September 09 2005

The Joint Technical Committee on border management between Nepal and India ended its meeting in New Delhi on Friday (September 2). In the meeting, the Indian side, for the first time, gave positive interest towards the problems caused by Susta and Kalapani encroachment by the Indian side. The meeting has also asked the technical committee to finalize its proposal on technical report on border management. Kantipur daily reports

Business Community Welcome Maoist Truce Decision

The representatives of business community have welcomed the decision by the Maoists to observe three-month-long ceasefire. “We welcome the decision and hope that other sides also respond,” said Chandi Raj Dhakal, president of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). Likewise, Binod Chaudhary, president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) said “other power centers including the political parties and the government should respond in a manner as to make this ceasefire permanent.” Of late, the business community have been quite vocal in their demand for peace as the Maoists had intensified their attacks on business enterprises. Compiled from reports.

SAFTA Experts Narrow Differences

The 10 th round of talks of Committee of Experts (CoE) on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework agreement concluded in Kathmandu on Saturday (September 3). The CoE has been entrusted to settle four outstanding issues – sensitive lists, SAFTA Rules of Origin, mechanism of compensation of revenue loss and technical assistance to the Least Developed Countries. According to Ngaindra Prasad Upadhyaya, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and team leader of Nepali delegation at the CoE meet, the issue of TA has been completed. Likewise, the member countries have agreed on a format of certificate of procedural operations under the general Rules of Origin. It endorsed an earlier agreement to adopt a 40 percent value-addition norm and pledged 10 percent derogation for LDC members. The complete sensitive lists prepared by member countries were also exchanged and the delegates agreed to exchange the list for bilateral negotiations before entering into regional consensus. The meeting, however, could not make any solid progress on compensatory mechanism for revenue loss and agreed to identify those areas and products in which the developing members need to compensate their LDC partners. SAFTA will come into force after the commerce minister level meeting, which is yet to be fixed. The Himalayan Times daily reports.

Tourist Arrival Increase By 16 Percent

The arrival of tourists has increased by 16 percent in the month of August compared to the same month a year ago. According to information made available by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 25,974 tourists visited the country in August this year – more by 3663 than during the same month previous year. The increase in tourist arrival was propelled by huge increase in the arrival of Indian tourists – by 80 percent. However, the arrival from major markets from European countries and America declined by 22 and 1 percent respectively. In the first eight months of 2005, a total of 157,184 tourists visited the country – 17 percent less than the same period previous year. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

Parties Are Engines Of Democracy: Moriarty

The US ambassador to Nepal, James F. Moriarty, has said political parties are engines of democracy in Nepal. Addressing a talk program jointly organized by the US embassy in Kathmandu and Ganesh Man Singh Academy, the US envoy, however, said the engine needs to run well for the people to be effectively represented. Moriarty said democracy won’t be a far-fetched dream if the internal political forces in Nepal democratize themselves. ‘If we democratize ourselves, democracy will come more easily to Nepal,’ he added. The American ambassador said the US wants to see a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Nepal. That hasn’t changed and it will not change, he asserted. Addressing the function, Prof. Edward McMohan of the University of Vermont, said democracy is a basic human desire. Characters of democracy are universal in nature, he added. Compiled from reports.

Indian Leaders Not Allowed To Meet With Deuba

A delegation of Indian political leaders were not allowed to meet with former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is currently imprisoned on corruption charges. The delegation led by D. P. Tripathy, the general secretary of Nepal Democracy Solidarity in India, was stopped by the security personnel. The Indian leaders including Tripathy, Anil Shastri and Pravin Dabur of Indian National Congress; and Basudev Acharya of Communist Party of India (Marxist) are currently in Nepal to attend the general convention of Nepali Congress. Meanwhile, speaking at an interaction program in Kathmandu, the Indian leaders asked the King to learn lessons from history and immediately restore democratic processes in the country. Leading dailies report.

City Lacks Riot Control Mechanism

While Thursday (September 1) will be one year since the city saw its worst riots following the killing of 12 Nepalis in Iraq, the city is ill-prepared to prevent such instances from recurring. Properties worth Rs 1.01 billion were destroyed and two people were killed in the riots. Sociologists say that insecurity on the part of the denizens, frustration and lack of faith in political and administrative machinery sparked the riot. “If the people had faith in the political and administrative entities, we would not have seen the September 1 riots,” said Dr. Chaitanya Mishra, a sociologist. “Though people of different castes and creeds generally live in harmony, the September 1 riots brought our darker side to the fore.” Dr. Om Gurung, another sociologist, warned. “Such riots can occur under one pretext or the other. Frustrations should be addressed to prevent the outbreak of such riots.” He added, “Insecurity gives birth to rumors, innuendoes and sparks riots. Vested interest groups enter the scene to exploit the situation.” The report of the probe panel pinned the blame on security mechanism. However, the police blame it to ‘higher authorities’ for inaction. The Himalayan Times daily reports.

Walmart And Target Agree To Resume Import Of Nepalese Apparels

American retail giants Walmart and Target have agreed to resume import of Nepalese readymade apparels. They agreed to do so after meeting with a delegation of Nepalese readymade garment exporters in India. Along with Walmart and Target, the third company Gap had recently decided to stop importing garments from Nepal saying the situation of insecurity in the country had affected timely delivery. The delegation could not meet with the representatives of Gap. Last week, a delegation led by Prashant Pokharel, vice president of Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) had gone to India to meet with regional representatives of the American companies. Walmart has its regional office in the city of Bangalore while Gap and Target have their offices in New Delhi. “Target has agreed to resume importing like in the past. However, Walmart has agreed to import through some agents,” said Pokharel. The US occupies 80 percent of the total export market of Nepalese garments. The recent decision by these three companies to stop importing Nepalese apparels had further worsened the situation of exports. Pokharel said that the US companies have asked Nepalese exporters to cut down their lead time of delivery. At present, Indian manufacturers take 100 days to deliver their goods to the US while Nepalese manufacturers take 120 days to do so. Pokharel added that the delegation convinced the US companies that they would do everything possible to cut down the lead time and become more reliable in delivery. Meanwhile, since the expiry of the Multifiber Agreement in January 2005, the exports of Nepalese garments in the first six months of 2005 declined by 40 percent. Kantipur daily reports.

Seven Parties Intensify Stir; Koirala, Others Arrested And Released

In what was seen as the largest demonstration by the political parties since February 1, thousands of people took part in the agitation on Sunday (September 4). Dozens were injured when police intervened the demonstration organized by the seven political parties demanding for the restoration of full democracy. The clash between demonstrators and police erupted after the former tried to defy the prohibitory orders and enter into New Road area. Police lobbed a number of shells of tear gas and wielded batons to disperse the crowd. In the ensuing scuffle, the Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala fainted briefly after he was caught between the police who were trying to arrest him and political workers who were trying to prevent the police from making the arrest. Later, he was arrested by police who took him to his residence and set him free. Likewise, other political leaders including Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, Peoples’ Front (PF) president Amik Sherchan, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) president Narayan Man Bijukchhe and Leftists’ Front chairman C.P. Mainali were also arrested and later released. Compiled from reports.

Service Of District Coordinators Terminated

The government has terminated the service of coordinators of district monitoring teams. The teams had been formed after February 1. According to the government, their service have been terminated since most of the vacant positions of District Development Committee (DDC) presidents and vice-presidents have already been filled up. Leading dailies report.

EC Demands Security And Staff

At a discussion held with the Chief Secretary and heads of security agencies on Sunday (September 4), the Election Commission (EC) has demanded security and staffs to hold the municipal elections. Tej Muni Bajracharya, spokesperson of the EC, said that the discussion focused on necessary security arrangement to hold the polls. “This is the initial discussion held as a part of preparations for the polls,” he said. In February 1, the King, in his royal proclamation, has announced the holding of municipal polls within a year. The EC has said that it has already completed works like collection of voters’ list. Although it has not tried to reach understanding with the political parties, the EC is preparing to announce the dates for the polls sometime in late September. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

Clash In Jajarkot

A day after the Maoist Chairman Prachanda declared ceasefire, the Maoist guerrillas attacked a security team patrolling near the headquarters of Jajarkot district. The team was returning after patrolling remote hilly areas. The clash continued for one hour. There have been no injuries on the side of security forces, according to district-based security sources. Likewise, casualties on the Maoists’ side, too, are unknown. In another incident, the Maoists exploded bomb near Taksar airport of Bhojpur on Sunday morning. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

Activists See Role Of UN In Maoist Ceasefire Decision

Leading human rights activists have said that they feel that the Maoists recently decided to announce unilateral ceasefire under pressure from international power centers including the United Nations. Speaking at a program in the capital, rights activists Charan Prasai and Malla K. Sundar said that the visit by senior UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and the interaction initiated by Chief of the Nepal Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ian Martin with the Maoist leadership could have played a key role in compelling the Maoists make this decision. Kantipur Television reports.

Ceasefire Will Pave Way For Peace: India