Birgunj-Kolkata railway likely soon
Nepal, India agree on early DPR

By Yubaraj Ghimire

NEW DELHI, India, March 22: India and Nepal today agreed to move swiftly and credibly on timely implementation of the previous agreement on water resources on a cost-benefit sharing basis. As a first measure the detailed project report (DPR) will be finalised by June this year.

The understanding to have the DPR ready before the new deadline was reached when India’s Water Resources Minister called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today. Water Resources Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhedar was also present during the meeting.

During the meeting, India also responded positively to Nepal’s long-pending grievances about flooding of many areas on its sides because of the ‘unilateral’ construction of dams on Indian side – Lakshmanpur as well as Khurdalotan and Rashiyal – closer to the Nepal-India border.

Both the sides have also agreed that a joint high-level technical committee will be constituted within two weeks to go into ‘unauthorised construction’ and do the needful corrective measures by April so that the monsoon does not play havoc on Nepali villages and the people living there.

There are indications that the joint technical committee will also take into account similar grievances from Indian side about a few dams on the Nepal side.

A day after India promised to provide necessary assistance that Nepal would require to combat terrorism in any form, a more optimistic Deuba invited Indian industrialists to invest in joint ventures in Nepal.

India already contributes about 35 per cent of the investment in joint ventures in Nepal so as to benefit both the sides. Speaking at a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries and Nepal’s FNCCI, Deuba said Nepal has already made favourable changes in the company laws to promote such investments, and promised more incentives in future.

He added there was tremendous scope to invest in the tourism, information and technology and agro-based industries, besides inviting private participation in hydro-power so that Nepal’s large potential becomes beneficial to its own development and fulfils the need for power-starved South Asia.

In fact, the science and technology received some sort of priority in the bilateral talk as two sides signed an agreement yesterday and today, when India’s Human Resources Minister called on Deuba, both sides agreed to promote local talents on the field.

Deuba who met India’s President, Vice resident, Prime Minister and other senior Cabinet members also had a meeting with opposition leaders – Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Deuba’s meeting with former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar will take place tomorrow before the Prime Minister leaves for Kolkata on the second and last leg of his 6-day official visit.

It is expected that both the sides will sign an agreement on jointly controlling terrorist activities targeted against each other. In this regard, India has been convinced to provide regular training to the Nepalese. Tomorrow’s joint statement is also expected to address the inundation problem that has been raised by Nepal since long time.

Meanwhile, India has also been convinced to open up the proposed dry port in Birgunj in two months’ time so as to establish direct train link with Calcutta Port.

An ‘invisible’ official visit

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, March 22: The Government of India has been giving the red carpet treatment to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is on an official visit to the friendly southern neighbour.

And yet, the Indian press, including both the print and electronic media, continues to downplay a trip which is keenly being watched here for its implications on the on-going struggle against Maoist rebellion.

A day after Deuba landed in New Delhi, some of the Indian newspapers carried a small item of his arrival in the inside pages. Most, including the electronic media, ignored it. The Hindu had a report with a picture on page 11. The report is remarkable because it tries to establish a link between the Maoists and Pakistan’s infamous intelligence agency ISI. The Asian Age too had a story, but on Page 3. The Statesman had it on Page 6 with a business angle.

The Times of India had virtually no coverage of the visit, though its website featured a report and a picture of Deuba being received by an Indian minister. The Indian Express too printed its news report on page 3, but the story implied that India was glad to help Nepal against Maoist rebels in exchange for Nepal’s support on cracking down against ISI activity.

You could argue that the miserly coverage of Deuba’s arrival could have been due to the Nepali Prime Minister’s late arrival in the Indian capital. By the time he reached Delhi, most newspapers would have been progressing towards news deadlines.

But no, the second day of the visit – when Deuba and his host Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee sat down for formal talks - also got scant coverage. Though The Hindu put a front-page picture, the report was thrown onto page 12. Other newspapers too treated the story almost similarly. The Times of India had a page 3 photo, but no report. The Asian Age put its report on page 2. The Indian Express, no story.

Why this miserly treatment from the Indian media for the Prime Minister of a neighbouring country who represents 23 million people? Several factors could be at play.

Granted, news is news and its treatment, for most part, is decided by how "newsy" the subject is. Indian editors might not have found the Deuba visit that newsy, though that comes across as a strange reason because there is considerable interest about Nepal in India. Just observe the constant drumbeat about "ISI activity in Nepal" played up by the southern neighbour’s press on a regular basis.

It could also be that the Indian press was getting diverted to other news breaking in their own backyard: like the draconian anti-terrorism POTO bill getting rejected in the Upper House of India’s parliament. Moreover, there’s been an outbreak of fresh communal violence which is drawing media attention, not to speak, of course, about the travails of the Vajpayee government itself which is teetering after last month’s humiliating state elections and the aftermath of the Ayodhya showdown.

Another factor – and this is the one doing the rounds in Kathmandu – might just be that the Indian media chose to downplay the visit for some reason other than mentioned above. This factor is nagging many heads here because all the Indian newspapers have the stories tucked away in nondescript corners of inside pages.

Though, according to the law of probability, there could be some chance for all Indian editors to think alike on what constitutes "news" – and hence relegate the Deuba reports to overlooked pages – there is however little explanation for the similar themes running through almost all the Deuba-related reports displayed on Indian newspapers.

This theme, to recap, is about the Maoist-ISI linkage. Almost all reports have something or the other which, in simple terms, goes like this: okay, we will help you fight the Maoist rebels if you act to root out ISI activity from your country.

As many media observers here and abroad have noted, the Indian press displays a peculiar trait: Indian editors remarkably show a "herd mentality" when it comes to foreign policy. Courtesy of informal briefings, perhaps?

But to be fair, the Indian press, largely a private sector enterprise, is out of the bounds of government control. Just as the Nepal government cannot dictate here what is to be reported and how, the Indian government too cannot dictate coverage on its home turf. That is at least what we think.

20 rebels killed in encounters

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 22: Security forces gunned down at least 20 Maoists in the latest incidents of encounter and seized large caches of arms, ammunition and explosives from various parts of the country over the last 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said here today.

While conducting search-and-destroy operations, the security forces killed six rebels in Bijaura area of Surkhet district, four rebels, including a platoon member of the Maoist organisation, in Naudanda area of Syangja, and three others in Tambubesi area of Sankhuwasabha on Friday morning.

The rebels who were shot dead during an encounter in Naudanda have been identified as Ujwal, Nishan, Biplab and a woman rebel known as Sarala. Their real identities were still unknown.

In yet other incidents of encounter on Thursday, the soldiers of the Royal Nepal Army killed four rebels in Hwama area of Rolpa, two in Bhawani Danda of Palpa and one rebel in Bhoje area of Lamjung districts on Thursday.

The Ministry announced that the security forces today seized 28 hand grenades, six plastic grenades, more than 1,600 rounds of bullets that include 1,362 rounds of bullets for 7.63 mm SLR and 250 rounds of 9 mm for SMG in Bijaura area. These bullets are believed to have been looted by the rebels from Dang and Achham districts in the past.

Similarly, 200 metres of fuse wire, 350 detonators and a large amount of socket bombs were also confiscated from the same area while conducting the operation in Surkhet. A large amount of arms, ammunition and crude bombs were also confiscated in Naudanda area of Syangja district today.

The Ministry statement further added that the forces also recovered eight guns in Majhpal area of Dolpa and foodstuff hidden by the rebels in Khandabari of Sankhuwasabha yesterday. The security forces distributed the seized foodstuff among the elderly people of Mankamana temple and its nearby areas in Sankhuwasabha yesterday.

Meanwhile, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police sustained injury at Bungchung village of Kumpur VDC in Dhading on Thursday when a group of Maoists hurled socket bombs at a police van on its patrol.

CIAA files case against 18 ex-NBL officials

By Yuvraj Acharya

KATHMANDU, March 22: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today filed a case against 18 erstwhile high-ranking office holders of the Nepal Bank Limited and 11 others for causing loss of about Rs 120 million to the Bank.

The CIAA filed the case in the Appellate Court, Patan today after a long investigation on the charges against the officials, who were alleged to be involved in irregularities by sanctioning the huge loans to parties having no status to return the loan.

An inspection team of Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of the country, had made a report last year pinpointing at erstwhile DGM Sher Bahadur Thapa who was alleged to be responsible for awarding the loans to fake parties and leading the bank towards bankruptcy.

The report had also pointed out that loans worth Rs 1.086 billion was sanctioned by the bank illegally or on the basis of fake documents to different business parties.

The CIAA had investigated upon the loan rendered by the NBL, Kathmandu-Branch to Vishwapriya Malla and Mahendra Prasad Gartaula Group and other its small affiliates –Vishwash Readymade Garments and Siddhi Enterprises.

The CIAA filed the case against the officials and the "so-called" entrepreneurs claiming that they have benefited themselves personally by causing loss to the Bank.

The anti-corruption watchdog has claimed that the Vishwapriya Group has caused a loss of almost Rs 21 million, while the Mahendra Prasad Gartaula Group has caused a loss of Rs 96 million to the Bank.

The Commission has filed the case against the loan receivers as well as others directly or indirectly involved in the scandal along with the bank officials. The Commission, as per the Anti-Corruption Act 2017, has proposed for 1-3 years of imprisonment to the 18 bank officials and 11 outsiders.

The inspection report prepared by a team led by Chartered Accountant of NRB, Rajan Singh Rajbhandari, has claimed that more than Rs 1.6 billion loan was awarded to different business parties with an ulterior motive for personal benefit, regardless of causing loss to the bank.

"The loan awarded by the officials has almost been defaulted and there is slim chance of retrieving it," the CIAA claimed in its petition. "Due to the illegal rewarding, the NBL currently is undergoing a loss of Rs 2 .36 billion."

In its petition the CIAA has named the scandal as "financial terrorism" and not just a corruption case and promised to continue investigating other cases of similar nature in the near future.

During the investigation, alleged defaulters, Vijay Lohani and Mahendra Gartaula, were found to have received loans from the Bank of Kathmandu and Bank of Ceylon tuning to over Rs 598 million.

"They are found to be professional cheaters," said Krishna Ballav Kafle, a Commissioner at the CIAA. He also informed that the Commission was preparing for other cases of corruption and cheating against Thapa and other officials.