Kathmandu Jan 5: Nepal today told a Pakistani Embassy junior functionary to leave for home within 72 hours “on account of his involvement in an activity incompatible with his status”.
His Majesty’s Government also sought Pakistan’s “understanding and cooperation on this matter”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
His Majesty’s Government of Nepal today called the Pakistani Ambassador Ms. Fauzia Nasreen to the Foreign Office and informed her of the host government’s decision to declare Asim Saboor, who enjoyed diplomatic status, persona non grata. As per the government’s decision, Saboor should leave Nepal by Saturday afternoon.
The government came to the final conclusion after a 72-hour stalemate asking Pakistan to waive diplomatic immunity for Saboor to start criminal probe under Nepali penal code for illegal dealing in fake currency. Pakistan did not comply. Saboor was caught red-handed in a sting police undercover operation dealing in counterfeit Indian currency notes in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, this week.
Nepal police handed over Saboor to the Pakistan Embassy at 7:25 A.M this morning after lengthy questioning protested by the Pakistani Embassy, a Pakistani Embassy statement said.
Pakistan has recalled Saboor while deciding not to lift the diplomatic immunity as requested by the host government, a Pakistani Embassy press release also said.
The Pakistani Embassy claimed in a press statement today that the arrest of Saboor was “against established diplomatic norms and practices.”
Bharatpur, Jan. 5 : Minister for Information and Communications Purna Bahadur Khadka has said that it is the duty of journalists to dessiminate factual news keeping in mind the situation of the country.
Mr Khakda, who was addressing a face to face programme organised here today by the Nepal Press Union Chitwan, said that during the past four and half years the country has seen political instability, economic deterioration, Maoist terror and loss of life and property.
Speaking of the need for the press to work honestly and extend all possible cooperation in the development of the country, the minister urged journalists to use their pen impartially for the sake of country and people.
He also said journalists should come forward to challenge the so called Maoists who are trying to harm the multi-party democractic system which was won through the great sacrifice and effort of the people.
In answer to a question asked by the journalists, he said if the Maoists want the happiness of the people they should show political honesty and work in accordance with the people’s wishes.
Meanwhile, Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, adressing a gathering of office chiefs here today, said that as government employees are the servants of the people they should consider it their duty to carry out the people’s work impartially and expeditiously.
He said our aim is to bring about the development of the country and the people and this aim will materialise if each and every Nepalese focuses on a single goal.
He said as most of the people live in the countryside and have to come to government offices on business from afar, it is hard for them to return home if their work is not done the same day. That is why it is the prime duty of public servants to expedite their work.
The laws and regulations passed by parliament for the good of the country and people should be adhered to by the employees, he said.
He also urged the employees to evaluate their own work and fulfill their duties without prejudice. On the occasion cdo tikaram Aryal presented the problems of the employees.
Lalitpur, Jan. 5: Participants of a one-day workshop organised jointly by two human rights organisations INSEC and Anti-Slavery International (ASI) today concurred that Nepal needed a separate legislation to abolish bonded labour spread throughout Nepal in various forms. They also agreed that lack of a definition of bonded labour which is relevant to Nepal’s situation and a mechanism to authorise as well as claim compensation for bonded labourers are key reasons for the continuation of the system.
INSEC data claim that over 100,000 individuals are affected by Kamaiya system, a debt-bondage system, and some 260,000 are kept under Haliya-Haruwa system in Nepal.
Dr. Kevin Bales of ASI said economic and social globalisation has proved to be the driving force to the dramatic increase in incidents of trafficking in human for slave-like labours in Europe and Asia. “Decentralisation of economy is pushing more people into the system of bonded labour,” he said.
Dr. Bales also said that variations in bonded labour in practice in Nepal are making it more complicated to fight against it. “But all the variations have common feature of control of one person over another, denying of human rights and theft of labour power,” he added. He also emphasised that since system of bonded labour is dynamic, evolving law to abolish the system should be “flexible” and that should support rehabilitation after liberation.
Swami Agnivesh of Bonded Liberation Front in India said that Indian anti-bonded labour act is best of acts, but is weakest in the implementation aspect. “Politicians and business community with vested interest are preventing the act from being enforced, and that can also be the case in other countries as well,” he cautioned. He also claimed that fatalism and resignation to the situation advocated by religions practised in the region are making the fight against bonded labour more difficult. “People’s resignation to their fate is making them helpless from within, which is slowing down the anti-bonded labour campaign,” he said.
He also criticised the new global economic structure. “Globalisation has turned out to be a new kind of god that is transforming smaller and economically disadvantaged nations into bonded states,” he said.
Dr. Shiva Sharma of National Labour Academy said that 30 per cent of agriculture labourers in Nepal work under permanent labour relationship. He also said that excessively long working hours, low wages, engagement of more than one family member to earn a single wage, indebtedness circumventing mobility of labourers and inter-linked labour, land and credit contracts in the long term labour relationships in agriculture push the labourers into bondage situation.
The Constitution of Nepal 1990 and other human and civil rights acts prohibit slavery, serfdom or forced labour in any forms. However, advocate Pawan Ojha said that the existing laws are inadequate and inefficient to control bonded labour in Nepal. Advocating for formation of separate law to abolish bonded labour, Ojha said that the new law should provide appropriate and standard definition of bonded labour that suits local conditions, make arrangements for the waiver of unjustifiable loans taken by bonded labourers and make rehabilitation arrangements for the freed labourers.
Kathmandu, Jan. 5 :President of the Nepali Congress and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that religious thinking and the strength of morality are the only tools to combat corruption which is an unseen force.
Inaugurating a symposium on strategy development against corruption organised by the social justice society, Lamjung here today, he observed that such moral force could materialised through unison between government, political statesmanship and religious institutions.
Corruption has reached a peak as a result of the prevailing trend of attaining office and power by any means whatever and an attitude that everything is allowed in this quest, he said and expressed concern that the norms of democracy as well as the image of the country may suffer in the absence of any control measures.
Expressing the view that commission-taking in itself is not corruption but is a source of corruption, he noted that commissions need to be made transparent through registration and by formulating a legal framework.
Minister of State for Labour Ram Bahadur Gurung noted that the political parties have to take initiative in controlling corruption.
General secretary of the Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala said that corruption leaves no trail and hence those involved cannot be brought to court and emphasised that a political figure has to dare to resign from his post to prove himself clean if questions are raised about his integrity.
Lawmaker Haribhakta Adhikari, from the chair, said that corruption has become deep rooted since there is a general opinion that lawmaker is the greatest who can spent most during election time.
Vice chairman of the society Dikendra Kandel shed light on the objectives of the programme.
Expressing their views at the second session, former speaker and lawmaker Ramchandra Paudel underlined the need for integrity and nationalism in the present context marked by a crisis of mutual confidence and said that political leaders themselves can wipe out corruption by disposing of their duties without fear for their posts.
Presenting a working paper at the symposium, former speaker Daman Nath Dhungana said that a prime minister has a significant role in controlling corruption and this post should be protected from the clutches of corruption which are bolstered in a fragile environment in which he has to seek protection from his own party.
Dr. Bal Gopal Baidhya, presenting a paper on strategy for creating public awareness against corruption and relevant information for it said that financial embezzlement in the government amounts to around Rs. 70 billion per year.
Prof. Kapil Shrestha and vice chairman of Transparency International Ramesh Dhungel commented on the papers.
The symposium held with a view to find ways for curbing corruption and frame suggestions was attended by some 50 persons including lawmakers, representatives from different political parties and intellectuals.
Kathmandu, Jan. 4: The first quarter of the current fiscal year has witnessed widening trade and budgetary deficit, but the exports and imports have increased significantly, Nepal Rastra Bank said today.
The foreign exchange reserve is sufficient to cover merchandise import of about 10 months, an NRB press release stated. The NEPSE share price index has improved compared to last month, it said.
The foreign exchange holding of the banking system recorded a rise due to a surplus in the balance of payment emanating in monetary front, narrow money increased by 6.8 per cent to Rs. 56618.4 million during the review period in contrast to a decline of 2.1 per cent last year. Broad money also recorded a growth of 2.1 per cent to Rs. 156081.4 million as compared to 4.5 per cent growth last year. But, time deposits which increased by 8.1 per cent last year, registered a decline of 0.3 per cent during the review period reflecting the effect of the downward revision of interest rates on time deposits. The share of time deposits in the broad money marginally declined to 65.0 per cent.
Net foreign asset of the banking system which had increased by 1.1 per cent (Rs. 624.1 million) last year, surged up by 1.3 per cent (Rs. 839.8 million) during the review period. At the same time, domestic credit increased only by 2.5 per cent as compared to 2.6 per cent growth in the previous year. Of the total domestic credit, share of credit to the private sector increased slightly to 67.7 per cent, the press release stated.
On the fiscal sector, government expenditure registered a significant growth as compared to that during the last year. Total expenditure increased by 18.2 per cent to Rs. 12881.7 million during the review period as compared to 7.6 per cent growth in the previous year. The rise in such expenditure, according to the press release, is mainly due to a significant rise in development expenditure by 42.1 per cent, freeze expenditure by 52.9 per cent and regular expenditure by 10.2 per cent.
During the review period, revenue collection increased by 8.6 per cent to Rs. 10325.3 million as compared to 15.8 per cent last year. A low growth of revenue collection and decline in foreign cash grant receipts lowered the growth rate of total resource mobilisation to 5.8 per cent as compared to last year’s 20.2 per cent. Low resource mobilisation as compared to total expenditure growth resulted in a budget deficit of Rs. 2517.6 million. During the review period, the government overdrew amounting to Rs. 1132.1 million along with issuing treasury bills worth Rs. 310 million to meet the resource gap created by the declining receipts of foreign cash loan.
On the external sector, both exports and imports registered a growth of 33.5 per cent and 30.4 per cent to Rs. 13798.8 million and Rs. 30919.6 million respectively. Surge in total imports is attributed to higher imports of food-grains, industrial raw materials, medicine and gold.
Due to a higher volume of imports, the merchandise trade deficit rose by 27.9 per cent to Rs. 17120.8 million. The present export, according to the release, can cover about 44.6 per cent of total import value. During the review period, export of readymade garment and woollen carpet increased by 77.8 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively. The export of readymade garments, (Rs. 4036.8 million) occupied the front position by outpacing the export of woollen carpet (3277.8 million). In addition, a remarkable growth in the export of pasmina shawl (Rs. 1150 million) registered itself to the third position during the review period.
On the price front, rate of inflation on point to point basis was recorded at 2.0 per cent during the review period compared to 18.5 per cent last year. The decelerating trend in the prices of food and beverages helped to lower down national price index to a single digit. The price index of food and beverages group increased slightly by 0.7 per cent in the review period as compered to an increase of 26.3 per cent in the previous year. The declining trend in the prices of oil and ghee, vegetable and fruit, as well as sugar products are attributed for the lower growth in the price index of food and beverages. The prices for non-food and services moved up by 4.6 per cent as compared to 4.4 per cent last year. Region-wise, prices in the Hills recorded the highest growth of 3.3 per cent followed by respective growth of 1.9 per cent and 1.6 per cent in Terai and Kathmandu, the release said.
Based on the available statistics for the first two months of this fiscal year, the balance of payment remained favourable by Rs. 543.0 million. In the review period, a noteworthy increase in net services income followed by a marginal increase in net transfer income off set by a significant trade deficit caused a deficit of Rs. 1923.0 million in the current account. However, substantial increase in official capital inflow and miscellaneous capital items net helped balance of payments to record sizeable surplus. Based on the monetary statistics for the first four months of current fiscal year, overall balance of payment recorded a surplus of Rs. 839.0 million.
As a result of continued balance of payments surplus, the foreign exchange holdings of the banking system increased by 16.2 per cent to Rs. 7896.4 million as at mid-November 1999. Of the total reserve, 91.8 per cent accounted for convertible currency and 8.2 per cent non-convertible currency. A sharp increase in the convertible currency reserve is attributed, among others, to the higher growth in export to countries other than India.
Hetauda, Jan. 3: Thirty-five years old Mrs. Kamala Devi Nepali, a resident of Manahari VDC-3 in Makwanpur district has given birth to a child with three legs and two organs of urination.
While the child has two normal legs, a third one is hanging on the dorsal side. The child’s father, Padam Bahadur Nepali said the child urinates with both its urinary organs.
The child, born some three weeks ago, is said to be healthy and family sources say many people are visiting their home to look at the child.
The child weighs about 5 kilogrammes, according to the Nepali couple.
Janakpurdham, Jan. 3 :Minister for Industry Omkar Prasad Shrestha has said that since industries have an important role in strengthening the national economy, serious discussion should be held on the country’s industrial development and plans should be formulated accordingly.
Minister Shrestha was speaking to businessmen here at a discussion programme today.
The kind of thinking and planning that had to go into for the industrial development of the country fifty years ago was not done, he said, adding that the next budget would be formulated after acquiring information on the weak and strong points of the government on evaluation of its performance in the last six months.
He said during the last six months, the government had worked to uphold the dignity and decorum of the parliament and its members, wiped away the impression of the dissolution of parliament from people’s mind, and prepared extensive programmes for the development of the industry, agriculture, road and the infrastructure sector by reining in corruption to some extent.
At the programme, member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Shankar Sharma stressed the development of cottage and small scale industries in the country in order to meet the government’s policy of providing employment to the maximum number of people.
Central secretary of Nepal Incense Stick Manufacturers’ Association, Govind Sirohiya criticised the government’s industrial policy saying the government was still collecting Value Added Tax from industries manufacturing incense sticks although they were not required to under the Industrial Act of 2049 B.S.
He said higher customs charge was levied on the import of raw materials for the incense stick industries while the same was lesser in the case of incense sticks coming in from India.
Janakpur mayor Bajrang Prasad Saha pointed out the need to extend the Janakpur-Jayanagar railway services up to Bardibas and expansion of the Jatahi-Madhubani road to promote industrial development in the Janakpur area.
Chairman of Janakpur Cigarette Factory Limited Ankur Khadka, chief district officer Binod Gyawali and others also expressed their views at the programme presided over by the vice-president of Janakpur Chamber of Commerce and Industries Mr. Pramod Gupta.
Kathmandu, Jan. 3 : On the occasion of the 55th auspicious birthday of His Majesty the King, president of the auspicious birthday main civic organising committee Mr. Lokendra Bahadur Chand distributed clothes to the elderly people at the Pashupati Biddhashram today.
The clothes were made available by the clothes distribution sub-committee of the auspicious birthday organising main civic committee.
On the occasion, Mr. Chand said that it was not only a humanitarian service but also a pious act to assist the elderly people.
At the programme, 180 bed-sheets were distributed to the elderly at the private expenses of Ms Durga Rana.
Office-bearers of the auspicious birthday celebration main civic committee and the sub-committee also expressed their views at the programme.
Kathmandu, Jan. 3 :The Centre of People’s Awareness and Social Studies organised a programme here today to discuss the security situation at Tribhuvan International Airport and the alleged use of Nepalese territory in support of terrorism in the light of the Indian Airlines plane hijacking.
In course of the discussion, politician Sribhadra Sharma accused the Indian media of indulging in propaganda campaign against Nepal and spoke of the need to improve security situation in the airport.
Ex-minister Shailendra Kumar Sharma said although there are ample examples of planes being hijacked from even the countries which have very good security arrangement, the recently hijacking has brought the security arrangement at Nepalese Airport under question. Attention should be paid to this matter, he added.
Politician Kuber Sharma attributed the growing criminal activities to the porous Nepal-India border.
Former SAARC secretary general Yadav Kant Silwal was of the view that weak leadership is also responsible for growing criminal activities. He also stressed the need to take necessary initiatives to redress the possible negative impact of Indian media unleash on Nepal’s tourism sector.
Senior journalist Gokul Pokhrel said the general practice of transferring employees at the airport after every change of government has also affected the airport security situation.
Lalitpur, Jan. 3: His Majesty’s Government has in accordance with the Local Self-Governance Act-2055 B.S. approved the Local Self-Governance Regulations-2056 B.S. and Local Authority (Finance Administration) Regulations-2056 B.S.
According to a statement issued today by the Local Development Ministry, the approved Self-Governance Regulation-2056 B.S. includes provisions for classification of the local body, project formulation and implementation procedure, function, duty and rights of the local authority office-bearers.
Likewise, the regulation also includes a provision regarding the collection of vehicle tax under which the local bodies are authorized to collect such tax only along the roads which has been built by the local body or has been handed over to the local body and the amount collected should be used in renovation works on the particular road. But local bodies are not authorized to collect such tax on highways and sub-highways.
The regulation has, in order to strengthen economic resources of the local body, authorised the local body to collect land tax, entertainment tax, local collection and deposit tax, wealth tax, integrated deposit tax etc.
A clear provision has also been made for the establishment of subject-wise units in the DDCs which have the possibility of being declared a cultural town by His Majesty’s Government and the amount to be received by DDCs from revenue collected by the government.
Likewise, the Local Authority (Economic Administration) Regulation-2056 B.S. also includes a provision for the structures of records in the local body and initiation of a professional documentation system in the municipalities.
The regulations also authorizes the DDC to fix the wages for agriculture and other labourers in the district not less than the minimum rate fixed by the government.
His Majesty’s Government has also expressed confidence that the two regulations would have a positive role in the effective enforcement of the Local Self-Governance Act-2055 B.S.