UNEP to monitor Valley pollution

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KATHMANDU, March 26 – United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is all set to open its new regional office specializing in the field of air pollution and haze in Kathmandu before 2002, UNEP’s Executive Director Dr Klaus Topfer announced here today.

"We will open the office by the second half of this year (2001), hopefully," Topfer told reporters here today. "The technical office – which among other things will also have a meteorological station - will specialize in air pollution, and issues related to that."

The office will specifically carry out researches and studies on the brown haze that affects Kathmandu Valley and much of the Asia region particularly during the monsoon dry season from January to April, and will be managed by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) office.

Topfer made the announcement after the formal launching of the report – State of Environment Nepal 2001 – jointly prepared by the Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE), International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Norwegian Development Agency (NORAD) and a number of other organizations.

The 235-page report details the current state of Nepal’s environment vis-a-vis forest depletion, solid waste management, soil degradation and air pollution, and recommends measures to curb them.

Dr Topfer also pointed out that ‘proverty is the most toxic element’ in environment, and added that UNEP was not only concerned with protecting the environment, but also with the process of sustainable development and creating the condition of harmony between people and nature.

He also spoke of the environmental dangers from western-style consumerism and globalization such as dangers to the world’s ethnic languages.

"There are between 5,000 to 7,000 spoken languages in the world – a third of them in Asia – but more than 2,500 are in danger of immediate extinction," he said. "Losing a language and its cultural context is like burning a unique reference book of the natural world. Maintaining biological diversity is strongly linked with preservation of indigenous knowledge and language."

Dr Topfer also said that it was vitally important that environmental considerations were incorporated into the macroeconomic policies of global financial institutions and mainstream government and private sector decision making.

Talking with The Kathmandu Post, Dr Topfer said that Nepal’s success in community forestry is indeed laudable and replicable. "Nepal’s community forestry programs are famous all over the world. We are even thinking of developing such programs as a pilot project in other countries," he said.

During his four-day visit, Dr Topfer met representatives from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – Nepal, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and the UNDP. He also called on PM Girija Prasad Koirala and other ministers on Monday,.

NRB’s move could cost Rs 500 m more to govt

By Ameet Dhakal

KATHMANDU, March 26 – Violating standard practice, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has made an amendment in the Request For Proposal (RFP) seeking private groups to manage two government banks.

The decision allegedly taken under the pressure from the World Bank could cost the state coffer additional Rs 500 million.

According to the documents obtained by The Kathmandu Post , NRB changed the number of consultants to be involved in the management of Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) and Rastriya Banijya Bank(RBB) - country’s two largest banks – at the eleventh hour. NRB increased the number of foreign consultants to 192 man-months from 120 man-months and number of local consultants from 72 man-months to 192 man-months. NRB made this change in RFP on January 19 – only six days prior to the expiry of the initial deadline for the submission of management proposals by private operators. The very same day, NRB sent letters to all the eight short-listed management consultants to make necessary corrections in RFP and to send their proposal accordingly. Subsequently the deadline for submission of proposal was also extended to February 1, which was then extended to February 12.

Dipendra Purush Dhakal, Governor of NRB and Ram Babu Pant, Deputy Governor of NRB, who oversees the Banking Operation Department, last week had denied such changes. "Once RFP is finalized, we cannot make such changes…that would be illegal," Pant had said.

"No such changes have been made… and I will not accept any change in RFP," Governor Dhakal had said.

However, Governor Dhakal today, admitted that such a letter was sent to the prospective consultants by the Banking Operation Department but insisted that the final evaluation will be made on the basis of original RFP.

"That is unlikely," a source close to NRB says. Since the management groups have been asked to submit their proposal based on the amendment, the original RFP is unlikely to prevail, added he.

The source also said that the RFP was amended under a strong lobbying - through the World Bank- by the prospective consultant groups. The letter send by the Bank to the short-listed management groups also clearly says that the change in RFP was "clarified" by the World Bank and "approved" by NRB.

NRB is currently working to place private management in NBL and RBB – two of the largest, oldest and ailing banks – for next two years under government’s financial sector reform project funded by the World Bank. The World Bank has tentatively sanctioned 25 million US Dollar loan to fund the project. " Since the World Bank initiated and funded project it has an upper hand regarding the modality of management hand over," said the source.

When contacted, the World Bank officials refused to comment on the issue.

Though the total cost for management replacement will be anybody’s guess until the opening of the financial proposal of the competing groups, even the conservative estimates show that the amendment in RFP would increase the cost of management contract by about Rs 500 million. And the total cost for placing the private sector management for next two years is likely to cross Rs 1.3 billion. Such a huge cost could defy the whole rational of sending the two banks under private management.

RBB, the only state owned bank has a total deposit of Rs 37.50 billion rupees and a lending of Rs 29.71 billion rupees as of last June. Similarly, NBL, the semi-state-owned bank has a deposit of Rs 35.50 billion rupees and a lending of Rs 23.50 billion during the corresponding period.

Despite their huge revenue base, these banks have been identified as "technically insolvent" banks by an international auditing firm.

KPMG, the renowned international auditing firm in its diagnostic reports on the financial status of these two banks has estimated Rs 6-10 billion as the net negative worth for NBL. While the figure for RBB is billed in the range of Rs 9-15 billion.

Goons used to threaten former workers

By Bhaskar Sharma

KATHMANDU, March 26 - Things have taken an ugly turn in Himalayan Infotech Services Pvt. Ltd. Hooliganism is the word that appear to describe the current situation in the Information Technology (IT) firm that recently closed down.

The dispute between the firm’s management and employees that arose after the closure of the firm on March 1 turned sour when the management sought help of alleged hooligans to reduce the pressure of agitated employees who were demanding salary for the month of February.

In addition, the employees were also seeking compensation for the breach of the two-year employment contract and the refund of Rs 9,000 each, which the management owed as allowance to employees for the training they undertook.

The disputing parties had reached an understanding on March 22 agreeing to clear the dues by March 26 and to take decisions related to other matters by March 31. However, the firm issued a public notice on March 23 stating the firm has been closed and from the same day employed ruffians to guard the managerial staff against the vexed employees.

And though the employees today were given their due salary for the month of February, they had to return tight-lipped without making further demands. Neither did they receive the accumulated allowances, nor the compensation for the contract breach, which they had vehemently asked for.

Hired hooligans, guarding the firm’s office, were seen not only preventing employees, seeking to talk to the management over their future, from meeting their higher-ups, but also threatening the employees with dire consequences if they dared to cause further trouble.

While the promoters of the IT firm could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts, Uday Pradhan, one of the managerial staff said, "They (the gangsters) are people we know and are here inquiring about the cause of the commotion."

"I received complaints against Himalayan Infotech in the evening today. By the time police reached the firm’s office, the office had already been closed," Superintendent of Police Madan Kumar Khadka said, "No action can be taken merely on the basis of their (gangster’s) alleged presence in Himalayan Infotech."

Established nearly three years ago, Himalayan Infotech had entered into a contract with Heartland Information Services, an American company, for providing medical transcription services. However, hardly four months after its commercial operations, the company was forced to close down due to the lack of funds.

Refugee verification begins

By Chinta Mani Dahal & Lila Baral

DAMAK, Jhapa, March 26 - The Nepal-Bhutan Joint Verification Team (JVT) today began its long-awaited refugee verification process here with 10 families from Khudunabari camp.

Before the process of verifying the first 53 of the nearly 100,000 Lhotsampa refugees commenced, leaders of the JVT from both the countries expressed the confidence that the number of refugees could be increased in the future "depending upon per day progress."

Usha Nepal and Dr. Sonam Tenzin are heading the Nepal and Bhutan sides respectively, which is represented by 5 members from each side.

So far, the JVT’s decision to verify only 10 families per day has received a lot of criticism from rights activists who are saying that the present process is going to be too lengthy.

Dr. Tenzin further said that the JVT was a "technical team" and that the results of the team’s workings would be finalised only after all the detail work was over.

The refugees were taken to the verification office in buses with police escort. There are around 12,374 refuges and 1,960 families in Khudunabari camp alone.

The JVT has agreed to make official documents such as the Bhutanese citizenship certificates, passport, land ownership certificates, paper related to government services to distinguish who is a refugee and who is not. Likewise, scholarship papers to students, birth and marriage registration certificates, trade license, receipt papers of voluntary work, papers of school registration and family head are also the basis for verification.

No trace of missing trekkers

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KATHMANDU, March 26 - Rescue helicopters hovered over the Mount Annapurna area today where an Australian couple, the woman’s young daughter and an Israeli trekker were swept by an avalanche on Saturday as rescuers on foot combed the area looking for any signs of life.

Reports from the area however said that rescuers have not found any trace of the Squadron Leader Peter Szypula (Szypula) and his partner Flight Sergeant Michelle Hackett, both Royal Australian Air Force personnel, her daughter Kathleen Hackett, reportedly aged nine, and an 22-year-old Israeli trekker identified as Hevil Noam, who were trekking around the popular trekking route around Mount Annapurna.

According to rescuers, at least a dozen rescuers have been flown to the area where the avalanche occurred. Some rescuers however said these people are assumed dead and their bodies can be recovered only after the snow melts during the month of May.

The three Australians were accompanying the association’s Tenix Everest Expedition on an acclimatisation trek in preparation for a 12-member climbing team’s bid to scale 8,850 meters high Mt. Everest.

Clarification on alleged CSWA fake letter

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KATHMANDU, March 26 – The cloud over the fake letter episode in the Royal Nepal Airline Corporation-China SouthWest Airline deal seemed to lift a bit after the then RNAC corporate department chief said that he was under pressure from the then executive chairman to denounce the letter published by a Kathmandu weekly.

T P Chapagain, then Director in the Corporate Department told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) members today that he was asked by the then executive chairman B K Man Singh to "clarify RNAC’s position on the letter and denounce it by using the word ‘fake’. I protested that it was wrong to do so but I had to follow him as he was my superior."

PAC had summoned Chapagain and other top brass of RNAC today to seek clarification on the alleged kickbacks in the CSWA jet lease deal. Among the irregularities that the parliamentary committee is looking into are: leasing of 757 jet in place of 767 wide-body jet, approval by the then Cabinet (of CPN-UML government) for the foreign exchange and a letter by CSWA asking the RNAC executive chairman on pocketing anything above 2,800 US dollars as personal commission.

During March-April 1999, RNAC denounced a letter allegedly from CSWA that was published in a weekly newspaper from Kathmandu. In the letter, allegedly written by Zhou Goang Quan, manager, planning and development department to RNAC chairman, on March 2, 1999, Zhou suggested the RNAC management to pocket the sum beyond the agreed amount between the two. "Any price on which you would like to sign the contract above US $ 2,800, will be your personal commission", reads a portion of the letter.

The very next day the RNAC issued a notice terming the letter fake and also wrote to CSWA to do the same. There was an immediate response from Zhou terming the letter "fake". However, the letter pad is different this time and even the spelling of the middle name – Goang – is different, giving rise to suspicion as to which of Zhou’s letter was the authentic one.

The current main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) was in power, although in minority, when the CSWA lease deal was struck by RNAC. UML leader Bhim Rawal, the then Civil Aviation Minister had pushed the deal through. The Cabinet had cleared the foreign exchange then too, as the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala did late last year for the Lauda Air deal.

Sahadev Kakshyapati, the alleged middleman in the deal and brother-in-law of a powerful dissident leader in the ruling Nepali Congress, today denied any involvement in the RNAC-CSWA deal. However, Bhoj Raj Pokharel commission report mentions his name as the one who played a leading role in a later renewal of the deal. RNAC has leased CSWA’s jet for the ninth time.

Japan to reduce scholarship

KATHMANDU, March 26 (RSS) - Seventeen among the Nepalese students nominated so far by His Majesty’s Government for scholarships to Japan under scholarship assistance provided by Japan to Nepal have disappeared in Japan following completion of their studies.

Giving serious attention to this issue the Japanese side has shown indications of cutting down the number of scholarships provided to Nepal, according to the Foreign Cooperation Coordination Division of the Finance Ministry.

This issue was also specially pointed out by the high level task force on cooperation of policy consultation of Japan which visited Nepal recently. It has also been learnt that the task force requested the government to initiate necessary action to that end.

In order to discourage such disappearing, students going abroad for studies nominated by the government are required to sign a bond promising to pay back all the amount required in the study in case the particular student does not return. But this provision has not been effective, it is learnt.

Meanwhile, various decisions were made over this issue at a secretary level meeting held recently at the Finance Ministry.

According to decisions made by the meeting, departmental action will be taken against the disappearing students, notice of the action will be publicized in the media, the Finance Ministry and the Japanese side will be informed of the action, the existing provision on signing the bond will be continued, a copy of the bond will be sent to the Japanese side also and mature and older persons will be nominated for training to be provided in Japan.

Likewise, the Royal Nepalese embassy in Tokyo will be requested not to extend the terms for passports of disappearing individuals, people going for training and missing will be searched for and taken into custody after expiry of their visa, the Japanese side will be requested to urge Japanese citizens to not give jobs to people without visa and also to keep the passport of Nepalese students during their study in Japan under the authority of the concerned Japanese institution, according to the Ministry.

Authorities seal Guna Cinema Hall 

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KATHMANDU, March 26 - The Revenue Investigation Department (RID), Tax Office Lalitpur and the Income Assessment Committee today jointly sealed the Guna Cinema Hall (which includes three halls) in Gwarko Lalitpur for not submitting income statement for years.

According to a press release issued by the Committee, the cinema hall will remain sealed until it pays the due tax. Despite repeated warnings from the concerned department, the Hall has not submitted its income statement for years, the release adds.

The Committee has been taking action against such firms/institutions for the past few years and has collected Rs 21.3 million and has brought hundreds of such tax evaders into the tax net, states the release.

Koili Devi on pace-maker

KATHMANDU, March 27 (RSS) - First woman musician of Nepal Koili Devi was operated upon and a pace maker placed inside her chest yesterday by a team of doctors led by heart surgeon Dr. Arun Sayami at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

She has been kept in the ICU today also and will be shifted to the general ward tomorrow as advised by doctors. Tuborg Beer had provided Rs 100,000 for her treatment at the initiative of the Koili Devi Music Fund. The fund has expressed gratitude for the humanitarian cooperation.