NEWS NOTES (Spotlight Weelky)

Gasohol As An Alternative Fuel

Gasohol could be an environment-friendly alternative fuel with a high potential as fuel source, said vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Prithvi Raj Ligal addressing a seminar on "the possibility of using gasohol as an alternative vehicle fuel". Gasohol or green fuel is ethanol (alcohol) blended with petrol in any proportion to fuel vehicles. Sugarcane molasses is one of the sources of making ethanol. "Ethanol, a by-product of the sugar industries, when combined with petrol makes a very good fuel and can reduce carbon monoxide emission by 30 percent", said Bijaya Joshi, technical advisor to Pollution Control board of India. Joshi, presenting a working paper in the program, said, "ethanol has been used as a vehicle fuel since 25 years ago." Brazil, which uses 24 percent of ethanol in petrol by volume and the USA (10 percent) are amongthe major gasohol users, he added. At present some 65,000 tons of molasses are produced from 11 sugar factories in Nepal from which 20 million litres of alcohol is extracted. NPC and the concerned Ministry have been approached for the permission to produce gasohol, said Diwakar Golchha of Sriram Sugar Mills. Compiled from reports.

Seminar Against Cross-Border Trafficking

Maiti Nepal, an organization working for rehabilitation of trafficked girls, has organized joint seminars between Nepali and Indian officials in Biratnagar and Birgunj to control girls trafficking. Presenting a paper, Chairperson of Maiti Nepal, Ms. Anuradha Koirala, said officials, non-governmetnal agencies and members of civil society from both the countries should join hands to fight against the social evil like women trafficking. Ganesh Prasad Singh of 'Aditi,' an Indian NGO, also presented his paper. General Secretary at the Maiti Nepal, Bisworam Khadka, said the seminar aimed at formulating plan of action and strategies to combat trafficking in the bordering areas. Chief district officers, chief of district police offices and local leaders participated in the meetings. Compiled from reports.

"Nearly One-Third Maoist Cadres Are Children"

Barely a week after an international rights group criticized an armed rebel group in Nepal for employing children as soldiers, a people's representative from the affected area has said the situation is much worse than what is reported. Addressing an interaction program in the capital on Friday, chairman of Rukum district development committee, Khem Man Khadka, said nearly 30 percent of the Maoist rebels involved in the so-called 'people's war' were children below the age of 18. "This is a gross violation of human rights," he said. Khadka said the Maoist rebels have been using children both as commandos as well as human shield in their fight against the Police. He also alleged that the Police has been indiscriminately killing ordinary people in the name of Maoist insurgents. Earlier, Amnesty International had condemned the Maoist party for abductions, killings and recruitment of children as child soldiers. The Maoist leadership is yet to respond to AI charges. Compiled from reports Aug. 19.

Pay Hike For Ministers And MPS

Close on the heels of substantial hike in the salaries of the government employees, the cabinet meeting on Monday has decided to increase the salary of prime minister and ministers, parliamentarians, Supreme Court justices and office-bearers of the constitutional bodies by up to 100 percent. The decision is yet to be made public. As per the new pay scale, the Prime Minister will now draw Rs. 22000 (up from Rs. 10000) per month, Deputy Prime Minister will draw Rs.18000., Ministers Rs. 17000 (up from 8000), state ministers Rs 16,500 and assistant ministers Rs 16000 every month. Similarly, the salary of the Supreme Court Chief Justice has been fixed at Rs 21,000 and that of Judges at Rs 17,000 per month. Similarly, parliamentarians will now draw Rs 15,200 besides a housing allowance of Rs 6500 per month and other benefits. Compiled from reports Aug. 17.

Govt. Forms A Committee, Employees To Return To Work

Following the announcement by the government on Wednesday that it has formed a five-member high level committee to review the facilities entitled to corporation employees and present the report within two months, one of the employees' unions has asked its members to return to work. Pro-government Nepal Financial Institutes Employees Union has said it has decided to withhold its protest programs for the next two months until the committee comes up with its report. Anti-government employees union officials were, however, engaged in consultations till late Wednesday about their future move. All the government-owned Corporations and Banks have been closed for the last one week as nearly 70,000 Corporation employees went into general strike demanding hike in their salaries vis a vis the government employees. Compiled from reports Aug. 17.

Kidney Disease On Rise

Experts have said kidney related ailments are emerging as a major public health problem in Nepal. Senior physician Dr. Pushkar Raj Satyal said badly controlled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, unscrupulous use of analgesic drugs and reckless use of toxic antibiotics were the major factors contributing to kidney disorders in the country. Nearly 10 to 15 percent of the hospital beds in Nepal have kidney patients and roughly 600 to 1,000 patients with chronic kidney failure visit the hospitals every year, Dr. Satyal said at a symposium organized on Nephrology and Urology by the Siddhartha hospital. Compiled from reports.

Govt. Cancels RNAC Bid

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Wednesday cancelled the entire process of leasing a Boeing 767 300 ER plane by the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC). The Ministry has directed the state-owned Corporation to postpone the process to invite sealed quotation for bidding. According to high level sources, the ministry took the decision fearing financial irregularities in leasing the aircraft through sealed quotation. Earlier, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives had asked the Royal Nepal Airlines to stop the deal to acquire two French ATR 72 - 500 planes. Leading dailies report Aug. 17.

Three Night Buses Looted On The East-West Highway

Armed groups of dacoits have looted dozens of passengers travelling in three long-haul buses along East-West highway in central Nepal, reports said. Police in Bara district said all three night buses travelling to Kathmandu from Dharan and Janakpur were looted on Sunday night. According to police, about two dozen armed dacoits halted the buses in the midst of the "Charkoshe Jhaadi," a dense forest on the highway, about 14 kilometers east of Pathlaiya, and looted goods and cash worth more than Rs 400,000 from the passengers. Police said they have already mounted a search operation to nab the culprits. They also suspect that the dacoits may have fled to India, across the border, into safety. Leading dailies report Aug. 22.

Indian Tourists Jailed For Carrying Rs 500 Indian Notes

Three Indian students have been sentenced to short prison terms in Kathmandu for possessing Rs 500 denomination Indian bank notes. According to KANTIPUR daily, Shekhar Chari, Darshan Vaigainkar and Gaurish Shirodkar - all hotel management students from Indian city of Goa have been sentenced by the Kathmandu district court from one to two months of jail terms. The three were nabbed on August 10 at the Thankot check-post for carrying Indian bank notes of Rs 500 denomination. Nepal Rastra Bank has banned transaction of Rs 500 denomination Indian currency with a view to check the growing trade in counterfeit Indian currency. Compiled from reports Aug. 22.

`Government Has Not Cooperated The HR Commission'

A member of the newly formed National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has alleged the government of not cooperating with the Commission's activities. Member of NHRC, Sushil Pyakurel, said the government is not cooperating with the Commission `with open hearts.' Talking to reporters in eastern town of Biratnagar on Sunday, Pyakurel said the government's response toward incidences of human rights violations have been too formal. He said nearly 300 petitions had been filed at the Commission over the last few months most of which were related to domestic violence, and transfer of government employees, among others. Kantipur daily reports Aug. 21.

`SAARC Summit Still Uncertain'

There is no 'immediate prospect' of holding the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, a senior official said in Indian city of Bangalore, AFP news agency reported. The agency quoted SAARC Secretary General Nihal Rodrigo as saying that it will take some time since one country (India) has reservations on the prevailing atmosphere. The 11th SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in November last year but was postponed after India expressed its inability to attend it citing recent developments in Pakistan. "Time is not ripe at the moment. There is no immediate prospect. Still, negotiations are on between India, Nepal and Sri Lanka," said Rodrigo. He also blamed SAARC governments for its 'slow progress.' He said bitter relations between India and Pakistan had affected the proposed South Asian Free Trade Area but hoped that it would become a reality within a year. Compiled from reports Aug. 21.

Chinese Contractor Fined Rs 20 Million By The Govt.

The government has imposed a fine of Rs 20 million on a Chinese company, the China Water and Electric Corporation (CWEC), for its failure to complete the construction of Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Birgunj within the agreed time frame. The Chinese company had agreed to complete the construction of the project that started in March 1998, by March this year. But till now only 80 percent of the construction works have been completed, officials said. The government fined the company at a rate of Rs 150,000 per day for the delay since April 1. Once the Birgunj ICD comes into operation, it is expected to slash transportation costs by 50 percent while importing goods from the third countries, said officials. The construction of two of the three ICDs, at Bhairahawa and Biratnagar, has already been completed under a US$ 28.5 million project. The World Bank has provided a loan of US$ 23.5 million while the rest is being covered by the government itself. Leading dailies report Aug. 21.