News & Views

PM Thapa survives

The Special Session of the Lower House of Parliament called on the request of 96 MP’s to HM the King concluded. The House rejected the vote of no-confidence motion by 103 to 100.The motion was opposed by MP’s of Nepali Congress, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Sadbhavna Party and Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party. Where as the motion was supported by MP’s of UML, break-away faction of RPP and two independent. After survival from the motion PM Surya Bahadur Thapa requested all parties to join his hand for the development of Nation. PM Thapa further said that the political situation of the country is now completely changed from the time of his recommendation of dissolution of Parliament.

The changed political situation do not require midterm poll. Nepali Congress President and former PM Girija Prasad Koirala commented that the rejection of no-trust motion is the political maturity and unity of the coalition partners. He also commented that the change of PM as per agreement will take place in due course of time

Sundar Raj Chalise passes away

Senior Nepali Congress (NC) leader and prominent politician Sundar Raj Chalise passed away ton February 24th at the age of 79. Late Chalise was suffering from chest and urinary diseases for the past one month.

Late Chalise had entered politics in 1997 BS by joining the Prajaparisad. He had joined the fight against Rana regime by joining hands with political figures like Ganeshman Singh and Tanka Prasad Acharya. He made his contribution in the establishment of Nepali National Congress in 2003 BS and joined the Nepal Democratic Congress two years later. One year after that he significantly contributed in unifying the two parties to form the Nepali Congress. He also designed the NC flag.

In the revolution of 2007 BS, he was arrested with his wife while massing force to fight the regime and restore democracy. The couple were tortured in custody. He was later sentenced to be hanged with GM Singh but escaped punishment after the movement toppled the regime. He was nominated to the Upper House of parliament in 2015 BS by NC and also served as secretary general of NC Kathmandu District Constituency no 4. He is survived by his wife Sushila Chalise, son Suresh Raj Chalise and daughter Sudha Parajuli

Prince to promote tourism

Nepal’s Crown Prince Dipendra is due to fly to Germany early next month to promote the Himalayan kingdom as a tourist destination. The heir to the throne of the Hindu kingdom is due to participate in the International Tourism Trade Fair (ITB) fair, which runs from March 7 - March 11.

Prince of Wales visit to Nepal a success

The official visit paid by Prince of Wales His Royal Highness Charles to Nepal has been hailed by all people concerned as a great success. During his visit to Nepal, he paid special visits to the sufferers of poverty in Nepal which included a visit to a womans refuge in Kathmandu.

Prince of Wales visit will not only help improve the traditional ties between the two royal families but also further enhance the age-old friendly relations between the two kingdoms. Nepal and Britain are tied with the bonds of friendship for nearly two centuries.

UML officially split

After many weeks of speculation, Nepal’s opposition United Marxist-Leninist party, the largest in parliament, split in half its MPs following communist hard-liner Bam Dev Gautam to form a new group. Gautam, who lost a power struggle with general-secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and was expelled from the party with nine supporters, told reporters that his new party would be called the Nepal Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist).

Officials said 46 of the UML’s 89 deputies had given notice that they were switching. "They will now have a separate status,’’ said parliamentary spokesman Shashi Mainali. The break-up left the ruling Nepali Congress with 87 seats as the largest party in the 205-member House of Representatives. Nepal has gone through a series of government changes since the last general election produced a parliament with no stable majority.

The Nepali Congress presently has 89 seats in the House of Representatives while the CPN (UML) has 49, the ML has 40, RPP has 11 and the new RPP has 8. NSP, a coalition partner, has 3 seats in the House while the NWPP has 2 and 2 MPs belong to the extreme left CPN (Masal).

Phulbari sees least trade

The Phulbari transit route, an alternative way for trade, has not been used much for trade during the first trial of September - February period. Neither the government nor the business community made any meaningful effort to boost trade through the corridor. Both first sold word-dream and later kept quiet. It might be recalled that the Bangladesh route was cleared for Nepal’s transit need by the Prime Minister of India Inder Kumar Gujral as a goodwill gesture during his visit to Nepal in June last year. On the inaugural day four trips of lentils had passed through it. However, they could not be followed by any other consignment, said a custom source. No government official felt it essential to enquire why the route remained unused for nearly 180 days. In the meanwhile the government is seeking to hold talks on extending the trial period.

Soon RNAC, the national flag carrier will have to hand over the Boeing 727 to Yugoslavia when the ‘wet lease’ date expires on March 27. Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) is once again trying to get another aircraft on ‘wet lease.’ This time the airlines is seeking tenders for a Boeing 757.

The basic criteria for ‘wet lease’, is that together with the aircraft the airlines has to take the flight crew. And RNAC has been doing that. However, this has irked the local pilots, who feel the airlines is wasting its competent human resource. The same aircraft can be leased on a dry-lease basis if the leasing period is extended to one or two years.

But ever since it sold its two jets Boeing 727s, RNAC has been wet leasing the aircraft and then extending its leasing period by few months. According to Captain Bijay Giri, President, Nepal Airlines Pilots Association (NAPA), RNAC has spent altogether 84 million US dollars in leasing aircraft in the past seven years. "RNAC could have purchased a new Boeing 757 for almost the same price or got into dry lease," he says.

Capt. Giri complains there’s something "fishy going on". "Maybe they get more commission when they get into a wet lease," he says. "The way they’ve been leasing aircraft gives enough grounds for suspicion". NAPA has a long list of complaints: The fleet evaluation team doesn’t include pilots, the deal is never transparent and the airlines does not have enough aircraft.

In fact, a meeting recently held between the RNAC staff representatives from NAPA, Cabin Crew Association Nepal (CCAN), Employees Union, Employees Association and Engineering Department has decided to form a pressure group to make the aircraft deals transparent; to include pilots in the fleet evaluation team and to purchase Boeing 767 and two small aircraft BAe-146 and ATR.

"Unlike Boeing 727 which had been operating in Indian routes, BAe-146 and ATR, the four-engine aircraft (currently employed by Bhutan’s Druk Air) can continue to do the same as well as carry domestic flights." RNAC pilots have been complaining about the shortage of small aircraft for domestic flights.

Nepali Congress to head govt.

Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala reiterated that his party would now "take its turn" to head the ruling coalition but did not mention anything as to when the `turn’ would actually come to his party.

"Although the situation is now favourable despite the Supreme Court’s unexpected advice for special session of parliament against the Prime Minister’s recommendation for fresh elections, our party is committed to head the government as agreed upon earlier," Koirala said. He was addressing the inaugural function of the second national convention of Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC).

Following the recent defeat in Parliament of the opposition -sponsored censure motion against Prime Minister Thapa, NC has switched itself from its earlier stance to support fresh elections as the only option to the current political situation. But the transfer of premiership "as agreed upon" - which even Prime Minister Thapa has admitted to be his commitment - appears to be confusing as none has clearly stated when this `agreement’ may come to force.

When forming the governing coalition five months ago, NC and RPP had agreed to share the premiership by half term, till the next general elections that are due next year.

A meeting of Central Committee of CPN (UML) has selected party chairman Manmohan Adhikari, General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, KP Sharma Oli, Amrit Bohara, Bharatmohan Adhikari and Jhala Nath Khanal to the party’s powerful Standing Committee.

According to central committee member Pradip Nepal, the meeting has also set up the Central Secretariat consisting of General Secretary Nepal, Bohara, Ishwor Pokhrel, Pradip Nepal, Yuvraj Gyawali, Bachaspati Devkota, Subas Nembwang and Raghu Pant.

Likewise, the party has also filled up the positions of zonal co-ordinating committee, central department and section chiefs.

The party’s powerful organization department will be looked after by Bohara, whereas the planning and intellectual department by Bharatmohan Adhikari, foreign and culture department by Jhalanath Khanal, parliamentary department by KP Sharma Oli, local section and extra curricular department by Pradip Nepal, publicity department by Yuvraj Gyawali and the public relations by Astalaxmi Shakya. Bachaspati Devkota has been selected as secretary of the central office.

Govt accused of abduction

Just few day after His Majesty the King summoned a special House session, an MP belonging to the RPP’s splinter group has accused the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of trying to abduct him.

MP Khobari Raya of the New RPP-a splinter group of RPP-who still resides in the ministers’ quarter even after losing ministerial berth, claims he had to fire few shots to save himself from being abducted by the prime minister’s people.

According to Raya, around 6-7 people came to his quarter at about 8.30 p.m and tried to coax him into supporting Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka during the special session. "At yesterday’s emergency meeting, it was decided that all the members of NRPP would stay together throughout the special session as there is a strong possibility of "horse trading," said Raya at a press conference. "When I returned home to collect my clothes a group of people came and tried to bribe me."

Raya claims they asked him how much money he needed to support Surya Bahadur and asked him to meet both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. "When I refused to oblige they used force in a bid to abduct me," he said. Raya says soon after the incident a police van arrived and seized his gun which is licensed. "When I told them the fact they didn’t listen to me and searched my house except the bedroom," he said.

However, the police patrol which seized Raya’s gun tell a different story. According to SP Ramesh Chand, Raya fired 14 rounds of shots at 9.30 last night which put the army guarding the area on alert. "When we asked MP Raya what had happened he told us that he had fired the shots in jubilation upon hearing His Majesty’s summon."

KP Bhattarai not satisfied

Former PM and ex-president of Nepali Congress Krishna Prasad Bhattarai said that the demands he had put before the party high command have still not been fulfilled. Bhattarai, who now leads the disgruntled faction of the NC said, "my demands have not been met.

But despite those grievances, which he termed as "internal affairs" of the party, the septuagenarian leader vowed to campaign for NC candidates in general elections if it is held. "The main question is how to foster unity in the Congress and ensure majority in the next elections", he said. "If there is unity in the party, no one can stop the Congress from mustering a majority in the elections".

Bhattarai’s remarks indicate to the still festering rift within the NC which is divided into two camps - the minority faction who support him and the majority faction led by the party president Koirala, also a former PM.

Bhattarai was also critical of Koirala holding on to both the positions of NC president and parliamentary leader of the party. The latter position, he said, was the "PM in waiting". To function in both the positions is difficult. If we are to keep both the positions, when will the second generation leaders get a chance", he asked. "That is why I have raised this issue. He must resign from one of the two posts. But even that has not been fulfilled".

TU awards GMC (UK) MBBS Degree

The General Medical Council (GMC) of Britain has accepted the MBBS qualification awarded by the Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine for limited registration, according to TU, Institute of Medicine press release. This was stated in a letter of February 3, 1998 written by Dr Jheslop, Registration Directorate, CMC to Dr TP Thapa, Assistant Dean, Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu.

The TU’s MBBS is the first medical graduate degree in Nepal to be recognized for this purpose by the GMC.

The release says, limited registration enables an overseas qualified doctor to undertake supervised employment in hospital posts affording educationally approved training. Such posts are normally at the grade of SHO and Specialist Registrar. Limited registration can be granted for periods amounting to a maximum aggregate period of five years.

According to the release, in order to be eligible to apply for limited registration a doctor should have completed, overseas, at least twelve months’ clinical experience in a teaching hospital or other hospital approved for internship training and, thereafter, have passed, or gained exemption from the test of professional knowledge and competence in English known as the PLAB test.

Nepal-UK trade expands

Nepal and Britain have a great potential of promoting bilateral trade and joint investment. The past few years have witnessed a gradual expansion of the bilateral trade between the two countries. Nepal imports machinery spare parts, vehicles and equipment of industrial telecommunications, scientific and hydro power from England and exports garments and handicrafts to England.

During the period from Jan-Oct of 1997, Nepal imported items worth 7.4 million Sterling Pound from and exported goods worth 3.8 million Sterling Pound to England.

In 1996, items worth 10.4 million Sterling Pound were imported by Nepal while 8.1 million Sterling Pound worth of goods were exported to England. Eight joint venture industries in the tea, lubricant, telephone, hotel and tourism sectors are now in operation.

Teenage Tennis star in KTM

Martina Hingis, world’s top woman tennis player was in Nepal earlier this month to visit a health project run by her donations.

Hingis will visit a rural health center in Dhumbibas village in the foothills of the Himalayas where 12,000 women have been immunized with tetanus vaccine.

The center is funded by Hingis and run by the World Health Organization. "I have always heard about the mountains and the Himalayas of Nepal," Hingis said on her arrival. "I will be trekking but not anything that is over 8,000 meters". Asked if she wanted to do any mountaineering, she said "If only I can take a helicopter to the top and ski down."

The World Health Organization said the tennis star agreed to become a goodwill ambassador for the agency to expand their immunization programme. Hingis flew to Nepal from Tokyo where she was defeated by Lindsay Davenport of the United States, the world’s No. 2 woman player, in the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Nepal Almanac

As per World Almanac 98 the information on Nepal mentioned as follows:

Average 1 radio in 29 people,1 TV in 213 people and 1 telephone in 276 people. The Almanac also mentioned following information in health sector : Average age 53.8 in male and 54.5 in female. The birth rate is 37 in 1 thousand, death rate is 12 in 1 thousand, annual increase rate is 2.4 percent,1 hospital

bed is for 12623 and death rate in infancy is 77 in 1 thousand.

The "Fukka dam" circularised during the reign of Jaya Prakash Malla is regarded as the smallest coin of the world.; as per The Guinness Book of World Records issued in 1992. The Nepalese officials have neither confirmed or denied the figures published in the Almanac.

Rare rhino killed

A rare one-horned rhinoceros, which was the main attraction of the Royal Chitwan National Park has been killed recently by poachers.

A gang of poachers who had come to Chitwan National Park on a vehicle at about 10:30 p.m. shot dead a big male rhinoceros weighing about two thousand kilograms at Pyari Dhap on the banks of Rapti river in Bhandara VDC. The gang disconnected the rhino horn within 15 minutes and escaped from the scene.

The rhinoceros was killed with a bullet fired from a rifle. The bullet had pierced the body of the rhino and was lodged in the heart, it was learnt after the surgery of the rhinoceros. Although the park authorities are carrying out the investigation to arrest the gang of poachers.

HAN president elected

The thirty first annual general meeting of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has unanimously elected Gautam Das Shrestha as a new president for next term.

Gautam Das Shrestha, managing director of Hotel Sherpa, has been in the hotel business for more than thirty years. Shrestha was second vice president of HAN before being elected president. He is said to be one of the pioneers of the hotel industry. Besides being in the hotel business, he is also the chairman of Help For Children Beilngries which helps orphan children for their education.

Similarly, Narendra Bajracharya of Hotel Vajra and M A Lari of Hotel Everest have been unanimously elected first and second vice presidents respectively. Prakash Shrestha of Machan Jungle Lodge and Sagar Man Shrestha have also been unanimously elected honourary secretary and treasure respectively.

‘Wide gap CIAA - govt’

Corruption in the country is on the rise while the number of agencies responsible for controlling irregularities is in decline, said chiefs of such agencies.

"Our department is in a confused state as our authority has been reduced from 75 districts of the country to just the three districts of Kathmandu valley," said the chief of the Special Investigation Department, Madan Bahadur Pandey.

Before the Supreme Court ruled that all cases of irregularities by government employees from peons to the prime minster would be dealt by the Commission for Investigation for Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the department investigated government employees upto the first class level.