PM Deuba begins India visit today
Maoist issue, inundation problem high on agenda

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 19:On the eve of his crucial visit to India, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that he would take up all the contentious issues with his Indian counterpart, which include, inundation problem in southern Nepal, Kalapani and border demarcation and, chiefly, the use of the Indian territory by Nepali Maoists.

Speaking briefly with The Kathmandu Post late Tuesday night, Deuba said, " I am very much confident that India will be positive and supportive in resolving these issues, some of which are centuries old."

He added, "I will do my best to put forth our demands of Nepal and her people with India in a very positive manner. We are expecting a very positive response from India."

He is embarking on a six-day-long trip to India Wednesday. About a 100 people, among them cabinet minister, government officials, federation of chamber of commerce and industry (FNCCI) representatives and journalists, will accompany the Prime Minister.

Earlier on the day, he informed the leaders of various political parties at an all-party meeting that Nepal would seek for more assistance from the southern neighbour to quell the Maoists insurgency.

During the meeting held at his office in Singha Durbar, Deuba told the meeting of leaders that he would particularly ask India to stop all kinds of assistance and support that the Maoists are getting from the Indian side of the border.

Reading out the agendas to be taken up during his meetings with his Indian counterpart and other high level officials, Deuba also said that Nepal would request India to take necessary measures to prevent inundation of some Nepali villages in Banke and Rupandehi districts.

Two separate India-built barrages have been causing massive inundation problem in the districts, especially during rainy season. The barrages are the Laxmanpur barrage, which was built by India in its territory south of Banke, and the Rasial Khurda-Lautan embankment that India built south of Lumbini just last year.

Deuba also said that Nepal would urge India to expedite the process of reviewing the 1950 treaty of peace and friendship so as to update it and meet the present challenges. Late Prime Minister Manamohan Adhikari, during his visit to India, some seven years ago, had raised this issue (of reviewing the treaty). The then Indian Prime Minister had also agreed to make some timely changes in the treaty.

Deuba also informed the meeting that Nepal would also ask India to expedite the border demarcation process. A joint committee was formed to carry out the demarcation work of more than 1800-km long Indo-Nepal border more than six years ago, but little headway has been made.

Deuba added that Nepal would also push for the early operation of broad gauge rail service, essential for the operation of Inland Container Depot (Dry-port) in Birgunj which has so far remained dysfunctional, awaiting rail service operation from India for over a year now.

"Nepal will also take up the issue of exploring new potentialities for water resources and hydro power development push for the speedy implementation of past agreements," said Deuba. In 1996 the two countries signed the much-controversial Mahakali Treaty to develop, among others, Pancheswor Multipurpose Project, for which a joint committee was formed to draw up the detailed project report (DPR). But five years down the road the work is incomplete, let alone the project implementation works.

Deuba also said that Nepal would seek positive help of India for speedy resolution of the Bhutanese refugee problem.

India has been saying that the problem is a "bilateral issue" between Nepal and Bhutan. But Nepal claims that since India is the first country to receive the 100,000 refugees, the problem lingers on and the repatriation of the refugees of Nepali origin a pipe-dream. Officials and activists say the problem will not be resolved without Indian involvement. .

The opposition parties at the meeting asked PM Deuba not to sign any new treaties or agreements but to emphasise on the implementation of the past agreements. CPN-UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari suggested that Deuba shortlisted some major issues rather than lightly presenting all the issues.

"Nepal must emphasis on preservation of Nepalese industries, which are going to be affected in the aftermath of the after the newly signed trade treaty comes into effect," said Adhikari. He also said that the opposition leaders suggested Deuba to talk with the Indian counterpart for a time bound programme for demarcation of the border.

Surya Bahadur Thapa of Rastriya Prajatantra Party accused Prime Minister of going to India without doing adequate homework. He stressed for strong presentation during the talks with the Indian counterparts. " Prime Minister has assured that he will not make any agreements with India against our national interest," said Thapa.

Minister for Water Resources Vijay Kumar Gachhedar said that the issue of mutual co-operation to fight terrorism, a common threat to both the countries, would be the focal issue of the visit. Minister of States for Foreign Affairs, Arjun Jung Bahadur Singh told the reporters that Nepal would highlight the security issues during the visit.

Meanwhile, in the parliament today the MPs flayed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for insulting the parliament by not informing the House about his India visit.

Most of the opposition members criticised him for ignoring the ruling made by the Speaker yesterday that the PM inform the House about his Indian tour. Deauba also received shares of criticism for his denial to attend the parliamentary foreign relations and Human Rights Committee meetings today.

National Dalit Commission formed

RSS

KATHMANDU, March 19-His Majesty’s Government has constituted a National Dalit Commission with an objective of ensuring active participation of the dalit classes in the development of the country by uplifting and developing all the dalits as well as for the protection and promotion of dalit rights.

According to an HMG (Council of Ministers) decision, the commission is chaired by Padma Singh Biswokarma(Baglung) and the members are Ganesh Pariyar(Kaski), Lok Bahadur Biswokarma (Surkhet), Shambhu Hajara Paswan (Parsa), Min Biswokarma (Sunsari, Dharan), Desh Bahadur Sarki (Bhojpur), Bhim Bareli (Morang), Jit Bahadur Darji Gautam (Jhapa) and Deepak Jung Biswokarma (Syangja), whereas the member secretary designated is Durga Soba (Doti), the Council of Ministers Secretariat disclosed.

The term of the chairman, members and member secretary of the commission will be two years and they will be provided with facilities as specified by His Majesty’s Government.

According to the Secretariat, the commission will perform its duties among other things, make timely changes in legal and policy arrangements for dalit rights, make recommendations to implement international documents to which Nepal has been a party, monitor and coordinate NGOs on dalit upliftment, launch programmes on social awareness to end social discrimination and untouchability, receive petitions and act as per the existing law, and draft a bill to make legal arrangements concerning the National Dalit Commission.

Business community upbeat about PM’s visit

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 19:With a host of unresolved economic issues still plaguing Nepal-India trade despite recent renewal of the bilateral trade treaty, the Nepali business community here is upbeat that the two countries would sort out the nitty-gritty in the Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to India.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is leaving for New Delhi Wednesday for a 6-day official visit, heading a strong delegation comprising both government officials and private sector entrepreneurs. A 32-member delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) is accompanying the PM.

"The upcoming visit is important since a host of issues still remain to be resolved," said Rabi Bhakta Shrestha, president of FNCCI and a member of the entourage. "We are optimistic that the visit would yield positive results for both Nepal and India."

Similarly, Rajesh Kazi Shrestha, president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC), said, "Whatever may the agenda of the visit be, the more important aspect of the visit lies in the fact that such time to time interactions would help in the early identification of problems and their settlement before they turn into issues of contention."

The delegation is to take upon a wide range of economic issues with the Indian counterparts. Members of the delegation talking to The Kathmandu Post today said that tourism promotion and an early conclusion of the Railways Agreement for the operation of Birgunj Inland Container Depot (ICD) would top the economic agenda.

However, other issues that the Nepali side will raise is the construction of lab testing facilities at different places, the duties imposed by some state governments in India on Nepali products, and the imposition of 4 per cent Special Additional Duty (SAD) by India in the budget announced in February.

Even Premier Deuba addressing an all-party meet today said that he would, among others, raise various economic issues that are of concern to Nepal. He said that his focus would be on the need for an effective and sincere implementation of the recently renewed Trade Treaty so that it would help in enhancing bilateral trade and investment.

He also informed that Nepal would press for an early conclusion of the protracted Railways Agreement with India. Although the construction of the Birgunj dry port was completed almost a year back, it awaits operation due to delay in the signing of the agreement. Premier Deuba at the meet also said that the Nepali side would also persuade the Indian side on early signing of the agreement related to customs procedures.

The Nepali business community is also scheduled to meet their Indian counterparts. A special meet of the members of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and FNCCI, including the Nepali Prime Minister and a number of government officials from the two sides, is to take place in New Delhi.

Is there enough political will to energise this part of world?

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, March 19:War against terror. This post-9/11 punchline is set to feature most during Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s March 20-25 goodwill visit to India. Speculations forecast that the PM will request India crackdown on Nepali Maoists, who not only frequently cross over to India but also take refuge there. The other issue could be the Nepal-India Trade Treaty that the two countries renewed recently.

But there is one more issue, which is equally important for the people of the close neighbours that share common socio-economic realities.

The visit, first since Deuba came to power in July, comes at a time when the southern neighbour is facing a crippling shortage of power. India’s power woes worsen with the advent of summer, when it needs more energy. As such, the vast swathe of landmass stretching from Kanyakumari to Kashmir longs for more power all the year round.

India may have successfully detonated nuclear bombs, but it has not yet been able to kickstart an energy revolution; over 60 percent of rural India, which is home to most of India’s 1 billion people, has no access to electric power. Well, that sounds well off compared to Nepal, where 85 percent of the population live in perpetual darkness.

Consider this: India needs to add another 100,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the next ten years. Energy experts say it would be a great feat for India, which has managed to generate that much energy only after 54 years of its independence from Britain. Total installed capacity of India as of December 2000 was 100,136 MW, out of which only 24,724 MW comes from hydro.

What this obviously means is that both countries badly need more power, and for that matter more investment in energy sector, specifically in environmentally friendly and comparatively sustainable hydropower sector.

Coincidentally, the visit also comes at a time when India has shown its renewed interest to develop hydroelectricity projects in Nepal, whose hydropower potential stands at over 83,000 MW, half of which is said to be commercially viable. Of that, less than 600 MW has been developed so far.

During a regional meeting of South Asian water resources and energy secretaries in New Delhi early this month, to quote Water Resources Secretary Lok Man Singh Karki who is accompanying the Prime Minster from Wednesday, "Indian officials expressed their keen desire to develop such projects as the Upper Karnali (300MW), Budhi Gandaki (600MW) and Rolwaling, to name a few."

In the same meeting, the Indian, as well as Bangladeshi and Bhutanese officials agreed to develop over 1,100 megawatts of electricity from eastern Nepal’s Arun River for sub-regional use. With support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative (SARI) Energy, the officials have agreed to develop at least three medium-sized hydel projects along the snow-fed river course.

And it is not only the government of India that is keen to develop and subsequently import hydropower from Nepal. Secretary Karki told The Kathmandu Post last week that non-governmental and private investors of the southern neighbour, too, are interested. "They are expecting a good returns to their investment," Karki said, "and we are expecting a few of them here very soon."

Against such a background, questions like these haunt everyone: Shouldn’t the two governments bury the hatchet and join hands to produce power from the dozens of Himalayan rivers that the two countries share? Isn’t it time Nepal and India started working to resolve all the contentious issues relating to water sharing, including the issues of the India-built barrages?

Most importantly, are the long-conceived projects like the 6,500 MW Mahakali Pancheshwor Multi Purpose Project and, to go a step further, the Sapta Koshi High Dam Project, meant to remain confined to papers? Deuba’s visit, which at this point is appearing more like the Pandora’s box, should do well to answer these questions.

It’s not that bilateral co-operation between the two countries does not exist. Just last year, power utility officials of Nepal and India agreed to upgrade the power exchange arrangement from 50 MW to 150 MW. And there is scope for more. The political leaderships should not forget the fact that it is energy that opens the door of development. The crucial question is: Is there enough political will to energise this part of the world?

Dramatic intergenerational shift in attitudes towards sex: Report

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 19:A dramatic intergenerational shift has occurred in ideal family size in Nepal, with adolescents desiring many fewer children than their parents had, says a report released here Tuesday.

And despite this change, parents have a great deal of influence on the timing of the first birth soon after marriage. Moreover, adolescents believe they have more say about the number of children that they will have.

Parents also exert control over the care of pregnant wives. But the status of daughter-in-law, the report says, is so low and resources so scarce in many households that she and her baby may not get enough to eat.

"This is especially harmful to adolescent mothers-to-be, who are still growing themselves," says the executive summary of the 62-page report - Reproductive Health Needs of Adolescents and Youth in Nepal, which is commissioned by Family Health International (FHI) with financial support from the USAID-Nepal.

According to the report, adolescents and youth adults recognise that child bearing at an early age can have harmful consequences for mothers and children alike. They believe that waiting until they are older to marry will help prevent some of these problems and allow them the maturity they need to take care of family.

"Nepalese adolescents perceive strong social sanctions against premarital pregnancy in their society, especially for girls," it says, adding: "These days there are more opportunities than in the past for premarital pregnancy to occur, but few opportunities for girls to learn how to prevent it."

"There was not much discussion of abortion, but participants who did discuss it believed it was a dangerous option that some girls chose when faced with a life of social disapproval."

The study participants also reported a clear need for sex education and reproductive health information and services. "Despite this need, young Nepalese have few sources of information," the report says. "Even married couples have little information to prepare them for sex, childbearing, and family planning."

The participants also reported that adolescents wanted to be able to talk to their parents about sexuality, but their parents were embarrassed by the topic. "This finding indicates a need for educational programmes for parents as well as youth," the report says.

Although some clinical services are available to adolescents, they are few and almost nothing exists for unmarried youths, especially girls, it says, and adds, "adolescents fear the disapproval of adults if they should use services, and so do not use them."

The report also says that marriage traditions are changing in Nepal. "The adolescents and young adults who took part in this study had favorable opinions about falling in love and love marriages," it says. "They described a generation gap between parents and children in attitudes towards arranged versus love marriages and a conflict over who should select the children’s marriage partners.

And, "as reported by respondents, the heaviest burden falls on girls, whose `marriageability’ is defined largely by society’s perception of their character. Parents watch their daughters carefully and marry them off as soon as possible to prevent them from tarnishing their characters by associating publicly with boys."

The focus-group data of the report indicate that premarital sexual activity does occur in Nepal. "Boys more than girls discussed premarital sex in the context of romantic relationships," the report says. "We do not know how prevalent this activity is from these discussions, but the fact that it was discussed at all demonstrates adolescents’ need for information and services to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections."

Participants in all focus groups, the report says, were aware of biological, cognitive and behavioral markers of adult status. And, although all the youths in the study valued education, they realised that it was not available to everyone.

The report, which is touted to represent "perhaps the most comprehensive material to date on the thinking of Nepalese adolescents and youths", points out gender inequality, poverty, parental control, peer influence, the media and social change as the factors affecting reproductive health in Nepal.

"The greatest obstacles hindering the improvement of adolescent reproductive health are poverty and gender inequality," the report says. "These problems will not be eradicated soon, but it is still necessary to acknowledge them as critical factors and to try to develop programmes that will not perpetuate them."

The study and surveys were carried out in 11 district representing two major geographic areas—the Terai and the hills—of all the five developmental regions, and both rural and urban setting. The selected districts—Baitadi, Doti, Kailali, Myagdi, Kaski, Kapilvastu, Chitwan, Kathmandu, Dhanusha, Dhankuta and Jhapa—represent diverse ethnic groups and varied levels of development, according to the study.

Six rebels shot dead

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 19:Six Maoists were killed in separate incidents of encounter with security forces in three districts and 11 Maoists were arrested across the country in the last 12 hours, the Defence Ministry said here today.

Issuing a press statement, the Ministry said that four armed-rebels were gunned down in exchange of fire that took place in Satmuri area bordering the hill districts of Gulmi and Palpa on Tuesday.

The security forces also confiscated nine .303 rifles looted earlier by the rebels from various police posts, pistols, pressure-cooker bombs, tiffin-carrier bombs, a large amount of explosives and military uniforms from the Satmuri area. The security forces have cordoned-off the area to smoke out the rebels.

Likewise, one rebel each was killed during the course of search operation of the security forces in Tokha of Kathmandu and Ranimatta of Dailekh districts yesterday.

Meanwhile, our reporter in Dailekh stated that the local administration has appealed various organisations to help local people understand languages used by the security personnel in the course of their operation or patrolling.

Dailekh Chief District Officer Baburam Lamichhane said public notices had been issued describing meanings of the military languages. He said that this measure was taken in order to spare innocents from unnecessary hassles during the security checks.

Local people have been facing a tough time in grasping the oft-used military command words like Halt! Stop! Don’t move ahead and so on, he added.

Meanwhile, issuing a press statement here today, central office of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, condemned the Maoists for killing its Darchula District Working Committee member, Padam Singh Badal, three days ago.

Recommendation for Labour Court judge

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 19:The Judicial Service Commission has recommended Nirmal Kumar Dhungana, Joint Registrar of the Supreme Court for the post of judge of the Labour Court.

"The commission made the decision recently, however, the government might not have worked it out yet at the implementation level," said a source at the Judicial Service Commission Tuesday.

National Assembly member Lalit Bahadur Basnet had drawn the attention of the government in yesterday’s parliament meeting regarding the absence of judge in the Labour Court for more than two months.

Bill to regulate party activities awaits Royal assent

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 19: A bill to regulate the activities of political parties is set to be sent for Royal assent very soon.

After a long unhealthy practice of horse-trading in the parliament at the period of hung- parliament in the country, the political parties had felt the necessity of the bill.

The bill determines "doable and undoable" works for the political parties and fixes their limitations.

The bill bans the political party having communal base or encouraging disintegration of the country.

The bill also provides an audit recognized by the Auditor General to make the transaction of the parties transparent.

Though the bill, earlier had the proposal to provide operation cost to the parties from the government fund on the basis of votes they bag in election, small parties opposed it and now the bill will be sent to the palace for Royal assent without the clauses related to the government donation and tax privileges.

The bill, which was introduced in the Lower House at the 16th session of the parliament and approved by the House at the 18th session, entered the upper House on the first day of the19th session.

As per the constitution, the finance bill passed by the upper house should be sent back to the Lower house within 15 days of its entrance but the upper house did not do so. Therefore, the bill is being directly sent for Royal assent.