Crown Prince attends functions

RSS

BISHEKH, Oct. 28: His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev attended the inaugural function of a traditional model village of Kyrgyzstan here today.

The model village was inaugurated by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Askar Akayev.
HRH the Crown Prince also graced a cultural programme presented on the occasion.

Also present at the function were Foreign Minister Narendra Bikram Shah, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Lila Sharma and heads of governments and leaders of delegations from various countries.

Also this evening, HRH the Crown Prince attended a special dinner hosted in honour of the delegation leaders by Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Tanayeka Nicoli.

At least 32 terrorists killed in Okhaldhunga

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28: Maoist terrorists suffered huge casualties when the security forces repulsed their armed attack on the Rumjhatar airport army post in Okhaldhunga in eastern Nepal Sunday night.

The forces have so far recovered 32 bodies of the armed terrorists killed in the fighting that lasted at least seven hours, a statement of the Ministry of Defence said today. Two Royal Nepalese Army personnel, including Captain Dinesh Thapa, also lost their lives in the battle.

According to eyewitnesses, the terrorists, numbering some 2,500-3,000, armed with automatic weapons looted from police and army camps in the past, swooped down on the army camp from all sides at about 10 in the evening. But the 55 soldiers, under the command of Captain Dinesh Thapa, repulsed the attack. In the fierce fighting that lasted till four in the next morning (Monday morning), a few soldiers sustained injuries.

The Maoists fled, many of them carrying the dead in baskets (dokos), towards a place called Barnalo after two helicopters, equipped with night-vision equipment, flew in to the support of the security forces.

Apart from the 32 bodies of the terrorists, the army have found twelve .303 rifles, large amounts of bullets and accessories of automatic weapons, grenades, and socket bombs as well as stretchers and dokos to carry away the wounded attackers. Syringes as well as drugs used to incite the attackers have also been found from around the site of the fighting. There are marks on the ground that indicate the wounded terrorists had been dragged away. According to local witnesses, the Maoists are believed to have suffered heavy casualties.

The security forces have blocked and cordoned off all possible passes and routes that may be used by the Maoists while fleeing and are carrying out a massive search for the terrorists. Additional forces and reinforcement have been sent to the area.

Elsewhere in different parts of the kingdom, six more terrorists have been killed in encounters with the security personnel. According to the Defence Ministry statement, one terrorist each was killed on Sunday in Khoplang and Bhirkot of Gorkha district; one in Okharkhot in Pyuthan and one in Thapapur of Kailali district. A day earlier on Saturday, two terrorists were killed in Kaule of Chitwan. The security forces have found socket bombs, explosives, equipment used in setting up electric ambushes and home-made weapons.

Police foil terrorist attack in Barhathawa

By Our Correspondent

SARLAHI, Oct. 28: Police foiled an attack by the Maoists on the area post police at Barhathawa in the western part of this central Terai district Sunday evening.

Armed Maoists had surrounded the police post and attacked it at 10.20 p.m. with guns and bombs. But the police retaliated, forcing the Maoists to flee after exchange of fire for about an hour. Deputy Superintendent of Police Uttam Karki said that the police suffered no casualty, but the Maoists may have suffered considerable losses.

The police also defused a powerful pressure cooker bomb placed by the terrorists with the intention of destroying the telecommunications tower in the area. "Local people were terrified with the sounds of bullets and explosions at night," a local who arrived in Malangawa, the district headquarters, from Barhathawa said.

Barhathawa is the main trading point of the district, but life here has been badly affected by the terrorists. Five months ago, the terrorists had looted about Rs. 800,000 from the branch office of Nepal Bank Limited in broad daylight. On Saturday, the terrorists had torched the office of Sankarpur Village Development Committee.

Our Nawalparasi correspondent, quoting the District Administration Office, said that nine armed terrorists, including Buddhi B.K., the regional commander of the terrorist group, were killed by the security forces at Amrauth VDC of the district, in south west Nepal, Sunday morning.

The security forces had cordoned off the terrorists at Parsawal while they were making plans to attack the district. The terrorists were killed in the subsequent exchange of fire.

The others dead terrorists have been identified as Ashish Sharma, Deviram Bhusal, Anirudra Yadav, Padma Thapa, area commander of the terrorists Balkrishna Kaucha, Man Bahadur, Ramkrishna and Lilawati Bhandari.

The security forces have arrested two girls Sunita Sharma and Rambha Pandey and confiscated a huge cache of socket bombs, equipment used for setting up electrical ambushes and diaries.

In Tehrathum of east Nepal, one terrorist was gunned down by the security forces today at Sankranti Bazaar of Aathrai area.

The terrorist has been identified as Rohini Bhattarai, head of the preliminary committee of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary).

According to the Chief District Officer Harilochan Sharma, the security forces have been patrolling Aathrai area heavily since it came to light that about 400 terrorists, including the central leaders of the Maoists - Dinnath Gautam and Gauri Shanker Khadka - are active in the area. Khadka is said to be the inhabitant of Simle VDC of the district.

Sankranti Bazaar is the focal point of three districts - Tehrathum, Taplejung and Panchthar.

CIAA interrogates ex-minister Khadka

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28: The Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) sought explanation from former Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka for the second time today on the alleged misappropriation of funds in the Bakraha River Control Project.

After the five-hour interrogation, Khadka, who is also the General Secretary of the Nepali Congress (Democratic), said he furnished replies to all the questions by the CIAA.

The interrogation will continue Tuesday.

The CIAA has sought from the Special Court a 30-day detention of two high-level officials it took into custody Friday for alleged corruption. The hearing could not take place today due to lack of time. It will take place tomorrow.

The two, Ramagya Prasad Chaturbedi, currently General Manager of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation, and Anand Khanal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Works and Physical Planning, are currently in custody for their involvement in the alleged corruption and abuse of power while awarding the contract for building the Rapti Bridge.

Chaturbedi was the General Manager of the National Construction Company Nepal (NCCN), a government-owned construction company, and Khanal was the Director General of the Roads Department when the contract was awarded to Lama Construction three years ago.

The CIAA had raided the houses of both Chaturbedi and Khanal last week and found documents of allegedly ill amassed wealth and other papers related to bank accounts and land-ownership certificates.

According to a source, the CIAA has asked the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, to freeze the accounts and the lockers of the two.

Govt to update laws on women

RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28: The high level committee constituted by His Majesty's Government to review the existing laws concerning discrimination against women presented its report to Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand at a function here today.

The committee had been constituted last year under the convenorship of secretary of the Judicial Council Kashiraj Dahal to review the existing laws, study laws and acts discriminatory against women and draft an amendment bill encouraging equality and present recommendations essential for women's empowerment.

The report presented by the committee states that there still exists discrimination on the basis of gender in the civil code and in existing laws on matters relating to right to property, rape, army service and the like.

The state of women in Nepal, international provisions concerning gender equality and commitments expressed by Nepal have also been briefly included in the report.

Accepting the report from the committee convenor, Prime Minister Chand said His Majesty's Government has begun all necessary measures towards correcting the legal provisions discriminatory against women.

His Majesty's Government is committed to enforce all provisions meant for control and abolition of all types of discrimination against women, Prime Minister Chand said adding that for this a special machinery would be set up in various ministries.

On the occasion the Prime Minister presented the report, for enforcement after study and monitoring, to Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Gore Bahadur Khapangi.

Minister Khapangi said that the report will be studied and necessary measures initiated through the Ministry.

According to the report, provisions still remain in the existing laws that discriminate against women.
The Civil Code contained 69 directly discriminating legal provisions before it was amended for the 11th time and following this there are still 28 such provisions.

The army act, the land act, registration of births, deaths and personal incidents, the act defining Nepali law, the bonus act, the provident fund act, the income tax act and the children's act account for 53 discriminatory provisions.

Likewise, 36 various rules and regulations contain 85 provisions that are discriminatory from the gender perspective.

This was disclosed at a press conference organised by the high level commission constituted to present a draft amendment report following a review of laws discriminatory against women.

The report has presented various recommendations for affirmative action including running awareness programmes for gender equity, easing access of women to the criminal judiciary system, stopping girl trafficking and sexual exploitation, giving the women's commission legal status and put into practice the policy, strategy and work plan for women's empowerment, protection and development.

Draft SAFTA framework soon'

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28: After two days of marathon talks, the 11th meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation of the SAARC Commerce Secretaries, which concluded only in the wee hours of Monday morning, has decided to give directives to the Inter-Governmental Group (IGG) and the Committee of Experts (COE) to accelerate the drafting of the SAFTA framework.

According to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS), the meeting also reiterated the effective implementation of Article 10 of the SAPTA relating to special treatment for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by the more developed countries of the SAARC.

The meeting emphasised the need to accelerate progress for timely implementation of the decision of the SAARC bodies to promote trade and economic cooperation in the SAARC region. It also reiterated that the early conclusion of the Fourth Round of Trade Negotiations and completion of the SAFTA treaty framework would pave the way for the launching of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), the sources said.

SAARC Commerce Secretaries also discussed various trade facilitation measures including the harmonization and simplification of customs procedures and harmonization of standards, the MoICS sources said.

The meeting also commended the SAARC Network of Researchers on Global Financial and Economic Issues for the useful work being carried out by the committee. Apart from this, the officials also discussed the proposals of technical cooperation with various international organisations such as the European Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the German Institute of Metrology (PTB).

The SAARC commerce secretaries expressed satisfaction over the successful holding of the Fourth SAARC Trade Fair and welcomed the offer of Bangladesh to host the Fifth SAARC trade fair in December 2003 in Dhaka.

Bangladesh is going to organise a special session of Commerce Secretaries with the objective of building common SAARC views on the World Trade Organization (WTO). The meeting is expected to be held before the fifth WTO Ministerial Meet to be held in Mexico in September next year.

During the committee meeting, president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Padma Jyoti had made a presentation on the SCCI activities and its future course of action.

On behalf of the delegates, commerce secretary of Pakistan Mirza Qamar Baig spoke. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Bhanu Prasad Acharya, secretary at the MoICS.

Bandh sees normal impact

RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28: The so-called valley-wide strike today at the call of Nepal Trade Union Federation supported by the Maoist terrorists evoked ordinary response in Kathmandu.

The shops along the main roads were closed while those in the interior were seen to be open.
Only a few government owned and private vehicles were seen running. Vehicles ferrying the tourists to and from the airport operated smoothly.

As the vehicles meant for public transport did not ply, commuters had quite hard time. People were seen walking along the road even for quite long distances.

Public colleges were closed while schools and colleges in the private sector were partially open. The general strike had its impact in industry also.

Because of the high security alert, no untoward incident was reported as of three o'clock in the afternoon.

Rare butterflies: Keeper of mountain bio-diversity

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 28: Higher the altitude, the more fragile the bio-diversity. This is because the distribution of fauna and flora is critically scanty in these areas. Out of the 645 species of butterflies found in Nepal, less than five per cent are the residents of Himalayan highland.

From among this already thin population of high fliers is a very rare species - the Banded Apollo butterfly (Pernasius acdestis). Found quite thinly in the Manang and Mustang area of mid-western Nepal, survival of this insect is as delicate as the local ecology.

The remote and snowy massif, the habitat of this uncommon butterfly, is itself a challenge, limiting the possibilities of conducting elaborate studies. Until the threats driving these fliers to the brink of disappearance are identified, conservation measures are not going to bear fruit.

"Carrying out research on high-altitude butterflies is difficult and expensive," says butterfly expert Bhaiya Khanal. The equipment, gears and transportation cost hefty sums of money. While studying the rare species, time is also another important factor. Choosing the right time and patience are needed for a single sighting alone, Khanal added.

One of the subspecies of the Banded Apollo, the Parnassius acdestic markii faces tremendous threat on the Himalayan slopes. Due to its rare status, the IUCN, the World Conservation Union, has placed it in its Red List. As per the convention, trade and trafficking in as well as collection of the species are strictly prohibited. Nepal cannot afford to see this species threatened and endangered further as this butterfly is found only here. If timely steps are not taken to keep its habitat intact, Nepal and the world may lose an invaluable genetic asset.

Banded Apollo butterflies are found in Nepal's western Himalayas, including the Thorang Pass of Manang, located at an altitude of 17,000 feet. This is a very rare species flying actively between May and October.

Two distinct physical features enable these insects to cope with the extremely cold conditions - hair and colour. The thick hairs keep the butterflies warm while the dark colour helps to absorb heat during the day and give protection during the frigid night.

"These butterflies sit on a sunny slope with their wings spread as long as the sun heat is strong. After around 2 in the afternoon, when the wind becomes active, they cannot be seen," said Khanal, who has trekked the different high-altitude regions to collect butterflies for the Natural History Museum.

From November to April, the butterflies remain in hibernation. Either in egg or larva or pupa stage, they live in non-moving, non-growth condition, waiting for the warm days. Banded Apollo butterflies are found only above 9,000 feet.

Besides the Banded-Apollo, the tortoise butterfly is also an important high altitude butterfly found only around the high altitude Thorang Pass area of Manang district, according to Khanal. The Common Blue Apollo is found throughout the Himalayan range.

The larvae of the Banded Apollo butterfly feed on the Himalayan herbal plant Saxifraga andersonii. Adults suck the nectar, mud, rotten fruits and bird-droppings. They have a great ability to survive for a long time without food.

The Banded Apollo has two sub species which are indigenous to Nepal. They are the Parnassius acdestis laurenti and Parnassius acdestis markii.

Butterflies are indicators of sound ecological health as they flourish only in a balanced environment. Their presence means that flowering plants on which they live on are also available. They are important for plant life because they ensure pollination.

Out of the 17,600 butterfly species of the world, Nepal is home to 645 species. As a large swathe of the Himalayan territories fall in Nepal, this country provides an important habitat to the highland butterflies.