Their Majesties accorded warm send off

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KATHMANDU, March 20: Their Majesties King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah left for New Delhi, this afternoon by a regular flight of the Royal Nepal Airlines in connection with a pilgrimage to various places in the Republic of India.

Their Majesties the King and Queen were seen off by Chairman of the Council of Royal Representatives His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Her Royal Highness Princess Himani Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, the Chief Justice, the Speaker, Chairman of the National Assembly, chairman of the Rajparishad Standing Committee, Deputy Prime Minister, ministers, charge d' affaires of Indian Embassy and distinguished personalities were also present on the occasion.

HM administers oath of office

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KATHMANDU, March 20: His Majesty the King administered the oath of office of Chairman of the Council of Royal Representatives to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev at a ceremony held at the Royal Palace today.

His Majesty on the occasion also administered the oath of membership of the Council to Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand and Raj Parishad Standing Committee chairman Parasu Narayan Chaudhari, and of member-secretary of the Council to His Majesty's chief secretary Pashupati Bhakta Maharjan.

Maoists firm to multiparty democracy, says Mahara

By K.P. Gautam

Krishna Bahadur Mahara, member of the CPN-Maoist politburo, says that his party is committed to multi-party democracy.

"We are against an autocratic regime," Mahara, also a member of the Maoist peace negotiation team, told the Gorkhapatra daily Thursday.

He said that there were confusions regarding the objectives of the Maoist movement. "Our armed struggle does not aim to establish despotic rule in the country. I request all to give up such misconceptions. The political system we want to put in place is not much different from that of multi-party democracy. However, we stress that the system must be people-oriented," said Mahara.
Mahara, who made his public appearance for the second time on the day when the government and his party jointly announced a code of conduct for the peace talks a week ago, is now engaged in a series of public meetings to clarify the party's stance.

He was also coordinator of his party during the previous talks held with the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba. The talks broke down after three rounds in 2001.

He said that his party has not put forth its political demands. The party will raise the political issues during the talks, he said.

Stating that a debate was going on about the republican system, multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy, Mahara said that the party had not taken any rigid stance on any one of them. "We cannot establish any system by merely talking or writing about it."

He said that all things are subject to change. "Only people and the nation are the ultimate truth."
To a query why they ignored the political parties while announcing the cease-fire and while holding the forthcoming talks, the Maoist leader said, "A cease-fire can take place only between two armed groups. As soon as the two agree for a roundtable meeting, then only the issue of the participation of the political parties, civil society and deprived communities comes to the fore. There is a need for the participation of all the political parties in the talks since the restoration of peace is the topmost concern of the nation."

Asked about foreign mediation in the talks, he said that there was no need for it at the moment. "This is not to say that there should be no outside negotiator. The situation will decide."

Asked about the gap between the demands they had put forward when they began their armed struggle seven years ago and the demands they are putting now, he said, "The situations then and now are quite different. The problems should be viewed and solved in the context of the present.
"We never stood against a peaceful movement. We took part in the local and general elections and sat in a number of sessions of the House of Representatives for three years. But the then establishment forced us to launch a violent campaign. The present establishment, it seems, has changed its stance," Mahara said.

He said that the corrupt state machinery needs to reform. "For this, a new constitution, which is accountable to the people, should be drafted. We want it to incorporate different elements such as sovereignty, national army, education and health of the people."

He said that his party would accept the decision of the people incorporated in the new constitution.
He said that his party had instructed its militia to halt the violent campaign. They are now engaged in peaceful and constructive activities such as in a publicity and awareness campaign in different parts of the country.

We want to build cordial relations with the political parties, which are now trying to rectify their past mistakes, he said.

"Peace is a relative term. We want permanent peace. But violence may continue in different forms unless social disparities are put to an end. All should contribute to the restoration of a lasting peace. The state should be more responsible and serious to achieve this goal," said the Maoist leader.

Pandey pleads for news on child rights

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KATHMANDU, March 20: Minister for Information and Communications Rameshnath Pandey inaugurated a workshop on child domestic workers and news media's role organised by children and women in social works and human rights here today.

On the occasion, Minister Pandey said media should disseminate news and information on crime and child labour on regular basis.

He said those responsible in committing such crimes have been brought to justice and punished due to the publications of news in the media.

Minister Pandey stressed the need of proper utilisation of fund received from donor countries and organisations for the welfare of women and children and a high level committee has been monitoring such co-operation.

A host of speakers including the chairman of CWIN Gauri Pradhan, Helen Sherpa of World Education, regional representative of the Save the Children Norway Valter Tenderholt, Peter Dalglish of the International Labour Organisation, journalist Tirth Koirala also spoke of the need of dissemination of news from the media on child welfare.

There are about 70,000 child domestic workers in Nepal, according to the CWIN. They are found to have been working as domestic workers in the household of civil servants, police, doctors, teachers and politicians.The function was chaired by Shanti Adhikari, chairperson of CWISH.

Thapa urges social bodies to work for Dalits

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LALITPUR, March 20: Home Minister Dharma Bahadur Thapa has said that all the social organisations should work in integrated manner for the upliftment of depressed community.
There is the need to carry out programmes to the rural areas for the upliftment of oppressed community, Minister Thapa said while inaugurating the 1st anniversary of National Dalit Commission here today.

He also honoured various persons making significant contributions for the upliftment of Dalits on the occasion.

A video clipping of the human rights situation of the Dalits of 13 Maoists affected districts was also presented on the occasion.

The function was held under the chairmanship of chairman of the commission Padam Singh Biswokarma.

NC CWC meet hails ceasefire call

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, March 20: The central working committee (CWC) meeting of the Nepali Congress today has taken the announcement of the cease-fire very positively saying it was the need of the hour.
A press statement issued after the meeting said that the party maintained the talks must be made successful and result-oriented to establish peace in the country and to give a political outlet to the problem.

The CWC meeting said that it was looking at the peace talks between the government and the Maoists which, it said, was being held at a time when there is a deep rift between His Majesty the King and the political parties, with utmost curiosity and seriousness.

The party said when the code of conduct for the talks has already been made pubic, the people must have a sense of security, and the National Human Rights Commission and other human rights organistions should monitoring the implementation of the code of conduct.

The statement said that the party believed that the permanent and a lasting resolution of the problem were not possible without the consent of the political parties.

A press statement issued after the meeting said that the party still believed the reinstatement of the dissolved House of Representatives as the best alternative to resolve the present political impasse through constitutional means.

However, the Nepali Congress also said that an all-powerful government of the parties represented in the dissolved parliament could also be a way to resolve the present political problem.

Chairing the meeting party's president Girija Prasad Koirala urged the party-men to be serious in evaluating the current situation of the country.

In another decision, the party has given full authority to party president Girija Prasad Koirala to look for broader unity among other mainstream political parties for a joint movement to safeguard the outcomes of the popular movement of 1990.

Regarding the recent outbreak of war against Iraq, the meeting has said that a peaceful solution to all unresolved issues should be found within the framework of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolution.

After the meeting Shailaja Acharya, a member of the CWC said that the Nepali Congress should be able to play role to establish peace. She also said that Nepali Congress should be able to find its own perspective and maintain a middle path from both extremes.

Evacuating Nepalese in Gulf
Nepal seeks IOM support

By Bhuwaneshor Sharma

KATHMANDU, March. 20: With the war on Iraq having broken since Thursday morning, Nepal is consulting with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to see how much support it can provide to evacuate Nepalese citizens working in Kuwait and repatriate them should the situation demand.

"Discussions between Nepalese representatives in Geneva and the IOM are taking place in this connection," Minister for Foreign Affairs Narendra Bikram Shah told The Rising Nepal. The headquarters of the IOM is based in Geneva of Switzerland, and Nepal is currently an observer of the IOM, said minister Shah.

The IOM is an international agency that provides logistic support to the people at risk to migrate and resettle in safer areas. Altogether 98 nations are its members and 34 are observers. The agency had assisted in the evacuation of a large number of Indian workers during the Gulf war in 1991.

Arrangements are being made to evacuate them to bordering Saudi Arabia for 15 days. Lodging and food for them will be offered free of cost, said Minister Shah. Other arrangements will be made depending on the duration and nature of the war.

Some 15,000 Nepalese are believed to be currently working in Kuwait, while the number of Nepalese in the Gulf, according to official sources, is about 150,000.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) is drafting a letter to the IOM's headquarters to make a formal request for help, according to sources at the MoFA. The source also informed that the letter would be dispatched by tomorrow. A regional representative from the IOM's regional office in Bangladesh had recently visited Nepal.

Inquiry on whereabouts: Meanwhile, the government will begin to inquire about its citizens working in Kuwait through their relatives in Nepal from tomorrow (Friday).

"We will issue a public notice tomorrow asking family members to provide information about their relatives currently working in Kuwait to track and evacuate them to a safer destination," said Dhruba Kumar Sharma, spokesperson at the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MLTM).
"We have already stopped sending Nepalese to Kuwait," said Sharma talking to The Rising Nepal Thursday.

Regular contacts, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), will be established with the Royal Nepalese embassy in Saudi Arabia when we start receiving information about our citizens in Kuwait, he added.

He also informed that the government has established a unit in the ministry to monitor the situation and register the information received from different sources and facilitate the received information to the MoFA. As we don't have authentic addresses of the Nepalese in Kuwait, the notice should help us know about their whereabouts, he added.

Meanwhile RSS adds the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management has asked the parents and relatives of Nepali nationals working in Kuwait to furnish their particulars in clear terms along with their contact addresses for the purpose of their easy evacuation in case the need for evacuation arises.
In a press release issued today, the ministry has notified persons concerned to provide information such as names, place of work and areas in Kuwait where Nepali nationals are working to the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, Singha Durbar at phone Nos. 4244584 and 4241963 and to the labour and employment promotion department, Naya Baneshwar at phone Nos. 4477671 and 4477672.

Ex-minister Gupta arrested again

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 20: Twelve days after former Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta was given a clean chit on corruption charges while importing mobile phones, he was arrested by the Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today for amassing unaccounted for wealth.

In yet another corruption case filed against him at the Special Court, the CIAA stated that out of his total wealth of Rs. 24.3 million, Rs. 20.8 million was amassed illegally.

The country's constitutional anti-corruption body has demanded five years' imprisonment for the former minister and confiscation of all unaccounted for property as it is not convinced about the source of his income.

In the case filed against the former minister, the CIAA has stated that after the then government, in accordance with the Financial Act-2058, called on all to voluntarily declare their property, former minister Gupta had withdrawn more than Rs. 5.5 million from different banks to conceal his wealth, without declaring that money as his property. "The CIAA wants that money confiscated," states a press release issued today by the Commission.

The CIAA has detailed former minister Gupta's property from the time he began making a living as a farmer. "How can a person who had a balance of only Rs. 22,000 in the Agriculture Development Bank at Ratna Park before holding any public post earn such a huge amount of money within a so little time?" questioned the CIAA.

"Explaining how he earned the money in the form submitted to the Judicial Inquiry Commission on Property, former minister Gupta has stated that he did so by doing business. But there is no evidence to show that he was involved in any kind of business," reads the press release.

The Commission said he made Rs. 400,000 from the period he became Minister for Information and Communications from 1991 to 1994. "Similarly he is found to have collected Rs. 8.5 million rupees between 1997 to 2002 when he held important ministerial posts," said the CIAA.

This is the second time in a row that former minister Gupta has been accused of corruption charges.
Likewise, Devendra Wagle, son of Chiranjibi Wagle who was the former minister for Housing and Physical Planning during the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government, has been sent to jail after failing to deposit Rs. 16.5 million bail money at the Special Court. Junior Wagle was supposed to deposit the bail amount today but he failed to do so due to shortage of time. Junior Wagle has been accused of amassing millions of rupees by abusing his father's public post while the latter was in the government.

Five police officers suspended

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 20: Based on the circular of the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the Home Ministry today suspended five police officers accused of corruption for fear that they would destroy evidences if they are allowed to continue office.

The suspended police officers whom the CIAA has accused of abusing authority and amassing wealth are Superintendents of Police Kalyan Kumar Timsina, Kiran Kumar Gautam and Basanta Raj Kunwar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Tapendra Dhwoj Hamal and Police Inspector Basanta Bikram Rana.

ICRC worries about human cost of war

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KATHMANDU, March 20: International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) is deeply concerned about the human consequences of the hostilities under way in Iraq, especially the impact of military operations on the civilian population, according to a press release issued by the ICRC here today.

The ICRC calls upon the warring parties to abide strictly by the rules and principles of international humanitarian law.

Wherever the need for its independent and impartial humanitarian action arises, the ICRC firmly intends to extend its activities in accordance with its mandate, it said. It relies on the warring parties to facilitate its access to all persons requiring help and protection.

The ICRC reminds all states party to the Geneva conventions of their obligation not only to respect but also to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, whose main purpose is to minimise the effects of war on people not or no longer taking part in hostilities, and to protect their lives and physical integrity, the release added.

"The requirement that persons not taking part in hostilities be treated with humanity in all circumstances is a basic principle of humanitarian law."

Attacks directed at civilians are prohibited, as are attacks that do not distinguish between military objectives and civilians/civilian objects. In the course of military operations, all parties are obliged to take every feasible precaution to avoid, and in any case to minimise, civilian casualties and damage to civilian property, it said.

The warring parties have the duty to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population are met as far as possible. They must authorise and facilitate impartial humanitarian relief operations and ensure the safety of medical and humanitarian personnel. They must see to it that the sick and wounded have access to adequate medical care. All parties must respect the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems.

All combatants and civilians detained must be spared and protected against abuses in all circumstances and without discrimination; they must be treated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Geneva conventions.

The right to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited. Weapons having indiscriminate effects and/or causing superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering are forbidden by international humanitarian law, as are chemical and biological weapons and has also calls upon the warring parties not to use nuclear weapons.

Humanity is a founding principle of the ICRC. The ICRC and the entire movement stand ready to do their utmost to ensure that humanity prevails in the midst of violence.