6 killed, 23 injured in Baitadi bus mishap

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PATAN ( Baitadi), Oct 11 - At least six people died on the spot while 23 others, 12 of them seriously, sustained injuries after a passenger bus enroute to Baitadi from Mahendranagar fell about 125 feet off the Dadeldhura-Baitadi road near a road office on Thursday morning, according to the police.

The site of the accident is located about 35 km away from here, the district headquarters of this northwest frontier district. The District Police Office in Patan said that there were approximately 60 passengers travelling in the ill-fated bus (Ma 1 Kha 333).

Those who succumbed to their injuries have been identified as Jagadish Bhuj from Shrikot (Baitadi), Narendra Singh Bohara from Dehimandu (Baitadi), the bus driver, Dan Singh Karki and the owner of the bus, Bir Singh Karki, both from Nwali (Baitadi), Brahmananda Joshi and Deva Bista, both from Chandani VDC (Kanchanpur).

Of the injured, 12 seriously injured passengers were rushed to Tim Hospital in Dadeldhura, about 50 km away from the accident site, two people to Bareli in India and others at Baitadi hospital.

Chief District Officer, Ram Krishna Bhurtel, said that al the bodies were sent to Dadeldhura hospital for the post-mortem, as there were no doctors available at the Baitadi hospital.

The passengers were immediately rescued by the army, the police and the locals. Bamdev Ojha, one of the passengers, who was also injured in the accident, said the bus was driven by another driver, who could not control the bus in a sharp mode of the gravelled road.

Roads for peace: Army to build 13 highways under ISDP

By Tilak Pokharel

KATHMANDU, Oct 11 - Royal Nepal Army (RNA) is going to construct 13 roads during present fiscal year (2001/02) in seven districts under the government’s Integrated Security and Development Plan (ISDP), a senior government official said Thursday.

"Under the ISDP, the RNA deployed in seven Maoist-hit districts will be constructing 13 roads, five of which are in Gorkha district alone," said Ram Kumar Shrestha, Joint Secretary at the National Planning Commission (NPC).

The government last year had decided to make Gorkha, one of the districts hit hard by the Maoist insurgency, as the model district deploying 1,200 army personnel there to implement ISDP.

The government had launched ISDP at the beginning of last year, with the aim of quelling the almost six years of Maoist insurgency that has already claimed over 1,800 lives.

The roads being constructed in Gorkha are Gorkha-Manakamana Road, Drabya Shah Marga (Aduwa-Satdobato-Luitel-Bhachchek), Palungtar-Kharibot-Dudhpokhari Road, Gorkha-Arughat-Arukhel Road and Satdobato-Nibel-Baluwa Road.

Currently, army camps are stationed in Deurali, Ramjali Danda, Pokharithok, Chhapthok (Taple), Ghyampesal (Masel) and Palungtar village and Thatipokhari of Palungtar Village Development Committee (VDC) in Gorkha district.

According to Shrestha, other roads in the pipeline under the ISDP are Beshisahar (Lamjung)-Chame (Manang) Road, Devsthal-Kaindanda (Salyan)-Chourjahari (Rukum)-Dolpa Road, Holeri-Chunawang (Rolpa) Road, Karnali-Manma (Dailekh)-Kalikot, Tharmare-Baghchour (Rukum)-Chourjahari Road, Lali Laikhu Road (Jajarkot) and Chidikhola-Arneta Burtibang Road (Pyuthan).

However, the RNA is about to complete the Salyan-Rukum Road very soon.

Initially, the government had selected Gorkha, Rolpa, Rukum, Pyuthan, Salyan, Jajarkot and Kalikot districts for the implementation of ISDP. This year, government decided to add six more districts under this programme.

The government had decided to pick 22 districts for the ISDP and Shrestha said the government would take other districts as per the necessity.

He said the government has already allocated budget for the construction of the roads. However, he did not specify the exact amount of the budget allocated.

Joint Secretary at the Home Ministry, Tika Datta Niraula, said the concerned VDCs and the District Development Committees will be contributing some money from the government’s yearly budget for the development activities and also will be assisting the RNA.

"The VDCs where the ISDP is directly being implemented would be contributing all the money they get from the government for the development activities and others will be contributing half of it," said Niraula. And, each DDC under the ISDP implemented districts would be contributing half of the money they get.

Also this year, other development activities the RNA is going to take up are construction of two suspension bridges in Gorkha - one in Arughat and other in Palungtar. "These bridges will be constructed within next two months," said Shrestha.

Niraula also said all the amount allocated for the "Basket Fund" will go for the development activities under the ISDP.

Apart from the construction works, the RNA is busy in other public welfare activities under ISDP. "The RNA is running mobile health camps, sanitation campaigns, drinking water supply programmes and school building," added Shrestha.

CPN-ML might support peace talks

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KATHMANDU, Oct 11 – It seems in coming days the main effort of CPN-ML, the only left party with a national party status other than the main opposition CPN-UML, will be working to make the ongoing Government-Maoists talks a success. But this will depend entirely on the final outcome of ML’s ninth full central committee meeting, which started in the party’s central office today.

In the meeting which started today, Bam Dev Gautam, General Secretary presented a political document which considering international and national political scenario stressed on among others making the Government-Maoists talks a success. As an aid to the ongoing peace process Gautam’s proposal suggests that the party support formation of a constituent assembly but at the same time maintains that it has to be done remaining within the constrains of the present constitution.

The document also consisted points on the party’s future policy on the unification campaign of the left parties. According to a source within the party, ML is going to end dialogue for unification with UML and the Maoists but will carry on programmes for working unity with all the left parties. "If the meeting does not take extraordinary decision, then most probably we are not going to have any dialogue with the Maoists but will keep on talking with the UML," the source said.

The meeting being held under the chairmanship of the party president Sahana Pradhan will continue and most probably conclude on Friday.

No one is above law: Nepal

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KATHMANDU, Oct 11 – General Secretary of the main opposition CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal today said that no one is above the law and if anyone is found abusing his authority and involved in corruption then, that person should not be spared.

Nepal’s reference was towards the ongoing debate over whether the justices of Supreme Court should be brought under the jurisdiction of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) when it involves cases of corruption.

Opposition lawmakers want the proposed amendment in the CIAA Act to bring the judges under the CIAA’s jurisdiction. The proposal is being opposed by the apex court judges, who claim that a move like that could be damaging to the status of the Supreme Court.

"When the parliament and parliamentarians are working towards controlling corruption in all the aspects, the move is being opposed by a certain section," Nepal said without naming the Supreme Court in his address to the House of Representatives.

A Bill proposing second amendment to the CIAA Act is being discussed at the parliamentary State Affairs Committee, which has initially agreed that judges should also be considered figures holding public offices and brought within the jurisdiction of CIAA.

Supreme Court Judge Laxman Prasad Aryal had publicly declared that under no circumstances should the Supreme Court be put under the jurisdiction of the CIAA since the latter was an investigating body like the police and if the Supreme Court is put under it then the apex court will not be supreme any more.

He also said that judges are not seeking concession to be corrupt but even under the present laws the judges are not immune to charges of corruption.

Present laws say that Supreme Court judges can be impeached through a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. And even if this task is achieved, the most that can be done is remove the judge from the position.

Lawmakers are seeking that the judges be prosecuted if found involved in cases of irregularities like all the people holding public office.

"We are not trying to censure the power or status of any institution but it is our duty to protect the status of the Constitutional bodies," Nepal said.

Nepal, who is also the leader of the opposition parties, also accused the government of failing to deliver its promises to the people and opposition parties, which has been left with no hope or basis for improvement.

"The way the government has backed out of its earlier pledges on the issue of property rights for women and revolutionary land reforms, it has left no basis for hope," Nepal said. "The government has failed to live up to the expectations of the people."

Deuba shelves plans to add ministries

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KATHMANDU, Oct 11 – Bowing to pressure from within, the Sher Bahadur Deuba government today decided to shelve plans to expand the number of ministries from the present 21.

"The government has no immediate plans of expanding or breaking the existing number of Ministries," Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Gupta said today.

Prime Minister was considering breaking some of the ministries into independent segments to increase the number of ministries to accommodate as many members as possible into the Cabinet. But the plans were opposed from within the cabinet.

"The government has no immediate plans to increase the number of ministries. Instead it is following the guidelines recommended in three reports on administrative reforms," said Minister Gupta.

The reports on administrative reforms, including one by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), on making the administration more effective had all suggested streamlining the administration and decreasing and merging the number of ministries to minimize the administrative costs.

The Prime Minister’s proposal for expansion was opposed by Minister for Agriculture Mahesh Acharya and Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat who said Nepal has repeatedly pledged that there would be significant reforms in the administration and cutting down the number of ministries was one of them.

Minister Acharya reportedly told the Prime Minister that there could be continued criticism for maintaining a large Cabinet and ministries. The last time Deuba was the Prime Minister he had a 48-member Cabinet, accommodating almost a fourth of the House of Representatives members in the government.

Proposals included breaking down the Ministry for Industry, Commerce and Supply and the Ministry for Water Resources into Ministry of Water Resources and another Ministry of Irrigation. A new Ministry of Planning and Foreign Assistance was also proposed.

Last year, former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had declared the reduction in the number of ministries immediately after assuming office reducing the number to 21 down from 26. Ministries like the Parliamentary Affairs and Law and Justice were merged into one.

The purpose was to reduce the number of ministers and increase the efficiency of the administrative machinery.

The government has, however, formed a committee under the coordination of Chief Secretary Tirtha Shakya and will have three more secretaries as members including the Secretaries of the Ministries of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of General Administration.

This Committee will have three months to review the steps taken by successive governments towards administrative reforms and report back on whether there is a need to further decrease the number of ministries or increase them.

"This committee will report on the need for restructuring and then only will the government make any changes," Minister Gupta said.

Nepal off to flying start with 9-wkt win over Oman

By Somesh Verma

KATHMANDU, Oct 11 – Nepali colts made a convincing start to the Youth Asia Cup 2001 campaign Thursday as they posted a thumping 9-wicket win against Oman in the Pool B match played at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground.

Nepal safely negotiated the target in 10.1 overs with a only casualty in Yashwant Subedi after they restricted Oman to a meagre 45 runs in 31.1 overs.

Kanishka Chaugain and Yashwant Subedi, did not let any miracle happen from the opposition putting up 24 runs for the first wicket. The partnership was broken as Subedi was caught by Oman ‘keeper Pranav Shailesh Kumar Mehta off seamer Rustam Ali Khan for 8 runs.

The dismissal only led to the Nepali onslaught as Bardan Chalise, who joined in Chaugain, got off to a flying start belting the first ball to the boundary. He took eight balls to finish the match with 12 unbeaten runs—all of them coming in the form of boundaries.

The highest scorer in the match, however, was Chaugain who showed patience required in the low scoring matches to sail his team to the victory to remain unbeaten at 27. He brought up the winnings run in style, clearing the rope over midwicket boundary with a cleanly hit six.

"We would have liked to bat first," said Roy Dias, Nepali team coach after the match. "However, it was a ‘good toss’ to lose."

Earlier, Nepali bowlers showed a lot of discipline to restrict Oman at 45. Oman batsmen, who are inept in playing on the turf wickets soon found themselves on backfoot against Nepali seamers and the situation turned from bad to worse when captain Binod Das operated his spinners. The only batsman who reached the double figure was the Oman skipper Adnan Ilyas, topscoring at 10 runs.

Oman, electing to bat first after winning the toss, were going along relatively well at one stage with 23 runs for just one wicket. But Binod Das, the Nepal skipper, scalped two quick wickets to put Oman on the backfoot. He castled Nigel Kuriakose and made Ilyas try one shot too many, forcing him to give a simple catch to Sanjam Regmi.

Once 24 for three, Oman kept losing wickets as the spinners dictated the terms on the conducive pitch. And Lakpa Lama and Sanjam Regmi—the leg-spinner and the offie respectively—ensured that Oman did not build up a big score. The Oman batsmen stood no chance against the accurate piece of bowling and they walked away with three wickets apiece. They were declared joint winner of man of the match award.

Lama bowled four overs for just five runs. He was unfortunate though to miss out a hat-trick, though. After claiming Avinash Gregory Joseph and Gaurav Udeshi on consecutive balls, he failed to achieve the feat as his leg before appeal on a flat delivery outside the leg stump was turned down by the Umpire.

HIV spreading rapidly in Nepal: Report

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KATHMANDU, Oct 11 – Nepal has been identified as one of five Asian nations where HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has begun to spread rapidly, according to a recently released United Nations-sponsored report.

Authored by the Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic Network (MAP), an international organization with support from UN agencies, the findings state that while Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia showed substantial epidemics in 1999, the virus has now also begun to make rapid inroads in Nepal, Indonesia, Iran, Japan and Vietnam.

The findings of the report was one of the top agenda during the 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and Pacific (ICAAP) held in Melbourne, Australia, which concluded today.

Nepal’s official data on HIV infection however still lags behind those like the MAP study. The most recent figures released here by the National Centre for Aids and STD Control (NCASC) in Teku, Kathmandu, show that only 2080 people have tested positive for HIV, of which 527 have developed to the AIDS stage.

But unofficial estimates of the epidemic often come up with much higher infection numbers. According to Badri Prasad Upadhaya of NCASC the actual number of people infected with HIV and AIDS could be between 65,000- 70,000.

The frightening aspect of the HIV scenario in Nepal has been the rapid increase of infection in high risk groups, such as commercial sex workers (CSWs) and injectable drug users (IDUs).

According to NCASC, of the 2080 infected with HIV in the kingdom, 1278 contracted the disease after intercourse with CSWs. The second highest group of patients are CSWs themselves, 416 of whom have tested positive for the virus. The third highest infected sub groups are the Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs) with 235 cases.

But again the number of IDUs is much more than what is mentioned in the data.

According to Susan Risal, finance and administration officer of Lifesaving and Life-giving Society LALS, an NGO working with such high risk groups, there are 60,000 drug users in Nepal of which 30,000 are in the Valley itself. Out of these 30,000 drug users, 15,000 are IDUs and 40 percent of these IDUs are today already infected with HIV/AIDS.

In a survey conducted by the NCASC in 1999 in different parts of Nepal, it was found that majority of IDUs reported high frequency (72.7 percent) of sharing injecting equipment, dramatically raising the possibility of virus transmission from one infected IDU to another.

Govt to release top rebel leader

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KATHMANDU, Oct 11 – A top Maoist rebel leader jailed by the government - and whose freedom has been demanded ever since by the Maoists - is to be freed sometime in the near future, the government announced today.

The decision was announced today by Minister for Information and Communication Jaya Prakash Gupta. He said that rebel leader Matrika Prasad Yadav would be freed from prison very soon. Yadav is presently being tried by the Special Court on charges of attacking a police station.

Yadav’s release had been one of the prime conditions set by the Maoists prior to the delayed third round of peace talks with the government to resolve the nearly six years of insurgency.

"The decision has been taken but it could take just a little longer for the legal process before the release," Minister Gupta said adding that the Maoist side too should live up to its promises and release the policemen and civilians being held captive.

"There were at least 71 police personnel being held captive. But now with the recent releases there are still 24 policemen and another 124 civilians who are held captive by the Maoists," Minister Gupta said. "The government had asked for release of all the captives but are still hopeful all of them will be released soon."

He said the Maoists have been asked to make public the whereabouts of these people still being held captive and release them immediately to help create a conducive environment before the third round of peace talks.

The third round of talks was first expected to be held last month but was delayed after the government and the Maoists alleged each other of breaking agreements reached between the two sides.

The second round of talks in a jungle resort in Bardia had been deadlocked after the Maoists negotiators demanded a republic state, a new Constitution and an interim government to see transition of power.

The government made it clear that abolition of Constitutional Monarchy and democracy, established through the popular movement of 1990, was not possible under any circumstances and there would be no compromise or negotiations on these topics that can not be changed even by amending the Constitution.

The first talks in Godawari resort on August 30 were more of an introductory meeting that followed announcement of cease fire and peace talks by both the sides.

"As in the past, we are urging the Maoists to make public their status on setting up a time and venue for the peace talks at the earliest," Minister Gupta said. "We hope the talks will be held at the earliest."

Three shopkeepers selling bin Laden-T-shirt nabbed

KATHMANDU, Oct 11 (PR)- At least three shop owners of the capital were arrested for selling T-shirts bearing pictures of Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden who is accused of carrying out the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington of America.

The Ward Police Office, Janasewa identified the shop owners as Rajkumar Joshi of Ravibhawan, Basant Shrestha and Prem Kumar Gajurel of Kalanki.

"We arrested the shop owners of Sundhara and R.B. complex after receiving order from the District Police Office, Hanuman Dhoka," said Inspector Kamal Khand, in-charge of Janasewa Police.

Khand said the police arrested the shop owners along with five such T-shirts. One of the shop owners, Joshi, said, "Even the policemen were not sure about why they arrested us. They only asked where the T-shirts came from." Joshi said the arrests came on the day The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur dailies published the photographs of them selling the T-shirts in their shops.

Padma Ratna Tuladhar, one of the human rights activists and facilitator of the ongoing government-Maoist talks said, " It is violation of human rights to arrest somebody for selling T-shirts bearing Laden or some other individual."

This is ridiculous example of gross violation of human rights by the government, he added. Tuladhar further added that even America, which considers bin Laden as its number one enemy, is glamorising him.

However, member of National Human Rights Commission, Kapil Shrestha said, "Crimes and criminals should not be glorified at the moment when world is grieving the death masses in America. Nobody should glorify crimes in the name of human rights," Shrestha said.

Cycling lane alongside Maitighar-Tinkune road

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Oct 11 - If you are one of those folks fed up paddling up and down your bicycle paddles in the dusty thoroughfares of Kathmandu, then cheer up. The "clean, green and healthy" city, as fantasised by Kathmandu’s former mayor PL Singh, will have a separate track meant only for cyclists in not-so-distant future.

Good news for the connoisseurs of both old-fashioned bicycles, mountain bikes and all terrain bikes is that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is all set to construct a separate track for cyclists along the "Chinese road" segment of the city that stretches from Maitighar to Tinkune. If everything goes according to plan, KMC sources say, construction works of the three-kilometre track will begin from December.

And hold on, KMC has also identified other potential cycling routes along the banks of the Bagmati, Bishnumati and Dhobikhola rivers that flow down the city of nearly 1 million. KMC plans to complete the pilot project within six months, and it also has plans to add more such routes in near future. The final site survey of the project will follow the Dashain festival.

"We are planning to spend Rs 11 million on this project," says Naresh Pradhan, in-charge of the transportation section of Kathmandu Valley Mapping Programme (KVMP), under KMC, which is overseeing the pilot project. "We are developing the cycling tracks keeping in mind the deteriorating environment of the city and taking into the problems faced by the bicycle users."

The 3-kilometre tile-track will be 2.5 metre wide, and will be built on the southern side of the Maitighar-Tinkune road. A green belt and a garden will be the added attraction of the cycle route, which will be first of its kind in the country upon completion. The green belt will also have some chairs, where people can sit and relax, says Pradhan.

What this means is that cyclists will no more have to bother about the thick plumes of hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and lead oxide-mixed smoke that come out of the thick silencer pipes of the hundreds of trucks, buses and cars that ply the streets of the city of nearly 1 million. The city is home to more than 50 percent of the automobiles registered all over the country.

Pradhan adds, "The project aims to encourage more people to ride bicycles, reduce traffic congestion and accidents and also improve the air quality of the city" which, according to countless studies, far exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended level.

In a survey conducted by the project during 4-11 September, 15 percent of the vehicles running in the streets of the city were bicycles. And around 200 cyclists interviewed, which is 80 percents of the total respondents, said they wanted a separate cycling track. Almost 13,000 bicycles run around the Tripureshwor area alone daily, which is 18 percent of the total vehicles running in the area, according to the survey.

"We need to do something for them," says Pradhan.

The city’s cycling enthusiasts as well as the proponents of clean energy are all welcome. Says Usha Sharma, a university student from Patan, "It’s a great project this has to come at any cost. I would love to cycle around the city but cannot make it because there is no cycling environment. Not only that cyclists are often harassed by the automobile drivers."

Adds Bhusan Tuladhar, Director of Clean Energy Nepal, a non governmental organization," "Kathmandu is a small city where bicycle is the most ideal means of transportation It is cheap, easy, and environment-friendly and also good for your health. It is a good news, the project should have been started earlier."

KMC has already got a go ahead from concerned authorities. According to Pradhan, a meeting was held between KVMP technicians, officials of the Department of Roads and the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office on Tuesday. "Everybody agreed that such a track is essential for the city and decided to extend their support for the project," he said.