SALE OF 15 ESSENTIAL FOOD ITEMS AT MINIMUM PRICE BEGINS MONDAY Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: Sale on 15 food items like varieties of rice pulses and are being sold at minimum retain price (MRP)fixed by government ahead of the coming festive season that begins in five weeks Authorities said the sale of essentials will be closely monitored. Nepal Retail Traders’Association, has asked members to follow government fixed pices of essential items. Nnnn SURGE IN VIRAL FEVER CASES AT SIRAHA VDC Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: More than 200 residents of Hajariya VDC in Sarlahi were hit bv viral fever Sunday ad have been admitted to hospital. . The surge has overwhelmed health workers amid medicine shortage Nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “I received death threats, faced murder attempts for campaigning against federalism. But I am not afraid of anyone. “Nepali citizens have expressed the desire for decentralizing the centralised government system. They have not wished to disintegrate the country even now. The issue was only raised by leaders and foreign powers.” (Janamorcha Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC in The Kathmandu Post revealing he had been promised Rs.10 million to give up his anti-federation stand, 17 Sept.) nnnn . LEOPARD CAT CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT 4500M Kathmandu, 17 Sept : A camera installed for monitoring snow leopards in the Kanchanjungha Conservation Area has captured a leopard cat at 4500 m above the sea level, which, officials claimed, is the highest point at which the species was found, Khagendra Adhikari writes in Republica from Taplehung.. “As per our information, no species has been found at that altitude in any part of the world,” said Gangaram Singh, the chief of KCA. Earlier, on November 19, 2009, a camera trapping survey in Makalu-Barun National Park in eastern Nepal had recorded a leopard cat at 3254 m, which, at the time, was claimed to be the highest point at which the cat was found. Singh claimed that the 2009 record was accepted by the international community as the highest point where the leopard cat has been captured. So, the new camera trapping of the species at an altitude of 4500 meters would definitely be a new record. According to some studies, leopard cat is found at an altitudinal range of 2000 to 3000 meters. Though leopard cat, which falls under the jungle cat family category, is one of the rare species found in Nepal, there hasn´t been enough research about the species. Singh opined that the discovery indicates an upward shifting of habitat of the species. “However, there should be more investigative study on the habitat shifting by the species,” he added. The camera that was placed in the jungle near Finda of Taplejung, where the community supported snow leopard monitoring is going on, trapped the leopard cat. Researchers are excited by the discovery and are investigating the camera trapped images of the species. According to Singh, the leopard cat is smaller than both a normal leopard and a snow leopard and it measures about 60 centimeters in length. The cat normally weighs 3 to 7 kg. It has a tail of about 35 cm length. “The leopard cat preys on birds and small mammals. Birds are important food for them and that´s why locally they are known as Chari Bagh,” Singh added. nnnn ________________________________________ ACTION BEING TAKEN AGAINT EVEREST INSURANCE Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: The Insurance Board is all set to take another round of action against Everest Insurance for intentionally halting business operations without informing the regulator and holding consultation with all its Shareholders, Republica reports. The non-life insurer had stopped issuing new policies from Tuesday in a sign of protest against introduction of a corporate governance directive by the insurance sector regulator. Following this, the Insurance Board on Thursday sought clarification from the insurance company asking it to justify its action by Sunday. It is not known whether the insurance company complied with the instruction as nobody at the Board could confirm delivery of the documents by 5 pm Sunday. However, a high-ranking official of Everest Insurance told Republica that the clarification was sent to the Insurance Board by fax Sunday evening. But the official wasn´t sure whether the documents were sent prior to the office closing hour of 5 pm. “The clarification is two to three page long and we are planning to send the original copy tomorrow (Monday),” the official said. The Board has, however, said submission of clarification does not insulate the company from regulatory action. “We had sought clarification just to give the company an opportunity to explain itself. Since it has already violated the norms of the insurance business by stopping to issue new policies, it has to face action for the mistake it committed,” a high-ranking official of the Insurance Board told Republica on condition of anonymity. The Board is determined to take action against the insurer as it is a public company and not private property of some individuals. “If we let the company go loose, we´d be doing injustice to public shareholders who have 30 percent stake in it,” the Insurance Board official said, expressing dissatisfaction over the company´s decision to halt business by taking consent of mere nine members of the board of directors. The Board is also annoyed with Everest Insurance as the company has strongly criticized a new set of directives on corporate governance it had recently launched. The directive, among others, bars insurance companies from generating business from its promoters, prevents one person from assuming the position of board director in multiple insurance companies and restricts more than one member of a family from assuming post of board director in the same company. Everest has said these and other provisions in the directive that restrict board members to be part of various internal committees has made it difficult for the company´s directors to do business. The Insurance Board has, however, argued the directive, which has not created problems to other companies, affect one company. “This also shows their intentions are malicious, which demands action,” the Board official said. Although action against the beleaguered insurance company now looks inevitable, the question raised by many is “of what extent” as the Insurance Act is not as comprehensive and stringent as the law that governs the banking sector. For instance, the offence committed by Everest Insurance attracts a fine of only up to Rs 10,000. As seen in the case of Asian Life Insurance, whose business was temporarily halted for distributing dividend without taking consent of the regulator, the Insurance Board can go to the extent of asking the existing board of directors to dissolve it immediately and elect a new one. But insurance sector experts said this does not mean it can dissolve the board on its own and take over the management - a measure which can be taken by the banking sector regulator. “This calls for the need for extensive revision of the existing Insurance Act, which, at the moment, is almost impossible due to lack of parliament,” the expert said on condition of anonymity. Nnnn ________________________________________ PREGNANT WOMAN FIRST ADMIITTED TO MATERNITY HOSPITAL IN THAPATHALI CRITICAL Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: Lata Gurung (26), referred from Paropakar Maternity Hospital, is in critical state at Tinkune based—Kantipur Hospital. She was referred there after doctors found post-operative infection, Laxmi Maharjan writes in.The Himalayan Times. Suman KC, Lata’s husband said they had admitted her to Maternity Hospital on September 12 in normal condition. She was given an injection after labour pain began on September 13. On September 14, she underwent caesarean section and a child was delivered. Lata then recorded shock and fever at around 6:00 am. The hospital asked Suman if she had any mental disease. She was kept in Intensive Care Unit and given oxygen. After her condition worsened, she was transferred to Kantipur Hospital stating they were unable to treat her. Suman said she was transferred after his family pressurised the hospital management. She was sent to the hospital at around 5:00 pm on September 14. Suman informed that Lata had recorded some problem in her brain and was administered strong antibiotics. He said her blood pressure, pulse rate and heart beat was normal because of the support inside the ventilator. Their son has been admitted to Ishan Children’s Nursing and Maternity Home for further care. Meanwhile, two other referred cases — Sushila Sharma from Nuwakot and Binda Ghimire — are also in the ICU but are out of danger. They were referred to Kantipur Hospital on the same day. The Maternity hospital halted admission of patients and surgery from yesterday. The hospital administration announced closure of services through a public notice. The hospital said infection was recorded in the operation theatres on September 14, so no patient would be admitted and the hospital would also not carry out any surgery on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so as to ‘disinfect equipment and the operation theatres’. The hospital has transferred more than a dozen patients in two days to private and government hospitals after the health of patients deteriorated due to infection. Dr Dhan Raj Aryal, deputy director at Maternity Hospital said they had dispatched samples of equipment, medicine and materials used in operation theatres for lab test. “Only after the lab report will we be able to identify the reason behind the infection,” said Dr Aryal, adding they had already started to disinfect the operation theatre. As per protocol, the hospital management has been disinfecting wards and operation theaters regularly, said Aryal. A probe team has been formed to investigate. Meanwhile, Dr Thritha Burlakoti, chief of the Curative Service Division at the Health Ministry said the hospital management had failed to provide the date for disinfecting the operation and emergency wards although they said they disinfected the hospital time and again.“We have asked the hospital to provide the reason behind the infection in a written statement,” said the chief. He also said they would take action against the hospital management if found guilty. nnnn PUBLIC FACE, DOLLAR, IC CRUNCH Kathmandu, 17 Sept.:: The general public has been facing a difficult time in obtaining Indian currency (IC) and the US dollar in cash due to the prolonged foreign currency cash shortage, despite the swollen foreign exchange reserves, Dikshya Singh writes iin The Himalayan Times. Even large commercial banks have to turn away people that come to exchange Nepali currency with Indian rupees attributing the inadequate reserve of IC and dollars with banks. Banks are only able to issue travellers’ cheques or pre-paid cards in dollars or IC, instead of providing cash. “We visited five different so-called large banks to exchange a mere IRs 2,000, and finally got the cash after approaching an acquaintance working in one bank,” said an elderly couple travelling to India for medical purpose who wanted some pocket change to pay for taxi fare from the airport to the hotel. Similar is the case with dollars. The shortage of dollars even prompted Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to formally ask travellers to exchange the currency of destination countries instead of dollars, or use other foreign currency payment instruments issued by banks such as travellers’ cheques, pre-paid cards or credit cards. Even though the central bank allows a traveller visiting abroad to obtain foreign exchange facility of up to $2500 for each foreign trip against the testimony of a visa and confirmed air-tickets since this fiscal year, travellers will only be provided with $500 cash. The informal trade between Nepal and India, and between Nepal and China is being attributed for the shortage of IC and dollars in cash form. This fiscal year, Nepal’s foreign reserves grew by 61.5 per cent to Rs 439.46 billion. Nepal also bought IC worth Rs 133.8 billion by selling $ 2.6 million. Since only 60 per cent of total trade between Nepal and India is undertaken through formal channels, importers grab as much IC as they can even offering higher exchange rate to pay for the remaining 40 per cent illegal trade. Importers cannot approach banks for Letter of Credit or drafts to pay for under invoiced and smuggled imports, said an official at the Finance Ministry. In the border towns near India, the exchange rate for IRs 100 has reached as high as Rs 170 — Rs 10 more than the legal exchange rate. Likewise, to finance similar informal imports from China, more dollars are being used before it hits the banks. “Informal importers and illegal remitters –– Hundis –– offer more exchange rate to money exchangers so they don’t sell dollars to the banks,” pointed out president of Nepal Bankers’ Association Ashoke Rana. Hundis are suspected of being involved in aiding capital flight from Nepal. “Moreover, tourists are using more plastic cards instead of exchanging currencies further hitting the supply of dollars in cash,” he added. However, the central bank’s Thapathali office can be the solution for public looking to exchange Nepali currency to dollars or IC. “NRB’s Thapathali exchange counter will provide the currency exchange facility for the prescribed limit,” said spokesperson of the central bank Bhaskar Mani Gyanwali. “NRB can even provide more on the disclosure of purpose,” Gyanwali added. Nnnn CIAA MONITORING IREGULARITY CHARGES AGAINST MAOISTS Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is said to have been minutely scrutinising cases related to the misuse of state funds allocated as salary and allowances for former Maoist combatants, The Kathmandu Post writes.. The anti-graft body said it will take up the case as soon as the internal investigation panel formed by the UCPN (Maoist) presents its report. "We are closely following the case and evidences are being gathered," said CIAA Secretary Bhagwati Kumar Kafle, who also heads the corruption watchdog as its acting chief commissioner. Former Maoist combatants themselves have been publicly claiming that more than Rs 10 billion allocated to them during their stay in cantonments was embezzled by the party leadership. After the combatants and some leaders of the Maoist party accused the leadership of misusing the funds, the party formed a probe panel led by Post Bahadur Bogati. The opposition parties and the breakaway faction, CPN-Maoist, have been raising questions about the perceived embezzlement of millions of rupees released for the former rebel fighters. The CIAA has been accused of not taking up high-profile corruption cases involving powerful politicians and parties. Asked why it was shying away from investigating such cases, Kafle managed to escape saying that matters being probed cannot be shared until investigation concludes. Some 400 complaints have been lodged in the CIAA against illegal amassing of property. Most of them are targeted against politicians including sitting ministers, senior police officials and bureaucrats. The politicians accused of earning illegally include Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Health Minister Rajendra Mahato, and Physical Planning and Works Minister Hridayesh Tripathi. "We have asked them to provide property details and answer a questionnaire. We cannot elaborate on the case under investigation," said Kafle. Nnnn OPINION GETTING IT RIGHT Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: During the reign of King Mahendra, Nepal had been playing a constructive role as a member of the Non-Aligned Group with genuine commitment to the five principles of peaceful coexistence. In this respect King Mahendra’s role was not only important but also constructive. His clear message to various countries that Nepal would never involve itself in bilateral conflicts or wars by pitting one against the other (India vs China or India vs Pakistan) was honored at the time former Prime Minister .Kirtinidhi Bista writes in Republica. At the same time, the Indian Military Missions and Check Posts in the north, adjacent to Nepal-China border, which had been there for nearly two decades, were finally removed, which contributed to diffusing chances of conflict between Nepal and China. Actually, by honoring her promise to remain neutral, Nepal had also managed to open a new chapter of understanding and friendship with India. Nepal today has to pursue the same policy and attitude; it must not change under any circumstances. But as an independent country it should also not shirk from its responsibility to safeguard its identity and freedom. Nepal’s first priority should be to maintain best of relations with its neighbors, not only assuring them with words but also proving its commitment through deeds. It should learn from past events on Nepali soil, which were taken by our neighboring countries seriously: in India’s case, the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines airplane from Tribhuvan International Airport to Afghanistan by terrorists accused of links with a Pakistan based group; and in China’s case, the open protest organized by exponents of Free Tibet movement with the involvement of some foreigners, including a couple of diplomats, in front of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Nepal should not allow its soil to be used to sow conflict in the Tibet Autonomous Region, nor can it ignore possible intrusion of extremist elements trying to spread terror in India. But Nepal should be equally concerned about its own security. Therefore it is in the interest of all three sides to better understand each other and take steps to open a new chapter of constructive friendship. Moreover, Nepal should expand its relationship and cooperation with other countries, which will contribute to acceleration of the country’s all-round development. There are some issues that continue to sour Nepal-India relations: the first and foremost being an unequal treaty of peace and friendship signed in 1950. Nepali people take it as a blot on the forehead of their motherland and want it to be revised and amended on the basis of mutual agreement. India, the preeminent country in South Asia, should shake off its domineering mindset and start a new era of friendship and understanding with its neighbors and other regional partners as equals. That will not only improve its international image but also help it achieve a new height in international diplomacy. The border problem is another stumbling block for healthy development of Indo-Nepal relations. Limpia Dhura and Susta, among others, are among the disputed areas which need serious attention and quick settlement. If an agreement on demarcation of border between China and Nepal could be reached and concluded comfortably, why can’t the same be done vis-à-vis India? After all, such a settlement would be in the interest of both. Again, India should take the initiative with close consultation and consent of Nepal to settle this longstanding dispute. If not, Nepal, though a small country, cannot continue to lose its sacred land and keep quiet. Though the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is dead, what he said back in 1979 during my China visit as Nepal’s prime minister, rings in my ear even today. He was of the view that India and China should settle the long-standing border problem without any delay by being more accommodative and responsible towards the concerns of each other. Though India-China relations have improved with increasing cooperation in economic and trade matters, yet the border problem remains unresolved. The sooner they reach an amicable settlement on a give and take basis, the better for the entire Asian region. The ‘Asian Age’ will definitely materialize if China and India work together; that is what Nepal wants to see. Another point I would like to touch open is the 1947 Tripartite Treaty between the United Kingdom, Nepal and India that allowed India and Britain to enroll Nepali citizens in their respective armies. Nepalis wish to annul the treaty as soon as possible. Whatever the economic benefits of this treaty, Nepalis simply cannot bear to see Nepalis being killed in battles fought on behalf of other countries. (But Nepal should continue to serve as a part of the UN peace-keeping force whenever necessary.) As far as Britain is concerned, Nepal should start the process of terminating the Tripartite agreement right away. Currently, around 3,000 Nepalis are serving in the British army. If a hasty exit is inconvenient for Britain, it should be given certain timeframe to adjust to the new setup. No obligation is more important for a sovereign country than protecting the lives of its citizens. As far as India is concerned, as the number of Nepalis serving with its army is comparably bigger, the recruitment of Nepali men should be gradually phased out. The Indian Army should not have many problems, for there are millions of people of Nepali origin who have for generations been living in India, spreading from Deharadun to Assam to Darjeeling to Sikkim. It will again be in India’s interest if it started replacing Nepali citizens in Indian Army by Indian citizens of Nepali origin. Can Prime Minister Bhattarai known for his nationalistic stand in the past show some courage to deal with this all-important national issue he had himself vehemently raised at one time? If he turns a deaf ear to the wishes of the people, will the leaders of different political parties, civil society and other organizations, committed to serve the people and the country, come out publicly and push the government to take up this noble task? Or will they retain their servile posture by keeping mum? Beware! People of Nepal are watching your every utterance and action. Nnnn ________________________________________