Second day bandh partially peaceful

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KATHMANDU, Feb 23: Nation remained largely peaceful the second day of the two day strike called by the underground Maoist rebels, except for a few incidents of violence mainly in western Nepal.

Reports trickling in here from different parts of the country said the outlawed Maoists hurled explosives in the western district of Dhading, set ablaze an office building in the eastern hill district of Bhojpur, while security forces opened fire at a group of Maoist "terrorists" and the news of plundering and assault is reported in Bardia district .

A report from Dhading said a group of rebels hurled a home-made bomb at Biyan of Murali-Bhanjyang Village Development Committee (VDC) on Thursday evening. However, no damage or casualty has been reported.

The Dhading District Administration Office (CDO) of the district has extended dusk to dawn curfew in terms of time and area.

The curfew in the district starts from Seven o’clock in the evening to five o’clock in the morning, according to the recent change to that of earlier, starting from eight o’clock in the evening to five in the morning. The curfew is extended to some more wards of Nilakantha, Sikosh, Murali-Bhanjyang and to some parts of Sunaula bazaar of the district.

The time and area for dawn to dusk curfew is also reported to have been extended in Dang district. The curfew limited in the district headquarters is extended recently in Tulsipur, Lamahi and in other parts of the district.

Maoist rebels severely beat up an ex-Nepal army man in Bhimapur VDC of Bardia district. According to the police report, the rebels broke the hands and legs of Gopal Bahadur Gurung after an inhuman beating.

The rebels also assaulted a teacher at local primary school of Daulatpur VDC. The rebels beat up the teacher named Bijaya, in the charge of flaying the Maoist activities, it is learnt. The rebels have also taken away a telephone set from a PCO telephone booth in the VDC.

An exchange of fire is reported in Eghare VDC of the district as the rebels opened fire at the Area Police Post, at mid-night on Friday. However, no news of anything untoward is reported in the incident.

The rebels have set ablaze the branch office of Agriculture Development Office, at Dingla bazaar of Bhojpur district.

SLC exam centres shifted

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SINDHULI, Feb 23: All the examination centres for conducting the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations have been transferred to the headquarters due to concerns over security, according to the District Education Office (DEO).

"The DEO has allotted 10 examination centres in 6 high schools of Kamalamai Municipality," said Moti Bhattarai, an officer of DEO. The DEO allotted 10 centres last year but they were distributed geographically.

In this year’s SLC examination, 2,225 students of 49 high schools of the district will appear as determined. "There will be logistical problems for so many students to find accomodation and food in the headquarters," said a local.

Parents of the students have already started coming into the district headquarters to find rooms in time, said a hotel manager. "The DEO has already sent letters informing about the centres to all schools," said Bhattarai.

Immunisation programme postponed

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GULARIYA, Feb 23: The Polio Immunisation Programme for 27 districts of the Terai region was badly affected by the two-day strike called by Maoist rebels.

The programme, scheduled to be held today in Bardiya district has been postponed for 5 days, according to the District Health Office (DHO) here.

"The polio drops and other accessories could not be sent to villages so we postponed it," said Dr. Rama Shankar Deep, DHO Chief of the district. The programme is rescheduled for February 28 and 29, according to him.

The programme aims to immunise 70,824 children below 5 years by visiting each house of the district, said Dr. Deep. "All the preparations have been made," said Dr. Deep,"more than 824 volunteers will be mobilised."

In Nawalparasi, the programme was badly affected by the strike. "The programme of Saturday came to standstil due to the strike," said Ram Prasad Pandey, a health officer of DHO.

In Jhapa, the programme was slightly affected by the strike, according to Modraj Dotel, the Chief of DHO.

"The wolunteers visited the house without any problem but we could not send the polio drops to places where it was found to be inadequate," said Dotel.

Collective farming

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NEPALGUNJ, Feb 23: Two of the most backward villages in Banke district are going through an experiment in collective farming, something that has been rare in the country’s context.

The villages of wards seven and nine in Sitapur VDC began the venture last year under the initiation of the Participatory District Development Programme (PDDP), an offshoot of the Village Development Programme.

The PDDP has a target of implementing collective farming in 20 other VDCs of the district.

In this cooperative farming system, the villagers form a group, and with loan and other kinds of help from the PDDP, they take farm lands on rent for cultivation.

It began with twelve families in Sitapur VDC-7, and later their neighbours from ward-9 followed suit. It’s mostly poultry and vegetable farming that are being carried out by these villagers.

"The people involved in this new method of farming are extremely glad as they are even able to save some amount now. Earlier it was just hand-to-mouth existence," says Lal Sunar, Chairman of Public Service Community Institution, a body related to the community farming programme.

"After the success of this new scheme of development, many neighbouring VDCs inthe district have become attracted to it and are to adopt it soon," says Santosh Bista, Chief of the Village Development Programme at Sitapur VDC.

Major thoroughfare turned into trail

By Shyam Bhatta

BAITADI, Feb 23: The proposed 120-meter motorable road from Gothalapani to Jhulalghat is being converted into a trail due to electric poles and a sub-station that emerged as an obstruction on the way of a road construction.

The road had directly benefited people in the four districts of Baitadi, Dadeldhura, Darchula and Bajhang.

A sub-station and the electricity poles, belonging to the UP Electricity Board of India that supplied 600 kilowatts of electricity to Baitadi district earlier has now been replaced by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

"Though the sub-station has no use now, we can do nothing with it as it belongs to India," said Mohan Chandra Lekhak,Chief at NEA, Baitadi.

The construction of the road was initated 17 years ago and a 37 kilometers section of the road from Satbajh to Jhulalghat was named ‘Dasharath Chand Road’ after the restoration of democracy.

"The construction of the road was restarted following an earmarked budget of 1crore 30 lakhs in this fiscal year," said Bijay Shrestha, Road Division Engineer at the District Road Office.

According to Paramananda Bhatta, the Secretary of this district, initiation has been undertaken to solve the earlier problem underlying the construction of this road.

Police win people’s heart as they release innocent people

By Harihar Singh Rathore

JAJARKOT, Feb 23: The security forces in this district are slowly winning the hearts of locals by releasing the detained people. The local people of this district never imagined that people would be released that soon. This had fortunately occured as this district lacks the facility of a court.

"The Innocent is never punished," was the statement made by 61 years old Sabitri Bali, whose cousin Jai Bahadur was released by the security forces after 3 days of his early morning arrest on January 31.

"I did not believe when the postman told me that I was called to the police office for releasing my spouse," said another lady named Bhagwati.

After the emergency, the district administration has became more efficient in these types of sensitive cases, said an officer of the police. "Every arrested individual is released within a week if he is found innocent."

"We are very careful about innocent people," said Maya Kumar Shah, the Assistant Superintendent of Police. "Support from the locals is also helping us."

‘The people of the district who had experienced the ‘Kilo Sera 2’ operation of the police to eliminate Maoist insurgents would run away whenever security forces arrived. But now that does not happen,’ said Shah.

The lack of a court in this district is the root cause of these problems. "Many have to remain in custody for months during the legal process due to the lack of a court," said Advocate Bhakta Bahadur Malla, the chairperson of District Bar Association.

"It would have been easier for us if there was a court in this district," said Shah.

KVMP and the changing face of Kathmandu

Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Feb 23: While the river runs on and the world keeps turning, and the water flows and the sun is burning, and the mountain’s old while we still are learning.....’where kathmandu is’.

Chikanmugal and Ombahal area of Ward No. 23 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is probably the only area in the capital that has its population decreasing by the day since the last two years.

The remaining locals say many of the people have left the core area as the old style of architecture has become uncomfortable for them and there are little chances of enhancing economic activities and survival.

According to a recent study, only 68 percent of the old residents are hanging on in this area.

But this is not going to last for long. Officials of KMC are planning to improve the core area in 14 wards and a demonstration of the project will start very soon in Ward No.23, designed to show the locals that such an area, close to the UNESCO-declared heritage zone of Hanumandhoka Durbar Square, can also be a major centre of tourist attraction, and developed into a tourism-related commercial zone.

The area is full of Buddhist monastery courtyards, open space surrounded by artistic traditional houses, made during the Malla, Shah and Rana period. Some houses or monuments are found to be over 300 years old. In the core areas, traditional courtyards display a unique feature of medieval settlements that provide open space and sunlight for its residents and also keep the houses warm and cosy in winter.

National co-director of Kathmandu Valley Mapping Project (KVMP) Padma Sunder Joshi said that Yauta Baha, Ratnakar Baha, Ganthi Baha or Gancchen Nani and Punchhe Baha is being envisaged as the first phase of development in this area.

"We are going to develop the core city area of Ward No 23 as a pilot project that includes providing basic infrastructures like the paving of streets, water, drainage, and street lamps etc.We will also assist the people in developing tourism business in the area," he said.

This programme is being launched to conserve our unique cultural heritage, to maintain a clean living environment, to identify important buildings concerning heritage and to conserve, repair and restore the old heritage buildings and the surrounding demography of the area, according to Joshi.

KVMP intends to complete this project within six to eight months.

"Reviving the deserted core area is a challenge for us. Only the slogan of heritage conservation is not going to bring those locals back. We must help them to generate income. Perhaps, we can bring back the days of the famous Freak Street again," said Joshi.

Senior planner of KVMP Kishor Manandhar said that money would not be a problem for launching the project, but he did not mention the exact amount KVMP is investing in the area.

"Participation of the local people is vital in this project. We want involvement of the locals from the very beginning. We will collect financial contribution from the locals up to 30 percent. By doing this, we want the locals to feel their responsibility to preserve the area," he said.

A steering-committee has recently been set up with the mayor as chairman, ward chairman as vice-chairman, and representatives of the locals and KMC officials as the members.

Ward No. 23 chairman Pabitra Bajracharya said that selecting his ward for the pilot project was a very "fortunate" incident for him.

Sundar Shyam Mathema, a local committee member said that the project would change the face of the core city and the locals would surely participate in it.

"But, it should not collapse midway, as it happens with many of the high-funding projects," he warned.

Consumers confused over similar milk packets in market

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KATHMANDU, Feb 23: People get confused due to some copy-cats producing milk packets that look similar to the one produced by the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC).

According to the locals, milk retailers force consumers to buy other milk products, produced by private firms because they provide better commission to the buyers.

"Both the packets look alike. I asked for DDC milk but they (retailers) handed me the other one," said Dan Bahadur Shrestha, who collects packet milk from a nearby booth.

Senior technical officer of DDC’s Production Department Raj Govinda Karnikar said that the corporation had information about copying of the milk product.

"We have sent our staff to collect such products. Such depot-holders will be punished if found guilty," he said.

He said DDC filed a case against a Kharipati Dairy Industry that copied DDC’s logo and Chief District Officer punished the industry.

Director General of Department of Food Technology and Standard Maintenance Tika Bahadur Karki said that the department does not have the right to punish the copying industries.

"A bill necessary to provide legal base to the department to punish the guilty is being made," Karki said.

DDC distributes 130 thousand litres of milk in the Kathmandu Valley alone.

According to an assumption made by Plastic Industry Shanghai, the daily demand of milk in the Kathmandu is over 300 thousand litres.

According to the officials, the DDC is producing more milk than its capacity and it has no plan to increase its capacity for the time being.

According to a DDC official, capacity improvement programmes stopped no sooner than the government started thinking about its privatisation.

The DDC Department states that milk quality of the diary is better than the milk produced by other private companies.

The DDC presently collects milk from chilling centres from Bhaktapur, Kabhre, Sindhupalchok, Dhading and Chitwan.

"There is less possibility of contamination because everything is done by machine," said Karnikar.

Safa tempo business  facing crisis

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Kathmandu,Feb 23 : The business of the battery-operated Safa tempos, a popular mode of public transportation which has been playing an important role in reducing the problem of environment pollution in Kathmandu resulting from the growing volume of road traffic, is possibly heading towards collapse.

Two years back when the diesel-operated Vikram tempos were displaced from the Kathmandu Valley, the government allowed to run the battery-operated Safa tempos in their place in order to ensure cleaner air and less pollution.

Transport entrepreneurs have so far invested approximately Rs 500 million in the Safa tempos. Today the entrepreneurs are complaining that their business is facing crisis, as the returns are much lower than the investment.

Safa tempos as a means of public transport were introduced for the first time in Nepal in 1992 as per the recommendations of a study carried out by an international agency -the Global Research Institute. According to them, the Safa tempos that can be operated with fuel and electricity available in Nepal were suitable for Kathmandu.

Safa tempos were later introduced also in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka following their operation in Kathmandu as a model public transport system.

Government mismanagement, lack of parking facilities, shortage of batteries and lack of government grants are some of the factors that have pushed this transport system into crisis, according to the entrepreneurs.

In an interaction programme, entrepreneurs informed that the Safa tempo service that started with 70 tempos in the beginning reached up to 600 at one time. But the number of vehicles has now decreased to 350.

The participants of the interaction programme jointly organised by Nepal Safa Paribahan Entrepreneurs Association and Nepal Electric Vehicles Charging Association also complained that some 200 Safa tempos were lying idle at present due to the unavailability of the vehicle battery. It is learnt that the batteries required for the vehicles have to be imported from the USA.

Entrepreneurs also complain that agencies responsible for the supply of the particular batteries are creating an artificial shortage and selling the battery that costs Rs 52,000 at normal rate for Rs 70,000 in the black market.

Court to decide on husband’s forced sex

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KATHMANDU, Feb 23: The Supreme Court is to decide on 4th April on the writ petition filed nine months ago challenging the provision of the National Code that does not state forceful sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife as rape.

The division bench of justices Laxman Prasad Aryal, Kedar Nath Upadhyay and Krishna Kumar Verma made the decision on January 31 last month.

The writ was filed by advocate Mira Dhungana on behalf of the Forum for Women,Law and Development stating that mutual consent of both the husband and wife is the main basis for sexual relationship. However, the Natinal Code has infringed the right of women to personal liberty, dignity,equality and the right to choose.

The petition has stated that the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Secretariat, House of Representatives, National Asssembly as respondents.

Two separate writ petitions of similar nature were also filed by advocate Sapana Pradhan Malla and Roop Narayan Shrestha.

Govt to deduct one fourth of SLC exam centres

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KATHMANDU, Feb 23: The government has decided to cut down one fourth of the examination centres meant for the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) and higher secondary level examinations in the Maoist-affected districts.

The examinations which are going to be held in Baishak and Jestha (March-April) have been limited within the district headquarters and the nearby areas

The Education Ministry decided to deduct the examination centres because of the recommendations issued to cut down the centres as it was impossible to deploy the security forces in those areas.

Last year, for higher secondary examinations, 60 thousand students attended the examinations in 175 centres throughout the nation. According to the Ministry source, this year there will be only 150 centres.

This year 1,50,000 students are attending the SLC examinations. For the SLC examinations, 25 percent of the total centres will be deducted, for which last year 2000 centres and sub-centres were made, the source said.

"The recommendations were given to fix centres within the district headquarters and the nearby areas. In the Maoist-affected villages, there will be no centres," said Yubaraj Pandey, spokesperson of the Ministry. "The centres will be deducted according to the recommendations."

Last year recommendations were to increase the examination centres so this year District Examination Co-ordination Council was ordered not to increase the centres.

According to the source, the centres will be cut down in districts like Jajarkot, Achham, Rukum, Gorkha, Rolpa, Dolpa, Salyan, Solukhumbu, Kalikot, Okhaldhunga, Dolakha and Lamjung.

Cremation rites of cop performed

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KATHMANDU, Feb 23: The cremation rites of Inspector Mohan Babu Pande, who died in the Maoist attack at Sitalpati of Salyan, was performed today, the police said.

Including Pande, 34 policemen sacrificed their lives in exchange of fire when the Maoists attacked the police post of Sitalpati Thursday night.

Pande’s uncle Tikanidhi Pande offered the ritual fire for cremation.

His body was airlifted to Kathmandu and was kept at Gaushala police post. Additional Inspector General of Police Shyambhakta Thapa, Anantaram Bhattarai and Govinda Prasad Thapa paid tributes to the body of Pande before creamation.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Pradip Shumshere Rana condoled the death of the policemen and consoled the family members.