Making HLPM effective & meaningful

SHREEJANA SHRESTHA

The High-Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) is yet to take a complete shape, though it has almost been a month since its formation. There is still a debate going on in the political circle regarding the relevance and effectiveness of the high-level body. Political parties are demanding that the body should be more inclusive.

The HLPM was formed on Jan 8 following months of negotiations among the top three parties Unified CPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML. The HLPM formed under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister (PM) Girija Prasad Koirala has chairman of Unified CPN (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal as members.

At the time of formation of HLPM, the members in the high-level body tried to win the confidence of the general public saying that it will take the peace process to a logical end and help in drafting the new constitution within the stipulated time. The primary task entrusted to HLPM was to forge a consensus among the top political parties that have sharp differences on key issues.

The body has held its meeting a number of times but without much achievement. The only achievement made by the mechanism has been to convince the Maoists to withdraw their indefinite strike that was supposed to begin on Jan 24. The third meeting of HLPM endorsed its Terms of Reference (ToR) and working procedures. But the parties need to understand that passing the ToR just to include representatives from more political parties is not sufficient. They need to make the mechanism capable of resolving the current political stalemate.

11 hours power cut head

Shreejana Shrestha

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is enforcing a daily 11-hour power cut with effect from Thursday. At present NEA has been imposing daily 9 hours power cut. Citing that the water levels in the major hydropower projects have decreased, NEA has increased load shedding time by 2 hours a day. In Nepal, most of the hydropower projects except Kulekhani are running under the run- of-the-river model.  In this context, the power cut hours have been increased as hydropower projects are generating less electricity due to the receding water levels in the rivers in the dry season.

According to Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry around 80 percent of total industrial sector is being affected due to the increasing load shedding hours. Not only the industrial sector, there are various sectors that are directly affected by the load shedding. Tourism sector is also being adversely affected due to the increasing load shedding hours. The major effect of increasing load shedding will be on the students who are appearing this year’s School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams.

Nepal government is capable to generate only 600 MW electricity while running under full capacity against the demand of 850 MW power. Similarly, the government is being unable to explore alternative sources of electricity in order to fulfill the growing demand of power. Though the talk of thermal plants has been started earlier, the renovation works of old thermal plants have just started. However, all works relating to the import of a thermal plant from Germany is still in limbo

Mini-laptops steal the show

KATHMANDU, Jan 16: CAN Info-Tech 2010, Nepal”s biggest technological exhibition, has not been remarkably different than the previous ones in terms hi-tech gazettes that have been showcased. You see hundreds of stalls displaying countless ultra-modern items — be they mobiles, computers or inverters. But, if you take a closer look, you will see that the younger generation is catching up with a new trend — something that would determine the future of electronic gadgets.

Remember, just few years back, laptops used to be the main attraction for youths, but it is no longer the same. Not the traditional big-sized but mini-laptops are in the vogue among the young. In the big hall at the center of capital, it takes no time to discover that a majority of visitors seem to be flocking stalls showcasing mini-laptops. The number of visitors by the third day at the 16th CAN have exceeded 76,000.

Pawan Pandey, a visitor at the expo, said that the exhibition offers many choices in terms of branded desktop computers and laptops. But this year”s release of a number of mini-laptops is something that has caught my fancy, he added. Another student Kamal Kattel shared similar feelings and added that he was attracted by mini laptops that are being offered at a reasonable price.

Product manager of Neoteric Nepal that has the largest stall at the expo said that the visitors are demanding the products by Logitech and added that HP and Dell laptops with 10 inch and 14 inch screen sizes are on the top selection of visitors.

“Visitors at the expo are demanding mini laptop, mouse and web cam but we have run short of supplies,” said DB Shrestha, marketing manager of Prolink.

President of CAN Suresh Karna said that 250 stalls in the Info-Tech have provided a good platform to demonstrate the latest technological development and added that the flow of visitors has been as per their expectation.

(published in The Republica, January 16, 2010)

Banda brings joy to rickshaw pullers

KATHMANDU, Jan 10: Bandas and strikes are a curse to many people. But there are some others who enjoy brisk business during the banda days.

Rickshaw pullers in the Kathmandu Valley are among those people who earn more during bandas and strikes than on normal days. They happily say that they can pull their rickshaw freely only during bandas and strikes.

जनमोर्चाको उपत्यका बन्द

एकीकृत नेकपा माओवादीले नेपाल बन्द गराएको महिना दिन नबित्दै संघीयताको विरोध गर्दै राष्ट्रिय जनमोर्चाले आईतबार फेरि उपत्यका बन्द गराएको छ ।

बन्दले उपत्यकाको जनजीवनमा सामान्य प्रभाव पारेको छ।

बन्दको कारण सडकमा एम्बुलेन्स अनि केहि सावारी साधन मात्र चलेका छन् भने उद्योग, कलकारखाना लगायत शिक्षण संस्थाहरु बन्द रहेका छन् ।

त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय अन्तर्गतको स्नातक प्रथम वर्षको परिक्षा चलिरहेको हुदा परिक्षा दिन जाने विद्यार्थीहरुलाई बन्दले पुर्ण रुपमा असर पारेको छ।

यसै बीच बन्दको अवज्ञा गरेको भन्दै बन्दकर्ताले विहानै विभिन्न ठाउमा आधा दर्जन भन्दा बढी यातायातका साधानमा तोडफोड समेत गरेका छन् ।

संघीयताले देश टुक्रिने भन्दै राष्ट्रिय जनामोर्चाले यस अघि सेती महाकाली, भेरी कर्णाली, लुम्बिनी राप्ती, गण्डकी धवलागिरि र नारायणी अञ्चल बन्द सगराई सकेको छ ।

संघीयताको खारेजी, राष्ट्रियताको रक्ष, स्थानीय स्वायत्ताको लागि एकात्मक राज्य प्रणालीलगायतका माग राख्दै जनमोर्चाले आन्दोलन गर्दै आएको हो ।

संघीयताको विरोधमा बन्द आव्हान गरेको भन्दै बन्दको विरोधमा नेवार समुदायले  विहान वसन्तपुरमा मोटरसाईकल र्‍याली निकालेको थियो ।

संघीयताले राष्ट्रिय स्वाधिनतालाई खतरामा पार्‍यो: केसी

राष्ट्रिय जनामोर्चाका अध्यक्ष चित्रबहादुर के.सीले संघीयताले नेपालको राष्ट्रिय स्वाधिनतालाई खतरामा पार्ने बताउनुभएको छ ।

आईतबार राजधानीमा आयोजित एक कार्यक्रममा बोल्दै उहाले संघीयताको मुद्धाले राष्ट्रिय स्वाधिनताको मुद्धा ओझेलमा परेको बताउनुभएको हो।

राजनीतिक दलहरु संघीयताको मुद्धामा अल्झिएका कारण नया संविधान निर्माण पछाडि परेको उहाको भनाई थियो ।

संघीयताको खारेजी, राष्ट्रियताको रक्ष, स्थानीय स्वायत्ताको लागि एकात्मक राज्य प्रणालीलगायतका माग राख्दै जनमोर्चाले आईतबार उपत्यका बन्द गराएको हो ।

माओवादीले संघीयताको मुद्धा अघि सारेर देशलाई टुक्राउन खोजेको उहाको आरोप रहदै आएको छ।

अन्य पार्टीका कार्यकर्ताले जनमोर्चाका कार्यकर्तालाई आक्रमण गरेको भन्दै अध्यक्ष केसीले अरुको विरोध गर्ने अधिकारको सम्मान गर्न आग्रह समेत गर्नुभयो ।

नागरिक अगुवाहरुको संविधान निर्माणका लागि दबाब

संविधान निर्माणका लागि करिव साढे चार महिना बाकि रहेको समयमा नागरिक समाजका अगुवाहरुले समयमा संविधान निर्माणका लागि दवाव दिन ऐक्यवद्धता जनाएका छन् ।

शुक्रबार राजधानीमा संविधान निर्माणका लागि राष्ट्रव्यापी युवा दवाव अभियानले आयोजना गरेको एक कार्यक्रममा उनीहरुले यस्तो ऐक्यवद्धता जनाएका हुन् ।

कार्यक्रममा बोल्दै निर्वाचन आयोगका पुर्व प्रमुख आयुक्त सुर्य प्रसाद श्रेष्ठले कुनै पनि सरकारको स्थायित्व नभएका कारण विभिन्न समस्याहरु उत्पन्न भइरहेको बताउनुभयो ।

नया संविधानले मात्र सम्पुर्ण समस्या समाधान नुहुने उहाले जिकिर गर्नुभयो ।

कार्यक्रममा बोल्दै मानवअधिकारर्मी चरण प्रसाईले लोकतान्त्रिक संविधान निर्माणका लागि दलहरु एक हुनै पर्ने धारणा राख्दै अब बन्ने संविधान लोकतान्त्रिक, समावेशी र मैत्री हुनुपर्नेमा जोड दिनुभयो ।

कार्यक्रममा अन्य वक्ताहरुले पनि १२ बुदे सहमति, विस्तृत शान्ति सम्झौता हुदै अन्तरिम संविधानसम्म आईपुग्दा पनि राजनीतिक दलहरुले सहमति कायम गर्न नसकेको भन्दै संविधान निर्माण गर्नका अपिल गरका छन् ।

यसैगरि शान्ति र संविधान निर्माणका लागि दवाव दिने उदेश्यले राष्ट्रव्यापी युवा दवाव अभियानले यहि पौस ३० गते नागरिक दवाव र्‍यालीको आयोजना गर्ने समेत जनाएको छ ।