By Our Correspondent Countries can dramatically improve the quality of peoples’ lives if they blend policies that promote economic growth with those that embrace wider access to education, greater protection of the environment, more civil liberties and stronger anti-corruption measures, according to The Quality of Growth, a World Bank report released last week. According to the World Bank, a striking feature of the report is new research that shows that countries could double their per capita incomes by improving the quality of their legal systems and combating corruption. An improvement in the rule of law from the levels observed in countries such as Ukraine or Indonesia, to the middle range corresponding to the Czech Republic or South Korea, could be associated with a doubling of per capita incomes over a medium term and a sharp improvement in the quality of people’s lives. The Quality of Growth, launched at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank in the Czech Republic, says that while the last decade of the 20th century saw great economic progress in parts of the world, it also witnessed stagnation and setbacks, even in countries that had previously achieved the fastest rates of economic growth. Looking back over previous decades of development results, the report says that the world has much to celebrate as it begins the new millennium. A child born today in the developing world can expect to live 25 years longer, and be healthier, better-educated, and more productive than a child born 50 years ago. The spread of democracy has brought millions of people new freedoms and opportunities. The communications revolution holds the same promise of universal access to education, the report says. However, upon closer examination, the report says that at least 100 million more people are living in poverty today than a decade ago, and the gap between the rich and poor is growing wider. In many countries the scourge of AIDS has cruelly cut life expectancy — in some African countries by more than 10 years. Each year 2.4 million children die of waterborne diseases. As many as a billion people have entered the 21st century unable to read or write. Some 1.8 million people die every year of indoor air pollution in rural areas alone. Forests are being destroyed at the rate of an acre a second, with unimaginable loss of bio-diversity. Some of the major conclusions derived from the report are as: During the past 35 years, the per capita income of developing countries grew at 2.2 per cent. However, the differences across regions and countries were striking. During the period 1987-1998, poverty (as measured by the percentage of the population living on less than $1 per day) fell from about 28 percent to 24 percent, but the numbers of poor remained roughly the same. The gap between the average income of the richest 20 countries and the average for the poorest 20 has doubled in the past 40 years, to more than 30 times. Developing countries made considerable progress in adopting market friendly policies in the 1990s. Subsidies worldwide remain large. At the aggregate level, (gross) subsidies provided to agriculture, energy, road transport and water amounted to $700-$900 billion in the early - to mid-1990s. The inequality in education in numerous countries — ranging from Algeria and Mali to India and Pakistan — is staggering. Air pollution, especially high levels of total suspended particulates, has resulted in premature deaths and severe health damage in urban areas such as Bangkok, Mexico City, and New Delhi. The USA is the largest contributor of carbon dioxide per capita. The costs of resource over-exploitation are enormous; in many cases the losses are irreversible. The growth in international financial markets throughout the 1990s was enormous. International lending in the new medium - and long-term bonds and bank loans reached US$ 1.2 trillion in 1997, up from US$ 0.5 trillion in 1988. Corruption poses a heavy burden disproportionately on the poor. Poor households in many countries like Ecuador spend three times more in bribes as a share of their incomes than higher income households for access to public services. By Our Correspondent ONE of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation’s (RNAC) three Boeing 757s was grounded Friday after its right engine caught fire after it sucked in a bird. The engine caught fire soon after take off for London with 179 passengers on board, but landed safely at Tribhuvan International Airport. According to RNAC’s spokesman, the entire engine might have to be replaced. The fire was extinguished with the help of firefighters. The accident is bad news for RNAC which is short of aircraft and is to begin scheduled flights to the south Indian city of Bangalore from October 29 and will be adding one more flight to Osaka, Japan from November. Just last week, RNAC had extended the lease agreement of a Boeing 757 with China Southwest Airlines (CSWA) for another one year under the existing terms and conditions. For the past several years, RNAC has been leasing an aircraft to operate scheduled flights in the international sector. The national flag carrier has only two Boeing 757 aircraft. It has leased a third aircraft for international flights. It operates scheduled flights to more than 12 destinations in Asia and Europe. By Krishna Shrestha For Nepalese environmentalists and people involved in conservation, here is good news: WWF International is organising a programme "Journey to Kathmandu: Sacred Gifts for a Living Planet" in Nepal shortly. This is because the Himalayan kingdom has achieved remarkable success in bio-diversity conservation in Asia. More than 15 per cent of Nepal constitutes protected areas. The highlight of the initiative will be the unveiling of the Sacred Gifts and multi-faith celebration in Kathmandu. The Journey to Kathmandu, according to WWF, will have many benefits as it will provide a major public forum to highlight successes of conservation; create a platform for WWF offices to develop relationships with local faiths both now and in the long-term to further conservation; reach new audiences with enormous potential for conservation action; and, above all, dramatically push forward WWF’s global conservation priorities. Dr. Chandra P. Gurung, Country Representative, Asia/Pacific Program, WWF opines that the event will be very important for Nepal as it will be the best time to show what Nepal has achieved in the field of biodiversity conservation. Now the bad news. According to IUCN, the global extinction crisis is bad or even worse than believed, with dramatic decline in the population of many species, including reptiles and primates. The IUCN on Thursday night released the IUCN 2000 Red List of Threatened Species. According to a press release issued by IUCN Headquarters, Geneva, since the last assessment in 1996, critically endangered primates increased from 13 to 19, and the number of threatened albatross species increased from three to 16 due to long-line fisheries. Freshwater turtles, heavily exploited for food and medicinal use in Asia, went up from 10 to 24. "The fact that the number of critically endangered species of mammals has increased from 169 to 180 and birds from 168 to 182, was a jolting surprise, even to those already familiar with today’s increasing threats to bio-diversity. These findings should be taken very seriously by the global community," says a press release quoting Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Wesser, IUCN’s Director General. According to IUCN, a total of 11,046 species of plants and animals are threatened, facing a high risk of extinction in the near future, in almost all cases as a result of human activities. This includes 24 per cent of mammal species and 12 per cent of bird species. The total number of threatened animal species has increased from 5,205 to 5,435. "Indonesia, India, Brazil and China are among the countries with the most threatened mammals and birds, while plant species are declining rapidly in South and Central America, Central and West Africa, and Southeast Asia," says IUCN. According to IUCN, habitat loss and degradation affect 89 per cent of all threatened birds, 83 per cent of mammals, and 91 per cent of threatened plants assessed. Russel A. Mittermeier, President of Conservation International and Chairman of IUCN’s Primate Special Group, opines that many wonderful creatures will be lost in the first few decades of the 21st century unless we greatly increase the levels of support, involvement and engage the private sector at a new level. Against this backdrop, WWF International will organise an international programme in Nepal with the objective of preserving the natural world in the 21st century and beyond. During the same week, the WWF annual conference will also take place here. According to information furnished by WWF International, "The Living Planet Campaign and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) have come together to encourage, secure and celebrate significant new conservation actions by the world’s major religions." ARC was officially launched in May 1995 by WWF International's President Emeritus HRH Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the Summit of Religions and Conservation at Windsor Castle. It currently works with nine of the world’s major faiths and communities worldwide to develop practical conservation projects. The initiative aims at securing "concrete pledges or actions from the faiths to be known as Sacred Gifts for a Living Planet. These sacred gifts will include one from each of the major religions and one from each continent," says WWF International. According to WWF International, WWF and ARC see the Sacred Gift as a practical, concrete and active expression of a religious tradition and its belief about the natural world. This initiative will honour what is already happening and through specific Gifts will indicate significant new commitments." The initiatives are expected to greatly multiply efforts to preserve forests, fresh waters, seas and species as well as combat the threats posed by toxic chemicals and climate change. It may be recalled here that since 1996, WWF has secured more than 50 internationally recognised Gifts to the Earth in the context of the Living Plant Campaign. "Sacred Gifts for a Living Planet are a new component of this successful programme. The faiths are already committed and active with conservation projects. The challenge to religious communities now is to examine and further expand their environmental influence and actions," says WWF International. The Sacred Gifts will relate to six key areas of advocacy, education, health, land and assets, lifestyle and media. According to WWF International, the major faiths are Bahaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Taoism, representing billions of people. Meanwhile, at a press meet organised on Friday, Rob Soutter, Manager of the Living Planet Campaign of WWF International, said the event will be the biggest event WWF has ever organised. Stating that representatives from more than 60 countries will be participating in the programme, he said Nepal was chosen as a venue because of strong conservation commitment, rich biodiversity and high spiritual value among others. Two high level committee have been formed to ensure that the WWF Annual conference is a success—a Patron Committee chaired by HRH Prince Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah and a Host Committee chaired by Minister for Foreign Affairs Chakra P. Bastola. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation is one of the key partners of the event. By Our Correspondent Shangrila Air, a domestic airline in the private sector, has bought two Beech craft that has 19 seats. The airline has already three Twin Otters. Now it has five aircraft. According to Kishore Silwal, Deputy Managing Director of the airline, the airline flies to more than 20 destinations of the country. Silwal informed that the airline has one of richest fleet in the country. The airline operates scheduled flights to areas like Jomsom, Lukla, Bhadrapur, Nepalgunj, Taplejung. It also operates mountain flights. Similarly, Cosmic Air in the private sector has pressed a SAAB-340 aircraft into service. Cosmic Air plans to bring one more SAAB-340 by November. The newly added SAAB-340 aircraft will start operation from today (Sunday). Currently, Cosmic Air has been a fleet of Dornier 228 aircraft and MI-17 helicopters By Our Correspondent Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Tarini Dutta Chataut distributed certificates and cash prizes to the winners of the "Travel Writer of the Year 2000" Award and "Nationwide High School and Higher Secondary Level Essay Contest 2000" organised by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) on the occasion of World Tourism Day (Sept. 27). Ballav Mani Dahal of this weekly was one of the recipients of "Travel Writer of the Year 2000" in the Awareness/Education category. Similarly, Navin Singh Khadka of the sister publication—The Rising Nepal—received awards in two categories. Four other journalists also received awards in various categories of the competition. Likewise, Minister Chataut distributed certificates and cash prizes to the winners of the eassy competition of a high school and higher secondary school competition.. |
