Godavari Folk For Shifting Central Zoo To Naumule
Locals of Godavari Village Development Committee say they are ready to provide land required to relocate the Jawalakhel-based Central Zoo. The locals say they are thinking of forwarding a proposal to the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) with a pledge to provide up to 200 hectares of land in the forest at Naumule. The Central Zoo, which covers 133 ropanis of land, is home to over 700 varieties of birds and wild animals. Opened in 1932 as a personal menagerie of the then Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher, it was taken over by the government in 1956. The NTNC has been looking after the management of the zoo. The NTNC is looking for a better place to relocate the zoo and has surveyed certain sites. The space the zoo occupies is not enough to accommodate more animals, say zoo officials, adding that they have not been able to upgrade facilities due to space constraint. NTNC member-secretary Bimal K Baniya says space constraint has hampered further development of the zoo. "We are surveying localities on the outskirts of Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu to relocate the zoo."
According to Ram Chandra Acharya, leader of the group who wants to provide land to the zoo, "Naumule site is rich in flora and fauna. It has over 70 species of birds. Godavari is one of the favourite spots for picnic, hiking and researches related to bio-diversity." The shifting of the zoo to Naumule will also help locals earn livelihood, says Acharya. The Himalayan Times daily reports
Field Study For Arun III Begins
Satluj Hydro Electric Project (SHEP) of India, poised to generate 402 MW power from Nepal's largest Arun III, has begun field study of the project site in Sankhuwasabha district. According to KS Chauhan of SHEP, a team led by SHEP Officiating General Manager, Sanjay Uppal, has initiated the field study of the project site from Thursday (June 5). "Satluj aims to obtain Arun III Project license from Nepal Government within one month and begin construction works at the earliest," said Uppal. According to Nepal Electricity Authority's project estimation of 2005, SHEP will complete the Arun III Project by 2015 with an investment of around Rs 64 billion. The Project is expected to provide employment to around ten thousand people. Compiled from reports
Parties Must Submit Election Expenses By June 14
None of the 25 parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) have submitted the details of their financial expenses incurred for their electoral campaigns under the proportional representation (PR) system to the Election Commission (EC). The EC has set the deadline for submissions for June 14. According to the Election Commission Act, the parties must submit the details of their expenses at the EC within 35 days of the publishing of the final electoral results. According to the law, strong action will be taken against the political parties failing to submit the details by the deadline or against parties which have exceeded the amount in expenses. Compiled from reports
Train To Jogbani Could Cut Down Transport Cost By 20 PC
Traders and industrialists have expected the transportation cost to come down by 20 percent after the Indian government expanded the broad-gaze railway link from Katihar to Jogbani, which borders with Biratnagar city of Nepal. They say that the transportation of industrial raw materials, and export-import of goods would incur lesser transportation cost by the use of the railway. “The transportation cost by train is 15 to 20 percent lesser than through vehicles,” said Dinesh Golchha, president of Morang Industry Association. At present, there will be daily train service from Jogbani to Kolkata and a weekly service from Jogbani to New Delhi. Kantipur daily reports
VHP Takes Exception To Changes In Nepal
Soon after India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed its misgivings about the recent changes in Nepal including its transformation into 'secular republic,' a Hindu organization of India Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has also cried foul over Nepal development. According to news reports by Press Trust of India (PTI), the VHP has termed the resolution by the Constituent Assembly declaring the end of monarchy and the turning of the Hindu Kingdom into a secular state as "unconstitutional." The VHP has also demanded that
India must "speak out" against the move in its own interest. "The new government is yet to be formed and leaders are squabbling for the President's post even as his powers have yet not been ascertained. Such a resolution being passed without a debate is unconstitutional," Vishwa Hindu Parishad President Ashok Singhal said in Mumbai on Tuesday (June 3). Singhal claimed that there was no need for adopting the secular character at a time when over 92 percent of the Nepali population is Hindu. "They should have at least settled for a symbolic and ceremonial arrangement rather than taking the king out," the report quotes him as saying. The VHP chief also asked the Indian government to "speak out" against the resolution passed on the night of May 28 ending the over 240-year-long monarchy in its own interest. "The Maoists are working under instructions from China while there are Christians working for American interests in Nepal and converting people. Also, there are reports that over 400 madrasas have mushroomed in the area bordering India," Singhal alleged. India has open borders with Nepal and the events in Nepal can have serious ramifications for India as well, he added. "We will be writing to the Indian government and also taking up the issue by holding discussions with Ministry of External Affairs officials," Singhal added. Compiled from reports
Maoist Leader Brushes Aside BJP Remarks
A senior Maoist leader has termed the latest derision by India's main opposition as purely "anti-Nepalese". Influential CPN (Maoist) leader Ram Bahadur Thapa, who also goes with the nom de guerre of Badal, said that by making this remark public Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has "directly intervened in Nepal's internal affairs". According to Indian media reports, BJP indicated that Maoists gaining power in Nepal "was fraught with dangerous consequences for India" and also dubbed as a "negative" step the turning of the Hindu country into a secular republic. The party also claimed that with just one-third popular votes, the CPN (Maoists) cannot form the government. "The new government to be formed under Maoist leadership in Nepal is against India's interest and also poses security threat to India", reports quoted senior BJP leader and former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh as saying in New Delhi, clarifying that the BJP stands on CPN-M had "nothing to do with the continuance or not of monarchy" in Nepal. Maoist leader said that by making such statements BJP has only laid bare India's "expansionist dreams".
"BJP doesn't have the right to speak on Nepalese matters," Badal said, adding, "all should be aware that it (BJP) was in favor of monarchy (in Nepal) in the past too and its latest remarks have clearly shown what it wants here." The senior Maoist strategist said that the party would come up with a viewpoint on this by holding both internal and external meetings. Compiled from reports
Editors’ Alliance Concerned
The Editors’ Alliance has expressed serious concern about recent statements and actions against Press freedom by the Maoists, and has urged the party to clarify its stance on media independence. The Alliance said physical assaults on journalists in Kailali and Gorkha, intimidation against reporters and last week’s speech by Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, fit into a pattern that is constricting media space in the country. In its statement, the Alliance said, “We urge the Maoist party to urgently clarify its attitude towards the Press and to show by words and deeds that it has no intention to restrict the Press freedom in any way.” It said 10 daily and weekly newspapers from Kailali have not been able to publish as a direct result of coordinated physical attacks and threats by local Maoist cadres against reporters. In Gorkha, journalists are still facing threats, and reporters have been self-censoring news of Maoist activities because of the fear of reprisals, it added. The Alliance said it was concerned also about Maoist chairman Prachanda’s speech on Friday in which he specifically threatened one newspaper and warned the media not to be critical of his party as it had been “made victorious by the people”. The Alliance is a group of editors of leading newspapers and magazines — including Pushkar Lal Shrestha of Nepal Samacharpatra, Prateek Pradhan of The Kathmandu Post, Narayan Wagle of Kantipur, Sudheer Sharma of Nepal, Yubaraj Ghimire of Samaya, Kundan Aryal of Himal Khabarpatrika, Ajaya Bhadra Khanal of The Himalayan Times, Kunda Dixit of Nepali Times and Vijay Pandey of Dishanirdesh. Leading dailies report
EC Gives $ 100 M For Education
European Commission (EC) and the Government of Nepal on Thursday signed a Financing Agreement to start implementing the 'Education Sector Policy Support Program' with an initial amount of 25 million Euro (around US $38 million) for the period of 2008-2010. A press release issued by the EC Thursday said the amount is the first tranche of the total amount of resources estimated at 72 million Euro that the EC will dedicate to Nepal in the next few years. The EU aims to support the Government of Nepal development objectives and the aid is in line with the EC-Nepal Framework Cooperation Agreement. Accordingly, the Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013 has placed, as the first priority, the assistance to Nepal in the education sector by creating an enabling environment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, said the release. "Education sector is expected to receive more than 100 millions US dollars until 2013," it added. Compiled from reports
National Tourism Fair To Be Organized Form June 6 To 8
Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) going to organize the 'National Tourism Fair- 2008' to promote Nepali tourism related products. The fair to be held from 6th to 8th June at the United World Trade Center in Tripureshwor, NTB official said at a press conference Wednesday. The main objectives of the fair are to introduce tourist destinations of the country and domestic tourism promotion as well as to create awareness for uplifting the lifestyle of rural people through tourism promotion. Speaking at the press conference, Chief Executive Office of Nepal Tourism Board Prachanda Man Sharestha said they were going to introduce three main tourism sites, activities and facilities available in the country during the fair. Tourism related organizations; NGOs, INGOs working in tourism and environment related fields and academic institutions related to tourism are also taking part in the fair. Compiled from reports
