Deuba answered that their network was unaware of such factual data concerning the related deaths. "Our organisation concentrates on disseminating awareness across the communities and not specifically on the training of care providers," said a member of the Network.

Speaking at another interaction programme on the problems debilitating the country’s women, a speech impaired women, Banu Shrestha, tried to explain how women like her were stigmatized in the society.

"We are not allowed to do many activities that others do simply because we are slightly different than others," Shrestha, also a member of Nepal Disabled Women Federation said. "Nobody bothers to help us, when we can’t even understand the warning related to AIDS and many other diseases broadcast over radio."

Meanwhile, experts and officials at the programme stressed that women should launch an aggressive campaign for support from all quarters. "Disabled women now should not vie for equality. Rather they should launch an aggressive campaign to get ahead," said Member Secretary of Social Service Council, Dr Tika Pokharel.

He added, "The government has reservations for the Dalits

(downtrodden and suppressed communities) in the parliament and the students scholarship programmes. But I can’t just understand why it hasn’t done the same for the upliftment of the disabled women?"

State Minister for Women and Social Service Welfare Kamala Pant, and Head of Children Conservation Programme, under U.N’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Caroline Bekker, also spoke.