Encephalitis Toll Rising

-By Our Correspondent

The outbreak of Japanese viral B encephalitis has caused the death of more than 250 patients mainly in western Nepal. The western region, which is the least developed part of the country, often sees the outbreak of several diseases mainly in the summer season. In Nepalgunj, the biggest town of the area, alone the death toll is about 100, and the hospitals and nursing homes are packed with encephalitis patients.

In Kailali district,  more than 68 people have died due to the disease. Hundreds of others have been admitted to the hospital and they are reported to have been in a serious condition and the hospital is running out of the scarcity of medicines.

In Bheri zonal hospital alone, of more than 500 encephalitis patients admitted for treatment, 70 have died.  Hospitals and drug stores have run out of essential drugs to the disease. Hundreds of the patients are still reported to have been undergoing treatment there and only some of them have returned home after getting well.

The disease seems to be spreading to other parts of the country as well. Already there are reports of 98 patients in Banke, 47 in Kailali, nine in Jhapa, nine in Morang, seven in Dang and some others in Kanchanpur districts have died of the disease.

According to doctors, there is very little they can do after a patient has got encephalitis. All they do is give saline, try to lower the fever and hope that the patients become well.

 Encephalitis is a viral disease transmitted by culex mosquitoes and the latter part of monsoon is the best period for the virus to thrive. The virus general occurs in pigs, horses and several other animals, and they are transmitted to human being by mosquito.

 So, the best way to prevent the outbreak of encephalitis is to control the mosquitoes. For that puddles and other breeding places of mosquito have to be destroyed and using mosquito nets and other repellants to avoid mosquito bite.

How Safe is Nepalese Sky?

-By Our Correspondent

It was Necon Air’s second accident this year. The Necon Air’s crash last Sunday morning was rather unusual. The plane, an Avro, had crashed against a 30-metre-high telecommunication tower atop a hill (6,100 ft) at Kwatichour, Ramkot village near Thankot.

The plane coming from Pokhara on a schedule flight and was carrying 10 passengers and five members of the crew. All of them died. Those who died were captain J.K. Joshi, co-pilots Sharmila Gurung and A. S. Rana and flight attendants Ranjana  Tamang and Priya Lawati.

The passengers were Y.K. Bhattarai, S. Bhattarai, P.P. Prasai all Nepalese and Indian nationals V.K. Vitz, Anita Vitz, A. Surekha, Ms. A. Lingdoh, I. Lingdoh and two Bangladeshi K. Islam and Ms. S. Ahmed.

Eye-witnesses say the plane was flying very low and the left wing of the plane had hit the tower before it plunged into the steep slope. Although fuel was spilt, it did not catch fire, but the plane was shattered to pieces.

Now, the black boxes— flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder — have been recovered and they are being sent to Canada for analysis.

According to  Necon sources, the plane was being flown by first officer Ms. Gurung when it crashed. Normally, it is the captain who flies out and it is the subordinate who flies back.

 The government has already formed  probe commission under deputy attorney general Narendra Kumar Shrestha. The commission will submit its report within three months. Only eight months back, Necon’s Cessna had crashed  in Jumla killing all five aboard.

The crash has raised several questions about air safety in the country, especially among the private operators. In the last six years, there were 16 air accidents in the country and majority of them involved private airlines.

  Aviation people say there could be several reasons for the accidents, which include both human error and technical faults.

 The large number of accidents involving private airlines may be an indication that such airlines may have overlooked the security aspect for business.

Govt. Is Slow, But Not On The Wrong Path

-By SKC

The Bhattarai-led government completed its 100-day in office last week, and if there was a gallup poll on the performance of the government in those days, it will not get an 'A+' because the government has failed to live up to the high expectations of the people. People have watched the politicians do little but squabble for power for more than four years, so it is understandable that the people should demand little more from stable government.

     What has the government done? It is the primary question every person has been asking. Certainly not much. There is a long list of what the government has not done. To cite some, price rise has not been curbed, law and order situation has not improved, the Maoists have continued with or even escalated their violent campaign, corruption has not stopped and economy is stagnant. The list is long, winding and even intertwined. Given the source and the capacity of the government eradication of all the ills is an overwhelming task. It certainly would be absurd to expect a drammatic turn-around in every sector in three months. Political rhetoric is one thing, delivering them is another. And it is always difficult, if not impossible, to meet promises with fulfillments.

     During the recent general election, what was aspired the most was stability in the government. After the formation of the majority government, for the first time in the last four and a half years the government does not have to begin counting its days. It is not that the government did not face into some kind of trouble, still a sense of stability has been assured. Though the Nepali Congress may not want to rock the political boat at this stage, but the government has not been able to satisfy its party as well.

  During the period the government has taken several decisions, like the change in the working hour in the offices, making about 20,000 temporary teachers permanent, revision of the regulation of the civil servants giving the bureaucrats more power, full implementation of VAT and decisions to lessen vehicular pollution. But the government still has not got into the core things as price rise, corruption, unemployment and bolstering up the economy -- issues which gauze the actual performance of the government. The government will face much tasks ahead. With the 100 days over, the opposition will not feel restrained to be vociferous about the government inactions. They have even threatened to take  politics to the streets. 

   But what may be the bright side is that despite the government's pretty ordinary performance, The prime minister sounds pretty confident about things that he will do in the coming days. The only accusation against the government is that it is going slow, not the wrong way.

 Bhattarai,  many congressmen believe, has the political skill and acumen, but they will come down to nothing if he can not deliver what people expect.

East Timor In Turmoil

-By Purushottam Shrestha

 The post-referendum situation in East Timor remains explosive. The deteriorating law and order situation in East Timor has raised grave questions on its future course.

     For the East Timorese, August 30 was the long awaited day for which they had been fighting for the last 23 years. Despite the climate of fear and confusion, 98.6% of registered voters turned out to exercise their franchise. As expected, the referendum result overwhelmingly rejected autonomy under Indonesia and went in favor of independence from Indonesia. With this verdict, Indonesia lost its 27th province.

  However, the referendum result was not acceptable to pro-Jakarta militia as well as the Indonesian army. Before and after the referendum, pro-Jakarta militia, amply supported and assisted by the Indonesian army was out destabilizing the region. Their target of violence was not only the Timorese, but also the UN officials and volunteers. They laid siege of the UN compound and tried to set it on fire. Around 2000 Timorese refugees taking shelter there faced a situation of life and death. More than a hundred deaths have already been reported following the announcement of the ballot result.

     Because of the unsafe situation, 400 UN volunteers out of 540 were evacuated from the compound. Hundreds of refugees were also evacuated alongwith to safe places. Armed attacks by the militia have forced the abandonment of several UN outposts.

  Clear evidences of direct assistance and support of the Indonesian army to the pro- Jakarta militias in East Timor have been emerging. The Indonesian army entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and security to the people has been accused of instigating the militia against the UN officials and the pro independence Timorese.

 The Indonesian army has always been against any notion of independence to East Timor. They were very much displeased with President Habibie’s announcement of referendum on the future of East Timor.

 As the situation in Dili – the capital of East Timor is getting worse, the international community decided to dispatch international peacekeeping forces under the UN flag to restore law and order in the region. But Indonesia ruled out any early deployment of foreign peacekeepers. Indonesia’s Defense Minister, General Wiranto said that it was not an appropriate time to send foreign peacekeeping forces there. The Indonesian authorities claimed that Indonesia was capable of restoring law and order in the troubled region without the help of any international peacekeepers. It rejected the presence of foreign security forces until phase three which refers to the period after the result of East Timor’s independence ballot is ratified by Indonesia’s highest legislative body.

 The British Ambassador to the UN blamed Indonesia for breaching the trust on maintaining peace and security in the region. He warned that if the present situation continued and Jakarta refused to accept international peacekeeping forces, international community would have troubled relations with Indonesia. President Clinton said that Indonesia must accept UN forces, but said that US forces would not be a part of the UN peacekeeping forces.

 The East Timor crisis has come at a time when Indonesia is in a transitional period of power transformation. There is chaos and confusion in the political leadership issue. No one seems to be really in charge in Jakarta. For Indonesia, the referendum result could not have at a worse time. The referendum result has already fanned separatist sentiments in the Ache region. Thousands of Ache populations are on the streets demanding independence from Indonesia.

 Though the referendum votes have gone in favour of independence, some Timorese especially the educated and entrepreneurs have cast doubts about the economic viability of East Timor as an independent nation. Many of them ask how could a resource poor region with primitive infrastructure sustain economically in future without its giant neighbor’s (Indonesia) support. It is quite visible that after 23 years of Indonesian rule, much of East Timor has changed beyond recognition. By 1996, the territory possessed four times the length of roads, five times the number of hospitals and 15 times the number of primary schools that it had when its previous rulers, the Portuguese, left. In terms of per capita income, East Timorese are 10 times richer with $398, which was just $40 in 1976.

 Sarmento, a Dili academic and member of the province’s Commission for Peace and Stability said, “ If the (Indonesian) red and white flag is replaced, they do not know what the consequences will be. This flag has given them things that are positive”.

 Many of the voters did not take into account the economic as well as political implications of ties with Indonesia. Only the independence issue drove them. The violence inflicted by the pro- Jakarta militia has made it difficult to communicate or convince the general Timorese about the implications of the referendum.

 The future of East Timor is still in doubt. The referendum result is yet to be ratified by Indonesia’ highest legislative body. Both the army and political authorities in Jakarta are against granting of independence to East Timor. But, now with the verdict out and the international community in favour of putting into practice the referendum result, it may be just too late for Indonesia to put the clock back. For the East Timorese, the initial price of independence is already proving to be too high.

 SAARC Handicraft

-By Our Correspondent

A four-day SAARC Handicraft Exhibition 1999 concluded in Kathmandu yesterday (Saturday). The exhibition, organised in the spirit of SAARC’s objectives to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical, and scientific fields, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai last Wednesday.

     The exhibition held in the hall of Nepal Tourism Board, was the first of its kind exhibited in Nepal, which was exclusively meant for the promotion of handicrafts in the SAARC countries. Handicrafts of six countries, except that of the Maldives were exhibited in the exhibition.

 The main objectives of this exhibition was to provide opportunity to have cross-sectional look and views on the different types of handicrafts produced in the SAARC region, provide an opportunity to interact with the handicrafts related persons in the region and strengthen mutual trading relation and understanding, offer an opportunity to acquire knowledge and idea on the technical and craftsmanship capability of each country and uplift the economic status of the SAARC member countries via overall development of the handicrafts industries in the region.

 The exhibition was organised by HMG, Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture under the management of Handicraft Association of Nepal and the sponsor is SAARC-Japan Special Fund.

 Each of the participating country had their stalls, representing  the rich cultural heritage and tradition of the South Asian countries. Nepal has exhibited items such as Wooden Idol of Saraswati', Sleeping Buddha and Wooden Windows with price ranging from US$ 25 to 625. Some of the  items were sold on the last day of the exhibition.

 However, Sri Lanka and Bhutan could not display all of their items since they were delayed in the custom office. “We could not fill the spaces by our items which we were supposed to bring because they are stuck up at Bangkok Airport due to reasons unknown,” said a representative showing the half empty stall. There were only 35 items in the stall of Sri Lanka. The items included wooden masks, hand paintings, silver goods for decoration etc. The Bhutanese exhibited coats, waistcoats, sweaters, national costume of Bhutan, tablemats, bags, T-shirts.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani handicrafts were not for sale.  “We simply will not sell our items,” a Pakistani representative said. But he said the Pakistani stalls received a good attention and the items were appreciated.

Art Exhibition At Bamboo Gallery

-By Our Correspondent

The exhibition of three notable artists, Jan Salter, Ratan Rai and Yuki Shirai opened at the Bamboo Gallery, Maharajgunj yesterday (Saturday)

     The exhibition was opened by senior politician Dr. Dilli Raman Regmi.

 The exhibition has Jan Salter’s new series on Faces of Nepal. The exhibition has a dozen of Salter’s new paintings on the ethnic faces.

     Similarly, Ratan Rai’s new landscapes on Ghandruk and views from the Everest region. Landscape is Rai’s favourite theme, and he has very inquisitive eyes on landscapes. Rai’s drawings and water colours show unique semblance on the contours and conformity with nature.

     Yuki Shirai, a Japanese artist, has been drawing about Nepalese culture for several years.  Her paintings are mainly focused on Nepalese traditional houses, culture and the cultural heritage. However, this time the paintings are on water series related to rain.

Actress Commits Suicide

-By Our Correspondent

Film actress Gitanjali Sunuwar, committed suicide Thursday morning at her residence at Baneshwor.

The  actress had hanged herself from a water pipe in the bathroom using her shawl.

According to police sources, her film-producer husband Chhabi Raj Ojha had broken the door and pulled her down. But she died on the way to hospital.

According to a report, the post mortem showed she had consumed sleeping tablets before hanging herself.

Sunuwar, originally from Dharan, had started her film career from Anyaya, a feature film.

She has also acted in several feature films including Nata and Janmabhoomi.