Winter Session Begins

-By Our Correspondent

The 17th session of the parliament will resume tomorrow (Monday) after four days adjournment. The winter session of the parliament had started on Wednesday.

Addressing the new session Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai said that the government is committed to maintain law and order, good governance and for development.

Highlighting the achievements of the government in the last 10 months, he said there have been positive steps towards solving the Maoists problem. The Prime Minister also said there have been big strides in reforming the administrative and policy matters to mitigate corruption and red-tapism.

He said there has been a positive signs in the economy with the Gross National Product expected to increase by 6 per cent and the revenue collection has been satisfactory. Similarly, the export in the first six months of the fiscal year has increased by 42 per cent and that the development expenditure has increased remarkably in comparison to the general expenditure.

At the start of the session, Speaker of the House of Representatives Taranath Ranabhat said the dignity of the House will be enhanced only if  all the people’s representatives are responsible and sensitive towards people’s problems.

He said there have been attempts to demean the constitutional monarchy and the multi-party democracy, deviate the political parties-the backbone of the pluralistic democracy and to create a situation of anarchy by both the far Left and far Right.

“The onus of clearing these dark clouds of uncertainty and deviations in the political spectrum lies with this House,” he said.

The Speaker also read out the written instruction of His Majesty the King to the parliament.

In his instruction, His Majesty has pointed out that the present session should take concrete decision to make the elections free and fair; formulation of appropriate law regarding the political parties and take definite initiative to resolve the Maoist problem and has hoped that the ongoing session will seriously address those contemporary issues.

The Winter Session. also called as the Bill Session, is expected to pass several bills.

Meanwhile, the opposition leaders rapped the government for failing in addressing the burning political and other issues.

K.P. Oli of the UML, the main opposition party, said that situation of the country was

 pathetic with the  worsening of the law and order situation and the economic sector also being neglected.

Similarly, Surya  Bahadur Thapa, president of the RPP said the infighting within the Nepali Congress has increased political instability. He also demanded that the so-called ‘secret agreement’ within the party be made public. Chitra Bahadur KC of the National People’s Front said that his party is willing to extend any cooperation if that would help solve the country’s problems.

RNAC Will Not Fly To Bangalore

-By Our Correspondent

The Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) has withdrawn its decision to fly to the southern Indian city of Bangalore because of the shortage of aircraft.

RA had scheduled to start flying to Bangalore from March 26.

The RNAC had hyped about the flight. The flight was even announced in the presence of international participants during the 12th PATA Adventure Travel and Eco-Tourism Conference and Mart held in Pokhara in January. RNAC had announced that it would be operating two flights a week to Bangalore from March 26, 2000.

According to high level sources in the national flag carrier, RA had to shelve the schedule  since it has added more flights to its Delhi route.

“Since the tourism entrepreneurs, Nepal Tourism Board and other tourism related organisations urged us to extend some more flights to Delhi, we have postponed our programme to fly to Bangalore for the time being,” the sources confirmed.

There are demand for more flights to Delhi after the Indian Airlines stopped coming to Kathmandu.

However, the sources informed that RA may operate some flights to Varanasi or add some more flights to Bombay considering the prospective inbound Indian tourists in those areas.

Meanwhile, the RA is searching for plane to replace for the one it has leased from the China Southwest Airlines.

The plane, a B-757, is flying back on March 28 after completing one year contract.

RA has been seeking a wide body plane to cater to its international routes. It had called a global tender for a B767-300 ER about 40 days back calling for a two-year lease on AMI (Aircraft, Maintenance, Insurance) basis.

But the tender has been cancelled after none of the five tenders cater to the requirements demanded by the Airline. A re-tender has been called and the last day for the submission of the tender is coming Wednesday. And it is not certain that the Airline will get a plane it 'wants'.

It will be a great setback for the country's tourism as well as RNAC if the latter is unable to bring another aircraft to replace the plane of the China Southwest Airlines.

Meanwhile, RA's effort to buy a long-haul jet and two medium range planes have yet remained undecided.

The files regarding the procurement of the planes have been pending at the Ministry of Civil Aviation since the last several months, in spite of the Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Bijaya Kumar Gachchadar expressing him commitment to push ahead with buying the planes.

It now seems, RNAC has again failed to do away with the practice of leasing plane at the eleventh hour. The practice, which had brought so much ill-repute to the airlines, may be alive and kicking in the airlines.

Bills For The Bill Session

-By Our Correspondent

Though the 17th session of the Parliament -- the bill session— began from Wednesday, only two bills have been registered at the Parliament Secretariat so far. The newly registered bills include the Road Board Bill and Nepal Scout Bill (second amendment). One more bill concerning the bio-diversity is likely to be introduced into the National Assembly. 

Fourteen different bills that were registered at the Parliament Secretariat during the 16th session have been under consideration with various parliamentary committees. The present session of Parliament may be ratifying them.

Sources at the Parliament Secretariat say that a total of 50 different bills are likely to be registered and many of them may be passed during the winter session. They say the bills may come to the Parliament after the present political situation comes to an end.

In this session, some bills that are of public interest like the strengthening of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), distribution of certification certificate (amendment), Civil Code (11th amendment), Some Amendments in Nepal Acts and Political Party may get ratified. But the different political parties have been against the bill concerning internal administration.

According to the information given by the officials at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, about a dozen of bills concerning the Ministry of Health may be registered in the current session of the Parliament.

The bills most likely to be registered in this session include Drug (second amendment), Martyr Gangalal National Heart Center, Nepal Health Service (second amendment), Health Organisation  Operation, Mothers' Milk Replacement (first amendment), Nepal Nursing Council (fourth amendment), Nepal Medical Council (fourth amendment), Nepal Health Investigation Council (first amendment), BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital (first amendment) and Nepal Health Professionals’ Council (first amendment).  Similarly, the bills to be registered by the Ministry of Law and Justice are Judicial Cooperation Bill, Some Amendments in Nepal Acts and Some Amendments in Court Management and Judicial Administration.

Besides, Agriculture and Forest University Bill, Brijlal Kediya Hindu University Bill, Open University Bill, Bill for collection and protection of legal publications, Purwanchal University (first amendment), Education Act (seventh amendment) and Mahendra Sanskrit University (second amendment) bills.

Moreover, Drinking Water Supply Bill, Evaluation and Determination of Drinking Water Tariff Commission Bill, Kathmandu Valley Development Council Bill and Real Estate Bill will also brought to the Parliament for discussion.

Apart from these, Infrastructure Pattern of Development Bill, Vehicle and Transportation (second amendment), Civil Service Bill (second amendment), Guthi Sansthan (third amendment), Land Revenue (sixth amendment), Import, Transport Storage and Sale of Petroleum Products Bill and that concerning Bio-diversity may also come to the Parliament.  In two terms of parliament after the restoration of democracy, a total of 233 bills had been passed.

Pashmina: Nepal's New Export Item

-By Y.R. Joshi/Surendra Uprety

At a formal ceremony in England during the winter, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain had adorned herself with a Nepalese Pashmina shawl on her shoulders. Who else do you need to show that the Nepalese Pashmina is an item sought by even the big and famous?

The prospect of the export of Nepalese Pashmina is better now than at any time since its export began about twenty years ago. The trend is right and encouraging.

Are all these justifiable for growing Nepalese Pasmina business? “No” says Hari Karki, a small Pasmina industry owner at Kathmandu targeting the huge market of counterfeit Pasmina and introduction of huge machinery in Pasmina industry.

Pasmina has emerged as a potential export item since the last three years. But it is not a new business, as Mahesh Shrestha a Pasmina exporter of Thamel, says that the export of this item had never crossed a six figure mark.

Thus, it was of only marginal importance both in terms of quantity and contribution to the national export. But in the last 3 years, the export of this item saw tremendous growth to occupy a third position, in the first four months of the fiscal year 1999/2000, as country’s export item after readymade garment and carpet. among the exportable was reasonably well for this business. In the fiscal year  1999/2000, the export of garment was valued at Rs. 4040 million and that of carpet was Rs. 3280 million.

In the year 1997/98, Rs. 34.6 million worth of Pashmina were exported to the third countries, especially European and USA. Next year the export grew by 826.58 per cent within the eight months to Rs. 286 million (the figure would be approximately 350 million if the last four months of 1998/99 is also included).

In the first four months of the current fiscal year Pashmina worth of Rs. 1150 million were exported replacing gold and silver ornaments as the third biggest export item of the country. But at end of the last year (in November) the demand for Pasmina fell by 90 per cent, forcing the close down of thousands of small manufacturers.

There are two things behind the fall of demand in the European mar ket. First is the use of powerloom.

Handloom Pasmina Industry Association (HPIA) blames the big manufacturers of using powerlooms. HPIA says the market for handmade Pashmina is fairly secure. They claim the boom in the export of Nepalese Pashmina  in the Western market was only because it was a handmade product.

Secondly, they blame seasonal fluctuation for the fall in the demand during November. They say the period between November to February is a weak season for Pashmina in the European market.

But this logic is rejected by some big houses who have been exporting Pasmina for several years.

Shiva Shrestha, proprietor of Dhawalagiri Pasmina Industry, asserts that Nepalese Pasmina is still a hot cake in the European market, but the unhealthy competition here is hampering its growth. He tells the small entrepreneurs to wait till March and see whether the export recovers or not.

Meanwhile, the Nepalese Pashmina industry may be facing a big obstacle because of counterfeit items. Recently, an Indian national, Kamal Joseph, was held by the police at Thankot checkpost with 109 pieces of counterfeit Pashmina shawls worth about Rs. 300,000. The shawls were tagged as Nepali Pashmina. This amount may only be a tip of an iceberg. He even confessed that Pashminas, falsely labelled as Nepali, are being exported from Delhi and Bombay to the European market.

“This incidence should not be taken lightly. It shows we will have to think thrice to sustain our export and the markets,” says Mahesh Shrestha.

It is not a case of small amount, which should ignored easily; we should think thrice to sustain our export from these counterfeit production, said Mahesh Shrestha. This may make the small entrepreneurs here a really hard time to sustain the image and the export.

Sixteen out of twenty persons engaged in Pashmina business are still not certain about the future of Pashmina business and whether it could be made a sustainable export item.

Pashmina entrepreneurs here say the market could be lost and our product may lose its warmth if something is not done quickly.

They also complain at the lack of an authoritative body to look into the future and regulate the business. They say there is an urgent need of such a body to regulate the export of Pashmina and channelize the import of raw materials processing and the export. The import of raw materials must not fall into a single hand, they say.

Meanwhle, they also say the inconsistency of the custom duty, while has changed four times from July 1999 to January 2000, could be a reason for the fall export of Pashmina.

Despite, the problems faced, Nepal may have found another potential export item in Pashmina. The recent successes have shown that it has a huge potential, but it has to do lots of homework and pass a lot of hurdles such as quality control, checking counterfeit and smooth marketing and export procedures.

New Hydropower Policy Revamping Power Sector

-By Our Correspondent

The country’s power sector may see massive transformation with the implementation of the new Hydropower Development Policy 2056. Besides harnessing the country’s hydropower potential to the maximum and its expansion, the major aim of the new policy is to make energy an exportable item with the involvement of the private sector in all sectors like generation, transmission and distribution of energy. It also aims to make energy cheaper and more reliable. Out of the country’s total potential of more than 82,000 MW, the production of 42,000 MW of energy is seen as technically and  economically viable.

The draft of the policy was adopted at a workshop organised by the Water and Energy Commission last week. The draft policy seeks to make the existing policy of the government more simplified, practicable and transparent.

Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources said that the proposed policy aims to make the energy sector more reliable, efficient and available throughout the country through massive rural electrification. It also aims to generate more revenue through categorization of the hydropower projects, he said.

It had become imperative to review the hydropower policy the country adopted in 2049. One of the objectives of the existing policy, when it was adopted, was to make contingency arrangements until the completion of big projects such as Arun III and Kali Gandaki. But it received a major set back when Arun III failed to take off.

The draft policy, among others, has tried to explain the existing policy in a more elaborate manner and by incorporating more incentives  to attract the private sector.

Some of the major highlights of the draft policy are the categorization of the hydropower projects into projects to meet internal demand, projects to export energy and captive plants, and the separation of different rate for those projects.

The proposed policy has also made licensing easier. Hydropower project of up to 1,000 KW do not need any license, rather they need to be registered only in the district water resources committee. And for projects of more than 1,000 KW, licenses can be gotten from the concerned authority.

For projects of 1000 KW to 5,000 KW license for feasibility study has to be issued within 60 days of the date of submission of the application, and license for production within the next 60 days.

However, for projects of above 5,000 KW, the feasibility study will be done from the government level as far as possible and the license for production  will be given on competitive basis.

Similarly, validity of production license for projects of 1-5 MW for internal consumption will be 40 years and for over 5 MW projects it will be 35 years and 30 years in the export oriented projects with a grace period of 5 years. For the captive project whose 60 per cent of the power is to be used by the indigenous industry, the license will last for the lifetime of the industry. In case the industrial unit closes down a 30 year license can be given.

License will also be given for the transmission and distribution. The license for  both the transmission and distribution will be valid for 25 years.

In the existing policy of 2049, the validity of license for both generation and transmission and distribution was 50 years.

Similarly, the policy has proposed the exemption of income tax for projects up to 1,000 KW. Projects of up to 5,000 KW will be exempted of income tax for 15 years and those of over 5,000 KW capacity it will be 10 years. For the export oriented projects income tax will be waived for 10 years.

Likewise, there will be a regulatory body to determine tariff, wheeling and for supervision of the projects and a promotional body for system planning, licensing.

 One of the important aspect of the policy is that it has stressed on the development big and multi-purpose hydro-projects with the involvement of the private sector. The policy has also guaranteed that no project will be nationalised within its license period.

However, one of the major changes could be in the role and the function of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) with more involvement of the private sector in all aspects of generation, transmission and distribution of power. The NEA has the sole authority for generation, transmission and distribution of the electricity.  This monopoly may break after the proposed policy is implemented.

The new policy has proposed the separation of the generation, transmission and distribution and run them separately with the involvement of the private sector in these aspects.

The involvement of the private sector in all aspects of the energy sector may have become necessary, as Lekh Man Singh, Deputy Director of the Electricity Development Board, says, “The donor are getting less enthusiastic of working with the government. They are rather willing to assist the private sector.”

He says that the NEA has failed to reduce leakage. “This and other anomalies may be diminished only with the involvement of the private sector to make the energy sector more reliable and tariff could be reduced,” says the Deputy Director.

Prachar Man Singh Pradhan, Director-in-chief of the Planning Directorate of the NEA also says the new policy has proposed the involvement of the private sector with more facilities and incentives to harness the water resource.

On the NEA’s role, he says, it has raised the question of whether the NEA would remain as a public utility or a separate arrangement would be made with the involvement of private sector.

The proposed policy aims to make the participation of the private sector to the maximum extent possible in all aspects of power generation, transmission and distribution, and to make energy cheaper and more reliable.

With the proposal of the private given being involved in different aspect, Pradhan of NEA says the NEA will have to co-exist with the private sector for its survival.

But he is sceptical about the notion that the price of energy will come down as soon as the private sector is involved. “The reduction of the price of energy will take time and it may only be possible if there is a partnership between the NEA and the private sector,” he says. He says even if the general distribution is given to the private sector, the transmission component should remain in the hands of the NEA or the government.

'People Should Benefit From Conservation'

Ukesh Raj Bhuju, newly elected Vice President of Nepal Heritage Society, is the Conservation Programme Director of WWF Nepal Programme. He has also been involved in several conservation and environment related organisations. President of Kathmandu Environment Education Project (KEEP) , Bhuju has been working for the conservation of wildlife, heritage and the preservation of environment for the last several years. He recently talked to  B. M. Dahal of the Sunday Despatch about the present situation of conservation of natural and cultural heritages and cultural and wildlife tourism in the country. Excerpts:

What is the situation of conservation of wildlife and in Nepal?

The issue of conservation today has become a matter of concern worldwide. I have found a very good situation of conservation in Nepal. WWF has been working for the conservation of four main species that include panda, tiger, rhino and a unique species of animal found in Nepal, the snow leopard. Regarding tigers and rhinos we have to be satisfied with the present situation of habitat and their numbers. However, we should go on to make further efforts for their conservation.

The world has also commended Nepal’s model of the participation of the local people in conservation activities. We have started the Integrated Conservation and Development Programme in the conservation areas. At the initiative of WWF, the programme was launched by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation  (KMTNC) in the Annapurna Conservation Area 15 years ago. The government also extended a good support to the make these programmes a success.

Besides, Nepal has taken leadership for exchanging experiences with the neighbouring countries regarding the trans-border conservation of wildlife.

Now we have to take steps to conserve  animals at the eco-regional level. Conservation works should be carried out at a landscape level. We have started it as an Eco-Regional-Based Conservation Programme. In last December, we organised a seminar to have a vision to launch conservation activities in the Himalayan region. We framed up plans and policies for the next 30 years. The seminar has forced the people to think of conservation seriously.

In April 1996, WWF declared the Kanchanjungha area as “ Gift to the Earth”. This has helped raise Nepal’s image in the world. The conservation-related activities should be launched in Nepal, India, and China for the conservation of the Kanchanjungha area.

How do you find the government’s conservation policy?

If you talk of conservation policy, it is very good and more progressive than those in many other countries. This is because we have been successful in preserving more than 6,000 square kilometers of area in the Annapurna Conservation Region without using police force. We are launching similar type of programme in more than 2,000 square kilometers of land in the Kanchanjungha area. Besides, the government has declared the vicinity parts of many National Parks as the Buffer Zone areas. The government has also expressed commitment to provide 50 per cent of the income generated from these parks. The present challenges before us are how to implement them smoothly and how to make them transparent.

What are the challenges for conservation both the wildlife and heritage?

The basic thing is that the people involved in conservation works should get benefits. Otherwise they will not participate in the conservation works. Now the benefit is coming from tourism. The people of Chitwan and Sagarmatha areas have realized that their economy has  improved due to the parks and the natural heritage. Likewise, more than 100,000 tourists have been coming to Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur because of the heritage. The income of the municipalities has increased due to tourism. So, people are now conscious about the importance of conservation.

What are the activities of Nepal Heritage Society and KEEP?

 Nepal Heritage Society has been doing two things— conservation and generating public awareness. We had taken initiative to renovate the Krishna Mandir of Patan. We brought experts from the foreign countries and collected funds for the renovation of Krishna Mandir. We also alerted the Bhaktapur Municipality for the conservation and renovation of some heritage sites there. We provided some money for the renovation of the roof of TalejuTemple. Now the municipality itself is taking initiatives.

Similarly, we have conducted renovation work at Budhanilkantha. We have also joined hands with various organisations for the conservation of the Changu Narayan temple. We have been devising future plans and prgrammes for conservation and renovation of the heritage.

Keeping in mind the importance of public awareness for the conservation of heritage, we have been conducting awareness programmes in different parts of the country.

KEEP (Kathmandu Environment Education Project)  is a non-governmental organisation with branches in and outside the country. Its objective is to create awareness among the visiting tourists in Nepal about the need to protect the natural environment. We provide information on environment to the visitors. Unlike business companies, we give them  information about the various facilities available in different parts of the country and the safety measures to be taken while going to those areas. We also tell them to try their best to preserve the natural environment of those areas.  We started to work in this regard when a foreign visitor died in the Himalayan region some years ago.

Presently, we have also been working together with the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC). We are providing such services at even at the Royal Bardiya National Park. Besides, KEEP has been launching language training and eco-trekking training for the people involved in the tourism business to generate awareness about the protection of environment.

How should we develop Nepal as a cultural and wildlife destination?

Nepal’s attractions include the Himalayas, wildlife, natural and cultural heritage and a unique combination of Hinduism and Buddhism. But the challenge is to conserve and preserve them. The people’s participation is a must for the conservation of these things. Money generated from tourism should be spent for the environment  and for their conservation. For example, after after the government started to provide some amount of royalty generated from Mt. Everest, the environmental condition of the Khumbu area has become much cleaner.

There are several World heritage Sites within the Kathmandu Valley. But because of our failure to preserve and conserve them properly, the UNESCO has been threatening us that it would exclude those sites from the list of World Heritage Sites.

The challenges are the nonavailability of building materials such as old style timber, brick and tiles. The people living in the heritage sites should also be provided facilities like those of the buffer zones.

Meanwhile, the hotels, travel agencies and others related to the tourism industry have failed to play any role in the conservation of our heritage. The government has to devise policies for the conservation of natural and cultural things that are raw materials of tourism industry.

What types of difficulty have you faced while working in coordination with the government?

Seeing from the perspective of WWF Nepal Programme, the office was established in Nepal seven years ago. It took some years for us to make an agreement with the government. But after reaching the agreement, we have not been facing any legal and other difficulties.  The problem is that the government has its own policies and legal procedures. We want to do something without spending much time but the government cannot go ahead smoothly due to its various constraints.