Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

Queen Komal inaugurating the Agriculture Expo-2004

CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF, Royal Nepalese Army General Pyara Jung Thapa is visiting India this week. He participated at the Passing Out Parade at Indian Defense Academy in Pune on November 29. He held meeting with his Indian counterpart General N.C. Viz. This is the third time General Thapa visited India in the last six months.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS ENFORCED THE Child Labor (Prevention and Control) Act –2056. The Ministry of Labor and Transport Management has appealed for necessary help from all sections of society in the successful implementation of the act. The act prohibits the recruitment of children below 14 years of age in any kind of industries. Likewise, it prohibits the use of children below 16 years of age in risky jobs. The industries that are currently employing such under-age workers will need to immediately (within 15 days of the act coming into force) inform the labor office. The labor office could allow their employment in certain cases but after ensuring their patronage. The act also states that children cannot be made to work more than 36 hours per week and 6 hours per day. Likewise, they cannot be made to work between 6 pm till 6 am.

REPRESENTATIVES OF BHUTANESE REFUGEES have delivered a letter to Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh urging him to press the Bhutanese government for quick and honorable resolution of the refugee impasse. The Bhutanese Refugees Repatriation Committee wrote the letter as currently the Bhutanese King and Crown Prince are on a six-day visit to India. Demands have been raised from many quarters that the 14-year-old Bhutanese refugee impasse can be resolved only if India facilitates the process.

THE CABINET HAS ENDORSED THE National Agriculture Policy 2061. The government has introduced the new policy with the intention to promote commercialization in agriculture. The government has concluded that the Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP) could not be implemented properly and has, therefore, come up with a new one. The new policy divides farmers into categories depending on the availability of resources and promises to help those who are weak and backward. Farmers owning less than 4 hectares of land will be deemed as the ones without adequate resources and will be entitled for certain government benefits. The policy has imposed land tax on those lands in which farming is not being done. It has stressed on promoting the competitive skill of Nepalese farmers and has vowed to introduce global market-friendly programs and government assistance where needed. Officials claim that the new policy is in line with WTO, SAFTA and BIMSTEC agreements. The new policy also envisages provisions in the sectors like agro-environment, genetic technology, agro-insurance and so on. The cabinet endorsed the policy after the National Planning Commission (NPC) adopted the draft prepared by the Agriculture Ministry.

AMERICAN PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH has stated his wish to work together with Nepal in order to make the world a safer and a better place during his second tenure. President Bush has indicated this desire in a letter he wrote as a reply to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s earlier letter congratulating him for re-election. President Bush’s letter was delivered to Deuba by US Ambassador James F. Moriarty on Tuesday (November 23).

SUPREME COURT (SC) HAS DIRECTED the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to restore its member Dr. Kapil Shrestha and give him back his normal position and assignments. The Commission had taken action against Dr. Shrestha two and a half years ago charging him of alleged sexual relations with a former official at the rights body. In its decision, the SC has stated that only the House of Representatives had the right to impeach any official who enjoys status on par with the Supreme Court judges.

NEPAL TELECOM HAS INTRODUCED pre-paid calling cards that can be used in any type of telephone to get the STD and ISD services. The card number and pin number in such cards could be used to make long distance calls even from those telephone lines, which do not have the STD or ISD facility. Likewise, it is not necessary to actually carry the card. The number could be used to avail of the service from anywhere. At present, the NT has introduced cards worth Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 1500. The Easy Call cards would first be made available in Kathmandu Valley.

THE VISITING DELEGATES OF THE International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have expressed concern over the deteriorating situation of human rights and rule of law in Nepal. “Addressing the breakdown of the rule of law cannot wait for a peace settlement. On the contrary, urgent steps can and must be taken to protect non-combatants, halt the spiraling descent into lawlessness and build confidence for a political process,” said Nicolas Howen, Secretary General of the ICJ. The delegation met with ministers, government officials, security officials and judiciary.

THE TEMPORARY TEACHERS HAVE announced strike in public schools across the country demanding that the government rehabilitate teachers displaced by the conflict and make temporary teachers permanent. “Schools are closed in all 75 districts,” said Narendra Kunwar, president of the Temporary Teachers’ Agitation Committee. Some of the agitating teachers have been staging fast unto death in Ratna Park for the last one week. The agitating teachers have charged that even those teachers who have been involved in the profession for more than a decade are being denied permanent position. Education Ministry spokesperson Laba Tripathy has said that the government would soon hold talks with the agitators to resolve the issue.