INDIA CUTS OIL EXPORTS AS FESTIVE SEASON APPROACHES

OIL EXPORT TO NEPAL AGAIN CURTAILED BY INDIA

Kathmandu, 18 Sept.: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Friday again cut exports of POL products to Nepal routed through Nepall Oil Corporation (NOC), NOC Spokesman Mukunda Dhugel said.
Supply was cut 30percnt coinciding with the festive season.
IOC has agreed to resume full exports following a commitment to settle Rs 400 million bill, Sharma added.
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FOLLOWING TB SCARE, MEDICAL TESTS FOR TUSKERS A MUST
Kathmandu, 18 Sept : Fearing further spread of deadly tuberculosis among elephants, the Department of National Park and Wildlife Reserve (DNPWC) has barred government-owned tuskers from taking part in any kind of game where chances of physical contacts with privately-owned elephants without tuberculosis-free certificates are high, Om Astha Rai writes in Republica.

In addition, the DNPWC has instructed all national park and wildlife reserve wardens to make it mandatory for all teams willing to participate in international elephant polo tournament that is organized in Nepal by World Elephant Polo Association (WEPA) every winter to confirm that their elephants are not suffering from tuberculosis.
The DNPWC has also put a ban on state-owned elephants from taking part in tournaments if any participating private team refuses to come up with the mandatory tuberculosis-free test reports.

“Until last year, medical check up of elephant was not required for any game, including the polo,” Krishna Acharya, director general of DNPWC, told Republica, “Else, we won´t be in position to participate in the game.”

The DNPWC woke up to the risk of physical contact between a tuberculosis-affected elephant with healthy tuskers after 10 elephants were found suffering from the disease shortly after an elephant polo tournament concluded in Bardiya district.

The game, usually held in Chitwan, was held in Bardiaya in December of 2009 after a dispute led to the closure of all hotels and resorts inside Chitwan National Park (CNP).

However, as a result of the lack of resources, treatment of the ten infected elephants has not yet started. “Treatment of elephants for tuberculosis is very expensive and time-consuming as the year-long cost of treating an elephant goes up to Rs 300,000,” said Kamal Gaire, a senior veterinarian with the CNP.

“Treatment of elephants for tuberculosis is very expensive and time-consuming. We need to put in extra effort to tackle the spread of tuberculosis,” said Kamal Gaire, a senior veterinarian with the CNP. “Given the time and the amount of money required for the treatment of an elephant, we can not treat all ill elephants at once,” he added and he warned that the situation can go out of control if the tuberculosis that is currently limited to captive animal spreads to wild elephants.

For the first time in Nepal in 2000, an elephant was found infected with tuberculosis. In the last ten years, seven elephants -- six owned by national parks and one owned by National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) -- have died of tuberculosis. Six more elephants are currently undergoing treatment for tuberculosis.

As of now, Nepal has 216 captive animals. Of them, 95 are owned by national parks or wildlife reserves. The rest are owned by hoteliers and the NTNC.
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MAOIST RIVALRY CONTNUES

Kathmandu, 18 Sept : Countering the aggressive campaigning by hardliners against the party´s moves on the peace process, the establishment faction of the UCPN (Maoist) has stepped up separate gatherings of party cadres and orientation programs in Kathmandu, Republica reports.

Both sides are playing different cards to weaken the position of the other and also show their own strengths as the party has not held its general convention for the last two decades and they are not quite sure of each other´s strengths at the grassroots level.
On Saturday, senior Maoist leaders Posta Bahadur Bogati, Barshaman Pun, Lokendra Bist and Shakti Basnet made speeches at a cadre orientation program held by the party establishment faction at a hotel at Solteemode, Kathmandu.

While Bogati, Pun and Bist imparted training to members of the Maoist Newa State Committee and Kathmandu District Committee members, Basnet attended a program held by Maoist students loyal to the establishment faction.

“Since we are the party establishment, we should try to keep the party unity intact. But we have dissimilar views and if they want to split the party, there is nothing we can do,” a participant quoted Basnet as saying.

Talking to Republica, Basnet conceded that he attended the cadre orientation programs, but added that such gatherings and programs are absolutely normal.

“There is nothing wrong in holding discussion programs,” he said.

Similarly, the party´s cultural group loyal to the establishment faction held a musical program at Bhaktapur on Saturday. The party establishment has formed a separate cultural group after most members of the party´s official Samana Parivar showed their loyalty to the hard-line faction.

Meanwhile, the party hardliners also held separate gatherings in Kathmandu and Lalitpur on Saturday. Party politburo member Dharmendra Bastola addressed the gathering in Lalitpur, while Indra Mohan Sigdel, another politburo member, gave a speech at the gathering in Bhaktapur.

After the party handed over the weapons container keys to the Special Committee, polarization between moderates and hardliners in the party has sharpened.

Accusing the party establishment of deviating from the party´s basic principles, the hardliners led by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya have just wrapped up their nationwide campaign to weaken the positions of Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai in the party.

Baidya´s righthand man Netra Bikram Chand had trained cadres from the mid-western region, while CP Gajurel visited the eastern region.

Party cadres close to Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had even seized the keys of the vehicle belonging to Gajurel and tried to disrupt the training program.

Politburo members Hari Bhakta Kandel, Khadga Bahadur Biswakarma and Kul Prasad KC, among others, have been actively frequenting the districts.

The Maoist cultural group Samana Parivar, which is loyal to the Baidya faction, is still out in the districts holding musical programs.

“We have been holding orientation programs to make the party cadres aware of the party establishment´s move of handing over the weapons container keys to the Special Committee and the four-point deal signed with the Madhes-based parties, among other things,” said leader Bishwakarma.

The Maoists are holding their Central Committee meeting on Sept 30 and heated exchanges are expected between hardliners and moderates over the party´s latest concessions on the peace process, including the return of properties seized by the party during the insurgency and handover of weapons container keys.
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