PM FOR ID CARDS FOR INJURED, DISABLED KATHMANDU, July 23: People, who were injured and disabled during the Maoist insurgency, have complained that they have not got identity cards, treatment and their livelihood has been complicated. They said that the government could not address their demands and added that they have wanted recognition of their contributions to the people´s war. At a training organised by Injured and Disabled Fighters of People´s Revolt Forum Nepal, here today, they demanded that their demands should be rightfully addressed by the government taking it as a serious issue. Chairman of the Forum, Dipendra Kumar Pun Magar, said that problems of injured and disabled are big but they are feeling that the republican government could not able to address their problems. There is no actual data of the injured and disabled, identity cards could not been distributed to them, process of treatment is being complicated, they have to go to India and Hong Kong for treatment, said the forum chairman. Inaugurating the training, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, said that identity cards would be given to the injured and disabled and the government would determine the State facilities for them on the basis of the cards. Prime Minister Bhattarai said that the government will make a policy for providing treatment to all the injured and disabled free of cost and addressing their needs. He said that history will never forget those people who had made contributions to make the people´s war successful. Stating that his government has carried out different works for the conflict victims including data collection of the injured, the Prime Minister expressed the commitments to moving ahead by correcting weaknesses seen on it. On the occasion, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, Top Bahadur Raymajhi, said that the government will work in a systematic way to provide facilities to the injured and disabled and added that arrangements for distributing identity cards to the disabled and injured will be made soon. Likewise, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, Badri Prasad Neupane, said that the Ministry has allocated Rs.1.5 million for the injured and disabled every year for the past few years and added that the amount could be increased if necessary. Nnnn ________________________________________ l PM WANTS TO RUN COUNTRY THROGH ORDINANCES CHARGES UML CHAIRMAN Kathmandu, 23 July: Chairman of the CPN-UML, Jhalanath Khanal, has blamed that the government has been making attempts to run the country by issuing ordinances frequently, RSS reports. Addressing the closed session of the two-day Second National Conference of the Youth Association Nepal on Monday, Khanal said that the intention of the government to run the country by issuing ordinances would in no way be acceptable in the context that all should move ahead by forging national consensus. He clarified that amendment to Articles of the Interim Constitution is necessary to hold elections of the Constituent Assembly (CA) and it is only possible from consensus among political parties in the context that the Election Commission has already said that the election is not possible in this situation. Khanal added that the government has to open the door of national consensus among political parties by stepping down. He said that the Nepali Congress has to be ready for a national consensus government by selecting a candidate of the prime minister immediately, otherwise, NC should support the CPN-UML for the leadership of the government. Similarly, Secretary of the CPN-UML Shankar Pokhrel said that all the parties should unite to end the transition period of the country with national consensus. Leader of the party, Ghanashyam Bhusal, said that achievements of historic people´s movements are in risk due to the extreme leftist thought of the UCPN (Maoist). In the close session, leaders of the party including Modnath Prashrit, Yogesh Bhattarai, Chairman of the Youth Association Nepal, Mahesh Basnet, among others, said that the country should not be taken a hostage of indecision and stressed on creating pressure for the formation of a national consensus government. Around 500 representatives have been participating in the conference started Sunday. Nnnn ________________________________________ ASIA FUELS RECORD ELEPHANT, RHINO KILLINGS Kathmandu, 23 July: China, Vietnam and Thailand are among the worst offenders in fuelling a global black market that is seeing record numbers of elephants and rhinos killed in Africa, according to environment group WWF, AFP reports from Manila. Releasing a report rating countries' efforts at stopping the trade in endangered species, WWF said elephant poaching was at crisis levels in central Africa while the survival of rhinos was under grave threat in South Africa. In parts of Asia, rhino horns are highly prized for their use in traditional medicines -- some believe they can cure cancer -- while elephants' ivory has for centuries been regarded as a precious decoration. Global efforts to stem the trade have been under way for years, but China, Thailand and Vietnam are allowing black markets in various endangered species to flourish by failing to adequately police key areas, according to WWF. It said Vietnam was one of the countries of most concern, giving it a worst-possible "red" score for failing to stem the trade in rhino horns as well as tiger parts. "It is time for Vietnam to face the fact that its illegal consumption of rhino horn is driving the widespread poaching of endangered rhinos in Africa," said WWF's global species programme manager, Elizabeth McLellan. "It must crack down on the illegal rhino horn trade." WWF said Vietnam was the top destination for rhino horns illegally imported from South Africa. It described South Africa as the "epicentre" in an African rhino poaching crisis, despite strong government efforts there that began in 2009 to stop the killings. A record 448 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2011, and this year could be even worse with 262 already lost from January to June, according to WWF. The wildlife group accused the Vietnamese government of doing very little to stop rhino horns from being imported, describing penalties in Vietnam for buying them as not nearly strong enough to act as a deterrent. It also said Vietnamese diplomats had been arrested or implicated in South Africa for trying to buy rhino horns. WWF said Chinese authorities should be recognised for their strong and effective efforts to stop the rhino horn trade within their borders. But it accused China and Thailand of being among the worst culprits in allowing the illegal trade of elephant tusks. "Tens of thousands of African elephants are being killed by poachers each year for their tusks, and China and Thailand are top destinations for illegal African ivory," WWF said. WWF urged China to improve its enforcement procedures and warn Chinese nationals they would face severe penalties if they were caught illegally importing ivory from Africa. WWF said China banned using rhino horn for traditional medicines in 1993, and authorities had followed through with periodic crackdowns that were effective in stopping it being sold in pharmacies. China has also made genuine efforts overall to stop the illegal trade of endangered species' parts, but elephants' ivory remained a big problem because of the huge demand in the world's most populous country, it said. In Thailand, WWF said the main problem was a unique law that allowed the legal trade in ivory from domesticated elephants. In reality, this was a "legal loophole" that allowed indistinguishable illegal African ivory to be sold openly in upscale boutiques, it said. The conservation group said there were some bright spots around the world, with India and Nepal receiving a best-possible "green" score for their efforts to stem the trade in elephants, rhinos and tigers. WWF said significant efforts had been made globally to save tigers following a summit in Russia two years ago that attracted leaders from the 13 countries with wild populations of the endangered animal. Still, it warned more than 200 tiger carcasses were being detected each year on the global black market. "With as few as 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild, every tiger poaching death is a major concern," it said. nnnn