House passes APF, Regional Admin Bills
UML reaches secret understanding with Congress

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Aug 12 –  In a surprising turn-around, the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) dropped its opposition to the Armed Police Force Bill today in parliament, helping the government to win approval for the controversial Bill in the House of Representatives.

Alongside the APF Bill, which was passed by a majority voice-vote thanks to UML support, the government also succeeded in passing the Regional Administrator Bill in the same sitting of the Lower House today.

The Bills will now be tabled in the Upper House, which is almost certain to pass it given the understanding between the Nepali Congress and the UML. Once both the Houses endorse the Bills, they will be sent to His Majesty the King for his assent. After the royal assent, the Bills will take form of Acts.

While the Armed Police Force Bill – 2001 was passed with a majority vote, the Local Administration (4th Amendment) Bill, 2001 was passed unanimously. These two Bills are the replacement for the controversial ordinances which were initially opposed by the entire opposition, nevertheless, passed last week by parliament despite opposition walk-out, including by the UML.

Both the Bills are aimed at quelling the Maoist insurgency which has ravaged parts of Nepal’s countryside. While the APF envisages setting up a well-equipped and well-trained paramilitary force to fight the rebels, the regional administrator Bill envisages better coordination of security and development activities in the five regions.

The UML support to the APF Bill comes as a surprising turn-around in the party’s long-held position. Just last week, the UML walked out of parliamentary proceedings to protest the passage of the royal ordinances pertaining to the Armed Police Force.

UML and Nepali Congress leaders later made it clear that the controversial Bill’s passage came about after a secret understanding between the two largest parties in parliament. The main opposition party, in conjunction with the Nepal Sadbhawana Party, had attached more than a dozen amendments to the APF Bill, which was all accepted today by the government side.

"The government accepts all the amendments," announced Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka just before the Bill was tabled to the vote in the House.

CPN-ML to form ‘dialogue committee’ today

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 12 - The Communist Party of Nepal Marxist Leninist (CPN-ML) has decided to form a "dialogue committee" aimed at hold talks with the main opposition party CPN-UML for the unification of the left parties.

Discussions over the possible unification are going on inside CPN-ML after CPN-UML last week endorsed a proposal of left parties unification.

"We will form a dialogue committee tomorrow to hold talks with CPN-UML and other left parties," says CPN-ML leader CP Mainali. According to Mainali, talks will be held with CPN-UML for much possible unification while with other left parties for "functional unity".

"Our party has positively taken the proposal of the CPN-UML over the left party unification," said Mainali stressing that his party is also holding dialogue with other left parties for the "unification of all left parties".

Even as Mainali points out the possibility of unification with the CPN-UML, he rules out the possibility of unification with the underground CPN-Maoists party. "There is no possibility of unification with the CPN-Maoists, but there is always the possibility to work together in many issues they have raised," said Mainali.

CPN-ML General Secretary Bam Dev Gautam said that the "dialogue committee" that will be formed tomorrow will held discussions with all the "like-minded" left parties for unification and functional unity.

Relatives perform last rites as missing people remain untraced

Post Report

MORANG, Aug 12 - Despite relentless search operations on the fourth straight day today, 17 people buried under Thursday’s landslide triggered by torrential rainfalls in Prapcha and Shrichaur villages in Okhaldhunga district could not be traced.

"Relatives of the missing have already performed the last rites as the hope of survival remains bleak ," said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Hanuman Shah, in charge of the District Police Office in Okhaldhunga. "since the missing people could not be traced even after four days of rigorous search, they decided to perform the last rites."

Police have till now recovered three bodies of those buried under the landslide. DSP Shah said that the 40-member police rescue team and the locals recovered only mangled parts of bodies.

The people who buried under the landslide were returning homes from a weekly market at Rampurtar of Baruneshwor VDC-3 on that fatal evening.

Locals said that fragile mountain slid after an irrigation channel that was dug from Gaokhola to Shrichaur VDC caved in due to the incessant monsoon rain.

Meanwhile, Hom Nath Dahal, Nepali Congress lawmaker urged the government for immediate relief to the relatives and those affected by the landslides.

Terai leaders bent on constitutional amendment

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 12 - The problem of citizenship of the Terai people can never be realised without an amendment in the Constitution, said a Terai youth leader here today.

Presenting a paper on " The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990, the citizenship problem pertaining to the Constitution and its solution " organized by Terai (indigenous people of Terai ), Convenor of Terai People’s Right Forum Upendra Yadav said, " The present Constitution should be amended to overcome the citizenship problem faced by the people of Terai."

Speaking on the occasion, leader of the main opposition party CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that his party was always willing to solve the problem of citizenship faced by the Terai people. Nepal even lauded the paper as ‘comprehensive and balanced’.

Jitendra Dev Yadav of CPN-ML who was the convenor of the Citizenship Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, 2053 said citizenship problem is the specific problem of Terai people. He said that he as a convenor of the committee had distributed 34,090 citizenship certificates within 19 days. He further said there was no alternative than amending the Constitution for the solution of the citizenship problem as the Supreme Court had annulled the sixth amendment to the Citizenship Bill stating that it violated the Constitution.

Prof TN Jaiswal and sociologist Krishna Bahadur Bhattachan also commented on the working paper.

Meanwhile, in Janakpur, Chairman of Nepal Sadbhawana Party Gajendra Narayan Singh said the problem of citizenship is more serious than the problem of terrorism." The terrorism problem is of one party but the citizenship problem is of 4 million Terai people" Singh said.

Responding to a query about the annulment of about 34 thousand citizenship by the Supreme Court, Singh said, " I don’t blame the court because the rights granted by the Home Ministry to the Citizenship committees was erroneous."

Sumitra set to become first woman trolley bus driver

By Pragya Ghimire

KATHMANDU, Aug 12 - Sumitra Dangal, 28, a Masters Degree first year student has been driving a Safa tempo for her livelihood for the last five years and soon she is going to be the first professional woman to drive trolley bus.

After being rejected from the candidature for the post of police inspector, Sumitra tried her venture in driving electric tempo with a view to fighting poverty, leading an independent life and giving economic support to her family. In the same course she also got associated with Nepal Electric Vehicle Industry.

She says, "I took Rs 600,000 loan from Rastriya Banijya Bank and started tempo business but unfortunately, after 24 days of it , I had a serious accident and was admitted to hospital for treatment. Later , I established Manakamana Driving School and started to teach and give driver’s training to 14 women free of charge . And then to other 110 women who had been the victims of various domestic violence’s .They are giving continuity to their profession and earning by driving tempo on different routes of the capital valley.

"I always wanted to see the women living an independent life . So I tried my best to uplift and encourage them inspiring that being a professional driver, it is neither shameful nor embarrassing, rather it is superior to doing illegal deeds and living a hellish life. I have eagerly been dreaming of driving a trolley bus, one of the heaviest vehicles in Nepal, since the day I started to sit on the driving seat. And even now I am committed to involve more women in driving all sorts of light vehicles like micro bus, tempo, mini bus and night bus together with the heavy vehicles like truck, trolley and buses within one and half year", adds Sumitra promisingly .

Sumitra recalls the bitter experience of being harassed by the male passengers, not paying the fare and others who made passes at her and tried to humiliate her.

She further explains her interest in joining the Nepal Transport Corporation adding that it is not only to train and encourage the involvement of women but also to uplift the declining condition of the Corporation.

Of the total 32 trolley buses , only 12 are used in public transport service but the rest are in a sorry condition waiting for good technicians and repair.

In her recent visit to attend the International Trade Union Federation in Bangladesh she found comparatively less number of professional women driver in SAARC countries and emphasises to promote Nepal to a country of professional women tempo driver and entrepreneurs.

Her intimate Manga Laxmi Shrestha, 29, says, "When I was in a critical condition ,she saved my life and showed me the way of earning the minimum amount to ensure my hand to mouth existence. I am now planning to receive training from Sumitra to drive a trolley."

Ashok Silwal, who taught and trained her trolley -driving , says, "It was very exciting when she learnt to drive in short duration of 15 days where as other men couldn’t complete even in three months".

Sahakul Bahadur Thapa, Inspector of Valley Traffic Police office, inspected the trail, says, she possesses the quality necessary for a driver. She has proved that women are also capable of driving heavier vehicles like trolley- bus.

Sumitra adds, Nepalese women need commitment and enthusiasm to uplift their existing plight to the brighter one.

Unscrupulous ex-students cause big losses to Central Library

By Kiran Chapagain

KATHMANDU, Aug 12 –  What do former Foreign Minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani and astrologer Mangal Raj Joshi have in common? Aside from the fact that both are famous personalities of contemporary Nepal, the duo also have the unsavory distinction of being two of the thousands of people who have yet to return books borrowed decades earlier from the Tribhuvan University Central Library.

The Library says, both Dr Lohani and Joshi have failed to return books borrowed decades ago while they were either studying or doing research. In Dr Lohani’s case, according to Library records, he has yet to return three books on economics he borrowed in 1970 while a young researcher with Centre for Economics, Development and Administration (CEDA). Joshi borrowed books on geography in 1963.

The two prominent men who have failed to return publicly owned books to a public library is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem runs much deeper and involves thousands of former TU students, both famous and not so famous.

According to Libarian Krishna Mani Bhandari, the Central Library, which boasts a collection of 250,000 books, is still awaiting the return of 8,956 books which were borrowed by students and teachers at one time or another. Of these, 6196 books are due on the part of students and the rest were taken out by teachers.

Bhandari says the students are bigger problem. "Because all the students in the due list are those who left studies incomplete, the chance of getting back the books from the students is very slim," he says. Books borrowed by the teachers can be recovered when they retire since they have to submit library clearance cards to get their pensions.

It is not that the Library has not been doing anything to recover its books. For the past several years, it has been sending out repeated reminders to all the de-faulters to return the books. No one has returned the books even then, not even Dr Lohani and Joshi.

The two prominent persons do not deny that they borrowed books and failed to return it to the Central Library. But time constraints, say both, have not permitted them to search for the books in question and return those.

The Central Library says it has sent three reminders to Dr Lohani to return the books, but there was no response. Bhandari says the Library will no longer send any reminders to him. But Dr Lohani denies receiving any of the reminders, though he admits he still owes the library books.

"I have not received any letters from the library," says Dr Lohani. "If they (the library authorities ) had to remind me, they should better have contacted me." He adds that it is not his intention to keep the books for such a long time. He has not returned the books because "I have forgotten due to my busy life." He further says he will check the book and, if not found, he is ready to pay the cost of the books very soon, not giving the exact time frame.

Astrologer Joshi, on the other hand, claims he is finally thinking of returning back three books of geography that he borrowed in 1963. He says he kept the books because he needed those to teach and update. "I am ready to return back the books if the library authorities need them," he says, though he too does not specify when.

The missing books, understandably, has created a furore among students who want those books for their own research but cannot find them in the Library.

"The library does not have any useful books because all the good books have been taken out", says Yadahv Prasad Sharma, a political science student of MA second year. Manohar Ghimire, an MSc first year student, says that the problem could be because some of the books are rare and not available in the market, thus providing an incentive to older students to take out the books and not return them.

The problem is compounded because some of these books are costly and students just keep them. Also, there aren’t enough copies of a particular book in the Library prompting students and teachers to keep them indefinitely for fear of not being able to borrow the next time round.

But such facts are of little consolation to current students who bewail the lack of good books in the Central Library. What they want is strict rules and regulations and its enforcement, no matter who borrows the books.

"The Library administration fails to take any action against defaulters," charges Bhim Shrees, a member of TU’s Free Student Union. "The problem can be easily solved if the Library seeks the help of the student unions."

Meanwhile, the Central Library has already installed electronic security system to check book thefts even as the debate on the old un-returned books continue.

‘Rights activists should focus on food security’

KATHMANDU, Aug 12 (PR)- Nepalese human rights activists should also focus on fulfilling the people’s rights to food, in the context of mounting population while the agro production growth has remained constant in the country, agricultural experts said today.

At a seminar held today on Food Insecurity Situation in the Remote Hills of Nepal, speakers also stressed on forming a sound national policy on food security. They also focused on the food crisis in the remote Karnali district, saying the food provided there by the government reaches only 16 per cent of the total demand.

Participants also accused that the food supplied by the government is all finished when it is distributed to government officials, and that the local people receive very less of the food supplied.

"Food production rate has not gone up more than an average of 2.1 per cent since 1960 to the present day whereas population growth has shot up by an average 2.6 per cent during the same period," said Narahari Dhakal, vice president of the Agriculture Concern Society Nepal, the organizer of the seminar.

Hem Raj Poudel, the coordinator of Micro-Enterprises Development Program at Plan International Nepal, demanded that the government adopt a sound food security policy. "Government must design program for self-reliant food production and distribution at the local level if the problem is to make less severe," he said.