By R. Tamrakar At the women’s cell at Bhadragol Jail, four students of St. Xavier’s College carry out various activities amidst 98 women prisoners and 25 under-aged children. They teach, arrange trainings, clothing and even get books for them. Laxmi Shahi, a convict in the woman’s cell, is very grateful to the students for finding a sponsor for her child through an NGO, CWIN. "I really appreciate what they have done. Now my son, Krishna, is studying in Grade Four at Adarsha Vidyalaya", she said. "If it was not for them, my son would have been staying in jail with me." Other women are not that lucky. There are more than 25 children living with their mother convicts, as separate provisions do not exist for their children and the society tends to scorn such children. The volunteers are third-year B.S.W (Bachelor in Social Work) students. Although what they are doing is part of their study, it is the enthusiasm and feeling for mankind that really matter here. Just a few weeks back, the students of St. Xavier’s College had distributed clothes to the prisoners and their children in the jail. Now they are making preparations to impart sewing lessons. "We have forwarded our proposals to various business houses, NGOs and other institutions for this," said Karishma Siddhi Bajracharya, one of the student volunteers. They are also trying to find an outlet for the handicraft and other materials that the women produce inside the jail. "All these hand knitted purses, dhaka topis, sweaters, envelopes, ‘batti’ that the women have made, we intend to display at an exhibition to be held next January in our college," said another student, Shanti Shrestha. Each week they take the children out for recreation — to the zoo, the parks, historical places or even to the cinemas. There they are taught to observe and review the surroundings. "Children living within those walls really need exposure, otherwise they cannot overcome the feelings of guilt built in them," says another volunteer. The four students visit the jail every Thursday and Friday. Their days usually begin with the assembly where children sing the national anthem. Regular classes for the children and women are then held. They provide counselling to solve various problems, and where possible, also try to meet necessities such as clothes, books and others. Currently, the students provide tuition to three women prisoners who are preparing to sit for the S.L.C examinations this year. The concerned authorities and the prisoners are very pleased with the students’ assistance, says the jail’s warden. The feeling that nobody is born bad, ‘we make them happen so’, is very well appreciated here. Hoteliers Say No To Union Demand By BMD Tourism entrepreneurs, especially hoteliers, have said 'no' to the demand by the hotel employees’ unions that a 10 per cent service charge be added to the customers' bill. The hoteliers have said they will rather close down their hotels than bow down to the demand of the unions which have threatened a nation-wide strike from November 19. Says Yogendra Sakya, President of Nepal Incentive and Convention Association (NICA) and former President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), "We will not even hold talks with the unions if they do not withdraw their ultimatum." With tourist arrivals down by around 13 per cent during the first 10 months this year as compared to the corresponding period in 1999, hoteliers say they are not in a position to provide the service charge as demanded. The showdown is likely to paralyse the entire tourism industry with both sides adamant on their stances so far. The unions are said to have the backing of different political parties, namely the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition in parliament, the CPN UML. "We will close down the hotels ourselves if the unions do not come to the negotiating table. We will inform our valued guests, tour operators and airlines about it if we are forced to do so," said Narendra Bajracharya, President HAN at a press meet last week. A debate on whether to levy a service charge has been going on for more than three years with no one to take any concrete decision. "The government must see the pros and cons of the service charge before deciding on it.," Bajracharya said. Hoteliers see the service charge is going against the rights of the consumer, tantamount to forcing a client to give tips. An argument forwarded by hotel employees has been that the hotels are not transparent in their accounts and they evade the government taxes. But hoteliers refute the charge outright. They claim that their accounts are transparent. Hoteliers currently pay over 22 per cent tax, including VAT and income tax, to the government. "Thus with added taxes, visitors are likely to seek an alternative destination in this highly competitive business," says another hotelier and Secretary of HAN, Ajay R. Sthapit. Tourism entrepreneurs have asked the government to decide on the issue quickly so that the country’s tourism does not suffer a setback. They hold the country’s existing labour laws responsible for the frequent labour problems. They say the laws protect the rights of only workers but not the industry. Hoteliers are of the opinion that the existing Labour Act needs to be amended as it has favoured only employees. "The country has adopted open market policy. But the labour laws are pro-labourers. Thus, the laws are failing to create a balance between the industry and the labourers," says Sakya. Keeping in view the frequent labour problems in the hotel industry that employs more than 200,000 individuals throughout the country, hoteliers have asked the government to bring the industry under the Essential Services Act. It may be recalled that the government of Bangladesh has given protection to its flourishing garment industry, the country’s main export industry, by introducing a ‘No Labour Act.’ As the economic mainstay of Nepal, the tourism industry also needs to be protected. By Our Correspondent Overall transaction of shares last week in terms of value increased by 38.83 per cent compared to the previous week. According to Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd., altogether 87,760 shares of listed companies were traded for Rs. 100,819,088 last week, whereas 86,867 units of shares were traded for Rs. 72,620,281. Bank of Kathmandu topped the list in turns of turnover. Altogether 22,400 units of shares of Bank of Kathmandu were traded for Rs. 35,246,240. The price per share also showed an upward trend. On the first day of the week, the closing price per share was Rs. 1,550, which closed at Rs. 1,600 on the last day of the week. Commercial banks have been playing a dominant role in the Nepalese stock market. Last week, the share of commercial banks in the overall trading of shares was 92.72 per cent. Altogether, 61,966 units of shares of commercial banks were traded for Rs. 93,464,370. However, the share of commercial banks was only 76.52 per cent during the previous week. The finance group ranked second, securing 3.81 per cent of total trading. The NEPSE index, one of the indicators of the health of the stock market, showed an upward trend last week. On the first day of the week, it was 482.93 which touched to 505.91 on the last day of the week. The index of the commercial bank group increased significantly compared to the other groups. On the first day of the week, the index of commercial banks was 582.43, which touched to 619.51 on the last day of the week. Last week, securities of 43 companies were registered for transaction, but trading took place in only 37 companies. New Homes For Chitwan's Rhinos By Krishna Shrestha Nepal will repeat history when it translocates 10 more rhinos shortly — one more success story in the field of biodiversity conservation. Translocation of adult rhinos that will weigh two tons each is not an easy task. Trucks, dodgers and experienced personnel among others will perform the job. Preparatory works for the translocation have already begun in Chitwan. Four rhinos will be translocated to Royal Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve and six others to Royal Bardiya National Park. "For the first time, we are translocating rhinos to Shukla Phanta. The actual work of translocating will start on November 19," says Narayan Prasad Poudel, Chief Ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Reserve. Nepal in the past has successfully translocated 52 rhinos to Royal Bardiya National Park. Shukla Phanta has been considered another haven for rhino conservation, where a straggler rhino has been living there since 1994. "We are translocating the rhinos to protect the species from natural and other disasters," says Chief Ecologist Poudel. The government has been planning to maintain a population of 100 rhinos in Bardiya. However, lots of things may depend upon the activities of the 10 rhinos that will be translocated there shortly. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Reserve will fit radio collars on the necks of all the 10 rhinos to monitor their activities. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Reserve is co-coordinating the translocation programme. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation and WWF are supporting this programme. Experts from the Department and the Trust will perform all the needed works whereas WWF will provide financial support. The translocation works in the past has proved very successful. "Rhino translocation is one the most successful stories in biodiversity conservation in Nepal," says Ukesh Raj Bhuju, Conservation Program Director of WWF Asia Pacific Program. WWF has been involved in the translocation programme since the very beginning. The Asian Rhino Specialist Group’s meeting held in India’s Assam in 1999 had not only praised Nepal for her efforts in rhino conservation, including translocation, but also suggested maintaining a viable population in their old habitats. "As suggested at the meeting, His Majesty’s Government has decided to translocate 20 rhinos. Accordingly, 10 rhinos were translocated last year and 10 rhinos will be translocated shortly," added Chief Ecologist Poudel. In Nepal, rhinos are concentrated in the Royal Chitwan National Park and its periphery. Rhino count 2000, which was conducted in the months of April and May, shows that there are 544 rhinos in Chitwan. In the 1960s, rhino population in Nepal had declined to about 80 – all confined to Royal Chitwan National Park. It is because of the successful translocation of rhinos to Royal Bardiya National Park, there are 67 rhinos there today. The first 13 rhinos were translocated in 1986. Despite natural deaths and poaching, the number of rhinos in Bardiya has been gradually increasing. And, in Suklaphanta, only one rhino has been found. The Rhino specialists’ group has suggested that Nepal must establish 10 additional rhino reserves in different parts of the country. According to WWF Nepal Program Office, during the WWF’s Asian Rhino and Elephant Workshop held in Vietnam in December 1998, the Western Terai bio-region (Royal Bardiya National Park) was selected as one of the priority sites. The workshop had recommended increasing the population of rhinos in Royal Bardiya National Park to 100 through translocation and strong protection over the next three years. The objectives of the project are to protect the one-horned rhinoceros from any natural and other disaster by developing a second home, minimizing the incidences of human-rhino interactions in Royal Chitwan National Park, and building up a second viable population of rhinos in Royal Bardiya National Park. The one-horned rhino is one of the five species of rhinos found in the world today and the largest kind found in Asia. The International Rhino Foundation (IRF), a non-profit corporation of institutions and individuals worldwide dedicated to the conservation of rhinos, says that about 2,400 great one-horned rhinoceros today remain in the wild. However, according to IRF, they are on the verge of extinction. About 2,700 African black rhinos survive. During the last 10 to 15 years, the black rhino population declined by about 85 per cent. The Javan rhino found in Indonesia and Vietnam is the rarest rhino species with fewer than 60 animals surviving. The Sumatran found in Southeast Asia has declined by about 50 per cent over the last 10 years with fewer than 300 surviving. African white rhinoceros form the largest number with more than 10,000. As far as the great one-horned rhinoceros is concerned, which are found in Nepal and India, according to IRF, numbers have recovered from under 200 earlier in 1900 to around 2,400 now. Meanwhile, Nepal has been considering translocating another species too. Kathmandu International Mountain Film Fest By Our Correspondent The first Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival will kick off in Kathmandu on December 1. The 4-day long festival will be participated by film producers, directors and others related to film production. According to organisers, out of the total 102 entries only 49 outstanding works will be screened during the festival. Of the 49 entries, there are three feature films, two docudramas and 44 documentaries. Some 14 documentaries set to be screened at the festival depict cultural aspects of the mountain people, seven documentaries relate to mountaineering, six about courageous sporting activities, six about nature and development activities in the Himalayan regions, five on alpine documentation and four are experimental ones. Famous Indian mountaineer and writer Harish Kapadia will be presenting a slide on "War and Mountaineering in Karakoram". Famous Himalayan photographers will also be organising a photo exhibition during the festival. The festival, to be organised by Himal Association (HA) in association with Eco Himal, aims at informing people about Himalayan issues. The HA was the organiser of Film Himalaya ’94, Film South Asia ’97 and Film South Asia ’99. |
