Nepal

Kathmadu, August 9

Police arrested a person with 150 grams of gold he collected from returnee Nepali migrant workers at Tribhuvan International Airport yesterday.

According to Central Police News Section, Bhupendra Magar, 35, of Doramba Rural Municipality, Ramechhap, had allegedly used the migrant workers returning from Gulf countries to transport gold, promising them handsome wage. He is suspected to be colluding with abroad-based racketeers active in sending gold in small consignments through returnee migrant workers.

Police said three bracelets weighing 50 tola each were confiscated from Magar. An oversea returnee is allowed to carry gold up to 50 grams in the form of ornament. Racketeers like Magar have been misusing this provision by making migrant workers to carry permissible quantity of gold as ornament.

Generally, racketeers pay a wage of around Rs 6,000 to each migrant worker for carrying home 50 grams of gold, police investigation showed. In some cases, migrant workers are paid by the racketeers from the Gulf via wire after the consignment of gold is received by the concerned person in Nepal. According to a figure of TIA, customs officials and police seized an average of two kilograms of undeclared gold collected by racketeers from migrant workers in a week.

According to the data with Nepal Police, smuggling and illegal trade of gold is rife in the country. As many as 110 persons were arrested with 123.9 kilograms of undeclared gold from different parts of the country, including TIA in the fiscal 2018-19. Value of the seized gold comes to around 444.5 million rupees. Police had rounded up 90 persons with 72 kilograms of gold in the previous fiscal.

DIG Bishwa Raj Pokharel, Nepal Police spokesperson, claimed that the law enforcement agency had stepped up action against persons involved in gold smuggling and illegal trade, transaction and sale of the precious yellow metal by maintaining greater vigil against the suspects. Security and customs officials are on high alert to respond to newer modes of smuggling adopted by gold smugglers. According to police, most of the smuggled gold enters Nepal from Gulf countries through TIA, and Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi-Kerung points via Tibet of China.

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Kathmandu, August 9

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has extended the period of powers it earlier delegated to the district development committees till mid-January 2020, with regard to approval of Initial Environmental Examination.

A decision to this effect was made on Sunday. With this decision, the power to approve the terms of reference and report of IEE related to extraction and collection of river products will remain with the DDCs in accordance with the Environment Protection Act and Rules.

According to the circular issued by Environment and Disaster Management Section of the MoFAGA yesterday, the concerned local levels shall be proponent of IEE regarding collection and extraction of river products for development activities. The IEE to be conducted by the local levels will be approved by the DDCs on the recommendation of a district-level IEE Review Committee led by chiefs of district coordination committee offices. The committee will discuss the IEE reports before recommending them to the DDCs for approval, the circular stated.

The IEE report needs to include details with the site map, quantity, duration, equipment and method for collection or extraction of river products. The committee may issue necessary directions to the concerned local level, or extractor or collector regarding terms and conditions of the environmental study report and procedures and rules related to extraction of products. It may also issue directions regarding revenue leakage and smuggling, road safety and pollution control, market price, control of river and mining products, and standards to be followed by crusher industries.

If the directives are not followed, the committee may restrict rule violators from extracting, collecting or exporting river products.

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Kathmandu, August 9

The committee formed to recommend commissioners of two transitional justice bodies plans to publish names of prospective candidates in the next 10 days.

The committee has so far collected 57 applications for the posts of chairpersons and members of Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons. However, the committee also plans to add a few more names to the list as none of the 57 applicants meet the criteria for chairpersons.

The selection process endorsed by the committee has provisioned that panel can list any eligible personname even if the person has not filed application or is not recommended by any person or institution within the set deadline, considering the personspecial qualification.

The committee has almost finalised the criteria for listing individuals who have not applied for the posts themselves. &We will finalise the criteria in the next few days, and publish a list in the next eight to ten days,& said the committeemember Prakash Osti.

As it prepares for publishing names of prospective candidates, the committee today held a meeting with stakeholders of the 10-year Maoist insurgency, including representatives of victims& organisations, police and army.

During the talks, the victims put forth their long-standing demand that Transitional Justice Act be amended in line with the Supreme Courtverdicts before appointing TRC, CIEDP commissioners, according to Suman Adhikari, former chairperson of Conflict Victims& Common Platform.

&The commissions have failed so far because of poor legislation. Appointing new members in the commissions without amending the act is meaningless,& Adhikari said.

The victims also advised the selection committee to appoint competent candidates in the commission without buckling under political pressure.

&We also demanded that the selection criteria be made public so that we could give our inputs as stakeholders,& he said.

The committee members said act amendment was beyond their mandate, but they would cooperate with the victims to pressure the government for the same.

Todaymeeting comes against the backdrop of demands for dissolution of the selection committee. The victims have criticised the committee for being non-transparent and acting as per the direction of political parties. International rights organisations have also called on the government to start a fresh appointment process.

Dialogue between political parties, on the other hand, has been completely halted, thanks to internal factional feud, and sources say the dialogue is unlikely to resume for a foreseeable future.

According to sources, the major hurdle has been the friction between leaders representing former CPN-UML and former CPN-Maoist Centre in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP). While leaders of former CPN-MC want the transitional justice process to conclude soon, former UML leaders want to prolong the process and use it as bargaining tool.

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Kathmandu, August 9

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities today organised a rally in Kathmandu under the banner ‘Save Reservation Campaign& to protest the Federal Public Service Commissiondecision to recruit over 9,000 staffers for local governments.

NEFIN organised the protest programme to mark the International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples.

Protesters marched through the inner roads of Kathmandu before converging at Maitighar Mandala where leaders from major political parties, including former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, indigenous leader Suresh Ale Magar and columnist CK Lal expressed solidarity with the organisationcampaign for reservation.

NEFIN and other organisations championing the cause of marginalised communities have opposed the FPSC for not allocating seats under all clusters that qualify for reservation. FPSC has, however, said that it could not allocate seats for all clusters as there were only one or two seats in some local levels.

NEFIN Vice President Govinda Chhantyal said unlike the past when NEFIN used to organise indoor events to mark the International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples, this year the umbrella body of indigenous nationalities decided to organise protest rally to warn the government against its attempts to dilute affirmative action. Protesters also presented their cultural dance during the protests today.

&One good thing about ‘Save Reservation Campaign& is that all marginalised communities are united to protect their interests,& said Chhantyal.

NEFIN will organise a sit-in at Singha Durbar on August 11 and in front of the prime ministerofficial residence in Baluwatar on August 13 and 14. On August 17, NEFIN will organise a mass protest in Kathmandu ending the first phase of protest against the government and FPSU. Chhantyal said his organisation will decide about the modes of next phase of protests after consulting with stakeholders.

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