Govt to release 15 Maoist rebels 

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KATHMANDU, July 28 - Following up on the recent call to cease-fire, the government and the Maoist  leadership today moved one step ahead to sustain the truce and proceed towards the dialogue. In an effort to move ahead for dialogue with the Maoist insurgents, the government today decided to release 15 Maoist rebels who were arrested under the Public Security Act, expecting the Maoists to reciprocate the gesture. The government, in a goodwill gesture, also got admitted a top jailed Maoist, ailing Matrika Prasad Yadav, to Bir Hospital for treatment.

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post, a Home Ministry official revealed that more rebels would be released soon. Home Ministry spokesperson Gopendra Bahadur Pandey said that the CDO of Kathmandu has already been instructed to release the 15 rebels.

The CPN (Maoist) president, Prachanda, issuing a press release today urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to initiate trustworthy steps for the much required dialogue without bowing down to those forces trying to destabilise the environment for talks.

Earlier today, the government also expressed its commitment for the dialogue. A Home Ministry press release said, "The government is serious to proceed ahead with dialogue in a meaningful manner with the Maoist rebels".

It added that the government is already doing its homework regarding the release of the Maoist activists to create a conducive environment for talks.

The release said that the government was preparing for the release as it required time to release those people who are into custody from the court’s decision that required the fulfilment of legal procedures.

The Home Ministry further contended that the current problems faced by the nation could be solved through dialogue only.

In his statement, Prachanda said that national and international reactionary forces would continue to conspire to falter the environment for dialogue. The release stressed the need for dialogue in the context of the reactionary forces.

"Conspiracy is clearly seen against the Deuba Government which has been trying to create a conducive environment for dialogue," stated the release.

Referring to the "drastic changes" espoused by the Maoists, Prachanda clarified that it did not mean "one party dictatorial rule" but that political system where healthy competition existed between all political parties.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today met the main opposition leader Madhav Kumar Nepal in his residence and held talks on solving the Maoist problem.

The dialogue which was carried between the leaders of Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) also agreed to execute the 17-point agenda regarding the national consensus. The 14-point agenda put forward by former PM Girija Prasad Koirala was developed into 17 point after discussion with the CPN-UML leaders.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba last Monday urged the Maoists to come for negotiations while announcing cease-fire to which the Maoists had quickly reciprocated by asking their guerrilla fighters to suspend all their activities.

The Maoist leader then had also asked the Prime Minister to declare the whereabouts of the "missing" Maoists, exchanging prisoners and annulling the "anti-people’s war" laws.

Premier Deuba then had also assured the Maoists that he would soon take other steps to create an atmosphere of trust. The release of 15 Maoists is seen in this respect.

‘Each S Asian nation holds equal importance to US’

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KATHMANDU, July 28 – United States Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca today said the United States has "no intension of looking at Nepal through the prism of any other nation" and that each South Asian nation holds equal importance to US interests.

In her departure statement issued this afternoon before she left for Pakistan via New Delhi, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia has also repeated a statement of the United States in welcoming the ceasefire on offensive activities, which PM Sher Bahadur Deuba proposed and has been accepted by the Maoist side.

"I confirmed that the Bush Administration sees each of the nations of South Asia as important to US interests, and I gave assurance that we have no intension of looking at Nepal through the prism of any other nation," her statement reads. The statement from the US Assistant Secretary comes amid recent international concerns that the reason behind rising US interests in South Asia is to counter China.

"Nepalis should solve their problems peacefully and within a constitutional, democratic process. We urge that the cease fire leads to progress towards a permanent peace," the release further adds stressing on respecting human rights by all sides in Nepal.

Furthermore, she has reiterated US assurances to continue its efforts to help Nepal "reach its goals" in thriving to secure democracy and open markets under the rule of law. "Once constant theme of Nepali leaders in all my meetings as the conviction that democracy must endure. The United States wholeheartedly concurs. Political change is always possible in democracy. The key is ensuring that, if change is desired, it will take place within the constitutional framework, thus guaranteeing that it is the will of the people," the statement reads.

Likewise, the US Assistant Secretary has also mentioned that she’ll carry Nepal’s concerns over textile exports to the US to Washington for further consideration. "Meeting Nepal’s requests will be difficult, especially given that the current global textile-quota system will disappear in any case in 2004," she says.

US Assistant Secretary Rocca, who met PM Deuba and other prominent leaders, has also lauded Nepal’s contribution to UN Peacekeeping operations. She has also noted the strong US interest in reviving the SAARC summit.

However, unlike the former Assistant Secretary Karl Inderfurth (whom Rocca succeeded), Assistant Secretary Rocca did not address the issue of Bhutanese refugees who are languishing at camps in eastern Nepal, throughout her four-day visit to Nepal.

Arsenic contamination in ground water evident across Terai

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, July 28 - Evidence of arsenic contamination in ground water, which was detected in neighboring Bangladesh and West Bengal state of India in the past decade, has also been found in the southern plains of Nepal, causing health hazards to those drinking well water contaminated with the chemical that can cause cancer in the long run.

A one-and-a-half-year long study carried out by the government’s Department of Drinking Water and Sewerage (DDWS) in conjunction with the Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), a non-governmental organization, has found "excessive concentrations" of arsenic in ground water samples taken from shallow tube-wells mainly in the districts of Rautahat, Parsa, Nawalparasi, Banke and Bardia.

While tube-well water samples collected from the districts of Jhapa, Saptari, Sarlahi, Bara, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu districts were found contaminated with arsenic over the maximum permissible level (of 0.01 milligram per liter) set by the World Health Organization, the concentrations were found well beyond the Bangladesh and India government recommended level (of 0.05 mg/l) in Rautahat, Parsa, Nawalparasi, Banke and Bardia.

Nawalparasi topped the other districts with 191 percent of the 432 samples showing arsenic poisoning beyond the WHO recommended level and 41 percent showing contamination beyond the Bangladesh and the India standard. Maximum concentration of arsenic was detected at 0.205 there, which is several times the WHO and India Bangladesh standards.

Also, 3.1 percent of the 4,000 people consuming tube-well water contaminated with arsenic tested positive to arsenic poisoning in the district, according to Professor Dr Mathura Shrestha, who was also a member of the research team.

"We found symptoms of arsenic poisoning—such as hyperpigmentation, desquamation, scaling and corns—in 3.1 percent of the people who consumed arsenic-contaminated water regularly for five years," Dr Shrestha said. The symptoms were confirmed after samples of nails and hair of those developing skin problems were tested in Kolkata, India.

Experts say, between 200,000 to 300,000 people have been affected by arsenic poisoning in West Bengal, and nearly 40 million, occupying an area of 38,000-sq kilometers, in Bangladesh.

"If people with symptoms of arsenic poisoning are not treated on time and continue to drink the contaminated water for, say, 15 to 20 years then the disease will take the form of skin cancer," Dr Shrestha told The Kathmandu Post. "The best remedy would be to test the shallow tube-well or other well water and stop drinking it if it is found contaminated with arsenic."

According to data made available by ENPHO and the DDWS, of the 526 samples collected from Rautahat, 260 had arsenic concentrations over 0.01 mg/l (WHO recommended level) and 87 had concentrations over 0.05 mg/l (India, Bangladesh standard). Seventy-one of the 665 samples collected from Parsa crossed the 0.01 mg/l while nine others crossed the 0.05 mg/l limit.

Seven and 58 samples collected respectively from Banke and Bardia districts crossed the 0.01 mg/l limit, while three and five samples collected from the districts crossed the 0.05 mg/l limit. A total of 148 and 182 samples were tested from the districts respectively. Maximum arsenic concentration in Rautahat, Parsa and Banke and Bardia was detected at 0.146, 0.158, 0.165 and 0.160 respectively.

"Although arsenic contamination was also detected in the districts of Jhapa, Saptari, Sarlahi, Bara, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu and several other districts of the Terai, poisoning was negligible and does not affect human health," said Dr Roshan Shrestha, a scientist with ENPHO, who led the research team. "The results show that some parts of the Terai are highly affected and sensitive so more studies should be done and measures taken to save the vulnerable population."

Officials and experts involved in the research said that the research is just a preliminary one and that more samples are being collected and tested from across the Terai belt, where hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be drinking water from about 200,000 shallow tube-wells dug by the government, and various donor and non-governmental organizations. "A detailed picture can be drawn only after we finish the research after three four months," said DB Shrestha, Director General at the DDWS.

The findings are based tests of the samples collected only from the shallow-tube wells dug by Nepal Red Cross Society, according to the officials.

Director General Shrestha, Prof. Dr Shrestha and ENPHO’s Dr Shrestha are part of a five-member Arsenic Ad-hoc Steering Committee, which has already prepared a national arsenic policy draft and submitted it to the Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning. The Ministry is yet to endorse the policy draft, which among other things has fixed the arsenic standard for Nepal on par with that of India and Bangladesh - at 0.05 mg/l.

RPP against Indian barrage

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KATHMANDU, July 28- Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) today urged the government to take initiative to immediately stop the on-going construction of Rassiyal-Khurda-Lautan barrage by India.

Issuing a press release, RPP said that over 1,00,000 people residing in the villages bordering India are going to be affected if the barrage is fully completed. It also said that India would only be the country which will reap the benefit from the construction.

" Over 200 villages along with the birth place Lord Buddha-Lumbini- are likely to get submerged if the construction of the barrage is completed," read the release.

Lately, politics of the country is centred around this barrage issue with different political parties demanding the government to take the initiative to stop the construction of the barrage immediately.

RPP made this public at the meeting chaired by the president of the party, Surya Bahadur Thapa.

Likewise, RPP came down heavily on the government for the hike in electricity tariff and opined that genuine Nepali people should be able to acquire citizenship easily.

Maoist leader Yadav hospitalized

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KATHMANDU, July 28- Central leader of the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist), Matrika Prasad Yadav was admitted to Bir Hospital on Friday with the initiative of noted human rights activist, Padma Ratna Tuladhar after three consecutive days of staging a fast unto death at the Nakhu Jail.

Yadav staged a fast unto death demanding the improvement in the quality of the food, health facilities in the prison, appropriate treatment for the political prisoners and to establish the school in the prison, said the source.

Employees of the prison told The Kathmandu Post that there were lots of sloganeering within the precinct of the prison from the day Yadav began staging the fast unto death. "I began the fast unto death as the demands were ignored by the administration," said Yadav.

However, Jailor Bharat Poudel said that almost all of the demands have already been fulfilled. "Almost all of the demands including raising the standard of the food quality and health facilities have already been fulfilled."

Yadav is undergoing treatment at the Bir Hospital. According to the doctors, Yadav is out of danger now but if he keeps on avoiding the food then his health condition might get worse.

Yadav was taken into custody for the weapons related case almost two years back in Mahottari and was transferred to Nakhu Jail this year.

Children say NGOs are misappropriating funds

By Razen Manandhar

MAHENDRANAGAR, July 28 - Bishal Rana Magar, a 12-year-old boy from Banke, was not  satisfied with what the draft of Child Rights Convention (CRC) Report has it about the utilisation of the resources on the children issues.

He eagerly added, raising his finger: "The local representatives and non-government organisations (NGO) are using the money granted for children inappropriately. It must be stopped and the responsible personnel must be punished for that."

Similarly, Sannu Nepali, a 13 years old girl of Dang suggested that the parents who by force marry their daughters away at the early age should also be penalized.

Like Bishal and Sannu, some over 60 children and adolescents, representing eight districts of Far-Western and Mid-Western Regions held discussing on the summarised version of the Nepal’s draft of CRC Report and came out with prompt reaction as they disagreed and wanted to add something on it.

Most of the participating children were members of some or other local child clubs and they knew quite well about the child rights issues and the report Nepal is sending to the United States.

A public hearing programme was held Friday here in the mid-western city on the first periodic report on child rights in Nepal. It was organised by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, UNICEF, Save the Children Norway with local support from Bal Chetana Samuha, Jagriti Bal Club and Hatemalo Child Group.

Surendra Dhakal, the CRC consultant in the ministry, said that similar public hearings were held in three other regions - Biratnagar, Kathmandu, Pokhara — too where the organisers encouraged the children to comment on the draft CRC report.

"This way, we give all the freedom to the children to raise their voice over our CRC report. It is not the adults only who prepared for the children’s sake but, the prime concerned group also had their share in making the report," he added.

Nepal is going to submit its first periodic report on the implementation of the Convention to the Geneva-based CRC Committee, which highlights the developments in implementing the CRC over the last five years (1995-2000), officials of UNICEF said.

Nepal signed and ratified the CRC in 1990 and sent its initial report on CRC implementation in February 1995.

Sharad Ranjit, the information in-charge of UNICEF said that it was a good chance for the children to let their voice have place in the national report. "They have not only the right to know what Nepal is sending to Geneva as a national report, but also the right to give their comments on it," he said.

There are things the children agree too. Umesh Nepali, a polio- patient boy of the region, admits that the national report can portray the condition of the disabled children of the country.

The draft report states that more than 80 per cent of those with disability shared the view that they face difficulty in participating in social occasions such as community gatherings, religious ceremonies, weekly markets and weddings.

Similarly, eight-year-old Suresh Acharya from Pyuthan said hopefully : "Now, the elder people will listen to our voices."

The draft report was prepared with the help of numerous stakeholders’ cooperations.

Consultant Dhakal said 11 national NGOs and one INGO (Save the Children Norway)contributed in preparing specific reports based on blocks of relevant information. Four regional children’s camps followed with participation of 294 children from 31 districts. Opinions of child rights oriented institutions from 67 districts were collected in various levels to prepare the draft.

"We used facts from the NGOs and feelings from the workshops, which led us to prepare the draft of CRC Report. The outcome will be published for comments again before the final result is sent to Geneva in last of August," he said.