Three years' imprisonment to terrorists

Itahari, Mar. 26 (RSS): Three persons associated with the cpn (maoists) and All Nepal National Free Students Union (annfsu) and involved in terrorists activities have been sentenced to three years' imprisonment.

The single bench of the district court, Sunsari, Ekaraj Acharya, awarded the punishment on March 22 on  the basis of the evidences against the accused.

The three of them were remanded to judicial custody at the Biratnagar jail for crime against the state.

Among the three, Kiran Rai was involved in an explosion at Bhojpur and Geeta Subba was arrested for possessing arms and explosives at Dharan.

Likewise, Omprakash Dhakal and Dhyan Bahadur Rai who were detained at Dhankuta prison have been acquitted for lack of sufficient evidences against them, it is learnt from the court.

Indifference to laws won't help, says CJ

Kathmandu, Mar. 26 (RSS): Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya inaugurated a day-long interaction on "legal provision for completion of time-limit for litigants" organised by Kathmandu District Court and District Bar Association here today.

The programme was organised with the objective of holding interaction with the lawyers, people's representatives and others concerned on removing hurdles and constraints seen in the existing legal provision concerning time-limit.

Taking part in the programme are chairmen and representatives of 57 vdcs of Kathmandu district, ward chairmen of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Kirtipur Municipality and Tameldars of the district.

On the occasion, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that all concerned with the provision of time-limit should execute their responsibility sincerely; for any shortcoming on their part in this sensitive matter would put a question mark on it.

Stating that indifference to laws would not help materialise the concept of the rule of law nor would it help establish the democratic norms, values and ideals, he noted that the co-operation of the People's Representatives without any prejudices would help simplify the  process of time-limit completion and administration of justice.

President of Nepal Bar Association Harihar Dahal said that the process of time-limit should be kept away from politics  and the role of the people's representatives in this connection should be honest and co-operative.

Chief Judge of Appellate Court, Patan, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi said that if Tameldar and public representatives colluded and did not keep a party concerned informed on time this would lead to unilateral verdict which was likely to throttle justice.

District Judge Bhola Prasad Kharel and associate professor Madhav Acharya also expressed their views at the programme chaired by president of Kathmandu District Bar Association, Kedar Karki.

'Caste-based discriminations exist in Nepal'

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Mar. 26: Sixty-five per cent of the respondent of an opinion poll survey conducted by the Media Services International (MSI) said that cast-based discriminations existed in Nepal. Twenty-nine per cent said they were not aware of such discriminations while six per cent preferred not to express any opinion on the issue.

On where discriminations could be located at, 56 per cent referred to social ceremonies like weddings and furneral rituals, an MSI press release said. Twenty per cent referred to decisions relating to social and community activities, 13 per cent to justice dispensation, four per cent to rewardlessness despite notable achievements and eight per cent to areas like the problem of untouchability.

Sixty-seven per cent of the respondents, according to the press release, admitted that the level of caste-based discriminations had decreased after the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990. Twenty per cent of the respondents, however, said that the situation had not changed while 11 per cent remained opted for no opinion.

Forty-two per cent of the respondents said that they would like their children to be educated in Nepali, 29 per cent were for English while 28 per cent opted for the mother tongues.

In response to the question whether Janajatis had been denied economic opportunities, 59 per cent said that they did not know any such cases. Twenty-one per cent said they knew of cases of denial of economic opportunities to the Janajati members, while 20 per cent did not express any opinion on the issue.

On the question of where specifically have the Janajatis  been denied economic opportunities, 43 per cent said in recruitment for employment while 21 per cent said in facilities given to the landless. Seventeen per cent said in obtaining loans from the financial institutions. 13 per cent in special programmes meant for the Janajatis and five per cent said in other areas.

Asked if they thought the government had done enough to preserve and develop the culture, customs and languages of the Janajatis, 55 per cent said 'no' whereas 28 per cent thought the government had done something in this regard. Sixteen per cent gave no opinion, the press release stated.

On the question of where were the improvements overdue, 41 per cent said in the special programmes designed for the preservation of tradition and culture of the Janajatis while 34 per cent said in study and research targeted to highlight the cultures, customs and languages of the Janajatis. Twenty per cent said in preserving traditional customs and practices of the janajatis and eight per cent said in other areas.

The opinion poll survey with a sample size of 1,068 individuals covered 15 districts from the mountains, hills and the Terai ranging from Ilam in the east to Dang in the west. Panchthar, Jhapa, Sunsari, Bhojpur, Sindhupalchowk, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Kaski, Lamjung, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Palpa came in between.

The respondents represented Yolmo, Thakali, Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Chepang, Magar, Lepcha, Jyapu, Tharu, Dhimal, Satar, Jhangad and Danuwar Janajatis,  the press release said.

The survey was conducted between January 5 and 15 this year, with a grant from the London-based Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Acharya stresses need to sustain economic growth

Kathmandu, Mar. 26 (RSS): Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has spoken of the need to carry out economic development activities through wise utilisation of government means and resources.

Minister Acharya, who was speaking at an interaction programme organised by the Reporters Club Nepal here today, called for a political commitment among all political parties to economic upliftment of the country.

Stating that the present government is committed to generating more employment and income generation opportunities so as to alleviate poverty, he stressed the need of effective monitoring system for controlling irregularities.

Political interference in state-owned public corporations has resulted in a sharp decline in production thereby demoralising the employees, he said, stressing the need to check such political interference and make the administrative machinery more effective.

Stressing the need to involve Nepalese technicians in development projects, Minister Acharya said we should shun a tendency to depend on others in every sector.

At a time when the country has seen an economic depression, investment promotion is indispensable for attaining high growth rate, he observed.

If we are able to increase the country's economic growth rate to 7 percent it would help much in poverty alleviation, he said.

Stressing the need for internal savings and proper utilisation of foreign assistance, he said investment should be made in agriculture, irrigation, communications technology, hydropower, human resource development and tourism to boost the country's economy.

With more and more business companies getting registered with vat offices revenue collection is likely to increase.

Club president Rishi Dahmala Presided.

FNCCI team meets Koirala

Kathmandu, Mar. 26 (RSS):A delegation led by president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (fncci) Pradip Kumar Shrestha met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter's residence at Baluwatar today.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Koirala described the private sector as the foundation of the country's economic development and stressed the need for cooperation between the government and the private sector in the resolution of any problems and the country's development.

Calling for substantial suggestions from fncci for building a congenial environment for economic development, Prime Minister Koirala said the government will take necessary initiative to implement the suggestions and overcome the slackness facing the industry and trade sector.

At the meeting, fncci president Shrestha apprised the Prime Minister of the present economic, industrial and trade situation in the country, the problems facing the private sector and the programmes and activities of the Federation.

The fncci president highlighted the slackness in the country's economic and trade sector, weak implementation aspect of the policies, other problems emanating from among other things the vat and collection of taxes at local level.

The one-door committee has not yet been effective, he said adding the imposition of special additional tax by India on the Nepalese products has discouraged export of Nepalese goods into India. He also asked the government to pay serious attention to this state of affairs.

According to the fncci, the delegation presented a set of demands to the Prime Minister. The demands included among other things formation of Trade Council and a permanent revenue board under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, fixation of workers' minimum wage in view of the slackness facing the industrial sector, special attention to economic agenda, representation of the private sector in Nepal Rastra Bank and proper initiative to resume Indian Airlines flight.

Minister for Industry and Commerce Ram Krishna Tamrakar, fncci senior member Padma Jyoti, vice presidents Ravi Bhakta Shrestha, Diwakar Golchha, Binod Bahadur Shrestha and Rajendra Kumar Khetan and the fncci council and committee chairmen were present on the occasion.