Crown Prince graces 41st TU Day function

Kathmandu, July l0 (RSS): Chairman of the Council of Royal Representatives His Royal Highness Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev graced a function held at Tribhuvan University central office, Kirtipur today on the occasion of the 4lst annual day of the University.

On the occasion, HRH the Crown Prince placed flowers at a stone inscription marking the founding of the University and offered garlands at a statue of His Late Majesty King Tribhuvan.

HRH the Crown Prince was informed on the occasion about the various activities of the University and the gains made by it.

Earlier, HRH the Crown Prince was welcomed by pro-chancellor of the University and Minister for Education and Sports Amod Prasad Upadhyaya and vice Chancellor Navin Prakash Jung Shaha.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was also present on the occasion.

Established in 20l6 Bikram year, the University has l2l,8l5 students of various levels enrolled at campuses under it .

There are 6l campuses under the University and another l58 campuses are affiliated to it.

The University has nine different departments and four research centers.

The University has signed letters of understanding on education and research exchanges with 79 Universities in 23 countries.

A meeting of the Tribbhuvan University Council held earlier under the chairmanship of pro-chancellor and Education Minister Upadhyaya decided to confer grace passes on l3,492 students at various levels.

Also present at the function were heads of constitutional bodies, ministers and representatives of foreign diplomatic missions.

Good urban governance stressed

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, July 10: A three-day South Asian conference on ‘Urbanisation and Good Urban Governance’ kicked off here this morning.

First of its type in the region, the conference aims at sharing experiences of good urban governance practices among South Asian countries and critically discussing the roles of various key actors in general, and of central government in particular, for promoting good urban governance, the organisers said.

The conference, jointly organised by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI) of UNDP and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), would also acquaint and sensitise government officials and other key stakeholders with the principles and practices of good governance and identify ways in which TUGI can collaborate with government ministries and departments in charge of urban affairs within the region, the organisers said.

The conference, which is being participated in by the representatives from the governmental and non-governmental organisations, would provide a platform for government agencies, regional non-governmental organisations and other supporting institutions to share experiences of good governance practices amongst the South Asian nations, the organisers said.

Speakers at the inaugural ceremony said that the cities of South Asia were facing with enormous challenges in terms of governance as a direct result of the rapid urbanisation process that had affected many developing nations. "It is the unplanned, unprepared-for transition that relegates governance structures incapable of coping with the effects of urbanisation.

"We feel urbanisation and urban growth would be major challenges to our countries in the new millennium," Minister for Physical Planning and Works and Water Resources Khum Bahadur Khadka said in his inaugural speech. "Good governance would definitely play a vital role in helping us streamline the inevitable process of urbanisation of urban growth."

Stating that the government has identified poverty alleviation as the main development objective for the Ninth Plan, Minister Khadka said, "In the urban sector, poverty focussed sectoral and targeted programmes with an emphasis on peoples’ participation are already being launched to improve living conditions and to increase productivity in the urban areas of the country."

Nepal has taken several initiatives for promoting good urban governance in response to the Habitat Global Agenda, he said, adding the recently promulgated Local Self Governance Act has empowered the municipalities to carry out a wide range of functions and responsibilities related to development activities and provision of services.

From the chair, National Planning Commission Member Dr Ramesh Nanda Vaidya said that rural development would be impossible without development of urban areas that provide markets for rural production. "Therefore, we need to have good urban governance for all round development of the country," he said.

Welcoming the guests and participants earlier, MPPW Secretary Hiranya Lal Regmi said that the existing urban infrastructure in most of the South Asian cities had become inadequate to cater to the rapidly growing urban population. Stressing on the need for decentralisation, he said that the central government should allow self-governance to the local bodies.

General Secretary of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Nihal Rodrigo suggested the concerned governments to "reduce (peoples’) movement from rural (to urban) areas through greater development efforts in the rural sector" so as to contain the problems of governance prompted by the rapid urban growth.

Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Nepal Saraswathi Menon said that the urban governance must address the issues related to migration from rural to urban areas.

In Nepal, 54 thousand people annually migrate to urban areas to escape poverty and natural disaster, she said. "The management of cities and municipalities must be brought closer to the people."

Nepal, India share commonalities: Singh

Janakpurdham, July 10 (RSS): Indian Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh has said that the cultural ties subsisting between Nepal and India are age old.

Speaking at a function held here in his honour by Janakpur Municipality, he said as Janakpurdham has a special significance in the ties between the two countries, all should bow to Lord Rama in Janakpurdham.

He noted that the contribution made by Nepalese during the liberation movement in India was not less than that made by any Indian.

Mr. Singh also underlined the need for wiping out poverty, a main challenge before both the nations.

Ex-minister Bimledra Nidhi expressed the conviction that if the Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway is transformed into broad gauge, it would be of help in the development of Janakpurdham.

The function was chaired by Janakpur Mayor Bajarang Prasad Shaha.

Also today, Mr. Singh made an on the spot inspection of Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway.

He gave assurances of a serious consideration for any proposal for the development of Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway coming from His Majesty’s Government.

He also inspected the guest house constructed by the Tirupati Tirupala Devsthanam.

How safe is your mineral water ?

Bhaktapur, July 10 (RSS): Which source of water are you using ? Be careful over use of water during the rainy season. Otherwise you will fall prey to various water-born diseases.

A survey conducted by microbe expert and reader Dr. Jeevan Bahadur Sherchan at the TU Teaching Hospital Research Laboratory reveals that boiling the water or use of an euroguard are two reliable ways to prevent water-born disease

A press release issued by the laboratory says germs have been found in mineral produced by various companies and in water from different natural sources.

During the tests of some 211 litres of water samples from various companies such Aua, Bisleri, Thirst-Pi, Yes and Bailley and water from taps, wells, tube wells and also water purified by Euroguard, 9 different types of germs were detected except in the samples of Euroguard filtered water.

The germs were found to the extent of 33 per cent in tap water, 19 per cent in Thirst Pi, 10 per cent in Aqua, about 9 per cent in Yes and about 8 per cent in Bislesri.

The laboratory tested the water in co-operation with the infectious and tropical disease research and control centre in response to requests from foreign agencies and employees.

The release also appalled to the general public to consume water only after boiling or purifying through Euroguard.

Govt set to mobilize revenue, says Acharya

Kathmandu, July 10 (RSS): The House of Representatives at its meeting today passed the Finance Bill-2057 tabled by Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya.

Replying questions raised during discussions on the Finance Bill, Finance Minister Acharya said that as His Majesty’s Government has taken concrete steps for recovering income tak and Value Added Tax (VAT) effective, the objective of mobilising revenue set under the fiscal year 2057/58 can be fulfilled.

Mr Acharya said that works would be carried out to check leakage of revenue, the evaluation procedure will be managed well and extended to the retailers level , alertness of the administration will be increased and the procedure of paying tax will be simplified.

The government has the target of reducing customs duty on raw materials of exportable goods to five percent, he said, adding that this would help to maintain the competitiveness of exportable goods.

Stating that the policy of reducing customs duty on raw materials of exportable goods as well as returning tax will not be allowed to have an adverse affect in exports, Mr Acharya said that if the export sector was exempted tax it would not be possible to collect revenues.

Stating that an attempt had been made to regularise trade with the Tibet Autonomous Region through banks, Mr Acharya said that carrying out transactions through the bank does not mean carrying out all transactions by opening Letters of Credit.

The Finance Minister said that an effective policy would be adopted to bring all the sectors within the tax net.

Stating that His Majesty’s Government has constituted a task force to take action against everyone mentioned in the report of the revenue leakage investigation committee, Mr Acharya said that a study is being conducted to take action against such persons by fulfilling legal procedures.

Taking part in the discussions, chief whip of the CPN-UML Bharat Mohan Adhikary said that the budget was not formulated properly as not more than Rs 40 billion revenue can be recovered against the target of collecting Rs 53 billion under the fiscal year 2057/58.

The decisions taken to levy income tax on exports and dividends, VAT on flour, and to conduct trade with tibet autonomous region through banks were not proper, Mr Adhikary said, adding that the fees of the doctors should be determined before levying VAT on their fees.

Dr.Prakash Chandra Lohani of RPP said the development budget will be more dependent on foreign assistance as the targeted revenue cannot be realised under the fiscal year 2057/58.

Dr. Lohani pointed out to the possibility of the country facing a big crisis if the government failed to collect the targeted revenue.

Unless a strategy is formulated to collect revenue and to check leakage of revenue, the system of mobilising revenue will not materialise, Dr. Lohani said, adding that the mention of programme in the budget for which an agreement has not been reached, and the decision exempting income tax on foreign loans which is contrary to the Finance Act are some of the weaknesses of the new budget.

Gokarna Raj Bista of the CPN-UML said the House should be informed about the changes made in taxes on goods; smuggling cannot be checked by conducting trade through banks; it is not practical to levey additional tax on exportable goods,; there is no grounds for mobilising revenue through collection of income tax; and the tax levied on exports has discouraged export of goods.

Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat of the Nepali Congress said that hard work has to be done to realise the objective of taxation; and the taxation system will be affected if the VAT is not implemented properly. He stressed the need mobilise internal means and resources and reduce dependency on foreign assistance and grants.

Dilli Raj Khanal of the CPN-UML said that taxation proposal should play an important role in promoting industries and trade; the tax proposal should end anomalies existing in collection of revenues; revenue leakage should be checked to attain the objective of mobilising revenue; and the increasing tendency of cheating customers under the pretext of VAT should be discouraged.

The House of Representatives meets again at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.

MPs rap outbursts against democracy, demand moves to contain them

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, July 10: Lawmakers of the ruling and the opposition parties at the House of Representatives today grouped together spontaneously to condemn recent outbursts that intended to undermine barely a decade old multiparty democracy in Nepal.

"People’s aspirations may have remained unfulfilled and the martyrs’ dreams may still be realised, but there is no alternative to democracy," said Pradip Kumar Gyawali of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) just as the proceedings began.

Gyawali’s statement apparently referred to one of the speaker’s preparedness to "shoot the Prime Minister if need be" at a programme organised by an organisation calling itself the Nationalist Youths’ Forum. Dhirendra Shah, who relinquished his Royal title over 10 years ago, was one of the prominent figures attending that programme in the heart of the capital city on Saturday.

Narayan Prakash Saud of Nepali Congress alerted that both ruling and the opposition parties needed to be watchful since the reactionary forces had started to raise their ugly heads.

NC’s Bharat Kumar Shah demanded that the government take action against individuals who conducted anti-democratic activities in the name of Nationalist Youth Forum.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s Parliamentary Leader Surya Bahadur Thapa said that on the one hand the left extremists had been carrying out insurgency and on the other the rightist fundamentalists had been defaming democratic system by spreading public hatred against the system among the people.

Stating that the NYF speakers said they would shoot the Prime Minister and other senior politicians in case needed, he said the situation could have been averted had the government been cautious in time. "The parties who follow the constitutional norms should combat against such statements," he said. "The government must not ignore such activities but take measures to contain them instead."

"What is the Home administration doing at a time when a group of people defame democracy in the capital itself?" Hridayesh Tripathi of the Nepal Sadbhavana party questioned. "The government should punish such criminals who label baseless charges against democratic system."

Lilamani Pokharel of the United People’s Front, Nepal said that his party had already alerted the government that such menace was hovering over the system. He said that such a situation occurred due mainly to the irresponsible behaviour on part of the politicians.

Narayan Man Bijukchhe of the Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party said that nobody could bring to an end the system adopted by people just by killing one or two persons. He said that the reactionary forces were creeping up because of the irresponsible acts of the ruling party.

UML’s Subash Nemwang demanded that the government inform the House about the NYF’s July 8 talk programme that came up with objectionable expressions regarding the state and its citizens.

NC lawmakers Romi Gauchan, Shiva Kumar Basnet, Arjun Prasad Joshi, Mahadev Gurung, Rajendra Kharel, Benup Raj Prasain, Hari Narayan Chaudhari, Dr. Gopal Prasad Koirala, Mahendra Yadav, Tanka Prasad Sharma Kandel, Ramhari Dhungel, Krishna Kishor Ghimire, Hom Nath Dahal, Sabitri Bogati Pathak, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, Shankar Prasad Pandey, Tek Bahadur Chokhyal, Ram Kumar Chaudhari, Hari Bhakta Adhikari and Damodar Bastakoti also drew the government’s attention towards the case.

Similarly, UML’s Til Kumar Meyangbo, Lal Babu Pandit, Parsuram Meghi Gurung, Raghuji Panta and Kamal Sunuwar, National People’s Front’s Hari Acharya and RPP’s Buddhiman Tamang said that the government should be alert to the reactionary activities that have posed threat to democracy.