‘India wants to inspect our arms’

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : The airline and arms agents responsible for the delivery of a consignment of machine guns from Belgium to Nepal are still working to get an overflying permission from India, highly reliable sources in the Royal Nepal Army said.

"The agents and the airline are currently working to get a formal permission to use the Indian airspace to fly the aircraft into Nepal (from Kazakhstan, where it has remained grounded for last two weeks)," one highly placed RNA officer told The Kathmandu Post on customary condition of anonymity today.

South Belgium based FN Herstal announced the delivery of the first shipment of about 500 Minimi machine guns to the RNA on December 14. Two weeks on, the aircraft is nowhere in sight. Knowledgeable officials say that it diverted to Kazakhstan after India denied overflying permission to it in "strategic grounds".

Soon after this newspaper broke the news last Friday, Indian Embassy here clarified that neither Belgium government nor the airline carrying the arms had sought the permission with the government of India. Nepali officials, too, have heaped the blame on the airline carrying the shipment of arms.

As the FN Herstal is to deliver 5,500 Minimis to the RNA as per a Euro 25 million deal hammered out by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba earlier this year.

The arms delivery was made after two groups of Belgian observers that visited Nepal recently submitted their reports about the overall situation in Nepal. The report also said that the shipment was made, just when the Belgian parliament prepared to pass a new and stricter arms sale law.

The deal has remained controversial all along. In August, the Belgian government was rocked when one of its allies in the ruling ‘rainbow’ coalition protested against the arms delivery to a country, where democracy and human rights were not very positive. The row also saw the resignation of senior cabinet minister Magda Aelvoet.

Govt crackdown on low-quality plastic bags

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : KATHMANDU, Dec 27 - The government today warned of legal action against the manufacturers producing plastic bags, if they continue with the production of plastic bags thinner than 20 microns.

The government has also made it obligatory for the manufacturers of the plastic bags to clearly print their address and the micron units on the bag.

"If this is not done and plastic bags of less than 20 micron are produced and sold, such bags would be confiscated on the spot. Besides, those industries involved in the production of such bags and found to be violating the law, would be dealt as per the Industrial Management Act -2049," a statement from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies stated here today.

The statement said the use of all plastic bags measuring less than 20 microns is a legal offence, punishable by law. An agreement to this effect was signed jointly at a meeting between the Nepal Consumers Forum, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Nepal Plastic Industries’ Association and wholesalers and retailers of plastic bags, the statement said.

Debate on SAFTA trade treaty rages on

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : With only four days now left for the expiry of the fresh deadline set for the preparation of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) draft treaty framework, the fourth meeting of the Committee of Experts (CoE) kicked off in the capital today. Sources revealed that member states debated on whether or not to actually prepare a draft within December.

"The member states are debating whether to give the proposed draft treaty a final shape before the month ends. A number of issues need to be resolved before such can happen. Nonetheless, all options have been kept open so far," said a source who participated in the talks.

While Maldives is opposing the finalising of the draft treaty in the current meet of the CoE, India is pressing on the completion of the framework. Likewise, while Pakistan and Bangladesh supported Maldives to yet again defer the deadline for the preparation of the draft treaty, Nepal and Bhutan remained silent on the issue, the source said.

The source added that a majority of the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) stressed that the draft should be prepared only after the final report of a Sri Lankan consultancy Centre for Policy Studies is submitted next March. The consultancy had been endowed with the responsibility of analysing the impact of regional transition into a free trade area on member countries.

Nonetheless, the source added that the option of finalising the draft framework despite the strong opposition of Maldives and the existing differences amongst the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been kept open. Independent experts on the other hand ruled out the possibility of finalising the draft framework before the expiry of the deadline.

The three-day meet, which is being attended by the commerce secretaries of all member states, will try to score down the differences amongst the member states on key issues, including that on the reduction and revocation of tariff and non-tariff barriers and adoption of trade facilitation measures. The issues, though already discussed in the preliminary draft twice during its second and third meeting, are yet to be settled.

"Today’s meeting focussed on rules of origin, wherein the member states agreed to adopt similar provisions as contained in the South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA), the predecessor of the proposed SAFTA. A preliminary analysis on the impact of the transition into a free trade area on SAARC member countries was also presented by the Sri Lankan consultancy," the source added.

The commerce joint-secretaries headed CoE was constituted in 1998 to work on and to finalise the ambitious concept of free trade area in the region. The directives of the 11th summit of seven-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held in Kathmandu earlier this year had set December 2002 as the deadline for the completion of the draft treaty.

The SAARC Secretariat, to which the CoE in July 1999 delegated its authority to draft the framework for the SAFTA treaty, had fixed the dates for the fourth meeting of CoE through 27 to 29 December to discuss on the preliminary draft of the SAFTA framework that it developed in 2000. The CoE in its third meeting had discussed 10 articles of 25-articled preliminary draft.

The member states expressed such high degree of differences on the preliminary draft treaty that Bangladesh developed and submitted a parallel SAFTA draft treaty framework during the third CoE meeting, which was discussed at length and few of its provisions were incorporated in the main draft.

The fourth CoE meeting would need to settle matters like reduction and gradual revocation of tariff and non-tariff barriers, technical assistance to the least developed countries and flexibility to least developed members allowing them to enlist higher number of negative products in order to finalise the SAFTA framework.

Bomb explode outside Minister’s house

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : Half a dozen people were injured today when a bomb went off at the gate of private house belonging to Education Minister Devi Prasad Ojha at Jorpati.

The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. today when Minister Ojha was attending a dinner party at Kantipath, hosted by the Rajparishad. However, no casualties were reported. But a house belonging to engineer Tanga Raj Pathak of the Department of Irrigation, located close by was damaged.

The bomb was supposedly planted at the main entrance of the Minister’s house, with an intention to blow off the parked car, police said.

Among those injured are Imberi Lama, 3, Rajan Lama, 9, 12-year-old unidentified boy and 21-year-old Shova Upadhaya. Minister’s wife and children, however, escaped unhurt but the window glasses and wall were damaged.

Meanwhile, a similar explosion rocked the VDC office in Gongobu this afternoon. However, no casualty has been reported. The incident occurred at around 12:15 pm.

The VDC building was damaged heavily.

Eyewitnesses said three men with revolvers stormed suddenly in the building and forced out the inmates as they blew up the house.

CIAA comes under fire; fumbles in court

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : The action of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) in framing up Kantipur Television (KTV) and detaining its director Kailash Sirohiya continues to attract flak from various walks of life from different parts of the country, calling the act as unwarranted and motivated.

According to a report dispatched from Butwal, top officials of the Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and other leading personalities said the CIAA took the action by breaching existing rules and regulations with bad intentions.

Kus Prasad Malli, president of the BCCI, said that the detention of Sirohiya over the bid bond withdrawal issue is unjustifiable. Despite his wholehearted cooperation to CIAA in its investigation process, the detention of Sirohiya over the baseless allegations has greatly discouraged the private sector, he said.

Similarly, Hari Prasad Lamsal, President of Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Rupandehi. said the action is motivated by ill-intention and it is a pre-planned conspiracy to degrade the commercial development of media.

Sirohiya, who is also the Managing Director of the Kantipur Publications, was detained by CIAA on Monday on charges of alleged impropriety while withdrawing the bid bond deposited for acquiring licence for KTV from the government.

In the like manner, leading businessmen of Birgunj also echoed similar views over the issue and were unanimous that the detention of Sirohiya was a result of bad intention. Satya Narayan Agrawal, president of Birgunj Chambers of Commerce and Industry flayed the action and added that the whole actions seem motivated and prejudiced. Tara SJB Rana, former general secretary of the Chamber, said the return of the bid bond after the signing the agreement is an established business practice and the detention over such meaningless issue is amazing.

Bimal Poudel, President of Nawalparsi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the withdrawal of the bid bond is a normal business practice and expressed surprise over the detention of Sirohiya.

He further added that the government instead of encouraging the private sector to invest the bid bond amount in other sectors by returning it soon, the action initiated by the CIAA has distracted the private sector and urged the government to be serious over the issue. Chartered Accountant Krishna Bhattarai said the withdrawal of the bid bond after signing the final agreement is a normal process.

Likewise, according to reports from Janakpur, local businessmen and journalists have come down heavily against the CIAA action and have urged the concerned to reconsider the baseless charges.

Kaushal Kishor Saraf, a leading businessman, said the detention of Sirohiya is unjustifiable. "Since the bid bond terminates automatically after the award of the contract, there is no question of improper withdrawal of the bond," he said. Brij Kumar Yadav, president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Dhanusha, termed the CIAA action is against the principle of free press and urged the concerned to retract the charges.

Hearing begins

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : The hearing on the case against former minister Jaya Prakash Gupta and Kailash Sirohiya, director of Kantipur Television Pvt Ltd, began today at the Special Court.

Arguing at the bench, Prakash Dhungana, prosecutor of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) claimed that there was a malafide intention of the then minister Gupta and Sirohiya while granting the licence of the terrestrial television to Kantipur Television.

He also argued that it was a different type of case. "It is a white-collar crime committed by Gupta and Sirohiya," Dhungana said.

He charged the Kantipur Publications with trying to delude the public by disseminating wrong news regarding the security bond.

"One of the publishing houses which has got its own FM station, is trying to establish a wrong notion of bid-bond instead of security bond," Dhungana said. "It is a security bond but not the bid bond which the paper is trying to prove."

Another CIAA prosecutor Yuba Raj Subedi also argued that it was a sort of ‘organised crime’ Gupta and Sirohiya were involved in.

However, the chief judge was frequently urging Subedi to plead with legal arguments since he was just beating around the bush.

Subedi was frequently calling the bond a ‘bid bond’ and at the same time trying to defend himself saying that it was in fact a security bond, irrespective of the name given to it.

Before the bench, Sirohiya made it clear that the licence was granted in a transparent manner as per the existing laws and said in a written statement that the CIAA had filed the case on the basis of assumptions.

None of the CIAA prosecutors could plead with sound legal reasoning about the charges filed against Gupta and Sirohiya, in spite of the frequent drawing of attention to the legal issues by the bench. Subedi could not complete his pleadings due to paucity of time. Sirohiya has been charged with withdrawing the bid-bond before its expiry, after the Kantipur Television Pvt Ltd received its licence for terrestrial television. The CIAA prosecutors have not yet proved whether it was a security bond or bid-bond.

Meanwhile, the hearing on the cases of Narayan Bahadur Thapa and Amoda Nanda Misra, the engineer duo charged in the case of Bakraha River Control Project in Sunsari district continued today and the hearing on the case of former minister Khum Bahadur Khadka completed. Khadka has been charged with amassing over Rs 40 million while granting the contract of Bakraha River Control Project to China Henan Company in 2001.

Census to shed light on status of women in micro detail

By Damaru Lal Bhandari

KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is soon coming up with gender disaggregated data on population activities, which will for the first time shed light on the slot occupied by women in a society, which is largely male-dominated.

"We have tried to go to such an extent which will answer all the queries concerning women and their status. We have laid equal stress on issues from human development to professional competence to literacy. It is innovation from a number of standpoints," said Radha Krishna GC Deputy Director, Population, CBS.

Shedding light on what is yet to come, GC said that unlike headcounts undertaken earlier, the 2001 census was gender-specific and had already disseminated data such as whether men have more say in family matters or whether they are heavily under male counterparts.

The CBS and other agencies are, meanwhile, working on a voluminous report, which could be expected to answer any number of questions concerning the role of women, children and men in society.

The report, which was partially disseminated last fortnight, has revealed part of the comprehensive report on current gender scenario. Most noteworthy, among others, is the happy family life endemic to the country, since the remarriage rate is only 2.86 per cent among female and 4.31 per cent among male members.

For example, menfolk have been found divorcing wives more if they don’t bear children and if they bear daughters only at a higher rate than owing to any other causes.

Highlights include prevalence of female-headed and male-headed households in poverty wealth spectrum, extent of female ownership of assets, gender gap in access to household economic activities and gender based occupational and industrial segregation.

Next is extent of female disadvantages in education received and continuation of it, comparative media exposure of female and male population and discrimination in access to education due to their living arrangement.

Similarly, the census has also compiled data on the labour force pattern, extent of work burden on women and men alike and workload of deprived children. Additional highlights include scale of polygamous union, gender differences in marriage, prevalence of child marriage, extent of adolescent marriage and child bearing and dissolution of marriage, due to gender preferences of the child.

Equally important are data on mobility of women. This covers issues surrounding independent and dependent women migrants, impact on the family left behind by those who have migrated out of the country and impact on children caught in similar situation for good or bad reasons.

UNIFEM population consultant Sabitri Singh said," We are working on such volumes which may ensure all that one can imagine about gender related issues." She also said that the report may, however, not have much by comparison since previous census did not work to collate much data concerning gender.

"The upcoming details of the census may go a long way in meeting the needs of the time, since statistical data are most sought after when it comes to planning for the future," said Ravi Kayastha, another Deputy Director at CBS.

CBS had received assistance from various UN agencies like UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UNIFEM at various stages of the decennial census conducted in 2001. Much of the data has been analyzed to reflect different aspects of socio-economic life.

King cannot go against people’s wish: Koirala

By Binod Bhandari & Bhim Ghimire

RAJBIRAJ, Dec 27 : Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala today said the monarchy cannot go against the wish of the people and history is replete with instances where people’s will has prevailed wherever the monarchs have tried to confront with the people.

Koirala also reiterated his demand that the king should reinstate the House of Representative and avert a serious crisis dogging the nation and the institution of monarchy.

He said, "There is no instance of monarchy, which fiddled with the sentiment of the people perpetuating to any extent in the world history. Hence if the king does not respect the aspiration of the people and still swim in the opposite direction the country may end up as bereft of monarchy."

Koirala also said that the people were still willing to move along with the king but unfortunately king has tended to undermine the aspirations of the people. "People will not be able to do much once the things go worse," Koirala further said.

Commenting on the dissolution of the House of Representatives, Koirala said, "What is true is a new force took over the day the parliament was dissolved. The solution lies in reinstating the same or else the institution of monarchy will be in for a crisis."

Koirala, who devoted much of the time to express resentment against king, also said that the institution of monarchy should not believe that it could revert back to the old system, which did not honor the people as sovereign entity.

Commenting on the government-Maoist talks, Koirala said there would be no meaning of the dialogue as long as the parliament is not revived. He also accused the government of unpreparedness on the issue of talks and agenda. Koirala, who has launched a crusade against the dissolution of the House of Representatives, also said that the problems dogging the nation could not be resolved by use of force.

"It is the king and parliament which can be expected to unitedly resolve the issue," Koirala said, repeating his demand that the army must be made accountable to the people and not left under the institution of monarchy anymore.

Koirala, who arrived in the town by an helicopter, also announced that the party will submit a memorandum to the king through the Chief District Officer (CDO) in all districts on January 9, pressing the demand for the restoration of the House of Representatives.

On the occasion, party general secretary Sushil Koirala said that all the parties would launch a concerted campaign if the corrections were not made in the constitutional and political process.

Minister Sharma turns ire on NC, UML

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : The Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Kuber Prasad Sharma, flayed Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal, Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) for their "unconstitutional statements" on the king’s civic felicitation ceremony, scheduled for the coming week in Biratnagar.

Speaking at a meeting of Governmental Assurances Committee (GAC) at the Upper House today, Minister Sharma said the opposition of the parties for the programme was against the spirit of the constitution and the parties’ discipline.

"The constitution does not bar the king from going to the people directly and meeting them," Sharma said.

He also flayed the parties for their double standards on the issue of king’s felicitation programme. "It would have been just for the parties, if they organised a similar programme," Sharma said.

Refuting charges of the Upper House members that the king and the government invited a state of confrontation by organising a felicitation programme outside the capital, Minister Sharma claimed the king and the government did not organise it.

"What the government is doing for the programme is arrangement of security considering the flow of people in the city," said Sharma.

Sharma said since it was going to be organised by the people, the king could take part and acknowledge the felicitations.

Sharma also said that the government wanted the Maoist problem to be solved, after the ensuing parliamentary elections.

"Since we want the problem to be solved by the elected government, we are serious to hold elections at the earliest and want cooperation from other parties," he added.

CIAA team briefs PM on anti-graft drive

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KATHMANDU, Dec 27 : A team from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today apprised Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand about its activities directed against corruption.

Chief Commissioner Surya Nath Upadhyay and other commissioners asked the PM to help the CIAA with necessary infrastructure and skilled manpower.

According to a cabinet source, the chief commissioner pointed at the lack of sincerity within the government to ensure good governance, a supportive effort to create a corruption-free society.

"CIAA’s actions alone are not enough to control widespread corruption from the country until and unless good governance is ensured to the people," Upadhyay is reported to have told the cabinet.

"If the government fully cooperates with us, we can give a feeling of corruption-free governance to the people within five years," Upadhyay told the PM during today’s cabinet meeting.

The cabinet source said that Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand assured the CIAA about all cooperation in its campaign against corruption.

He also assured the CIAA chief that the government would provide necessary resources to construct a new office building in Tangal.

Chief Commissioner Upadhyay also informed PM Chand that the CIAA was going to implement a model campaign in ten districts to control the corruption at the initial level in construction and other contract deals.

Pacifying the CIAA officials’ dissatisfactions over the resources and manpower the government is providing to the CIAA, General Administration Minister Rameshnath Pandey asked them to suggest the names of skilled personnel from the prevailing manpower of the government. "I will immediately transfer them to CIAA," Pandey said.

News coverage in most of the national newspapers was another target of CIAA chief, who accused them of misleading the facts.

"Kantipur Television deal also has been misled by the media," Upadhyay told the cabinet. "We will expose all the reality in the near future."

The Security Council also briefed the cabinet about the present security situation during the same meeting.

The Security Council informed the cabinet that it was planning to set up five centres in each development region, to rehabilitate the ex-Maoists who surrendered before the security forces.

The Security Council authorities informed that there were about 16000 such people who surrendered before the security forces and are still in contact with the security forces.

The cabinet meeting also asked the security forces to remain alert for the King’s felicitation programme going to be held at Biratnagar next week and foil the bandh called by the Maoists to disturb the programme.

General Administration Minister Pandey informed the meeting that the General Administration Ministry was formulating a draft bill to amend the existing promotion system that the CIAA and cabinet members said was encouraging the use of fake certificates.

Both the CIAA authorities agreed that the existing promotion system based on the percentage of academic degree certificates was encouraging the civil servants to use fake Indian certificates with higher percentages