Nepal-Bhutan talks likely in July end  Focus on ‘slow’ verification

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KATHMANDU, July 10 – The 11th joint ministerial level meeting of the foreign ministers of Nepal and Bhutan is likely to take place during the last week of July in Thimphu "to discuss how to speed up the Bhutanese refugee verification process", highly placed sources in the Foreign Ministry said today.

Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola is preparing to leave for Thimphu, the Bhutanese Capital, to conduct talks that are likely to be held in late July or early August, said the Ministry officials.

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post, Minister Bastola admitted that he was indeed heading for Thimphu once the two sides finalize the dates. Bastola revealed that Bhutan has written to Nepal that they would be ready for the talks once their current session of National Assembly (Tshogdu) is over.

"Both sides have gained experience in the last three months, and are going to discuss how to speed up the verification process," said the officials. They added that the "slowness" of the verification would be the core issue during the talks. The officials added that Nepal has urged Bhutan to conduct the verification at the desired pace. The two sides had agreed to verify 10 families each working day. However this has not happened yet.

The Bhutanese refugee verification that started on March 26 following the breakthrough in the 10th round of joint ministerial meet in Kathmandu in December has drawn flak from all the quarters for its slowness. Even Danish ambassador Lars Horman had remarked that the work needed to be conducted at a faster pace.

Some of the Bhutanese refugee organizations have accused Bhutan of deliberately slowing the process. There are nearly 100 thousand Bhutanese refugees languishing in the seven refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang districts in eastern Nepal.

Other matters of bilateral interests like trade and exchange visits, among others, are also likely to surface during the ministerial-level talks, said the officials. One of the issues is Bhutan staging a cultural show in Nepal. The latter held a cultural festival in Bhutan on the occasion of the Nepali New Year’s Day on April 14.

Budget realistic, focused: FM Mahat

KATHMANDU, July 10 (PR)- Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat today told the press conference that poverty alleviation, revival of sick domestic industries, reducing regular expenditure and maintaining fiscal discipline are the major thrusts of the newly announced budget.

Speaking at a post budget interaction-cum-press conference organized by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) here Tuesday, he said that the policies and programs of the budget are focused on reducing the financial liability of the nation and achieving self-sufficiency in the long run. "The announcement of new pension scheme and considerable reduction in projects are some of the steps taken in that direction," he said.

Referring to the budgetary stress given to the poverty alleviation programs, he said that in order to avoid duplication of works and make such projects result-oriented, more than 19 poverty alleviation projects have been brought under one umbrella.

The present budget would focus on implementation aspect, correcting the weaknesses of the past budgets and will bring financial discipline.

Defending the criticism that the budget has neglected the agriculture sector, FM Mahat said that the budget has reduced lending rates in agriculture loans and has announced package to develop tea, coffee and other cash crops.

The budget has allocated fund for rural electrification, rural roads and irrigation, which are the basic infrastructure of agriculture sector and the budget emphasizes on commercialization and diversification of agriculture. Hence, the budget has not ignored the agriculture sector, said FM Mahat.

So far as the revenue mobilization projection is concerned, the target can be achieved provided there is no disruption like general strike fuelled by political uncertainties. Unaccounted income would be brought under the tax net, which will definitely contribute to surge revenue collection, he said and added that monitoring mechanism would be strengthened in this regard. "Similar mechanism has also been announced to make development activities more effective," he said.

Another bold step taken by the budget is to either cut down or merge financially burdened projects, which have become recruiting centres for political parties. And this has been done as per the recommendations of the Public expenditure review Commission (PERC), he clarified.

Speaking on the same occasion, Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, president of FNCCI, thanked the FM for giving priority to the information technology (IT) sector. He said budget is implementation-oriented.

Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) said that the budget has come as a relief to the industrial sector. The provision for Duty Draw Back, attracting non-resident Nepalis (NRNs) for investing in Nepal, loan provision for foreign employment and announcement of 2003 as Export Year are the commendable programs of the budget.

However, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, former finance minister and CPN-UML lawmaker, termed the budget as disappointing and failure in that it has totally neglected the agriculture sector. The budget has made no commitment to the Agriculture Prospective Plan (APP).

Dr Raghav Dhoj Pant, former Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission said that the budget has understated regular expenditure and overstated revenue mobilization.

Chairman of National Planning Commission Prithvi Raj Ligal accepted that channeling the estimated revenue is a daunting task.

However, he said that subsidy in chemical fertilizer and irrigation has been removed as per the understanding reached with Asian Development Bank while signing Second Agricultural Program Loan for the APP.

Dr Mahat also addressed a similar post budget press conference organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal later today.

Rebels kill one policeman, abduct 10 in Ramechhap

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - Underground Maoists continue their violent activities across the country, two days before their call for Nepal bandh scheduled for Thursday.

The rebels on Monday killed one police constable, injuring five others and abducted at least 10 policemen, including a Police Sub-Inspector, attacking the Dhobi-based area police station in Ramechhap on the central region, according to police.

The post is about three hours trek from Manthali, the district headquarters of the hill district.

The policeman killed in the encounter has been identified as Bir Bahadur Rana from Khotang district.

Deputy Superintendent of Police at the district police office, Samba Raj Basnet, said five seriously injured policemen have been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.

Basnet said condition of the injured policemen is reported to be critical.

After inspecting the site, DSP Basnet said the rebels looted all fire-arm, a communication set and personal belongings of the policemen.

There were 40 policemen stationed at the outpost under the command of SI Dwarika Raut. Basnet said a police reinforcement had been sent to the area in search of the abducted security men.

Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the rebels destroyed five buses of Modern Indian School, at Chobhar, Monday night.

"Around 50 rebels took us under their control and hurled home-made bombs at the parked buses," security guard Surendra Prasad Bimali told The Kathmandu Post. The suspected Maoist rebels fled the scene within five minutes.

This is the second time that the school has been targeted by the Maoist rebels.

NC rebels to reunite against Koirala

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - At a time when the opposition parties are pressuring Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to resign, rebels within his Nepali Congress (NC) have once again begun to voice possible change in leadership.

The rebels led by Former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had once tried to remove Koirala as the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader by bringing in a motion of no confidence against him in the PP late last year.

The bid did fail after they failed to muster the support of half the NC lawmakers.

Now the rebels are warning that if the Prime Minister tries to opt for a desperate move like mid-term poll as that has been indicated for a way out of the present political mess, then they would attempt to remove Koirala from the office he has held for over a year since he ousted his party rival Krishna Prasad Bhattarai from power.

Four-year-old Shakya girl selected new ‘Kumari’

By Chet Bahadur Singh

KATHMANDU, July 10 - A 4-year-old girl has been enthroned as the new living goddess "Kumari."

Preeti Shakya, left her home at Itumbahal and moved into the Kumari House at Hunumandhoka today which will be her home until she reaches puberty.

At 11:55 a.m. today, the new Kumari was taken into the Kumari House amid a special ceremony where traditional religious rituals by the Royal priests were performed.

As per tradition, she was taken to the Royal Palace on Monday for an audience and seeking approval of His Majesty the King.

A special necklace was transformed to the new Kumari during the ceremony.

The old Kumari, now aged 14, also from the same neighbourhood, was carried back to her house amid a colourful ceremony. For the next four days, there will be religious pooja at her house too. On the fourth day, priests from the Kumari House will come to her and take away all the jewellery she is wearing. Then she will be a ‘mortal’ once again.

The tradition of Kumari goes back to the Lichhabhi era but the Kumari House was believed to be built by Malla King Jaya Prakash Malla around 1814 B.S.

During the Indrajatra Festival just days before Dasain, the new Kumari will be taken around on a chariot pulled by humans through the traditional route in the heart of the city.

The royal priests and officials responsible for the affairs of the Kumari had spent the past few months looking for the new Kumari. Though the process of both selecting and "testing" the candidates is a very secret process, it is believed that the new Kumari has to be perfect with all the 32 "lachhins" (good qualities) and from a pure Shakya family, who number just a handful.

During their search for a new Kumari, they hit a lot of snags with many families not ready to give their daughter away to become the living goddess with most parents opting for their daughters to take up careers like engineer or doctors.

It is believed that once the Kumari reaches puberty, a new one is chosen and the day she starts to menstruate, the new one is enthroned. Once a Kumari bleeds, then she loses her status as goddess and is reduced to the status of a mere mortal.

There are about eight former Kumaris in the valley and many of them are still unmarried.

Court reforms report made public

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - The Court Reform Recommendation Committee today made public its report suggesting a number of measures for effective court functioning stressing mainly upon reforms in procedural law and court’s jurisdiction.

The report has also recommended setting up of Judiciary police who would be handling criminal cases and ensuring security of the Judiciary. The report has also emphasized the need of computerized Judiciary.

Judicial Council Secretary Kashi Raj Dahal said that the Supreme Court should not be burdened with minor cases in which case the Appellate Court should deal for final disposal. Dahal also stressed for the need of proper planning for reforms in the procedural law. Dahal also heads the Court Reform Recommendation Committee that was formed by the government last year.

Speaking on the occasion, Dahal said, " There is difficulty in establishing proper infrastructure much required for bettter functioning of the judiciary as only 0.4 percent of the national budget is allocated for it."

Doctors’ strike at TUTH continues

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - The Out Patient Department (OPD) at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) remained closed for the sixth straight day Tuesday, with the hospital’s faculty doctors continuing their strike demanding hike in pay, among others facilities.

Meanwhile, patients coming in from far-flung and rural areas complained that the strike has caused grave inconveniences to them.

Many of the people from distant villages who couldn’t make it for the morning session at the OPD are left with no options but to endure the pain till the sun shines tomorrow.

Others like Shanti Lekhak, a nursing mother has come for the follow up treatment of her baby suffering from jaundice and pneumonia. Since the obstetrician attends to patients only once a week, Shanti has to wait till another week as she missed the morning session.

Executive Director of TUTH Mahendra Kumar Nepal said, "With this strike, called on by the faculty doctors, we know it is the patients who are suffering the most." However, he expressed regret that nothing can be done unless the doctors and the University heads reach an agreement.

However, the data provided by the TUTH cashing section states that the number of patients per day before and after the strike hasn’t reflected much change. According to them, since by now everybody knows that the afternoon session is closed, most of the people come in the morning".

But little do they know how much the strike has affected the patients. Durga Ghimire, who has brought a sick father along, cries in distress. "My father is in deep abdominal pain but they can’t give him emergency services, because the doctors inside are fully occupied with too many emergency patients". The house doctors and the interns are ones who are attending the emergency department.

Meanwhile, there seems to have been no progress despite numerous talks held between the doctors and the hospital and University officials. And until the demands, put forward by the doctors are fulfilled, the strike would continue, doctors say.

Nepal jumps to 129th rank in HDI ladder

By Utpal Raj Misra

KATHMANDU, July 10 - Over the last 25 years Nepal has been  steadily progressing in Human Development and in this year’s Human Development Report brought out by the United Nation’s Development Program (UNDP), it ranks at 129 out of 162 countries. This is quite an improvement compared to last year’s report in which Nepal was placed at 144th position.

However, Nepal still remains among the 53 countries with low human development index (HDI), three positions away from Congo which placed last among the countries with medium HDI. Nepal’s life expectancy now stands on 58.1 years much below 66.1 years of Maldives and 62.9 years, of India. Even other South Asian neighbours such as Bhutan and Bangladesh that are ranked below Nepal in the over all HDI have 61.5 and 58.9 respectively. Bhutan is a rank below Nepal and Bangladesh three rank away at 132.

Nepal’s per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms continues to remain at the lowest in the region. Even Bhutan, the lowest HDI ranking South Asian Country has US$104 more GDP than Nepal’s US$ 1,237.

The key factor that has helped Nepal jump 15 positions up the HDI ladder is the improvement in the education sector. Nepal’s combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio, which is one of the components of the HDI, stands at 60 per cent, much higher compared to 33 and 37 per cents of Bhutan and Bangladesh respectively. The ratio is even much higher than that of Pakistan (40) and slightly higher than that of India, which stands at 56.

One of the reasons for this achievement in the education sector could be that the public expenditure on education, as a percentage of Gross National Product (GNP) increased from 2.2 per cent in 1985-1987 to 3.7 per cent in 1995-1997.

In the same note public expenditure on health, increased from 0.8 per cent of GDP in 1990 to 1.3 per cent of GDP in 1998.

"In Nepal, a child born in the late 90s can expect to live 14 years longer than a child born in early 70s. The infant mortality rate decreased from 165 in 1970 to 104 in 1999. Over the last twenty five years, Nepal’s HDI has been steadily increasing, reducing the gap with neighbouring countries," said Alessandra Tisot, UNDP Acting Resident Representative in her speech at the Launch of the HDI report.

Nepal is ranked 69th out of 72 countries according to the Technology Achievement Index not far behind from its neighbours Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan which are ranked at 62nd, 63rd and 65th respectively. This new composite index focuses on creation of technology, diffusion of recent innovations, diffusion of old innovations, and human skills. Other SAARC neighbours have not been ranked.

The reason for the jump in the overall HDI rankings this year is attributed to higher percentage investment in social sector in the last few years said Prithvi Raj Legal, Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission. "Due to the higher budget allocation in the social sectors there has been drastic reduction in maternal mortality and other impacting factors in the last few years." That is the key reason why Nepal has been able to climb up in the rankings, he said.

Nepal still needs to achieve a quantum jump in the social sector spending to rapidly ascend the HDI ladder. It is one of the few countries in the world where female life expectancy is lower than that of the male counterparts. Only three countries out of the 146 assessed in the Human Development Report have lower female literacy rates than Nepal. Nepal still has the lowest life expectancy, adult literacy and GDP in the region. It still has a long way to go in technological development, due to which some developing countries have managed to become "hi-tech leaders". And this is on what this year’s report focuses on. Hence the title "Making New Technologies Work For Human Development."

Budget for education sector ‘inadequate’

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - Several educational experts expressed disappointment over the fact that the government did not allocate any budget for implementing suggestions made by the High Level Education Committee two weeks ago, in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. They expressed their views in an interaction programme organised by the All Nepal National Federation of Student’s Union (ANNFSU), student wing of the CPN-ML in the Capital today.

Prof. Dr Man Prasad Wagle, member of the education committee said that it was clear now that the government was not serious about the education sector, as it did not allocate any fund for the forthcoming fiscal year for implementing the suggestions made by the committee. Wagle mentioned that the Finance Minister had earlier promised to allocate 15 per cent budget to the education sector.

The government has allocated 13.69 per cent of the total budget for education sector this year.

Adding further, former education minister Arjun Narsingh KC said that the government did not carry any responsibility to implement the suggestions made by every committees and commissions.

Another former minister for education, Devi Prasad Ojha said that if the government was committed then budget allocation would not be a problem in implementing the suggestions made by the committee.

The General Secretary of PABSON, Bhoj Bahadur Shah said that since the committee report did not carry any solutions to the existing problems it was better if nothing from the report presented by the committee was implemented.

Meanwhile, the All Nepal National Independent Student Union (Revolutionary) ANNFSU(R) issuing a press release said that the recently tabled budget was against the hope of hundreds of thousands of students and was promoting business in the name of education.

The ANNFSU(R) has called for all educational institutions bandh on July 20.

Man kills his brother and 3 relatives

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KALAIYA, Bara, July 10 - Police on Monday arrested Krishna Singh Dhami, a resident of Malikarjun VDC-8 in Darchula district, on charges of killing his brother Hira Singh, cousins Narendra Singh and Sunil Singh and niece Manju Singh at Jeetpur VDC-3.

The other seriously injured, Hira Singh’s wife Tara Devi and her daughter Geeta Singh, are undergoing treatment at local health post, police said.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Bijaya Pratap Singh, the accused has been arrested and placed in police custody for further investigation.

Accused Krishna Singh told the police that he had murdered his brother and other relatives over property dispute. The Singh family had migrated here from their village in Darchula one day before the massacre took place. The four bodies have been sent to the district hospital for post-mortems.

LDCs’ population to triple by 2050:UNFPA

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - The population of the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) will nearly triple from current 658 million to 1.8 billion by 2050, said a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report released on the eve of World Population Day.

World Population Day is being observed world wide Wednesday, July 11.

The current world population stands at 6.1 billion, according to the report - Population Issues Briefing Kit 2001.

The report claims that the world population is now growing at the rate of 1.3 percent or 77 million people per year- six countries namely, India, China , Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia account for half of this growth.

"People are living longer and leading healthier lives and death rates have fallen since 1950. This lower mortality and longer life expectancy is also part of the story behind the fast population growth in recent decades," states the report.

"The great challenge of the 21st century is to enable everyone to live a life of dignity," states a press release issued here today as a message from Thoraya A Obaid, Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund on the occasion of World Population Day 2001 to be celebrated on 11 July.

Obaid in his message states that billions of ordinary people share the same aspirations such as leading a secure life, a place to live, economic opportunity for themselves, education and health care for their children. "Modest goals- yet half the world go their whole lives without even coming close to other wishes," states the release.

The world’s population, after growing very slowly for most of human history, more than doubled in the last half century and reached 6 billion in late 1999, UN population division report states.

According to the report, people are living longer and healthier lives and death rates have fallen by half since 1950. The report also says that the actual rate of growth has slowed inspite of the world population still increasing. However the trend is towards having smaller families made possible by the wider of availability of good quality, safe and affordable family planning services.

The Population Issues Briefing Kit 2001 states that death rates are rising and life expectancy declining in the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. The report also states that an estimated 11.7 million refugees have fled their own countries to escape from persecution, armed conflict or violence.

2 bridges washed away in Myagdi

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KATHMANDU, July 10 - Two bridges over the Dopta river at Gurja Khani village, in Myagdi district have been swept away by the recent landslides and floods triggered by torrential rains, said a press statement today.

Though the natural disaster did not affect human lives, it created havoc among the locals, according to a press release issued by the Gurja Khani Village Development Committee(VDC). The government has been urged to take immediate step to resolve the villagers’ problem. "Locals used the bridges for different purposes and should be re-built immediately," it added.