Sixth round voting for PM later Sunday

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: Sixth round parliamentary vote for prime minister later Sunday is again expected to be inconclusive.
Maoist Chairman Prachanda and NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudey are the opposing candidates.
Altogether 301 votes are need to secure election through simple majority,
Voting is expected to be inconclusive as UML and a four of four Madesh parties are again expected to stay neutral in the vote.
Maoists, the largest party in parliament, can form a government with the support of the front but NC, the second largest party in the legislature, requires the support of both the front and the UML
UML is demanding the formation of a national unity government with two-third majority even though President Ram Baran Yadav’s first call for consensus government failed in the first round forcing the president to call elections through a division in parliament.
Speaker Subash Nemwang has called a meeting of whips of major parties Sunday on future action should the vote be inconclusive again.
Meanwhile, Paudel has called for an investigation into an alleged tape conversation of Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara demanding Rs 500 million from an unidentified Chinese to buy votes for Prachanda.
NC and UML also demanded a probe;
“The government must conduct an investigation and testing of the voices and make the truth public,” a NC statement said.
The cash demand comes after General Secretary of CPN (ML) CP Mainali claim Maoists offered his Rs 50 million to vote for Prachanda, the party said.
“The way the report has been brought out, and if true, shows the extent of moral erosion in Nepali politics and how powerful countries are turning Nepal into a battleground,” UML Spokesman Pradip Geywali said.
But NC was careful not to implicate China.
‘The scandal unmasks the real picture of Maoists who are launching a movement for national self-esteem and castigating others as puppets,” NA added.
Mahara denied the contents of the taped conversation revealed by the press and media television as an attempt to malign him and his party.
Maoist office bearers met ahead of the vote to discuss future party action should Sunday’s vote be inconclusive.
Earlier, Prachanda said the party central committee would decide a new approach.
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Sher BahadurDeuba to announce candidacy

Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: Three-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is to announce his candidacy for president of the NC Sunday to succeed Girija Prasad Koirala.
Deuba is announcing his candidacy one day after Acting President Sushil Koirala said he’ll seek a one-term presidency.
Bhim Bahadur Tamang has already announced his candidacy for the election during the 12th general convention in the capital from 17 to 21 September.
Bimalendra Nidhi is announcing his candidacy for general secretary from the Deuba panel.
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Policeman arrested with drugs

Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: Policeman Upendra Thakur laws arrested overnight in Gyaneshwor with 257 pieces of TD Zesic injections.
Thakur is with police headquarters at Naxal.
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Rain no pain this year
Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: June was slow, but the following months saw good rain, according to weathermen, The Kathmandu Post reports.

Rajendra Shrestha, senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) said though he monsoon was delayed by a week and started weakly in June, most parts of the country have recorded rainfall more than normal till date. The monsoon starts by June and ends by September. “Of the total 15 meteorological stations across the country, most received rainfall more than normal in July and August,” he said.

Apart from brief thundershowers and scanty rainfall in some eastern and central districts, the rest of the country was deprived of rain in June that recorded rainfall 20 percent less than normal. However, in July, the western districts received around 120 to 150 percent rainfall, while most eastern districts witnessed about 110 percent and central districts saw around normal rainfall in the same month.

Meanwhile, most parts of the country saw good rainfall in August including Kathmandu valley that recorded rainfall at 486.3 mm — a jump of 166.7 mm more than normal. The total rainfall recorded in 2009 was 383mm while it was 233 mm in 2008 in the valley.

Bhairahawa received the highest rainfall of 168 percent and Surkhet recorded the lowest rainfall of 73 percent among all meteorological stations across the country.

“Unlike last year, the monsoon rains recorded so far till the end of August are so far satisfactory,” Shrestha said.
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Gulf, a hub of labour exploitation

Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: Gulf countries are fast turning into destinations for women trafficking even though government policy does ‘not encourage’ women to seek jobs there, The Himalayan Times reports.

Women and children are trafficked, especially for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour in countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and UAE. These facts were revealed even as Nepal marked the fourth National Day against Human Trafficking with the theme of ‘Let’s do away with gender-based violence and put an end to human trafficking’ today.

The Department of Foreign Employment says approximately three million Nepalis have migrated to countries other than India for work, both through regular and irregular channels.

According to ‘Trafficking in Persons Report 2010’, many Nepali migrants seek work as domestic help, construction workers, or other low-skilled jobs in gulf countries, Malaysia, Israel, South Korea, and Afghanistan through labour brokers and manpower agencies. They travel willingly, but subsequently face conditions of forced labour such as withholding of passports, restriction on movement, non-payment of wages, threats, deprivation of food and sleep, and physical or sexual abuse.

Achyut Kumar Nepal, information officer at Maiti Nepal, said gulf countries are becoming ‘risky zones’ in terms of

human trafficking. Most women who return from

the Gulf have been diagnosed with mental disorders.

According to ‘ Migration of Nepalese Women to Gulf Countries : Exploitation and Implication on Health’, a report of Maiti Nepal, only 33 per cent women returned healthy from the Gulf. Of the 67 per cent who had medical problems, 57 per cent were diagnosed with some psychological illness or the other, two per cent were pregnant, four per cent had pulmonary tuberculosis, and four per cent had other minor problems. Among the psychologically affected cases, 50 per cent were cases of psychosis like Schizophrenia, ten per cent were manic, 20 per cent had depression, 13 per cent had depression along with psychosis, while seven per cent were anxiety cases.

“Women who arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) come penniless and fully traumatised because they are subjected to physical and mental exploitation,” said Nepal. He further informed that Maiti Nepal had set up a help desk at TIA to monitor women going to gulf countries.

According to recent studies carried out by UNIFEM and Nepal Institute of Development Studies, around 147,000 women are migrant workers among whom 90 per cent are in gulf countries. They are mainly employed as ‘house help’. The report said they

are widely exploited and even sexually harassed. Most Nepali women go to gulf countries through human trafficking rackets because government policy does not encourage women to go there, stated the report.

Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, secretary, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare said the government is working to create awareness at the grassroots. According to data, around 10,000 to 12,000 cases of trafficking in persons are recorded every year in the country. India is still the primary destination for women traffickers, added Shrestha.
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Govt, suspends import of 2.7 million swine flu vaccines

Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has suspended the import and use of over 2.7 million pandernrix vaccines manufactured by a global company for protecting people from influenza A- (H1N1) popularly known as swine flu, Republica reports.
The MoHP decided not to immediately import pandernrix vaccines on the basis of its intra-ministry technical panel’s recommendation. The panel has recommended to the MoHP not to import vaccines following reports of complications.
Swine flu patients have reportedly have developed symptoms of neurolepsy disease after receiving vaccines manufactured by the GlaxoSmith Kline (GSK)—a global pharmaceutical firm—in some European countries.
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SPORTS

ASIAD participation uncertain

Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: Nepal’s participation in the 16th Asian Games appears uncertain as the nation is facing delay in announcement of full budget for the current fiscal year, Republica reports.
Finance Minister Surendra Pandey clarified that Nepal could not participate in the games if the present delay in budget continues.
“If the full-fledged doesn’t come before the Games, the Ministry of Finance can’t release even a single penny for the event. In that situation, Nepal will not participate in the Games,” said Pandey, during a programme organized by Radio Dhading 106MHz in Kathmandu Saturday to mark the fourth year of transmission.
“There would be no meaning of participation when the country is in deep crisis,” Pandey said.
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