Maoists unveil three-member talks team

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KATHMANDU, Aug 15 – The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has announced the formation of a three-member team to conduct negotiations with the government to resolve their five and a half year-old insurgency.

A press statement issued by Maoist party chairman "Comrade Prachanda" said that Krishna Bahadur Mahara had been appointed as the leader of the negotiating team from the Maoist side. The other members of the team include T. B. Rayamajhi and Agni Prasad Sapkota.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Kathmandu Post today that the government will soon appoint a senior minister to lead its own negotiating team. "Most likely, it could be Minister Chiranjeevi Wagle," the official said on condition of anonymity. "But it has not been finalized yet."

The same official also said that the much-anticipated talks with the rebels could be held as early as "the first week of Bhadra (between August 17-24.)"

The formation of the negotiating team by the Maoists indicate that both the rebels and the government side have almost fulfilled the initial groundwork that was deemed necessary for the talks.

Government authorities have by now released dozens of jailed Maoist cadres and also made public the whereabouts of almost all others still under arrest. The rebels have by and large observed the ceasefire initiated by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on July 23, a day after he came to power.

The rebel’s violent insurgency has turned parts of Nepal’s rural western hilly districts into a war zone. More than 18,00 people have died since the insurgency first surfaced in early 1996.

Maoists are demanding a new constitution that enshrines the principles of republicanism, along with dozens of demands dealing with socio-economic issues. However, parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy are both firmly enshrined in the present Constitution and cannot be amended. The point has been hammered repeatedly by Prime Minister Deuba who has firmly refused to negotiate the status of the monarchy and democracy.

Village brawl over witch hunt shocks ParliamentSpeaker orders inquiry

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KATHMANDU, Aug 15 – The Speaker of the House of Representatives today gave a stern ruling to the government to furnish details within a week of the witch hunt brawl in a village in Mahottari district during which more than 1500 women were humiliated and also ordered immediate action against the guilty.

Speaker Taranath Ranabhat gave the ruling after lawmakers, cutting across party lines, demanded strong action against the guilty from the government over the incident for inhuman treatment meted out to women. The issue dominated both the Zero Hour and the Special Hour in the House today.

"I am issuing a ruling to the concerned minister (Home) to give details of the so called witch identifying ritual during which women were humiliated and beaten within seven days and also rule to take action against the guilty," said the Speaker.

On early Tuesday in Simardahi VDC, at least four persons were injured seriously while several others sustained minor injuries, when two groups of villagers fought between themselves at a gathering held to identify "village witches".

The fierce fracas started after a dhami (witch doctor), who identified himself as a "promising shaman" from neighboring India, declared a woman witch at the behest of the VDC Chairman, Nawal Kishore Sahani, said the eyewitnesses.

The witch doctor and his assistants started harassing hundreds of local women as part of their ritual aimed at identifying village witches at the gathering of thousands of people, nearly half of them women. The witch doctor hails from Baishali, Bihar (India).

The lawmakers, while condemning the incident, demanded immediate action against the VDC Chairman Sahani, the witch doctor and his assistants.

While Suresh Kumar Karki of the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) demanded a probe commission on the incident, Chitra Bahadur KC of National People’s Front suggested forming a parliamentary committee to investigate the matter.

"What were the Chief District Officer and the police administration doing when the villagers were asked to parade the "witches" amidst the drum beats for the past three days?" asked KC, demanding that the CDO and the police chief be summoned to the Home Ministry and ask to give explanations.

Savitri Bogati of the ruling Nepali Congress demanded sacking of the VDC chief from his post. Urmila Aryal of the UML demanded action against the Mahottari police for failing to prevent the incident in a village adjoined to the district headquarters despite a three-day prior dictat issued by the witch doctor.

The lawmakers wondered whether even the police was also afflicted with this superstition. They also expressed the concern about the direction the society was taking when the people’s representatives themselves were perpetrated such incidents.

Meanwhile, different women’s organizations condemned the incident in the Simardahi village and demanded stern action against the guilty.

Issuing a joint statement, Sahabhagi, a women’s group, asked that the political parties should not give indulgence to criminals involved in such incidents.

Similarly, the All Nepal Women’s Association and Women Security Pressure Group demanded treatment of the injured women.

Govt-ANWA talks on liquor ban makes little headway

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KATHMANDU, Aug 15 - The government sat down today with the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Women’s Association, (ANWA-Revolutionary) to resolve the latter’s demand of a nation-wide liquor ban threatened from Saturday.

Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka sat down to negotiate with five ANWA members led by its chairperson Rekha Sharma at the Home Ministry today.

Emerging after the talks, both the sides claimed the negotiations were conducted in a cordial atmosphere and that many of the 22 minor demands of the ANWA were agreed to by the government.

However, regarding the total liquor ban, the two sides have yet to arrive at an agreement necessitating further talks set for Friday. The ANWA remained adamant on the total liquor ban, according to the participants in the negotiations.

"Since we could not reach the agreement regarding the issue of liquor ban, we will be meeting again on Friday," said Sharma after today’s talks.

Home Minister Khadka also said that dialogue which lasted around two and half hours was held in cordial atmosphere and will continue till both sides agree upon the major issue -the liquor ban. "Both the parties have decided to continue the talks on Friday."

Sources say, the government agreed to implement most of the demands forwarded by the ANWA like control of prostitution on the pretext of dance restaurant, to provide decent uniform to the employees of the restaurants and many others.

Chiranjivi Wagle, Minister for Housing and Physical Planning said that except the liquor ban and few others, most of the demands will be implemented within a week.

ANWA in its leaflets distributed recently had called for the Total ban on liquor sales and consumption from August 18. However, in the stark contrast to the call, Baburam Bhattarai, leader of the underground Maoist rebels in his interview published in one of the weeklies, had said that their intention was not a total ban. "We have no agenda of puritanical fads like alcohol ban but we launch a campaign against social alcoholism, gambling, prostitution and pornography," Bhattarai had said.

Taking a serious note of the call, businessmen expressed concerns over the move and asserted that it will be a serious set-back for the already deteriorating national economy.

They had earlier said that bank investment on the liquor industries is over Rs 10 billion. They had also claimed that all the investment would go down to the drain if there is total ban on liquor and ultimately the people will suffer.

When asked regarding the repercussion of the demands that could create in the country’s economy, Sharma replied, " The investment should be made on something more productive rather than on liquor. If the investment is shifted to other productive sectors it won’t cause negative impact on the over all economy of the country."

"Basically the liquor ban was called owing to the growing societal problems. It was intended to ban the rising social anomalies, " Sharma added.

Experts urge Nepal, India to extend Trade Treaty

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KATHMANDU, Aug 15 - Experts and businessmen have urged both Nepal and India to extend the Trade Treaty in its present form. The Treaty was first signed in 1991 and later modified in December 1996.

The call for extension comes just a day after India officially notified Nepal that it was seeking review and revision of certain provisions of the Treaty, which is to expire this December.

Speaking at a programme on the Treaty held in the Capital today, former Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Mohan Dev Pant said that the spirit of the Nepal-India Trade Treaty will be killed if it is changed. "The Treaty must be left unchanged."

He said that the Treaty, which had the basic objective of accelerating Nepal’s process of industrialization and economic growth, if changed, would have a negative bearing over Nepal.

Addressing the issue of export surge, which is believed to have prompted the Indian side for a revision in the Treaty, Pant said, "If India signed the Treaty with the objectives to help in Nepal’s industrialization as a neighbour, why do they raise the issue of export surge."

India had tabled its concern over Nepal’s increasing export of zinc oxide, acrylic yarn, copper wire, steel pipes and vanaspati ghee, which it claimed to have fallen under the surge net. However, Pant questioned, "Without raising Nepalese exports, how can Nepal achieve economic growth?" "The surge issue should not derail the Treaty," he said.

Pant also pointed out that not only Nepal but also India has benefited from the Trade Treaty. He said that most products coming from India to Nepal enter with an effective of zero customs duty, while Nepalese products making their way into the Indian markets, though exempted from customs duties, have to pay various other additional duties.

Highlighting the objectives of the Treaty, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Rabi Bhakta Shrestha said that the measures to curtail Nepalese exports should not be taken. However, he said that the Nepalese government should consider the concerns of the Indian side.

On the same occasion, Padma Jyoti, former FNCCI president, said that the concern of both Nepal and India should be recognized and amicably settled. However, he said, "If the latest remedial measures, as suggested by India, leads to a decrease in Nepal-India trade, then what is the use of the Treaty of Trade?"

Similarly, former FNCCI president, Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, said that Nepalese exports to India is negligible as compared to the total domestic demand. "Although some Indian markets are affected by the Nepalese products, there is no rationale justifying their curtailing," he reiterated.

Former second vice president of FNCCI Diwakar Golchha, said that Nepal cannot afford to completely ignore the issues raised by India. "The need to import Indian vehicles on the basis of self certification is a big example of Nepalese indifference," said Golchha.

Arun Kumar Chaudhary, Vice president of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), said that there is a need for political intervention that can bring a long term solution to the current challenges plaguing the Nepalese industries.

Today’s programme was organized by Society of Economic Journalist of Nepal.

UML leaders call on PM

KATHMANDU, Aug 15 (PR) - A four member delegation of the main opposition party in the House of Representatives - CPN-UML - today called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at his office and demanded that the 17-point agenda agreed upon between the ruling Nepali Congress and the UML be implemented immediately.In a press statement issued by the main opposition, it is stated that the party has drawn the government’s attention to immediately implement the 17-point agenda in order to further speed up the democratic process and ensure social justice to the people.Ensuring free and fair elections, land reforms, equal rights to women on parental property, ban on general strikes for 10 years, anti-corruption move and elimination of untouchability are, among others, the major understandings reached between the two major parties.The members of the delegation were UML leaders K.P. Oli, Amrit Kumar Bohara, Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Subhas Nembang..

NSP warns of agitation

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KATHMANDU, Aug 15 – Gajendra Narayan Singh, the president of Nepal Sadbhawana Party(NSP), today warned that the party would launch peaceful agitation both in the parliament and on the streets if the government did not issue citizenship cards to "Nepali citizens of Terai origin".

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post after the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) meeting today, Singh reiterated the party’s stance that more than 3.5 million people of the Terai origin have still been denied their citizenship. Referring to the recent Supreme Court judgment that annulled more than 30,000 citizenship certificates due to the faulty procedure, the NSP chief said that citizens could not be denied their legitimate right because of the fault of the officials.

He demanded an immediate end to the confiscation of the property of those people whose citizenship has been annulled by the apex court verdict. He welcomed the Home Ministry statement which had said that the certificates would be re-issued to Nepali citizens after a due procedure.

Earlier, the NWC of the party held a meeting to discuss citizenship problem, government-Maoists talks, power tariff hike, Hrithik Roshan episode and the report on it, Marchawar bund, party’s organizational structure and party’s future strategy under the chairmanship of the party president Singh.

The meeting will continue tomorrow.

CDC to sign agreement with Mcmillan

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KATHMANDU, Aug 15 - Curriculum Development Center, Tribhuwan University (TU) has been holding talks to enter into an agreement with the Macmillan Publishers Ltd.-a London-based international publishers of books, magazines, journals covering science, health, fiction and other academic publications, Dean of Humanities and social science in TU Tri Ratna Manandhar said, today.

The two sides are expected to sign an agreement by the last week of August after the arrival of the publishers from London on August 25-26. The TU officials said they would first give priority for publications of text books related to Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Journalism.

Text books on sociology, politics, history and journalism will now be published by Macmillan Publishers Ltd. in collaboration with the Curriculum Development Center, Tribhuwan University.

The writers of the books prescribed under the BA Curriculum will be paid Rs 240 per page by the Macmillan company.

The costs of the books which will be published by the Macmillan is expected to be more or less the same from that of the earlier publications, Manandhar added.

Meanwhile, the discussion program on +2 Journalism held today at the Capital suggested for a full fledged journalism courses in the +2 level.

Various journalists and academicians who gathered here came out with a proposal to reform the outdated course in journalism and urged the government to invest in Journalism.

The TU is also likely to introduce MA in Journalism effective from the academic year 2059 BS, sources close to TU said.

Roadside tourist guides outnumber licensed ones, as authorities stay mute

By Satyendra Timilsina

KATHMANDU, Aug 15 – Come September, the first month of Nepal’s autumn tourist season, hundreds of tourist guides will go around the country with tourists, who tend to be curious and inquisitive about the country’s diverse cultures and other attractions.

During Spring and Autumn seasons when the country gets blessed with fine weather ideal for outdoor activities, a large number of local people—mainly youth—can be seen guiding tourists, explaining them about the unique culture, history as well as importance of various destinations scattered across one of the ‘world’s last remaining Shangri-Las’.

Encouraging it may sound, but those in tourism business say only a few tourist guides are properly trained ones, who own government-recognized license while the rest are "fly-by-night guides" who lack proper education about the country’s history and culture. And worse, nothing has been done to check the inflow of such unqualified and unauthorized guides into the country’s burgeoning tourism market.

Vishnu Gyanwali, President of Tourist Guides Association of Nepal (TURGAN) says, "Professionally speaking, the tourist guides have to convey good messages and show warm response to visitors. But the high number of unprofessional, untrained and uneducated (cultural) guides in the market is putting the very image of Nepal in the tourism map at stake. There is a lot of bad publicity because of this."

Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the only authorized institute that trains tourist guides—who are basically categorized into cultural, trekking, mountaineering and rafting guides—and cooks.

The number of cultural guides trained by the Academy is higher as their demand in market is high given the high percentage of tourists who visit for sightseeing in and around Kathmandu and Pokhara valley, among other destinations.

Established in 1973, the Academy, which would be known as His Majesty’s Government’s Tourism Training Center until very recently, has trained around 1,800 cultural guides till date, according to latest government figures. Of them, only 350 are working while the rest are engaged in other professions, according to TURGAN President Gyanwali.

Whereas no such thing as statistics exist as to how many unauthorized guides who do not possess license are going around with visitors in various sightseeing, trekking, mountaineering and rafting trips.

Tek Bahadur Dangi, Director at the Nepal Tourism Board, admits that the problem is really severe and continues to persist. "But we are not authorized to take actions against such guides or make any comments on it," he said.

As said, the major attraction for unlicensed guides in this sector is the daily allowance and hefty tips that the guides get from their clients. On average, most travel agencies pay a cultural guide with a minimum of Rs 920 as allowance every day during the tourist season. And there are travel agencies that pay as much as Rs 2,150 in a single day during season.

Chataut released on bail

By Rudra Sharma

KATHMANDU, Aug 15 - Former Minister Tarini Datta Chataut today posted a bail worth Rs 2.1 million and 56 thousand at the appellate court Patan in response to an order of the court to present Rs 1.7 million bail or property equivalent in connection with the controversial Lauda Air scandal.

The order was passed by a division bench of the court comprising chief judge Khil Raj Regmi and judge Govinda Kumar Shrestha.

Delivering the order, chief judge Regmi said that the court could not agree with the plea of the defending counsels and the bail is ordered considering the status of the accused, legal condition and his economic condition. The order was passed according to No 118(10) chapter on court management and clause 27(4) of Corruption Control Act, 2017.

After the court order Chataut said, "I am a democratic man, I honour the order of the court." While asked about the charges of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), former tourism minister Chataut said, "the charges are malafide, baseless, subjective and the CIAA has come down to politics."

He had posted the land registered in the name of Devendra Purush Dhakal which, Chataut said, belongs to one of his friends.

During the preliminary hearing today the government advocates pleaded that since RNAC was not in need of fourth plane after it had extended the term of China South West Airlines following the failure of RNAC to fetch the plane through tender, re-tender and sealed offer. They also argued that he had manipulated RNAC executives in his favour and provided foreign exchange for the same.

Appearing on behalf of Chataut, advocate Harihar Dahal said " my party has never directed to enter into an agreement with Lauda Air."

Today was the last day of the 60 day time by which Chataut was required to appear in the court.

The CIAA on April 25 had ordered for the seizure of the passport of Chataut with an order not to leave Kathmandu valley without the permission of CIAA. On the same date the CIAA had demanded bail of 50 million each from RNAC executives Tirtha Lal Shrestha and Hari Bhakta Shrestha and taken into custody for their failure to post the huge amount of bail.

On May 25 the CIAA had filed corruption cases against 10 persons including CEOs, Lauda Air Italy and Austria and Chataut. On June 17 the court had summoned Chataut to report from his part

Lawyers say serving summon to the foreign people in connection with such case is appeared to be a new practice in Nepal.

The whole session of parliament last time was disrupted due to the alleged involvement of the government in the Lauda Air deal. The parliamentary public account committee had sent letter to then prime Minster Girija Prasad Koirala regarding the lauda controversy.

Snake bite, encephalitis claim 21 lives in Kanchanpur

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MAHENDRANAGAR, Kanchanpur, Aug 15 - Death toll from snake bite and encephalitis has reached 21 in this far-western Terai district over the last one month, according to the Mahakali Zonal Hospital.

The hospital source said that 17 people succumbed to snake bite while four others died of Japanese encephalitis over the period. Eight others suffering from encephalitis are receiving treatment at the hospital.

The hospital statistics showed that the number of encephalitis patients grew all of a sudden towards the end of July.

Dr. Shubhesh Raj Kayastha said that if anything was to go by the previous seven years, it had been apparent that the encephalitis patients grew suddenly during the first week of August.

Kayastha said that more people die of snake bite than that of the mosquito-borne disease in the district.

Last year also, a dozen people died of snake bite while seven succumbed to the disease.

Medical superintendent of the hospital Dr. Dil Bahadur KC said that main reason behind the snake bite related deaths could be the ignorance of the locals, who prefer local witch doctors rather to the hospitals and health centres. Moreover, many of the people who live in remote areas cannot rush to the nearest hospital on time after being bitten by deadly snakes like cobra and karret.