ANTI-NATO DEMONSTRATIONS IN BHAKTAPUR

ANTI-NATO DEMONSTRATIONS IN NEIGHBOURING BHAKTAPUR

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: Anti-NATO demonstrations by a youth wing of Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party, a splinter communist group based in Bhaktapur held a demonstrations Friday morning in the town which is stronghold.
The demonstration was held one day after news broke of the murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
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PRESIDENT CERTIFIES FIVE BILLS





Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has certified five bills in accordance with Article 7 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007, RSS reports.
The bills passed by the meeting of the Legislature-Parliament and certified by the President include the Appropriation Act, 2011; the Karnali Health Science Academy Act, 2011; the Finance Act, 2011; the Act on Mobilising Internal Loans, 2011 and the Loans and Guarantee (19th Amendment) Act, 2011; the Legislature-Parliament Secretariat stated.
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INDIAN TOURIST DEAD IN KASKI

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: Indian tourist Utpal Bishws, 51, of Kolkata was found dead at Batshedada in Kaski Wednesday after he went missing one day earlier.
His body was airlifted to the capital Thursday.
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NEPAL WANTS TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH NEIGHBOURS; PM BHATTARAI





Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai arrived here Thursday afternoon on a four-day official visit to India leading a 37-member entourage, Pramod Jaisawl writes in The Rising Nepal from New Delhi.
Indian officials and Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad received the prime minister and his delegation upon arrival here.
Soon after he arrived, he was busy attending welcome programmes.
PM Bhattarai attended a reception hosted by South Asian Forum for Peoples’ Initiative and Samkaleeen Teesri Duniya.
The welcome programme was chaired by Sarad Yadav, senior Indian leader and president of Janta Dal (United).
Sudhindra Bhadoriya from South Asian Forum for People’s Initiative and senior journalist Anand Swaroop Verma from Samkaleen Teesri Duniya were among the participants.
Dr Bhattarai has a busy schedule tomorrow [Friday]. He will have a meeting with his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House on Friday.
After the meeting, both the sides will be signing agreements. Sources said US$ 250 million Line of Credit and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) would be signed.
Two other deals, Power Trade Agreement and Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (BIPA), are also expected to be signed.
Dr Bhattarai will meet Indian President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari and chair of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Minister SM Krishna, leader of the opposition party in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Nitin Gadkari on the same day. In the evening, Dr Singh would host a banquet in honour of Dr Bhattarai.
Dr Bhattarai will also pay a visit to the Mahatma Gandhi memorial ground at Rajghat.
On Friday, the Prime Minister will be holding important meetings with business communities of India. He will attend a luncheon hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industries (ACCI), where he will assure the business community to invest in Nepal.
Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has expressed the confidence that misunderstanding, if any, between Nepal and India would be put to rest by his current visit.
Speaking at a programme organised in his honour by the Nepal Democracy Solidarity Committee here this evening, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai said his current visit would be successful in giving a new dimension to the Nepal-India relations that is very cordial even at the people-to- people level.
Prime Minister Bhattarai said, "I am not here to take or give anything. But further consolidating bilateral relations by promoting an atmosphere of mutual trust would be my duty".
Stating that his party was also committed to further strengthening Nepal’s relations with India, Dr. Bhattarai said the mutual relations should be developed as per the demand of the 21st century.
Describing Nepal-India relations as very unique, he said his visit also aimed at putting an end to the misunderstanding that existed in the past between his party and India.
Stating that India and China are very good friends of Nepal, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai said his Government wished to expand good relations with both the countries, and reiterated his commitment to not allow the Nepali territory from being used against any of the two neighbours.
Dr. Bhattarai also said his government carried an important responsibility of peace and the new constitution by ending the current transition. The conclusion of the peace process would be followed by the acceleration of economic development of the country, he added.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister also thanked the Nepal Democratic Solidarity Committee for its solidarity with his party’s fight against autocratic monarchy and during the democratic movement in Nepal.
Chairperson of the Committee, D. Tripathi, Vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Prof. SK Supori and other speakers expressed the view that prosperity of the people of the two countries was possible through collaboration between Nepal and India.
Meanwhile, RSS adds, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai who is on a visit to India held a meeting with general secretary of Communist Party of India, AB Bardhan at Leela Hotel, New Delhi this afternoon.
On the occasion, Bardhan inquired about the peace process and constitution-writing in Nepal and Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai said political process in Nepal would move ahead in consensus.
They also discussed the exchange of experiences of leftist movements in the two countries.
Following the meeting, general secretary Bardhan said they were always for the institutional development of democracy, peace and constitution following the end of monarchy in Nepal, and would assist for the economic development of Nepal.
Similarly, talking to media persons, Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun, a member of the Prime

Minister’s entourage, said the meet between the Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai and general secretary of the Indian communist party AB Bardhan was held in a very amiable atmosphere.
They talked on the discussion to be held in the public and government level between the two countries, he added.
Even the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Prime Minister’s wife Hishila Yami were present in the meeting.
I embarked on political
architecture: PM Bhattarai
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai said though he studied ‘architectural engineering’ in India, he embarked on ‘political architecture’ in Nepal.
He shared this with his classmates of the Chandigarh College of Architecture on the first day of his visit to India today.
Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai had done graduation from the College while he earned a Ph. D. degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Finding their colleague as the Chief Executive in Nepal, his friends expressed happiness.
A classmate Renu Shetty reminded that Dr. Bhattarai, always first in class was admired since then.
There were the college professors and Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai’s classmates at the programme.

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OPINION

ALL FIRED UP AND READY—FOR WHAT?

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: Who knew CPN-UML Chairman Jhal Nath Khanal had all this in him? He’s up in arms, stomping his feet and lashing out his tongue – all at his successor as prime minister. Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has no right to continue in office, Khanal declared the other day, describing the incumbent government as packed with criminals and the corrupt, Maila Baje writes in Nepali Netbook.
In fact, he was being charitable. Earlier in the month, Khanal virtually called Dr. Bhattarai a liar. “What has the government done so far to bring peace and the constitutional process to its positive end?” he asked. Before anyone could answer, Khanal growled: “Bhattarai has begun deceiving people in broad daylight.”
The sailing was never going to be smooth for our first Ph.D. prime minister. He may be the most educated head of government Nepal has had, but Dr. Bhattarai had to amend state regulations to appoint several members of his advisory and personal staff because they did not have the requisite academic qualifications.
While the people at large seem sympathetic to Dr. Bhattarai’s public gestures ever since he hopped onto that moving thing called the Mustang, they are growing restless about his ability – even willingness – to deliver. Dr. Bhattarai had begun by saying he would conclude the peace process within 45 days of taking office, only to clarify upon his return from New York that all he meant was the clock would start ticking after the parties reached consensus on key issues.
Fed up with Dr. Bhattarai’s trademark linguistic legerdemain, Khanal began accusing the premier of something more sinister: personal involvement in the murder case engulfing a member of his cabinet, Prabhu Sah. It is unclear whether Sah’s resignation was in any way linked to Khanal’s grand allegation, but Maila Baje is still compelled to think. Just a day or two earlier, Local Development Minister Top Bahadur Rayamahi, a key Bhattarai confidant, vowed that controversial ministers would not resign because that would distract from the peace process.
Khanal has vowed to obstruct parliamentary proceeding until Dr. Bhattarai sacks Defense Minister Sharad Singh Bhandari for his recent secessionist remarks. After Sah’s exit, pressure is mounting on the prime minister to show Bhandari the door, too.
It’s not just Khanal’s tone that’s gaining traction by the day. Consider some of the content. “Those hardest hit by the Tanakpur, Koshi and Gandaki [water agreements with India] and the [Indian] land invasion in Susta are the Madhesi population,” Khanal pointedly said at a recent session of the legislature. “What are the Madhes-centric parties … doing while the defense minister is making secessionist remarks?”
“The Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Maoists hold a greater stake in the Madhes than the Madhesi parties,” he went on. “Do we want separate military battalions for Himal, Pahad and Tarai or do we want a National Army?” You can’t really quibble with his questions just because he never raised them while he was premier, can you?
Khanal’s defiance was hardly dull. “Look here, I am criticizing [the four-point deal underpinning the Bhattarai coalition], can you cut my fingers?” That came in response to Health Minister Rajendra Mahato’s pronouncement a few days earlier that anyone who raised a finger against the four- point deal should be prepared to have it chopped off.
Even if Bhandari is recalled, Khanal is unlikely to cease his tirades against Dr. Bhattarai. The former prime minister may not blame Dr. Bhattarai personally for having brought down his government. But he’s the man who now has his job.
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UNMASKING PUPPETS AND PRETEMTIOUS

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.:Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal is confronted by a big setback because of the death of his daughter’s father-in-law, a politically influential leader in the Indian state of West Bengal politics and legislature. During the Maoist insurgency decade, arms were routed from the east through Prachanda’s contacts in West Bengal and periphery while Baburam Bhattarai’s Congress-I connections did the rest for similar supply through western Nepalm by Trikal Vastavik writes in People’s Review.
Mohan Baidya loyalists convicted and awarded five-year jail sentence in September, signaling a message to the “hardliner” Maoist who has been taking a tough stance in his party in a manner that does not please New Delhi. Prachanda and Baburam might have made it through the gates of the Indian Embassy many times but Baidya’s has been either rare or nil.
Hardliner has come to denote taking a stance against the Western or Indian line of thinking and approach to issues that are supposed to be Nepalis’.
One of the developments in “loktantrik” Nepal has been a wide acceptance that foreign interference is “normal”, whatever the nature or composition of government. Scandinavian and EU countries are for “secularism” while the US is for sponsoring Free Tibet activity.
Now that the British papers have raised concerns over the lavish style of living of DEFID’s staff (among British nationals) at the expense of British taxpayers, a small opening might have been introduced announcing that all is certainly not well with INGOs. If the foreign missions were made to make their transactions and fund distribution transparent, who encourages corruption can easily be detected to a large extent.
All these INGOs are funded by their governments with some faint guises here and there of another nature. Intelligence gathering and Christianity spread are essentially the two major missions of these “Samaritans”.
At a gathering at India’s Kishengunj recently, local journalists, lawyers and political activists openly rued that their calculations regarding the Maoist insurgency was wrong. A bureau chief of a leading Indian television channel said, “Although we had helped in providing weapons to the Maoist movement to remove monarchy, we now realize that the Maoist success has only helped the spread of Christianity.”
According to local civil society leaders, some of the key Maoist leaders were the “point men” for such purposes. Sitaram Yechuri was one of them. They also made some nasty comments on Girija Prasad Koirala’s daughter Sujata Koirala for accepting anything as long the money kept coming. It only showed that Suajata Koirala, who once led the Nepali Congress team to the government as a coalition partner. She became deputy premier looking after the foreign ministry. She had among her deputies in the cabinet two Ph.D. wallahs, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat and Dr. Minendra Rijal, who had far longer history as Congress activists accepting her as such a “leader”.
We now have Barsha Man Pun as the finance minister under the “well-educated” Prime Minister Bhattarai! Thankfully, economic “experts” have not committed any hara-kiri. In fact, they do not even hang their heads in shame.
All those “assistance” worth multimillion dollars, Euros and sterling pounds are a hogwash that does not tell the whole story. Much of it is gobbled up by the donor country nationals. India’s ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 admitted that only 15 per cent of the money meant for the poor and the needy actually reaches the target group. He drew appreciation for calling a spade a spade.
BBC Trust suffers from trust deficit because of the manner in which it was awarded the contract to run “Sajha Sawal” (Common issues) that was worth over 400 million rupees. Right from the beginning, as it was later known to all concerned, the public invitation for quotations was a farce. And the BBC Trust won it for issues that it has no credentials. Journalists and media academics and Transparency Nepal are silent over such issues.
It is like BBC Nepali staff writing all sorts of issues whereas others in say, India or Pakistan or Bangladesh, are not given such space. BBC Nepali staff can be found to be leading “civil society” movements. This would not be allowed anywhere else in South Asia with such visibility and mobility. This is Nepal 2011 and BBC 2011!
If individuals projecting themselves as anti-corruption activists hobnob with the corrupt, it would be like running with the rabbit and hunting with the hounds. Double role does not suit anyone; it is dubious at all seasons and locales. Fearless activists do not shy away from specifics but have the spine to name names.
Would the Press Council in Britain endorse such a stance? Perhaps the right hand (BBC headquarters) does not know what its left hand is doing here in Kathmandu. Media academics, Nepali Journalists Federation and Nepal Press Institute should know better. Social Welfare Council prefers to keep its eyes close when it comes to INGOs some of which are registered at—hold your breath—foreign ministry. NGOs, however, have trying times at Socvial Welfare Council where UML leader and former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s brother Dataram Khanal bosses around obnoxiously and, according to newspaper reports, engages in activirts that wshould draw the attention of the Commission for Investigating Abuse of Authority.
INGOs stationed in Nepal are supposed to send comprehensive reports periodically to Nepal government but they do not. Money and influence have many sides that lead to getting things done. Some of them, in return, hire family members of the authorities concerned. Would this be corruption in the vocabulary of Transparency International that goes about with pretensions of being a global watchdog on corruption?
There was a time when spurious medicines used to be sold on the streets of Kathmandu and salesmen would shout out that they had a medicine that would treat patients suffering from diseases anywhere from the head to the toes. Such miracle is being induced from Nepali personalities who are seen in numerous movements and occasions.
The highly successful comedian duo Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bamsa Acharya are flaunted around for all kinds of issues that do not befit their actual credentials as if they are playing cinema roles from a villain to a comedian to hero. The duo that has won the hearts of so many Nepalis for their screen and stage roles would do well not to be guided by farcical cheer leaders. Their public image could suffer in the long run.

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NC
Unmasking puppets and pretentious
FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2011 02:19 YAM KC

By Trikal Vastavik

Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal is confronted by a big setback because of the death of his daughter’s father-in-law, a politically influential leader in the Indian state of West Bengal politics and legislature. During the Maoist insurgency decade, arms were routed from the east through Prachanda’s contacts in West Bengal and periphery while Baburam Bhattarai’s Congress-I connections did the rest for similar supply through western Nepal.
Mohan Baidya loyalists convicted and awarded five-year jail sentence in September, signaling a message to the “hardliner” Maoist who has been taking a tough stance in his party in a manner that does not please New Delhi. Prachanda and Baburam might have made it through the gates of the Indian Embassy many times but Baidya’s has been either rare or nil.
Hardliner has come to denote taking a stance against the Western or Indian line of thinking and approach to issues that are supposed to be Nepalis’.
One of the developments in “loktantrik” Nepal has been a wide acceptance that foreign interference is “normal”, whatever the nature or composition of government. Scandinavian and EU countries are for “secularism” while the US is for sponsoring Free Tibet activity.
Now that the British papers have raised concerns over the lavish style of living of DEFID’s staff (among British nationals) at the expense of British taxpayers, a small opening might have been introduced announcing that all is certainly not well with INGOs. If the foreign missions were made to make their transactions and fund distribution transparent, who encourages corruption can easily be detected to a large extent.
All these INGOs are funded by their governments with some faint guises here and there of another nature. Intelligence gathering and Christianity spread are essentially the two major missions of these “Samaritans”.
At a gathering at India’s Kishengunj recently, local journalists, lawyers and political activists openly rued that their calculations regarding the Maoist insurgency was wrong. A bureau chief of a leading Indian television channel said, “Although we had helped in providing weapons to the Maoist movement to remove monarchy, we now realize that the Maoist success has only helped the spread of Christianity.”
According to local civil society leaders, some of the key Maoist leaders were the “point men” for such purposes. Sitaram Yechuri was one of them. They also made some nasty comments on Girija Prasad Koirala’s daughter Sujata Koirala for accepting anything as long the money kept coming. It only showed that Suajata Koirala, who once led the Nepali Congress team to the government as a coalition partner. She became deputy premier looking after the foreign ministry. She had among her deputies in the cabinet two Ph.D. wallahs, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat and Dr. Minendra Rijal, who had far longer history as Congress activists accepting her as such a “leader”.
We now have Barsha Man Pun as the finance minister under the “well-educated” Prime Minister Bhattarai! Thankfully, economic “experts” have not committed any hara-kiri. In fact, they do not even hang their heads in shame.
All those “assistance” worth multimillion dollars, Euros and sterling pounds are a hogwash that does not tell the whole story. Much of it is gobbled up by the donor country nationals. India’s ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 admitted that only 15 per cent of the money meant for the poor and the needy actually reaches the target group. He drew appreciation for calling a spade a spade.
BBC Trust suffers from trust deficit because of the manner in which it was awarded the contract to run “Sajha Sawal” (Common issues) that was worth over 400 million rupees. Right from the beginning, as it was later known to all concerned, the public invitation for quotations was a farce. And the BBC Trust won it for issues that it has no credentials. Journalists and media academics and Transparency Nepal are silent over such issues.
It is like BBC Nepali staff writing all sorts of issues whereas others in say, India or Pakistan or Bangladesh, are not given such space. BBC Nepali staff can be found to be leading “civil society” movements. This would not be allowed anywhere else in South Asia with such visibility and mobility. This is Nepal 2011 and BBC 2011!
If individuals projecting themselves as anti-corruption activists hobnob with the corrupt, it would be like running with the rabbit and hunting with the hounds. Double role does not suit anyone; it is dubious at all seasons and locales. Fearless activists do not shy away from specifics but have the spine to name names.
Would the Press Council in Britain endorse such a stance? Perhaps the right hand (BBC headquarters) does not know what its left hand is doing here in Kathmandu. Media academics, Nepali Journalists Federation and Nepal Press Institute should know better. Social Welfare Council prefers to keep its eyes close when it comes to INGOs some of which are registered at—hold your breath—foreign ministry. NGOs, however, have trying times at Socvial Welfare Council where UML leader and former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s brother Dataram Khanal bosses around obnoxiously and, according to newspaper reports, engages in activirts that wshould draw the attention of the Commission for Investigating Abuse of Authority.
INGOs stationed in Nepal are supposed to send comprehensive reports periodically to Nepal government but they do not. Money and influence have many sides that lead to getting things done. Some of them, in return, hire family members of the authorities concerned. Would this be corruption in the vocabulary of Transparency International that goes about with pretensions of being a global watchdog on corruption?
There was a time when spurious medicines used to be sold on the streets of Kathmandu and salesmen would shout out that they had a medicine that would treat patients suffering from diseases anywhere from the head to the toes. Such miracle is being induced from Nepali personalities who are seen in numerous movements and occasions.
The highly successful comedian duo Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bamsa Acharya are flaunted around for all kinds of issues that do not befit their actual credentials as if they are playing cinema roles from a villain to a comedian to hero. The duo that has won the hearts of so many Nepalis for their screen and stage roles would do well not to be guided by farcical cheer leaders. Their public image could suffer in the long run.
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