PM's spouse refutes news in Deshantar
Press told not be used as weapon in battles for power

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmndu, March 3: Social activist Dr. Arzoo Deuba today strongly refuted the news item printed in Deshantar weekly of March 3 regarding her alleged attempts to influence government officials in awarding construction projects to contractors close to her and her involvement in the purchase deal of an aircraft for the Royal Nepalese Army.

"I am shocked that such a well-established newspaper has seen it fit to indulge in purposeful character assassination of not only myself but also of my brother and other members of my family who are in no way connected to the issues put forth by the newspaper," Deuba, who is the wife of the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, told a press meet organised at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar.

She said the news item was totally ‘fabricated’. "The whole news item is nothing short of a piece of fiction. I would like to seriously take up this issue."

She said: "In this game of politics I am being used as a ‘possible’ loose cannon against my husband and his sincere attempts to steer this country towards a more peaceful and prosperous path."

"As most of you know, my primary identity in this country is that of a social worker and a rights activist, besides being the wife of the Prime Minister," she said and added that her entire life had been devoted to these issues, and that she would continue to serve the country and its people.

She further said that she invited the Press because her rights as a free citizen were being hindered and because she believed that to tolerate injustice was equivalent to doing injustice.

"I would like to point out that women in Nepal in every era have always been tarred with a black brush and I am also becoming a victim of this traditional ‘negative’ portrayal of women, especially those close to powerful men," Dr Deuba stated in a press release. "I refuse to be used and victimised in this manner as the allegations against me are false, and I will not be a silent victim as we Nepali women are taught to be. Especially as I know I have done nothing as described in the "news item."

Stressing on transparency and accountability in the operation of the government, Dr. Deuba said the Press had a responsible role in providing factual information to the public. "Should the Press lower its own dignity and be used as a weapon in personal battles for power? Should the responsible Press not check facts before printing them?" she questioned.

Go to rural areas, HR activists told

Kathmandu, March 3 (RSS): Speaker Taranath Ranabhat said that he would take steps to get the Civil Code (11th amendment) Bill-2058 passed by the House of Representatives.

Inaugurating the seminar on Civil Code (11th amendment) women bill organised by the Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON) here today, Speaker Ranabhat expressed the view that formulation of laws only would not help to resolve the problems of untouchability and women existing in the society until the laws formulated through correction in the patriarchal and exploitative tendencies are put into practice.

Referring to the plight of the women living in the rural areas, Ranabhat urged the human rights and women activists to visit the rural areas in order to understand the genuine problems of the women.

Deputy leader of the main opposition in the House of Representatives K.P. Sharma Oli said that as the bill being presented in the house is inadequate for providing rights to the women and immediate amendment cannot be made in the bill, the CPN-UML would help to pass the bill along with criticism.

National Assembly member Radheshyam Adhikary, presenting a working paper on the Civil Code (11th amendment) Bill, said that the bill should be immediately passed as provisions had been made in the bill to provide women equal rights on paternal property, a widow to claim share of the property and live seperately, increase prison sentence against persons using force on women, abortion, etc.

Commenting on the working paper, MP Subas Nemwang said the government was left with no other options but to withdraw the bill or get it passed by the House of Representatives in its original form as the National Assembly had returned the bill to the Lower House without holding discussions on it.

In the same manner MP Homnath Dahal commented on the working paper on "relevance of the amendment in the Civil Code (11th amendment) Bill-2056 B.S and the role of the MPs" presented by professor (Dr) Shanta Thapaliya.

On the occasion Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare Sushila Swnar threw light on various aspects of the bill.

At the function chaired by HURON president Sudeep Pathak, president of the Nepal Workers and Peasant Party Narayan Man Bijukchhe, member of the National Human Rights Commission Indira Rana, assistant UNDP resident representative Bharati Silwal and other speakers expressed their views on the Civil Code (11th amendment) Women Bill.

The seminar was participated in by the MPs of various political parties and women activists.

'Medical division to regulate institutions'

Kathmandu, March 3 (RSS): His Majesty's Government is to establish a medical division under the Ministry of Health for the coordinated operation of all the health institutions throughout the country and the effective utilisation of medical procedures.

Minister for Health Sharat Singh Bhandari told RSS that the medical division under the Ministry of Health will follow up the operations, classification and categorisation of hospitals run by the government and the non-government across the country as well as carry out research on different aspects of quality medicine and disease resistance procedures.

He also said that in the context of the non-existence of a separate authority to look after sectors such as ayurved medicine, quality of medicine, communicable and non-communicable disease, the Department of Drug administration and all procedures of medical treatment at the Health Ministry at present, specialists from these sectors would be drawn in the division and necessary policies to be adopted by the Ministry in that connection formualted as per their recommendation.

A specialist team headed by the Minister of State for Health has already assessed whether or not the private hospitals and clinics have followed the conditions set out to them while issuing operation licence, Minister Bhandari said, adding that process for action will be initiated against such hospitals not following these conditions within the stipulated timeframe.

He said a nine-member committee will be formed at the VDC level under the convenorship of the VDC chairman to manage the VDC health posts in a bid to calm down public complaints of lack of doctors at the sub-health posts which are the basis of rural health services, and also to provide the basic health services to the rural people.

The committee would have four men and four women members to ensure gender equality, he added.

The Ministry is also doing necessary home work regarding the kind of policy the government needs to adopt in connection with treatment of diseaes of the heart, kidney, nerve and other such non-communicable diseases by establishing separate units of concerened specialists from the government and non-governmental sector on the basis of their recommendations, Minister Bhandari stated.

According to him, the Ministry is also doing home work regarding the implementation of the Ayurved Council Act, making necessary amendments to the Health Service Act, introduction of a bill governing the operation of hospitals and related health institutes in the private sector and formulating a policy on the management of infectious hospital waste.

The Ministry has also banned the haphazard importation of medicines of different brands with the objective of making the health services effective, he further said.

The Ministry has also scrapped the earlier provision under which foreign companies could import unspecified amount of medicines into the country and stopped the registration of such medicines, Bhandari disclosed.

He further said that the department of drug administration has categorised medical drugs into two categories, namely life-saving drugs and essential drugs and a company acquiring selling licence for one category of drugs can only register for a maximum of two other brands of drugs.

Similarly, regarding the domestic pharmaceutical companies, a company will not be entitled to register for selling one category of medicine under ten different brand names.

Likewise, a foreign company will also not be entitled to sell more than five different brands of the same medicine manufactured by the same company.

This measure will remove the problem of the importation of many kinds of medicines into the country and the subsequent difficulty involved in quality control of medicines, he said, adding the measure will also once and for all end the possibility of import of sub-standard and spurious medicine.

Speaker hails role of press in addressing social malady

Lalitpur, March 3 (RSS): Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, at a function here today, released a book entitled "Surgery on corruption" written by journalist Hari Bahadur Thapa.

The book deals with various cases of corruption and anomalies in the country's political, economic and judicial sectors.

Addressing the function, Speaker Ranabhat said as laws alone are not sufficient to control corruption the people in general should cultivate self-confidence and moral courage, and journalists should play an important role in addressing this social malady.

Stating that the fourth estate can play a crucial role in building an environment conducive to controlling corruption, he said as political leaders and the judiciary have not yet realised that someone who indulges in corruption does not leave behind any evidence of his misdeed, it has been difficult to check corruption.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Subas Chandra Nemwang attributed the all pervasive corruption and anomalies to the political parties' failure to play a strong anti-corruption role. Corruption has remained unabated even during the ongoing state of emergency, he observed.

MP Homnath Dahal stressed the need for the press to pay more attention to investigative journalism in exercise of the rights guaranteed by the constitution and said that the press is yet to investigate the letter of credit scandal, considered the biggest scandal in the country, and come up with an in-depth report on it.

NC central member Narahari Acharya said journalism has seen progress since 2049 B.S. and factual media reporting has in one way or the other influenced policy making. The press has an important role to play in controlling corruption also, he added.

Writer of the book Thapa and lawyer Prakash Wosti highlighted the contents of the book.

Chairman of Kantipur publications Hem Raj Gyawali presided over the function.

NC activists told to shun differences

Kathmandu, March 3 (RSS): Senior Nepali Congress (NC) leader and former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has said that all NC activists should shun mutual differences and work for the development of the country.

Speaking at a programme to mark the 94th Suvarna birth anniversary organised by the Suvarna Research Council here today, former prime minister Bhattarai said that everyone should emulate the example of sacrifice and dedication shown by the late Suvarna Shumsher JB Rana.

Stating that if the Nepali Congress could sincerely tread the path of democracy and socialism shown by Suvarna Shumsher, Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala and Ganesh Man Singh, it would win any election. If the NC drifted away from the path of socialism and democracy, the party activists should caution the government, he said.

NC leader Shribhadra Sharma, MP Lekha Nath Neupanay, council vice-chairman Marshal Julum Shakya, Hari Bol Bhattarai, former Rastra Bank Governor Himalaya Shumsher JB Rana and a host of other speakers also shed light on the contributions made by the late Suvarna Shumsher.

Work unitedly to check corruption; Koirala

Kathmandu, March 3 (RSS): Nepali Congress general secretary Sushil Koirala has called on youths of Tarun Dal to become nationally organised and move ahead unitedly to stop corruption and irregularities, and also free the country from violence, terrorists and loot perpetrated by the Maoist terrorists.

Koirala, who was inaugurating a colloquium on the "Role of government and political parties, people's representatives and youth force in eradication of corruption" organised by the Nepal Tarun Dal here today, noted that it is true the slogan for bringing under control corruption has turned a mere rhetoric.

Stating that the NC's Pokhara general convention had worked out a political code of conduct with the objective of promoting democratic culture, the NC leader stressed that discipline should be maintained within the party accordingly.

Despite the mobilisation of all security apparatus, incidence of murder and violence have increased with each passing day and such terrorist activities have spilled over into the Terai districts also, he said and spoke of the need to raise public awareness from Mechi to Mahakali against the Maoist terrorists.

President of Nepal Tarun Dal Bal Krishna Khand, from the chair, warned that only clean individuals who have maintained discipline and have observed the manifesto should be given tickets for elections, or the party will have to pay prices.

Noting that His Majesty's Government has to appoint only honest, impartial and clean individuals in anti-corruption bodies, Khand spoke of the need to frame stringent laws in the current session to take action against the corrupt.

Advocate Sher Bahadur KC said corruption is a great disease of the country, adding unless we frame laws on impeachment, corrupt persons will remain scot-free.

NC Rolpa district president Madhav Acharya, NC Solu president Aagelu Sherpa, acting president of the Nepal Students Union Premram Paudel and others also spoke at the function.

Ten killed, six arrested in search operation

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, March 3: Security forces killed ten armed terrorists and arrested six others in search operations on Saturday.

The Defence Ministry said security personnel shot dead four armed terrorists in various parts of Kalikot district, five in different areas of Gorkha district, and one in Bhalayakharka area of Lamjung district in separate encounters with the terrorists in their patrol and search operations yesterday.

The forces seized two .303 rifles, one shotgun, one hornet rifle, four bullets, a pair of binoculars, a Motorola set, socket bombs, explosives and 20 bags from the sites.

The Ministry said the security forces arrested three terrorists each from Phurumba area of Taplejung and Yagyabhumi area of Dhanusa district. They also recovered 10 guns from Phurumba and four guns from Ramdhuni jungle of Sunsari.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry issued an appeal today, saying that the government had made adequate and dependable arrangements to protect the life and property of the general public. It stated that arrangements were made also to take stern action against anybody seeking to upset peace and security in the country.

The Ministry has also appealed to the people in Kathmandu to inform the Home Ministry by telephoning 243810 and 243713, the Police Headquarters at 412780, Police Control at 226999, 100, 110, 120 in case they get threats and require help. The people in other districts have been advised to inform the nearest police post if they need assistance.

Meanwhile, RSS adds from Dailekh, that the meeting hall of Dailekh District Development Committee has been damaged by two powerful pressure cooker bombs exploded by the Maoist terrorists at around 11:00 p.m. last night.

The bomb explosions have damaged the roof, walls, doors, windows and furnitures of the meeting hall.

The terrorists had fled away after the security forces of the Gorakhnath battalion launched rocket attacks from two kilometers away.

The security force led by Major Gana Bahadur Thapa inspected the site of the explosion and defused 41 bombs placed in the vicinity for explosion.

Nepal to meet half its demand for medicines in 5 years

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, March 3: Minister for Health Sharat Singh Bhandari today said that the government is always ready to hold discussions with pharmaceutical producers to address their problems.

"The government is committed to promoting the indigenous pharmaceutical industry," Minister Bhandari informed, while addressing the 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal (APPON) here today.

"The government is introducing the community drug scheme, under which only indigenous medicines will be used," he said.

He said that government would work with pharmaceutical producers so that the industry can meet 50 per cent of the country's demand for medicines in the next five years. The government will extend every possible support and cooperation to them to achieve this goal."

At present, medicines produced in Nepal meet about 27 per cent of the total demand.

He also cautioned them against the infiltration of fake elements into Nepal's pharmaceutical industry. "Once such elements come to this potential industry, its fate will be similar to that of the carpet industry," he said.

On the occasion, Minister of State for Health Mohan Bahadur Basnet urged the entrepreneurs involved in the pharmaceutical industry to give proper attention to quality.

"We may be able to export our products to third countries if we maintain quality," Basnet said.

Speaking at the function, Bhupendra Bahadur Thapa, chief at the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) said the government is developing a checklist to harmonise the quality of medicines in the SAARC nations.

Thapa also said that the government has given priority to the development of indigenous pharmaceutical industries.

Welcoming the participants, P. J. Pandey, President of APPON, said that the number of pharmaceutical industries had increased after the restoration of multiparty democracy in the country.

Pharmaceutical industries were first established in Nepal 30 years ago. Now the total number of such industries stands at 36. Until 1990, there were only 10 such industries across the country.

Pandey asked the government to adopt an effective policy in order to promote the industry. He also informed that the existing industries were utilising only 39 per cent of their capacities.

Presenting his report, Hari Bhakta Sharma, General Secretary of APPON, said that the industry provided direct and indirect employment to 5,000 and 20,000 people respectively.

Sharma asked the Nepal Medical Association and other related organisations to extend support to the promotion of indigenous pharmaceutical industries.

On the occasion, Binod Bahadur Shrestha, Acting President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FNCCI), Mahendra B. Amatya, immediate Past President of APPON, and Vice-President Kishor Pradahn also spoke about the importance of the pharmaceutical industry.

Nepal-India treade
'Treaty: lesson for economic growth'

By Raj Kumar K.C

Kathmandu, Mar 3 : The country's ailing economy is expected to suffer yet another severe blow with the renewal of the Nepal India Trade Treaty- 1996 that has enforced quantitative restrictions and value addition on Nepal's major exportable items.

The treaty signed at the ministerial level with the aim of accelerating Nepal's industrial growth in December 1996, was considered a paradigm shift in Nepal -India bilateral trade. India had provided duty-free and quota-free access to some Nepalese products, which had greatly increased the export volume. Nepal's export to India went up to Rs. 27 billion from Rs. three billion within a matter of five years.

However, following a surge in the export of items like vegetable ghee, acrylic yarn, zinc oxide and copper wire, India wanted a review of Article XII of the Nepal India Trade Treaty in August 2001.

India had proposed a 50 per cent value addition on these items during the various rounds of talks held in Kathamndu and New Delhi from September 2001. But Nepal and India have agreed upon a 30 per cent slab.

The new treaty will create problems for Nepalese exporters, say industrialists.

However, Prof. Bishwombhar Pyakurel holds a different view. "Taking a three years' average, the renewal of the treaty with value addition is okay. It's not too bad."

The renewal of the treaty has added three clauses in the protocol like quantitative restrictions, safeguard measures and value addition.

It has of course created some difficulties, says Prof. Pyakurel. "His Majesty's Government should work out a future course of action in its 20 years Industrial Perspective Plan (IPP). " Instead of looking for concessions, we should develop our competitive edge, he affirms.

In fact, the value addition has good aspects as well. If it is properly monitored, it can generate employment as well as revenue to the government.

Besides, it discourages so-called industrialists who import semi-finished goods by paying US dollars from third countries and exports them to India for Indian currency.

The accusation against the Nepalese manufacturers is not totally baseless. The reason is that–most of the goods are made here without undergoing any manufacturing process, said an official at the Department of Industry.

As per the Protocol of the Treaty of Trade, Nepalese manufactured articles with value addition of 25 per cent for the first year and 30 per cent value addition for the subsequent years will enjoy duty-free and access-free entry into the Indian market.

Four Nepalese manufacturing items such as vegetable ghee, copper products, zinc oxide and acrylic yarn will be allowed duty free entry into India on the basis of fixed quota. GI pipe has not been included in the fixed quota system.

Out of 184 items currently being exported to India, five items zinc oxide, acrylic yarn, copper wire, vegetable ghee and GI pipe occupy 13 per cent on Nepal's total export volume.

Nepal's export to India is however, insignificant. The total export from Nepal to India does not even account for 0.1 per cent of India's total imports.

Meanwhile, India in its budget announcement on Thursday decided to impose a four per cent additional duty on the four Nepalese items.

This type of additional duty on Nepalese products should however, not existed. It also discourages foreign direct investment (FDI), said Prof. Pyakurel while talking to The Rising Nepal. Such unilateral exercise at additional duty or anti-dumping duty are against the spirit of the 1950 Treaty.

"Though the renewal of the treaty with value addition and quantitative measures has posed some difficulties, we should develop our competitive strength," says Padma Jyoti, President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). "And we must learn lessons for our economic growth."

The Nepal–India Trade Treaty had ended on December 5, 2001. When the fifth round of talks held here in Kathmandu failed to reach an agreement, India had extended the deadline till March 5 this year.