Human rights activist Thapaliya honoured

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Aug. 7: "In consideration of Servas Nepal’s continuous contribution to world peace and development works, it has been nominated to the executive post of the International Vice-president of the Servas International".

This was stated by ex-Minister Ramhari Joshi at a felicitation programme organised here the other day.

Mr. Joshi was honoured Nutan Thapaliya, a veteran peace and human rights activist, who has devoted more than five decades of his life for human rights and world peace

Mr. Thapaliya is a founder of Amnesty International Nepal and Servas Nepal too.

Expressing his concern, rights and peace activist Mr. Thapaliya said that the time has come to think seriously for continuing this movement.

At the function, the newly elected Servas International’s Vice-president (from Nepal) Bibendra Pradhananaga threw light on the plan and programmes of the Servas Nepal and also urged all to cooperate.

Nepal was elected International Vice-president at the Servas International’s international conference held in Thailand from 15 to 21 July this year.

Mr. Pradhanang, the Nepal national coordinator, also informed that on behalf of Servas Nepal the Peace Awards were presented to founder of Servas International Bob Luitweller of USA, Harivallabh Parikh (Bhai Ji) from India, National Secretary of Servas Thailand Theera Poomsanoh and South East Asia area Coordinator Pisit Puthipiroj also from Thailand.

Similarly, Dr. Chris Slader was awarded the Man of the Year 2000.

Premnath Joshi, Ms. Sarita Shrestha, Dr, Sabita Malla, Sushil Nath Sharma also highlighted the peace movement in Nepal.

NEWSROOM CHATTER

Over-zealous Traffic Cops

FOR the last few days, catching a tempo seems to be becoming an increasingly futile task for some office-goers. Even hailing the tempo-drivers at the top of one’s voice seems to be falling on deaf ears. It was only after a few tries that yours truly managed to catch a tempo—and find out the reason for tempo-drivers not stopping at their usual tempo-stands.

"All the traffic constables along my route have been promoted to sergeants, and the sergeants to assistant sub-inspectors", confided a tempo-driver. When asked what has that got to do with tempo-drivers not stopping at their usual places and giving the passengers a lot of leg-aches, he replied "They are now walking on Cloud Nine. If we don’t obey them, they will withhold our driving licenses. When they catch us driving without our licenses, they will impose a heavy fine. Since we can’t afford to pay a heavy fine, we don’t stop when these newly promoted cops are around."

For the newly promoted cops, showing off their newfound zeal is understandable. But shooing away the tempos from their usual stopping places is simply beyond this scribe’s ken. (GR)

Profitable Business

WHEN someone comes with a decision to hike tariffs just because it cannot check the leakage or that it cannot collect the dues, it is nothing but a ridiculous way of trying to sound logical. The Nepal Electricity Authority’s decision to for such hikes in the electricity charges sounds the same. It is but a foregone conclusion that it is an Authority, holds monopoly, and also has the authority to either raise or lower the tariff though the latter will come about only at the end of the World when there will be no buyers. I don’t know but they say that pressure from ADB or something like that is responsible for the current ad hoc style of functioning or taking decisions. Good Luck NEA while the consumers curse their luck. After all only 15 per cent of the Nepalese will do so and the rest remains glum. (PNK)

Children Of War

A JOURNALIST’S account in a book and a documentary on the three insurgency-prone districts - Rolpa, Rukum and Jajarkot - has revealed something which has so far remained oblivious in the big bad world of politics - what women and children have to go through in those areas. While the book gives a vivid account of the plight of women and children, even the trailers of the documentary has more shocking pictures of children, who look barely weaned and orphaned by the ‘war’, being forced to live all by themselves in ‘haunted’ houses – alone or with aged grandparents. Won’t it be better if those children are brought to Kathmandu or any other city and put them in Bal Mandir or in foster homes run by INGOs and NGOs. May be sending a copy the book to each of the INGOs and NGOs and all of them being inviting to watch the documentary after it is completed may ‘melt’ their hearts to do something for those children of war. (SKC)

Sans Salaries

EMPLOYEES of National Sports Council are depressed these days. The reason being that they have not received monthly salaries for three months. And they are fearful that they would not be able to get it till the next couple of months. Since NSC is preparing Nepalese squad for coming SAF Games in Pakistan, they think that the budget it will receive from the government will be spent on the team’s preparation and participation putting on hold their salaries for few months. The problem for employees is also because NSC is overstaffed and it has not been able to relieve its redundant staffs due to politicial pressures, even though the Finance Ministry has consistently been asking it to cut the number of staff drastically from 1083 to about 370. When Yours Truly tried to inquire more about the employees remuneration problems, the fellow journo laughed and said the problem is common in NSC and doesn’t deserve a space in newspapers unless the employees are unable to receive paycheque for more than six months! (NU)

Ring Road’s Plight

TILL a few years ago, the Ring Road was a pleasant place for riders to spin around. Shaded by the lush hedge of the green belt, it provided freshness in contrast to the otherwise congested inner roads of the city. Even the new riders tried their hands on the wheels. But now, sadly enough, those possibilities are remote. If you want to be at the most congested, dusty, noisy, encroached and neglected portion of Kathmandu, choose the Ring Road. Here you will find yourself blinded by the thick clouds of dust blown by the careless heavy vehicles. At many points, you will not see the trace of the green belts. Instead, there are the piles of construction materials, parked. Everyone is allowed here to drive at mad man’s speed. As a result, the Ring Road has turned into a most miserable section of road in the capital. (BT)

No Goodbye

IT MAY be boring for you to talk about the shoddy roads and streets of the capital city. But you are always haunted not only by the deteriorating condition of the roads but also by the increasing environmental degradation. Maybe, it may be adventure for some (the hardened ones) but it is a horrible and painful experience for those who are sick and old. Vehicle owners often complain that the "excellent" condition of the roads are shortening the life of their vehicles. They certainly want their vehicles to ply on good and smooth roads as they contribute much as taxes to the government. They, in fact, want to know where their money is being spent. There is no doubt that neither the government nor the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has allocated any considerable amount for the improvement of the roads, unless there are shiny kickbacks. The leaders know better! (BMD)

Give Stability A Chance

AFTER 11 years and three months of democracy, the eleventh government has now been formed in the country. And development, peace, people’s prosperity and lately good governance have been the catchwords for all governments formed in the past. However, most of the government failed to meet the expectations of the people at large, nor could they fulfill the commitments they made during the formation of the government. Interestingly, except for the Interim just after the successful popular movement, no governments could complete their tenure and majority of them collapsed due to intra-party conflicts in the then ruling parties. As a result, no government could become strong enough to fight the problems faced by the country. It is natural that with the weaker government in the centre, a number of social anomalies like corruption and violence start emanating in many parts of the country. And it is what the Nepalese people have been witnessing in the last decade. The present government has been formed with the aim of solving the Maoist problem that has badly weakened the hard-achieved democratic rights and the nation as well. As such it is the duty of all Nepalese people including the responsible political parties to cooperate the government firstly in achieving its target and secondly letting it to complete its tenure so that the Nepalese people would have the 12th government only after 2004 general elections. (BG)

Favourite Pastime?

THEY are digging again, customarily. They find this time, the monsoon season, the best time for digging roads, be it for sewerage or cables. Digging for repair or whatever, fine. No one can stop them and our voice becomes a cry in the wilderness. But why don’t they exhibit a minimum level of honesty (or commonsense) to put up a notice to caution the nightriders who may succumb to serious injuries if they fall into the big pits? If such unfortunate events took place — like the one at Putali Sadak some time ago when a bike fell headlong into an opening in the middle of the road — who would compensate the victims? (GB)

Lord Of Flies

REMEMBER the cover design of William Golding’s famous fiction work "Lord of the flies"? There stood a man almost all his body covered with flies. The image was a perfect replica of what yours truly witnessed in Dolpa, lower Dolpa to be precise, recently. Flies in this far-flung district were omnipresent. Here, there and everywhere. Buzzing against anything, even your nose!, flitting from one point to the other, they were swarming every moment, many a time irritating visitors. Bedroom, kitchen, toilet, and outdoors, they had their access all around. Before meal-time, someone had to clear the heaps of these dead insects from the dining-table. The only time these hyper-active arthropods would repose was in the night. In the early mornings, even before your clock would ring, they would deliver a wake-up call right on your ear. And at day times, their favourite pastime would be to be glued on the innocent but dirt-smeared faces of babies, reminding the famine-struck areas in Africa. The locals, however, would not mind. Flies, they proudly believe, are the identity of Karnali Zone! (NSK)

Hope, No Hope

ARE hopes only mirage? Can they not be realised? Yes, these and other question have again hit the Nepalese politics with a fresh increase in bitterness between the political parties. With the emergence of Sher Bahadur Deuba as PM, the nation heaved a sigh of relief when the Maoists responded to his call for peace through dialogue. But, the congenial atmosphere that is taking a definite shape, seems to be spoiled as the opposition parties have begun to strongly denounce the government’s move to get the two controversial ordinances through the House. This is why the House saw the same scene being repeated as last time: the boycott of the House by the main opposition party and chanting of slogans against the procedure by the smaller opposition groups. All these will not be conducive in materialising government –Maoist talks. (RRS)

Temples, ponds in Simraungadh needs protection

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Kalaiya (Bara), Aug. 7: Due to the lack of excavation, investigation and conservation, the historically important temples and ponds of Simraungadh are on the verge of extinction.

Abil Kushbah, resident of Simraungadh, says that people are taking away mud from the edge of the ponds of Simraungadh. Such activities have posed threats to the existence of the ponds.

In 13th century, King Shiva Singh had ruled over Simraungadh. He got his daughter married with the King of Abadh. In the marriage ceremony, he constructed ponds on the bank of the Narayani river for providing facilities to those who had accompanied the bridegroom. The distance between one to another pond is two kilometers.

‘Arakhor pond’ constructed during that time is situated in Simraungadh, which covers an area of more than 2 kilometers.

Rishi Kesh Lohani, another local inhabitant, says that no one is serious to look after and conserve the historical ponds of the area.

There are many idols and images in the area.

Laxmi Sarraf, local inhabitant, says that most of the ancient idols have already been stolen. However, the remaining ones have been kept on the walls of Shiva’s temple in Jaya Nagar, Chiutaha.

Local people say that it is too late to start making efforts to conserve the idols and images of this historical place.