EASTERN REGION TO HOST 7TH NATIONAL GAMES IN 2 YEARS

EASTERN REGION TO HOST 7TH NATIONAL GAMES

Kathmandu, 3 March: The 7th National Games will be held in the eastern region after two years.
The venue wasn’t selected
A board meeting of National Sports Council (NSC), a supreme
national sporting authority, took a decision Friday in Dhangadi hosting the current 6th National Games.
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SAARC HAS NEW NEPAL DIRECTOR

Kathmandu, 3 March: Dhan Bahadur Oli, under secretary at foreign ministry, has been has appointed director of Nepal, as SARRC in the Nepali capital for a three-year term.
Oli replaces Niranjan Man Singh Basnet to the foreign ministry
following promotion to joint secretary rank.
A director represents each member state in the South Asian regional organization with eight member states.
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JAPANESE APPOINTED NEW ADB NEPAL COUNTRY DIRECTOR

Kathmandu, 3 March.: Kenichi Yokoyama has been appointed new
County director of Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB)for Nepal.
He’ll assume office in the third week
Yokoyama succeeds Barry Hitchcock.
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INDIA RELAXES MOVEMENT OF RAIL CARGO
Kathmandu, 3 March : After lingering for over two years, India finally consented to open all forms of railway cargo to facilitate Nepal´s trade with the southern neighbor and third countries, Republica reports.

Likewise, it also agreed to allow movement of railway cargo services between all Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) of Nepal and Indian ports through which Nepal is authorized to carry out third country trade.

Until now India had opened operations of closed railway cargo only. Also the existing railway agreement signed between two countries in 2004 allowed limited movement of rail cargo services between Birgunj ICD and Kolkata and Haldiya ports.

“India has agreed on all major agendas. The two countries will now have free exchange of all forms of wagons, including open and flat track wagons from all authorized ports to any ICDs and ICPs,” Naindra Prasad Upadhyaya, joint secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, told Republica.

The agreement was reached Friday when the two-day long bilateral talks to review Nepal-India Railway Service Agreement (RSA) concluded.

The newly agreed arrangements, however, will need to be endorsed by the higher authority of the two countries in the form of Letter of Exchange (LoE) within two months.

“The timeline has been set in order to ensure that the two governments complete all necessary formalities at the earliest and the new facilities could come into place soon,” said Upadhyaya, who led the Nepali team in the talks.

Broader consensus on these critical provisions has now paved the way for Nepal to operate railway cargo between every ICDs and ICPs in Nepal and newly assigned Vishakapatnam port, apart from Kolkata and Haldiya ports. It would also enable the country to trade with Bangladesh via train through Rohanpur-Singabad railway network.

Similarly, operations of open and flat track wagon would facilitate transportation of liquid, clinkers, coals and other commodities. To facilitate their operations however, operator of existing Birgunj ICD, and other ICDs and ICPs to be connected with railway line in the future, would need to develop layout, storage tank and other infrastructure and logistics services.

“Manager of Birgunj ICD, Himalayan Terminal, would need to develop layout to synchronize its operations with the new facilities. Upcoming ICDs and ICPs too will be required to be developed in the similar fashion,” said another official at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.

Though the talks hammered out consensus on new services that could have far reaching positive impact, it failed to address existing operational level glitches, something that has been troubling traders.

Referring to operational level problems, Nepal had mainly complained about poor services of Container Corporation (Concur) of India and pushed for either substantial improvement of its services and capacity to arrange sufficient containers and railway rack or allow Nepali traders to seek services from private rail operators.

The issue was raised as traders in recent years have complained that Concur had not been effective and this, in turn, had compelled them to pay undue demurrage charges and bear other costs. Many import consignments had been stranded in Kolkata port just a couple of weeks ago due to the negligence of Concur - Indian government owned container handler.

“The Indian side admitted to the weaknesses of Concur, but attributed it to technical reasons. Irrespective of their explanation, the talks failed to resolve this issue,” said the source.
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CRIMINAL CASES AGAINST 349 DROPPED

Kathmandu, 3 March : In one of the biggest such measures, the government has withdrawn criminal cases involving 349 individuals, including cases of abduction and murder, upon the request of ruling and opposition parties. The cases are currently under consideration at different courts, Kiran Chapagain writes in Republica.

Acting on three different proposals from the Ministry of Law and Justice, including one dating back to the time of the Jhalanath Khanal government, the cabinet meeting on Monday withdrew the criminal cases, according to multiple sources at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The sources told Republica that most of the withdrawn cases relate to murder, abduction, arson and robbery and involve Maoist cadres and supporters of the ruling Madhesi parties.

Minister for Law and Justice Brijesh Kumar Gupta confirmed the withdrawals and said, "The cases involve cadres of political parties and have been withdrawn as per an understanding among the ruling parties."

Defending the case withdrawals, the minister referred to the agreement between the UCPN (Maoist) and the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) signed on August 28, 2011, in which the parties agreed to withdraw criminal cases against their respective cadres.

Gupta claimed that the withdrawn cases are political in nature. But some of the documents pertaining to the cases, which were accessed by Republica, show that even abduction cases involving 20 Maoist cadres, including Parshu Thapa and Dik Bahadur Raut in Udayapur, have been dropped on the recommendation of Maoist lawmaker Ram Bahadur Thapa Magar. All the cases are subjudice at Udayapur District Court.

Asked why withdrawal of such serious cases was recommended, Magar, who has a legal background, said, "Even leaders of our party´s state committee and VDC secretaries have been accused in the cases. Such people can hardly be involved in abductions."

Asked why they shouldn´t have awaited the court verticts if he thought they were innocent, he said there was no point letting the "innocent" languish in jail pending the court rulings.

The case of Tarun Dal Chitwan leader Shiva Paudel has also been dropped, in response to a demand of the Nepali Congress. Paudel had died of injuries that he sustained in beatings from inmates in Chitwan jail last December, prompting the Nepali Congress to call a nationwide strike in protest. The NC called off the strike after the government agreed to drop the murder case against Poudel.

Similarly, the government has also withdrawn a conflict-time criminal case against Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The case relates to harming of public property and is currently subjudice at Parbat District Court.

The present coalition also had before it a proposal from the time of the Khanal government. The proposal to withdraw criminal cases against 245 Maoist cadres came from then law minister Prabhu Sah and the then cabinet had put it on hold to avoid criticism from the human rights community. The last cabinet meeting approved that pending proposal also, according to Minister Gupta.

Sources at the law ministry said they are writing to the Office of Attorney General on Sunday for implementation of the cabinet decisions.
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GOVT. ENFORCES FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT POLICY
Kathmandu, 3 March: The government has introduced the Foreign Employment Policy to promote safe and inclusive migration in the country. Migration of workers from the country began in 1991 under the initiative of the private sector, The Himalayan Times reports.

The policy has focused on two parts — promoting safe migration and utilising remittance in the productive sector. “Use of remittance in the productive sector will ultimately create jobs in the country,” said spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, “Our aim is to ultimately stop the migration of workers by creating jobs in the country.”

Currently, about 1,100 Nepalis leave the country every day in search of work and most of them join jobs in Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Malaysia hires around 25 per cent of the total foreign job aspirants every month.

It is believed that about 3.5 million Nepalis work in 108 countries but only 2.2 million workers have been documented at the Department of Foreign Employment. Safeguarding the rights of the remaining 1.3 million undocumented or illegal migrant workers is a challenge to the government.

The policy aims at increasing the responsibility and accountability of outsourcing agencies or their agents towards migrant workers. “Safe migration is not possible without making outsourcing agencies accountable, so the policy has a major focus on it,” he said. The Department of Foreign Employment has already started investigating fraud outsourcers according to laws governing human trafficking.

The new policy was drafted according to the suggestions of the high-level committee headed by Dr Ganesh Gurung which also plans to use remittance in the productive sector and generate employment. “It is an ambitious policy. If the government is able to decrease the dependency of the population on foreign jobs by 10 per cent, it will be a big achievement,” said independent labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal.

The government had issued the Foreign Employment Bond worth Rs three billion and Rs one billion in fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11 but failed to attract sufficient migrant workers. Actually, the government had issued bonds worth Rs seven billion in 2009-10 but it slashed the limit to Rs three billion due to the global economic slowdown.

The policy aims to mobilise diplomatic missions to safeguard the rights of Nepali migrant workers in foreign destinations. “The government also wants to establish labour desks in destination countries,” said Khadka.

Currently, the government has a labour desk only at Tribhuwan International Airport. Labour attachés in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia, South Korea and Kuwait have not been as active as anticipated.
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NRB PERMITS HOTELS TO ACCEPT PAYMENT IN FOREIGN CURRENCY

Kathmandu, 3 March: The central bank has permitted hotels to accept payments made by guests in foreign currency, The Himalayan Times reports.

The foreign exchange buying rate of the day fixed by hotels and by the banks should not be less than two per cent, directed Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), issuing a circular today.

“NRB has fixed the limit of the buying rate for hotels while accepting payments to ensure uniformity in the exchange rate,” said spokesperson of the central bank Bhaskar Mani Gyanwali.

“Though hotels were not allowed in the past to accept foreign currencies from guests, they were doing so and this move will aid the tourism sector by simplifying the payment procedure while ensuring that foreign exchange rate is not distorted,” he added.

NRB fixes the exchange rate for the day for governmental purposes. However, banks are free to determine the exchange rate based on their transactions in foreign currency within a certain band of variation
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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW
GOVT. CHANGE INEVITABLE AFTER MID-MARCH SAYS NC LEADER SITAULA

The major parties are seriously engaged in negotiations on constitution writing, peace process and power-sharing. In this context, Nepali Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula spoke to Republica´s Kosh Raj Koirala on NC´s stance on various contentious political issues.

Why has the integration process of the Maoist combatants been delayed?

I believe integration process has been delayed due to the confusion of the Maoist leadership. The place where the issues of integration is discussed and brought to implementation through Special Committee. The Chairman of the committee is Maoist leader and Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai. He has to present the action plan prepared by the army in the Special Committee, and it goes to the implementation stage upon unanimous approval from the Special Committee. But that has not happened. So the ruling parties, mainly the UCPN (Maoist) is mainly to be blamed for the stalled peace process, not the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML.

Have you already arrived at consensus on the ranks of the Maoist combatants to be integrated in the Nepal Army?

We have already agreed that the maximum number of the Maoist combatants to be integrated in the army. We have also clearly stated those opting for integration should meet standards set by the army. The seven-point agreement clearly specifies where we can give concessions to the Maoist combatants opting for integration. We have agreed the integration should not put negative effects in the careers of incumbent army officers. Basically, we will take the date of the combatants joining the Maoist as date of commissioning, and the number of years they worked with the Maoists will be taken into consideration while determining the rank in the NA.

But the Maoists are sticking to their demand for Brigadier General?

I don´t think there is any possibility of giving them such a post. What the Maoists need to understand is that combatants are not joining the NA as their representatives. Once integrated, the Maoist combatants would be soldiers of the NA, and they all have to abide by the rules and regulations of the organization. The relations of the Maoist combatants with their mother party must be be fully detached. I believe the problem has risen as the Maoists have failed to understand this fact.

How optimistic are you about the successful conclusion of peace process?

I am fully optimistic that the peace process would be concluded. Without this there won´t be a new statute by May 27. We must find meeting point as agreed in the seven-point agreement. This is the common positions of all political parties. No one can run away from implementing the agreement.

But there are concerns that peace process would be broken halfway through?

There could be people, not satisfied with the political developments, who may wish to see it broken. Some elements that are against the institutionalization of federal democratic republic could be hatching conspiracies. But that is different. My understanding is that Nepali people desperately want to see peace process concluded and new constitution promulgated. This is in the best interests of the country as the ongoing peace process is linked with interests of Nepali people.

What is the official position of NC on the integration proposal put forward by the Nepal Army?

The official position of the NC will be presented by our colleagues who represent the NC in the Special Committee. But I think the army´s proposal that the directorate will be headed by a major general is not appropriate. I don´t think such a high ranking office should lead the directorate. Basically, the Directorate is based on the concept of civil defense army. I think colonel or brigadier general should lead such directorate. Given the nature of works the directorate would be carrying out, I do not think there is a need to create post of major general or lieutenant general.

What progress have you made so far in regards to the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Disappearance Commission?

Bills have already been tabled in the parliament and a sub-committee is working to forge consensus among parties on contentious issues. Representatives of all parties are in the sub-committee. We have decided to hold a meeting of the sub-committee members at the presence of the top leaders of all parties and arrive at a consensus. The bills should be endorsed soon and the commissions should also be formed at the earliest.

Let´s go back to constitution drafting again. System of governance has lately become one of the most contentious issues. How much progress has been made to resolve the issues?

We have made a list of agendas for discussion ahead of constitution drafting process. Madhav Kumar Nepal had presented a list of contentious issues at the three-party meeting on Thursday. All I want to say now is we can forge consensus on the contentious issues of new constitution once we conclude peace process. There won´t be any consensus as long as there is no conclusion of peace process. This means that we have a clear position that the new constitution is not possible without concluding the peace process.

There have been much talk about national consensus government? Is NC vying for government leadership now?

It will be natural for NC to seek government leadership once Baburamji is gone. I hope, Maoist and the UML won´t stake claim for government leadership again after the resignation of Baburamji. But we have not sought resignation of the prime minister yet. So far, we focused on the conclusion of peace process. Our party president Sushil Koirala himself said NC would wait till mid-March. I am hopeful that national consensus government would be formed after mid-March. If the peace process is concluded by mid-March, there is a chance of forming a national consensus government. The change of the guard in the government becomes inevitable also in case there is no progress in peace process by that time. The leadership of Baburam Bhattarai will prove to be a failure by then.

In your view, what kind of kind of role have foreigners played in the Peace Process?

Our neighbor India has a close interest and supported the peace process that started after singing in the 12-point agreement that led to the subsequent democratic movement in Nepal. We invited the UNMIN to monitor arms and armies of the Maoists and the UNMIN has already accomplished its mission. All countries including India, the US, UK, European Union and China have a desire to see sustainable peace in the country.

Given the geopolitical situation of our country, it is natural to see our neighboring countries interested in the developments taking place in Nepal. Among them, India appears to be a country that is directly affected by our peace process. Though indirect, the involvement of India has been felt in all stages of peace process right from the 12-point understanding.
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