President of Mongolia Natsagiin Bagabandi and the First Lady Madame Oyumbileg participating in a puja at Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha on Saturday. His Majesty King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya are also seen in the background.

Nepal-Mongolia to set joint body to review relations

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 6 - Marking the first ever state visit by the Mongolian head of State, Nepal and Mongolia today agreed to establish a joint commission at the Foreign Ministerial level to act as an umbrella body to review the various aspects of bilateral relations.

Talking to reporters after the official talks at Singha Durbar this evening, Mongolian President Natsagiin Bagabandi, also declared that Mongolia will be opening an honorary consulate in Nepal.

The three-day visit of President Bagabandi, who arrived here from New Delhi on Friday, marks the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During the occasion, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said that the two countries have also agreed to "explore further areas of co-operation in various fields including trade, investment, tourism and science and technology".

"The two countries will also continue to co-operate closely for promoting the cause of the landlocked developing countries in various international forums," PM Koirala said.

Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola and his Mongolian counterpart, L. Erdenechuluun, signed the framework agreement on bilateral co-operation today. President Bagabandi and Prime Minister Koirala were also present during the signing.

"The agreement envisages to foster co-operation in various fields including agriculture, livestock, pasture and handicrafts," PM Koirala said.

Responding to queries on Mongolia’s interest of co-operation from Nepal’s peace-keeping missions, President Bagabandi said that much was a part of "sharing experiences" with Nepal.

"Mongolia is committed to reform its defence policy and one of it is to participate in UN peace-keeping process...there is a lot to learn from Nepalese participation," he said.

When asked about Mongolia’s stand on the much-talked United States’ initiation on building a Anti-Missile Defence Shield, President Bagabandi said that his country would not support the US initiative as it "would push nuclear arms race" globally.

"Both Nepal and Mongolia are surrounded by nuclear powers. Mongolia in 1992 was declared a nuclear free zone which was even approved by the 53th UN General Assembly...We would not support national defence initiative of US," President Bagabandi said.

President Bagabandi further said that Nepal’s "initiative to declare her as a Zone of Peace is commendable." "We support the Nepalese proposal," he said.

Though Nepal vigorously pushed ahead its Zone of Peace proposal during the partyless Panchayat system and garnered support of over 140 sovereign nations world over, the issue has never figured out in Nepal’s international relations in the post democratic period. Neither the proposal has been officially scrapped. Meanwhile, earlier this morning, President Bagabandi, and the Mongolian First Lady A. Oyunbileg went on a sightseeing tour around the Swayambhunath Stupa area.

Likewise, RSS adds that Their Majesties King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah and Queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah, alongwith President Bagabandi and his spouse observed archaeological sites at Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, today.

Their Majesties and the distinguished guests also offered worship at the Mayadevi Temple and observed the stone on which Lord Buddha first set foot after his birth.

On the occasion, in the presence of Their Majesties, the Mongolian President and his spouse laid the foundation stone of Gandantek Chengling Monastery.

The Monastery, being constructed on a plot of land of about one bigha, is to be built in the Mongolian Style in the Lumbini Monastic Zone.

19 rhinos dead in last nine months

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 6 - At least 19 rhinos have died, six of them due to poaching, in and around Royal Chitwan National Park in the last nine months time, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) said here today.

The figure is down from last year’s rhino death toll of 40. During the previous Nepali year 2057 BS, a total of 40 rhinos died, 12 of them due to poaching, according to information made available Saturday by Narendra Babu Pradhan, assistant ecologist at DNPWC.

"We have less incidents of poaching this year due to various anti-poaching measures we have taken," Pradhan told The Kathmandu Post. DNPWC together with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have set up various anti-poaching units in and around Chitwan and Bardia national parks, which are home to Royal Bengal tigers, one-horned Asiatic rhinos and dozens of other exotic wildlife species.

Of the six rhinos killed by poachers this year, four were shoot with bullets while the circumstances leading to the death of the other two is not yet known. Whereas most of the rhinos that died natural deaths, died as a result of fighting between themselves or tiger attack, Pradhan said.

Last year, a total of 28 rhinos died natural deaths, out of which five died after fighting with other rhinos, 18 due to an old age, two due to tiger attack and three in swamp and river-related accidents. Of the 12 rhinos killed by poachers, three were shot with bullets, two electrocuted, two poisoned while the reason leading to the death of other rhinos is not known.

Conservation officials attribute what they claim effective anti-poaching measures coupled with strict wildlife conservation laws have contributed in reducing the incidents of poaching.

According to them, in Bardia park in the mid-western Terai alone, forest guards have already killed over one dozen poachers since the official Nepali year 2052 BS began in mid-April.

Rhinos are killed for its horns, hooves, bones and hide that are used in making Traditional Chinese Medicines. Experts say the medicines are still very much popular amongst Chinese communities all over the old.

A census conducted in May 2000 put the population of the Asiatic one-horned rhino in Nepal at 612, up from 446-466 in 1994. Of these, 544 were in Chitwan, one of the world’s best rhino habitats included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list, while 67 others were in Bardia park, and one more in Royal Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve.

The total population of one-horned rhino, one of the nature’s oldest mammal species which was found in abundance from Pakistan to Myanmar at the turn of the last century, today stands at 2,618 worldwide. Their population in India stands at 1,868, while 138 more live in captivity in zoos.

Haldia Port preferable to Calcutta

By Bijaya Ghimire

HALDIA, India, Jan 6 - Haldia Port, lying 80 kilometers away from Calcutta, could be better alternative to the often-problematic and costly Calcutta Port for Nepali businessmen.

Frequent strikes and lockouts at the Calcutta Port resulting into heavy demurrage, has been costing Nepali businessmen extra millions of rupees every year. Demurrage in the past four months alone has crossed over Rs 20 million.

Nepal Cargo Handling Agents Association (NCHAA), told the Nepali media persons that using Haldia Port instead of Calcutta Port would be more beneficial for Nepali businessmen involved in the foreign trade.

Not only is the Haldia Port more efficient in handling cargo, resulting in reduction of demurrage to a considerable extent, labor problem at Haldia is also almost non-existent, they said. In addition, freight at Haldia is far lower than at the Calcutta Port.

Calculations revealed that the costs of handling a 20 feet long container at the Calcutta Port costs around nine thousand Indian Rupees(IRs), while handling similar container in the Haldia Port costs as low as IRs 4500.

Further, the Haldia Port will be more attractive once it is directly connected to Birgunj Inland Container Depot (ICD) through broad-gauge railway. The railway link is under construction and is expected to complete within few months.

Light traffic and ability to accommodate huge cargo ships, unlike the busy Calcutta Port in the Hoogly river, are other beauties of the Haldia Port.

An agent involved in handling Nepali goods at both the ports, says, "Loading and unloading at the Haldia Port is quicker. In addition, low freight would reduce costs of export\import to a considerable extent, which means lesser pressure on the competitiveness of Nepali products abroad."

Although the Transit Treaty signed between Nepal and India in 1998 stipulates that Nepal can use both Calcutta and Haldia Ports for carrying out overseas trade, trade with third countries takes place mostly via Calcutta Port.

Royal Nepal Trade Counselor Bhoj Raj Ghimire at Calcutta says since Indo-Nepal transit treaty permits Nepal from using the Haldia Port, businessmen should look into this opportunity. Even the Indian government favours the use of Haldia Port to Calcutta Port with a view to reduce load in Calcutta. "Nepali trade can be carried out more smoothly through the relatively traffic free Haldia than Calcutta," said D Naik, Manager of Shipping and Cargo Handling, Haldia Port.

The busy Calcutta Port presently handles over 90 per cent of Nepali trade carried out through multi-modal containers. Nepal presently imports almost 22 thousand containers of goods annually.

However, some businessmen claim that the Haldia Port, being relatively new, lacks adequate infrastructure for carrying out large volume of foreign trade. Another problem associated with the port is the lack of Customs facilities, which however, Indian officials have committed to resolve if a bulk of Nepali trade is conducted via Haldia.

Small parties lament media indifference

By Utpal Raj Misra

KATHMANDU, Jan 6 – The Election Commission egistered Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) as the 100th political party last week. From among the 100 political parties registered, not only a layman, but even a political expert finds it hard to remember the names of only a dozen.

Why then are there so many parties and so few are remembered, let alone voted by the public?

The smaller political parties blame media, fund crunch and growing use of muscles and money in politics for the humiliation they often face in elections.

"The media does not acknowledge our programs nor what we say," says Ram Hari Sharma, a freedom fighter and president of Nepal Praja Parishad, the oldest party in the country.

Definitely things were pretty different when Sharma and a few other bold youth established the first-ever political party to fight the Rana Oligarchy some six decades ago. Then their party had one and only mission: to overthrow the Ranas. Thus, their goal was consistent. But today big political parties are neither consistent in their goals nor are honest towards people and yet media is giving them undue coverage, Sharma says.

He also laments that media is not giving attention to the politics of character. "We believe that character is the most essential thing in democracy." And it is this "politics without character" that frustrates the small parties.

"After 1990 we lost hold in politics as we were preaching morality as others went after money and power politics", he adds.

Leela Mani Pokharel, General Secretary of Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal, which has only one seat in the House of Representatives broadly agrees with Sharma’s view. Media attention is presently concentrated only on head-counts in the parliament. The media has, for quite some time, has been erroneously following this principle, he says.

Kuber Sharma, formerly a lawmaker of the ruling Nepali Congress, who dissented from the mother party to form his own Hariyali Nepal Party says," It is natural for many parties to exist in a democracy and it has its merits and demerits."

In his opinion the present political culture that feeds heavily on money, muscle and misuse of government authorities is affecting the survival of the smaller political parties. "It is the combination of these elements that affects the outcome of elections."

Had it not been for principle and morality, which we value most in politics there would be some "heads" to represent us in the parliament, says Ram Hari Sharma. "Since we hold to our moral grounds we don’t go to anyone asking for donations nor anyone gets interested in contributing anything to us as they know we can give nothing in return," he adds. "The party is running on the contributions made by the party members", he informs.

Kuber Sharma also thinks that the problems faced by the small political parties ultimately converge to the problem of fund crunch. In his analysis, lack of financial resources lead to lack of manpower which limits the activity of the party and that limits media acknowledgement. Thus, it is difficult for the small parties to put across their views no matter how genuine they may be, he argues. "This is why the public is often misled that the smaller parties are doing nothing."

He also blames the present Constitution for the plight of the smaller parties.

"Under the present constitution, a party that has obtained only 32 per cent of the popular votes has 113 seats in the parliament and the party with 29 per cent of popular votes has 83 seats. This explains the flaw in our electoral system" he adds.

Sharma argues, it would be therefore pertinent to go for a proportional representation system of governance.

Pokharel too agrees that the proportional representation system would make it possible for better accommodation of various types of ideas and interest groups.

Smaller parties think it is also the absence of provision in the Constitution for election government that affects the outcome of the elections. "There will not be fair and free election unless conducted by an independent election government," says Ram Hari Sharma.

With or without the election government, elections will not be fair and small parties will be in the receiving end unless the present trend of Criminalization of politics is contained, says Pokharel.

Orphan girls need support to adapt

By Shraddha Shrestha

KATHMANDU, Jan 6 - Pramila Chaudhary, who has just crossed her teenage has been living alone for the past two years, confident that she can adjust well in society even though she never got the privilege to have a family of her own.

Pramila works as a librarian at Bal Mandir, Naxal and is at present taking painting classes for the children in the winter camp at the Bal Mandir.

"I am happy to earn on my own and live alone," says Pramila, who spent 16 years of her life at the Orphanages in Bal Mandir and Nepal Girl Care Centre (NGCC).

There are many like Pramila, who have spent many years of their lives in the orphanages and yet face the society with certain boldness.

A huge part of the credit goes to Devi Lama, 43, who is a mother figure of 26 teenaged girls like Pramila after they come out of Bal Mandir. She operates the NGCC, the home for teenaged girls which teaches them to be independent and help them to adjust in the society.

"It was in NGCC I learnt a lot about the society, about which I was completly unaware before," says Pramila. "Now that I am on my own, I sometimes fear how people and the society takes me as I am living alone, otherwise I am totally confident to face all challenges."

Every year five girls are taken into NGCC from Bal Mandir, says Lama. "We try to choose girls who are sisters so as not to break their relations," says Lama, where the girls stay for three years.

It is during this period of three years that the girls get engaged in full-time academics or vocational trainings like computer and gardening. "This gives the girls a chance to find respectful employment once they leave the center," says Lama, who has two children of her own.

Being orphans, they have their own share of fears and complexes. "They have a problem when it comes to decision making, opinion formation and socialization," says Ganga Pathak. "And are highly vulnerable about emotions, insecurity."

Pathak says that repeated counsellings help the girls cast off their fears and build a positive attitude. "The girls are regularly monitored and psychologically assessed and receive counselling accordingly," she says.

Lama says she gets mixed feelings - of anxiety and exhilaration when these girls leave their home of three years and step out.

"Personally there is lot of pain when the girls are leaving but official release of these girls is a must. Otherwise their track will be disturbed and they will not be able to build their own careers and life ahead," says Lama, whose NGCC is supported by a Swedish agency Kd-k.