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. Just trading charges will not solve problems By Dhana Thapa The
main opposition party, the CPN-UML, started its agitation against the Krishna Prasad
Bhattarai led government in earnest from Tuesday (yesterday). Even as the Special Session
of the House of Representatives requested for by the UML was about to start, UML
supporters staged a sit in protest at Bhadrakali, which is right in front of Singha
Durbar. The Parliament is within the Singha Durbar complex. Virtually all the UML MPs were
also present at the protest programme. Later
in the House of Representatives, the Special Session began and with the permission of the
House Speaker UML leader Madhav Nepal spoke about the justification of the UML move. The
House now will meet on December 20 for discussions to start. Meanwhile
on Monday, calling a press conference, General Secretary of UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal had
said, “Our party has decided not to accept the election result in Rautahat’s
Constituency No. 4 as the polling was rigged with the misuse of administration”. This
response from the main opposition party, whose top leader Madhav Nepal himself had vacated
the seat of that constituency, was expected. But it is doubtful anything much will come
from this complaint. However the press conference became the first salvo to initiates the
attacks against the government. In
the coming days, when discussions start in the Special Session, there is no doubt that the
government will be put in a tight corner. For whatever the strengths or weaknesses of the
opposition, the issue they have raised, is something with which the people can identify. First
there was the price hike of kerosene and diesel, both petroleum products which directly
affect the people in general and also the commodities they buy. If most Nepalese use
kerosene as cooking fuel, then diesel is used by the vehicles that carry all goods. So the
sharp price hike of these two items, could be felt acutely by the common citizens. Their
woes did not end there. Soon after there was a 30 per cent increase in the electricity
tariff too. Apart from the ordinary consumers, most industries too depend on electricity,
so what this did to a common man’s budget and also market prices, is easy to fathom. Thus
it can be clearly seen that the government has not taken any popular decisions, as far as
the people are concerned. So when these bitter facts are repeated by articulate speakers
of the opposition parties regularly in the House, the government will definitely find it
hard to defend itself. But
naturally the question arises whether just talking of the price hike in the Parliament is
enough or not. Regarding this, UML General Secretary Madhav Nepal quite rightly said,
“The Parliament is a place where the current problems of the country are discussed.
And we are only trying to demonstrate the effectiveness of it. If the government does not
pay attention, we will go to the streets.” Nepal
is definitely right in insisting that the parliament should discuss the price hike issue,
which has been painful for the people. In this regard Speaker of the House Taranath
Ranabhat also pragmatically expressed the opinion that the Parliamentary move of the main
opposition is a positive thing as it has set a tradition of seeking the solution for
various problems faced by the country in the House. This
is true. And also like mentioned by UML leader Nepal, the government must be serious about
this issue which is making the life of the general people a hard one. Instead of talking
of making the nation ‘like America’ in 15 years’ time, the Prime Minister
should try to focus his attention on the present difficulties of the people. But the top
level leadership in the government, has not shown enough concern to explain things to
them. The
present NC government, which does not have to constantly tread on its toes, like the weak
coalition governments before it, can seriously look at how the Neapalese, one of the
poorest people in the world, have to pay the most expensive prices for basic essentials
like petroleum products an electricity. There
must be something wrong somewhere. The government must consider it a duty to ensure the
people get relief from such artificially put on burdens. It should not hesitate to pull up
the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the two public
utilities that enjoy a monopoly in providing electricity and distributing petroleum
products in the country. They must be made efficient institutions that cater to the needs
of the people and not make profits to distribute as bonus to their employees. The image of
these two institutions in the eyes of the people, till now is that of “white
elephants”, where only the employees that work there benefited. It is true that the
workers both at NEA and NOC, enjoy attractive perks, which employees of other corporations
don’t get. But
to come back to the issue in the Parliament, what would the UML itself have done about the
present crisis? Just criticising the government is not enough. Constructive suggestions
must also be given. Even the complaints about the election rigging in Rautahat would have
been better, if the UML had accepted defeat, but yet insisted irregularities had taken
place. Trading charges in the House will be easy, but coming out as sincere in the eyes of the public after this, will be the difficult part for both the ruling party and the opposition. By A Staff Reporter At a time when the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) party has proved its mettle in
the recently concluded by-election by wining all three seats in the House, many economists
and businessmen have started criticizing the government for its unability to provide
momentum to the country’s economy. After a host of economists blasted the economic policies of the government,
now its the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) that has
alleged the NC government led by Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has been
unsuccessful in addressing the sluggish economy of the country. In a press conference held on Sunday, the apex body of the Nepalese private
sector business houses and industries charged that the present government despite its
majority in the Parliament has failed to provide necessary momentum to boost the economy.
After more than four years of unstable coalition governments, the country saw
the present NC government almost seven months back. At that time, the majority government
was instantly welcomed by the business and economic sector of the country on the grounds
that the stability of the government will provide momentum to the economic growth. However, in the past eight months, the country’s economic condition hasn’t
shown any positive indication. The high price hikes, inflation and sluggish economic
growth continued to overshadow Nepal’s economy. In the past eight months only a
nominal growth was seen in the revenue administration front. “We hoped that the majority government of the Nepali Congress would be
able to address the problems in the economic sector, and provide momentum for economic
development. But, it didn’t happen,” said Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, president of
FNCCI, while addressing the press conference. “The government has paid no attention towards maintaining economic
discipline and in bringing about measures for the control of corruption,” he further
complained. If the same situation continues, lots of industries will have to be closed
down, the FNCCI President warned. The government should be committed to implement its policies and programmes
in order to encourage the business and the industry sector, a press release issued on the
occasion said. It should also maintain transparency in the implementation process and at
the same time the rules and regulation should be readily understandable, the press release
noted. Talking to the journalists, the FNCCI President also pointed out that after
five months of presentation of the budget for the present fiscal year, the government had
not taken initiative towards implementation of programmes that it announced to provide
support for the economic growth. On the occasion, FNCCI office bearers also informed about the “Millennium Round of Events” to be held next year. Likewise, the FNCCI officials also said that an economic policy with the “Vision 2010” is also in the process of formulation. Politics should make exit from campuses By
A Staff Reporter The
Tribhuvan University and its campuses had been out of media scrutiny for quite some time
with almost no news of strikes and disruption of classes. That led to a false notion that
things were actually getting better in the campuses. But
apparently, this is not true. Recently, a fight between two groups of students over a case
of eve-teasing at the Ramswaroop-Ramsagar Campus in Janakpur led to the injury of several
students. After the fighting the campus was closed for an indefinite period. However,
a more serious incident occurred in the Prithivi Narayan Campus in Pokhara. Millions of
rupees worth of materials, including furniture, window panes and computers were
vandalized, destroyed and burned by some agitating students in the pretext of police
entering the campus and disrupting a meeting of the students’ union affiliated to the
Maoist communist party. The
students also set fire to the administrative office of the campus which destroyed almost
all the student records, other documents, examination papers and others. The
Campus Chief was also severely beaten up by the students, who accused him of letting
the police inside the campus. The students were holding the 13th district level meeting of
the union inside the campus, when the police made their entrance. The
scuffle between the students and police led to the injury of at least three policemen, one
of them seriously. While the police baton-charged and tear gassed the students, the
students fought back with brick, stones and whatever they could lay their hands on. The
students accuse the police of ‘violating’ the sanctity of the academic
institution, but an observer queried, “weren’t the students’ themselves
misusing the campus for their political purposes?”. This
has again led to the issue of whether cadre-based political activities should be allowed
in the academic institutions or not. Everybody accepts and have realised that politics and
politicisation have been the biggest stumbling block in building a sound academic
environment in the academic institutes, especially the public colleges. The
student unions think it is their right to carry out their political activities, but in
doing so, they may be quelling the rights of many students who think their studies are
more important than politics. Most feel, after the advent of democracy 10 years ago, giving political freedom to all colours and ideologies, it is time for partisan politics to make an exit from the campuses. By-election results: By
A Staff Reporter In
Jhapa-6, NC’s Dr. Gopal Koirala polled 28,066 votes against second placed Devendra
Dahal of the CPN-UML, who got 21,958 votes. In Morang-1, NC’s Aamod Prasad Upadhyaya
received 26,501 votes to 12,601 of the UML’s Ram Kumar Rai. Similarly,
in Rautahat-4, Prakash Koirala of the Nepali Congress polled 34,979 and UML’s Ram
Kumar Bhattarai could get only 18,639 votes. The UML has said it does not accept the
polling verdict of this constituency. While
the polling in Rautahat was marred by violence in some places, those of Morang and Jhapa
were relatively peaceful. In
Rautahat polling in one centre was postponed when a mob clashed with police resulting in
the death of one person, and some injured. The
results were particularly embarrassing to the CPN-UML, the main opposition party in the
parliament. It is more so because the party has been defeated in two of the places, where
its two top leaders, Madhav Kumar Nepal and K.P. Oli, had won by comfortable margins in
the last general elections. Initially
it was thought that the Nepali Congress will have an easy time only in Morang-1, from
where NC president Girija Prasad Koirala had won earlier. The Congress’s win in the
other two constituencies has been called a pleasant surprise by even Prime Minister
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Looking
at the by-elections, one could easily guess that there are several determinants to the
results. The
first is the majority government of the Nepali Congress, and the voters in those
areas may have thought that a ruling party candidate could be a better bet for the
development of their constituency. The
second is the choice of candidates. In all the constituencies, observers felt NC
candidates were better known. The
Congress candidate in Jhapa is an intellectual and is better known than the UML candidate. In
Morang, Koirala’s influence and the choice of another Koirala clan as the party’s
candidate had become an almost certain winner even before the election. However,
in Rautahat, the party’s choice of an outsider still won the bet. Mainly because the
legacy of late B.P. Koirala also worked on his son Prakash. Additionally, many believe it
was supplemented by his daughter, Manisha Koirala. The Bollywood based heroine was able to
create a big wave on ‘her’ side. The influence of showbiz and cinema still works
here like in most other countries. But the UML blames the heavy handedness of Congress
Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka for its loss. Khadka had virtually stationed himself in the
constituency throughout the election. However,
the UML betted on relatively weak candidates, and more importantly it could not assure the
voters what it would give to them if its candidates won in the by-elections. Being in the
opposition has its disadvantages. Meanwhile, there
is little reason for the Nepali Congress to be overly euphoric with the wins. For, the
wins have not come because of the government’s or the party’s good work. At the
most, this is only the reflection of the people’s hope that the party in power will
do something worthwhile for them. r Culture through brushstrokes of the young By
A Staff Reporter Sarita
Dangol’s love for nature is exhibited by her focus on forests. She draws her
inspiration from the sun soaked greenery, overhanging tree branches, leaves and roots with
deep shadows. Her paintings are sans people. Binod
Pradhan paints beyond landscapes. He portrays the feelings that impact on him when he sees
the lanes, medieval houses and the street temples through the language of colours. His
paintings border on the surreal. Pradip
K. Bajracharya love for people and events express themselves vividly on the canvas. He
says he often includes himself as a part of his subjects while painting the festive
themes. He enjoys adding on details of their expressions and aspects of their daily lives.
The very fact that an acrylic on canvas painting by of a street festival sold out on a
pre-view day speaks for Pradip’s talent. Mediums used are oil on canvas, mixed media on paper and acrylic on canvas. The prices range from Rs.6000- Rs.15000. The exhibition by the Kasthamandap Group, founded by the late artist Prashanta Shrestha will remain open till 3 Jan 2000. Gallery hours- Sunday through Friday- 11am to 6 pm. By
A Staff Reporter The
government, the media and the society as a whole remain largely ignorant of the nature of
disaster, its underlying causes and its management. Duryog
Nivaran ( meaning disaster mitigation in Sanskrit) is a network of individuals and
organisations working in South Asia. Committed to promoting the alternative perspective on
disasters and vulnerability as a basis for disaster mitigation in the region, this forum
is a pioneer effort in the region to present varying perceptions of disasters in the
search of alternative, lasting and constructive ways of addressing this problem. The
way disaster issues are portrayed by the media indicate our poor awareness, lack of
understanding and coordination in disaster preparedness. As a result our attitude towards
disasters, we tend to look at it from a fatalist point of view. Something that makes news
headlines, creates sensation for sometime and then is no longer news worthy. We
can make a difference by educating ourselves to see beyond an event and the immediate
aftermath. Mass media should be called upon to bring the causes and forces behind an event
to the fore. Disaster preparedness must be an integral part both in planning and
performance. These issues were highlighted during a media meet recently organised by Duryog Niwaran. Paintings from Nepal in Finland From
Reijo Harkonen in Helsinki Thangka artist Lok Chitrakar from Kathmandu recently opened an
exhibition in the Finnish capital Helsinki. More than 20 thangkas - or poubhas - were
shown in the Klobben gallery. The exhibition concluded on December 12. According
to a press release of the Nepal Tourism Board PR representative in Finland, Lok Chitrakar
had earlier taught thangka painting in a summer art school in Southern Finland and has had
three exhibitions in Helsinki. By A Staff Reporter On
8th December 1985, the Heads of State and Government of South Asia signed the Charter of
the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation and the Dhaka Declaration to
accelerate the process of economic and social development in South Asia through optimum
utilisation of human and material resources in the seven countries. The leaders were
conscious that peace and security were essential prerequisites for the realisation of
these objectives. The
Fourteenth Anniversity of the Signing of the Charter establishing SAARC was marked at the
SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu on December 8, says a SAARC press release. Prime
Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, was the Chief Guest. On the occasion, he said: “
The SAARC Charter embodies the lofty goals of peace, stability, amity and progress in
South Asia and provides a framework of cooperation for their realisation. We consider the
SAARC Charter as a vital instrument for the promotion of regional identity and solidarity
and remain fully committed to this objective.” The
Prime Minister was of the view that our region contains the largest number of poor in the
world. Indeed some efforts have been made towards poverty alleviation, our success in this
field is still a long way off. He added that time has come to seriously think as to how we
could promote a genuine partnership and mobilise resources, both national as well as
regional, in liberating South Asia from the vicious circle of poverty. The
Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that cooperation in substantive areas has received
priority under SAARC in the recent years. Secretary-General
Nihal Rodrigo read out a message received from the current Chairperson of the Association,
the President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. In her message, she
briefly reviewed the achievements and shortcomings of the Association in the context of
the acceleration of profound social, economic and technical changes that have taken place
regionally as well as internationally in the last fourteen years. She
looked forward to the Eleventh Summit in Kathmandu to consolidate the achievements of
preceding Summits and to work out practical strategies for the future development of the
region. “What progress we have managed to achieve should not lead to complacency; our shortcomings should not encourage pessimism and cynicism”, she said in her message. The first copy of a publication of the Secretariat entitled, The SAARC Mosaic: An Introduction to the Nations of South Asia was presented to the Prime Minister. Born a sportsman, died a sportsman By Subarna Chhetri Recipient of the Jaycess Youth of the Year (sports) Award 1982 and Manager of
the Year Award 1996 awarded by the Management of Association of Nepal, Anoop Rana who
turned 50 in November 19 this year, and to all those who new him was a young man in a
hurry. Being an achiever, perhaps he knew that he had to achieve much in life, and time
was short. He carved out a distinct style of his own. Anoop Rana style. His curt, frank,
straight forward expression could have offended some. Yet, he was conscious not to harm
anybody. Thus, at the end of the day, from his friends and foes alike he rather began to
command respect. Earlier, the nation knew him as great sportsman. If he excelled in sports, so
did he in its organisation aspects as well. Perhaps, his crowning glory in his sporting
career was his untiring contributions to the success of the 8th SAF Games held in
Kathmandu on Sept-Oct this year. At 32 and armed with a Management Degree from Germany,
Anoop became the Executive Director of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation and that too with
a resounding success. During his stint with RNAC (1982-85) he turned the fledgling airline
into a profit making enterprise. Anoop’s style never allowed him to just stick to a
job of career manager in any public or a private company. Married, having two daughters
and fluent in German language, his larger than life figure, exuberant energy coupled with
high ambitions would never allow to jail him to just one thing. In 1992 he collaborated with some like minded partners and gave birth to
Necon Air, perhaps a project that fitted with his “big dream”. The company with
him at its helm, within a few years of establishment, ascended to the height of a leading
private sector company in civil aviation industry. Once again in Anoop’s style, every
height he achieved would become inferior. There always remained greater heights to be
achieved. Perhaps, this engineered rift among his business associates. He not only
resigned as the Chairman of Necon Air in January 1999, but also pulled all his
shares out. His decision immediately laid to the company’s shares showing a downward
graph. Such was his contribution to the company. But a successful man is one who can lay a
firm foundation with the bricks the others throw at him. With this philosophy he moved on. As an active executive member of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of
Commerce and Industry and as the Chairman of Employers Council he did much work in the
field of labour relations and Trade Union Act. His contribution to the tourism and
aviation sectors were no less. In what ever field he laid his hands on, success came due
to distinctive style of his own and his decision-making capabilities, which were so Anoop
like. His ‘no guts, no glory’ philosophy became a kind of catechism that helped
shape his thinking. But risk-taking is really only one part of dual philosophy. The other
part, setting high goals and working for them until you reach them. Recently, his dabble
with a finance company and computer software programming was proving to be very successful
ventures. And most recently his ground work to launch his own aviation company was just
about to start. He had registered his pet project Pagoda Air on December 3. But he lived
too short to operationalise it. Perhaps, now we know why he was a man in a hurry! One of the things he most enjoyed was having Saturday breakfast with closest
of his friends. With his sudden demise, the breakfast ritual which has gone on
uninterrupted for almost two decades, perhaps now stands to be discontinued. Anoop Rana was cremated in Pashupati’s Aryaghat with the traditional
Hindu rites in the afternoon of December 10. A huge gathering of sportsmen, people from
business, travel and tourism trade, ministers, politicians, journalists, family members,
and above all his closest friends were present to give him a befitting final adieu. In Anoop Rana’s demise, Nepali sports circle lost a fine sportsman, the business sector a dynamic entrepreneur, tourism sector a fine resource person, to all his friends a ‘friend in need’, to a monarch a loyal subject and the nation a nationalist. r |
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