First day of trade talks yields no progress

By Bijaya Ghimire

NEW DELHI Feb 27 : The secretary level trade talks held here today could not make any progress as both Nepal and India remained firm on their stance, despite their efforts of finalizing the renewal process of the Nepal-India Trade Treaty.

There have been tough negotiations between the two parties, but efforts are on to reach to an agreement on the renewal of the treaty by Thursday, said one of the Nepali participants in the talks.

Today’s talks were centred on value addition formulae and the four items that India has been putting into "export surge" and other issues, but both the sides stuck to their stand on the percentage on value addition on Nepali exports to India.

Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Bhanu Prasad Acharya, who heads of the Nepali team, talking to The Kathmandu Post, said, "The talks are progressing and we are making best possible efforts to reach to an agreement on the renewal of the Treaty."

It is felt that a sudden rise in the export of vegetable ghee, during the extension of the treaty by three months that was to expire on December 5, 2001, has further complicated the talks. The Indian side has been irked by the sudden rise in the export of vegetable ghee to India during the period.

As the expiry of the treaty is just a few days away, both sides are making attempts to find amicable solutions to the problems. Participants in the talks are also hopeful of finding a permanent solution to the renewal of the Treaty.

As India wants Nepal to use maximum Indian raw materials in products that it imports, the recommendation of Joint Economic Council (JEC) of imposing 30 per cent value addition on Nepali exports to India would be acceptable to both sides. The Indian side has hinted at lowering the percentage of value addition on the products that use Indian raw materials.

Similarly, India had indicated of lowering the value addition slab to 35 per cent and Nepal hinted at scaling up to 25 per cent during the fifth round of talks held in Kathmandu.

Like in the previous rounds of talks, the Indian side raised the issue of making changes in the Treaty on the basis of the "export surge" of four items: vegetable ghee, acrylic yarn, zinc oxide and copper wire today.

India wants to apply international formulae to arrest the surge of such exportable items to India while Nepal has been stressing on employing formulae that are in the interest of both Nepal and India.

Besides, India also raised the issue of imposing quantitative restriction to check the "export surge" of the four items. However, Nepal has been maintaining that such a provision would affect the spirit of the Treaty, as the four items’ total export is just 14 per cent.

The private sectors of both the countries are also making endeavours to reach to an agreement. On the understanding of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) talks were held between the Zinc Oxide Associations of both countries Wednesday and they have agreed to impose quantitative restriction on Nepali exports in case of surge.

This time too, India clearly showed that it wanted to renew the Treaty as per international practice. Padma Jyoti, President of SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry, says we should understand it and act in future accordingly. We should focus on mutual benefit, instead of individual interest, he adds.

Representatives of Ministries of Industry, Commerce and supplies and Ministries of Finance and diplomats at Royal Nepal Embassy in New Delhi and Indian Embassy in Nepal are participating in the two-day talks that ends Thursday.

Constitution makers against amendment

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : As the main opposition CPN-UML and the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) continue mounting pressure on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to amend constitution, four noted prominent intellectuals, two members of the present constitution drafting committee among them, have cautioned against the move.

In a joint press statement issued Wednesday, former chief justice Bishwa Nath Upadhyay, former house speaker Daman Nath Dhungana and former ministers, Devendra Raj Pande and Nilambar Acharya, have warned that such a move would not be in the interest of democratic freedom at a time when state of emergency has been clamped down in the kingdom.

They have also made it clear that the move would be "meaningless unless the parties make attempts to incorporate the political forces outside parliament".

"The move to go ahead with the process of constitutional amendment would not be in the interest of democratic culture just when people’s fundamental rights have been curtailed," said the statement signed by the four. They have emphasized that moves to amend the legal document should be able to address the real cause of emergency.

Former chief justice Upadhyay was the chairman of the present constitution (of the kingdom of Nepal 1990) drafting committee, Dhungana was a member of the committee, while Pande and Acharya were ministers of the interim government that was formed after the restoration of democracy in the kingdom in April, 1990.

The main opposition UML voted for the ratification of emergency last week after Prime Minister Deuba and the ruling party President Girija Prasad Koirala agreed to go ahead with constitutional amendments. Thereafter, the party has continued to mount pressure on the government to table a motion to that effect in the ongoing session of parliament.

Sources, meanwhile, said the office of the ruling party on Wednesday issued a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to soon come up with a motion seeking amendments in the nearly 12-year-old constitution.

Welcoming the political parties emphasis for national consensus, broader democratic alliance and understanding between the ruling and the main opposition party, the joint statement added, "The continuing bloodshed must come to an abrupt end, and the real issue of concern today is the need to protect and strengthen the achievement of the popular 1990 movement."

"At this critical hour, any step lacking consensus among the forces inside and outside parliament, and all those concerned would be meaningless…Such a move should be directed towards incorporating the forces outside parliament."

Fire guts over 35 shops in Pashupatinagar

By Madhav Ghimire

PASHUPATINAGAR, Ilam, Feb 27 : Millions of rupees of property was destroyed on Wednesday morning when a fire, reportedly caused by short-circuit, caught more than 35 wooden-shops in the border market of Pashupatinagar, police here said.

The police said that 28 shops were reduced to ashes while the security personnel demolished the others to prevent the fire from spreading to other areas.

The fire that started this morning at around 7 a.m. from the house of Pashupati Nagar VDC Chairman, Chandra Subba, and spread into the clustered shops. But nobody was hurt in the fire, the police said. Chairman Subba suspected that his house was short-circuited.

Details of the property gutted by the fire were yet to be assessed because the security personnel were too busy to extinguish the fire throughout the day. Four fire-engines from Ilam, Jhapa and the Indian border town of Darjeeling were used to put out the fire. Local administration said that over a dozen families have been rendered homeless due to the fire.

Most of the fire victims said that the fire engulfed the area so quickly that they could not even remove their valuables and goods from their shops. The fire was still burning in the bazaar until Wednesday evening.

Koirala’s move draws heavy criticism

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KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : In a move to bring the government to the party’s directives, the Nepali Congress party today has formally sent a letter to the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba urging him to immediately implement the issues raised by the party president Girija Prasad Koirala.

The letter contains the directives, like downsizing the cabinet by 10 percent of the total number of the lawmakers, instituting a powerful commission to investigate upon the assets of the public office bearers, collected so far after the restoration of democracy and to formulate laws to confiscate the assets of those failing to disclose the source of income.

NC President Koirala has also formed a five-member committee headed by party treasurer Mahanta Thakur to give suggestions upon the specific sectors required to make amendments in the present Constitution. The party CWC members KB Gurung, Arjun Narshingh KC, Laxman Prasad Ghimire and Krishna Prasad Sitaula, known as Koirala allies are assigned to work as members of the committee.

Koirala had formed Parliamentary Committee and Central Works Performance Committee Tuesday comprising of the members popularly known as Koirala allies whereas only two members were included from anti-Koirala camp.

The daring steps, taken by Koirala, have been critically watched by the so-called Deuba camp.

Some prominent leaders of the party have overtly claimed that Koirala went against the party statute in constituting these committees.

Prakash Man Singh, known as staunch anti-Koirala figure claimed that Koirala has breached the 27th clause of the party statute. " It is an arbitrary decision of the party president ignoring the norms of the CWC."

"No body has right to encroach the party statute and make arbitrary decision at the cost of so-called majority".

Singh also informed that the members, who do not comply with the party president’s move, are discussing on the steps to be taken later.

Bimalendra Nidhi, CWC member said that each word in the statute has its own meaning. " Clause 27.1 of the party statute states that the CWC will assign 7-9 members from among themselves for working in parliamentary committee" Nidhi said adding that the party president is not authority to nominate the members in parliamentary committee and get it endorsed by the CWC later.

Nidhi said that it is not the first time the norms of party statute has been violated.

He also reminded of the formation of Central discipline committee in the past, which also breached the party statute. " My strong voice of constituting the parliamentary committee in the last CWC meeting was lightly taken and indeed ignored.

Nidhi also claimed that clause 25.3 of the party was also violated while forming the Central Works performance Committee. "The clause clearly states that the CWC shall select the members of the committee from among themselves", Nidhi quoted the statute.

But the Koirala coteries object all the allegations from the anti-Koirala camp. " Our party statute is of the presidential model and he is the most powerful in the party", said Dil Bahadur Gharti, Organisation Department Chief of the party adding that it is the duty of the president to get it endorsed by the CWC.

"I think no one should cast doubt on the president’s move. It should not be the issue of rift in the party circle".

14 rebels killed in 3 districts

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Feb. 27 : Security forces on Tuesday killed at least 14 Maoists in separate incidents of encounter in three districts, and seized some arms and ammunition looted by the rebels from Achham district on February 17, the Defence Ministry said here today.

The Ministry statement said that the security forces killed eight armed-rebels in Kumal Gaon and the Bharta Lagna area of Kalikot, four in the Patgaon area of Bajhang, and two rebels in Thalajung VDC of Gorkha districts on Tuesday.

The forces also arrested eight rebels and seized some arms and explosives in the course of exchange of fire in the three districts. Two more Maoists were taken into custody along with two country-made guns from Dang and Ilam districts yesterday.

Meanwhile, our correspondent from Kavre reported that the outlawed rebels on Tuesday night killed a rural health worker, identified as Indra Bahadur Tamang, in Shakhupati VDC, about 20 kilometres south-west of Dhulikhel, the district headquarters of Kavre.

Eyewitnesses said that a group of 15 rebels abducted the victim from his home at around 9 p.m. and shot him near Ladku River, about two kilometres away from his home.

Locals said that Tamang’s badly mangled body was recovered near the river on Wednesday morning.

Locals suspect that the rebels shot the health worker dead, accusing him of tipping-off the security forces about their movement.

Likewise, our Dhangadi-based reporter quoted the security officials as saying that four badly mangled bodies of the policemen were recovered on Tuesday from the rubble of the government buildings in Mangalsen, the district headquarters of Achham.

The rebels had destroyed almost all the buildings, including a 125-year-old palace that was converted into the District Administration Office, on February 17. Over 140 persons, mostly soldiers and policemen, were killed in the attack.

The deceased policemen who were recovered from the destroyed palace have been identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Keshav Datta Joshi, Mahendranagar, Head Constable Purna Bahadur Sodari, Kailali, and Constables Jaya Singh Nayek, Baitadi and Dil Bahadur Aeri, Dadeldhura. The bodies were handed over to the respective family members to perform their last rites.

By Tashi Dolma Thinley

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : Used to be that Nepali patients with failing kidneys had only two choices: either to go abroad, mainly to India, for a costly transplant operation. Or stay here and spend all your savings on dialysis procedures, which last for a lifetime and can be very cumbersome.

But that could change soon if the government has its way. According to senior health officials, Bir Hospital, the biggest government run hospital, will soon begin the kidney transplant services in the hospital itself.

Director of Bir Hospital, Dr Manohar Lal Shrestha says, "We are fully equipped technically and professionally to carry out the transplants."

Organ transplant operations, especially of kidneys, is now within reach both legally and medically as the government has already issued the necessary regulation to allow such operations. The regulation is derived from the Human Body Organ Transplantation Act (regulate and forbidden) which was passed by parliament in February 1999.

The possibility makes people like Uma Khanal happy. Vice President of Nepal Kidney Foundation, she herself underwent kidney transplant 12 years ago in Madras, India. "We are all very happy with the developments," she says, but cautions that not many here in Nepal can afford the transplants even though Bir Hospital aims to slash down the costs drastically.

Available data show that about 50 – 60 kidney patients go abroad annually, mainly to India, for kidney transplants. Experts say, a transplant operation in India could cost as much as Indian Rs 800,000. But the same operation could be done here at the Bir Hospital for about Nepali Rs 250,000.

Bir Hospital alone gets about 154 kidney transplant cases every year. Some of the affluent patients travel abroad for transplants, but most make do with dialysis (a procedure that draws out impurities from the patient’s blood) indefinitely.

It is these patients who are now awaiting eagerly for Bir Hospital to start the transplants. But the transplants can only be begun after a team of experts from the New Delhi based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) arrive and do the necessary assessment of facilities at the hospital.

"We will begin once the assessment team arrives from AIIMS. "The team could now come any time," says hospital director Dr Shrestha.

While the hospital administration is eager to begin the transplants, nephrologists (kidney experts) at the hospital itself are not so sure. nephrologists say that the hospital lacks qualified surgeons to perform the delicate transplants.

Dr Rajendra Kumar Aggarwal, nephrologists at the hospital says that it is still unclear whether the hospital has acquired concerned expert surgeons. There are such surgeons in Nepal, but all of them work outside in private practice, he says. "Without a surgeon to perform, who will do the transplant," he asks.

The argument may be valid, but patients who will be affected most by the decisions, have little to say. Narendra Rai, 48, has been bed-ridden for six months. He initially wanted to go abroad for a transplant, but whatever money he had is already spent on regular hemodialysis, which is necessary if he is to survive. "All the money I had is already spent," says Rai ruefully.

Since most of the kidney patients are poor folks like Rai, doctors say that the government should arrange for some sort of subsidy for the costly transplants. Bir Hospital staff say that though no decisions on subsidies have been made, the cost of the transplants to be carried out here is much less than in India, bringing it within the reach of common patients.

A provision in the regulation says that only relatives can donate a kidney to a patient. It cannot be bought from other donors. "Though getting a donor seems restricted, this is the only measure that can stop racketing and commercializing the kidney." Dr Aggarwal explains.

But that puts patients like Rai out of reach of the procedure. His sons have refused to donate a kidney, and his wife is not of the same blood group. Similar blood types have a greater degree of matching, experts say.

UML assigns portfolios to former ML leaders

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KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : Two weeks after the unification of the CPN-UML and the CPN-ML, the central committee meeting of the unified party held today reshuffled its apex body, providing important portfolios to the former comrades-in-arms.

The central committee designated erstwhile CPN-ML leaders new positions as agreed between the two sides before their merger.

Bam Dev Gautam, who was given the portfolio of Standing Committee member in the party, has been appointed as the in-charge of the Western Development Region and the in-charge of the department of Peasant.

Today’s meeting also gave important responsibilities to other senior leaders of the defunct CPN-ML.

Similarly, Radhakrishna Mainali, Standing Committee member, has been appointed as the Chief of the Monitoring Department while Siddhi Lal Singh has been assigned to look after the Industrial sector.

Gopal Shakya has been appointed as the Chief of the Department of Elections, Ashok Rai, as the Chief of the Intellectual Department, while Kamal Chaugai has been appointed as the Chief Department of Professional entrepreneurs.

Former ML leaders who have been given various departmental responsibilities in the unified party include Hemraj Rai, Kiran Gurung, Trilochan Dhakal, Jhillu Prasad Tiwari, among others.

Former Finance Minister, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, has been appointed as the Chief of the Department of Finance and Planning.

In a press statement issued today, the CPN-UML said that 16 zonal-level committees will be reshuffled to accommodate the former cadres in the party organisations. The statement added that the UML’s National Council meet will take place within two months to come.