Challenge for PM Koirala too, could come from within

By A Staff Reporter

Girija Prasad Koirala will be sworn in as the country’s Prime Minister for the third time in 10 years today (Wednesday). Koirala is also expected to announce his cabinet today.       

According to highly placed sources in the Nepali Congress, Ramchandra Poudel will be retained as the Deputy Prime Minister with the portfolio of either local development or the information and communications. Till the time of going to the press, it was expected that Khum Bahadur Khadka will be given the vital Home Ministry. Earlier, it was also rumoured that Khadka would be appointed as the deputy prime minister for his role in the election of Koirala as the parliamentary party leader.

Koirala : Winner for now.

Koirala was elected as the party’s parliamentary leader on Saturday by 69  of the party’s 113 MPs. Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had challenged Koirala for the position, was supported by 43 MPs. Deuba gaining the support of 43 MPs of the parliament surprised  many both within and outside the party. He is now being seen as a strong challenger to Koirala both in the party and the government.

 It is said Khum Bahadur Khadka’s 13 supporting MPs played a crucial role in the election of Koirala. Had Khadka opted to support the younger generation the result and the whole politics within the Nepali Congress would be different today, Congress watchers say.

After his election, Koirala said that he would try to encompass all the sections of the party in his government.

It is expected Koirala will also include some of Bhattarai supporters in his cabinet. According to Congress sources, Chiranjibi Wagle, Sharat Singh Bhandari, P.L. Singh, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat and Chakra Prasad  Bastola will be retained in the new government. It is most likely that Mahesh Acharya will be brought back to the Bagh Durbar as the Finance Minister and Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat will continue his tenure in Sital Niwas.

According to a report, there has also been a rush to clinch the Ministry of  Tourism and Civil Aviation. It is said this is mainly because of the huge commission that will be involved in the procurement of the aircraft for the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation.

Khadka : Decisive player.

Meanwhile, Khum Bahadur Khadka’s appointment as the Home Minister is being seen as a direct threat to Police IGP Achyut Krishna Kharel and a big reshuffle in the police force. Any sort of revamping of the police force is seen as crucial when the new government has made maintaining law and order situation and fighting the Maoist insurgency as its top most priority.

Besides the Maoist, some other problems, which are gaping at the new government, are the rising inflation and checking of corruption. These were the issues Koirala and his supporters had accused Bhattarai of failing to solve. So, Koirala has a tough job ahead. People will judge his performance on how much he succeeds in solving the promises made by him. But, the job at hand for Koirala is to form a cabinet to the satisfaction of all the party men.

The support Deuba got in the parliamentary party election has clearly shown that the second generation leaders are rearing to take over  and they may even have caught the imagination of the partymen and others. This might be the biggest challenge Koirala will have to face.

Opposition protests, challenge for government

By A Staff Reporter

No sooner has it come to power, the new government of the Nepali Congress faces dual challenges from the opposition. First, it will have to handle the protest programmes started by the CPN-UML, the largest opposition party in the Parliament. The UML is ending the present phase of its protest programmes with a Nepal Bandh this Monday, March 27.

Then the CPN (Maoists) is also starting a violent campaign which will culminate with a “violent bandh” on April 6. There will be a spate of other different protests in the days before that.

So even as it takes office, the new government will be fully occupied in dealing with the challenges thrown by the opposition parties. The best way out would be in appealing to both the UML and Maoists to call off the protest programmes, so that the government could concentrate on more pressing matters.

Bhattarai's swan song full of sound, no fury, yet signifying plenty

By A Staff Reporter

Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s resignation on Thursday last has ended the latest infighting within the Nepali Congress. It has also saved the party from a more embarrassing situation having to oust the party’s parliamentary leader, chosen only 10 months ago with much hype and hoopla. More than that it may have prevented the alarming crack within the party from growing into a virtual split.

For senior leader and Prime Minister Bhattarai, the last 10 month have seen a sea of change in his image within the party with him being constantly and uninterruptedly criticised by his own partymen for being incompetent, inefficient and even a complete failure. The bubble of discontent had finally burst when the majority of the MPs deciding last week to force him out from office.

But as expected, Bhattarai resigned one day before the Congress deputies were to vote him out. In such a situation there was no option left for Bhattarai. He had virtually lost all his ammunition, after influential leaders like Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ramchandra Poudel, both his supporters, also pressurized him to quit to save the party. But his decision to announce the resignation at the House of Representatives may be taken as an attempt to salvage his credentials within the party and also to inscribe in history, his image as a democrat committed to value-based politics and a nationalist.

However, the speech to the parliament, which was both emotional and impassionate, can be taken as Bhattarai’s political swan song. With the resignation Bhattarai’s influence in the party has been greatly diminished. Whatever clout he may have left in the party now, is only because of him being its seniormost leader.

Coming to the speech itself, Bhattarai has vented his anger at the party, especially at Koirala and his supporters for humiliating him time and again and for being a victim of conspiracies.

But the speech also revealed some of the inherent weaknesses and the trend of politics within the Nepali Congress party, such as the politics of making and breaking of the government. He even pointed fingers at the smugglers, whom he claimed conspired to oust him.

Despite what Bhattarai alleged, his tenure was not a complete success. First of all, he could not narrow the gap between the party and the government. Secondly, he failed control the damage done to his government because of the actions of some of his ministers. And, thirdly, Bhattarai’s ‘habit’ of deferring decision was another of his weaknesses. But certainly there were comparatively less reports of corruption at high levels. The speech could be a guideline to the Nepali Congress and other political parties, if they choose to follow it.

However, the most important aspect of the speech was his proposal in allowing the second generation of leaders to take over the reins of the party and the government. But it is being questioned why he thought of the second generation only when he was about to quit, and not earlier. Only some time back, he was saying that he would remain in power for a full five-year term.

It is clear that by propping up the second generation, he thought he may prevent Koirala from gaining power again. Still, this is the first time any of the senior leaders of the Nepali Congress has publicly talked of handing over power to the second generation. Now, Bhattarai has handed over his share of power to the second generation, but it may take some more time before the second generation of leaders have the influence and the guts to wrench power away from Koirala as wished by Bhattarai.

PP voting a new beginning for NC

By A Staff Reporter

The Nepali Congress leaders have described it in a different way. From Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to others, they have said it was most fitting for a democratic party like the NC, to have conducted an election to choose its Parliamentary Party leader.

But is that so?

It must be remembered that the Nepali Congress, in its more than half a Century long political history, had always elected its Parliamentary Party leader trough consensus. This happened even during the turbulent Hung Parliament period, when Sher Bahadur Deuba vacated his position so that Girija Prasad Koirala could take over the post of Prime Minister of a coalition government.

But the same Sher Bahadur challenged Koirala’s leadership last week, when Krishna Prasad Bhattarai had to step down from the Parliamentary Party leader’s post. And it must have been a shock to party president Koirala, that Deuba garnered a respectable 43 votes, not a few scattered ones like everybody had expected.

The voting last Saturday has clearly shown that the younger generation of leaders are not ready to accept everything the senior leaders say now.

Also, it can be presumed that there will be a keen contest within the party in the future, when even Koirala has to step down. Like Sher Bahadur Deuba has challenged Koirala, he too will face challenges from the likes of Ram Chandra Poudel, Khum Bahadur Khadka, Sushil Koirala and even Govind Raj Joshi.

This is indeed a new beginning for the oldest political party in the country and it will bring about a keen struggle to choose a new Parliamentary Party leader in the future.

Aneurysm surgery at Norvic-Escorts

By A Staff Reporter

A team of Surgeons headed by noted Neuro-surgeon Dr. U.P. Devkota, FRCS (U.K.) carried out Aneurysm Surgery at the Norvic -Escorts’ well-equipped operation theatre on March 19. The operation was highly successful.

Mrs. Nar Maya Rai, 45, a mother of three grown up children and wife of an ex British Army, Mr. Nagendra Rai, had been suffering from severe headache for almost a decade. Rai, originally from Dharan, had been taken to one of the leading hospitals in New-Delhi for investigation and treatment in 1993. It seems that the Hospital in New-Delhi fail to diagnose her ailment and a temporary arrangement with T.P. Shunt (Theco-Peritoneal Shunt) was carried out.

Even after the T.P. Shunt her headache persisted, and she also suffered from frequent fainting attacks, excessive weakness and paralysis of the left part of her body. This is said to be due to bleeding from a micro aneurysm which is the weakening of the wall of an artery leading to localized dilatation at that part of the artery.

Dr. Devkota preparing for operation.

With the above symptoms, Mrs. Rai had a brain hemorrhage  (Sub-Arachnid Hemorrhage) and several fainting attacks. She was admitted to the Norvic-Escorts after the symptoms and treated with conservative management till she came out from the critical stage. After she reached the stable stage, her Cerebral Angiography was carried out to confirm or to localize the abnormalities in the arteries of the brain.

The so-called Aneurysm Surgery (major brain operation which was first of its kind at the Norvic-Escorts, involved the “Clipping of right internal Carotid.” It took six hours to complete the surgery.

“Ninety-nine per cent of such cases are hereditary and can be easily detected with Cerebral Angiography,” said Dr. Devkota after the completion of operation. The Operation was done successfully without any residual deficit or deformity. Recuperating from the operations, the patient now is cheerful and under smooth recovery.

Aneurysm Surgery is regarded as one of the must technically demanding micro-neurosurgery. The team led by Dr. Devkota has successfully carried out 45 such operators at the Bir Hospital starting in 1990. The result of the surgery has already been presented in international meetings and is in the process of being published in the British Journal of Neuro-surgery. The mortality and morbidity from this kind of surgery is said to be between 10-20 per cent even in the developed countries. However, the mortality in Dr. Devkota’s series is less than 8%.

The team of surgeons, involved in the operation, included Dr. U.P. Devkota, Dr. Prakash Bista and Dr. Ajay Gupta. Team of Anesthetists involved were Dr. B.M. Shrestha, Dr. Sant Man Prajapati and Dr. B.B. Singh. The team was so confident about the success of the operation that they allowed the whole operation to be telecast live for viewers outside the OT at the hospital.

Migrating birds know no boundaries

By A Staff Reporter

There are many common things between two friendly countries — Nepal and Israel. The first and the most important similarity between these two countries are that both Israel and Nepal are the birthplaces of Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha respectively.

Beside that, these two countries are paradise for birds. Though small in size, both Nepal and Israel houses hundred of species of birds found around the world. More interesting than that is, both these countries are paradise for the migrating birds.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relation between these two countries, an Israeli photographic exhibition entitled “Migrating Birds Know No Boundaries” was held at Tribhuvan University’s Central Library, Kirtipur on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Sholm Granov, Charge d’Affairs a.i., at the Embassy of Israel, said that large numbers of migrating birds are found in Israel and Nepal.

“Israel happens to be one of the lowest points of land in the world. Nepal happens to the highest. But in the migration of birds both are similar,” he said.

Well over 870 species of birds are known to found in Nepal. Similarly, more than 510 species of birds are found in Israel. Beside that, more than 80 species of migratory birds visit these countries every year. As such, experts gathered at the opening ceremony of the exhibition suggested to develop these countries as a research centers of birds.

“Nepal is very much suitable for carrying out researches on the habits and habitats of the birds,” said Dr. Tej Kumar Shrestha, Professor at the Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University.

He also pointed out that rare birds cannot be preserved in protected areas alone. “They need to be protected in Bird Parks or Bird Sanctuaries,” he said and stressed on the need to create such sanctuaries in bird migration routes of eastern, western and central Nepal.

On the occasion, Dr. Govinda Raj Bhatta, Secretary at the Ministry of Population and Environment also released a book named “Birds of Nepal,” authored by Dr. Shrestha.

A-fourteen-year effort results in producing effective vaccine

By A Staff Reporter

In 1986 a young scientist from the AFRIMS laboratory in Bangkok visited Dr Mrigendra P. Shrestha, at the Teku Infectious Disease Hospital in Kathmandu. At that meeting Dr Shrestha asked, “Why are so many pregnant women dying of jaundice in Kathmandu?” This question launched a fourteen year effort to find an answer to that question and has resulted in the first vaccine exclusively designed for the developing world.

The vaccine will prevent a damaging and often deadly jaundice which occurs every year in Kathmandu and throughout much of the developing world. Jaundice  kills up to 35% of pregnant women who contract it. This vaccine has received international scientific & ethnical approval based on the extensive safety evaluations that all vaccines must undergo. Although this vaccine was developed with the sponsorship of the United States Government (the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense), developed countries will get very little benefit from it.

A limited batch of the vaccine has been manufactured by the pharmacological company, SmithKline Beecham and the initial does were given approximately 260 times to volunteers in the United States. Only after those successful initial tests that showed no major vaccine related toxicity, were further small tests of the vaccine  carried out in Patan. The two tests resulted in only mild pain and redness after the vaccine was given; this is typical for most vaccines.

The next planned study of the vaccine will also be in Patan where hepatitis E is known to be very common and where  Nepalis have established a vaccination clinic. The study in Patan is the only chance for this vaccine to be ever considered for use to prevent disease in developing countries. Due to the small amount of vaccine that has been prepared and the problems with shipment and storage in Nepal, if the vaccine is not tested this rainy season the commercial sponsor who has developed this vaccine will most likely withdraw their support. If this happens, the vaccine will never become available and the pregnant women in Nepal and elsewhere in the developing world will continue to die needlessly as they have in the past.

This is the first vaccine that has been designed specifically for  use in the developing world. The success or failure of this project will send a message to those who are interested and capable of creating drugs and vaccines that are needed by the developing world. The people of Nepal can send a very positive signal that they are willing and capable of being partners in developing the drugs and vaccines that they, and the people of the developing world desperately need.

Meet on Convention on the rights of the Child

By A Staff Reporter

A workshop on the design of the reporting process of Nepal on the Convention on the rights of the Child (CRC), was held 21-22 March. The event was organised by the Ministry of Women and Social welfare, UNICEF and Save the Children.

Tirtha Man Shakya, Chief Secretary, HMG/N in his presentation on the situation of children in Nepal: past, present and future - said that in reality, the number of children that are trafficked and enslaved for various reasons far outnumber the reported numbers.  He stressed on the importance of transparency in reporting as also in the presentation of facts by the NGOs and GOs. He said that a country like ours that is very much influenced by traditional psyche needs to find ways to solve the problems surrounding the issue of children that would be more easily  integrated into the mainstream of our society.

Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn, professor of law, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, presented his paper on The Convention - its principles and application. He stressed on the importance of long term implemention of the policies in our daily lives. Speaking vehemently against corporal punishment that is so commonly meted out to children, he cited an example where a child expressed that he would like to take revenge on the children of the teacher who beat him black and blue. He also deplored the tendency of many countries to spend much more on arms and ammunitions than on their less fortunate children.

Richard Bridle, senior programme officer, UNICEF, Nepal said that for every right holder, there is a corresponding duty bearer. He elaborated on the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in fulfilling children’s rights.

Bharat Koirala, Gen. Secretary, National Press Institute spoke on the role of the media and civil society. He said that media has proved itself to be a powerful force to bring about changes and that both media and civil society play a vital role in bringing about societal changes. He added that in Nepal, media has lost its credibility due to its partisan reporting and excessive preoccupation with political activities only and said that there has to be a new media policy to stimulate all channels of communication.

Nepalese volunteers in E. Timor, Kosovo

By A Staff Reporter

Within weeks of the return of peace to the troubled island of East Timor, Nepali volunteers are assisting in the reconstruction and rebuilding efforts there. 

According to a UNV press release in Kathmandu last week, four more Nepalis United Nations Volunteers (UNVs) departed from Kathmandu, bringing the total number of UNVs from Nepal now in East Timor to eleven. One of the four volunteers, Subash Lama, will be arriving in East Timor for the second time.  He had previously served as a UNV Electoral Officer, one of over 500 UNVs from around the world who had assisted in organising last year’s consultation process.

He looks forward with interest to see how the reconstruction of East Timor is being carried out, and to observe the differences between the violence-torn Indonesian territory of East Timor of the past, and the peace-seeking nation of East Timor now being constructed.

For the other volunteers (Pushkar Baidya, Binod Paudel, and Manoj Pant), this will be their first post as UN Volunteers overseas, although all three of them have previously served within Nepal as National United Nations Volunteers.

The UN Volunteers have in recent years, been playing an increasingly prominent role in electoral, post-war, and post-disaster reconstruction work.  Besides East Timor, the UNV currently also has 18 Nepali volunteers deployed in rehabilitation work in Kosovo, and three in Sierra Leone. And, it is expected that this number will rise as the various UN Missions consolidate their activities.

With the member states of the United Nations General Assembly declaring next year, 2001, as ‘The International Year of Volunteers’, it is a matter of some pride for Nepal that volunteers are already contributing so enthusiastically to the worldwide volunteer movement, both overseas and within Nepal.

Resumption of IA flights should note be politicized

By A Staff Reporter

Those in the tourism sector are complaining of the huge losses the nation is suffering because of the cancellation of the Indian Airlines flights to Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to Nepal, K.V. Rajan has time and again assured the Nepalese that the flights will be resumed soon. Though, an English daily published from India reported that Indian authorities are still reserved on resuming flights to Kathmandu.

But in the meantime, the main opposition party in the Nepalese Parliament, the CPN (UML) has unabashedly tried to irritate India more by protesting vehemently against some suggestions put forward by it.

For example, while speaking at a function in Kaski district last week, Indian Ambassador Rajan had hinted that IA flights could be resumed very soon, if arrangements were made to provide further security measures, in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation regulations.

But throwing the argument of sovereignty being infringed, the UML strongly protested against the Indian envoy’s sayings. At a time when the whole Nepalese tourism industry has been strongly requesting India to resume IA flights to Kathmandu, how right is it for a responsible party like the UML to raise issues just for the sake of cheap popularity?

After all, the enterpreneurs from the tourism industry itself should tell that losses in millions of doallars within a span of a few months’ time is not good for national interest. Not having additonal security at TIA according to ICAO standards.