THREE KILLED IN MUD WALL COLLAPSE

THREE BURIED ALIVE IN RAUTAHAT

Kathmandu, 6 June: Three persons were buried alive Monday morning when a mud wall collapsed in Rangoli, Rautahat.
They were excavating mud, first reports said.
Nnnn


NEPALI PEACEKEEPERS EDUCATING DISPLACED CONGOLESE





Congo, Beni, and 6 June:- Besides helping to maintain peace, the Nepalese Peacekeepers deployed in Congo have started educating the internally displaced Congolese who were hit hard by the Congo’s ethnic violence of the past several years, Purusottam Khatri writes in The Rising Nepal from Beni, Congo.
The Nepalese armies in blue caps have been imparting English medium education to the Congolese nationals by establishing a Vocational Training Centre (VTC).
The centre was initially set up in 2007 by Sagarmatha Camp of the Nepalese army in its Beni camp.
So far, 550 Congolese nationals had completed their different levels of classes run by the Nepalese contingents which have owned up the responsibilities to handle Nepalese Battalion at Beni, Congo.
Internally displaced Congo nationals are receiving English medium education in three levels – beginners, intermediate and advance categories, in the VTC. Apart from this, the outgoing NEPBATT-XIV has also started computer training for them.
Jitendra Jung Karki, Lieutenant Colonel and chief of the NEPBATT-XIV, said that currently 200 students have been receiving their English medium education as well as computer training.
Lt. Col. Karki said English medium course has been started inside the Battalion’s headquarters’ in order to upgrade Congolese’s’ English language.
French is the dominant language among the Congolese nationals, he said.
English medium teachers have been appointed from the Beni-based United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) Headquarters.
The teachers at VTC work voluntarily and in return they got monthly $200 and food items to sustain their livelihood, Karki said.
A student completes each grade in three months. After completing the three-month course, the student would be upgraded to next class, Karki said.
Achille Kibwana, headmaster of the VTC, said that the students were really enthusiastic to learn English and upgrading their English writing and

speaking skills. "Now they can really interact with others in English besides French language which has increased their morale in the community and among other friends," Kibwana said.
Palaku Kisaka, city mayor of Beni, said that the VTC established by the NEPBATT was really doing well in educating the locals.
"The locals and internally displaced people were happy to have the opportunity to English medium education," he said.
"We expect the centre will get regular assistance from MONUSCO Headquarters and NEPBATT in the days ahead," Kisaka told The Rising Nepal.
Ciscke, a student at intermediate level, said they were improving their English language and thanked NEPBATT for establishing VTC targeting Congolese national. "We really like to appreciate NEPBATT for what they are doing for the development and education of the Congolese apart from fulfilling their task in the peace keeping mission," he said.

nnnn
REGISTER TIBETAN KIDS US TELLS NEPAL


Kathmandu,6 June: Reiterating Washington's long standing position on Tibetan issues, a senior US State Department official once again raised the UN-brooked 'gentlemen's agreement' on Tibetan refuges and asked the Nepal government to start registration of Tibetan children born after the 1990 census. The last census Nepal had held of Tibetan refugees was in 1990, Anil Giri reports in The Kathmandu Post..
In her second visit to Kathmandu within a year, US Deputy Under-Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration Kelly Clements held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara on Sunday and discussed the twin refugee issues--Bhutanese and Tibetan.
"She raised the issue of re-registration of Tibetan refugees' children born after 1990 who are facing difficulties in studying, documentations and even while pursuing higher education abroad and landing jobs," Clements told Mahara.
Clements called on Mahara to take a more liberal approach towards the Tibetan refugees without jeopardizing relations with China or undermining the one-China policy, according to Nepali officials.
In response to her request on the registration of the children, Mahara told the American official that the government will "think positively" on the issue. Insisting anonymity, a Nepali government official said the government shares the American concern on the need to re-register Tibetans born after 1990 in Nepal.
Nepal is home to more than 20,000 Tibetans, but there has been no census for more than two decades, according to the Home Ministry. Tibetans continue to take arduous trans-Himalayan trails to cross over to Nepal, a prickly issue in Nepal-China relations.
During her visit to Nepal last June, Clements had made a similar request to the then Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala and Home Minister Bhim Bahadur Rawal.
Nepal had reached the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" in 1989 with the UN and Western countries. 'Gentlemen's agreements' are informal accords between parties or government, which rely on the honour of the parties, but are not legally enforceable.
Before arriving in Kathmandu, Clements visited the Bhutanese Capital, Thimpu, and held several meetings with senior Bhutanese officials, including Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley, officials said.
On the Bhutanese refugee issue, she said both Nepal and Bhutan should initiate bilateral talks to resolve the protracted issue and start repatriation.
The US, which has resettled more than 30,000 Bhutanese refuges, has been pressing Nepal and Bhutan to start negotiations on the repartition.
Nnnn

MONDAY INTERVIEW
FIVE POINTS SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED SIMULTANEOUSLY SAYS MAOIST BARSHA MAN PUN
Barshaman Pun, the Maoist member of the Special Committee (SC) and the party's military in-charge, talks with Biswas Baral and Kamal Dev Bhattarai of The Kathmandu Post on the peace process, integration and the formation of a new government.
How much progress will be seen in the peace process in the next three months?
The five-point deal has been struck and this is very good. The CA has been saved and so has the peace process. There is space for consensus between the parties. At the very least in the next three months, the Maoists dual security provision will be removed, Commander Pasang’s office will be established in Kathmandu. Second, modality has more-or-less been agreed on, numbers are being agreed upon, norms will be agreed on, rank will also be agreed on, and rehabilitation packages will be agreed upon. Following this, regrouping of ex- combatants will happen.
You said the modality has already been agreed upon. But we see disagreement on this on both intra-party and inter-party lines. What agreement on modality are you referring to?
I’m referring to the modality recommended by the NA. Whether two new forces will be created or whether there will be one joint force is still being discussed. And within this, numbers, norms, ranks and the job that they will be doing is not yet finalised. We think at the least, the integrated combatants should take on roles in border security—which would be combat roles—and also in disaster management. For the integrated personnel to take up all the roles of the current security forces will not be possible. But at least, we are asking for border security and disaster management.
The Maoists are asking for leadership of the directorate under the NA, and for bulk integration.
We have already accepted the NA leadership. We aren’t asking for second in command of NA. We just want the leadership of the directorate. Naturally, we want this under our leadership. With that understanding, we will take the concerned bodies into confidence, and find a resolve quietly, outside of the public eye.
With regards to integration, how much talk is there with the NA leadership?
The government has been talking to the NA leadership. The Special Committee has also engaged with them on this level. Army issues are usually handled by the government, the Defence Ministry, and the PM. So instead of dealing with them separately, it has been happening through committees and government bodies.
In the last Special Committee meeting, what progress was made?
The Special Committee has started its work towards ending dual security. We on en route to sending the Maoist security personnel back to the cantonment in Chitwan, alongside with getting the weapons into containers there. This has been agreed on, and will happen in the next few days. In this regard, we are in the midst of creating a timetable.
Regrouping is on the agenda, but without an agreement on rehabilitation, how can this happen?
Unofficially, a lot of work has been done in the form of a ‘golden handshake.’
So a rehabilitation package has been agreed on?
This is still being discussed. Those that were ‘disqualified’ before have not received adequate packages and this example has not been satisfactory. They were given three-to-six months of training but now have no jobs. Considering that some Rs. 4 lakh was spent per head and they have nothing to show for it, a more scientific option must be adopted this time around. We don’t want those that take the rehabilitation package to share the same fate as those ‘disqualified.’ On this front, we are still open to discussion.
Without an agreement on modality, numbers and ranking, there is a fear that the regrouping process will be hampered and take a long time.
We can’t take time. The NC and UML have told us informally that they agree to 7000 as a number for integration. We have been saying somewhere between eight and 10000. The number is not going to be a problem, judging from what other parties have been saying as well. We just want to adjust those that want to be integrated.
Once the views of the ex-combatants are collected, won’t you be able to say how many want integration?
We will know this after the first round of data collection is done. If it’s less than the number we agree on, then all is well. If not, then Maoist leaders will have to convince the ones that cannot be integrated and offer them attractive packages. And for the sake of peace process, then they will have to understand, and they will understand.
Within the Maoists themselves, the Baidya faction has been issuing notes of dissent. Is this causing any trouble?
Last year, it was Baburam Bhattarai that was issuing notes of dissent and this year it is Mohan Baidya. We have been able to manage it, and we are confident this will not change.
But it is said that due to pressure from Baidya’s camp, that Chairman Prachanda is unable to decide on issues of integration and constitution writing.
Since the Palungtar plenum, some people have been saying that both the Maoists and its Chairman have taken the wrong road. But actually, we have taken the rights steps. It has been made clear what the three strands within the party actually think. And while both factions have voiced their disapproval, they have taken steps. For example, although both factions were against the Shaktikhor programme, it went ahead. Likewise, once UNMIN left, the Chairman was able to take a bold step. These are just a few instances— even when it came to government formation, there was dissent but it still went ahead. And most recently, with regards to extension, Prahcanda made a bold move again. Thus looking at this, in the aftermath of the Palungtar plenum, the Chairman has actually become stronger and able to make bold moves. And now, the positions of the three main leaders have also become clear and that’s good. I’m sure the Chairman will continue to be bold in finishing the peace process and constitution drafting on time, while managing internal disputes.
Could you clear up what’s happening in terms of change in government and new leadership?
It’s not going to happen today or tomorrow. The peace Process needs to move ahead and there needs to be consensus between major forces for power-sharing. Leadership wise, in the next government, it will either be the Maoists or the Congress that lead.
But the fifth point in the five-point agreement says ‘the Prime Minister will pave way for national consensus government with his resignation.’
But I am saying that all five points need to be taken forward together.
nnnn