HM attends golden jubilee of school

By a Post Reporter

DHULIKHEL, Kavre, March 29 - His Majesty King Birendra inaugurated the golden jubilee celebration of a school here today.

Sanjeevani Higher Secondary School was established 50 years ago with local donations during the Rana regime.

Minister for Education Amod Prasad Upadhyaya said the education sector continued to be neglected even after restoration of democracy. "Budget allocated for the educational development should be utilized for creative education. Government is willing to promote education."

In 1978 the government had declared it as "the model school" for the region and have been supporting the school since then. Canada is another major contributor.

IA flight resumption talks on

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 29 - Contrary to expectations, the Nepal-India high-level talks on resuming Indian Airlines flights did not conclude even today.

Leaders of both the delegations had said yesterday that the meeting would probably end today. The two sides have been meeting for the past three days.

According to high-level sources at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, officials from both the countries have agreed on certain issues but they are consulting their senior authorities before signing "the agreement". The talks are expected to conclude tomorrow.

"Indian officials so far have made no clear indication on posting Indian security personnel at the airport...they have only hinted on upgrading normal check-up and vigilance," the official said.

The source said, "India has agreed to resume flights after the implementation of the agreement." None of the officials disclosed what the agreements are. IA cancelled its flights after the hijacking of the IA IC-814 that took off from Kathmandu in December 24.

According to the source, officials from Nepal and India inspected the security arrangements at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) yesterday before their lunch break.

Sunil Arora, Joint Secretary at the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry, is heading the three-member Indian team. Others in the team include, P T Lohar, Additional Commissioner with the Indian Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and Director of Indian Airlines Security Division.

The three-member Indian delegation arrived here on March 27. The delegation was joined by two officials from the Indian Embassy in Nepal in the talks. The Nepali side consists six members headed by Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Hari Bhakta Shrestha.

CP Mainali faces action

KATHMANDU, March 29 (PR) - CPN-ML today decided to remove CP Mainali from the chief of Party Organisation Section.

The decision was taken by the 12th meeting of the party’s Central Committee.

On the first day of the meeting on March 23, the party General Secretary Bam Dev Gautam had proposed to remove Mainali from his position as the chief of the section. Gautam alleged Mainali of creating factions within the party and not following the Constitution of the party.

"The decision was taken after he failed to tender an explanation of his behaviour that were against the constitution of the party," said Kiran Gurung, office secretary of the party.

Two years back, dissatisfied faction of CPN-UML had formed CPN-ML with Sahana Pradhan as its president. The ideological war between Mainali and Gautam had been going on for a long time.

Police killed 15, says HURPES

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 29 - A human rights organisation today claimed that only one person, a policeman was killed in the actual police- Maoist clash in Khara VDC, Rukum, on February 22, while 15 others were killed by police later.

A report made public by Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES) today said that out of the 15 who were killed by police, one person was killed in Daya Danda, seven in Kural and the rest seven in Pokhari of Khara. The five-member investigation team led by Krishna Pahadi, Chairperson of HURPES, had left for Rukum on March 17 from Dang.

According to Pahadi, Tribhan Oli, 52, a ward member of Khara-3 was also killed by police. Oli had won the election on Nepali Congress ticket.

The organisation claims that more than 50 houses and more than 20 cattle-sheds were burnt to ashes in six villages south of Musikot. Quoting the villagers in Khara, the report states that around one dozen houses were burnt in Muru Rugha and Chowkhawang villages.

There had been conflicting claims after the incident with locals blaming the police and police pointing fingers at the insurgents.

On February 23, a VDC chairman on condition of anonymity had said that police set the houses on fire after Maoists killed a police personnel during their search operation on Feb 22.

According to HURPES, police set one house on fire in Khumcheri village after their colleague was killed by Maoists while following them. Police also followed the Maoists to other villages and burnt the houses which they thought were giving refuge to the insurgents.

While Parashuram Aryal, the Chief District Officer of Rukum said that the fire destroyed a total of 16 houses and 15 cattle-sheds. The regional police office at Nepalgunj had put the number of houses and cattle-sheds destroyed by the fire at six.

HURPES today demanded the government to arrange for resettlement of those rendered homeless by the fire and expulsion of police officials involved in the fire.

Afflux bund may submerge 33 villages

By a Post Reporter

NEPALGUNJ, March 29 - Technicians preparing the report on the impact of Laxmanpur Barrage constructed 300 metres away from Nepal-India border estimate the barrage will submerge at least 33 villages of five VDCs on the Nepalese side.

The team came up with the estimate after finishing the plotting of the area. Although Nepal has already completed the plotting, Indian officials have not yet visited the site. Both the sides have to agree on the result of the survey.

Divisional Engineer of the District Irrigation Office, Banke, Rishi Ram Sharma, said the Indian officials have not yet responded to their call for site visit.

The 10th meeting of the Nepal-India Standing Committee on Inundation had directed the joint technical team to submit the report by December 30. "But this is not possible," said Sharma.

According to sources, the then Foreign Minister Ram Sharan Mahat had sent a letter to the Indian External Affairs Ministry to resolve the problem arising from the construction of the barrage. But the Indian ministry has not yet responded to that letter, said the source.

The local authorities here have already started relief measures. Chief District Officer Shyam Prasad Mainali said the District Natural Calamity Rescue Committee has already started its work.

He said the decision on whether to resettle the villagers or to prepare relief materials will be taken only after the exact details of the inundation report comes in.

According to the technicians involved in the plotting, Jafarpurwa, Betahani, Piprahawa, Purwawadi, Santaliya, Amritpurwa and Bhilorpurwa of Betahani are the villages that are likely to get inundated.

Likewise, all the villages under Holiya VDC -- Ram Nagar, Khadaincha, Danda Santaliya, Tepari, Chhitaipurwa, Piprahawa, Chhotihanpurwa, Simrouna, Chouferi, Bhaiyapurwa, Thakurpurwa, Bakupurwa and Kurwa Gaon will be inundated, say experts.

Other villages likely to be inundated are Narayanpur, Fattehpur, Farindepura, Piprahawa and Nankoupur of Fattehpur VDC and Sonbarsha, Kuderbekha, Gangapur, Dondra and Bhojpur of Gangapur VDC. Similarly, experts say Bhagwanpur and Nawajigaon of Matehiya VDC will also be flooded.

Team members say more land will be inundated once the remaining seven kilometres of barrage is constructed. India constructed the 15 kilometres stretch of the 22 kilometres long barrage a month back.

Govt to open embassy in Qatar

By Sanjeev Ghimire

KATHMANDU, March 29 - The government has decided to open its Embassy in Qatar, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here today.

Spokesperson at the Ministry, Narayan Shumsher Thapa today told The Kathmandu Post that the Krishna Prasad Bhattarai cabinet on February had decided to establish the embassy, but he declined to specify the date. "It may take two months or so before the diplomatic mission is formally established," he said.

Embassy in Qatar will be the second diplomatic mission of the government in the Gulf region, after the Royal Nepalese Embassy at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Gulf region is "the most fertile land" for the Nepalese foreign employment seekers. Remittance earned by the Nepalese foreign employment seekers adds up to the sum of annual national budget - Rs 69 billions approximately.

Joint Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Pushpa Rajbhandari said the labour market in Qatar was "driving force" for opening the embassy. "There are around 40 thousand Nepali labourers in Qatar alone and almost 200 thousand in the Gulf region," said Rajbhandari. "The focus of the embassy lies in cashing the labour market, as it means so much to our frail economy."

Economist Kumar Raj Joshi of the Foreign Employment Section at the Ministry of Labour said the embassy, once established, shall also perform the feasibility of the Labour attache in the region so that labour problem in the region could be thoroughly tackled.

Rajbhandari, however, said the government preferred an embassy instead of labour attache as there was no significant cost differences. "The embassy will do better in promoting ties between the Qatar and Nepal in sectors like trade and tourism," he said. "Even labour and other complications, if they arise, could be better settled through diplomatic missions."

The government had asked the Royal Nepalese Embassy at Riyadh to perform the feasibility of the Qatar Embassy. Ambassador Badri Khanal early last month submitted the feasibility report to the Foreign Ministry. The cabinet had approved it after it received green signal from the Ministry for General Administration and the Finance Ministry.

Secretary of the United Foreign Employment Union, the umbrella body of the foreign employment agencies, Dipak Bhattarai said the government decision was "very welcome." "It shall also relieve the stressed out Riyadh Embassy which is now looking after the whole Gulf region," said ambassador Khanal.

Capt Ghale’s death condoled

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 29 - In a press release issued here today, the British Government, British Embassy Kathmandu and British Gurkhas Nepal have expressed deep sadness over the death of Capt Gaje Ghale, 81, and one of the 13 Gurkha recipients of Victoria Cross who breathe his last at New Delhi last night.

According to the press release, "Havildar Gaje Ghale was born in Barpak village of Gorkha district in 1919. He enlisted as a boy soldier in 1934 and on completing his recruit training joined the 2nd Battalion, 5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force)."

The release adds, "2/5th Gurkha Rifles was a part of 48 Gurkha Brigade of the 17th Indian Division that played a major role against the Japanese forces in the Burma Campaign during the Second World War. He won his VC for his daring action against far superior Japanese forces on the Chin Hills of Burma on May 27, 1943. An Indian Army pensioner, he retired as a Subedar Major in the Honourary Rank of Captain and decided to settle in Almorah, India."

Girls marry, separated

By a Post Reporter

BIRTANAGAR, March 29 - Two girls created uproar when they tied nuptial knot here on Sunday.

Parents of both Indira Rai, 17 and Maya Tamang, 18 who got married, were shocked by the strange union. They said they could not understand why their daughters took the unconventional step.

Police arrested both of them the very next day as the word of their marriage spread around. Assistant Sub-Inspector Basudev Bhatta of Phathari said they arrested the two as it would have negative impact on society.

Bhatta said there is no legal provision in the law which allows the same sex marriage. "We will separate them and hand over to their respective families," said Bhatta. "Such kind of activities will promote radical behaviour in society."

Both the girls were grade-9 students in Pathari High School. They say they were happy with each other and no one could break their marriage or their love.

This is the second time such an incident has been reported in Nepal. Few years back, two girls from Pokhara had also entered into wedlock and created furore.

Shit, what a punishment!

By a Post Reporter

POKHARA, March 29 - Around 18 children studying in class one in Sun Rise Boarding School at Malam VDC here were made to lick human faeces by a teacher after the kids failed to rote learn the multiplication table as demanded by the teacher.

According to the parents of the victims, the maths teacher, Binod Adhikari, forced eighteen students to lick faeces last Sunday after taking them one by one to the toilet. There were 24 students in the class.

Around 30 parents, who were informed by their children about the incident, protested against the teacher at the school premises and demanded his removal. Both Adhikari and Kamal Ranabhat, the principal, were not available for comment.

Chief District Officer, Shyam Sundar Sharma, said necessary actions have been initiated to punish the accused either through the police or the Education Office.

The number of cases regarding harassment of school students by teachers in this district have been increasing. Recently, a school girl was hung upside down from a ceiling fan by her school principal at Tribeni Boarding School for stealing a banana.

Mayor comes wiser from The Hague

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 29 - Parched Kathmandu and water-rich Nepal both should learn lessons from recently concluded 2nd World Water Forum, experts said here today.

Speaking at an interaction programme organized here Wednesday to highlight the outcomes of the international meeting, experts and officials, noted that many solutions to the kind of water crises currently facing the Valley and the country had come up at the meet and recommended for adoption.

The Forum was held during March 17-22 in The Hague, Netherlands, and was participated by more than 50 representatives comprising government officials, non-government organization (NGO) officials, general public and water resource experts. Nepali participants today asserted that "the outcomes have been fruitful".

"The meeting has energized me," said Kathmandu Metropolis Mayor Keshav Sthapit, the host of today’s programme.

The answer to the current water crises, experts stressed, could be integrated water resource management (IWRM) programmes in the Valley in particular and the country and the whole region in general.

"Kathmandu Valley should be able to tap all the locally available water through effective watershed management programmes," said Water Resource Expert Dipak Gyawali, sharing views of Kathmandu Metropolis official Bhusan Tuladhar.

Tuladhar, who also participated in the Forum, was referring to the untapped drinking water resources of Phulchoki, Shivapuri and other surrounding hills in the Valley. Experts say not all the sources of drinking water in the Valley have been tapped even as over 1.2 million populace in the Valley reel under perennial water shortage all the year round.

Besides drinking water shortage, the Nepalis--guardians of nearly a hundred thousand megawatt hydro electric potential--are hit by power outages every summer. Nepal has been able to produce less than 300 kilowatt electricity so far.

Purna Bhadra Adiga of Water and Energy Resource Commission, who was representing HMG in the Forum, commented on the draft declaration saying, "The draft declaration is silent about the `water use for energy’ issue. It is very important and relevant in a country like Nepal."

Dr Mohan Man Sainju, former planner, expressed concern that "the Forum did not focus its attention towards the consequences of developing hydel projects. He, however, lauded what he observed "encouraging participation" of the people at the grassroots.

Three die in avalanche

By a Post Reporter

DUNAI, Dolpa, March 29 - Three persons died in an avalanche near Shirshyaul river, Dho VDC-2, on March 23. Sixty-eight yaks were also buried in the mishap.

Those who died were Karma Thapa, 60 and Takla Gurung, 15, residents of ward-3 Dhoga VDC and Yangjong Lama, 30, of Dhoga VDC-4, according to the ward chairman Tarke Thapa.

Thapa said the avalanche was precipitated they snow fall in the region the previous day.

When contacted for details, Chief District Officer Rudranath Basyal said he had received information verbally but did not have details.

MPs press for penal reforms

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 29 - The parliamentary committee on justice and law today recommended the government to amend Jail Regulation 2020 BS (1964) for the betterment of in-mates languishing in poorly managed jails across the country.

The committee presented a probe report seeking amendments in the Regulation in the House of Representatives Wednesday, stating that the 36-year-old Regulation has no relevance in today’s context and that the prisons should be better equipped and improved.

President of the committee, Mahendra Yadav called on to behave with prisoners democratically and in a humanitarian manner, and end all kinds of measures currently being imposed against the prisoners. The Panchayati-time facilities provided to them do not suffice today, he added.

The in-mates have been subjected to inhuman forms of treatments notwithstanding the provision that the constitution and laws value everybody equally, the report said.

It added, "The committee has concluded that it is unjust on the part of the government to discriminate prisoners on the basis of their educational and social standards. Those coming from upper class should be kept in `Class A’ while the rest should be kept in ‘Class B’ according to the existing Regulation. But this has not been followed."

Stating that the prisoners were not even provided basic garments required during different seasons, the report said that the plight of women in-mates is even worse. Facilities provided to the mothers and their newly-born children are not enough.

The development came days after experts voiced deep concern over the prison conditions in the country and stressed penal reform at a international meeting. During a March 18-19 meet, experts from Nepal and United Kingdom converged in the capital and discussed ways to develop an action plan for penal reform in the country.

Home Minister apologises

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 29 - Home Minister Govind Raj Joshi today tendered his apology in the parliament for the police misbehaviour towards lawmakers and women’s rights activists who were staging a sit-in at the Ministry for Women and Social Welfare.

Tendering his apology, Joshi said, "I will investigate the issue and I also apologise for the misbehaviour of the police.I assure that this kind of incident will not repeat in the future."

The CPN-UML women MPs and rights activists were protesting against the appointment of "only NC partyworkers" in the Women’s Awareness and Income Generating Programme of the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare.

Eighteen women including MPs -- Bidya Devi Bhandari, Shanta Manavi, Astalaxmi Shakya, Sushila Nepal, Goma Devkota, Gaura Koirala, Tham Maya Thapa and Tirtha Gautam were arrested by the police. Those arrested were manhandled by both male and female police. MP Pradeep Gyawali was injured in the hand in the tussle between the women and police.

"They forced us into the van even when we said we were MPs," shouted Asta Laxmi Shakya from a police van numbered Ba.A.Ga 1468.

The House proceeding got disrupted for one hour and 45 minutes when opposition, including CPN-UML, kept on demanding apology from the Home Minister. The opposition kept on saying that the Constitution does not allow the arrest of lawmakers when the House session is on.

Joshi had to stand in the rostrum for 20 minutes when there was uproar in the House.

UML has been demanding that the Women’s Upliftment and Income Generating Programme should go under the Ministry for Local Development. But the Ministry for Women and Social Welfare is looking after the programme. Rs 80 million has been allocated for 940 VDCs in the current fiscal year.

MP Bidya Bhandari, tore-off the programme directive today in the parliament saying it will not address the poor.