Minister Hamal goes to court against CIAA

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation, Surendra Hamal has filed writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking legal action against the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and its commissioner Krishna Ballabh Kafle.

In his petition, Hamal has claimed that the CIAA has breached the governing laws and overlapped the jurisdiction of Public Service Commission, which is responsible for the matters concerned with the employees.

The CIAA had sent a letter to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to take necessary action against State Minister Hamal claiming that Hamal had violated the Civil Service Act, 1991 while transferring the employees. Commission has asked Deuba to warn the state minister Hamal.

The commission also had claimed that transferring the employees prior to the tenure given by law was abuse of power. The Civil Service Act, 1991 has not allowed forceful transferring of the employees prior to completion of one and two years in Himalayan districts and other districts, respectively.

Hamal, in his writ petition has refuted the allegations of the CIAA and claimed that there was a conspiracy against him. He blamed commissioner Kafle and Secretary at the Ministry Chandi Prasad Shrestha were involved in the conspiracy.

"Decision to transfer some employees at the ministry was made by me under the authority delegated by Minister Gopal Man Shrestha on Dec 17, 2001," Hamal said, adding that his decision was however revoked immediately by none other than Minister Shrestha. "Since that decision was never carried out, it has not hurt the interests of anyone, thereby there is no reason to punish me."

The minister of state also disclosed that timber smugglers are still active in the Terai. He alleged that Minister Gopal Man Shrestha was directly or indirectly supporting the smugglers.

However Minister Shrestha denied his involvement in the timber smuggling. The minister Shrestha speaking in the Upper House said that the timber were smuggled from Laljhadi Jungle in Kanchanpur and the ministry has formed a probe committee headed by deputy DG of department of Forest, Ananta Vijay Parajuli to submit its reports within 7 days.

Urwa Dutta Panta of the main opposition had alleged minister’s involvement in the smuggling last week claiming that the timber worth Rs 210 million were smuggled. " 166 trees are found chopped off ", Minister informed the House adding that Two rangers were suspended after they were found to b involved during preliminary investigation.

Hamal accuses Forest Minister of bribe-taking

Minister of State for Forests and Soil Conservation Surendra Hamal today accused his boss Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Gopal Man Shrestha of taking bribes from Khanal Resin and Turpentine Industries to allow the industry to upgrade its capacity.

Calling a press conference, Hamal said that Shrestha had accepted Rs 200,000 from some lawmakers of the Nepali Congress who acted as the middlemen between the minister and the Nepalgunj-based Industries. The bribe was given to upgrade the resin collection capacity of the Industry from 600 metric tonnes to 1500 metric tonnes annually.

It has further been claimed that the amount was lent by MP Mangal Prasad Tharu from the Minister of State for Information and Communication Hari Narayan Choudhari and paid to the Minister Shrestha.

But the Minister Shrestha, talking to The Kathmandu Post denied the allegations and said "The issues were of course, cooked by the state minister Hamal to make an easy escape."

Security woes delays ambitious voters’ ID project

By Tilak Pokharel

KATHMANDU, March 8 : The Election Commission’s attempt to provide identity cards to voters in a short time span was ambitious to begin with. But now, due to deteriorating law and order situation and emergency rule imposed since last November, the task has been made next to impossible.

The figures speak for themselves. Out of the 4.2 million targeted voters in 43 of the 75 districts across the kingdom, the concerned authorities have managed to distribute voters’ ID cards to only a meagre 0.85 million. At this pace, says the agency in charge of clicking the photos of prospective voters, it could take months, if not years, to complete the already delayed assignment.

After the EC came out with the policy decision, the Home Ministry, which is in charge of fulfilling the task, selected ABS Digital Printing and Support to complete the task of taking photos of all the targeted voters. Started on October 31, the specified time for making the identity cards of the 4.2 million people was to be completed by February 27.

But fear of Maoist violence, and reluctance of the government to provide security to the travelling camera crews, has hampered efforts.

Manager of ABS Digital Printing and Support, Sudarshan Acharya, solely blames the poor security situation of the country for not meeting the target. He also says that the three-and-half months old state of emergency further hindered their work.

"The government has even failed to ensure the security as demanded by our photography crews," says Acharya. "At many places, they have been forced to carry out their duties secretly and with fear deep inside. Neither the crews nor the voters are feeling secure."

But still, ABS has been asked to carry on. Many bigwigs hailing from Maoist-affected districts but residing in Kathmandu have pressured ABS, through powerful ministers, to get their photos taken here in the capital without ever having to travel to their home districts.

For instance, only last week, the Chief District Officer of Gorkha, along with Minister of Physical Planning and Works Chiranjivi Wagle, had managed to take photos of some of the capital-based Gorkha bigwigs for the voters’ IDs in the Heritage Plaza of the capital. The bigwigs could not go to the district to make the IDs due to the fear of the Maoists.

The camera crews travelling in the districts are particularly vulnerable to Maoist attack since the rebels have vowed to do away with parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.

According to officials, the Maoists besides manhandling and beating up the photography crews so far have destroyed sophisticated cameras in five districts – Baglung, Dang, Gorkha, Kaski and Nuwakot. The rebels last year had ambushed a photography crew near Makaising VDC of Gorkha district, killing a policeman who along with some others was providing security to the crew.

Most of the 43 districts selected for making the voters’ IDs that also includes Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are from those who have been put in the category under the less affected by the Maoist insurgency. However, the list also includes some of the most affected ones such as Sindhuli, Gorkha and Dolakha.

Also falling in the list are Dang and Syangja districts where the rebels had launched well-coordinated and audacious attacks on the night of November 23, killing scores of securitymen and local government officials.

Another Manager of ABS, Sameer Raj Gautam, says the district administration of Dang had stopped taking photos for the voters’ IDs after the November 23 episode. "And, in the wake of the violence, the work was very much hindered in other districts, especially in the rural areas where the voters have to walk for hours to reach the photography centres," he says.

Also the people’s apathy towards politics and political parties has added towards lowering the number of voters coming to get their photos taken, Gautam says. "People have started feeling that it will not make much difference by voting."

NHRC Committee begins probe

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : A five-member Committee of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) constituted to probe the disappearance of the people after the start of the Maoist insurgency has started functioning since the first week of March, a NHRC press release said here Friday.

The Committee has been constituted under the convenorship of Sushil Pyakurel of the NHRC. Deputy Attorney General Tika Bahadur Hamal, member of Nepal Bar Association Yadunath Khanal and SSP Chuda Bahadur Shrestha are the members in the Committee.

The NHRC has asked the Committee to provide the detail information about all those missing in the last six years, the release said. The Committee has also been told to reveal the name, caste, nationality, age and sex of the persons who have gone missing, or make available a photocopy of the victims’ citizenship cards, specifying the person or party responsible for the disappearance and the date.

Deuba slammed for making statements outside parliament

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : A powerful member of the ruling Nepali Congress in the House of representatives Govindaraj Joshi today accused Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of bypassing the parliament and making statements of national importance outside the parliament.

Speaking at the special hour in the House of Representatives, Joshi, who is also the assistant General Secretary of the ruling party, said it was unfortunate that the parliamentarians had to depend on third hand information about government decisions at the time when the parliament session is on.

Joshi also flayed Prime Minister Deuba for his indifferent attitude towards constitution amendment and making controversial comments on the issue. " The government can not ignore the issue of constitution amendment and seek consensus outside the parliament", Joshi said adding that the consensus was already made after the leaders of all the political party shared the views on certain issues.

"The issues raised by the party leaders on the day the state of emergency was ratified, were the points of national consensus", said Joshi, alleging Prime Minister for seeking consensus outside the parliament.

He also criticised the leaders, though not aiming at anyone in particular, that they have failed to implement the commitments they made in the House on the day the state of emergency was endorsed.

He also asked the Prime Minister to disclose obligations, if any, causing delay for implementation of the programmes agreed by all the parties.

Joshi slammed Deuba for trying to prolong his term on the strength of "Task teams and commissions" and said, " The task team, which was almost agreed at an all party meet on Feb 16, was rejected by me as the task team alone could not improve the situation unless the government was sincere." Joshi defending the ruling party said that Nepali Congress has left no stone unturned in order to implement the issues raised by party president and informed the house that the party had sent a letter to the government seeking immediate action.

KP Sharma Oli of the main opposition CPN (UML) suggested the government to introduce new Bill or revitalise the Muluki Ain (11th Amendment) Bill at the earliest to empower the women.

The Muluki Ain Bill, which was introduced in the 16th session, is presently lurking in the parliament after Upper House rejected it. Pashupati Sumshere JB Rana of Rastriya Prajatantra Party asked the government for adequate compensation to the people who lost their assets in Mangalsen mayhem.

Minister of State for Home Devendra Raj Kandel and Minister for Finance Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat presented the Terrorist and Destructive Activities ( Control and Punishment) Bill and Finance ( First Amendment) Bill respectively, for the consideration of House.

Meanwhile in Butwal Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka ruled out the possibility of constitution amendment at present situation.

Speaking at a press programme organised by Nepal Press Union Rupandehi at Butawal,Khadka said, " Constitution should not be amended during the emergency putting peoples at dark."

He also claimed that the Prime Minister and the UML leader Madhav Nepal have not made agreements to amend the constitution but the thing they agreed on was on getting national consensus.

" There is no rationale behind constitution amendment just for election purpose", Khadka said claiming that the issue of constitution amendment was not discussed in the party.

Int’l seminar on mountains ends

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : The International Seminar on the Mountains concluded here today with ten-point Kathmandu Declaration calling the world community to ensure peace and stability in the mountainous regions of the world.

The seminar participated in by a total of 211 participants (scientists, doctors, environmentalists and lawmakers) from 70 national and international organisations of 20 different countries represented major mountain systems of the world – the Himalayas, the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes and other independent chains.

One of the major highlights of the ‘Kathmandu Declaration’ is a call for peace and stability in the mountainous regions. "Sadly, today many mountain areas are theatres of armed conflicts and violence," the declaration has said. "This seminar appeals for peace in the mountains."

With strong supports to the earlier declarations on the mountains preservation, other points adopted by the three-day seminar are – inclusion of the mountain education in the formal and informal educational curricula, building modern mountain science to alleviate the increasing stress on mountain ecosystems and their social environments, improvement of the agricultural productions without further damage to bio-diversity and environment.

The seminar, which was organised by the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST) in co-operation with Ev-K2-CNR of Italy, has also adopted to conserve the bio-diversities by appealing the all for consolidated efforts of national parks and conservation areas to promote effective habitats and corridors between habitats to sustain endangered flagship. Other adopted points are the promotion of the high altitude medical research; mountain water and energy resource management; preventing disasters by in-depth studies on various aspects of geology and climate change; and cultural heritage and eco-tourism.

On Wednesday, His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev had opened the seminar.

Over 100 working papers related, among others, to the issues of conservation and preservation of the mountain ecosystem, bio-diversity, eco-tourism and agriculture were presented during the three-day seminar.

Addressing the closing ceremony, Minister of State for Science and Technology, Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, assured the participants that the government would work to translate the spirit of the declaration into practice. State Minister Balayar who is also the Pro-Chancellor of RONAST appreciated the deliberations and commitments made by the participants during the seminar.

"Our first task will be to focus our research activities and development efforts more towards addressing the mountain issues," he said.

On the occasion, Vice-Chancellor of RONAST, Prof Dr Dayananda Bajracharya, and RONAST Secretary Prof Dr Krishna Manandhar expressed their thanks to the participants and vowed to work towards materialising the spirits of the seminar.

Mountains, lakes, and now, temples and stupas too

By Satyendra Timilsina

KATHMANDU, March 8 : Nepal may be known over the world for its panoramic mountains and trekking trails. But if tourism entrepreneurs have their way, the Himalayan Kingdom should also be known for its cultural and religious offerings.

And why not, since the country has some of the holiest shrines in Hinduism and Buddhism, not to speak of countless monuments, rivers, lakes - all with religious significance. Though this treasure trove of cultural and religious richness is beginning to draw curious tourists lately, it is yet to make its mark in the world tourism map as a religious destination.

There is no denying that Nepal is enriched with centuries old culture and religious customs, but unfortunately, it remains half hidden from the world’s eye. And this fact is beginning to look more like a lost opportunity to tourism entrepreneurs and experts alike in the context of dwindling tourism inflow caused not just by the domestic turbulence, but even international strife.

Experts say, if there ever is a time to try and tap Nepal’s potential as a religious destination, it is now. Nepal has earned its mark as a destination for adventure and scenic beauty, but its religious potentials remain yet to be highlighted, they add.

"In the present global context, if Nepal can benefit from tourism then the only possibility is through the promotion of religious tourism. It is the only tourism sector that is least affected by political and economic factors," says tourism entrepreneur Karna Shakya.

But whole-hearted embrace of religious tourism has its pitfalls, point out critics. Could it be that in the bid to attract religious tourists, the country could get more of the sadhus and sants, as depicted in a recent cartoon ?

But experts point out, all religious tourists are not fakirs. "There is a large mass of people who spend money to visit sites of religious and historical importance," says Tek Bahadur Dangi, Director of Nepal Tourism Board.

As a testimony to it, one of the Indian teams comprising 260 people that was on a nine-day religious trip to Tilicho Lake in Manang spent around Rs 130 million during the period last year, claims Banwari Lal Mittal, former member of the Pashupati Area Development Trust. "How can we generalise these people who have spent around Rs 56,000 per day in Nepal with fakirs?" he questions.

And it is not just Tilicho Lake that Nepal has to offer. A lot of places that symbolises its age-old tradition, culture and religion exist. Be it the Pashupatinath temple, Lumbini or Ram Janaki temple, people flock in thousands each year to be blessed. With a little more promotion, the overall impact can be tremendous.

With plenty of holy sites, each with speciality for one billion Hindus and another one billion Buddhists, it is not unrealistic to deem Nepal as a potential high-ranking destination for at least Hindus and Buddhists, if not others. If Mecca can become a centre for the Muslims, why cannot Pashupatinath be for Hindus, ask some tourism entrepreneurs. All that is lacking is a genuine effort towards promotion, they say.

The need to tap religious potentials is especially important now. Going by the present figures, tourist inflow is not encouraging. Religious promotion may bring some relief to this sickening industry. "We are lacking in an effective promotion of Pashupatinath among Hindus and Lumbini among Buddhists," says Shakya. "The Indian people don’t know where Pashupatinath is. They feel that it is situated in some remote place which is much difficult to visit."

Though, the temple has been the holiest pilgrimage destination for Hindus from India and Nepal and with number of temples, shrines and other landmarks characterised by a gold-plated roof, silver doors, and woodcarvings on the pagoda, it is yet to attract large number of upper middle class tourists devoted to Hinduism, he adds.

"The inflow of Indians was pretty good during the past years, especially due to easy transport facilities, near shopping destination for foreign goods and the casino attraction. But as these factors has not remained as lucrative as in the past due to several factors, the promotion of religious tourism can help bring them back on track," feels Mittal.

Unlike the other tourism sectors, religious tourism can grow even in a place with the low infrastructure development. As such tourists depend completely upon locals, it will boost the local economy, experts say.

7 Maoists killed in encounters

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : The Defence Ministry today said that security forces killed seven Maoists in separate encounters in three districts of the mid-western region, and confiscated some arms, crude bombs and instruments for detonating electric ambushes from the sites on Thursday.

The Ministry also said that a group of armed Maoists on Thursday night killed three civilians at Tin Hajar Bigha village of Janakinagar VDC in Sarlahi district. They have been identified as ex-head constable Mohan Bahadur Khatri and Ram Prit Mahato and his son Devnath.

Our reporter in Sarlahi said that the rebels shot them about 500 metres away from the village after abducting them from their houses. The Sarlahi District Police Office said that security forces have been mobilised in the area to hunt down the rebels. The bodies were sent to the Janakpur hospital for the post-mortems because no doctors were available at the district hospital in Sarlahi.

Issuing a press statement here, the Ministry said that the five Maoists were gunned down in army action in Sukhar area of Bardiya, and one rebel each in Jagatisara village of Rukum and Paanchkatiya village of Jajarkot districts.

While conducting search operation in Gulmi district, soldiers of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) took 20 Maoists into custody along with a truck full of goods, looted earlier from a local businessman in Aslewa VDC.

The statement further added that the security forces arrested eight other suspected Maoists along with 10 guns from Panchakanya VDC in Ilam, and two guns from Khairenitar area of Tanahun districts on Thursday.

Similarly, a bomb-disposal squad of the RNA defused a ‘banner bomb’ weighing 10 kilograms of explosives hung by the rebels at Sitalpati of Salyan district yesterday, the Ministry said.

Likewise, local people in the mountain district of Manang handed 26 guns over to the security forces yesterday.