• Koirala on a Whirlwind Tour • Govt - Maoist Talk • Viewpoint of Dr
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• KOIRALA ON A WHIRLWIND TOUR • GOVT - MAOIST TALK • VIEWPOINT OF DR. HARKA GURUNG • ENCOUNTER WITH DR. BHOLA RIJAL ~\:I superior Pepsodent GERMICHECK PLUS FORMULA ~ FLUORIDE wt:rr2Pfl fIGHTS GERMS EVEN HOURS AfTER BRUSHING CONTENTS Page Letters 3 News Notes 4 Briefs 6 Quote Unquote 7 Off The Record 8 COVER STORY: A Silent Killer The sedentary lifestyles of urban Nepalis have triggered the onset of diseases like Diabetes KOIRALA'S CHARGE: Who Are The Maoists? 9 Page 16 EDUCATION: Bitter Lesson 10 DURBAN CONFERENCE: Caught In Controversies 11 KODARI IDGHW AY: Costly Closure 13 INDUSTRIAL INSECURITY: From Bad To Worse 14 ENCOUNTER: Or. Bhola Rijal 24 GOVT. MAOIST TALKS: Crisis Of Confidence BOOK REVIEW 26 The government and rebels prepare to sit for second round of talks amid buitding uneasiness on both sides. Page 9 THE BOTTOMLINE 27 FORUM: Koichiro Matsuura 28 PASTIME 29 INTERVIEW: Amod M. Dixit ART 30 The expert on quakes Dixit talks about tremor hazards and the ill preparations. VIEW POINT: Dr. Harka Gurung 32 Page 22 SPOTLIGHT/SEPTEMBER 14.2001 SPOTLIGHT EDITOR'S NOTE THE NATIONAL NEWSMAGAZINE IVol. 21, No.l2, September 14, 2001 (Bhadra29, 2(58) I Chief Editor And Publisher he debacle faced by the tourism industry of Nepal has hit many touri sm Madhav Kumar Rimal entrepreneur's and other infra-structures relaled with it very hard. It was Editor further aggravated by the unstable law and order situation. the mis-manage Sarita Rimal ment of the nation ' s flag carrier by the various governments and the national Managing Editor disaster in royal massacre at the royal palace. The understanding established Keshab Poudel rr bet ween the Maoists and the government to end the upri sing. the RNAC affair being straightened and the national grief giving way 10 normalcy have somewhat cleared the Associate Editor dark clouds and the tourism industry seems to be limping back to its track. The greatest set Bhagirath Yogi back Nepal' s tourism industry has undergone in the last two years must be able to make us Senior Reporter wiser not lO put all the eggs in one basket. These last two years must have taught aJl the NeP• Sanjaya Dhakal many more important lessons how to safeguard our tourism industry which is one of ,.. Reporter pillars of our nation 's economy. Akshay Sharma * .;. *' The lukewarm reaction of the government to the pernicious publicity by the media of tht. Design and Layout LO Jyoti Singh friendly neighbor had totally failed arrest [he alanning drop in the tourist inflow which at one stage had reached almost76%. Had it not been forthe umiringeffortsofthe pri vate sector, Photographer the scenario would have been much worse. For sometime past Nepal Tourism Board has been Nishchal Chapagain making Herculean endeavors to entice the tourists to include Nepal in their intenerary. It is Art reliably learnt the resources crunch has very badly hampered the Board's programs in foreign M.S. Khokna countrics.lfthe government is serious about bringing the tourism industry to its former track. they have to sanction sufficient funds to the Board. The more you sow. the more you reap. Legal Advisor Advocate Lok Bhakta Rana We trust the government will not fail to take note of our humble advice. And there are a few other things the government has to implement if they want that touri sm shou ld contribute not Marketing/Advertisement only to strengthen existing infrastructures but expand them and thus generate more job Sarit Rimal (USA) opportunities and encourage new tourism oriemed industries to be established. Nepal has a Marketing few very attractive religious places apart from Pashupatinath. The Baaraha Kshetra, the Madan Kaji Basnet Mukti Kshetra and the Ram Janaki temple at Janakipur are popular pilgrimages with the huge Navin Kumar Maharjan Indian religious minded populace. Nepal has so far not been able to exploit them. If necessary Madan Raj Poudel attention is paid to make their visits interesting and comfortable, lakhs of Indian tourists are Editorial Office sure to throng these religious sites. And again, the government has to activate its forA GPO Box 7256, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, missions to make necessary publicity about Nepali tourism by providing them necess,"" Tel: (977·1) 423127, Fax: (977·1) 417845 funds and programs. The third important thing the government has to do urgently is to totally Chief Editor's: 435594 E-mail: [email protected] stop official interference in the workings of the national flag carrier - The Royal Nepal Internet Add: http://www.nepalnews.com/ Airlines Corporation. But, so far all good advices have fallen on deaf ears as the corrupt spotlight politicians have turned the RNAC into a milch cow. No prime mjnister has taken any steps Cover Design whatsoever to check corruption in the RNAC. Unfortunately prime mjnisters themselves Wordscape hav e been the biggest culprits. What about Sher Bahadur Deuba in his second stim? As a GPO 8975, EPC 5620, Kathamdnu Nepal, matter of fact, the government should give seri ous consideration to pri vatize the Royal Ph: 263098, 261831, , Fax: 977·1·439386 Nepalese Airlines Corporation. And the last but the most important thing the government has Distribution to do without a moment's delay is to take this matter up with the government of the friendly Bazaar International neighbor in the South. His Majesty's Government must be able to impress upon its 228 Sanchaya Kosh Bldg. Kathmandu G.P.O Box 2480, Ph : 222983 Fax: 229437 counterpart in New Delhi that anti-Nepal publicity by the Indian media is not only very badly a-mail: [email protected] hurting Nepal's overall economy but providing very fertile ground to generate anti-India feelings in the minds of the Nepalese people. Jf India is really sincere in her protestations Printers: Kishor offset Press (P.) Ud. about her friendship towards her smaller neighbor, she has to prove it by her actions. P.O. Box 4665, Galkopakha, Thamel , Kathmandu,Tel: 351 044 (OH), 351172 (Res.), Symptoms on the horizon have started becoming favorable. Now, it is upto His Majesty's Fax: 977-1·351172, Govemment to act and act precipitously for Nepal's tourism industry to blossom. • E-mail: kishor@groupktrl}.mos.com.np C.D.O. Regd. No 151/039·40 Postal Regd. No 42/057/58 rf\\...T\~ U.S. Library of Congress Madhav Kumar Rimal Catalogue No. 91-905060 Chief Edilor& Publisher 2 SPOTLIGHT/SEPTEMBER 14,2001 LETTERS __________________________________________________________________ groups. This must not beallowed in the hean of capital. If the Talk For Peace Maoists arc sincere about build Although an overwhelm ing peace through dialogue, they ing majority of Nepalis are 111 must call ofTIh e program. Other favor of peace, the rigid stance wise. the consequence could be adopted by the Maoist rebels falal for Nepal is. could thwarl the possibility of Dinesh S"reslha the talks succeeding ("Negoti Patan ating The Non-Negotiable", Drunken Demand SPOTLIGHT, September 7). The demand by the Both the government and the Maoists' sister organjzation to rebels must put the concerns ban alcohol shows how insensi of the people ahead of their ti ve they are to the livelihood of own agendas and do their ut the peopl e C·T ipsy-Turvy". most to reach an expeditious SPOTLIGHT. August 31). Al compromise. In fact, by con though nobody can reject their tinuing with vio lence. the argument th at alcohol is the rebels are defeating their own cause of many social problems, objective by obstructing the there can be no quick solution 10 development process. The this. You ca nnot just order in talks between the government dustries to close down overnight and the Maoists should, there and throw hundreds of thou fore, be guided by the COn sands of people out of their jobs. cerns of the majority of the Theexamplesaround the world, too, show that banning alcohol people. is not as simple as it is made out S"is"ir Basnel • $TOltN ARTIFACT$ to be. In fact. in a country like Sanepa • ENCOUNlU WITH K G. WIANSHI ours where liquor is required in cultural fe stivities, a ban makes little sense. Hidden Agenda Nepal's independent identity. Dishonesty By Rebels Snraj KC Jeevan Gurung By calling for the "institu Although the government Chabahil tionalization of republic" the Balkhu is showing maximum restraint .AlOis ls are trying to weaken No Solution by avoiding confrontation with Internationalize The Issue • only remaining slrong in· the rebels during the dialogue The article "Scarcity of There seems to be no com !'-t ilUti on of the country: the period, the latter are indulging in Seriousness" (S POTLIGHT, mon ground between the gov monarchy ("Negotiating The extonion and displaying their August 31) underscores how ernment and the Maoists ("Ne Non-Negotiable", SPOT weapons ("NegotiatingThe Non strong our pos ition vis-a.-vis the gotiatingTheNon-Negotiable", L1GHT,September7). Thrown Negotiable', SPOTLIGHT, Sep Bhutanese refugee issue is in SPOTLIGHT, September 7). "IT balance by the palace kill tember 7). This clearly implies terms of intemationallaw. It is How can the government ac· ings. the in stitution of monar that the rebels are not committed clear that if we can advocate our cept the rebels' demand for a chy was already in problem. to what they promised to the case in the international court of republic? And how can the Now thi s sin ister demand by government. In the end, this situ law, we could stand to obtain rebels step down from their ex the rebel s is causing further ation would be favorable to the even compensation for being treme positions on the negotiat aggravation. Any sane Nepali government.