Legal experts discuss new civil code
Say nature of crime becoming complex day of day

BY KRISHNA SHARMA

Butwal, Sept. 8: District and Appellate Court judges, legal experts and the district and regional level law enforcing officials had a brainstorming discussion here today on the behavioural aspects of the proposed "Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code".

The follow-up committee of the government, in association with United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP), has been seeking reactions and opinions from the legal personalities, police and bureaucrats on the Code which is going to replace the Civil Code after it becomes law after approval of the Parliament.

In the two-day interaction programme on the proposed draft of "Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code", various delegates voiced that the draft should address all crime-related cases and should not violate any norms of Human Rights. They also pointed out that the draft needed to be changed on various grounds – legal, procedural, humanistic, ethical cultural and linguistic.

"If the draft is presented in the form of a bill without making necessary changes which are recommended, the upcoming law regarding the Criminal Code will not be able to address every type of criminal cases which take place in an organised and planned way," they said.

They raised their concern on issues described in the draft like the new provisions of marriageable age for boys and girls, classification of criminal cases and their punishment and introduction of a new and harsh legal provision for large scale cheating of the banks and co-operatives.

The participants also showed their concern over the legal provision for organised crimes and causes, degrading environmental issues and the crime against the cruelty to animals. They also said that except the words of historical connotations there should be Nepali words used in day-to-day legal practices thereby replacing the unused and impractical Urdu, Hindi and words from other languages.

Speaking on the occasion, advocate Tej Prasad Kandel said that the draft was the photocopy of the 28-year-old Muluki Ain drafted in 2030 B.S.

He blamed the committee for not including the legal provision for the complicated kind of cases which have taken place in the recent times.

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (MLJPA) is expected to present the draft in the form of a bill in the next year's budget session by making some changes as recommended by legal experts working in different parts of the country.

"After the last interaction in Kathmandu, we will start finalising the draft by including all the necessary recommendations received during these kinds of meetings," Secretary at the MLJPA Udapa Nepali Shrestha told The Rising Nepal.

The MLJPA and UNDP are jointly organising the last of this kind of programme in the Capital where high level legal experts including Chief Justice and other judges will be present.

In the concluding ceremony of the programme, Secretary of the Judicial Council Kashi Raj Dahal hailed the participants' valued suggestions and said that the recommendations would be given due respect while giving a final touch to the draft.

Giving the final keynote speech, Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki said that consensus opinions were significant while making laws and any other documents. "However, I should say that we have not yet been able to formulate laws on scientific basis," Karki said addressing the second session of the interaction programme which dealt on "Penal Code".

Today's session was chaired by the judge of Appellate Court-Butwal, Chandra Bahadur Karki while the first session of the interaction programme held the other day was on "Criminal Procedure Code".

Appellate Court judge Karki said that he would provide recommendations to the follow up committee in near future in written form after they had detailed discussions with the district judges, advocates and others.

Sustainable Education
Help Govt to make literacy campaign successful: Upadhyaya

Kathmandu, Sept. 8 (RSS): Minister for Education and Sports Amod Prasad Upadhyaya has said that the efforts and commitment of His Majesty’s Government is not enough for successful implementation of the literacy programme in the country.

Mr Upadhyaya said that active participation of all political, social and religious organisations as well as intellectuals, professors, teachers, students, industrialists, education lovers, farmers, labourers, NGOs, INGOs and local bodies is necessary to make the literacy programme successful.

Minister Upadhyaya made these remarks in a message given on the occasion of the World Literacy Day here today.

The Minister for Education and Sports said that a detailed long term action plan is being worked out to provide basic and sustainable education to all adults, maintain gender equality in education and provide free and compulsory primary education to all by 2015.

Illiteracy will be eradicated in five of the 20 districts where the literacy campaign has been launched within the next two years, Mr Upadhyaya said, adding that the work of collecting family literacy statistics is underway in an additional 10 districts.

Informing that community study centres have been run on trail basis in Baitadi, Kathmandu and Kavrepalanchowk districts, he said that it is being felt necessary to formulate a policy for expanding such community study centres in other districts.

Even though progress has been made providing primary and basic education in many countries of the world, illiteracy is still poses a major challenge in majority of the developing countries, he said, adding that of the total 110 million children of school going age and 880 million illiterate adults in the world, 71 per cent of them are in Asia-Pacific Region and most of them are in South Asia.

Stating that the percentage of literacy has increased from two per cent in 2007 B.S. to 57 per cent in Nepal, Minister Upadhyaya said that 70 per cent of the literate are men and 44 per cent women.

The gap in the literacy percentage between men and women has been reducing since the past few years, he added.

Meanwhile, UNESCO Associated School Cooperation Council, Nepal organised an interaction programme at the Padmodaya Secondary School Today.

Speaking on the occasion former education minister Arjun Narsingh K.C. said that literacy should be viewed in the context of self-sufficiency.

General secretary of UNESCO Commission Khagendra Basnet said that literacy means the development of capability to run a business.

Former T.U. vice chancellor Dr. Trailokya Nath Uprety expressed the view that it was necessary for one person to teach another in order to attain the objectives of literacy.

At the function chaired by Mr Ramesh Prasad Gautam, president of the UNESCO Associated School Cooperation Council, Nepal, vice-president of the council Bhola Prasad Thapaliya and secretary Laxmi Kishore Subedi also expressed their views.

Govt ready to promote bee keeping: Acharya

Kathmandu, Sept. 8 (RSS): Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Mahesh Acharya has stressed the need for agricultural industrialisation for the socio-economic transformation of the country.

Minister Acharya made this remark while giving away certificates to the participants of a week-long training conducted by the Gandaki Bee Concern, here, yesterday.

Acharya said a country like ours should concentrate on producing qualitative products rather than excessive production.

The government is ready to go hand in hand with the private sector for the promotion of bee keeping which is related to bio-diversity at this time of globalisation.

MP Ram Bahadur Gurung said poverty and unemployment can be resolved through bee keeping if taken it as a campaign.

From the chair, MP Hari Bhakta Adhikari said the government should bring about new programmes for utilising fertile land for bee keeping in Nepal.

Executive director of Gandaki Bee Concern Dev Bahadur Gurung said more than 1,200,000 hives of bee can be kept in Nepal but only 4 per cent is achieved so far, adding that the concern has trained more than 1,500 bee keepers.

Altogether 22 trainees from various districts had taken part in the training.

Work in remote areas, Bhandari tells doctors

Kathmandu, Sept. 8 (RSS): Health Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari, inaugurating the first anniversary of the Nepal Residence Doctors’ Association here the other day, said that the state had adopted the policy of producing skilled manpower in accordance with their capabilities by mobilising the limited means and resources at its disposal.

Minister Bhandari said that the Ministry of Health could formulate new laws if existing laws and regulations were not suitable for attaining these objectives.

Referring to the shortage of doctors in the remote areas of the country, Mr Bhandari urged the doctors not to stay only in the urban areas but to go the places where they have been posted and provide medical services to the people.

Speaking from the chair the association’s president Manoj Nepal said that the facilities of the resident doctors were inadequate.

Mr Nepal said that the association would carry out works to improve and expand the post graduate medical education in the country.

Health secretary Mahendra Aryal said that the Ministry is ready to hold positive talks for development and expansion of necessary technical manpower.

Dean of the Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine Dr. Hargovinda Shrestha said that the institute of medicine had plans of increasing the post graduate medical education from existing 17 subjects.

Director of Bir Hospital Binod Lal Shrestha said that the residence doctors had been providing effective medical services at the Bir Hospital.

Executive director of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital Dr. Mahindra Nepal stressed the need for solid commitment to increase education and training opportunities.

Vice-president of the association Dr. Dipak Sigdel, Canadian professor (Dr) Danial Elliot, Haribhakta Sharma of Deurali Janata Pharmaceuticals and other health workers also expressed their views on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Bhandari has said His Majesty's Government is committed to resolving the problems in the health sector.

Mr Bhandari, who was addressing the third anniversary function of the Om Institute for Health Manpower Development Pvt. Ltd. here today, noted that though remarkable achievements have been made in the fields of education and health after democracy in the country, quality education is the need of the day.

Speaking of the need for all concerned to become responsible for making health services effective, the Health Minister remarked that the Ministry will start the tradition of honoring the people who contribute to the field of health services.

His Majesty's Government is sensitive about preparing strategies and planned programs for making nursing dignified, he added.

Mr Bhandari, on the occasion, also honored senior nurses Prof. Dr. Umadevi Das, Miss Rukmani Charan Shrestha and Mrs Kumari Rup Gurung by wrapping shawls around them.

The Health Minister also released a souvenir published by the institute and distributed certificates, shields and prizes to winners of extra-curricular activities organised by the institute.

Vice chairman of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training Saroj Devkota observed that the private sector has a crucial role to play in generating skilled technicians required in the fields of health and education, while founding member of Nepal Medical College Prof Dr Anjani Kumar Sharma and Principal of the College Shekharbabu Rijal spoke of the need ahead by realising the need of nursing services in the changed context.

A host of other speakers including Director of the Institute Dr Dhruva Sharma, Principal of the Institute Mrs Dhanadevi Bhandari and president of the Nursing Association Sanu Tuladhar also spoke at the function chaired by chairman of the board of directors of the institute Dr Bhola Rijal.

'NC would not compromise against Monarchy, democracy'

Kalaiya, Sept. 8 (RSS): Member of the Nepali Congress central committee Bimalendra Nidhi has said that the Nepali Congress would not make a compromise with anyone against constitutional Monarchy and multi party system.

Speaking at a interaction programme of party workers organised by the NC Bara district committee, Mr Nidhi said that it was the responsibility of the Nepali Congress workers to make the land reforms programme declared by His Majesty’s Government a success as it was a programme of the party which had been approved by the Pokhara NC general convention.

The member of the NC central committee said that the Nepali Congress and His Majesty’s Government would not remain silent spectators if the activists of the CPN-Maoists affiliated organisations carried out activities detrimental to the Monarchy and democracy by organising a gathering of thousands of people in Kathmandu when peace talks are going on between His Majesty’s Government and the Maoists in a peaceful atmosphere to provide security to the people and maintain law and order.

At the interaction programme chaired by NC Bara district president Radhechandra Raya Yadav, MP Ramesh Rijal, NC district secretary Tej Narayan Prasad, president of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Gajananda Agrawal, vice-president of Nepal Press Union Umesh Lal Das, former DDC chairman Rajendra Prasad Yadav also expressed their views.

Deuba urges Maoists for peace, restraint

Kathmandu, Sept. 8 (RSS): Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged the Maoists once again to immediately stop terrorising the people through demonstration of weapons, collecting donations and not to issue any statements against the Monarchy.

Mr Deuba, who was releasing the book entitled "Critics of Nepali Literature and Criticism" authored by Shreebhadra Sharma and published by the Ekata Publications here today, asserted that His Majesty's Government will leave no stones unturned to guarantee peace and security in the country.

Giving assurances to the people that they need not be panicked, he observed that the Maoists also must be accountable to the people.

Collecting donations, giving threats to the people, demonstrating arms, etc should be stopped, he said adding that since democracy means freedom fear, he immediately after assuming the office of Prime Minister called for talks with the Maoists.

Stating that the institution of Monarchy is a symbol of national unity, but democracy and monarchy have now come under attacks, Prime Minister Deuba remarked that he had been taken to police by being inspired by the late BP Koirala who fought for democracy and human rights throughout his life.

Author Shreebhadra Sharma, Prof Dr Durga Prasad Bhandari, Prof Dr Triratna Manandhar and Dr Gargi Sharma also spoke at the function.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba inaugurated a joint painting exhibition organised by senior artist Kiran Manandhar and his son Sagar Manandhar today.

In the exhibition, which has the title of "a message of peace-2001", paintings by Kiran Manandhar have tried to give the message of peace through abstract and semi-abstract images, while those of Sagar Manadhar are based on nature and the rural life.

A total of 72 pictures including 14 by Kiran and 58 by Sagar are in display in the exhibition which will remain open till Sept 11.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Deuba said the Manandhars have spoken of the need of peace through their paintings.

Stating that a positive response has been received from the Maoists to hold peace talks, the Prime Minister observed that such activities as collecting donations by using force, speaking out against the monarchy, holding armed assemblies, forcing resignations, giving threats to the people will affect the talks in a negative way.

Mr Deuba also urged the Maoists to immediately stop such activities to help create an environment of peace and security.

MP Basu Risal, artist Kiran Manandhar, senior artist Baikunthaman Shrestha and others also spoke at the function.

'200 children below age of five yrs. die everyday'

Lalitpur, Sept. 8 (RSS): Efforts to be made for the overall development of children from the stage of conception to six years of age were discussed at an interaction programme on primary child development organised for members of the House of Representatives Population and Social Committee here today.

Participants of the programme organised by the Seto Gurans National Child Development Service pointed out the need to give special attention to the development of fetus during pregnancy, motivate the children for their intellectual and physical development in early age, provide nutritious food to them, provide education to them through the medium of sports by keeping the children between the age of 3 to 5 at the preliminary child development center, bring them up in a family atmosphere and tell parents to take care of their children in a cordial atmosphere.

On the occasion, Nupur Bhattacharya of Save the Children Norway presented a working paper on the state of children below five years of age in Nepal which showed that everyday some 200 children die before the age of five years. Of the surviving children, 29 percent are underweight and 65.5 per cent are malnourished. Twelve mothers die everyday due to child-birth complications.

Also presenting a working paper on the occasion, Gopini Pandey of Save the Children Norway emphasised the need to reform acts and regulations concerning children and provide adult literacy classes for parents.

Director of the Department of Education Lab Prasad Tripathi said that the government has already established 2915 community-based child development centres in 42 districts of the country and it will be gradually expanded to all the districts.

MPs Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, Sabitri Bogati Pathak, Fatik Bahadur Thapa, Shanker Prasad Pandey, Farmullah Mansoor, vice-chancellor of Kathmandu University Dr Suresh Raj Sharma and other individuals took part in the programme chaired by the committee chairman Narendra Bahadur Bam.

President of Seto Gurans National Child Development Service Agatha Thapa shed light on various aspect of child development.

Industries likely to face crisis

BY RAJ KUMAR K.C

Kathmandu, Sept. 8: Prominent economists, industrialists and traders fear that the country's economy will come into total stagnation, if the present political volatility remain unsolved within a period of a month.

Country's industries- particularly garment and carpet industries will be closed down and tourism industry will be at the cross roads.

Almost 85-90 per cent garment industries have already been closed down in the span of last four -five months and remaining 10-15 per cent industries are also grappling for survival.

If timely measures are not taken it will be a 'disaster' in the national economy, says Rajendra Khetan, second vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

The swelling threats from the Maoist rebels to industrialists and businessmen for the donations have dampened the atmosphere on the one hand, the demand of workers for the increment of wages and perks has led to the situation of confrontation and closure.

Though closure and protests are not new to the Nepalese industrial domain, the 'undue pressure' to industrialists for increment of wages and lobbying among the workers have created rift. It will trigger anomalies and anarchy in the society, Khetan observes. Who is responsible for such situation? Prof.(Dr) Guna Nidhi Sharma is of the opinion that lack of industrial culture from the very beginning has worsened attitude of industrialists and workers. If we had good industrial relations and good industrial culture, the external factor like the threats from the Maoists would not have much role in impairing our industrial relations. Prof Sharma points out some faults in the system. There should be a good relations between the workers, employers and the government for a healthy industrial atmosphere. Workers should have a feeling that they are the part of an organisation, Prof. Sharma says. Industrialists and the government are responsible for inviting such unwanted situation in industrial sector today.

In most of the cases self centered and get quick rich attitude of industrialists are responsible to develop the feeling of animosity among workers. The unrest and uncertainty have not only posed threats to industrialists, they are equally harmful to trade union activities as well.

If it remains unsolved on time, it will create a great problem in the country's economy, says a member of GEFONT on condition of anonymity. Speaking in a similar vein an activist of Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) is of the view that industrialists are responsible to invite such situation.

At least if they (industrialists) had fulfilled trade union's demand according to the Labour Act 2049, workers would not have gone astray. In fact their (workers) 'no-more- to lose' attitude has brought such situation, it is said.

However, Ravi Bhakta Shrestha, President of the FNCCI disagrees with the argument that self centered attitude of industrialists is responsible to develop situation, says - "It is not the problem. The government has to provide security to industrialists and businessmen. We have a big threat from the Maoists rebels." Shrestha says that there should an amendment of the Labour Act.

Then where does the problem reside ?

Khetan, an energetic industrialist, says that the government, employers and workers can iron out any complications through dialogue. "But it is the problem of insecurity that has to be taken very seriously," he says. "It is not the problem of industrial sector alone, it can drag other sectors as well."

But there arises doubts that what would happen if industrialists have tried to motivate workers by rendering them incentives. They would certainly not go against an organization. Prof. Sharma is of the view that the external factor would not have posed any negative impact if there were good industrial relations.

According to a management consultant , the present situation has created chaos in trade union movement.

As a matter of fact, industrialists are not alone to be blamed for inviting such unrest, trade unions, workers and the government are equally responsible.

If there were a harmony among employers, employees and the government , no external factors would have challenged the existence of industrial sector.

It is said, given the existing situation, the government should take adequate safety measures to protect industries, otherwise country's economy will be at risk of stagnation.