Agrwal still tight-lipped about his kidnapping

Post Report

BIRATNAGAR, March 8 : The Biratnagar industrialist who was released by a yet-to-be-identified group of kidnappers Thursday, re-started his daily routine Friday morning, but maintained his silence and refused to tell his story to journalists saying his doctor has advised him not to do so.

Meanwhile, police officials here refused to give details, but claimed that Agrawal was released with the help of the India police. The help came soon on the heels of the Nepal Police’s request to the INTERPOL.

"The doctor has told me to forget everything about my past, so I cannot tell you anything about what happened to me in the past 41 days," Tulsiram Agrawal, 49, told The Kathmandu Post at his residence Friday evening.

He was released by the kidnappers near Birgunj Thursday afternoon and arrived at his house at about 7 p.m. Thursday evening, 41 days after he was kidnapped by an armed group of Indian nationals from this eastern industrial city. He was then whisked towards neighboring India on a vehicle via Islampur border point.

The Eastern Regional Police Office chief, DIG Rajendra Bahadur Singh accompanied him.

The police last week claimed to have found evidences of a former Nepali Congress party worker Umesh Giri’s involvement. And the opposition lawmakers accused Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka of providing protections to Giri in parliament.

Agrawal’s release came two days after the opposition lawmakers made a hue and cry in parliament over the alleged involvement of Giri and Minister Khadka. The Nepal Police on Monday requested INTERPOL to help it get Agrawal released.

Early in the morning today, Agrawal visited the Hanuman temple in Biratnagar and Dantakali temple in Dharan, along with his family members.

Apparently overwhelmed by the dramatic homecoming of Agrawal, his relatives, fellow businessmen and well wishers thronged his residence, some from as far away as from Calcutta in neighboring India. His brother Jagadish said the family did not find much difference in Agrawal. "His physical and psychological condition is ok," he said. "We have not noticed any marked difference in his behavior either. But he looks slightly frustrated."

GEF pledges continued support to preserve Nepal’s bio-diversity

By Kiran Chapagain

NAGARKOT, March 8 : A three-day Global Environment Facility (GEF) meet aimed at holding consultations with the government representatives and stakeholders concluded Friday here with Nepal proposing seven priority areas that fit with the GEF priorities.

GEF is a global funding window that is jointly managed by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), United Nations Development Project (UNEP) and the World Bank for forging co-operation and financing actions addressing critical threats to the global environment.

And the priorities forwarded by Nepal included, bringing poor communities to the mainstream of conservation activities, integrating women empowerment programs with bio-diversity conservation.

The other priority areas were addressing environment concerns in rural infrastructure development, developing strategic water resources, strengthening action programs (SAP) for harnessing protected area systems, a sustainable funding mechanism for bio-diversity conservation by exploring possibility of GEF association in the national projects such as hydropower, bio-gas, wind and solar energy.

Another national priority for GEF consideration was landscape complex level conservation.

Officials asserted that first-ever Country Dialogue Workshop held in Nepal achieved a "landmark success".

Officials partaking in the workshop from the GEF, World Bank and the UNDP hinted further support to Nepal for projects that contribute to global and local environment, and to the goals of the Convention on Bio-Diversity Conservation and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"I appreciate the activities going under the GEF projects in Nepal and Nepal has high potentiality of extracting GEF fund if approached with projects that contribute to the global and the local environment," said Ton Boon Von Ochssee, Country Relations Manager at the GEF Secretariat in Washington.

At present 11 GEF projects worth of 4.8 US dollars, which are on the verge of implementation while eight new ones are on the pipeline. The GEF, which has 171 members around the globe, started its projects in Nepal in 1994 with a model project Bio-diversity Conservation in Nepal.

Among the projects funded by the GEF in Nepal, the Landscape-scale Conservation of Endangered Tiger and Rhinocerous Population in and around Chitwan National Park, Upper Mustang Bio-diversity Conservation Project GEF Small Grants Programme Nepal Bio-diversity Landscape project, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wetland in Nepal and Rural Energy Development Programme are notable, say Nepali officials.

Besides, the GEF, started in 1991 as a financial mechanism providing grant and concessional funds to developing countries for projects and activities to protect the world’s environment, is also supporting Nepal in preparing Agenda 21, an agenda endorsed by the historical Earth Summit 1992 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janerio for action to set the global community on a sustainable path in the 21st century.

Ochssee also lauded Nepal’s adherence to the commitments in the international conventions relating to environment. Nepal is a party to 20 different environment related conventions.

Representatives from the GEF-World Bank also expressed their supports to Nepal for preserving its unique and rich bio-diversity. "There are large opportunity for Nepal getting additional support for projects related to environment projects," Tod Johnson, Senior Thematic Specialist GEF-World Bank told The Kathmandu Post on Friday.

He also revealed possibility of Nepal getting assistance in issues like energy and climate change, improving air pollution of the Kathmandu valley.

According to UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative Alessandra Tisot, bio-diversity conservation and sustainable development would be priority areas for UNDP co-operation. Tisot also underlined for a more "sound co-ordination" between government ministries when the environment and bio-diversity protection is concerned.

According to the UNDP’s officials, UNDP Nepal’s Country Co-operation Framework has included bio-diversity conservation and sustainable development as priority areas for UNDP cooperation over the next five years, 2002-2006.

At the grand success of the CEF CDW Friday at a programme organized in this tourist-hub of Nagarkot, 32kilometers from the capital Nepalese officials revealed their optimism that now Nepalese stakeholders will have more opportunity to work in the field of environment.

"Now opportunities are open for GEF assistance in Nepal, said Bhesh Raj Dhamala, Assistant Resident Representative of the UNDP Nepal and the Sustainable Development Advisor. "What we need now is homework for the purpose".