MEET

PRACHANDA, PRESIDENT MEET
Kathmandu, 1 Aug.: Maoist Chairman Prachanda Thursday held discussions with President Dr.Ram Baran Yadav who has been urging parties to bring the opposition into the election fray.
Dr, Yadav has been holding regular consultations with political party leaders.
The chief of UCPN Maoist also heads the HLPM of four parties supporting the government.
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SUPREME COURT DIRECTS GOVT. COURTS TO
PRIORITIZE HEARINGS ON SPECIAL CASES
Kathmandu, 1 Aug.: In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the government and authorities concerned to make special provisions to promptly hear and clear cases of ‘serious nature’ such as rape, hostage taking and human trafficking. The apex court said victims of such cases have not been able to get timely
and ‘effective’ justice, Pranab Kharel writes in The Kathmandu Post..
The court was responding to a petition filed by Uma Tamang of Maiti Nepal, Sunita Danuwar of Shakti Samuha and Sushma Gautam of Forum for Women, Law and Development, in September 2012, demanding an order to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Nepal Police Headquarters to direct District Police Offices to produce the accused in the court during the investigation period itself.
The court on Wednesday ordered its administration, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG)  and the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure “continuous hearing” on all such cases. According to the verdict, a case once opened for hearing cannot be adjourned until a judgement is delivered.
Though there is a legal provision that calls for “continuous hearing” on certain cases, it has not been followed as the court administration and the government attorney’s office interpret it as an “optional” provision.
A division bench of Justices Kalyan Shrestha and Baidya Nath Upadhyay on Wednesday said the “continuous hearing” provision in the District Court Regulation is not optional.
The bench also ordered the apex court registrar to form a mechanism in different courts to help facilitate dialogue among different stakeholders in a case, including attorneys of the plaintiff and government attorneys.
The division bench further directed the Monitoring Division of the Supreme Court to keep track of developments in such cases, while also ordering the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal Police Headquarters and the OAG to make necessary arrangements to produce witnesses as required by the courts to ensure continuous hearing.
The petitioners had also sought orders in the name of the OAG to direct its subordinate offices to produce witnesses in the court while filing charge-sheets.
The appellants have also sought orders to the apex court administration to ensure that it prepares case hearing calendars in a way that ensures continuous hearing of the cases.

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BIRD FLU ALERT IN CHITWAN AFTER OUTBREAK IN
CAPITAL
Kathmandu, 1 Aug.:As the news of bird flu outbreak in the capital filtered through, local authorities in Chitwan are exercising much caution, strictly monitoring the movement of poultry products in the district—the biggest producer of chickens in the
Country, Bimal Khatiwada reports from Chitwan in The Kathmandu Post..
The government offices, including Animal Service Office, have started adopting strict measures to prevent transmission of the disease in the area. The office on Saturday destroyed 6,500 chickens being transported from the Nawalparasi district.
“We have asked the officials to report immediately if they find dead fowls,” said Animal Service Office chief Ram Kumar Karki.
According to the office, they are keeping close vigil on areas along the highway to bring the situation under control. “Unlike in the past, bird flu this time round is likely to have severe effect in the sector,” said Chandra Man Shrestha, president of Poultry Entrepreneurs’ Forum.
Hundreds of poultry farms, including 50 large farms are in operation in the district with a total investment estimated at Rs 30-32 billion. Poultry entrepreneurs put the annual turnover in the sector at Rs 60 billion.
The entrepreneurs are remembering the loss they had to incur a few months ago after bird flu appeared in 15 poultry farms here. Not surprisingly, poultry farmers here are hesitant even to sell their chickens at the moment. Majority of chickens produced in the district are transported to Kathmandu for consumption.
Around 200,000 live chickens from the district were destroyed when strains of bird flu were found last time. Entrepreneurs incurred an estimated loss of Rs 250 million as a result. Most of the poultry farms that were sealed by the Animal Service Office at the time have still remained closed.
“Despite the shortage of chicken, farmers are reluctant to supply chickens to the market due to the outbreak,” said Shrestha.
Tilchandra Bhattarai, poultry expert and president of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chitwan, said the poultry entrepreneurs had incurred the biggest ever loss this year.
“We are evaluating the actual loss of the entrepreneurs,” he said. “We have recommended the entrepreneurs to adopt necessary safety measure, while the consumers have been advised to cook meat properly before eating.”
The government has allocated Rs 50 million for the development of the sector. However, the entrepreneurs have been demanding Rs 500 million from the government.
 Shrestha urged the government to give special preference to the sector and help reopen the closed poultry farms. The entrepreneurs have been demanding the government to introduce provision for bank loan and insurance.

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