His Majesty felicitates

RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct. 3: His Majesty the King has extended cordial felicitations to Mr. Johannes Rau, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, on the occasion of the Day of German Unity.

In a message of best wishes to the German President, His Majesty the King has, on behalf of the people and the Government of Nepal and on His Majesty's own, wished for President Rau's personal health and happiness as well as for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of the Federal Republic of Germany.

His Majesty the King has also expressed the confidence that the friendly relations between the two countries would grow further in the years to come. Similarly, His Majesty the King has extended cordial felicitations to Mr. Kim Dae Jung, President of the Republic of Korea, on the occasion of the National Foundation Day of Korea. In a message sent to President Kim, His Majesty has, on behalf of the people of Nepal and on His Majesty's own, expressed best wishes for President Kim Dae Jung's personal health and happiness as well as for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of the Republic of Korea.

His Majesty also expressed the confidence that the cordial and friendly relations between the two countries would be further strengthened in the years to come.

12 terrorists shot dead, 16 more feared killed

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 2: Nine terrorists were killed in clashes with the security forces in Okhaldhunga in east Nepal Tuesday. But a Defence Ministry statement issued today said at least 16 more bodies were carried away by the other surviving terrorists.

The security forces had identified and launched offensives on the terrorists' shelters in Okhaldhunga, killing five Maoists in Ghorakhori, two in Batase and two in Bilendu. The Ministry said the extent of the clash showed that the terrorists suffered heavy casualties.

The forces have found a large number of socket and other bombs, explosives, spare parts of weapons, equipment for laying ambushes, ammunitions, medicines, foodstuff and logistic items.

The security forces killed two more terrorists elsewhere in the course of their search operation on Tuesday - one in Nuwakot, to the north of Kathmandu, and one in Taplejung, in far east Nepal.

The Ministry said the terrorist killed in Gherkhu of Nuwakot has been identified as Kamal Adhikary, vice president of the Kathmandu district committee, a sister organisation of the terrorist group.

One more terrorist - identified as Dhanendra Bagale - died during the search operation in Khokling of Taplejung district. The forces also found socket bombs and explosives from both the sites.

The same day, a bomb disposal squad of the security forces defused a bomb planted by the terrorists near Jyoti Academy School at Dhonlahiti of Lalitpur district. Had the bomb gone off, it could have caused massive destruction of lives and property, the Ministry said.

In yet another encounter Monday at Khalte of Dhading, west of Kathmandu, one terrorist, Dambar Shrestha, who was carrying explosives, was killed.

The Ministry said that the security forces found Rs. 70,000 during a search operation at Gopalgunj of Chitwan to the south of the capital. The terrorists had looted the money from a bank situated at Bhandara and had hidden it in the house of Surya Baral, one of the accomplices in the robbery.

Nepal's WTO membership hinges on tariff issue

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 2: After the second working party meeting held in Geneva from September 24 -28 to discuss the remaining issues about Nepal's preparations for the membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), it has now realised that there are some thorny issues like tariff binding and service sectors that need more clarifications. However, 'major players' of the WTO have taken Nepal's approach for the membership very positively, said official participants of the second working meeting. They also said that the third meeting which is to be held in March will decided on preparing the Draft Protocal of Accession (DPA) for the membership. They also expressed hope that Nepal would be able to join the WTO before the fifth Ministerial meeting to be held in Mexico in September 2003.

Twenty major players of the WTO including the USA and India are quite enthusiastic in providing the membership to Nepal, but they raised questions upon some issues on tariff binding and service sectors, said Minister for Industry Commerce and Supplies Purna Bahadur Khadka at a programme organised by the Federation of the Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) here today.

Speaking particularly about the Geneva meeting, Minister Khadka appreciated India's role for proving early membership to Nepal. "India particularly took initiatives for Nepal's membership," he said adding " Bilateral talks were held on various trade related issues with India and the USA during the meeting."

In fact member countries were not negative, but they asked Nepal to review tariff rate at the existing rate. Besides, they pointed out the need for opening banking, insurance and other service sectors for foreign investment, Minister Khadka said.

While talking to the industrialists and traders Minister Khadka also urged the private sector to build competitive strength to reap benefit from the WTO. The government will only play the facilitator's role. It is the private sector that should enhance its efficiency, he added. He also asked the FNCCI to lead the entire private sector by galvanising the interests of various groups.

FNCCI President Ravi Bhakta Shrestha said that the goverment and private sector should go hand in hand in order to face the new challenges. He also assured that the FNCCI is fully committed to extend its support to the government for uplift of the national economy.

Second vice president Rajendra Khetan explained various aspects of the WTO in Nepal.

Dr. Posh Raj Pandey, chief of the Nepal Accession to WTO said that Nepal's approach has been taken very positively by most of the WTO members.

Prachand Man Shrestha, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) informed that the Ministry is doing exercise on tariff binding and service sectors.

Nepal had already answered 362 plus queries of the Geneva-based WTO in April 1999. But Nepal was repeatedly asked for clarification of its position on various issues including the tariff.

So far as tariff binding is concerned now it has been at 40 and 60 per cent. The existing tariff rate was 12 per cent (the lowest in the South Asian region).

Regarding Acts and new legislations, Nepal has introduced new Acts on Copyrights. The draft of the Acts on anti dumping, plants and customs valuation is in the process.

'Govt ready to solve Maoist issue through talks'

By A Staff Reporter

KATHAMNDU, Oct. 2: Minister for Industry Commerce and Supplies Purna Bahadur Khadka said that the government is ready to settle the Maoist problem through dialogue, but they should be 'honest and trustworthy' in practical terms.

Speaking at a programme organised by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Minister Khadka categorically said that the Royal Nepalese Army has been mobilised to provide peace and security to the people, but not to terrorise them. He also underlined the need for consensus for national development and peace. "Development is not possible without peace, hence we should rise above the partisan or individual interests," he added.

Khadka reiterated that the government has always tried to solve the problem through dialogue and negotiations that everybody should understand. "We have no other alternatives to peace," he said.

Bhaktapur handicraft fire claims over Rs. 35 M

By A Staff Reporter

BHAKTAPUR, Oct. 2: A fire that broke out at the Bhaktapur Handcraft Industry Tuesday night destroyed goods and property worth more than Rs.35 million.

"An electrical short circuit in a computer room is believed to have caused the fire," a police officer at the Bhaktapur District Police Office told The Rising Nepal. The police are investigating into the incident.

Eight fire engines battled for almost 11 hours to put the fire out, the Fire Department, Kathmandu, said. The fire that began at 11 PM last night was doused at 10 this morning.

The industry is the biggest enterprise of the Industrial Area located at Ward No 5 of Bhaktapur Sub-metropolitan municipality.

The fire engines from Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, the Pashupati Area Development Trust and Tribhuvan Airport had to be brought in to extinguish the fire, according to an official at the District Police Office.

More than 2,000 people, including the police and army, were involved in bringing the fire under control.

Had the fire spread to the Johnson and Nicolson paint factory located just nextdoor, it could have engulfed the whole industrial area and Byas Tol, said Niranjan Nepal, General Manager of the Industry.

He said handicraft goods worth Rs. 3-4 million, which were ready for shipment to Geneva, were burnt down to cinders.

Handicraft goods manufactured by the unit are exported to Europe and the US through UNICEF.

Steps to escape debt trap urged

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct 2: As most of the loans received by Nepal from various multilateral agencies are going to mature in the next couple of years, the country's economists have urged the government to take stringent measures before the country fall into a debt trap.

They have warned the country's fiscal and monetary authorities to take timely measures to iron out the problems by maximising the utilisation of foreign aid that are received in the form of loans and grants.

According to official sources at NRB, the total amount of foreign debt has reached over Rs 200 billion, whereas the amount of debt was Rs 38 billion until 1990.

In comparison to the amount of foreign loan received in 1989-90, it has increased by 98.2 per cent in terms of Nepalese currency in 1999-2000. However, the poverty is still a big challenge, despite huge amount of foreign aid received for poor and down-trodden Nepalese people living in the rural areas, economists say.

The upcoming Tenth Five Year Plan has set a target of reducing poverty by maximising the utilisation of foreign loans and grants, said Dr. Shankar Sharma, member of the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Releasing The Reality of Aid -2002 and A Brief Review of Foreign Aid in Nepal at a programme jointly organised by the Action Aid and Citizen Poverty Watch Forum, Dr. Sharma said "The utilisation of foreign aid largely depends on to what extent Nepal can sit in the driving seat for allocating resources as it is required." Besides this, the regression analysis of foreign aid is also necessary to identify its efficacy in poverty alleviation and economic development. Agriculture is the area in which a major chunk of foreign aid is used, he said adding " The upcoming plan has also accorded top priority to this sector by allocating 24 per cent resources of the total budget."

Citing examples of the government subsidy on petroleum products and loss making Rastriya Banijya Bank, he said, " Donors are eager to provide support, but they have questioned about the benefit being reaped by Indian consumers from on petroleum products."

Dr. Sharma further said that the Tenth Five Year Plan (2059-2063) is going to streamline the foreign to reduce poverty to 30 per cent by attaining a 6.2 per cent economic growth.

As sequencing and prioritisation is the prime feature of the Tenth Plan, the expenditure tracking (ET) will be followed for effective utilisation of resources, he added.

Keshav Acharya, executive director at Nepal Rastra Bank said that strong legal measures are essential to control the mis-utilisation of foreign aid.

Acharya, who is also the author of "A Brief Review of Foreign Aid in Nepal", noted that the Foreign Aid Policy 2002 should be properly implemented to maximise the benefit of the foreign aid. He also underlined the need for controlling corruption in foreign aid.

Foreign aid began to flow in to Nepal from the fiscal year 1950/51. The first donor of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Nepal was the United States of America. The amount of aid was US $3000. Until 1970 all the ODA was received from bilateral sources. It may be recalled that the amount of grant until 1962/63 was over 40 per cent of the total foreign aid.

Hitler's gift to Nepal in the state of neglect

By Prakriti Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Oct. 2: A 1939 Mercedes Benz, presented by the then German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to His late Majesty King Tribhuvan, is rusting in a corner of the Thapathali Engineering Campus.

Although the car still appears to be in pretty good condition from the outside given its age, a close scrutiny reveals that its doors are coming off, the inside of the bonnet is rusting and the seats are torn. The canvas roof has been replaced by another piece of canvas.

The historic car, of which only three are said to be still remaining in the world, was brought to Nepal in 1940. As there was no road linking Kathmandu then, the car was carried by porters on their shoulders. The car was then popularly known as 'Tribhuvan car' as the Nepalese King used to go about in it.

"If repaired, it is still possible to bring the car back to use," says Durgaman Dangol, senior trainer at the campus. "But the tyres must be imported as tyres of this dimension are not found in the country."

The car was taken to the Singha Durbar motor garage for repairs in 1967, but it stayed there for several years without anything being done.

Later, when the Thapathali Engineering Campus opened with German assistance (then called the Technical Training Institute), and some German technicians saw the car at the Singha Durbar garage, they suggested bringing the car to the Institute.

The car was even used in a vintage car rally organised in Kathmandu by Lufthansa, the German Airline, in 1973. "I had driven the car through Durbarmarg, New road, Jawalakhel and back to Durbarmarg," said Tarkaraj Joshi, recalling his experience of driving the legendary car.

In 1974, the car was opened up for repairs with the aim of displaying it on the occasion of the coronation of His late Majesty King Birendra. But the repair works did not complete. Since then the car has been in the institute in a state of neglect. The car has almost been forgotten since the last 24 years, said Joshi, another senior trainer at the campus.

Two years ago the Campus had tried to repair it at an estimated cost of Rs.500,000. But after the Engineering Campus failed to provide the needed funding, the issue cooled down.

According to Joshi, the car was registered in 1957 in the name of Her late Majesty the Grand Queen Mother Ishwori Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah. Its number was U.Ka. 938, which was later changed to Ba. A. 938.

The car did attract a few buyers, which included Dr. Tulsi Giri, former Prime Minister, and a private secretary of Her Royal Highness Helen Shah. Joshi said they could not sell the car because the campus did not have the authority.

The car does not even belong to the Institute. It still belongs to Her late Majesty the Grand Queen Mother. "Despite our efforts to transfer the ownership of the car to the campus, we have not been able to because the owner is no more alive."

Assistant Campus Chief Binay Manandhar suggests putting the car in the National Museum. "But for this, the Tribhuvan University should take the initiative to preserve a piece of history," says Manandhar.