Nepali Congress (Democratic) president and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was barred from meeting the central leaders detained at the security custody in Duwakot, Bhaktapur, on Wednesday.
Deuba went to the Armed Police Force (APF) barrack in Duwakot in the afternoon to meet detained central leaders but was stopped by the security officials, a press statement issued by the NC (D) said.
The party also condemned the act of authorities barring Deuba from meeting the detained party leaders.
NC (D) acting president Gopalman Shrestha and central leaders Pradeep Giri, Prakash Saran Mahat and Bimalendra Nidhi have been detained at APF barrack in Duwakot since the last few weeks.
Dharan FC played a sensational game mixing solid ingredients of offence, defense and patience to beat Mahendra Police Club (MPC) 1-0 to enter the finals of the 8th Buddha Subba Gold Cup Football Tournament at Dharan today.
Rishi Rai struck an early goal to beat MPC. BBC’s Shekhar Limbu pace beat right half back Deepak Poudel from the right flank, whose cross left MPC goalie Mukunda Thapa completely stranded allowing Rishi Rai to flick the ball straight into the net.
The story was bitter for MPC when Kunjan Shrestha’s goal was disallowed by asst. referee Amber Bahadur Pokhrel. Arjun Rijal then almost got an equalizing goal but his directed shot was unnecessarily touched by Kunjan Shrestha. Dharan FC then pressed to double its lead and were also on the target but Shekhar Limbu unfortunately hit the right pole in the 21st minute.
Rishi Rai could have put his team up 2-0, but he couldn’t net the ball from the six-yard box in the 28th minute after skipper Milan Shrestha, a former international player, set him a pass after dribbling past as many as two defenders in the box. MPC could have equalized in the 30th minutes, but RCT man Pradeep Acharya cleared the ball from the goal line off Ramesh Rai’s shot.
After the lemon break, Dharan FC opted to play a defensive game sending Sachin Rai in the place of Suman Shrestha but couldn’t hold the game as instructed by coach Suraj Khaling. Dharan FC’s defense line and goalie Dilip Chhetri was kept busy.
MPC almost leveled in the 56th minute but Kunjan Shrestha’s low shot was brilliantly saved by Pradeep Acharya from the goal line. After that, MPC continued to attack but were bereft of goals. In the 58th minute, skipper Ananta Thapa guided the ball from the edge of the box dribbling past two defenders but got sandwiched between Pradeep Acharya and Sagar Ghimire that caused a melee for cops who even appealed for a penalty. Nonetheless, referee Mudhu Sudan Khanal denied the appeal.
A minute later, lady luck favoured Dharan FC when Arjun Rijal’s tricky shot was brilliantly saved by Dilip Chhetri before Ananta Thapa’s diving header hit the inner bar instead of kissing the net. The last five minutes was thrilling for both teams as MPC attacked relentlessly while Dharan FC were busy defending. Parbat Pandey was unlucky when his curling free-kick shot in the 75th minute was denied by Dilip Chhetri. Ananta Thapa also triggered the gun but his shot was again brilliantly saved by Chhetri diving to the right.
“We are against the referee’s decision,” MPC coach Yogambar Suwal said. “We couldn’t utilize the chances and also suffered from the referee’s biasness,” he claimed. However, former national player and Dharan FC coach Suraj Khaling was satisfied with his boy’s performance. “I am happy with results and hopefully, we can win the finals also,” he added.
Prdeep Acharya was declared Man of the Match and received a trophy with 1,000 cash from DIG Ashok Shrestha.
On Thursday, The Aaha Gold Cup winner African United Club will meet Knight Chess Club in the other semifinals.
By Kamala Sarup
International Women’s Day (March 8) is an occasion for women from all ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political arena to forget their differences and join hands for common cause.
Nepali women are confronting poverty, violence, racism and sexism since long. Due to various constraints women in general and rural women in particular have not been able to build their capacities. The lives of women farmers in remote villages typify the extent of poverty that Nepalis are bound to face. They are struggling for survival. Their voice is not recognized. They are still inadequately represented in political, economic, and social structures of the nation. This is because income distribution is very unequal as a result of weak policy. Economic empowerment of women farmers is critical if Nepal is to meet increasing demand for food grains.
Prosperous women farmers mean more employment. So women farmers must have a right to be involved in all economic processes at all levels of decision-making. When women lack title to land or housing they have to face problems like homelessness, poverty and violence. Throughout the world women farmers play a vital role in supporting their families.
Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey meeting visiting US Principal Deputy Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Donald Camp at Sital Niwas, Thursday afternoon, Mar 09 06. nepalnews.com/rh
According to FAO estimates, women produce more than 50 percent of the food grown worldwide. This includes up to 80 percent of food produced by women in African countries, 60 percent in Asia and between 30 and 40 percent in South America. But still women are getting poorer. The percentage of women below the poverty line has increased by 50 percent since the 1970s, while the comparable figure for men increased only 30 percent.
A recent World Bank study found that if women received the same education as men, farm yields could rise by as much as 22 percent. But women farmers have access to only five percent of all agricultural extension services worldwide. “Because of this gender bias, policy-makers have very little data or analytical tools to measure the true social and economic value of women’s farm labour,” said Marie Randriamamonjy, Chief of FAO’s Women in Development Service. “As a result, rural women are ignored when national agricultural policies are designed. One of the reasons for the decline in women’s access to resources is that both land redistribution and subsidized agricultural inputs are in the hands of men who see women as dependents rather than individuals,” she added.
As land is the primary source of income and employment in Nepal, Women farmers need to have access to and control over land. The other problem that has been existing for decades is the irrigation canal systems. There is practically zero maintenance of such canals. On the other hand a few hand pumps are the only source of water for majority of women in the southern plains.
Poverty is closely associated with the lack of opportunities or access to facilities that improves knowledge and skills. It is very difficult for women farmers to have access resources such as land, credit, agricultural inputs, technology and other services. Lack of easy access to rural financing, poor delivery system of modern agricultural technologies, poor quality of agriculture inputs mainly fertilizer and lack of effective institution to facilitate agricultural marketing are some of the major causes for the low competitiveness of women farmers. On the other hand inadequate rural roads and insufficient electrification are other bottlenecks that have resulted in the increase in the cost of production of the Asian agro-products.
If Nepal increases women farmers’ participation in market management genuinely poor women farmers would be able to sell their goods more effectively. Policy makers need new tools to help diagnose gender issues in irrigation schemes and design appropriate interventions. Trying to ensure all women participating in farming get equal access to irrigation water, without regard to the type or level of participation, is unrealistic and in the end fails to reach even those women whose livelihoods depend on having equal access.
Better regulatory systems, underpinned by effective information and education on crop protection methods, are essential. Women farmers need more aid. Women’s involvement in growing cash crops may be one of the effective ways to increase their income. The payment for cash crops is immediate as vegetables sell at a premium.
However, not all women farmers have the land or the capacity to shift to cash crops as it requires solid investment initially. Women’s access to cash crops also help relieve women’s cash constraints.
The on-going internal war in Nepal has caused major economic disruption. Women farmers have suffered a lot in terms of loss of means of production, household assets and other investments. Peace is the first requisite to
improve the livelihood of women and their families in rural Nepal. A healthy and enterprising women is not only an asset for her family, she is also a leading light for her society and the entire country.
(Currently in Kathmandu, Sarup writes on contemporary issues. Please send your comments/suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected])
(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])
By Prof. Surya P. Subedi
Nepal is in a situation of legal and constitutional anarchy today. The King has ruled by decree by using a short article (Article 127) in the constitution which basically provides a way out for a problem of an ad-hoc and technical nature. Its purpose is to remove such difficulties in order to make the system envisaged under the constitution function well rather than enable the King to undermine the spirit of the fundamental law of the land. This article has been used, or rather abused, to issue decrees randomly governing a range of matters including those designed to curtail press freedom and civil liberties. Therefore, an example of a system of government which is making a mockery of democracy and the rule of law can be seen in Nepal under the direct rule of the King today. The King has been reported to have said that `The foreigners will keep saying what they would have to say, but I will keep doing what I have to do’. Well, it would have been good if he had been able to do what the country expected him to do. But even on that count he has failed miserably. He has neither been able to enhance the long term national interest of the country nor the future of the monarchy itself. He has failed to demonstrate any tact, vision and wisdom needed to rule the country in the 21st century and has surrounded himself by the hardliners of the bygonePanchayat era who seem to be morally defeated and intellectually bankrupt.
Nepal embarked on the road to democracy in 1990 and adopted the present constitution, which is, by and large, a democratic one, but it left two things intact: the monarchy and the control of the army by the King. Therefore, it was not, strictly speaking, a constitutional monarchy comparable to the one in the UK or in some other European and Asian countries. Many people have said that the constitutional monarchy envisaged under the constitution was some sort of 70-80 percent constitutional monarchy, the rest being a traditional monarchy.
The constituent assembly may very well open up a Pandora’s Box in the country and create even ethnic and religious tensions of protracted nature in such a precariously balanced diverse society.
However, in a situation like that it would have been possible gradually to establish a truly constitutional monarchy if parliament was able to assert more powers. But in Nepal during the 1990s parliament was the weakest link in the governance of the country. Compared to the other branches of the state, parliament could not assert its powers. Even when the constitution provided that a National Defence Council headed by the Prime Minister could control the army or adapt laws and regulations to govern the army, the Defence Council was, by and large, ineffective. It could not do anything to control the army or to bring the army under parliamentary control. That is why we are in this situation today.
What then is the way forward for the country? The seven-party alliance has done something of quite far reaching significance by persuading the Maoists to accept plurality and the multiparty system of government. That is the significance of the 12-point agreement. The interviews given to the various media by Prachanda, the Maoist leader, in the recent past show some statesmanship and political maturity on his part. He is coming around to accepting that it is not a winnable war they are fighting and they too would be prepared for political accommodation.
There are five different options that different sections of the population of Nepal prefer as a way out of the present political problem in Nepal. The first is an outright revolution to overthrow the monarchy and to tame the feudal class. The power in Nepal is controlled, especially after 1st February 2005, by the feudal class which is backward in its thinking and seems still to live in a 18th and 19th century mindset. It is this backward class that is keeping the country underdeveloped for so long and it is this class that is resisting modernization and democracy in Nepal. There is a significant size of the population, especially the young, who would not compromise on anything less than an outright overthrow of the monarchy. The hardcore of the enlightened young population, especially students and people below 30-35 years of age, see the monarchy as an obstacle to nation building. But the country does not seem ready for an outright revolution and this option may mean much blood-shedding with uncertain outcomes.
Option number two is to revive the old parliament. Now nearly six to seven years have gone past since the last parliamentary elections were held and one of the main political parties within the country, Nepali Congress, is still taking the position, at least in public, that the revival of the old parliament would pave the way out of the political crisis in the country. This option may be a sensible temporary way out but it would not necessarily address the Maoist problem. We have been here before. It will bring back to power those very people who could not resolve the problems of the country when they were in power. The third option championed by the Maoists and supported mainly by another main political party, the UML (United Marxist Leninist), and a large section of the intellectual community in Nepal is holding elections for a constituent assembly to write a new constitution. But if one were to accept the principle of peaceful coexistence of all political forces within the country, and take into account the ground realities in existence today, the constitution that may be written by the constituent assembly may not be very different from the present constitution. This is because people representing all political spectrums, including the monarchy, may get elected and if the majority were to write a constitution in complete disregard for others it would create more problems. The constituent assembly may very well open up a Pandora’s Box in the country and create even ethnic and religious tensions of protracted nature in such a precariously balanced diverse society.
The fourth option that the Maoists and some left-leaning intellectuals have talked about is forming some sort of a parallel government, which would unite the Maoists and the seven-political parties to challenge the King head on. It is an interesting and attractive idea to challenge the autocratic regime through legal and peaceful means. But it too is fraught with its own legal and political problems and it may further compound the problems of the country. Under international law, it would be difficult to recognize a parallel government which does not exercise a meaningful and effective control of a territory within the country and that is not the situation in Nepal at present. The Maoists are basically employing the tactics of `hit and run’ to create terror; they do not exercise any meaningful control of any sizeable part of the country. Those who support the idea of a parallel government hope that if the international community believes that what the King has been doing is unconstitutional and anti-democratic then the international community will come round to supporting this parallel government. But it is difficult to see how the U.S. and U.K. governments would recognize such a parallel government backed or led by the Maoists in Nepal under the current situation.
The fifth option, which I personally have advanced, is amending the present constitution in order to complete the unfinished job of the people’s movement of 1990. In other words, the amendments should be made to accept the notion of parliamentary sovereignty so that the army could be brought under parliamentary control and parliament would have the power to abolish the monarchy by, say, two/thirds or 75 percent majority in both houses of parliament.
In order to implement the fifth option, the country has to go to general elections but there are four preconditions that have to be met prior to holding general election: Number one would be the formation of an all-party caretaker government, if possible. If not, then a caretaker government headed by a neutral figure, perhaps from the legal or judicial sector, who can command respect within the country. That is what happened in Bangladesh when the country was going through a crisis some years ago. A senior figure from the judiciary was appointed as the head of the caretaker government to hold free and fair elections. Number two would be the withdrawal or cancellation of all the ordinances issued by the King since 1st February 2005 which curtail press freedom and other civil liberties.
The third precondition would be to invite the United Nations to monitor and perhaps supervise the elections. The UN is more acceptable and more neutral and has the credibility and perhaps the experience in managing crisis of a similar nature elsewhere. The fourth precondition is some sort of a political compromise or understanding among all political forces within the country that the newly elected parliament would have all the powers of a modern parliament in a democracy, including the powers to abolish the monarchy itself by, say, a two/thirds or 75 percent majority in both houses of parliament and to bring the army under civilian or parliamentary control. Such a new parliament should be given powers to revisit the constitution and make any amendment necessary to implement the notion of parliamentary sovereignty. Such a parliament would have the
mandate to address the issues that the country is facing today. This option would give some sort of space to the King and the Maoists if we are interested in seeing a peaceful and political resolution of the current problems in Nepal.
To conclude, some sort of a political way out is possible under the present constitutional structure of the country
and that is what I have argued in various writings published in the recent past.
Dr. Subedi is the professor of international law at the University of Leeds, UK. This is the excerpts of the presentation by him at the Britain- Nepal Academic Council’s public forum on Nepal: ‘Royal Rule, One Year On,’ which was held recently at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Shorter version of his presentation also appeared in The Kathmandu Post daily this week. –Ed.
(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])
A Nepalnews investigation reveals that there are dim prospects of the state-owned monopoly, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), being able to raise a short-term loan of whopping Rs two billion from commercial banks within the next four days.
In a public notice published in the state-owned Gorkhapatra daily on Wednesday, the Corporation called upon the commercial banks to make a bid if they were ready to lend huge funds to it for a period not more than six months.
The notice said the NOC would pay back half of the loan (that is, Rs one billion) within the first three months while the rest of the loan (Rs one billion) would be paid within the next three months. “The commercial banks must submit their proposal with details on what condition and at what rate of interest they would be able to provide loan by 12:00 p. m. Friday,” the notice said.
The NOC had raised the price of petroleum (POL) products only three weeks ago.
Talking to Nepalnews, spokesperson of the NOC, Sushil Bhattarai, said the NOC had a monthly transaction of Rs 2.75 billion while it had dues worth over Rs 3.15 billion to be paid to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) immediately.
This is the second time that the NOC has sought short-term loans from the commercial banks. “There was no overwhelming response in earlier bids,” Bhattarai admitted, adding, “We are paying back our installments to the lenders.”
When contacted by Nepalnews, a senior official with a leading private sector bank in Kathmandu said the bank he was affiliated with was not going to bid to provide loan to the NOC. Requesting anonymity, he said (the bank) did not have confidence that the NOC would be able to repay loan within such a short period.
Similarly, a senior official at the public sector Nepal Bank Limited told us that the bank would consider the matter only if the NOC approached them for loans. He, however, admitted that NBL didn’t have such a large liquidity to provide loans to the NOC.
NOC officials too are well aware about questions related to their creditworthiness. Bhattarai of the NOC tried to brush aside such suspicions saying that the NOC had enough liquidity to pay back the loans it would borrow. “We are a government-owned Corporation. So, banks should not worry about repayment of the loans,” he added.
According to NOC officials, the monthly loss incurred by the Corporation was running at well over Rs 570 million until last month. NOC continues to incur heavy losses despite the government raising price of POL products five times over the last 14 months, officials said.
Earlier, the NOC had demanded a long-term loan of Rs three billion from the Ministry of Finance to pay its dues to the IOC. The government, however, replied that it should try to manage its financial matters on its own. Owing to continuous demand for hike in POL products by the NOC and under pressure from donor agencies including the World Bank and IMF, the government gave the nod to raise the price of petroleum products last month as soon as the municipal polls were over. The donors have advised the government to break the monopoly of the NOC in the import, sales and distribution and involve private sector in the oil business.
From last month, the NOC has allowed the petroleum dealers to fix rates for retail sales from gas stations.
The tradition is such that NOC procures crude oil from the international market and later buys refined oil from the IOC depots near Nepal-India border. The IOC has recently said it will slap 10 percent interest if the NOC failed to make monthly payments in time.
As commercial banks look less than interested to come to the rescue of the loss-making state-owned Corporation, NOC officials are facing have hard times to arrange money to pay back their dues to the IOC.
Analysts say deregulation of the oil sector as well as promoting healthy competition in the petroleum business would go a long way towards easing burden off the consumers as well as the state-owned NOC.
The government is mulling over a policy on the internally-displaced persons (IDP) due to the flaring conflict of the country.
Reports quoted secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, Dibakar Pant, as saying that the council of ministers would approve the policy on IDP in the next cabinet meeting, which could probably take place on Thursday.
He said that the Home Ministry had prepared the draft policy based on the guidelines of United Nations on internal displacement. According to UN guidelines, persons who are forced to leave their home and take refuge in other parts of the country due to conflict or natural calamities are defined as IDPs, who are identified and certified by a committee headed by Chief District Officer of the concerned district.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special representative, Prof Walter Kalin, who visited Nepal last year, had also advised the government to prepare a policy on IDPs.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Central Registry Unit (HRCRU) started its work from Monday with its office in the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers at Singha Durbar.
Spokesperson at the PMO Purushottam Ojha told media persons at a press conference that with the set up of the HRCRU, it would be easier to keep records of all the people kept under detention or preventive detention and others who were set free from detention across the country.
At least nine persons, including two civilians, were killed during the overnight Maoist attack at the district headquarters of eastern district of Ilam on Sunday night.
A press statement issued by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Monday said three security personnel, four Maoists and two civilians were killed during the clashes.
The Maoists had set free all 103 prisoners including 32 of their cadres after attacking the District Prison. Sixteen prisoners have come into contact with the administration so far, the statement said.
According to reports, 75-year-old Harka Bahadur Rai, who was sleeping at his house at Ilam-2, was killed in the crossfire. The Maoists reportedly also shot dead Manoj Koirala of Ilam-9 in his house.
Captain Binod Bantawa of the RNA, police head constable Man Bir Tamang and police constable Fanindra Khawas were killed in the incident, according to reports.
The RNA quoted locals as saying that 31 Maoists were killed during the attack.
The statement further said security forces recovered one SLR, two .303 rifles, socket bombs and other explosives from the incident site.
The RNA said security personnel repulsed the Maoist attack through strong retaliation.
The clashes erupted after hundreds of rebels launched coordinated attacks at the district headquarters of Ilam targeting the District Prison Office, District Administration Office, District Police Office, the army base and other government offices at around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. The fighting lasted till 1:30 a.m. on Monday.
Nepal has requested India to withdraw the four percent additional customs duty being enforced since March 1 on Nepali exports applicable to products on which India extracts excise duty internally.
Reports quoted the an official at the ministry of industry, commerce and supplies as saying that the imposition of the additional duty was against the provision of the Nepal-India trade treaty.
The official said that the government has sent a request letter to the Indian commerce ministry to nullify the new imposition.
The trade treaty between the two countries provides preferential duty free market access to Nepali products to India except three sensitive products and four items with quantitative restrictions.
India has imposed special additional duty on Nepali exports about four years back to control the market of Nepali goods in India. The provision was later withdrawn after negotiation in the prime ministerial level.
The new notification of the Indian government regarding the custom duty states that it has been imposed as it was necessary for public interest, as per the sub section (5) of section 3 of Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
India is the largest market for Nepali products. In recent years, Nepali trade has been dependent on Indian markets and the trade deficit with India has increased greatly over the years.
Maoists have abducted dozens of students from various schools in Ramechhap district, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
A MoD statement Tuesday said the rebels marched students from various school in Hiledevi, Rakathum, Bethan and Majhuwa areas in Ramechhap, to an unknown location on Sunday.
The number of students adducted by the rebels and their whereabouts remain still unknown.
Similarly, the rebels abducted an unarmed policeman from Kapilvastu district on Saturday. The statement said policeman Dan Bahadur Rana, who was on his way to a hospital in Taulihawa for treatment, was taken to an unknown location by a group of Maoists.
Meanwhile, the Maoists torched a four-wheeler of Nepal Telecom at Lalpatta, a bordering area between Udaypur and Saptari district on Sunday, the ministry statement said.
Indian police seized 15 trucks in Mau, India on Friday on charges of illegally exporting coal to Nepal.
“We intercepted the trucks en route to Bhairahawa after we received reliable information of their illegal attempt,” report quoted a source at the police post based in Kotawali, India, as saying.
He said the trucks were carrying documents that showed the coal was being shipped to Damodarji Jaya Ambe Coal Supplier, Sagarji Jaya Ambe Coal Supplier and Deepakji Jaya Ambe Coal Supplier, Bhairahawa. “But, these suppliers did not exist in Bhairahawa,” he said.
With the seizure, eighteen Indian coal clearing agents based in Sunauli have fled fearing arrest on suspicion of involvement in the case.