Women’s participation in politics sought

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KATHMANDU, Jan 7:Women’s rights activists today urged the governments of the South Asian region to increase the women’s participation more in politics and decision-making bodies.

Speaking at an inaugural session of the two-day consultative meeting organised here today, president of ABC-Nepal, a non-governmental organisation working against the trafficking in women and girls in Nepal, said, "There is an urgent need for women to be in the decision-making bodies in large numbers to improve the overall status of women in our society."

The South Asian Regional Consultative meeting on political empowerment of women was jointly organised by the ABC-Nepal and UNIFEM Regional Office and was participated by 42 delegates from the South Asian countries excluding the Maldives.

Hailing the Local Self-Governance Act – 1997 that was endorsed by the Parliament of Nepal in 1998, Ghimire said due to its endorsement, almost 40,000 women have so far been elected in the lower political level. "But, it is only limited in the lower level of power structure," she added.

Ghimire also said the South Asian women need to redefine politics and governance and prioritise these inequalities and insecurities in the political agenda.

Addressing the function, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Rajendra Kharel, State Minister Sushila Swar and Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives Chitra Lekha Yadav expressed their commitment to empower the status of women in Nepal.

The director of UNIFEM Regional Office Chandani Joshi also addressed the function.

On the occasion, Dr Mohini Giri, president of Guild of Service of India presented a paper on Participatory Democracy. Similarly, Tashi Delek of Bhutan presented the Bhutan Country Paper on the political empowerment of women. Both Giri and Delek well described the political empowerment of women in their countries and existing legal provisions regarding women.

Milijuli cleaning comes to standstill

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KATHMANDU, Jan 7:It looked like a determined campaign of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) when the local residents saw the representatives and staff of KMC, including the mayor himself, moving to and fro around the busy streets with brooms and shovels in their hands, but it did not take a long time to prove that the show was illusory.

The Milijuli programme that KMC started at the end of August, in which all the representatives and employees participated in cleaning a particular area every Sunday morning drew people’s attention but it stopped all of a sudden after several weeks, say the locals.

"I was very much impressed when I saw Mayor Keshav Sthapit and other high-level staff cleaning the city themselves, but it later proved to be an illusive show, which died before it could encourage the locals to participate in such cleaning activities," says Mira Bajracharya, a housewife.

She said as a few people realised their duty of cleaning the city, KMC should introduce such programmes frequently which would promote the locals to clean the city.

"But looking at the way KMC started and closed the programme, we have to make a comment that it only intended to address the coming local election," she said.

During the campaign, every Sunday morning appeared a festival — many were seen with brooms in one hand and mobile phones in the other — all were showing their solidarity to keep the capital city clean. Over two hundred officers and other staff, with brooms, shovels, and trolleys, launched cleaning campaign at Sundhara, Khichapokhari, Thamel, Lagan and Naxal including some
other areas.

A KMC Central Office employee said, "It was an encouraging start; we also enjoyed working very much like the KMC staff when we went to clean the streets of Kathmandu. The office issued a circular stating that all the staff must attend the campaign and we also had a fun with brooms and shovels."

Rajesh Manandhar, the chief of Solid Waste Management Section of KMC said that the municipal office did not have any programme to continue the Milijuli programme at present.

"First it was Dashain and then Tihar that interrupted the speedy work. After that we held a meeting to resume it. But before it materialised, the government imposed state of emergency and the situation changed. People had little time to think about it. And we had to wait till the SAARC Summit."

He, however, said, "KMC is cleaning Tundikhel with other partner agencies every Wedensay since a couple of weeks."

Earlier, KMC planned to levy garbage tax from the locals in November 1999 but it could not materialise due to the lack of homework in the office and co-operation from the locals.

The KMC officials blame the lack of people’s participation for the failure of managing the solid waste of the city with high population growth.

KMC spends almost 10 percent of its total budget to manage over 300 tonnes of solid waste everyday. Though it spends around Rs 80 million annually to manage 350 tonnes of garbage Kathmandu produces daily, the result is far from being satisfactory, admit officials at KMC.

Focus on sustainable development

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KATHMANDU, Jan 7: Nepal is preparing its programmes to implement Agenda 21, a draft prepared by 1992 Earth Summit with a view to attaining sustainable development in the world in the 21st century.

"We will finish preparing the programmes for the Agenda 21 by the end of 2002 and will implement it by 2005," said Hum Bahadur Gurung, National Programme Manager at the Nepal’s Capacity 21 (SCDP).

Gurung made this remark on the concluding day of a two-day training programme on sustainable development for Kathmandu-based journalists, organised here by the Nepal Forum for Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ), a forum of environment journalists working in Nepal.

Another resource person at the training Surya Man Shakya, an environmentalist, said that Nepal should get compensation from developed countries as Nepal has been contributing to maintain environment. "We do not have nuclear reactors in the country. Despite that we are contributing to recover deteriorating environment . So developed countries must compensate us," Shakya said.

Dr Mahesh Baskota, residential representative of International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN), said that the activities of the developed countries have led to the global warming.

Dr Baskota also underlined the need for participatory actions for sustainable development.

Kunda Dixit, editor of Nepali Times weekly, urged the journalists to bring out positive things, instead of current practice of giving emphasis to negative ones. The things journalists impart to readers should be responsible for the welfare of society and people, Dixit said.

The training, participated by 16 journalists from different Kathmandu-based media, was organised to inform the journalists about sustainable development in Nepal.

Home for elderly to be constructed

RSS

BHAKTAPUR, Jan 7:Founder chairman of Siddhi Memorial Women and Children Hospital Shyam Sunder Dhaubhadel has decided to build an Elders’ Home in Bhaktapur with the fund received from his relatives, friends and well-wishers on the occasion of his 50th birthday.

Dhaubhadel had requested all his relatives, friends and well-wishers to give him cash instead of presents on his birthday.

As a result of this, Dhaubhadel had received Rs 125,898 from his relatives, friends and well-wishers.

Talking to RSS, Dhaubhadel said that he planned to build a home for the elderly persons who have been living a difficult life.

Dhaubhadel, who build the Siddhi Memorial Women and Children Hospital in memory of his only son Siddhi Sunder Dhaubhadel who was killed in a road accident, said that the elders’ home would be built as part of the hospital.

There are more than 2,232 elderly citizens and 2,302 disabled and widows in Bhaktapur district.

Twenty-five percent of the elderly citizens and disabled persons have been living a difficult life within the family.

On the occasion of his golden jubilee birthday, Dhaubhadel also organised the Haribansha Puran here.

Will this Million-dollar Handshake solve Sel Dorje’s plight?

It was a scene not to be missed. It obviously was a Million-dollar Handshake. It was the handshake between Atal Behari Vajpayee and Parvez Musharraf. Some might say what’s so big deal about the handshake? But some regard it as a major breakthrough in the tensions between India and Pakistan. Some might still say- what’s so big deal about the tensions between them? Every nation has a problem with its neighbouring country in one way or other, and the tension level might differ.

But this one is a tension everyone has to delve on, as these two nuclear powered nations have already fought several wars. The previous wars may not have the effect in the scale of the possible war in the present context as both these countries have the advantage of nuclear weapons. This is why the whole world is eager to ease tensions between them. That’s why the British Prime Minister is in India and Pakistan to mediate between them. The US Foreign Secretary keeps on ringing Vajpayee and Musharraf to convince them not to opt for the war.

This is but natural as India and Pakistan had recently fought the Kargil War, which not only killed hundreds of people, it also created a void in the relation between the two countries. And everyone hopes there should never be another war that only leads to the human catastrophe.

The question here is not of their diplomatic differences, but of the possible outbreak of an armed conflict that would have a huge impact not only in India and Pakistan, but in the whole region. And this Himalayan Kingdom would be affected the most as thousands of Nepalis are donning the camouflage of the Indian army. Even during the Kargil War, many members of the Gurkha regiment, assigned to fight in the difficult mountainous terrain, devoted their life in defending the Indian land.

And the most astounding fact is that the families of those Nepalis who were killed during the Kargil War are yet to receive the compensation from the Indian government, according to reports published in various Indian newspapers about a month ago. One such example is of Sel Dorje who had been languishing in Delhi for the last two years. His efforts to receive the compensation of his brother, a Kargil War victim, were showing no positive signs. And to make the matter worse, Dorje’s written plea for the compensation had been stacked in the bureaucratic hassles of the Indian government for many months.

Sel Dorje has already spent many months knocking the doors of military offices, both in Kargil and other concerned authorities, but he had not received any response from the Indian government. The report had also said that Dorje even wrote a letter to the Indian Home Minister, L.K. Advani, begging for justice but to no avail.

Dorje had lost his brother Sonam Lama in Kargil war in the summer of 1999. Sonam had gone there to work as a porter, expecting to earn enough for his family back home. Hauling heavy ammunition containers, food and water to forward Indian posts in the Batalik sector was his main job. And on May 8, 1999, Lama was shot dead by soldiers of Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry, in the course of a trek.

Though the Indian newspapers reported about Sel Dorje’s plight about two months ago, they haven’t done any follow up stories till now. The report had said that the Indian government does not have any data on how many porters of Nepalis origin had died in the Kargil conflict. The State Sainik Welfare Board only had records of five such casualties of porters belonging to the Jammu area. But there are suspected to be many more Nepalis involved in the war.

Many of them belong to the Jammu areas and are regarded as the Indians, so they got the compensation of IRs. 200,000 on time. But Sonam Lama and couple of other porters have not received any compensation because they are Nepalis. The report has said that the Indian government was refusing to compensate this particular Nepali arguing that it would send wrong signals to tens of thousands of Nepalis residing and working in different parts of neighbouring India.

The question here is whenever there is any incidents related to the Indian people living in Nepal, the Indian government always reacts quickly, prompting the government here to take action. But that does not reflect in the case of Nepalis living and working in India. Take the case of Sel Dorje, does the Nepal government know this case? If yes, why aren’t they doing anything to solve this problem? If not, why are they occupying the chair for nothing?

This is not the case of a single Nepali, this represents the Indian attitude towards the Nepalis, which has, time and again, become the issue at the people level.

And, finally, the issue here is not actually about the compensation. It is about the war that creates hundreds of these cases. That is why, the Handshake between the two leaders of India and Pakistan has obviously become a big issue for all the people in the region. Because nobody needs another war, and no more Sel Dorjes will have to run around in India for compensation.

One cop killed, 12 injured in road accident

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DHANGADHI, Kailali, Jan 7:One policeman died instantly while 12 others, six of them seriously, sustained injuries when a police van and a loaded truck collided with each other at Jamuna Ghari of Shripur VDC on the East-West Highway on Sunday evening, police here said.

The policeman who died on the spot has been identified as Siddha Bahadur Sawad from Dipayal Municipality-12 of Doti district. The police said the policeman’s body was sent to his home district on Monday for the last rites after carrying out the post-mortem at a local hospital. Other injured policemen are undergoing treatment at the Seti Zonal Hospital while the six seriously injured policemen were rushed to Kathmandu today.

The policemen met with the accident while returning to their destination from a regular patrol in the eastern part of the district. The Kailali District Police Office said the police van overturned thrice from the highway after it collided with the truck laden with sugar-cane. Driver of the truck was taken into police custody for necessary investigation.

Rebels kill two civilians in Gorkha

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KATHMANDU, Jan 7:Armed Maoist rebels killed two civilians - a VDC Chairman and a local teacher - in Gorkha district and seriously wounded a Headmaster of a local high school in three separate incidents on Sunday night, the District Police Office said.

Those killed by the rebels have been identified as Koplang VDC Chairman, Bhairab Raj Bista, and Rishi Ram Devkota, a teacher of Annapurna High School in Bhirkot VDC.

The police said VDC Chairman Bista was shot dead near his house and the teacher was knifed to death at his home. Bista was elected to the post representing the ruling Nepali Congress while the slain teacher was associated with Nepal Teachers’ Association.

In another incident in the district, the rebels dismembered a leg of Rameshwor Pokharel, the Headmaster of Sharada High School in Khoplang VDC yesterday. The victim’s relatives said the rebels broke his leg into pieces with a hammer. He was airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment today.

Meanwhile, a report from eastern hill district of Dhankuta, people of Jitpur VDC-6 on Sunday handed three country-made guns, reportedly concealed by Maoists, over to the security personnel.

Earlier, the locals had resisted the rebels and had chased away them from their villages. Security officials said that the people personally contacted with them and handed over the arms. Likewise, Dal Bahadur Tamang, a local from Dhankuta Municipality-1, also gave his home-made license gun to the police.

Meanwhile, four people were imprisoned on charges of their association with Maoist activities, our Parbat-based reporter quoted the local administration as saying. Sources said the accused were sent to jail under the ordinance designed to quell terrorist and destructive acts. But local authorities released four others from detention on condition that they would cooperate with the government.

Spinning Mills suffer jolt of devaluation

RSS

BUTWAL, Jan 7:With the agreement of differed credit on procuring machinery and equipment, the Butwal Spinning Mills has suffered a jolt of devaluation of Nepalese currency, failure in the modernisation of its equipment and maintenance on time and unreliable power supply thereby, causing decline in production against its target.

The delay in the completion of the project on time has also increased its preliminary cost to greater extent. Construction work of the factory was completed at a cost of Rs. 500 million in the end of 2046 B.S. after installation of the machinery and equipment brought from China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation and China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation at the rate of 7 percent interest on credit to be disbursed in eight and a half years with surety of HMG.

The company which established with the objective of reducing the dependency on the foreign countries for cotton and polyester yarns, substituting imports, reducing the country’s trade deficit and creating employment opportunities started producing 10.30 metric tons of yarns a day. It is said that 40-50 percent of its total capacity is being utilised at present.

Because of these reasons, the company incurred a loss of 157,948,000 in FY 2052/53 and Rs. 107,656,000 in FY 2053/54.

Equipment worth Rs. 31,300,000 for colouring yarns has not been brought in use.

An probe team had, in its report, recommended that the management and the board of directors should be improved and made responsible for the over all operation of the factory which is almost on the brink of closing down due to its poor performance.

If the management is capable of taking right decisions on time, the factory can have a turnover of Rs. 390,000,000 and make a net profit of Rs. 32,000,000 a year before reduction of tax and depreciation cost on the basis of the experiences it has gained so far.

The factory management has become defunct as a result of handing over management to the third party several times in the past.

Though the special general meeting of the factory held on Asar 3, 2058 B.S. endorsed the proposal of handing over its management to Salt Trading Corporation, the future of the factory seems to be bleak since the latter shows reluctant response in its operation.

Executive chairman of the factory Dinesh Rah Bhattarai points out that the company should run in its full capacity either by installing necessary equipment or by altering some of its plants.

Illegal sheds demolished in Biratnagar

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BIRATNAGAR, Jan 7:The Biratnagar sub-Metropolitan city has started demolishing illegally-built sheds and other constructions along the city road, as per its first phase of the plan to give a clean look to the city. The sub-Metropolitan City has its second plan to demolish the constructions in the city that do not comply with the regulation of the sub-Metropolitan city.

The move was followed by an approval by a joint meting of all the wards of the sub-Metropolitan city, said Deputy Mayor, Bhuraj Rai. He also revealed that the action of the sub-Metropolitan city has positive response from the locals. "The action of the sub-Metropolitan city shall keep the city clean especially in the rainy season and the sub-Metropolitan city is committed to make it a well managed city in the future" Rai further added.

At the same time, the office of the Eastern Road Division, Biratnagar has started demolishing the haphazard constructions along the highways in the Koshi Zone. An agreement, to this effect, has already been reached with the concerned VDC chairmen and the mayors of the concerned regions, said Bishnu Shrestha, chief of the office of the Eastern Road Division, Biratnagar. The highways will be widened, said Shretha, adding that the action was also aimed to reduce accidents that occurred due to encroaching settlements near the highway.

Two killed, four injured in separate road accidents

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KATHMANDU, Jan 7:Two people were killed while four others injured in two separate road accidents in Gulmi and Tanahun districts for the last 24 hours, according to the police from the respective districts.

Our reporter from Tamghas, the district headquarters of Gulmi, said that one man, identified as Bishnu Kandel, 21, from Digam VDC-1 of Gulmi, died instantly and four others sustained injuries when a laden truck en route to Tamghas from Butwal fell about 100 metres off the country-road at Thanapati VDC on Sunday night. The site of the accident is about 10 kilometres south-east of Tamghas.

Other injured were rushed to the Mission Hospital in Tansen for treatment. Police have arrested the truck driver for legal action. The police said the truck fell off the road after the driver failed to control the vehicle on the road being repaired.

Meanwhile, a report from Damauli, the district headquarters of Tanahun, said a 7-year-old girl student died instantly when a passenger bus en route to Pokhara from Birgunj hit her at Chhang VDC-5 on the Prithvi Highway this afternoon, police said.

Police Inspector Laxman Giri said the girl identified as Shushma Ale succumbed to the accident while crossing the highway. Shortly after the incident, infuriated locals blocked the busy road for about half-an-hour demanding compensation to the bereaved family. But the road was cleared in the presence of the police. The body was brought to a local health centre for the post-mortem. Driver of the bus, however, remained at large, the police said.

Women group produce soap

RSS

GORKHA, Jan 7:Bhadranari Jagaran Samiti constituted by a group of enthusiastic unemployed women from 12 VDCs in the north-eastern part of Kathmandu district has started producing washing soap with brand name "Sewa."

The group has created employment opportunities for rural women, thanks to the innovative ideas of the rural women.

The group came into being in 2051 B.S. with the concerted efforts of conscious women of Bhadrawas, Alapot, Mulpani, Gothatar, Dhanchhi, Gagalphedi, Indrayani, Suntol, Pukulachhi, Bajrayogini, Lapsiphedi and Naglebhar VDCs.

The committee has conducted various skill development training and instituted fund with the small deposits from its members which has been used for producing soap in 2057 B.S. Prior to the production of soap, the women also created Bhadra Milan Multi-Purpose Cooperatives, and floated loans to women of lower strata of society through its 17 branches thereby, enabling them to take up various income-generating schemes.

The group has been supplying washing soaps to some 12 VDCs in Bhaktapur, some VDCs in Kathmandu and Janak Education Material Centre.

The soap is said to be of high quality since no animal fat and other degraded raw materials are used in its production.

According to secretary of the group Murari Fuyal, the women associated with the group are also producing incense sticks.

The Samiti established with the motto of raising economic status of the rural women also felicitated some 25 elderly women above 75 of 12 different VDCs in the district.