Nepal has for the first time moved to medium human development countries category in the global Human Development Report from low category. Nepal achieved this feat after it pushed three African countries-Cameroon, Togo and Congo- below it and ascended to 140th position in the global Human Development Index (HDI). According to Human Development Report 2004 released here Monday, Nepal's position, however, is better only than that of Pakistan (142) in the South Asian region. The Maldives has faired the best in the region occupying 84th rank. Norway is at top of the HDI index while Sierra Leone is at the bottom. The theme of this year's report is "Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World". Releasing the global report in Nepal, which was officially launched on July 15 in the Belgian capital, Brussels, Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shankar Sharma, said conflict among cultures is the greatest problem in the world. "We in the NPC are learning how to integrate cultural diversities in the development plans in the country," said Dr. Sharma.

HDI takes into account three factors-life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income. However, the report has placed Nepal as one of the worst performers vis-à-vis its achievements in the primary education. Nepal has been put alongside Angola, Congo and Myanmar. Nepal's life expectancy at birth is 59.6 years (130th), while GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Parity is US$ 1,370 (150th). Likewise, Nepal has been ranked 69th (among 95 developing countries) in the Human Poverty Index (HPI). And the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) rank for Nepal is 116. The report attributes the Maoist insurgency to "deep grievances stemming from the systemic marginalization and exclusion of certain ethnic groups, castes and women". Addressing the function, UNDP's Deputy Resident Representative to Nepal, Nicholas Brown, said, "In Nepal, the problems of social exclusion, structural inequality, and discrimination have been commonly attributed as the root cause for the current (armed) conflict. "This year's report is the 15th in series after the first report prepared by late Mahbub ul Haq, in association with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen among others, in 1990." At a time when the notion of global 'clash of cultures' is resonating so powerfully - and worryingly - around the world, finding answers to the old questions of how best to manage and mitigate conflict over language, religion, culture and ethnicity has taken on renewed importance," Mark Malloch Brown, the UNDP Administrator, has written in the Foreword. As a contributor to the report, Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa has said, "Once we won power, we chose to regard the diversity of colors and languages that had once been used to divide us as a source of strength." The report has said there are over 5,000 ethnic groups living in approximately 200 countries. "In two out of every three countries there is at least one substantial ethnic or religious minority group, representing 10 per cent of the population or more."

OTHER NEWS

• Crown Prince Participates in Phewa Lake Cleanup: Crown Prince Paras Shah participated in a cleanup program to clear waterweeds on Phewa Lake recently. The night before this, journalists were invited by the Central Divisional Headquarters to be present at Ratna Temple with cameras at 9 am. Wednesday without divulging the details, including the participation of the Crown Prince. Tourism entrepreneurs and senior officials of security units were also called upon to help in the cleanup. The army, police and Armed Police Force personnel were busy in the morning clearing large quantities of waterweeds.
  
  
• · Police Bust Major Drug Ring: In a major anti-narcotic operation, a special task force of the Narcotic Drugs Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU) on Thursday busted a major drug trafficking ring, nabbing eight drug smugglers, among them two internationally wanted notorious criminals. The police also seized 68.3 kilograms of hashish from them. Those smugglers have been identified as Amar Tandon of Rupandehi, and Hiralal Gurung of Gorkha. The two are also wanted by various international anti-narcotic drugs units in other countries, officials said. Others include Hiralal Gurung, Hom Bahadur Gurung and Gam Bahadur Gurung of Gorkha, Q Raj Rai of Khotang, Prem Krishna Maharjan of Lalitpur and Bhim Bahadur Magar and Man Bahadur Thapa of Ramechhap.
  
  
• Carpet Exports Rebound in 2003/04: After recording a continuous decline for the last few years, exports of hand-knotted woolen carpets, the second largest foreign currency earning commodity, bounced back by over 10 percent in the last fiscal year. Statistics of the Carpet and Wool Development Board (CWDB) show that exports of Nepali carpets were valued at US $ 75.28 million in 2003/04, while the same were valued at US $ 68.09 million in the previous fiscal year. In quantitative terms, Nepal exported 1.62 million meters of handmade woolen carpet during the year, a gain of a little over 3 percent on the previous year's exports. Higher growth in dollar earnings than in quantity of exports indicates that the average value of carpets exported during the period increased. This is a promising sign to an industry that has persistently been hit by falls in price in recent years, due to a decline in consumer and market confidence in importing countries.
  
  
• 'Declare Tourism a National Industry': Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) recently asked the government to declare the tourism sector a national industry, citing that its immense potential for contribution to the national economy. Speaking at its fifth AGM, Basanta Raj Mishra, President of NATO, said that the association is lobbying the government to confer national industry status on tourism and to govern the sector's activities under the Essential Services Act. "This will help to substantially increase the number of high-paying tourists visiting the country," he is quoted in a press release issued here recently. He said that though government statistics reveal a growth in tourist arrivals, tourism entrepreneurs are in no fit state to effectively reap the benefit.
  
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu