Two Nepali channels go on satellite

By Ram Sharan Sedhai

KATHMANDU, July 4 - Nepal Television (NTV), the state-owned sole television station, realized its long-cherished dream today when it aired its first test transmission through satellite.

Channel Nepal, a private TV channel, also began its transmission through satellite yesterday, making itself the first channel to go on air through satellite.

The satellite link upgrades NTV’s signal quality and broadens outreach of its transmission. With the satellite unlinking, the NTV’s outreach will now cover almost all the Asian countries, except Sri Lanka.

Besides, ensuring quality transmission and increasing outreach, it also reduces the chances of broadcast interruption due to breakdown in station. Now if the station at Phulchoki breaks down, it won’t all the transmissions at all. Moreover, it can also run another channel simultaneously.

NTV’s Singh Durbar studio is connected with International Telecommunication Satellite (INTELSAT) of an American company via Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)’s Sagarmatha Earth Station based in Balambu, the outskirts of Kathmandu. INTELSAT is located at a distance of 3.6 million kilometers from the sea level.

"Our objective of providing free infotainment (information and entertainment) to the general public living in any part of the Kingdom and abroad has materialized through satellite uplinking."

The satellite uplinking technology is however not the latest discovery.

" The nation cannot go for an ultra modern one like the direct to home (DTH) system as it costs a lot for the viewers", says Durganath Sharma, General Manager of NTV.

The 100 million project of the national TV station succeeded only after the government provided it a financial assistance of Rs 50 million. NTV will borrow Rs 50 million from NTC to complete its expansion program in the near future.

The satellite uplinking, however, does not mean that NTV programs can now be viewed automatically from anywhere in the country. NTV needs at least 30 stations with TVRO (television receive only) to compliment the satellite connectivity.

Currently, NTV has 11 such stations and three more in the offing. NTV plans to add seven more stations next year and to raise the number to 30 within few years. It is only then NTV could reach throughout the Kingdom. However it can be viewed immediately in other countries since such infrastructure already exists there.

GM Sharma says, "The transmission of our programs through satellite has improved the quality of signal beyond viewers expectation. Now NTV has gone regional and there is both opportunity for growth and challenge".

Opportunity is that our market has expanded, and challenge because we have to face competition. With the latest achievement, the state-owned TV station has already doubled its profit targets for next year to Rs 300 million. Some of the foreign TV channels have already approached NTV for some sort of joint venture.

Channel Nepal, the private TV channel, has become the first private channel to air its programs through satellite, transmitting its programs on Tuesday evening, one day ahead of the state-run NTV went for satellite broadcast.

The programs of the channel can be viewed in any part of the globe, according to Bahadur Krishna Tamrakar, Chairman of Space Time Publication Pvt. Ltd., a sister organization of Space Time Network Pvt. Ltd., which owns Channel Nepal.

Channel Nepal was established as per the liberal policy of the government as a TV station, but the government later on took back the license given to it to produce and air programs from Nepal. Again the government decided to license Nepal Channel, but has deferred issuing it so far. Due to the problem now the Channel is airing its programs from Thailand. The channel broadcasts programs in Nepali language, targeting the Nepali viewers living abroad.

"It has been three months that the government has not tested our equipment and has been delaying issuing license to us in the pretext of not completing the test, which is very discouraging ", says Tamrakar.

Meanwhile, Andrew Mitchell, Charge d’Affaires at the British Embassy handed over 28 items of TV studio equipment and fittings to Durganath Sharma, GM of NTV today.

The equipment include an edit controller, lamps, a camera adapter, monitors, a video typewriter, distribution amplifiers and units and recorders, according to a press release issued by the embassy.

The gift to NTV is part of an ongoing worldwide UK Foreign Office scheme run with the BBC and Independent TV networks in Britain to gift useful equipment to TV stations overseas.

Diarrhoea claims 11 lives in Nawalparasi

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NAWALPARASI, July 4 - At least 11 people, four from the same family succumbed to the sudden outbreak of diarrhoea here in Deurali VDC within the last four days.

According to health workers involved in the treatment, around 300 others have also suffered from the communicable disease from the same VDC and are under treatment in Kaligandaki Hospital and Bharatpur Zonal Hospital. Almost all of the victims are above 15 years of age, they said.

"Ward No. 2,3,4,5 and 6 are highly affected by the disease and the problem has not been controlled yet. Local youths have been assisting in the treatment," said Netra Bahadur Bayambu, the VDC Chairman.

"The polluted drinking water could probably be the reason for the outbreak," he added.

Locals said that the victims have to be taken all the way to the Bharatpur Zonal Hospital, around 46 kilometers away from the village, due to lack of competent medical doctors in the village.

Bomb explosion rocks Baluwatar

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KATHMANDU, July 4 – A small bomb, allegedly planted by the underground Maoist rebels, exploded within the high-security zone outside Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyay’s residential quarters here in Baluwatar this morning.

The bomb went off at the base of a tree on the street about 20 meters from the main entrance of the Chief Justice’s quarters. The official residences of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Chairman of the Raj Parisad Standing Committee Kesar Jung Rayamajhi are also adjacent to where the Chief Justice resides.

Though locals said the explosion took place at around 6:25 a.m., Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel told Parliament that the "minor explosion" took place at 6:15 a.m. Chief Justice Upadhyay and Prime Minister Koirala both were in their residences when the explosion took place.

However, the Maoists are yet to claim their involvement in the explosion.

"There was a large amount of gelatin on the device which triggered the explosion creating a loud sound," a Royal Nepal Army official who was investigating the site said. Army explosive experts, high-level government and police officials immediately arrived at the scene after the explosion.

This is the second time that the Maoists have targeted the Chief Justice, who miraculously survived a Maoist ambush in February on his convoy that killed six people including a Registrar of Surkhet Appellate Court in Chhaisatthi, some 20 km east of Birendranagar, the headquarters of Surkhet district.

The CPN (Maoists), which has been waging a guerrilla war since the last six years, had immediately issued a press release saying that the attack was "a mistake."

Likewise, the Chief Justice also headed the high-level probe committee that held the then Crown Prince Dipendra responsible for the Royal Palace massacre on June 1, that took the lives of late King Birendra and nine other family members. Maoists have been opposing the report.

Though no casualties have been reported in today’s incidence, the impact broke windows of nearby houses, including one, which police said, was the residence of a counselor at the Pakistan Embassy. The house, owned by Surendra Misra is situated opposite the site of explosion and across the road that runs through the main entrance of both the PM and the CJ’s residence.

In another incident, a group of men identifying themselves as the Maoist rebels set ablaze a bus belonging to Janak Shiksha Samagri Kendra at Kamal Binayak, Bhaktapur this morning. The bus, with registration number N0. Ba. 1. Gha. 355, on its way to transport employees to the Center, was torched this morning at 5:40 a.m., after the driver was forced to abandon the bus.

"The assailants were armed with khukuries and pistols," said the conductor of the bus, quoting the driver.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association and Human Rights and Peoples’ Concern Committee of the Nepal Bar Association have condemned the explosion in front of Chief Justice’s residence.

"We strongly condemn the explosion that took place in front of the residence of an independent judicial chief," the release states. "We also regret the attacks on industrial businesses across the country and the obstruction created upon peaceful constitutional rights on the daily lives of the people."

Key donor agrees to fund Rs 5.3 b for PAF

By Prem Khanal

KATHMANDU, July 4 - Overcoming a series of setbacks, the government seems to have won the confidence of donor agencies for its multi-billion rupees Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), the first-ever comprehensive mega-umbrella plan to tackle the worsening poverty situation of the country.

Department For International Development (DFID), the British agency for overseas development, has lately committed a grant assistance of around 50 million British Pounds (equivalent Rs 5.3 billion) to the PAF.

Prithvi Raj Ligal, Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission, talking to The Kathmandu Post confirmed the British commitment and said that understanding to this effect has already been reached and the NPC is awaiting a final agreement.

Similarly, he also said that International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has also agreed in principle to make a "substantial" contribution to the Fund.

" Since we are still engaged in necessary negotiation with IFAD, it would be premature to pinpoint the size of the contribution," Ligal said.

He also said that the government would also increase its contribution to the Fund. The forthcoming budget will further add to existing annual allotment of Rs 100 million rupees.

When asked about the grant-attach-conditions, he said that the donors have imposed no such conditionalities. "However, they have stressed that the Fund should be an apolitical body and free from interventions."

PAF is an umbrella set up, which aims to mobilize resources from the government and donors to curb worsening poverty situation through sectoral and targeted programs by integrating all the scattered anti-poverty drives into one umbrella.

The Fund will be established on the basis of demand-led principles through social mobilization and it will support local agencies such as District Development Committees (DDCs), Village Development Committees (VDCs) and municipalities, and NGOs for carrying out the targeted programs. Vice Chairman Ligal also informed The Kathmandu Post that the newly drafted PAF Bill will be tabled in the on-going session of Parliament for final approval.

The Bill was to be tabled during the Winter session of the Parliament, but could not make through due since the session remained disrupted throughout. The Bill proposes to formulate an 11-member steering committee to govern the Fund’s activities. The committee will be private sector-dominated but it will be led by NPC Vice Chairman. The private members will come from the business and industrial sector, academic, NGOs and the local bodies. "Since PAF itself will not implement the programs and policies, but merely support other partner organizations, such as DDCs, VDCs and NGOs working at the local as well as national level in executing the poverty alleviation programs, the possibilities of political interventions would be minimal," Ligal said.

The latest positive development has come as a great relief to the resource-scarce government, which intends to spend as high as 28 billion rupees in the next fifteen years targeting to cover at least 1,500 VDCs in the first five years. Nepal has the highest incidence of poverty in the region. The population below the poverty line was estimated to be 42 percent in the fiscal year 1997/98, which marked the beginning of the Ninth Five-year Plan. The Ninth Plan aims to bring down poverty to 32 percent by the end 2001/2002. The achievements so far have remained bleak.

Maoists abduct 34, kill 2 in Banke, Rolpa

By Yagya Bikram Shahi / J Pandey

KUSUM, Banke, July 4 - Underground Maoist rebels killed one police constable along with one 12-year-old girl and abducted 34 policemen including two civilians after raiding the Kusum based police outpost on Tuesday night, according to the police.

The post is located about 72 km east of Nepalgunj, the district headquarters of Banke district, and 35 km away from the Mid-Western Region Riot Police Force base at Shumshergunj, on the East-West Highway.

The rebels blocked the highway with warnings of "danger ahead, stop your vehicles" symbols displayed on the trunks of the big sal trees felled on both the approach directions before they attacked the outpost. No vehicles were allowed to ply on the road until the rebels fled the scene with the looted weapons and ammunition along with 13 captives.

Of the total abducted policemen, 21 of them were abducted from Khungri village in the Maoist insurgency hit Rolpa district. The new recruits were heading for training at the Mid-Western Region Police Training Centre, Nepalgunj by bus.

The District Police Office in Rolpa expressed its inability to give the names and addresses of the abducted recruits.

Those killed in the Maoist attack, have been identified as

constable Dipak Khadka from Bageswori, Nepalgunj Municipality-2 and Aruna Chapagain from Khaskusma VDC-2.

Stray bullets hit Chapagain while asleep along with her mother and brothers in the hut adjoining the post.

"After they attacked the post, the rebels warned us not to hold them (rebels) responsible for my sister’s death," Chapagain’s 14-year-old brother, Bednidhi, told The Kathmandu Post sobbing.

While taking 11 policemen, wife of a Police Sub-Inspector and the child under their control, the rebels looted all 27 three-knot-three rifles, one Magnum gun and two pistols and ammunition.

An eyewitness, Pradeep Kumar Pandey, said the rebels first opened fire from a hillock a few metres north of the outpost at around 11 p.m. Pandey said they first warned the policemen to surrender using a loud speaker and then attacked the post.

There were 40-armed policemen assigned at the post located in the far-east area of this Terai district. Locals suspect that the rebels’ main aim was to seize the arms and ammunition, rather than taking lives of any police personnel.

They also looted some cash and clothes from the quarters of two constables, Kalyan Datta Joshi and Niranjan Gyawali, who later managed to escape from the rebels’ hold.

According to eyewitness accounts, the rebels also searched around 100 houses located close to the post before leaving the place.

Though the area has a communication facility with the district headquarters, police officials at the district headquarters came to know about the incident only around 10 a.m. this morning.

The highway market remains tense after the incident. This is the first time that the rebels have looted such a large chunk of weapons from this plain district. The policemen kidnapped from Kusum-based police outpost have so far been identified as Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Rekam Bahadur Mahatara (Pyuthan), PSI Rem Bahadur Roka (Pyuthan), head constables Nim Bahadur Pun (Myagdi), Resham Pun (Surkhet), Janak Singh (Bajhan), Harilal Bohara (Kanchanpur) and Mukunda Bhusal (Nawalparasi). Likewise, the others abducted have been confirmed as Bhesh Raj Sharma (Bardiya), Narendra Shahi (Dailekh) Binod Koirala (Sunsari) and Krishna KC (Dang). Similarly, Sushila Shahi, the wife of PSI Narendra and Resham Bahadur’s 6-year-old son Kis Mahatara are among those kidnapped by the rebels.

TUTH doctors on strike again

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KATHMANDU, July 4 - Services at the Out-Patient-Department (OPD) of the Capital’s Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) went haywire after more than 170 doctors went on strike today demanding hike in salaries and allowances.

The doctors at the OPD have stopped working for the afternoon shift (second session) and will remain so till their demands are fulfilled.

The Administrator at TUTH, Ram Bahadur Panday said that the doctors have been attending morning sessions despite the strike. However the patients attending the OPD refuted Panday’s statement and said that they had been there right from the morning waiting for the doctors to come.

Prema Thapa, an OPD patient said, "I have been waiting for hours to get treatment but they tell me many of the doctors are unavailable." However, the house doctors and interns have taken charge of the emergency department and are extending skeletal services.

The doctors on strike, in a notice issued by them, said that since the list of demand they put forward months ago have not been fulfilled by the Dean’s office and the TUTH administration, so they have had to resort to this action. The strike is being staged in an "essential services" institution, where such pickets are banned from taking place as per the recent government orders.

Time stands still for the Capital's Rajbahak community

By Subas Risal

KATHMANDU, July 4 - They have school, health centre, electricity and roads. They live in the Capital. But this is not enough to usher in awareness, let alone development.

They don’t believe in sending their children to school, neither do they think that modern medicine can cure diseases.

For the Rajbahak community of Ichangunarayan VDC, God and alcohol hold central in importance in life. It is God that decides everything in one’s life from happiness to disease and affluence.

"We don’t believe in modern medical treatment, we consume alcohol to treat ourself. Our home-made liquor is an effective medicine for every disease," says Pun Maya Putuwar, resident of Ward No. 3.

"The rest depends upon the God’s will," says Putuwar reflecting a belief in fatalism.

The Rajbahak community - "The King bearers", as the name roughly translates - came to the Kathmandu valley with the late King Prithivi Narayan Shah during the national unification about 230 years ago. With no means of transportation then, the community’s main duty was to carry Royalties during functions and travel. Now cars have replaced their traditional occupation. But they still carry on the old beliefs.

The Rajbahak community about 800 people lives in Ichangunarayan VDC that lies just outside the Ring Road that circumscribes the Kathmandu city.

Abject poverty, illiteracy and superstitions blight their lives. To settle at the foothills of the Ichanghunarayan hill may have been their conscious choice but it is mainly the lack of education and awareness that has settled their lives in low grooves of fatalism.

"I deliberately don’t allow my children to study in school. If I allow them who will carry out the household chores," says Putuwar.

No wonder. In the entire Rajbahak community around Ichanghunarayan only two persons have passed school level studies. Thankfully one of the two is a girl and she seems to be aware of the social afflictions racking her community.

"If the literacy rate goes higher, it will undoubtedly help in uplifting the status of people," said Kalpana Rajbahak, the first SLC graduate from the community.

"I really had a tough time while I did my schooling because everybody from the community are prevented from going to school, I used to be pretty much frightened," said Kalpana recalling her fight against the community’s belief that the girls should not go to school.

It is not that there are no non-governmental efforts to raise the awareness or help villagers into their development endeavours.

"Different development programmes brought by the NGOs and INGOs have not been able to uplift the status of the people," laments Binod Shrestha, Chairman of Ichanghunarayan (VDC).

Even the VDC itself has always given priority to instil awareness among the people belonging to the Rajbahak community. "Time and again different workshops and training programmes on different issues have been organised for creating awareness among people but all in vain."

He also emphasized the need of education among the community. "It’s the illiteracy that has been a major factor in impeding the development of the community."

The people of the community even complained that different NGOs and INGOs fulfil their vested interest in the name of development. That’s why Rajbahaks say they hesitate to freely converse with the outsiders.

The community’s major occupations are floriculture and horticulture. They grow local fruits like guava, pear and apricot. Makhamali and Sayapatri are the major flowers they grow since they attract higher prices. The Ichangunarayan VDC often glows with beautiful flowers. Hope their awareness blooms the same way too.

PM to decide by Friday

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KATHMANDU, July 4 – Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will decide by Friday evening on whether or rather when he would resign from the office he has held for the past 15 months amid pressure from all sides to quit.

This was decided in a meeting between Koirala and CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal today who met for an hour and half at the Prime Minister’s official residence at Baluwatar.

The Prime Minister under pressure to resign both from opposition parties and from rebels within the governing Nepali Congress (NC) has so far managed to grip on to power.

Despite presenting a 14-point agenda that according to him embraces all the concerns and problems raised by the opposition, they have continued to seek Koirala’s ouster.

According to sources in CPN-UML, Nepal asked the Prime Minister to step down as the team comprising of members from both the sides had prepared a draft of agreement to be reached between them.

The committees formed between NC and CPN-UML have already handed over a draft of agreement to be reached between the two leaders. The details of the document were not released but are said to be in similar lines with the agenda presented by Koirala on the first day of Parliament, with focus resting on Koirala’s resignation.

Nepal further raised the concerns about some people close to Koirala publicly saying that Koirala would not be resigning under any circumstances. In reply Koirala said it was personal opinion expressed by them and did not reflect his stand since he stood firmly to his pledges to step down once there was consensus reached on his agenda.

When Nepal asked when he was going to announce his resignation, Koirala said soon and there was not going to be a long wait. The two agreed that the decision would come by Friday evening.

"It is not a matter of if the Prime Minsiter will resign or not but when he would do so. And by Friday evening, we are hopeful that the PM will declare when he will step down unless it is another one of his lingering tactics," a senior CPN-UML leader said.

Meanwhile, the NC’s committee comprising of Govind Raj Joshi, Narhari Acharya and Amod Prasad Upahdhaya today met with leaders of the CPN-UML Bam Dev Gautam, Chandra Prakash Mainali and Radha Krishna Mainali. According to a statement, the two sides agreed on move the initiatives to reach national consensus among all the political parties. Both sides also exchanged proposals presented for the agreements for national consensus addressing problems being faced by the nation.

Similarly, the same NC team also met representatives of Nepal Sadbhawana Party where the two sides also exchanged their views on the PM’s agenda.

Mitchell on the occasion said that it was given to NTV to support particularly effective journalism and spread of information in general, states the release.

Ban on provisional admission before SLC results urged

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KATHMANDU, July 4- Various educational experts on Wednesday raised serious concerns over the delay of SLC results and the chaotic and rampant provisional admission in Ten-plus-Two in private colleges around the city.

Speaking at an interaction program organized by Education Journalists’ Group, various educationists, students and parents raised concerns over the great deal of time wasted due to the delay in announcing SLC results. The experts said it has raised serious questions over the authenticity of temporary admission, which if allowed to continue unchecked would negate the quality of education imparted by over 680 Higher Secondary Schools.

Dr Sri Ram Lamichane of Higher Secondary Education Board said, "education and health being of greater public concern should be made service oriented." He also pointed out that this trend by the private sector would affect macro-economic policy too. They should go for survival, not just for profit maximization, he suggested.

Babu Ram Pokhrel, Principal of V.S. Niketan said most of the problems confronting the Higher Secondary Education comes from more than six months delay in announcing the SLC results.

He also informed that the students’ turnout in 10+2 during the new academic year has fallen sharply as more and more students prefer to enroll in India and abroad.

Hari Roka, an expert analyst of leftist politics, outlining the social and cultural implications of provisional admission said that uniformity and equality be maintained for the overall improvement of education. He also pointed out a serious flaw in the 10+2. And, provisional admission is illegal and is done with purely business motive, he added.

Tej Bahadur Dhakal, Principal of White House College disagreed with others that provisional admission is illegal and would affect students in any way. While, Student representatives argued that the provisional admission for SLC students before the publication of results be stopped.

Officials of the HSEB informed that soon it will seek to end the provisional admission and those violating the norms would face "de-affiliation."

PSR-2001, govt programmes draw flak

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KATHMANDU, July 4 - The debate on the government’s programmes and policies continued today as the opposition lawmakers criticized the government for failing to bring in programmes that addresses the rseal issues faced by the nation at present while members from the ruling party lauded the government for its initiatives.

"The opposition parties are opposing just for the sake of opposing. The country is passing through a crucial stage that the opposition parties have failed to see," said NC Secretary General Sushil Koirala.

Referring to the opposition’s allegation that the government has failed to resolve the Maoists issue, Koirala said the government has been pushing for peace talks but the rebels have failed to show a positive response.

On the criticism of the recently enforced Public Security Regulations by the government, he said that in the state that is governed by the rule of law, there are bound to be some restrictions or limits drawn. The regulations give the authority to chief district officers to detain individuals or ban organizations simply on suspicion of them being a threat to national security.

CPN-UML’s Iswor Pokhrel accused the government of enforcing the regulation not to quell the insurgency but to suppress the opposition parties that have been functioning under the present Constitution.

"The decision by Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has only proved the charges brought by the opposition during the Winter Session and the Prime Minister who has been protecting the person accused of corruption can never be serious about controlling corruption," said Pokhrel.

Pokhrel’s remarks were directed towards Tarini Dutta Chataut, who had first resigned as the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation over the Lauda Air scandal and later was charged by CIAA and a case filed in court.

The opposition parties had stalled the entire Winter Session of Parliament demanding Koirala’s resignation over the government’s role in the Lauda Air scandal.

NC’s Hom Nath Dahal proposed that a statue of late King Birendra be installed inside the parliament secretariat. "Because the King was a constitutional monarch who had been successful in promote the multiparty democracy, his statue should be placed inside the parliament premises" he said. "People have been losing faith in the constitutional monarchy since the June 1 massacre and the new king needs to take lessons from the past."

Not all agreed with Dahal’s sentiments.

"The constitutional monarchy is an outdated institution that should not be spared of criticism," said National People’s Front’s Navraj Subedi. "The truth about the massacre is still not out and the investigations has not been able to reveal the truth behind the incident.