News & Views

ML is set to join Koirala Government.

The splinter Communist Party of Nepal (ML) is set to join the Nepali Congress (NC) minority government after return of PM Mr. Koirala from SAARC summit in Colombo. Unless some unforeseen accident occurs, the ‘delivery’ would be smooth, added by ML leader Mr Bam Dev Gautam. Mr Gautam was talking to press in Kathmandu. He further said," It has already been decided on what we will be doing with NC. We are no longer discussing the issue in our party anymore". But Mr Gautam is seems doubtful on NC and said that they are not to be completely trusted. He said that it was purely for political reasons that both NC and ML had initiated the move for an alliance and that he was not too concerned if his party would be betrayed. "When two people are crossing a river holding on to each other and if one lets go off the grip, both would be in danger," he added.

Government survives

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala survived a crucial parliamentary test to pass a motion of thanks to King Birendra for his address to parliament last week after the opposition Communist Marxist-Leninist (ML) party abstained from voting who commands 40 MPs .The Communist United Marxist-Leninist (UML) party, the Nepal Sadbhavana Party and Thapa faction of Rastriya Prajatantra Party voted against it.

Speaker of the Lower House Poudel said Koirala polled 95 votes while 64 votes were cast against. The Marxist-Leninist party commanding 40 deputies helped Koirala, chief of the Nepali Congress party which has 88 seats, sail through the 205-member house.

The vote means effective parliamentary approval of the policies and programmes of Koirala’s three-month-old minority government. In 1994 Mr Koirala had to dissolve the House and call for midterm poll as he failed to pass similar motion inspite of head of majority government.

Budget tabled

Nepalese Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat tabled national Budget for the Financial year 2055/2056 in the Joint meeting of both the houses of the Parliament. In his Budget Dr Mahat submitted the Budget of 70 billion Nepalese rupees. This proposed budget is 20.8 percent more than present the year budget. There is an increase by 25.1 percent in the development side. In the source of income 34.12 billion rupees is expected from national revenue, 7.77 billion from foreign aids and 17.73 billion from foreign loans. There will be shortage of 10.7 billion rupees in the budget.

Few specialty of the budget are as follows:
- Private telephone business will be allowed with mobile phone also.

- Government will initiate foreign employment specially in far east Asia and Gulf reason with minimum 259 every year from each parliamentary constituents.

- Priority to be given for Lumbini Development Plan.

- SAF Games to be successfully organised in Nepal and hence there will be 0.5 percent import duty during 2055/2056 only as SAF Games surcharge.

- VAT is to be totally implemented from next year with levy of 17.5 percent tax.

- Personal Income tax ceiling is proposed as - 40,000 for individual, 50,000 for family. The tax of 15 percent will be charged upto 75,000 income.

Necon Air, the first private airline of Nepal is set to operate international flight to Patna from 4th August.

As per Mr Anoop Rana, the chairman of Necon Air disclosed that with the operation of Patna flight the aim of international operation is going to be fulfilled.

Appointment

As per our correspondent, the cabinet of His Majesty's Government has decided to appoint Mr Damodar Gautam - Ambassador to USA, Mr Rajeshwore Acharya - Ambassador to China and Dr. Narayan Khadka - Ambassador to Russia.

Koirala for May elections

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said that the present government of the Nepali Congress (NC) will last till May next year and that his party is certain to win majority in the next election.

But the prime minister did not pass up the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to holding early elections next May. The statement also indicates NC’s stand towards the main opposition UML which want elections to be rushed to November this year.

Action against Airways

Once a very well performing profitable company, the Nepal Airways is nearly defunct for several months now had to face staff legal action for not paying their gratuity and pension amounts. Over two hundred staff of Nepal Airways Pvt Limited urged the management to pay or face for legal action. The aggrieved staff have also accused Mr Pradip Rana and the airways management team of breach of trust and failure to meet his own written promise to pay the staff by June 18.

UML expelles Mayor

The Communist Party of Nepal (UML) has expelled Kathmandu Metropolis Mayor Keshav Sthapit from the party and invalidated his party membership for indulging in activities targeted against the party. Sthapit was elected to the Mayor’s office on a UML ticket but shifted to the splinter Communist Party of Nepal (ML) formed by Bamdev Gautam and some rebelling members earlier this year. As per communique from Kathmandu Valley Coordination Committee Krishna Gopal Shrestha Mr Sthapit’s membership had been suspended and required to vacant the mayor’s seat since he was no longer part of the party he was elected from.

SC verdict on Virginity

A woman living with a man and maintaining a physical relationship with him is not necessarily his wife, the Supreme Court said in an elaborate ruling .

Making a detailed ruling on an aspect of right to privacy of a woman in a case involving a bitter property feud between a mother and a daughter of a prominent Keshar Sumshere family, the apex court ruled that living together and even bearing a child are not sufficient conditions in themselves to declare the two man and wife. A brief ruling on the issue was passed by the court earlier on June 8.

The precedent setting ruling of the Supreme Court came in the context of a petition filed with the apex court by Annapurna Rana the grand daughter of late Keshar Sumshere Rana, in which she claimed that a Kathmandu District Court ruling directing a virginity test on her was unconstitutional and against her right to privacy enshrined as a fundamental right under Article 22 of the Constitution. The apex court overturned the order for the virginity test passed by the district court.

The district court had ordered the test on Rana as demanded by her mother, Ambika Rajya Laxmi Rana, the wife of late Kayur Sumshere Rana who as a reply to Annapurna’s claim on her parental property had said that the petitioner had been married to one Mukul R S Tadagi in Nainital, India and had even borne a daughter from the relationship with him.

The court said that a virginity test on Annapurna Rana would serve no purpose whatsoever in light of details about her alleged husband and claim by the respondents that she had delivered a daughter at the Govind Ballav Pant Hospital in Nainital.

"If the submitted proof of marriage and the delivery of a child can themselves prove whether or not the person in question is married, examination to determine whether her virginity was intact will be a loss of the court’s time." The court also pronounced that the right to privacy as provided in the constitution was an inviolable right except as provided in the laws. "And since no law has been passed spelling (reasonable) restrictions on the right, no citizen can be prevented from enjoying full utilisation of the right to privacy."

The court further said that a woman who was no longer a virgin was not necessarily a married woman and "getting married and not having her virginity intact are two different contexts." A sexual relationship of a grown-up woman has become a natural phenomenon in present times, the court said, adding "if a sexual relationship is natural, wanted or unwanted pregnancy and birth of a child too is natural; what purpose can a virginity test under such a circumstance serve is something worth pondering over.

"In the changed social context, a decision on maintaining one’s virginity or having sexual relations with people of one’s choice are wholly private affairs. A sexual relation cannot in itself change a woman’s legal status. The apex court rejected a submission made by the counsel of the respondents that not allowing a virginity test on a woman while there were several examples of the court allowing examinations of the male genital would be tantamount to unequal treatment of the sexes by the court.

The court said such issues were of grave importance to women and added "while examination of a male genital can help establish certain evidence in a case, a virginity test on a woman raises issues of her character and the subsequent social reaction etc. The two cannot be considered on equal footing."

Maoist workers surrender

Twenty-three Maoist workers from different VDCs in the vicinity of Katari in Udayapur district have collectively surrendered before the police, according to the Eastern Regional Police Office, Biratnagar.

They had submitted an application to Deputy Inspector General of Police Anant Ram Bhattarai stating that they would surrender before the police. In the application they have said that they had chosen the path of violence and had engaged in activities directed against democracy but they have now realised that the politics of murder had no future in the country. They have also expressed their commitment to the protection and promotion of democracy, according to the regional office.

With these surrenders the recent surrenders of Maoists are reached to 323.

VAT issue in new budget

Independent economic analysts and small-time businessmen, however, are expecting economic disaster and closure of business activities. Although the government economists have highlighted the budget citing merits such as policies that may be expected to boost export, their argument looses the steam in the wake of growing possibilities finding the way in the form of import duty. This, said a business analyst, will clear the field for massive smuggling through the porous border in the south and north.

One more serious threat to healthy financial year comes in the form of Value Added Tax (VAT) which, if implemented in its original letter and spirit, is feared to spell doom for revenue mobilisation on a much bigger scale than last year. It may be noted that VAT has received support of the upper echelon of the business community than from those at the lower level. The budget has accommodated the interests of the ‘big-fishes’ and political party in power even as it buries the interest of common man. Not much has been done to encourage transparency in business transaction.

Govt, Leftists hold talks

Leaders of the nine left parties, today held talks with the representatives of the government about the fulfilment of their demands recently submitted to the government in the form of a memorandum.

The demands of the left parties to the government includes assertive action from the government to remove Indian Army from Kalapani, abrogation of the 1950 Treaty between Nepal and India, end of government suppression of Maoist workers in the districts where the underground party has a strong presence and control on consumer prices.

Helicopter flights talk between Nepal and China

In a significant step Nepalese and Chinese officials working out an agreement for cross border helicopter flights between the two countries to boost for the tourism industry through charter basis.

The charter flights, if and when they become a reality, could satisfy the demands of tourists seeking to visit the holy sites of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar lake without having to undergo the rigours of trekking.

The purpose, says the statement, is to "promote tourism at Mt Kailash and Mansarovar". The two sides have agreed to finalize the details in the next round of consultations soon, adds the statement.

The new thrust towards opening Mt Kailash and Mansarovar comes after talks in Kathmandu between DCA officials and their Chinese counterpart which concluded today. The two sites, perched high in the Himalayas, are one of Hinduism’s holiest sites.

Pushpa Lal Memorial, no more a pride for UML

For eight years since the reinstatement of multiparty democracy, leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) proudly graced the yearly festival for the mainstream communists of the country: the memorial day of Pushpa Lal, the paramount figure in Nepal’s left movement.

They won’t be as lucky during this year’s memorial day. Since the nasty public showdown of the top brass of the UML early this year, which ultimately led to the party’s split, division engulfed almost all the affiliate organisations of the main opposition party.

Most of the affiliate organisations with direct political objectives-the student organisation, peasant’s organisation, youth organisation etc-since witnessed formal splits. The same is now engulfing the more apolitical organisations like the Pushpa Lal Memorial Academy and the Madan-Ashrit Academy, both established to propagate the thought of the late leaders. Recently Mr Adhikari has been invited to participate in a Pushpa Lal memorial function as an ordinary speaker. The chief guest of the function: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. Mr Adhikary refused to attend the function saying that," I will only participate in the programmes organised by our own party."

Karnali to get road access

The only zone in Nepal that has been deprived of motorable road may soon get it centre connected to the rest of the country provided the government gets a World Bank loan for the project.

Minister for Works and Transport Bijaya Kumar Gachchhedar said in parliament, that the government is in consultation with the World Bank for a loan to finance the proposed 210-kilometre long Karnali Highway that would link Jumla with Surkhet district. Minister said a 51-kilometre long section of dirt road has been constructed since the foundation was first laid in October 1991. The Karnali is the only zone in Nepal that has been deprived of motorable road may soon get it centre connected to the rest of the country provided the government gets a World Bank loan for the project. This year, the government has allocated Rs 100 million for the project. At present, there are at least 18 districts in the country that has no motorable roads at all.

Great quake in Kathmandu

Roger Bilhams, an American geologist of repute, who spent a decade in the Himalayas studying seismology religiously, claims a great earthquake will eventually hit Kathmandu.In recent times seismologists have been warning that Nepal may witness a big earthquake anytime, a fact, which they claim shouldn’t be ignored. Since Nepal lies in the Himalayan belt, a region considered to be highly prone to earthquakes, experts claim this possibility shouldn’t be overruled.

"I don’t want to raise alarm nor am I predicting earthquakes superficially," he says. "My prediction is based on the datas we have on the history of earthquakes in the Himalayas." According to Bilhams, Nepal is being squeezed by two centimetres a year by the Indian and the Tibetan plates-whose collision resulted in the formation of the Himalayas. And since 1991 till date, the period he has been continuously monitoring the Himalayan ground movement, it has been squeezed by a total of 16 cm.

Peter Heigl, British Charge d’Affaires, handed over the agricultural research centres at Pakhribas and Lumle to S N Upadhya, secretary, Ministry of Agriculture at a ceremony held in the presence of Minister of Agriculture, C P Bastola, at the Ministry of Agriculture. This was stated in a joint communique issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and British Embassy.

According to the release, the two centres were established over 25 years ago and have been funded ever since by the British aid programme. In 1995 Britain’s Overseas development Administration, now renamed the Department for International Development (DFID), began a process of consultation with His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and other stakeholders about the eventual integration of the two centres into the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) system. That process resulted in the five year, Rs 1.3 billion, Hill Agriculture Research Project (HARP) which began in 1996, the release stated.

An Indian kingpin has claimed responsibility for the grisly murder of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmaker Mirza Dilshad Beg for "spreading terror in India through the ISI". In an interview published in the latest issue of the Indian newsmagazine India Today, Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhale alias Chhota Rajan said Beg was gunned down on his orders. "Yes I gave the orders for his killing", Rajan is quoted as saying in the interview." The men who pulled the trigger were my hitman. They shadowed him and found out his schedule". A Rajan aide went to the extent of suggesting that Indian intelligence agencies were aware of the plan to execute Beg".

The controversial lawmaker was wanted in India on a number of criminal charges. Just a few weeks before he was shot to death, the Indian government had requested HMG through the Interpol for Beg’,s extradition. In his last press conference, Beg had denied all the charges. Rajan, a feared mafia kingpin who controls much of the criminal underworld in Bombay from his hideout in Malaysia, was once a friend and accomplice of Dawood Ibrahim, the don of the Bombay underworld who now lives in Dubai. The two reportedly had a falling out after the Bombay blasts of 1993 in which Ibrahim is one of the prime accused. In the interview, Rajan alleges Beg of being a "close contact "of Ibrahim. He also charged that Beg was the main conduit of the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI. The ISI is regularly accused by Indian authorities for fomenting trouble in India. "He was the conduit for the ISI. He was the main person supplying weapons and explosives’. He was also a close contact of Dawood Ibrahim’s and anyone who alligns with Dawood is my enemy. With Beg out of the scene, it will not be easy for Dawood to operate from Nepal", Rajan says in the interview. "Through the ISI, he (beg) was spreading terror in India", Rajan says.

The interview sheds some light behind Rajan’s orders to kill Beg and other supposed anti-India elements. The underworld kingpin also proclaims his love for his country in the interview. The interview comes when the police here is busy tying up the leads in the sensational Beg murder mystery. Several theories speculate on the underworld rivalry between Dawood and Rajan for leading to Beg’s murder.

While reading the goverment prepared report into the murder, Home Minister Joshi said that there were five people directly involved in the murders. Magga Sardar alias Karan Singh, Juber Khan who was brought to Nepal for the job, one man who just went by the name Raju, another one named Banti and one unidentified man have been fingered as the prime suspects. Moreover, Chota Rajan’s close aide Sandesh Sharma alias Rohit Verma who was operating Rajan’s activities in Nepal, Rajendra Kumar Sharma alias Raj, Sanjay Madkar and Karan Singh were coordinating Beg’s murder in Nepal. It took the assailants about three minutes to complete the job they were brought for. After the shooting the assailants yelled " Jaya Matadi", a phrase mostly used in Bombay which gave police lead in their investigation.

The report said Beg’s driver Bhuwan Karki was also gunned to eliminate risks of being identified by the assailants who as Beg’s driver for the past few years could have easily identified them.

Kamal Chitrakar appointed

His Majesty’s government has appointed former chief of Tarun Dal Mr Kamal Chitrakar a full time member-cum-secretary of Town Development Co-ordination Council for the period of 2 years with immediate effect. Mr Chitrakar is a Youth Leader of Nepali Congress Party and was a former elected chief of Kathmandu Municipality during the Panchayat regime.

Demand for Nepali priests in Pashupati

Mr. Loknath Adhikari Upadhyaya Kashyap had started his protest fast- onto-death began May 23, on the banks of Bagmati river in tune with the movement of the recent appointment of Indian priests, in Pashupati. He has demanded 15 various matters relating to Pashupati. The recent appointment of Indian national priest came amidst protests. The movement, in the active participation of Pashupati Sena, had voiced the need for Nepali priests at Pashupati was also signed by one hundred and twenty-eight parliamentarians.

All the five, including the Chief Priest Subramanyam, had filed in their resignation following the demand for Nepali priests in the temple. All others apart from Subramanyam were reinstated in their original posts. Meanwhile, priest Anantakrishna Somayaji was promoted to the Chief Priest portfolio.

A new priest, an Indian national Chandrashekhar Adiga, was appointed at Pashupatinath temple on the auspicious (guru) full-moon day, July 8. The entry came in the post left vacant after the departure of former Chief Priest Subramanyam Shastri Markandeya. Mr Kashyap in his fifteen demands are: the priests of Pashupatinath should be Nepali citizens and other incomes of priests, apart from their salary, should go to the temple. The press release states, "It is the misfortune of this country’s monarchy to accept foreign domination and go against the national sentiment." It is learnt that the appointment of priests comes under the jurisdiction of the King.

Press Release of America-Nepal Medical Foundation (ANMF)

On June 14, the deliberation was focussed on several organizational issues. The convention ended with the election of Dr. Gaury Shankar Adhikary as the new President, and Dr. Roshan Shrestha (ANMF North America), and Dr. Shankar Rai (ANMF Nepal side) as the new Vice-presidents of ANMF.

Police action against MPs

The Traffic Police has begun forcible reclaiming of government vehicles under illegal possession of several former senior officials or functionaries of the government. Most of the personalities in possession of government vehicles are former senior officers of the government and even former ministers who received the vehicles during their days at the helm of affairs but did not care to return the vehicles even after completing their tenures.

In order to repossess the vehicles, the traffic police is adopting the policy of unboarding the people in the government vehicles as and when they are traced in the city. The police is not shying away even from towing the vehicles from the residences of those possessing them. The traffic police has also repossessed three vehicles from lawmaker Prem Bahadur Singh and one each from MPs Shanti Shumsher Rana and Ram Krishna Acharya. The Valley Traffic Police Office has repossessed a total of 20 four wheelers and 2 motorbikes.

Harassment to South Asians

Though the numbers are still small, more and more South Asian nationals these days are complaining of harassment at the hands of TIA immigration officials while leaving Kathmandu airport.

The complaints mostly come from Sri Lankans, Pakistanis and even some Indians and Bangladeshis.

An editor of a Nepali news magazine returning from a visit to Europe recently was strip-searched at the airport by officials ostensibly looking for hidden dollars.

Nepali labourers who work abroad frequently complain of the demand for bribes by immigration and customs officials while entering Kathmandu.

Sources say, the reason for most of the complaints from South Asians is because of heightened security measures at TIA at the behest of foreign governments. Immigration and security officials are reportedly asked to keep a wary eye on citizens of certain South Asian countries who enter or depart Kathmandu, they say.

Asked about these complaints, immigration and Home Ministry officials deny that their officers harass travellers knowingly.

Non-Resident Nepalis special request

Mr .Dibya Ratna Hada, chairperson of Nepal-America Friendship Society, a Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs), who’ve been demanding a special provision to stay in Nepal after their retirement, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

The memo states: Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis are living in America, Europe and other countries. They desire to come back to Nepal after retirement but due to certain clauses in the law they cannot reside in Nepal.

According to Nepali law, a Nepali with other citizenship is like any other tourist and will have to come to Nepal on visa. They can extend their stay like any other tourist but do not enjoy special facilities. However, they can reattain their Nepali citizenship if they give up their acquired citizenship.

Hada claims that allowing NRNs to settle here will be beneficial to both the country and NRNs. "Since most of the NRNs are highly qualified professionals like doctors, economists and sociologists the country would benefit from their expertise if they were allowed to work here,"

The memorandum states, adding "The country will also benefit in terms of foreign currency as the NRNs will bring along their earnings to invest in Nepal."