MAOIST STANDING COMMITTEE MEET INCONCLUSIVE

MAOIST STANDNG COMMITTEE MEET INCONCLUSIVE UPDATE

Kathmandu, 3 June: A Maoist standing committee meeting inconclusive to review Sunday’s five-point agreement between UCPN (Maoist0, UML and NC was inconclusive Friday, Spokesman Dinanath Sherma said.
The committee meets again Saturday.
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MORE QUAKE DETAILS

Kathmandu, 3 June: The quake rocked Taplejung at 6.40 in the morning Friday.
The area is 250km northeast of the capital.
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REWARD FOR INFORMERS





Kathmandu, 3 June: The office of Nepal Trust Thursday said that it was unveiling its plan to reward anybody who informs about the properties belonging to late king Birendra and his family members, The Rising Nepal reports.
Office secretary of the Trust Binda Hada said that the office was trying to find the properties belonging late king Birendra.
"We are planning to reward anybody who informs us about such properties of the family," she said.
The Trust has already transferred the money deposited by the late king and his family members in various banks, their shares and lands in the name of the government.
According to the Trust, by now, it found 3,258 ropanis of land in Kathmandu, 108 ropanis in Bhaktapur, 68 in Nuwakot, 194 in Dhankuta, 10 in Kavre and 174 ropanis in Kaski belonging to the late king and his slain family members.
Likewise, it recovered about 20 bighas land in Makwanpur, 34 bighas in Surket and 57 bighas in Chitwan districts.
Hada said that 5064 ropnais lands of nine districts belonging to late king and his family came under the Trust.
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ANOTHER MILESTONE IN MEDICAL TREATMENT





Kathmandu, 3 June: - The people who need kidney transplant as well as other organs have good news that Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Lab for HLA, blood cross-match and drug-level established by Aarogya Foundation will come into operation within this week, The Rising Nepal reports.
President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav is inaugurating the lab Friday.
Doctors believe that the lab will be a milestone in the history of transplantation in Nepal.
Until now samples for HLA and cross match level before transplantation had to be sent to India and usually it took two weeks. One would have to pay around Rs. 55,000.
In Nepal’s HLA Lab, all these services will be possible within 24 hours and cheaper than India, Ani Choying Drolma, chairman of the foundation, said.
Another most important thing is with the establishment of HLA Lab, organ transplant from brain dead body will be possible soon, if due attention is given to manage existing legal barriers. As organ transplant from brain dead body should be carried out within 24 hours, it will be possible to do that, Dr. Pukar Chandra Shrestha, general secretary of the foundation, said.
Not only in kidney transplantation, the HLA lab facility will also be useful for other fields such as orthopaedics, rheumatology, haematology, oncology and paediatrics, Dr. Shrestha said.
However, as per existing legal provisions, there is no trend of organ transplant from dead body. The individual should have given consent before dying. However, there is no such provision here, he added.
The foundation has already asked with the government to amend the legal provision. Organ transplant from brain dead should be open in family’s consent, the foundation demanded.
After announcing somebody "clinically dead" due to a road accident or an emergency brain death, for example, other organs of the body may be in a functioning condition. If HLA and cross match tests are possible within 24 hours, it will also be possible to transplant the organs, he added.
With the establishment of the HLA lab, heart, lever, lungs, bone marrow and face also can be transplanted. So far, eye transplantation is very popular in Nepal.
In western countries, 75 per cent organ transplants are carried out from brain dead individuals.
Vice chairman Kul Chandra Gautam said that more and more poor people would benefited by this lab.
The foundation is working with a vision to start a fully facilitated hospital with dialysis and transplantation facility in the near future, including all other general health services, Gautam said.
According to an estimation, around 2,800 people develop kidney failures every year out of which only around 25-30 per cent patients can reach hospitals with dialysis facilities.
The incidence of liver failure is 1,000 every year.

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FNCCI REJECTS GOVT. RECOMMENDED SALARY HIKE FOR WORKERS
Kathmandu, 3 June: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has stated that it would not implement the new salary package for workers that the government had fixed. The FNCCI’s formal reaction comes a week after the government published the new salary structure in the Nepal Gazette, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The government had formally fixed the new pay scale for workers in the last week of May with industrial workers getting a minimum monthly salary of Rs 6,200 (basic salary of Rs 3,550 and dearness allowance of Rs 2,650) and a daily wage of Rs 231. It was done as per an agreement reached between the government and disgruntled minor trade unions.
The minor trade unions had been discontented with the salary hike agreement reached between employers and three major trade unions on May 24 as they were not made part of the negotiations. The employers and the three trade unions had signed an 11-point agreement which increased the minimum salary by Rs 1,500 (Rs 50 basic salary and dearness allowance of Rs 1,450) and set the minimum pay at Rs 6,100 and daily wage at Rs 226.
“The FNCCI has serious objections to the notice of minimum salary published in the Nepal Gazette by the government which undermines the historic agreement between employers and major trade unions,” said the FNCCI in a statement.
The FNCCI has said that it is not in a position to implement the government decision that was done ignoring the historic agreement between the employers and the three major trade unions. It has urged the government to amend its decision and implement the agreement reached on March 24.
“The government should take the responsibilty for any disturbance that could arise in the industrial sector if that decision is not corrected in time,” added the FNCCI statement.
Employers said the new provision failed to incorporate the vital subject of marking the next four years as a period of industrial peace, no illegal strikes in factories, help of trade unions on downsizing the workforce if required and formation of a standing committee to fix workers’ salary.
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NEPAL TOURISM MINISTRY SUPPORT FOR AIR ARABIA
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Kathmandu, 3 June: The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) has concluded that preventing Air Arabia from exercising its Fifth Freedom right to fly on the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector would be a violation of the Air Service Agreement (ASA). The right of Fifth Freedom allows an airline to carry passengers from its country to another country through a third country, Sangam Parsai reports in The Kathmandu Post..
A meeting between the MoTCA and representatives of the Finance, Law and Foreign ministries and former director generals of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) held on Tuesday decided that Air Arabia should be allowed to utilize its Fifth Freedom right and operate flights which had been barred by the parliamentary International Relation and Human Rights Committee.
Following the recommendation of the concerned ministries, the MoTCA will request the International Relation and Human Rights Committee to withdraw its earlier decision, said Suresh Acharya, joint secretary at the MoTCA.
The MoTCA said that the decision of a constitutional body could not be ignored, and that it would convince the parliamentary committee that its decision could create diplomatic problems between the United Arab Emirates and Nepal besides raising legal issues.
The MoTCA took almost six months to study the legal aspects and reach a decision to permit Air Arabia to fly between Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
On Dec 13, 2010, the parliamentary International Relation and Human Rights Committee had directed the MoTCA to revoke its decision of Dec 2, 2010 to allow the Sharjah-based Air Arabia to link the two cities under its Fifth Freedom right.
The ministry had approved Air Arabia to operate six weekly flights on the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector. The carrier was scheduled to start service on Dec 16, 2010.
The parliamentary committee had decided not to allow Air Arabia to link Kuala Lumpur following pressure from Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). NAC had protested that the ministry’s decision would hurt its business on its most lucrative sector. The Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has emerged as one of the most profitable sectors for NAC over the last three years.
“Being a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and considering Nepal’s open sky policy and bilateral relations with the UAE, the ministry has to abide by the provisions of the ASA,” Acharya said.
Considering the continuous rise in the number of Malaysia-bound migrant workers, NAC doesn’t want to share this sector with other airlines. Air Arabia had also targeted these passengers. A ministry official said that it had a duty to support NAC, but not protect it. The ailing corporation needs capacity building and improvement in its organizational structure in order to be competitive under the open sky policy.
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SUPPORT FOR NEPALIWORKERS IN MALAYSIA


Kathmandu, 3 June: The Nepal Health Professional Federation (NHPF) has urged the Nepali Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to lobby for the implementation of an agreement signed between Nepali and Malaysian authorities last year, Republica reports.

In a letter to the Nepali embassy, the NHPF has asked Dr Rishi Raj Adhikari, Nepal´s ambassador to Malaysia, to seriously take up the issue. The NHPF has decided to seek diplomatic help as Malaysian authorities irrespective of the deal did not stop returning Nepali laborers suffering from minor health problems.
In December last year, a Nepali delegation comprising health authorities and professionals had held several rounds of talks with Malaysian health and labor ministry officials, asking Malaysia to stop returning Nepali workers who fail to acclimatize to the new atmosphere. Malaysian authorities had agreed to the demand put forth by the Nepali delegation in a deal signed on December 11.

However, even after five months, Malaysian authorities continue to return Nepali workers terming them “environmentally unsuitable” in their health reports. “Malaysian authorities had assured us that they would specify the problem if they returned any worker,” said Khadga Shrestha, president of the NHPF. “They did not keep their promise.”

According to Shrestha, most of the points in the agreement remain unfulfilled. As per the agreement, Malaysian authorities can not return Nepali workers suffering from minor health problems. “This promise also remains unfulfilled,” he said.

During meetings with Malaysian authorities, calcification had appeared as one of the most contentious issues. Malaysian authorities saw calcification as signs of tuberculosis.

However, Nepali health officials had maintained that calcification might be some minor problems, too. Eventually, they had decided to sort out this issue by drafting a policy. But, no initiative has been taken by Malaysia so far to this effect.

Many Nepali workers have been forced to return from foreign countries, mainly Malaysia, when they fail medical tests there. It has raised a question over the credibility of medical tests conducted by the NHPF-affiliated institutions in Nepal. However, the NHPF states that it is not due to the inefficacy of Nepali medical tests but differences in perceiving minor problems like calcification and workers´ failure in acclimatizing to the new environment.
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