1996 Trade Treaty extended by 3 months

By Bhaskar Sharma

KATHMANDU, Nov 30 In view of the state of  emergency that was declared in Nepal a few days back, the Indian government has proposed to extend the 1996 Nepal-India Trade Treaty by three months, high level sources said.

Government sources said that the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a telephonic conversation today morning with the Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba made such a proposal.

Even the international news agency AFP, quoting an Indian official, reported that Vajpayee called the Nepali Prime Minister Deuba to inform him of the decision, adding that the Indian industry, however, was keen to modify certain provisions of the treaty.

The gesture to extend the five-year treaty, which was being negotiated by trade officials from the two countries, was believed to indicate support for Nepal’s government as it fights a Maoist insurgency, AFP states.

The Treaty, first signed in 1991 and later modified in December 1996, would have expired on December 5 unless ratified by the two governments. The two governments have already held three round of failed trade talks to settle the squabble that arose after the Indian side showed concern over the increasing export of certain Nepali items.

India claims that the increasing exports of acrylic yarn, zinc oxide, vanaspati ghee, steel pipes and copper winding wires attracts the surge clause in the Trade Treaty that allows the two sides to go into consultation for settling the issue.

Though bilateral negotiations over the Treaty renewal would still be needed after the expiry of the three-month period, the Nepali business circle is relieved over the latest clearing of the cloud of uncertainty that enveloped the total renewal process.

"The extension of the Treaty is a positive sign that reflects the commitment of the two governments to settle the trade confusion in the most amicable way," said Rabi Bhakta Shrestha, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

"Now the two sides have more time to devote for carrying out their respective homework so that a settlement can be reached in a manner that would be mutually beneficial," he added.

Similarly, Arun Chaudhary, President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), said, "The Indian Prime Minister’s offer to extend the Treaty for the next three months is a gesture of goodwill by not pulling Nepal into negotiations when a state of emergency has been declared in the northern neighbour."

India, in the last trade talks held in New Delhi, had formally proposed a 50 per cent mandatory value addition on material and labour on goods exported from Nepal to India to qualify for a preferential duty-free and quota-free entry.

The Nepali side, however, reciprocated with a proposal to impose 20 per cent value addition on material and labour on Nepali exports to India. In addition, the two sides also differ on the formula and the modality of calculating the extent of value addition.

While the Indian side wants the value addition norm to be of international standards, the Nepali side is learnt to have proposed a unique arrangement given the unique nature of Nepal-India bilateral trading relations.

Nepali businessmen opine that India is demanding changes in certain provisions of the Treaty to curtail Nepali exports. They fear that such a step would only widen the already imbalanced trade gap further to India’s favour.

Though the volume of trade between Nepal and India since the signing of the landmark 1996 Treaty is on the rise, the trade deficit has barely changed. Trade gap between the two countries presently stands at around Rs 19 billion in India’s favour. While exports from Nepal to India in the fiscal year 2000/01 stood at Rs 27 billion, imports during the same year touched Rs 46 billion.

Emergency co-ordination committees formed

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KATHMANDU, Nov 30 – The Cabinet today formed a main committee and five sub-committees to co-ordinate and manage the work and functioning of the government during the state of emergency imposed earlier this week.

The Emergency Management and Co-ordination Committee will be headed by Minister for Physical Planning Chiranjivi Wagle which will be planning and implementing new policies of the government in the wake of the state of emergency.

The committee, which will be the umbrella body for other sub-committees, will be responsible for management and co-ordination of events of the government.

Among the sub-committees, the Security will be headed by Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka, the Communications by Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Acharya, the Health Sub-Committee by Health Minister Sharad Singh Bhandari and the Service and Facility Sub-Committee by Minister Without Portfolio Rishikesh Gautam.

The committees were formed during the Cabinet meeting by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today to make the administration more effective and efficient and make overall improvement in the administration.

During the meeting which was also attended by ministers, assistant and state ministers, Prime Minister Deuba instructed them to work for the people, speeding up the functioning of the ministries and ensure that the general public face minimum inconveniences during the state of emergency.

Meanwhile, the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) personnel yesterday foiled major terrorist attacks in Syangja and border points of Barhabise and Jogbani, states a press release issued here today.

According to the release issued by the Defence Ministry, the RNA personnel deployed to man the district headquarters of Syangja foiled the violent attacks by the Maoist terrorists who had started to open fire at various government facilities and the RNA personnel guarding the Repeater Station of the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation, Syangja.

On the same day, patrolling RNA teams foiled attack attempts of the terrorists at the Revenue Patrolling teams in Barhabise and Jogbani border points.

The families of RNA personnel residing in the army quarters in Okhaldhunga district yesterday night well retaliated against the terrorists who were trying to take them to use as human shied while attacking military barracks, the release adds. On the same night, RNA personnel in Dharan defused a bomb planted by the terrorists within the premises of Nepal Electricity Authority.

No damage has been caused on the RNA side in any of the incidents, the release concludes.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the Home Ministry says that the police in Chhipra VDC of Humla district held three Maoist terrorists in combat dress possessing musket guns today.

Policemen of the Armed Police Force stationed in Dang district today cleared the roads in Ameliya area, according to the release. The roads earlier were blocked by the terrorists. The release also says a group of terrorists, who were attempting to attack the Area Police Office, Lamki, fled the scene after the security men retaliated.

Home Ministry's appeal

KATHMANDU, Nov 30 (PR) - The Home Ministry has requested the public to immediately inform the police or the Ministry, upon acquiring any information regarding the Maoist terrorists.

"The Ministry requests the public to inform about the terrorists at the nearest police office in the districts, the Ministry or the Police Headquarters or the Police Control in the Kathmandu Valley," the release says.

The Ministry has specifically requested the public to give information about the hideouts of the terrorists. "The terrorists may be hiding in hotels, lodges, hired rooms," the release says. "So the Ministry requests the public to give information about them at the Ministry's telephone number (226044 and 225698), police HQ's number (412780) and Police Control numbers (100, 110 and 120_)."

The source of the information will be kept secret, the release concludes.

HIV making rapid inroads in Nepal

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KATHMANDU, Nov 30- Though the official count is just over 2000, authorities estimate that over 65,000 people across Nepal are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

According to the latest cumulative data from the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), 2,097 people were infected with HIV, and 533 of them had already progressed to the AIDS stage.

But senior NCASC official Badri Prasad Upadhyaya estimates, "The number of people infected with HIV can be anywhere between 65,000- 70,000."

The astounding figure is almost twice the estimate put out over the years of epidemiologists, both foreign and local. And it underscores the urgency to deal with the AIDS threat on a war footing, say experts.

The battle in Nepal must be multi-pronged since the deadly virus is infecting the population through all the usual routes. According to the official figures, clients of prostitutes have the highest rate of infection in Nepal, followed by prostitutes themselves. The third highest infected sub groups are the Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs), a fast growing risk group.

According to Life-saving and Life-giving Society (LALS), there are an estimated 60,000 drug users in Nepal of which 30,000 are in the Valley itself. Out of these 30,000 drug users, 15,000 are IDUs and 40 percent of these IDUs are today already infected with HIV/AIDS.

While IDUs are a target group for awareness campaigns, the major worry for officials, however, remains the highly prevalent practice of unsafe sex.

Awareness campaigns have been around for years now, but it is still difficult to get reliable data on condom use among males, say officials.

Enron’s demise more than a curious milestone

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, Nov 30 One of the most debated "development" issues in Nepal since 1996 has been the interest shown by America’s Enron Corp. to develop the mammoth Karnali-Chisapani hydropower project.

Should the global energy giant, with its billion dollar interests in nearby India, be allowed to develop the 6480 megawatt hydropower project? If yes, then on what terms? What would happen to the down stream benefits accruing from a high dam in the Himalayas? Could Enron somehow get a reluctant India to compensate its smaller neighbour for providing the regulated flow for year round irrigation?

Questions like these roiled Nepali politics over the years, so much so that no less a figure than then Deputy Prime Minister and Water Resources Minister Ms Shailaja Acharya was forced to resign.

But today, the source of the debate itself is fighting for survival. Enron Corp., which till recently ruled the global energy markets, is on the verge of a spectacular collapse. Even its investments in India - in the Dabhol Power Company in Mumbai - is not without trouble.

Enron’s passing is more than a curious milestone for Nepal, for it has one direct bearing on the nation’s hydropower prospects: Karnali-Chisapani is bound to remain in deep storage, as it has always been. It will be some time before another suitor comes along with a comparable proposal.

But there is more to the Enron story here. It is not just that it came, it saw and it almost conquered, but also that Enron’s imminent entry into Nepal’s hydropower scene in the mid-1990s threw up a number of key issues that has yet to be addressed by successive governments.

These issues deserve mention now because Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, during whose first term in 1995-97 Enron came, later became convinced about the redeeming power of, yes, hydropower, particularly of the power of large projects.

In public statements and in interviews since 1997, Deuba repeatedly pushed his vision about how developing water resources would bring in more jobs, more opportunities and more wealth. This last was necessary, he had said, "to invest in social sectors to uplift the nation." That Enron’s demise should come when Deuba is in power again is an irony of sorts. But that is another story.

When the US energy giant first came knocking on the government’s door in 1996, its proposal was quickly vetted, and senior government ministers and advisors emerged as Enron’s biggest supporters. It had a hard-to-beat argument: northern India was starved of power. Karnali-Chisapani could provide the electricity, and Nepal could gain billions of rupees in revenue by just allowing Enron to construct and operate the highdam.

For many Nepalis at the time, just the fact that such a big investor would care to show some interest in Nepal was a matter of pride, especially since the debacle of Arun-III, a much smaller power project that was scuttled in 1995 after the World Bank did an abrupt volte face.

"Enron’s interest is an auspicious signal," Dr Binayak Bhadra, who was the energy advisor to Prime Minister Deuba, had said at the time. "It’s entry in India led the way for other foreign investors, and it could do the same here."

Many though were its supporters, Enron’s bid had just as many detractors. Critics were particularly concerned about the scale of investment required: upwards of US 9 billion dollars. What this amount could do to an underdeveloped and corrupt economy which had little capacity to absorb such large foreign investments was beyond comprehension to them.

There were analogies drawn: could Nepal become another Norway which had judiciously parlayed its oil resources to become a leading developed nation? Or would the export of resources – without any value addition – turn Nepal into another Nigeria, a country which squandered its oil resources even as it sank deeper into poverty, corruption and misrule?

The underlying socio-economic debate – and the accompanying resettlement and environmental issues - hadn’t yet settled when the "downstream benefit" uproar began.

Since Karnali-Chisapani was essentially going to be a high dam project, it was clear that there would be regulated flow of water downstream (in India) which could be used for irrigation all year round.

But the problem was that India was reluctant to admit there would be such benefits. Significantly, Enron too downplayed the problem, concentrating on only the power component of the project, ignoring the irrigation and flood control benefits. Instead, it drew lofty plans of exporting thousands of megawatts of power from the project to India and also to China through an ambitious transmission line that would straddle the Himalayas.

Independent experts pounced on that omission. Enron’s troubles here had just begun.

As it happened, as the debate sharpened and the pressure mounted, Enron withdrew its proposal kicking up a political maelstrom that cost Ms Acharya her job. A harried government led by then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala vowed to woo the company back. In the event, Enron did return after a suitable interval, and won favourable concessions for doing so from the government.

But nothing came of it either. As its troubles in India and elsewhere mounted, the company lost interest in Nepal. However, it did leave a lasting legacy here - the rewriting of the country’s hydropower policy to suit large investors such as itself. Ironically, though, Enron is not going to be around to savour it.

2002 the Year for Cultural Heritage

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Nov. 30 - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Kathmandu is celebrating the year 2002 as the Year for Cultural Heritage, officials said here today.

"We, along with the whole world, are going to celebrate the year to raise awareness and to protect the cultural heritage sites of the country," UNESCO officials here in capital said.

UN General Assembly has proclaimed the year 2002 as United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage and also decided to designate UNESCO as the lead agency for the Year.

The year coincides with the 30th anniversary of the 1972 Convention concerning the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The proclamation, calling for enhanced support and funding to promote and protect national and world cultural heritage, was proposed by Egypt and co-sponsored by Austria, China, Madagascar and many other countries including Nepal, the UNESCO document states.

"It is hoped that the proclamation will serve to reinforce the implementation by member states of the different conventions that aims at protection of cultural property," states the document. "It would also deal with the prohibition and prevention of the illicit import, and transfer of ownership of cultural property and protection of the underwater cultural heritage adopted by UNESCO’s general convention this year."

In a message sent last week to the UNESCO Kathmandu Office, the director-general Koichiro Matsuura hoped it would stimulate member states to undertake significant activities and measures to safeguard their heritage.

"People all over the world need to be made aware of the importance of cherishing our varied heritage, both the treasures of physical cultural heritage and the intangible heritage of traditions and cultural practices."

Former ambassador to France and permanent representative to UNESCO Keshav Raj Jha said the government and other stakeholders should explore the year to fulfil its commitments and work sincerely towards heritage conservation as it has promised to UNESCO.

"This Year may wake up the government officials. It should be proved to be a landmark in the history of Nepalese way of conservation of cultural heritage," Jha said.

Khagendra Basnyat, the secretary general of Nepal National Commission for UNESCO at Education Ministry said Nepal should work hard to fulfil the 55-point recommendation UNESCO had issued two years ago.

UNESCO issued a 55-point recommendation to the government in 1998, asking to implement them and maintain the conditions of the heritage sites. The Kathmandu Valley will be kept in the list of monuments in danger if the recommendations are not implemented by the year 2002.

There are four World Heritage sites in Nepal- Kathmandu Valley and Lumbini are recognised as cultural heritage sites while Royal Chitwan National Park and Sagarmatha National Park have been recognised as natural heritage sites.

Two killed in Dang, Syangja
Curfew imposed in several districts

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KATHMANDU, Nov 30 - One person died on the spot while another one sustained serious injuries in the district headquarters of Ghorahi in Dang when the security personnel opened fire at them for violating a curfew imposed on Thursday night, according to the district administration.

A dusk to dawn curfew has been clamped in Ghorahi and Tulsipur town for the fifth consecutive day today to ensure security and peace in the area.

Meanwhile, our reporter from Syangja quoted the Chief District Officer as saying that the Maoist terrorists killed a Nepali Congress cadre at Shekham VDC-1 Thursday night. The person to be attacked by the terrorists has been identified as Bishnu Bahadur Chand, who died on the way to Mission Hospital in Tansen on Friday. The terrorists attacked Chand with sharp weapons at his home.

A report from Sindhupalchowk stated that the local administration imposed a dusk to dawn curfew in the district headquarters of Chautara starting from Friday. Likewise, soldiers of the RNA carried out an aerial survey in the central part of the district, according to Kewal Jungh Gulm (barrack) at Barhabise.

The RNA has extended its patrol at Kubhinde, Baramche, Syaule, Jalbire and Phulpingkot areas. The barracks sources said that RNA would patrol along the Arniko Highway within a few days.

In Sindhuli, the district administration imposed an indefinite curfew today in the district headquarters at night until the next notification. A public notice issued by the district administration stated that the curfew was imposed in the town to prevent infiltration of terrorists.

Likewise, our reporter from Biratnagar said police recovered the decomposed body of Him Bahadur Sambahamfe, District Land Revenue Officer in Solukhumbu, who was missing since Sunday. He was one of those attacked by the Maoist terrorists. His mutilated body was recovered about 15 minutes walking distance from the Salleri monastery. Sambahamfe’s body was left behind the site, as it could not be immediately identified.

The terrorists, thousands in number, on Sunday had destroyed almost all the district level government offices and a bank, leaving at least three dozens security personnel and Chief District Officer Buddhisagar Tripathi dead. The Maoists had brutally killed the 17 policemen tying together to their backs after the latter ran out of ammunition and gave in to the terrorists.

Security tightened at TIA

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KATHMANDU, Nov 30 – The already beefed up security at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been even more tightened following the imposing state of emergency.

Barriers have been set up at the TIA’s main entrance right at the Ring Road with police frisking all the vehicles passing into the airport and empty taxis are restricted from entering the area.

Human movement has also been restricted forcing people seeing off or receiving their friends and families to line up right at the Ring Road. Only passengers with tickets and drivers making a quick drop are allowed in.

On top of that, domestic private airlines are now checking all the passengers for photo identification cards.

"In the past the passengers only needed a valid air ticket and we would issue a boarding pass but now we check identification cards like a driver’s licence or voter’s identification card before letting them board the aircraft," said Rajendra Katwal, Buddha Air’s public relations officer.

Before only foreign nationals were asked to present their identification cards like a passport while checking-in at the counter.

Katwal said the new security arrangement might have made inconvenient to the passengers but the number of passengers has not declined and flights are flying mostly on regular schedule.

However, the airlines have been forced to move their ticket sales counter that were located right at the domestic terminal outside the perimeters of TIA. Buddha Air has opened a counter near the airport while Necon Air has located its sales counter at the Karnali Air building.

Both these airlines have also published notices in national daily newspapers asking passengers to be prepared for delays at the airport due to the new security arrangements. Necon Air is asking its passengers to report at least an hour and half before the flight and check ins will be closed 20 minutes before the flights depart.

Security at TIA had been tightened after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in the United States and again this month after a threat was received from India of a possible hijack.

Child prostitution high in Nepal: Survey

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KATHMANDU, Nov 30 – The problem of child prostitution is believed to be spreading all over the country, predominantly in the urban areas and along highways states a survey conducted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. It estimated that around 800 minor girls are engaged as sex workers in the Kathmandu Valley alone.

The statistics were presented at a press briefing on the proceedings and outcomes of the recent South Asia Consultation for 2nd World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Dr Arzu Deuba, chief guest at the programme said that with the country-facing problem of terrorism, violence, trafficking and epidemics, the cry of child sexual exploitation is the last thing we want to hear. ‘But she said, "The Child Act is on its way to materialize."

According to Dr Waheed Hassan, Deputy Regional Director of UNICEF/ROSA, the situation of the children seems to be worsening in the context of researches and the testimonies of the children themselves.

The South Asia Strategy adopted at the consultation will be presented at the Second World Congress in Yokohama (17-20 December). The strategy, according to the participants, is an expression of those gathered, of their commitment, and a call for action in the South Asia to combat commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and child sexual abuse (CSA).

The strategy involves an in-depth assessment of the problem, analysis and commitments. Ratna Maya who participated at the consultation in Dhaka early this month said, "There should be clear law enforcement and so should be strictly implemented.

The UNICEF estimates that at least one million children are sexually exploited each year. According to United Nations estimates, trafficking in women and children in Asia for sexual exploitation alone has victimized more than 30 million in the last thirty years.

It is estimated that 5,000 to 6,000 girl-children aged 10-14 years were trafficked to India through the carpet industry in Nepal, during the period 1987-1992.

Dr Arzu Deuba, the First Lady of Nepal on the same occasion also released a UNICEF/ROSA publication entitled A Reference Kit on Violence Against Women and Girls in South Asia.

Ban on EW Highway traffic movement

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KATHMANDU, Nov 30 - Bardiya District Administration Office on Friday imposed a ban on traffic movement along the 35 kilometres section of the East West Highway in Bardiya district from 5 p.m. to 7 a. m. starting from Friday.

The busy highway passes through the Royal Bardiya National Park protected by the Royal Nepal Army since its inception.

With this ban, no vehicles will be allowed to ply on the highway from Rammapur, a few kilometres away from Kohalpur in the east to Chisapani in the west. The vehicles travelling to and from the far-western part of the country will have to ply on the highway only at daytime.

Chief District Officer Dilliraj Joshi said this provision was arranged for security reasons "only for a short period." Joshi, however, said this rule does not apply to an ambulance service.

Likewise, our reporter from Chitwan said the local administration warned people against leaving their home at 9.30 p. m. to 4.30 a. m. starting from Friday. This provision will affect the people travelling to different parts of the country.

The Bharatpur Municipality is a hub for traffic movement and almost all the vehicles pass through here to various parts of the country. The administration also warned civilians not to wear the clothes resembling the uniform of the RNA and Armed Police Force personnel.

Govt warning to medics

KATHMANDU, Nov 30 (PR) – The government today warned the medics not to treat the wounded terrorists unless the permission granted by the security authorities.

Speaking at a programme organised in the capital, Health Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari, said, "The doctors working both in the government hospitals and private health institutions are liable to the government action if they treat the terrorists without getting permission from the security wings."

If any doctor defies it, actions will be taken against him/her as per the recently promulgated Ordinance against the terrorists, Minister Bhandari added.