His Majesty promulgates Armed Police Ordinance

Kathmandu, Jan. 22 (RSS): His Majesty the King has, in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 and with the consent of the Council of Ministers, promulgated an "Armed Police Ordinance 2057 B.S." designed to immediately institute an armed police force and make arrangements for its functioning, since parliament is not in session at present, according to the cabinet secretariat.

Likewise, His Majesty has, in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 and with the consent of the Council of Ministers, promulgated a "Local Administration (fourth amendment) Ordinance 2057 B.S. to immediately amend the Local Administration Act 2028, since Parliament is not in session at present.

Koirala reelected NC chief by wide margin
PM-936, Deuba-507, Joshi-10
10th NC Convention concludes today

BY SUNIL K.C. / NARAYAN UPADHYAY

Pokhara, Jan. 22 -Girija Prasad Koirala, President of the Nepali Congress party, has been reelected as the party’s president by an overwhelming margin of 429 votes.

According to high-level sources, Koirala has won 936 votes against 507 votes of his rival Sher Bahadur Deuba. Ramhari Joshi, the third candidate could manage only 10 votes.

Of the 1477 total voters, 1468 votes were cast. Eight votes were invalid and there were 9 absentees. However the result is yet to be announced officially as the counting of votes for the 18 seats of the Central Working Committee of the party is still going on at the time this report was dispatched. Party sources said the counting will not be over till late at night or early next morning.

Party Spokesman Narahari Acharya said the official announcement of the election would be made during the concluding session of the General Convention tomorrow morning.

The votes Koirala got was a little less than what he had got in the party’s 9th General Convention held in Kathmandu five years ago. In that convention, Koirala had got 1,100 plus votes and his competitor Chiranjibi Wagle had got only 252 votes with Ramhari Joshi doing slightly better this time with 10 votes.

The election for the party president and 18 members of the Central Working Committee of the party was held today on the fourth day of the 10th General Convention of the party.

Although the voting schedule was fixed from 9 A.M. to 1. P.M. but the voting was still going until 3 in the afternoon. And the counting could begin only around 6:30 in the evening.

The outcome of the election for the party president had already become clear as the unofficial results began to seep outside the Dipendra Convention Hall, where the election was being held.

With the victory of Koirala almost assured the crowd that had gathered throughout the day had began to scatter.

At the Deuba’s contact office at Hotel Anand, just minutes walk away from the convention hall, the environment was gloomy. With the defeat almost assured, some of Deuba supporters were watching a movie on the television. However, some were satisfied that Deuba’s showing was not as bad as Wagle’s in the last General Convention.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Party President Koirala was already in bed at around 8:00. Journalists who reached the guest house of the Nepal Rastra Bank office in Pokhara were told that the Prime Minister was already in bed due to hectic schedule of the last four days and that he would meet the people only in the next morning.

Earlier in the morning, the final close-door session of the General Convention had passed the report of the General Secretary of the party and the party’s policies and programmes.

The code of conduct formulated by the party for its workers, MPs, ministers and others was passed by the convention on its Sunday’s second session.

With the completion of discussions and the election, the 10th General Convention of the Nepali Congress is over. The concluding session of the convention will be held tomorrow morning.

Judicial Academy in the offing: CJ

Bhadrapur, Jan. 22 (RSS): Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya has said that the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council have given top priority to making provisions to impart specialised training to judges above the district level.

Chief Justice Upadhyaya gave this information while winding up the four-day training for district judges of the eastern development region hosted by the Judicial Council Secretariat at Kalbalgudi.

Stating that the area under the purview of the judiciary was expanding in the changed world scenario, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that as justice had to be dispensed in areas such as environment, gender equality, information technology, arbitration and contracts, judges need training in such matters.

Pointing out that in other countries training is given to every judge, Mr Upadhyaya said the process of establishing a Judicial Academy in the country is in the final stages and a search is on for donor agencies.

Making it clear that the Judicial Council and the Supreme Court transfer or promote judges on the basis of suitability, efficiency and evaluation, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that judges dedicated to the service of the people should be willing to serve anywhere in the country.

Winding up the training programme, Chief Justice Upadhyaya stated that every judge should abide by the code of conduct and follow the 13-point directive issued in December 1999.

Pointing out the need for commitment to abiding by the code of conduct, the Chief Justice also issued a nine-point directive concerning activities to be undertaken by the courts to resolve problems in the administering of justice on the basis of the information received at the Judicial Council and during inspection of the courts.

Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that the judges themselves should refrain from expressing views that create misunderstanding about the judiciary and from making baseless and unsubstantiated comments. Instead their conduct at work should be characterized by goodwill, tolerance, correctness and maturity.

Mr Upadhyaya said that all concerned should direct their thoughts and efforts towards making the activities of the judiciary quick, efficient, effective and of a certain standard and that problems concerning every issue should be sought from within the judiciary instead of commenting gratuitously on matters on internal dispute and hankering for perks and other facilities.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, district judge of Khotang Prakash Ram Mishra emphasised the need for the Judicial Council and the Supreme Court to host regular trainings and seminars on specialised fields.

Judicial Council and Supreme Court spokesman Kashi Raj Dahal proposed a vote of thanks at the function chaired by Chief Judge of the Appellate Court Rajendra Bhandari.

At the training programme, working papers were presented by Supreme Court Justice Kedar Prasad Upadhyaya on work load and procedural law, judge Gopal Prasad Chhetri on invoking court provisions no. 17 and 184 for taking quick decisions in court cases and judge Krishna Jung Rayamajhi on the scope, procedures and preservation of documents in court cases.

Likewise, Supreme Court judge Laxman Prasad Aryal presented a working paper concerning points to which attention had to be paid while issuing injunctions regarding custody, and chief judge of Ilam Court Rajendra Bhandari on writing the verdict and implementation of verdicts.

The training programme attended by 28 judges of the Eastern Development Region has already been held in Chitwan for judges of the Central Development Region, spokesman Dahal said.

The Judicial Council aims to take the suggestions received after conclusion of the training programme for district judges to the implementation level, council secretary Shyam Krishna Kasaju

Resource mobilization for health sector discussed

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Jan. 22: - A five-day WHO Inter-country Workshop on Project Formulation Skill Development for Mobilization of External Resource for Health Development began here today amidst a function graced by Dr. B.D. Chataut, Director General of the Department of Health Services. The workshop is being organised by WHO in collaboration with the DANIDA Training Center, Copenhagen and attended by participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Addressing the function, Director General Dr. B.D. Chataut said that this workshop has come along at the right time when there is a strong felt need for mobilizing resources for the health sector from the external sources.

Earlier, Dr. Klaus Wagner, the WHO Representative to Nepal, welcomed all distinguished participants to the Himalayan Kingdom and expressed his hope that this workshop would be able to achieve the objectives it intended for. "We need to prepare technical sound proposals so that donors can decide whether or not to fund them, being totally accountable to their taxpayers and recognising the value for money they would provide," he said.

Trade team off to Germany for tourism fair

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Jan. 22: A 22-member business team left here today for Stuttgart, Germany to take part in the CMT International Tourism Fair being held from January 20-28, 2001.

The team is led by B. K. Shrestha, the president of Nepal-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NGCCI). Nepal German Chamber has been co-ordinating country’s participation in the fair since 1994, said an NGCCI press statement.

CMT International Tourism Fair, an annual event, is one of the premier tourism fairs in Europe. Organised in the beginning of each year, CMT attracts over 1,000 travel related prominent corporate bodies and tourism promotion boards from more than 100 nations. The Fair has been focussing its coverage largely on tourism, said the statement.

CMT is being organised by Stuttgart Fair Authority every year since 1968.

A large number of visitors from the host country as well as Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands visit the fair to select and arrange their next holiday destination.

NGCCI said that it was being assisted by Nepal Tourism Board and Honorary Royal Nepalese Consulate General in Stuttgart for the fruitful outcome from the country’s participation.

NGCCI said that the team would also be visiting the German agencies of importance to discuss the matter of mutual interest.

Code of Conduct for party workers okayed

Pokhara, Jan. 22 (RSS): The closed door session of the Nepali Congress 10th General Convention today approved a code of conduct for party workers.

The code of conduct requires every party member holding an advantageous post to submit a statement of property registered in his/her own and family members’ names, and update such statements every year. Such a party member is also required to disclose his/her sources of income to the party discipline and code of conduct committee.

The code of conduct proscribes illegal and unfair financial gains, and consumption of alcoholic drinks in public places except at times of religious, cultural and traditional festivals.

The code of conduct has stressed the need to check lavish expenditure and ostentation during festivals and social and cultural rituals like the sacred thread wearing ceremony, and discourages financial gain for helping someone to get his work done and social misconduct like sexual exploitation.

Likewise, it does not allow party workers to make any remarks aimed at character-assassination of others, hurting others’ pride and instigating disenchantment. The code has also stressed the need for party workers to refrain from recommending or influencing employee appointments, transfers or promotions for personal gain.

Party workers who participated in the discussion on the code of conduct during the closed door session suggested that the code should include a provision under which any party workers can file complaints with the party disciplinary committee backed by adequate evidence, if they found any party worker holding an advantageous post, committing any irregularity or indulging in misconduct.

Justice: Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress will concentrate all its efforts towards providing justice
to the helpless and income to the poor, and involve the people backward in terms of society and geography as equal partners in the development mainstream of the country.

The policy and programme of the party approved at the 10th general convention states that the Nepali Congress, because of its continuous faith in the right to a dignified living for every member of society, will never leave the mainstream of socialism.

Stating that social justice and equality of opportunity in society are essential for the fulfillment of democracy, the party has said that because of its continuous faith in democracy the economic and social policies of the party are guided by the ideology of socialism.

The targeted objective of the Nepali Congress movement is upliftment of the backward society and as the overall development of the country is not possible without socio-economic change and maximum public support is essential in order to consolidate the foundations of democracy, the party has always been leading the struggle for justice and equality for the people.

The Nepali Congress feels that the role of the private sector is essential for enhancement of the prosperity of society and in order to increase production, it is also stated in the policy and programmes of the party.

The noble saying of popular leader B.P. Koirala that democratic socialism is the future of third world countries has become more relevant today and in this context involving people in the development campaign and bringing its fruit equally to all members of society is the special feature of democratic socialism and also the commitment of the Nepali Congress, it is pointed out.

Upliftment: Similarly, the Nepali Congress party rejects any kind of discrimination and is determined to work for the educational, socio-economic and political upliftment of the oppressed and enhancement of social awareness to put into practise the abolition of communal discrimination and untouchability, according to the policy and programmes approved by the 10th NC general convention.

Giving emphasis to the development of the socio-economic condition, languages and cultures of the nationalities, upliftment of indigenous people and development of remote areas, the party has also expressed commitment to making proper arrangements for rehabilitation of the ex-Kamaiyas.

Ex-army and police will also be involved in training and skill development in order to revive them economically and their experience and capabilities will be used in modern farming system, education, transport and the cooperatives sector, it is stated in the policy and programmes.

The party will also give emphasis to the multi-dimensional development of students, mobilisation of youths as messengers of democratic socialism and utilization of the creativity of the youth force.

Nepal Farmers Association will be activated by uniting farmers throughout the nation for the modernization of society and various government bodies like the Public Service Commission will be reformed in order to provide equal opportunity for speakers of all the languages in the country.

In order to fulfill the above objectives the Nepali Congress will pursue policy involving the strengthening of local bodies, decentralisation of power, fostering the cooperatives movement, a work plan for good governance, respect for labour and checking the population growth rate and environment pollution, says the policy and programmes proposal.

‘Violence against children increasing’

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Jan. 22: The forms and events of violence against children have increased this year, said a report prepared by the Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN).

The children have been the victims of widespread violence and torture at homes, in schools and at the workplaces, said the report on the Status of Child Rights in Nepal-2001 released in the capital today.

It said that 57 children had lost their lives and hundreds of others turned orphans during the last five years due to the ongoing violence across the country.

"The Maoist insurgency and the ensuing actions on part of the government has created insecurity and uncertainty in the country," said the report. "Thousands of children have been displaced from the zones where the insurgency is going on."

The report however said that the situation was gradually improving in the child labour front. "Child illiteracy and infant mortality rates are gradually falling too though not to the expected extent," said the report. "The problem of malnutrition still looms large."

The report said that child labour, child marriage, girl trafficking, discrimination between son and daughter and sexual abuse of children eclipsed child rights in the country.

Besides, the rise in the number of child drug users, child suicidal cases and deserting homes has created further social disharmony, said the report.

The report said that the indifference on part of the government and the concerned agencies was the main reason behind the poor status of child rights in the country.

"The commitments of the government are left unfulfilled due mainly to a lack of co-ordination among the agencies responsible to formulate policies and implement them to protect and promote child rights in the country."

The socio-cultural situation and ignorance on part of the parents are other causes of poor child rights situation in the country.

Regulatory body needed to improve water supply

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Jan. 22 - Participants at a one-day workshop on "RETA 5922: Regulatory Systems and Networking of Water Supply and Regulatory Bodies" held here today focussed on the need of a regulatory to improve water supply. They agreed on maintaining the service standards.

They also extensively held discussions about factors such as tariff, autonomy of the body, funding, legal framework, among others.

Organised by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Work (MPPW), it was aimed at collecting inputs from the stakeholders on how to effectively implement the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) regional technical assistance (RETA) in promoting reforms in the water supply and sanitation (WSS).

According to the organisers, the specific objective of RETA is to assist the Development Member Countries (DMCs) is establishing regulatory bodies for the sector. Nepal has also been selected as one of the DMCs to be actively involved in this exercise.

At the workshop, H.L. Regmi, Secretary at MPPW, D.B. Shrestha, Joint Secretary at MPPW and RETA Country Director, S.S. Shrestha. Director General at the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management, D.C. Pyakurel, Executive Director of MWSDB and R.K. Siddhi spoke about the need to effectively support reforms in the water supply and sanitation sector.