MJFN REPUBLICAN DRAWING UP STRATEGY

MJFN REPUBLICAN MEET

Kathmandu, 24 May: MJFN Republican chaired by Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta that defected from MJFN Monday with 13 lawmakers is huddled in a meeting at a resort in neighbouring Karve to chalk out future strategy.
The party split at a crucial time when government has registered an amendment bill at the parliament secretariat to amend the constitution to extend for another one year after28 May the tenure of the constituent assembly.
Government has sought the extension as the second deadline to promulgate a constitution won’t be met.
Main opposition NC and its allies Monday thwarted on the floor of the legislature a government attempt to present the bill in parliament for discussion and approval.
Opposition parties said they’ll again Tuesday obstruct government attempt to present the bill in parliament.
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GOVT. ANNOUNCING NEW WAGE NOTICE TUESDAY

Kathmandu, 24 May: Government is formally announcing a new wage structure Tuesday, Secretary of minimum wage determination committee Nabin Pokhrel said.
Government has endorsed Rs 6,200 as minimum salary giving legitimacy to a 16 April agreement between three trade unions and employers.
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NEPAL-BHUTAN TRADE TALKS

Kathmandu, 24 May: Second round of joint secretary-level Nepal ,Bhutan trade talks begins in Thimpu Tuesday.
Nepali delegation is led by Joint Secretary Toya Narayan Geywali.at ministry of commerce and supplies.
A trade agreement is being after conclusion of the talks.
First round talks were held in Kathmandu March 2010.
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LOBBYING AGAINST ANTI-TOBACCO BILL INTENSIFIES





Kathmandu, 24 May: Manufacturers of tobacco products have intensified their lobbying against the recently endorsed Tobacco Control Regulatory Act, Gopal Sapkota writes in The Rising Nepal. .
The legislature parliament had on April 11 passed the anti-tobacco bill making it compulsory for the companies that produce tobacco items to cover 75 per cent of the packet containing tobacco products with pictorial message of health hazards due to tobacco.
The tobacco companies have not only submitted a memorandum to the government but also incited farmers saying that the endorsed bill will rob them of their income.
The activists are now worried that it would take years for the law to get enacted owing to the political influence of the tobacco companies. The anti tobacco bill had been delayed for six years in parliament.
Badri Bahadur Khadka, director of National Health Education -Information and Communications Centre (NHEICC), said Surya Tobacco submitted an application to the Health Minister demanding amendment to every article of the bill saying that it was not practical.
Surya Tobacco had submitted an application for not passing the bill from parliament earlier as well.
Some groups from grocery association and retailer business entrepreneurs have submitted a memorandum to the chambers of commerce saying millions of people affiliated with this business would be robbed of their income.
Tobacco companies on the other side are lobbying with the government showing the amount of tax it collected from the companies.
Shanta Lal Mulmi, president of Resource Centre for Primary Health Care (RESPHEC), dismissed said, according to international law, the government should assure an alternative farming to farmers and should subsidise them.
However, Mulmi further said that as many of the laws made in the past have not yet been enacted, for instance, the Beijing 15, there was strong suspicion that the anti tobacco law will get enforced. He, however, stressed that if the government took the initiation almost all social activists would play a role as a stakeholder for implementing it.
Mulmi said that the RECPHEC had already formed a Health Right and Tobacco Control Network in 52 districts which would be supportive to the government to implement the law.
Similarly, Youth Watch Group also has been formed in every district, he said.
The government collects tax worth about four billion rupees from tobacco companies, however, the investment on tobacco related diseases was more than this, Khadka said.
The proposed bill had a provision that any tobacco product, such as cigarettes, should carry the statutory message and pictures--tobacco is injurious to health- covering 75 per cent of the whole packet containing the products.
According to the Tobacco Control Regulatory Act, tobacco companies should mention their registration label and trade mark sign, producer’s name, address and level of nicotine and other harmful elements in the pockets and wrappers.
It also prohibits the retailing and use of tobacco products within 100 meters from public places. And the companies have objected this provision too.
Medics said that tobacco was a silent killer. It is estimated that consumption of tobacco claims around 67 lives of Nepalese people every day.
Around 16,000 Nepalese and a total of 5 million people die every year due to the consumption of tobacco products.
The present statistics estimate that around 10 million people will die of tobacco-related illnesses by 2030.
In view of this, the international convention, the FCTC, was passed by World Health Assembly on 18 February, 2003. Nepal signed FCTC on 3 December, 2003.

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ARMED GROUPS INFLITRATING OFFICES

Kathmandu, 24 May:: In Banke, underground outfits are pressuring private and government offices to give jobs to their cadres. Once they get jobs, the cadres work as extortion agents of the outfits, Republica reports from Nepalgun.

The outfits issue threats whenever there is fresh intake at Nepalgunj Medical College, Nepalgunj Municipality and various public schools. These organizations and institutions are thereby forced to take in cadres of the outfits.
"I got my job following a phone call from Bhagat Singh," admitted Manoj Sharma of Piprahawa-2, who helps collect ´donation´ for the group. For the past eight months, Sharma worked as supervisor at Nepalgunj Medical College, thanks to the phone call from the chief of Tarai Janatantrik Madhes Mukti Morcha.

According to police, 35-year-old Sharma is found to have been using citizenship cards and photos of college staff and others to get SIM cards that he supplies to the outfit. The SIM cards are used for extortion and issuing threats, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Binod Ghimire.

Sharma was arrested during a special operation of police nine days ago. He has admitted to the police that he is acquainted with Singh. According to the police, Singh is hiding in India, just across the border.

Another man who got a job following Singh´s phone call is Rajendra Singh. Rajendra got a job of fireman at Nepalgunj Municipality, according to police. Rajendra has also helped the underground outfit in collecting ´donation´, police said.

"We found that jobs are being given just based on threats," said DSP Ghimire. He added that those who get jobs collect phone numbers of businessmen in Nepalgunj and give the numbers to Singh.

Meraj Ahmed, district in-charge of the Morcha, who is in the district prison for the murder of two school kids, had confessed to police that he used to exert pressure for transfer of teachers. Ahmed said during court trial that he pressured the District Education Office to transfer Sanjaya Dwivedi, then principal of Rastriya Primary School.

Following a dispute between Dwivedi and Ram Suresh Verma, chairman of the school management committee, Dwivedi´s only son Kapil and Liladhar Bhatta were abducted and murdered.

An officer at the District Education Office said, "Underground groups make phone calls to secure teachers´ relief quotas and regular quotas for their people. They say they will kill us if their people do not get the jobs."

A police officer involved in investigations said those who do not give jobs have to part with a big sum of money.
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MIGRANT WORKER DEPARTURES UP 17 PERCENT
Kathmandu, 24 May: The number of outbound Nepali workers increased 17.40 percent during the first 10 months (mid-July to mid-May) with a rise in demand from major labour destinations. Qatar, Malaysia, Saudi Arab and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) absorbed more migrant labour from Nepal compared to the same period last year, The Kathmandu Post reports.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 269,540 Nepali workers including 7,087 women workers went abroad during the review period, up from 229,582 during the same period previously. Out of the total departures, 198,041 left through Nepali outsourcing agencies while 71,499 left through their personal contacts.

The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies said that the growth was normal because during the same period last year many major labour destinations were just recovering from the global recession. “We were expecting an increase of 25-30 percent with improved demand from major destinations like Qatar and Malaysia,” said Kumud Khanal, general secretary of the association.

Qatar increased hiring to 74,282 persons from 47,675 during the first 10 months last year with infrastructure development works for the 2022 Soccer World Cup picking up.

Khanal said that they were being asked daily for a huge number of workers particularly from Qatar, however, a shortage of passports had made it difficult to fulfil demand. “Barely 300-400 passports are issued daily to potential migrant workers while the requirement stands at more than 1,000 passports,” he added.

During the review period, Malaysia, the largest labour market for Nepali workers, took in 87,829 persons with increased economic activities after the global financial crisis last year. It had offered employment to 82,927 individuals last year. Likewise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE absorbed 52,626 and 33,145 workers respectively against 50,085 and 28,356 in the same period last year.

A monthly breakdown shows that departures declined to 29,271 during the period mid-April to mid-May from 29,606 during the previous one-month period. Qatar took in 8,917 individuals to become the largest employer during the period. Malaysia and Saudi Arabia took in 7,459 and 5,720 workers respectively. Similarly, the UAE hired 4,036 workers from Nepal.
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MISSING STAFFERS OF UPPER KARNALI PROJECT iN TOUCH
Kathmandu, 24 May: All five staffers of the Paltada-based Upper Karnali Hydropower Project, who were inside the buildings during yesterday’s [Sunday’s] arson, have come into contact, The Himalayan Times reports from Dailekh/Surkhet.
According to locals, an unidentified gang had torched the buildings after sprinkling diesel stored in the project office. Twelve cupboards, three refrigerators, seven computers, a generator and Rs 200,000 were gutted along with the buildings in the arson, police said. According to rough estimates, the arson has caused losses worth Rs 10 million.

GMR Energy Pvt Ltd had bagged the contract to construct the 900-MW project through open bidding on January 24, 2008. It has pledged to provide 12 per cent of the energy generated to the government for free. In the aftermath of the arson, the government has stepped up security in and around the area. A temporary police post has been set up on the site under the command of a sub-inspector.

GMR staff based at the project site have returned to the company’s Surkhet-based contact office. Pradip Nepal, the company’s engineer based in Surkhet, said the staffers will decide whether or not to return to work only after assessing the situation.

Thir Bahadur Karki, district in-charge of the UCPN-Maoist, vowed to take action if party cadres are found to be involved in arson. Nepali Congress Dailekh President Krishna Bahadur BC condemned the incident and expressed fears that such activities can affect the whole project.
Meanwhile, a day after a group torched buildings of the Paltanda-based Upper Karnali Hydropower Project in Dailekh, the Ministry of Energy condemned the recent attacks on hydropower projects that have been operating legally.

In a press statement, the ministry noted that Baramchi and Handikhola hydel projects in Sindhupalchowk and the Charnawati power project in Dolakha had also witnessed vandalism apart from the Upper Karnali project. “The attack on power projects will discourage foreign investors and defame us internationally,” the ministry said, adding that it is ready to provide security.
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