CAMBODIAN PM WRAPS NEPALI UN ENVOY Kathmandu, 5 Oct.: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday lashed out at a UN human rights envoy for writing “untrue” reports about the Southeast Asian nation, saying he should worry about his homeland Nepal instead, AFP writes from Phnom Penh,. The attack follows a scathing report by Surya Subedi last month that said a series of Cambodian land disputes “indicate an increasingly desperate and unhappy population”. While Hun Sen did not accuse Subedi by name, the strongman premier said the author of the “untrue” writings was a national of a country that “has already abolished the monarchy” and “at this hour... has no constitution”. “Hopefully, he will go and help his own country. That would be better than helping Cambodia,” Hun Sen said in a speech to graduating students in Phnom Penh. Hun Sen ’s remarks appear to be the strongest yet against the Oxford-educated law professor, who became UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia in 2009. Hun Sen also took a swipe at the UN human rights office in Cambodia, reminding its staff they were merely “long-term tourists” and he could refuse to work with them at any time. “If you don’t work appropriately, I will not meet with you,” he said. Activists say land conflicts are Cambodia’s most pressing human rights issue. Protests have intensified this year and campaigners say the authorities are increasingly cracking down on dissent. nnnn 10 BIRDS ON THREATENED LIST Kathmandu, 5 Oct.:- The number of nationally threatened bird species has risen from 149 to 159 in the last two years, according to a preliminary report on the status of birds in Nepal. Increasing deforestation and human encroachment are leading to habitat loss and placing the fragile bird species at risk, Pragati Shahi writes in The Kathmandu Post.. Among the bird species that are now included in the list of threatened species are Lesser Necklaced Laughing Thrush, Greater Necklaced Laughing Thrush and various species of Harriers. The final report of the study has yet to be made public. The findings of the preliminary report were made public on the final day of a workshop to discuss the present conservation status and update the number of threatened birds, adding 10 more species to the list, said Hem Sagar Baral, an ornithologist with Himalayan Nature, one of the organisers of the programme. The workshop, attended by more than 60 ornithologists, kicked off on Monday and was organised to support the government's initiative to review the conservation status of different bird species. “The loss of bird habitats including forests and wetlands is the major cause behind the increase in the number of threatened species that need more protection and conservation,” said Baral. Out of 871 bird species found in Nepal, around 650 are dependent on forests for their survival while around 200 are dependent on wetlands. A national-level assessment, carried out two years ago by Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and other concerned partners, listed a total of 149 species as "nationally threatened," meaning that these birds required stringent conservation efforts if they were to continue to exist in nature. During the three-day workshop, the conservation status of 241 birds, including the 149 locally threatened species, were reviewed and discussed. According to bird experts, the clearing of forests for settlements and roads to meet the demands of an increasing population, over-exploitation of wetlands for fishing, mismanagement of the wetlands and poaching were among major causes affecting the survival of bird species in the country. Famous bird habitats, namely the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Beeshazari Tal and Jagadispur Tal, were also found to have severely deteriorated in recent times. “Experts are working to come up with a detailed government report on the conservation status of all existing 871 bird species, which will be finalised by the end of next year,” said Baral. Nnnn CAAN TO HIRE FOREIGN EXPERTS TO IMROVE AIR SAFETY Kathmandu, 5 Oct.: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal ( CAAN ) plans to hire foreign experts to improve safety and other aspects in the country’s aviation sector, The Kathandu Post writes.. Speaking at a programme on addressing bird hazards at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport, CAAN Director General Tri Ratna Manandhar said, “A recent board meeting of CAAN has decided on this course of action.” He added that CAAN was currently following the European Standards procedure for maintenance of aircraft. Meanwhile, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Post Bahadur Bogati said that the government had adopted a number of immediate measures to ensure safer skies. “We have planned to dispatch inspectors to some airports to study safety aspects,” he said. Likewise, CAAN has directed airlines to maintain a single model fleet. It has given them until Dec 31 to fully enforce the system as per International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules. The directives will bar pilots from operating multiple types of aircraft. Minister Bogati said that the government had decided to hold an interaction with the people living around TIA to make them aware of environmental and bird hazards besides educating them on air movements and possible consequences. Immediately after the Sita Air crash on the banks of the Manohara River in Bhaktapur district, the cause of which has been suspected to be a bird hit, CAAN officials said that it was necessary to educate people on how birds are attracted to TIA and how that could be prevented. According to CAAN , the polluted Bagmati and Manohara rivers, paddy cultivation, trees and landfill sites which are situated within a 15-km radius of TIA have been attracting birds to the area. Officials said that when a bird weighing 3 kg slams into an aircraft at 150 km per hour, the impact is equivalent to being struck by a 1,800 kg hammer on an area of 1 sq ft. “The speed of a bird is equal to a missile when it hits an object from a negative direction,” CAAN officials said. “Perhaps this will be the first deadly crash due to a bird strike if the fact-finding committee finds that as the cause of the mishap of Sita Air.” The first bird hit happened to a Thai Airways Airbus A300 in October 1996. The second major bird strike happened to a Bangladesh Biman DC-10 on Sept 2, 2010. More than 70 bird strikes have been reported in Nepal since 1990. Most of them have occurred during take-off or landing, officials said. TIA has a 48 percent incidence of bird strikes compared to other airports. A CAAN report shows that there are 29 species of birds in the area around TIA. Among them, five are large types, 10 are medium sized and 24 small sized. The black kite is the major threat, and bird strikes happen mainly during the period September-October. Officials said that five bird strikes have been reported so far this year. Nnnn INDIA ADOPTS SECOND WAVE OF ECONOMIC REFORMS Kathmandu, 5 Oct.: India 's Cabinet pushed ahead with a second wave of economic reform proposals, endorsing higher levels of foreign investment in insurance and pension funds and amendments to laws governing competition, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said, AP reports from New Delhi. Nearly all of the new measures have to be approved by Parliament, where support is questionable and the governing coalition controls only a minority of seats. Nevertheless, the government appeared to be focused on keeping up the momentum created by measures announced last month aimed at bringing in foreign investment, strengthening the rupee and reversing the country's slowing economic growth. Government officials told reporters before the Cabinet meeting Thursday evening that the decisions being made were crucial; TV news channels spent the day touting the proposals. In anticipation of the reforms, the benchmark Sensex index breached the 19,000 level for the first time in 15 months and the rupee rose above 52 to the dollar for the first time since April. In the end, the Cabinet agreed to support raising the limit on foreign investment in insurance and pension funds from 26 to 49 percent, Chidambaram said. Business leaders pushed for the increase to bring in a wave of foreign capital that could help the country increase investment in infrastructure and other needed projects. The Cabinet also proposed modernizing India 's outdated laws governing companies and competition. The moves come as the government struggles to overcome a growing raft of corruption scandals, policy paralysis and months of bad economic news. Last month, the Cabinet decided to allow huge multi-brand retailers such as Wal-Mart to own a majority state in retail outlets. It also allowed increased foreign investment in airlines and the broadcast industry. The government also slightly eased concerns about its huge deficit by decreasing subsidies on diesel and cooking fuel. However, those decisions could be made by the Cabinet directly, and did not need the parliamentary approval required for Thursday's proposals. Though an important coalition ally quit over the reforms and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was left in charge of a minority coalition, the government showed that it could make a risky and decisive move without backing down. "What really has changed over the last month or so is that the decision-making process has become much faster," said Samiran Chakraborty, head of research at Standard Chartered, a financial services company. "All these reforms are reinforcing the view that foreign investment is welcome in this country." The government has been buoyed by the response to its moves, with business leaders expressing cautious optimism that the nation's policy logjam may have finally been broken. nnnn