21 rebels shot dead, SP among 4 policemen killed in landmine blast

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KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Twenty-one Maoist rebels and four policemen, including an SP, were killed in separate incidents in Teharathum and Kailali districts respectively in the span of twelve hours. Three rebels and two policemen also sustained serious injuries in the incidents, said our correspondents.

Twenty-one Maoists were shot dead in an encounter with the soldiers of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) at Sankrinti Bazaar, about 30 kilometres north-east of Myanglung, the district headquarters of Teharathum on Sunday, said our reporter Lila Ballav Ghimire from Dhankuta quoting security officials.

The security officials said the rebels were killed when the soldiers retaliated to rebel fire. None of the soldiers were reported hurt in the clash, the officials added. The RNA forces also arrested three injured Maoists from the scene of encounter. The forces seized four 303 rifles, one country-made pistol, five 12-borred guns, and Maoist literature from the site.

In the other incident, four police personnel, including Superintendent of Police Ram Binay Singh, were killed Monday morning when a landmine laid by the rebels exploded near Syaule Bazaar of Phulbari VDC, according to our reporter Manmohan Swanr from Dhangadhi, the district headquarters of Kailali. The blast site is located about 10-km south-east of Dhangadhi. The rebels had planted the explosives beneath a culvert. SP Ram Binay Singh hailed from Rajbiraj in Saptari district. Singh is the second high-ranking police officer to be killed by the rebels since the Maoist insurgency broke out six years ago. Some six months back in Dang, the rebels had killed Senior Superintendent of Police, Parameshwor Sijapati.

SP Singh and two head constables—Prem Bahadur Raut and Rajendra Joshi—died instantly while the other policeman, Constable Devraj Bhatta, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the Seti Zonal Hospital. The condition of two other policemen—Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Ram Bahadur Chand and Head Constable Dan Singh Kadayat—is reported to be critical.

A team of eleven policemen, headed by SP Singh, had gone to Phulbari VDC after receiving information about a ‘banner bomb’ hung by the rebels at Syaule Bazaar. The landmine exploded when the police van (Ba 1 Jha 5021) almost finished crossing the culvert bordering Urma and Phulbari VDCs at around 10 a.m. The van has been completely damaged. The injured policemen were airlifted to Kathmandu, while the dead bodies have been handed over to the families for the last rites.

The policemen in Dhangadhi paid homage to their dead colleagues before the bodies were flown out.

It is learnt that a large number of army men have been mobilised in the area for hunting down the rebels responsible for the killings.

Nepali lads crush Canada

By Rajendra Gyawali

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan 28:Spurred on by two half-century partnerships and man-of-the-match Sanjam Regmi’s excellent spell of bowling, Nepal made flying start to their Plate League campaign under the U-19 World Cup Monday with a comprehensive 9-wicket win over Canada.

Regmi, who has been consistent throughout the tournament, showcased yet another great piece of bowling. Continually confounding the Canadian batsmen, he sent three of the Canadian middle order batsmen back to the pavilion conceding just 10 runs in 10 overs. His spell contained 3 maiden overs. Besides, Regmi also looked brilliant in the field, effecting a run out of Canadian opener U Bhatti.

Nepali opener duo of Kanishka Chaugain and Yashwant Subedi, who had not shown enough consistency in the earlier matches, also came good with a solid 50-run partnership, when Nepal began the chase for 103-run target. Nepal reached the victory target when Subedi hit a towering six at the midwicket boundary with 27.3 overs to spare, losing just one wicket.

With the comprehensive win over the regional champion from the Americas, Nepal has garnered 5 points, four for the win and a bonus.

Subedi topscored with unbeaten 41 runs from 57 deliveries while Chaugain contributed 20 before being caught behind by Canadian ‘keeper A Bagai off medium pacer U Bhatti in the 13th over. After his departure, Bardan Chalise and Subedi put up another half-century partnership to coast Nepal to the comfortable win. Chalise belted five boundaries in his breezy innings of 32 off 32 balls.

Earlier, Nepali bowlers and fielders performed exceptionally well to limit Canada to just 102 runs in 46.2 overs after the latter won the toss and decided to bat first. As many as three Canadian batsmen fell short of their ground owing to outstanding Nepali ground fielding.

Apart from Regmi, who had an extraordinary outing, Nepali skipper Binod Das also bowled with lot of heart to return a figure of 3-13 in 8.4 overs. In the process, Das, who entered the match with 49 wickets, reached a personal milestone of 50 wickets in international cricket when he caught A Nauth off his own ball.

Das was all praise for the way his players responded to the need during the match."Boys have become used to winning now," said Das after the match. "With this win, we have proved that we can also win batting second."

Assistant coach of the side, Samson Jung Thapa, also commended the team for their efforts. "The confidence level of the boys is rising," said Thapa. "This is a good reply from the boys to those who though we are not good at chasing targets.

"We can’t win the toss every time, so these wins augur well for the future matches. Our next two matches are going to be as important."

Nepal plays Namibia in their next league match on Wednesday. Scotland is the other team in the pool.

ML, UML reunion hangs in balance

Tilak Pokharel

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Putting off for the moment all talk of an imminent reunion between the country’s two biggest communist parties, the CPN-ML supremo Bamdev Gautam, here today said that a lot more distance has yet to be covered before the merger. On the same day, co-ordinator of the CPN-UML negotiating team for reunion, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, said his party cannot show more flexibility than it has already shown.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist), Gautam, talking to The Kathmandu Post, said that although more has to be done for reunion, both the parties are inching closer towards it.

Meanwhile, Gautam’s party has called for a politburo meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the pros and cons of unification.

"Our demands are being fulfilled one-by-one. The latest UML move of agreeing to open up the Mahakali Treaty for scrutiny is another step ahead," said General Secretary Gautam. "But the final and formal decision of the party will come only after tomorrow’s politburo meeting."

Gautam, however, said there are still "several" more demands to be fulfilled by the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist). But he did not elaborate on what those demands were. "There are still eight rungs of ladder out of ten to go," he said.

Last Friday, the standing committee meeting of the CPN-UML had decided to throw open for review the controversial Mahakali Treaty signed with India in 1996. This was one of the main conditions that the CPN-ML had underlined for merging with its parent party.

But UML leader Adhikari said his party has shown "maximum flexibility" and can go no further for bringing about reunion. "We are serious about the situation that the country is in now, that’s why we showed maximum flexibility," Adhikari told The Kathmandu Post. "We cannot become more flexible." Adhikari also said he is "seriously" awaiting ML’s positive response.

Since last year, both the parties have been initiating dialogues seeking reunification.

RPP demands radical measures

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KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Three days after extending its support for the ruling party’s call for a broader national consensus to resolve the crises facing the country, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) today reiterated its support, but said it would take a few radical steps including amendment in the Constitution.

"The nature and complexity of the country’s problems require a minimum consensus from all political parties and towards that end we have decided to propose the government to take a few more steps," RPP spokesperson Kamal Thapa said during an interaction programme held by the party in the capital Monday.

He added that the party has decided to propose the government to inter alia make some changes in the Constitution, mobilize the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) and other security forces in a co-ordinated manner to fight terrorism, work towards bringing Maoists in the main stream of national politics, provide reservations to Dalits and other backward communities, issue "cut of year" citizenship to those left out and ensure free and fair polls in future.

"The country is about to collapse," RPP President Surya Bahadur Thapa said. "So we have decided to back the common minimum programme proposed by the ruling party president. And for that our suggestions including the need to make necessary changes in the Constitution has to be taken into account."

He also said that the government has no existence beyond the district headquarters and warned that the recently introduced tax ordinance has further complicated the matter. "Things are already worse at all levels and something has to be done in such background," he added.

He revealed that his party on Sunday held discussions with NC party President Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML leader KP Oli and Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) leader Badri Prasad Mandal.

"And things are moving positively. We have a kind of meeting of minds to go ahead with common minimum programme for broader national consensus," he added.

Parsu Ram Khapung, the Assistant General Secretary of RPP said that the broader democratic alliance of all the parties is the only way out to address the complex situation.

RPP’s Spokesperson Thapa said his party’s initiative is not a pre-condition intended to support the government in Parliament but a proposal to support the ruling party’s common minimum programme.

Former Foreign Minister Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Dr Ballav Mani Dahal, Dr Krishna Bhattachan, former Inspector General of Police Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, Dr Bishomvar Pyakurel, Dwarika Nath Dhungel, Nilambar Acharya and other intellectuals also voiced the need for national consensus among political forces to address the problems bedevilling the country.

‘Nation may face economic crisis’

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KATHMANDU, Jan 28: High level officials at the Ministry of Finance and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) have asserted that the country will face severe crisis if the current trend of economic slump is not reversed soon.

Dr Tilak Rawal, governor of the NRB, today reportedly said that the foreign currency reserve of the country would not be able to bear import expenses if the current situation of the balance of payment continued.

He was answering to the questions put forth by the members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee today, a member of the committee told The Kathmandu Post.

The statement of the governor comes in contradiction to the latest reports that the reserve of foreign currency in the country could bear imports for over eleven months.

"The governor has accepted that the economy would face severe crisis if the current state of affairs is not controlled," said a member of the committee on conditions of anonymity.

Moreover, even the Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, replying to queries of the committee members, accepted the worsening state of the economy. However, he held optimism for its early revival, the committee members said.

The committee members also disclosed the finance minister asserted that the government is in a tight financial burden chiefly due to soaring security expenses. Also, they informed that Dr Mahat claimed reduction in administrative expenses by 40 per cent.

Meanwhile, most committee members were not convinced over Dr Mahat’s claim on the slashing of administrative expenses to such an extent. "When the Cabinet has not been downsized, how can the administrative expenses go down," said Bharat Mohan Adhikari.

"We have urged the government to implement the reports submitted by Nepali Congress lawmaker Vinay Dhoj Chand that had recommended cutting down of administrative expenses and the size of the Cabinet," Dr Dilli Raj Khanal said.

Dr Mahat reportedly also asserted that the government announced the supplementary budget to pool in funds of around Rs 4 billion for security reasons. "However, the finance minister declined to mention the overdraft amounting to Rs 6.54 billion withdrawn from the central bank in the last months of last fiscal year for the same purpose," Dr Khanal said.

Meanwhile, governor Rawal also informed the committee about the management handover process of two of the largest commercial banks in the country. "The contract for the management handover of Rastriya Banijya Bank will be signed within a few days," citing Rawal, Chairman of the committee Smriti Narayan Choudhari said.

With children dying, AIDS is doing well in the country

By Tashi Dolma Thinley

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Rabin, small and dark, is a jolly fellow of seven years old, and as cute as they come. He loves  his games, and just revels in being pampered and teased. And it’s a shock to know that he’s dying. Welcome to HMG’s AIDS Year 2002.

Rabin is HIV positive. He was born fatherless, and abandoned at three by his mother who had returned from a brothel in Bombay, India. He was taken under the wings of Karuna Bhawan, a Christian missionary rehabilitation centre at Nakkhu, Lalitpur, where the nuns brought him up. At four, the boy tested HIV positive.

Rabin could well be among the hundreds of children who are dying of AIDS in the country, but no one really knows the real figure since most mothers who are HIV-infected never turn up at any clinic. "It is only if the mothers come for a test, can we estimate the number of children who are infected," says a staff at the government-run National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC) in the capital’s Teku.

The Centre provides tests and counselling free of charge. But the staff member says only "a very few" sex workers use its facilities. That is indeed a waste of resources because there are over 30,000 Nepali women working in Indian brothels, and a large number of them return to their homeland every year. Here again, the statistics are sketchy.

Nepal has around 45,000-50,000 people infected with AIDS and HIV, but yet again no one knows the exact figure, and not even the break-up of the sexes, nor the number of children dying with the disease. And those HIV positive women who are carrying, have no way out other than delivering their children since abortion is illegal in the country.

"I am sure there are a lot of children infected, and even a lot more mothers whose HIV status is unknown. So I feel it is better if the mothers are given the right to abort the child," says Dr Pushpa Bhatt, team leader at the Aids Info Docu Clinic in Shantinagar, Kathmandu.

In the case of Rabin, when he tested positive, he was brought for treatment to the Shantinagar Clinic. "At that time, he weighed only eight kilograms, and then last year it became better, weighing 20 kilograms," says Dr Pushpa Bhatt, team leader at the Clinic.

But lately, the boy is not doing too well, and his deteriorating health is a cause of worry for the nurses and doctors at Karuna Bhawan. When asked whether Rabin can survive, the nurse stays silent and then sighs, "It is a tragedy."

Along with Rabin, there is a seven-month old girl, Karuna, named after the centre, who was born HIV positive. Both the infant and the mother are being treated and provided for at the centre.

A week back, a baby boy was born at the centre, and there is a fear that he too might test positive. "The baby is too small for a test though we think it is a case of prenatal transmission of HIV," says Dr Bhatt.

Now if at the Nakkhu rehabilitation centre alone, there are 14 infected mother and children, the overall number of Nepali children and women dying of AIDS, unknown and untreated, might be alarming.

Social workers attending to AIDS patients say that despite the government’s grandiose announcement of 2002 as AIDS Year, it still has not come out with any defined policies or programmes to deal with the situation. The only promising news is that the NCASC at Teku, will in four months’ time make available the drugs to treat infected pregnant women, says Shyam Sunder Mishra, NCASC Director.

But he is quick to add that the drugs are costly, and they are bargaining for a cheaper price.

But nothing can be too costly if it can save lives. But in four months’ time, will Rabin be around?

CAN President seeks more success

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KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The Eighth CAN Info-Tech and Nepal Information Technology Show and Conference 2002, a mega annual IT event, has been able to draw a far larger number of visitors than expected by CAN, the organizer of the event. The five-day fair is coming to a close on Tuesday.

Lochan Lal Amatya, President of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), says that the show is organized with the basic objective of creating awareness among the people and the secondary purpose is to create an environment conducive to business.

He said the organizer has been extremely successful in creating public awareness about information and communications technology (ICT). "The growing number of visitors each year is a testimony to it," he said.

The holding of the show itself at this crucial juncture of time has sent a "very good" signal to the international community which is good news for tourism, he said.

Amatya also said that the international IT conference organized in course of the CAN Info-Tech, has also played an instrumental role in further educating local IT professionals and experts besides exerting pressure on policy matters. This year experts appealed to the government to develop infrastructure, reduce the price of electricity and relax taxes on IT industry.

The conference has also helped in discussing the problems plaguing the Nepali IT industry and measures to overcome them, he said.

However, the conference was not well represented by women although there are quite a few women IT entrepreneurs in the country, said Amatya. "That is not encouraging news at all, all more so when we had offered women 50 per cent discount on the conference fee. Also, we have a women’s committee at CAN to promote women It professionals and experts."

And in terms of women visitors, the attendance was about 40 per cent, with most of them being students interested in IT education.

One may not be able to distinguish the current show from the past ones just by looking cursorily at it, but every year the event has thrown up something new. This year, many domestic companies have come up with their own products related with E-commerce targeting the local market. "This has something to do with the Cyber Law Bill which is waiting for parliamentary approval," said Amatya.

He also said that some of the products were of a more sophisticated nature this time as they have better security arrangements like biometrics, which is especially used to ensure client security.

As for the profits from the five-day show, Amatya said, "We definitely expect to make a profit from the event as we have no other source of income. And the income we earn is spent on running CAN and on organizing international IT conferences."

Such shows are a way in which CAN provides a platform to upcoming IT companies, he said. "Some make direct business while others benefit indirectly by participating in the show."

He is happy with both the government’s and the public’s support to his organization. "The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has been extending moral support to us besides helping in nominating participants for IT conference."

The CAN President said that the larger number of visitors this year has had an encouraging effect on emerging IT companies. But as the show gets bigger and bigger, CAN will have to do more homework on making it more organized and systematic, said an enthusiastic Amatya.

Living life online: Nepal steps into IT fast lane

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KATHMANDU, Jan 28: As Nepal’s biggest computer show concludes tomorrow, it becomes all too evident that the interest in IT is on the rise. That section of the Nepali society which can afford computers, seems now to have woken up to the myriad uses that a computer can be put to.

And it’s just not about chat and games. And it’s not even about email and the World Wide Web. There’s a whole range of other transactions that can take place in the cyber world.

You could buy flight tickets or flowers, get a degree, or carry out research, all online. In this virtual world, you don’t even have to step out of home to get anything done. While it might take Nepal many more years to do all that, there are many computer savvy rich folks in the country who are increasingly living life online.

The capital’s well-to-do younger crowd are the ones who fancy the computer the most. There are many teenagers who spend most of their waking hours surfing the Net. While a lot among them are chronic chatters, there are some who put it to academic use. "I enjoy surfing the Net and am eager to visit new informative sites that will prove useful in career building," says Kanchan Tamang, 16, of Bhurungkhel.

Officials at the Computer Association of Nepal say that despite the costs being still high, the number of Internet users in the country has increased by 30 per cent during this year to touch 150,000.

One of the latest trends is that of students using the Net to join courses offered by foreign universities. "I have joined an online course in photography, and soon I will be getting my diploma," says an excited Ram Tamrakar, 17, from New Road.

Another trend is that of Computer Diskettes (CDs) and Video Computer Diskettes (VCDs) flooding the Nepali market. These diskettes cover the information and entertainment world in the widest range possible.

In the CAN jamboree, more than 300 types of CDs are on sale—from those containing the Mahabharata epic to TOEFL study materials. "These diskettes are so easy to handle unlike big books. Anyway I hate books," says a chirpy Ravina Shrestha, 17, from Indra Chowk.

That must sound like music to all those in the IT business. With the CAN fare, they are now sure as never before that Nepalis are ripe and ready to lap up all that IT has to offer.

Transport safety committee formed

By Jitendra Shah

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The government has constituted a national transport safety committee to check increasing traffic accidents.

The committee has been formed as per the Dec 27 Cabinet decision. The Cabinet had decided to constitute the committee under the chairmanship of Minister for Labour and Transport Management (LTM) Palten Gurung.

According to Sushil Agrawal, Technical Director at the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), the committee constitutes secretaries of LTM, Home Ministry, Ministry of Finance and Ministry for Physical Planning and Works, DIG of the Department of Traffic at Police Headquarters, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries, transport entrepreneurs and director of the DoTM,

The committee will establish coordination among traffic-related bodies, formulate a road safety policy and will carry out study on road accidents.

"Besides, the committee will review road accidents within every four months," said Agrawal.

The government also decided to constitute a central and a local committee each to follow up the measures adopted for traffic safety.

The central follow-up committee will consists of DoTM Director, representative of Traffic Engineering and Safety Unit at the Roads Department, a under-secretary at Home Ministry, SP at the Traffic Department at Police Headquarters, SP at Valley Traffic Police Office, Technical Director at DoTM, transport entrepreneurs and transport labours.

The follow-up committee will carry out awareness programme at places of high traffic accidents, besides introducing transport safety measures, adopted by other countries, in Nepal.