FURTHER DETAILS OF KRISHNA PRASAD BHATTARI’S CONDITION

Kathmandu, 17 Feb.: Krishna Prasad Bhattarai is not out of danger.
‘He’s not out of danger,” Dr. Bharat Raut, who is treating the former prime minister said Thursday.
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KHANAL’S TENURE FOR THREE MONTHS

Kathmandu, 17 Feb.: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khana’s tenure is for three months only, Maoist Chairman Prachanda said Wednesday in Pokhara.
He sad this while addressing party activists at a party political training camp.
A seven-point secret and seven-point agreement between Khanal and Prachanda agreed to rotate the premiership
The agreement has been challenged by Khanal’s UML.
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DDA ALL SET TO BE IMPLEMENTED

Kathmandu, 17 Feb.: For Least Developed Countries (LDCs) like Nepal, good news is just around the corner, The Kathmandu Post reports. .

The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which includes LDCs’ agendas, is all set to be implemented after 11 years. A senior WTO official on Wednesday said all contentious issues of DDA would be resolved by December.

The implementation of DDA is crucial for LDCs like Nepal. Once it is implemented, Nepal will get additional facilities for exports and international trade. It will also create foreign employment opportunities for Nepalis.

Visiting WTO Deputy Director Harsha Vardhana Singh said the WTO Ministerial Conference scheduled to be held in December 2011, would resolve all the contentious agendas. “By the end of July, issues related to Agreement on Agriculture and Non Agriculture Market Access will be resolved,” said Singh. “Then, issues on service and other sectors will be addressed.”

Singh said most of the issues in the Doha Round have been resolved and remaining issues were also being addressed in an intensive manner, considering the year 2011 as a crucial window of opportunity for completing the negotiations.

Following a violent protest in a ministerial meeting in Seattle, US, 1999, accusing the WTO of being developed as rich countries’ club, initiatives were taken to include LDCs’ agendas.

The DDA was formulated incorporating agendas of LDCs in 2001 in the fourth ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar. However, its implementation had hit the roadblock after developed and developing nations failed to reach an agreement. “Many issues have already been resolved and the ministerial conference in December will bring good news,” said Singh.

For LDCs like Nepal, DDA implementation would give much needed boost for trade expansion. As support to LDCs being the main agenda of DDA, Nepal would get additional assistance for trade expansion.

Nepali readymade garment sector would be the main beneficiary after the DDA implementation. Nepali readymade garment products will get duty free-market access to the United States, one of the major markets of the Nepali garment sector. As per the DDA, no duty will be levied on at least 97 percent of LDCs’ products exported to developed countries. “Now, chances are high that Nepal will export readymade garment products to the US under zero tariff from the next year,” said Singh.

For the last decade, Nepal has been seeking zero tariff for its readymade garment products in the US market. A series of bilateral and multilateral talks were held in this regard, but to no avail.

Nepal has been seeking duty-free facility for readymade garments in the US, especially after the elimination of quota system in global apparel trade in 2005. As the largest apparel market in the world, the US used to absorb 80 percent of Nepal’s garment exports.

After the US extended the duty-free facility to readymade garments manufactured in Caribbean nations and Sub-Sahara Africa in 2002, Nepal’s readymade garment export to the US has continuously declined.

As other LDCs are also facing the same problem, the issue of zero tariff was included in the DDA. The result of the Doha Round, according to Singh, would create additional market for both agriculture and industry sectors. As far as agriculture is concerned, Nepal can benefit from huge tariff reduction for tropical products.

The implementation of the agenda would also pave the way for sending Nepali workers to developed countries. Until now, the number of Nepalis going to developed countries for foreign employment is negligible compared that in gulf countries. “Although the number of workers to be hired will depend on demand, implementation of service related agreement would help largely,” said Singh.

Nepal had become WTO member in 2004. Singh, who is the first WTO deputy director to visit Nepal, said as a board member of Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), Nepal can get huge benefits. Singh, however, suggested that Nepal enhance its competitiveness in the international market.
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GOVT. MULLS HANDOVER OF HEALTH CENTERS

Kathmandu, 17 Feb.: The government has started a pilot project under the assistance of donor agencies in five districts in its bid to handover ownership of health centers run by the government to the local bodies, Arjun Poudel writes in Republica.

The project comes 12 years after an earlier effort to handover 1,433 public health centers, health posts and sub-health posts to the local bodies failed to materialize.

The progress report of the new project that will last till 2012-end will be submitted to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP). If the pilot project succeeds, it will be expanded to other districts as well.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID), GTZ, and, World Health Organization (WHO) have given financial assistance to the MoPH to conduct the program.

The project is currently being conducted in Doti, Kailali, Dang, Surkhet and Rasuwa districts.

In 1999, the government had handed over health centers to the local bodies, allowing the latter to formulate plans and implement them. But the ambitious program failed. “The previous handover program was done without much preparation, so the people did not feel ownership,” said Achyut Lamichhane, administrator of the Primary Health Revitalization Division (PHRD) of MoPH.

According to Lamichhane, the PHRD is now working to ensure active participation of the local people in planning and implementation of health programs.
“The handover program of health centers did not succeed, so we started the pilot project in five districts,” he added.

Under the devolution project, local bodies will recruit health workers, and programs will also be decided upon and implemented with the consent of the people as per the local needs.

“The government will provide financial assistance to the programs chosen by the people,” Lamichhane said. The assistance from the government and donor agencies will reach the health centers through the district development committees.

Apart from the pilot project, the government will also continue to run regular health programs.

“Regular health programs will continue. The local body will get additional aid for the public program,” Lamichhane said. The PHRD assume that a Village Development Committee (VDC) will use 200,000 to 300,000 a year under the devolution project. “But if they require more funds, we will provide it. The assistance will be given them without any preconditions,” he added.

The devolution program is aimed at helping the government formulate health policy.



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MAOIST ESTABLISHMENT GAGS BHATTARAI AGAIN
Kathmandu, 17 Feb.: Unified CPN-Maoist Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai was once again barred from presenting ‘his views’ before the party rank and file today, second time in the last one month, Rishi Baral reports from Pokhara in The Himalayan Times..

Earlier, the party establishment had spiked Bhattarai’s guns, not letting him speak his mind in Kathmandu during the party’s training session on January 18. Following the incident, Bhattarai had even boycotted the session.

Bhattarai today was speaking in Pokhara at a training programme for the state committee members. Though he was given time to speak, he was not allowed to air his line of the thought.

According to a participant, the party establishment barred Bhattarai from speaking his mind, saying he could not present different views at a training programme like this. “The party establishment forced Bhattarai to speak party Chairman Puhspa Kamal Dahal’s line to show unity within the party,” said another participant.

During today’s training session, Bhattarai supported Dahal’s line that party would go for a revolt if peace and constitution-drafting processes could not be completed by May 28. Bhattarai, who was against the seven-point deal between the Maoists and UML, has been ploughing a lone furrow, taking exception to quite a few of party decisions in recent past. Today also, Bhattarai was of the opinion that his party alone would not be able to enforce a revolt and that consensus with other parties was a must to accomplish the task of peace and the constitution, but had to stop short of elaborating following the party establishment’s decree not to speak his line further.

However, Maoist Chairman Dahal today said his party would go to any length to draft the constitution on time by taking other parties into confidence. But, if Nepali Congress and Madhav Kumar Nepal and Oli faction of UML don’t let that happen, Maoists will go for a revolt, said Dahal. According to another participant, Dahal spoke giving more priority to Ram Bahadur Thapa than Bhattarai.

Another Vice Chairman of the party, Mohan Baidhya, however, stood by Dahal echoing the chairman’s line.
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