Major food, beverage adulteration detected

By Shree Ram Subedi

KATHMANDU, May 4 – Central Food Laboratory’s upcoming Public Analyst Report 1999/2000 has recorded a marked rise in cases of major food and beverage adulteration in Nepal.

The soon-to-be-published Report summarises a substantial rise in adulteration of mustard and rapeseed oil with Argemone Mexicana.

According to the lab-test conducted by Food Technology and Quality Control Department (FCQCD), Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives (MoAC), over 66 per cent of the samples were found contaminated. Out of 149 mustard and rapeseed samples, 98 of them were contaminated with Argemone, said the Report.

The trend shows a marked rise because similar test last year had detected only 28.9 per cent samples of the samples similarly contaminated.

Argemone Mexicana is a poisonous black seed that grows along with the mustard in the fields. The Argemone Mexicana seed is quite similar to mustard seeds in appearance. However its contamination could sometimes be fatal to human since it contains a toxic alkaloid called "sanguinarine" that causes a diseases commonly known as "dropsy" leading to renal failure.

"Presence of Argemone to this extent is a serious concern and its consequences could be fatal at any times," says Dr Tika Bahadur Karki, Executive Director at FCQCD.

"Our advise is not to consume mustard oil which is not quality tested," said another senior official at the department.

About three years ago, a similar contamination is believed to have caused dropsy and created a furore in Nepal and India. Though, thankfully nothing of that type is likely to happen now, experts warn that constant exposure to Argemone could invite grave situation in future.

The initial symptoms of dropsy are vomiting, fever, loose motions and swelling of the lower limbs.

Food analysts at the department say that not only the mustard oil, but a score of other food items were also found sub-standard to the extent that they could easily hit hard the health of the consumers.

General food commodities like mustard oil and other edibles like pasteurised milk, vegetable ghee, ghee, black pulses, chocolates are also found highly adulterated.

Out of nine pasteurised milk samples tested, seven (77 per cent) were found contaminated with dysentery causing micro-organism "coliform". However, the consumers can take solace on the fact that coliform bacteria die when boiled. Though the department declined to name the concerned dairy, they accepted that majority of the dairies have ‘coliform’ problems.

Similarly, 44 per cent of black pulses sample were found adulterated with coal tar and other inedible mix. Last year, the adulteration figure was only 12.5 per cent. The report also says that 40 per cent of ghee (milk fat) in the market is contaminated with vegetable fat and high concentration of fatty acid. While 27 per cent of vegetable ghee in the market is contaminated due to the use of low quality raw materials. However, the adulteration trend in ghee is an improvement over the past record. The percentage of adulteration of ghee and vegetable ghee in the previous fiscal years was 61.9 and 34.7 per cent respectively.

Likewise, 54.5 per cent of the samples of papad was also found to be adulterated. Referring to the general trend of adulteration Dr Karki said, "On average, twenty per cent of all food samples in the market are sub-standard."

Amid the growing trend of food adulteration, officials at the department accept that the quality control enforcement mechanism is weak and lacks concerted effort.

"Food Act has been enforced in all 75 districts since last years," says Dr Karki but the number of food inspectors including those at the six laboratories in the country amounts to just 16 and the number of food analysts stands at 30. "There has to be minimum of 70 food inspectors in the country," says Dr Karki adding that then only it is possible to bring down the present level of 20 per cent adulteration to 10/12 per cent.

He also emphasised the need to establish an autonomous food quality and safety council unit to co-ordinate all quality control activities, regulation and enforcement. "Time has come to think about the overall health of people and take the right decision," stresses Dr Karki.

CIAA to discuss PM’s reply on Wednesday

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KATHMANDU, May 4 - The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is to discuss on Wednesday Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s three page reply challenging the former’s jurisdiction.

After the Prime Minister’s written response the question arises as to what steps the CIAA might take. Experts point out that CIAA now has four options before it regarding the investigation of the controversial Lauda Air deal.

Being content with the Prime Minister’s written response CIAA could now file cases in the court against all those found involved except the Prime Minister. It means it could file cases against former RNAC chief Hari Bhakta Shrestha and Board member Thirtha Lal Shrestha both of them remain in detention. It could even file case against the former tourism minister Tarinee Dutt Chataut.

The CIAA’s other option is that it can politely again ask the Prime Minister other additional questions and can even provide chargesheet seeking clarification from him. There is such provision in the CIAA Act.

The final option before CIAA could be to take statement from the PM and interrogate him.

One legal expert close to the Prime Minister said that if CIAA moves ahead and sends additional letter with questionnaire, the Prime Minister would most probably move the Supreme Court.

Legal experts argue that once writ is filed at the court, the case would be prolonged. "Filing of the petition will be a strategy of the PM to prolong the case," some exports point out.

PM in quandary over his resignation

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KATHMANDU, May 4 – Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala spent the day discussing with his close aides trying to determine whether the CIAA’s "sealed questionnaire" was politically motivated or the CIAA’s own decision in the course of their investigation in the infamous Lauda jet deal, according to sources close to the PM.

There is, however, no plan to challenge the CIAA move in the Supreme Court. The Prime Minister replied to the "sealed questionnaire" on Thursday, challenging the CIAA’s jurisdiction in questioning Cabinet decisions. He also replied to all the five questions asked by the constitutional body.

Today, the PM discussed with his supporters as to what the CIAA wanted to know and what was the spirit of the letter sent to the PM. Koirala also held discussions on the likely consequences if he resigned and its constitutional and political ramifications.

The sources told The Kathmandu Post that the PM would decide his course of action "keeping in mind what would be the best step for democracy. The PM’s primary concern is that no harm should come to the scope and authority of the elected government".

One of the sources, however, said that the Prime Minister was in a dilemma as far his resignation was concerned. They said that it was not a question of suggesting the PM to resign or remain in power. "It is a decision that he alone can take and we have left the matter to him," said one of the sources. But, he added, that Koirala was determined to fight his opponents, both within and outside his party, whether he quits or not.

The Prime Minister also met His Majesty King Birendra for about 40 minutes today, sparking the rumours of his resignation. However, his aides said that the discussion centred around army mobilization in the Maoist-affected districts.

However, a lawmaker close to former Prime Minister and Koirala critic Sher Bahadur Deuba said that those ministers and lawmakers advising Koirala to stay put "are in a minority now".

A senior Cabinet-rank minister and Koirala aide said that the PM was not in a mood to resign. He added that the PM could still take the decision to quit.

P L Singh, a Nepali Congress lawmaker said that it was meaningless to offer individual advice to the PM to resign or not to resign under the current circumstances. "The suggestions should be offered in the appropriate party forum and not outside. It is the party that will decide."

Nepal Day in Germany to promote Kingdom

By Satish Jung Shahi

BONN, Germany, May 4 - If last year’s stunning stupa display by Nepal bowled out visitors at the Hannover Expo 2000, then an upcoming Nepal Day celebration here aims to bring closer citizens of this mighty European nation to the far away attraction that is Kingdom of Nepal.

The stupa at Hannover was covered by all major TV channels and dailies here. It is now owned by a German and is awaiting permission from the government to convert it into a recreational center at Regensburg, beside the river Danube. While that might have garnered Nepal valuable publicity in the industrial and economic heartland of Europe, organizers of the Nepal Day hope that more Germans could be made interested in the cultural and economic offerings of Nepal far away.

The Nepal Day is a two-day mega event which has been held annually here for 10 years. The latest one begins on Saturday at Gustav-Stresemann-Institute, situated in this former provisional Capital of the Federal Republic, Bonn.

"It is the biggest and most successful Nepal related event held in Germany," says Ram Pratap Thapa, president of German-Nepal Friendship Association (GNFA), the oldest Nepali organization established here as well as the organizers of the event. "The event is sort of a meeting point for Nepal lovers where they come together and discuss various issues regarding our home country."

This year, various Nepal experts are presenting lectures on topics ranging from Nepali handicrafts to tourism spots. Other issues such as water resources, nature conservation, health and political situation in Nepal are also being discussed in the event. According to the organizers, one of the major highlights of the function is the various information and exhibition stalls selling handicrafts and books from Nepal, along with a water colour painting show by K. K. Karmacharya. The theme of the event is Nepal: A Country Full of Mysteries and Wonders.

According to Thapa, already a few hundred German nationals have registered to participate in the event. "But the number is likely to shoot up. Plus, a lot of people among the 2000 Nepalis residing here in Germany are also to attend the program." he says. Balram Singh Malla, the Royal Nepalese Ambassador for Germany, is slated to address the event.

It has been a long way since Nepal established diplomatic relations with Germany. The GNFA was alone established some 34 years ago by the then Nepalese Residential Ambassador to Germany, Bhim Bahadur Pandey. And Nepalis here say that Germany in the 21st century can turn out to be Nepal’s possible influential partner in the European Union.

With 35,000 German tourists visiting Nepal every year, Germany is an important country for Nepal’s tourism industry. Also, there are already more than 30 Germany-based organizations assisting in various development sectors in Nepal.

While ties are growing, Nepal still has plenty to do to tap into the reservoir of goodwill of the German people and turn it into greater economic assistance, some here say.

"The problems of not finalizing the democratic process is a large hurdle for private investment in Nepal in small and medium industries, mostly in the hydro power projects," says Eberhard von Goldacker at Theodor-Heuss-Akademie, a political education center of Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation (FNF) that is alligned to the liberal opposition Free Democratic Party in Germany.

"If there could be more security and more planning, the private sector here could be a mighty player (in Nepal)," Goldacker, who has also served for more than three years as a Resident Representative of FNF in Nepal, further says.

HSEC officials questioned over suspected scam

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KATHMANDU, May 4 - The Public Accounts Committee today questioned the officials from the Higher Secondary Education Council (HSEC) regarding suspected irregularities in the printing and transportation of question and answer papers.

Five members from the HSEC, Dr Narayan Kunwar, the Vice Chairman, Dr Sri Ram Lamichhane, the Member Secretary, Narayan Koirala, the Controller of Examinations and Deputy Controller Balkrishna Mishra were grilled by the PAC members for over an hour.

The main point raised by the PAC members were that there was a vast difference in the rates of printing the question papers in the last fiscal year than in three previous fiscal years. In the fiscal year 2000/1 a cost of printing a piece of answer paper was Rs 1.89 and Rs 0.92 per additional sheet of answer paper whereas in three previous fiscal years the cost was Rs 3.75,3.85 and 4.40 respectively for the main answer sheet and Rs 1.85, 1.84 and 2.40 for the additional sheet respectively.

It was known that it was only in the last fiscal year tender was called before the printing assignment was granted to a company. The PAC members questioned why tender was not called for in previous years.

Similarly, it was also questioned that the cost of transportation of the papers were relatively higher than the transportation cost of SLC and Tribhuvan University papers. The PAC members also raised the fact that no tender bids were called before allotting the transportation assignment.

The officials from the HSEC admitted that there had been some lapse in the management in the previous years and according to the Member Secretary Lamichane there had been a "management blackout" in the Council in the last fiscal year.

Questions were also raised regarding the money spent on hot stamp hologram on the transcripts of the higher secondary board. But since the issue was also being looked upon by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) the question was not persued further.

Finally the PAC members came to a conclusion that there had been some irregularities in the past but since most of the officials called today had joined the office only in the later no one could be charged. The committee decided to suggest to the Education Ministry that in future all the printing and transportation assignment should be granted to companies only after calling for an open and format bid.

3 killed in late evening thunderstorm

MAHENDRANAGAR, May 4 (PR) - Heavy thunderstorm that lashed Mahendranagar, Friday evening killed a woman and two children. The thunderstorm lasted for about 15 minutes.

Kausalya Devi Chand, 40, of Ultakham - 2 died when hit by lighting.

During the ensuing thunderstorm, two children died when seven houses in Chaukhari Shalghari village of Routali Bichawa VDC-3 caught fire during the storm. According to Inspector Man Sing Mouni of Belouri Police Station, the dead are Karak Kamal, 10 and Anil Katuwal,4 years old. The fire, according to inspector Mouni has gutted seven straw-roofed houses and four cattle sheds. According to the district police office, two more girls, injured in the incident, returned home after treatment at Mahakali Zonal Hospital.

RSF expresses concern over freedom of press in Nepal

KATHMANDU, May 4(PR)- Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders-RSF) in a letter addressed to the Information and Communication Minister has expressed strong concern over the decision not to authorize the Space Times Network (STN) to broadcast TV program via satellite, a press release states.

"The government must respect the freedom of press guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal" and let STN broadcast its programs freely," states the letter written to Minister Shiv Raj Joshi by Robert Menard, the general secretary of the RSF.

STN, an operator of cable television and Private Media Company had planned to broadcast TV programs starting 14 April after the signing of a business agreement with Thai Com Managers. STN broadcast, to be received 52 countries, targets Nepalis living abroad. Two days before the launching of the broadcast, the Ministry asked the STN to furnish the complete list of the equipment used for such broadcasting.

The RSF feel that this was done to halt the broadcast as the summon was made just days before the launch, while the event had been announced a month earlier, the release states.

Cash rich Swoyambhu, rich in garbage too

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, May 4 - Authorities at Swoyambhu, the highest located man-made World Heritage Site in Kathmandu Valley collects around Rs. ten million every year from the visiting pilgrims and the tourists. But, the Holy hill, a place of cultural as well as ecological value, is slowly and steadily turning into a garbage dump, simply for the lack of proper cleaning.

Pointing at the layers of garbage accumulating at the right hand side of the Swoyambhu Stupa’s main stairs, Kiran Buddhacharya, a local, says that almost all the accessible part of the hill is covered with similar rubbish discarded by the pilgrims, tourists and also by the sweepers themselves.

Plastic bags, mineral water bottles, paper plates, drinking cups and glasses as well as prayer clothes, papers and many others waste materials jostle for place along with the dry leaves. Dogs and monkeys make things even worse by digging out the garbage from the piles and scattering them all around the temple area.

"You can see metres deep pile of garbage like this around the whole hill. The more you pull off, the deeper it goes," he says.

The locals say that Swoyambhu Renovation and Management Federation (SRMF), the cash-rich authority representing 14 religious institutions, has money and resources but lacks vision to keep the ancient Stupa, a World Heritage Site, clean.

Mani Shakya, 50, a local curio shop owner, who used to be active in cleaning campaign when young, says that the Tibetan monks and others defecate on the hill-slope and treat the whole jungle and even the temple surroundings as an open toilet. The Holy shrine is conspicuously shrouded in overpowering excreta smell.

Chairman of SRMF Ratna Bahadur Bajracharya admits that proper cleaning has not been carried out successfully even though quite a large number of people are working hard on it.

"Cleaning Swoyambhu is a challenge for all. SRMF is doing a lot but since the area is so big and with hundreds of pilgrims and picnickers dumping tonnes of garbage every week, keeping the area clean is just impossible for us," he says.

He says that all the concerned organisations should work together and the municipality should also lend a helping hand. At the same time a method to ensure that garbage is dumped at proper place, instead of just hurling it away, should also be initiated, he adds.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward No. 15 Chairman Ishwor Man Dangol says that the Ward Office has no need to help the SRMF. "It has the capacity and more than adequate fund to carry out the cleaning on its own," he adds.

"Our annual budget is around Rs 1.5 million whereas SRMF earns seven times more in any given year. It is solely the SRMF’s duty to keep the area clean and manage all related problems," he further added.

SRMF has around 20 cleaning staff on roll. One devotee engages eight more persons to clean the temple area everyday at his own expense. But, the sweepers sweep only around the areas frequented by the tourists. And, after sweeping they simply throw the garbage from top of the hill, the locals said.

Dr Keshav Shrestha, the chief of Natural History Museum, located on the Swoyambhu hill says, "The ever accumulating garbage is destroying the hill’s ecology."

He says, "Because of the wantonly discarded non-degradable wastes, the soil has lost the capacity to grow plants specially below Gyanmala Bhajan Khalaa building, Karmapa Gumba and Shanti Vihar," Whatever hardy floras that remain are discolouring and shedding their leaves untimely, he added.

He says that Swoyambhu hill, apart from being of religious value, is also noted for its ecological richness. "Its valued jungle has several rare species of flora like Desmodium sumbuens, a plant discovered here and named after Swoyambhu. But including this, and many other rare plants have disappeared due to lack of conservation and uncontrolled waste disposal," he said.

Legends say that the Stupa of Swoyambhu has been there since the days when the valley was still a lake. Though the original builder is unknown, the first account of its restoration is recorded as early as in 1129 AD.

PPR kills sheep, goats

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JUMLA, May 4 - More than 500 sheep and goats have been killed following the outbreak of a disease called Pestes des Petits Ruminants (PPR), according to reports from various VDCs.

Technical Assistant Laxmi Adhikari at the District Livestock Service Office here said today that more than 500 animals succumbed to the epidemic in Narakot, Badki, Kalika, Setu and Hatsinja VDCs.

Adhikari said that the Regional Livestock Directorate has dispatched 5,000 vaccines to the district for the prevention of the outbreak. The vaccines have been distributed in all 30 VDCs with separate teams of vet medics.

The ring vaccination programme would start in all the VDCs from coming Sunday, the District Livestock Office said.

However, the officials said they did not have adequate vaccines, syringes and human resources to inoculate all the animals affected by the outbreak.

Earlier, more than 2,000 sheep and goats were reported to have been killed in the far north-western mountains of Humla district due to the PPR epidemic last month.

Keeping in mind the public health condition, the Humla District Development Committee had issued a public notice warning people not to consume mutton until the disease is fully brought under control.

RSS adds from Siraha: some 200 goats and sheep have perished in an outbreak of the PPR disease in 12 VDCs of this district also causing a cumulative loss of about Rs 300,000 to the farmers, according to the District Livestock Service Office, Siraha. Narahabalkawa, Asanpur, Mahinaur, Lalpur, Betauna, Ayodhya Nagar, Sitapur, Rampur Birta, Bhediya, Taregna, Govindapur, Bishnupurkatti and Muksar VDCs have been affected by the disease.

In an effort to bring the disease under control, the District Livestock Service Office has provided the anti-PPR vaccines free of cost to the affected VDCs. Livestock officer Udaya Chandra Thakur of the District Livestock Office, Siraha, says that the disease has found its way into Nepal from goats imported from India. The disease further spread as the farmers did not pay any heed to the request made by the District Livestock Service Office to vaccinate their goats and sheep.

So far 5,000 vials of vaccines have been distributed to farmers in the affected VDCs.

Police confiscate arms from Maoists

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BIRATNAGAR, May 4 - Police have confiscated today arms and other documents on Friday after raiding a Maoist political training being held at a remote northern VDC bordering to Dhankuta district, police here said.

Policemen from Belbari-based area police office raided the training programme at a local school in the Yangsila VDC this afternoon and confiscated 12 country-made guns, one revolvers, some set of combat suits and Maoist-related literature.

But it could not be confirmed whether both the sides exchanged fire or not as the area is far away from here.

A police source said that the rebels fled to the nearby jungle when the policemen entered the school premises charging fire to the rebels. Police estimated that there were more than 80 Maoist guerrillas taking a closed door political training at the school.