BPMCH director missing, abduction likely

Executive director of BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur, Dr Bhaktaman Shrestha has been missing since last night. It is suspected that he was kidnapped by an unidentified group.

All the services in the hospital have been suspended protesting the inability of the local administration to find his whereabouts.

After winding up work in the BPKMCH, Dr Shrestha had gone to Chitwan Hospital Pvt Ltd in Chaubiskothi, Bharatpur last evening. But he went missing after he came out of hospital alone in his car at 10:15 pm.

According to his family, he had telephoned his wife Shilu Shrestha at 8:30 pm saying he would return home only at 10 pm for dinner. But a call to his mobile was not received when 10:30 pm/ When tried later it was found switched off.

According to SP Dhiru Basnyat, Dr Shrestha's family informed the police at 2:15 am that Dr Shrestha had been out of contact. The police suspected that he might have been kidnapped while going to the BPKMCH from Chitwan Hospital. Basnyat said the search for Dr Shrestha was on.

CDO Basanta Raj Gautam said an emergency meeting of the security agencies was held to intensify search.

Meanwhile, Dr Shrestha's car was found from Kudahar Chowk in Pokhara this evening. According to inspector Bishwo Adhikari, the empty car was parked at the chowk. He said the car was with the police. The Human Rights Network and Coordinating Committee of Private Hospitals has urged the authorities concerned to find the whereabouts of Dr Shrestha.

Source

Maoists decline to sit for talks unless PM quits

KATHMANDU: Responding to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal's letter for talks sent early in the day, the UCPN-Maoist decided on Sunday evening to not to negotiate with the government unless the prime minister reigns from the post.

The Standing Committee of the main opposition party, UCPN-Maoist, took the decision to this effect in a meeting that was held at the party's office at peris Danda in Koteshwor.

Emerging from the meeting, spokesperson for the Maoists Dinanath Sharma said "the meeting has decided not to negotiate with the government unless the prime minister steps down".

According to him, the meeting also decided to organise mass assemblies in major cities across the country on May 25, for which the party would carry out the preparatory tasks between May 10 and 14.

The Maoists, who called off for their programme of indefinite general strike on May 7, would conduct trainings and organise programme of mass mobilisation across the country spanning May 15-24.

Source

Ruling allies ask Maoists to call off stir

An all party meeting of the ruling coalition on Wednesday urged the Unified CPN-Maoist to call off their indefinite general strike as soon as possible.

The meeting which held in Biratnagar also asked the Maoists to come for talks.

After the meeting, Pramod Kumar Shah, regional member of Madhesi Janadikar Forum Nepal said that they also urged the Maoists to stop extortion.

Representatives of Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party, Sadbhawana Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal and Chure Bahawar among others were present in the meeting.

Source

3-party meet ends, Dahal hints at intensifying stir

The meeting of the three major political parties – UCPN-Maoist, CPN-UML and NC—held at Hotel Radisson Sunday evening has ended inconclusively at around 9 pm.

Today’s meet, attended by the top brass leaders of the three parties, lasted around one hour and has agreed to sit for another round of talks Monday evening.

Emerging from the meeting, UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal said today’s meeting mainly concentrated on the briefings of the taskforce meet that convened till late Saturday evening.

UML chairman said the three-party meet also spent time on analysing the 6-points agenda, driving the prospect of consensus in a ‘positive’ direction.

He further said today’s meeting decided to hold separate talks between each two parties Monday to be followed by a tripartite dialogue in the same evening.

Speaking to the media, NC’s acting president Sushil Koirala insisted there was no agreement made towards urging Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down from the post.

UCPN Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said there is still much left to be desired in the talks for forging a consensus, saying that might necessitate the agitating Maoists to intensify their stir in the days to come.

Source

UNMIN wants early decision on term extension REPUBLICA

Chief of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) Karin Landgren has asked Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to reach an early decision on extension of the UN´s political mission in Nepal.

During a meeting held with the prime minister at his official residence at Baluwatar Saturday morning, UNMIN chief Landgren said it would be easy for her to put the proposal at the upcoming UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting if the government took a decision on time on UNMIN´s term extension.

UNMIN´s term is expiring on May 15.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Nepal told her that he is holding discussions with the political parties to take a decision. He assured her that the government will soon take a decision to extend UNMIN´s stay.

The parties have already agreed in principle to extend the term, but they are found to be at odds whether to extend the term by six months or one year. He also referred to growing differences among the political parties, especially with the main opposition party UCPN (Maoist) announcing fresh strikes to topple the government and replace it with a national consensus government.

According to the prime minister´s press advisor, Bishnu Rijal, Landgren express concern about the ongoing peace process and stressed the need to conclude it at the earliest. She informed the prime minister that she had asked the Maoist leadership to act responsibly while staging protests against the government.

On the occasion, the prime minister said that the government will exercise full restraint and act responsibly in facing all challenges posed by Maoist protests. He informed Landgren that the government had received credible information the Maoists were planning to make their protest activities violent and provocative.

The prime minister also complained that a large number of cantoned Maoist combatants had come out of the cantonments with arms, violating the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) reached with the Maoists, and that Maoist protestors were arrested with explosives and arms.

PM meets Assistant SG

Prime Minister Nepal held a meeting with Assistant Secretary-General of the UN Ajay Chibber, Saturday morning.

Visiting Assistant Secretary-General Chibber inquired about the ongoing peace process and stressed the need for restraint on the part of the political parties to help conclude the process.

Chibber said that the peace process in Nepal had reached a critical juncture and expressed confidence that the political parties would be able to take the process to a logical end.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Nepal said that the government has left no stone unturned to take the peace process to a logical end. He stressed the need of cooperation from all political parties concerned to accomplish the task.

Source

PM Nepal addresses the nation; says govt 'cannot step down in this critical situation'

Addressing the nation Saturday evening, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal described the UCPN (Maoist)'s street protests as 'meaningless' and accused the opposition party of trying to create anarchy.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal addressing the nation from his...

He said the government "cannot step down in the present critical situation".

Prime Minister Nepal also called on the Maoists to call off the protests, saying the current deadlock should be resolved through a consensus among the parties.

In his 15-minute long address, PM Nepal hinted that he would step down only if the agitating Maoists agreed to meet certain conditions put forth by other parties such as guarantee that the former rebel party turned itself into a "civilian party".

While he admitted "some of the weaknesses" of the government, PM Nepal claimed the government had made important achievements during this tenure such as discharge of the disqualified Maoist combatants and the launching of development programmes.

He spent most of his time criticising the Maoists. He said the country would have progressed much and peace process would have concluded by this time had the Maoists cooperated with the government.

Prime Minister Nepal addressed the nation in a live broadcast from his Baluwatar residence. Most of the ministers were present at Baluwatar as he addressed the nation.

His address came just as a major mass meeting organised by the Maoists at Kathmandu's Khula Manch ended and the top leaders of the three parties prepared to resume talks.

Source

SAARC at twenty-five

As the 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation gets under way in Thimpu, it would be easy to dismiss the event as yet another jamboree at which the leaders of the region will meet and talk a lot but achieve little of substance. A quarter-century after it came into existence, SAARC remains an under-performing regional association. The Thimpu summit is expected to yield an agreement on the region's strategy to deal with climate change, and another on trade in services. But many ambitious plans drawn up by SAARC for the betterment of an impoverished region, home to 1.6 billion people or more than one-sixth of humanity, have either remained on paper or moved towards implementation at glacial speeds. A fund for “least developed countries” within the region was once talked about and abandoned. The South Asia Development Fund for building infrastructure is expected to be operationalised at Thimpu a full 15 years after it was initiated. As an engine for the economic growth and development of the region, SAARC is yet to demonstrate any concrete achievements since 2006, when the much-delayed South Asia Free Trade Agreement became operational. It has pushed regional trade up to an estimated half a billion dollars but this is still way below potential. Subjects such as economic integration of the region and a common currency are no longer discussed with any earnestness.

Twenty-five seems a good age to fix the problem that ails the association. Its charter is clear that bilateral issues cannot be brought up in any forum of the association. Despite this, SAARC has permanently been overshadowed by the hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries have used it as an alternative sparring ground, to the despair of the smaller member countries that see regional cooperation as an urgent necessity for their own progress. SAFTA is a victim, as is the SAARC convention on terrorism. The smaller nations must share some of the responsibility as some of them have used SAARC to tilt towards one or the other side of the India-Pakistan divide. Influential sections of the media in India and Pakistan tend to treat a SAARC event as a match between the two. This time is no different, going by the obsessive focus on a possible meeting between the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers on the sidelines of the summit. If these two countries, the biggest in the region, can commit themselves to keeping their rivalry out of SAARC, it would help the association focus on its agenda of regional cooperation. Eventually, this may even help India and Pakistan become good neighbours.

source:

Nature Collection 25 - Wild China Ep3of6 2-6 Tibet - 2008

The Tibetan Plateau is the subject of the third instalment. It covers one quarter of Chinas land area, but just 2.5 million people live there, the majority Tibetan Buddhists. Their religion mixes traditional Buddhism with older shamanic beliefs, and its teachings have instilled a respectful attitude to wildlife. Rare species such as black-necked cranes and Tibetan eared pheasants can benefit directly from co-existence with people. Meltwaters from Tibets 35000 glaciers form large freshwater lakes including Qinghai and Manasarovar. Nesting birds here include great crested grebes and bar-headed geese. The plateau is a high altitude desert swept by freezing winds, but is also home to Chinas biggest concentration of large animals. Argali sheep are seen descending hillsides to their winter grazing sites. In the Changtang, chiru are filmed congregating in the rutting season, and wild yaks are only found in the remotest areas. Predators include the elusive snow leopard and the Tibetan fox, filmed profiting from a Tibetan bears attempts to hunt pika. A highly lucrative "caterpillar fungus" (yatsa gunbu) is harvested from the spring ground for use as a traditional remedy. Life even clings on in the most extreme environments; the slopes of Everest are home to a species of jumping spider, whilst the unique hot spring snake survives at 4500m by warming its body in thermal springs. The Saga Dawa festival takes place at sacred Mount Kailash and draws pilgrims of many faiths. Source