Kathmandu- Singer Yam Baral, along with choir singers, rehearses for the National Song Performance which is being held on April 21 in the memory of the Late Gopal Yonjan by the Pariwartan Nepal.

Nepal Scouts works with YMCA, GSSP

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 18 - Nepal Scouts have begun to work with Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Philadelphia and Vicinity, and the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania (GSSP) on several programmes in both Nepal and the United States, said a YMCA official in Philadelphia today.

According to Mary C. Carroll of YMCA Philadelphia, five young Nepalis will visit the United States for two months this summer in the GSSP/YMCA International Programme. The participants are slated to live with host families in Philadelphia area and learn about America through YMCA and Girl Scout activities.

Likewise, around eight to ten American teenagers will be working with Nepal Scout cadres in operating a day camp at two schools, one in Kathmandu and the other at a remote village of SoluKhumbu, in July 2001. The camp programme is to offer Nepali children attending the camp an enriching experience and enhance the relations between Nepal and the United States, says Carroll. Various activities unavailable in the schools such as arts and crafts, drama, sports, field trips and much more will be introduced at the camp, she adds.

Stating that virtues such as generosity, gratitude, humility, kindness, happiness and contentment are not proportionate nor even necessarily related to one’s wealth among the Nepalis, Carroll says "by sharing resources with the Nepalis through interactive projects, I am trying to help other Americans see that wealth and life’s most sought assets are not necessarily connected. At the same time, we hope we are enriching the lives of the Nepali people".

According to Carroll, an interpretive shop to raise funds for environmental education was established in February this year at Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) which was brokered by Philadelphia Y, SNP and Northeast Regional Office of the United States National Park Service.

Similarly, Philadelphia Y had brought jazz vocalist Juanita Holiday and her band to Kathmandu for a series of goodwill concerts last October. Apart from introducing the American musical art form created by the African-Americans, the concerts were held for various sectors of the Nepali society, adds Carroll. A children’s concert was held at Bal Mandir Orphanage, a sophisticated jazz and blues concert at Hotel Yak and Yeti for around 500 guests -- many from Kathmandu’s diplomatic community -- and a unique Christian gospel concert at St. Xavier’s grounds.

Likewise, the most recent project that completed last month was a medical camp held in Khari Khola of the Solukhumbu region. The crew consisted of two physicians each from Nepal and the US, two Nepali nurses and around 17 others including Nepalis and US volunteers. According to Carroll, they brought along 700 pounds of medical supplies and provided health care to 1,200 people who swarmed to the health post.

Valley air quality not improved yet

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 18 - The Kathmandu valley has not yet witnessed any substantial improvement in its ambient air quality although authorities responsible for enforcing government’s pro-environmental decisions have been attempting so far, non-governmental organization (NGOs) monitoring the capital’s air quality said here Monday.

"We haven’t witnessed any substantial change in the Valley’s air quality of,say, Putalisadak one or two years ago and now," said Amod Pokharel, a Microbiologist of Leaders Nepal. "Other contributors like brick kilns, Hetauda cement factory, and even the remaining polluting vehicles should be looked into".

Many Kathmanduites including those monitoring its air quality have felt an "improved emission level" in the streets of the capital city after the previous KP Bhattarai government decided to ban three wheeler diesel tempos last September.

Former State Minister for Environment Bhakta Bahadur Balayar was in the spotlight after his government literally launched an anti-pollution drive from the polluted valley and took a series of pro-environmental decisions aimed at retaining the historic valley’s natural charm.

The Bhattarai government stepped down last month following wide-spread allegations of inefficiency among other things.

Mahendra Bahadur Bista, a journalist and publicity coordinator of The Explore Nepal Group, a private organization lauded the government’s anti-Vikram and anti-plastic drives and said "the government has failed to ban the polluting government and diplomatic community owned vehicles from the streets of Kathmandu valley."

In what came as the Bhattarai or the Balayar administration’s fourth major ban, the government announced to ban its own polluting vehicles from the streets of the valley since February 19 (Falgun 7, Democracy Day). While the move was widely hailed, the government was also criticized for victimizing poor entrepreneurs of the Vikrams which were banned since last September.

After it banned the Vikrams, the Bhattarai government announced the ban on the import of two-stroke motor bikes in the country. It later banned on the import of non-Euro-I standard class vehicles into the country, and came up with Nepal Emission Standard 2056, the former’s Nepali version.

Bimal Aryal of Martin Chautary, a non-governmental forum said, "the new State Minister for Environment Joshi does not appear to be smarter than Balayar. The previous one (Balayar) was very sharp...But we will coax this new minister too - to give continuity to the previous minister’s programmes".

The comments came in response to a query raised by The Kathmandu Post on whether or not the NGOs had observed any improvement in the Valley’s environment then and now, and if they had any idea on how committed the new State Minister of Environment was.

They were addressing a programme organized here to focus on the activities and programmes to be carried out during the upcoming Earth Day 2000 celebrations on April 21 and 22 in the country.

For the first time in the history of Earth Day celebrations that started in the 1970s, the organizations together with Ministry of Environment, and ICIMOD will jointly hold various environment protection awareness programmes in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Nuwakot and other parts of the country.

Mahottari tense

By a Post Reporter

MAHOTTARI, April 18 - The Kattikataiya Village Development Committee has come under the spate of communal violence yesterday after the Hindu-Muslim rift took a new turn on the subject of Moharram, Muslim’s biggest festival.

"The communal violence further intensified after the Muslim community opened three rounds of fire against the police team that had reached the incident site to pacify the situation. The police, in retaliation, also chased the mob with three rounds of fire," according to the District Police Office.

"In the incident, a villager’s house has also been set ablaze. But whether the victim is a Hindu or a Muslim is yet to be ascertained," Superintendent of Police Ram Raksha Jha told The Kathmandu Post.

Kattikataiya, a bordering VDC, houses equal population of Hindus and Muslims and as such in order to maintain sectarian balance the villagers have the tradition of electing one Hindu and Muslim each for the position of VDC chairman and vice-chairman. Presently, the VDC has a Hindu and a Muslim chairman and vice-chairman respectively.

"Some anti-social elements from across the border are trying to destroy the communal sanctity of our village," said chairman Mahendra Raya Yadav and vice-chairman Abdul Gafoor who have currently sought police protection at Jaleswar, the district headquarters.

The Hindu-Muslim violence finally reached its height on the third day over the issue of "Moharram march" in which the devotees go around the major thoroughfares. The Hindus went beserk after the Muslims attempted to chop off the banyan tree (a sacred tree of the Hindus) that obstructed their march.

Meanwhile, the police have tightened the security and arrested Sakur Ansari of Kattikataiya VDC - 3 who is allegedly suspected to be behind the communal turmoil.

Four hurt as fire breaks out

By a Post Reporter

NEPALGUNJ, April 18 - Four people including a girlchild were burnt and injured by fire that broke out in Birendra Chowk during a street play today.

Fire broke out at the end of the play when spirit was being spread to light fire.

The injured are Hikmat Bahadur Singh, Khadananda Jaishi, Ram Krishna Chaudhary and a girlchild Nirmala Buda Magar. The first three are known to be officers of the District People’s Health Office and the girl was an audience at the play.

The street play was a part of the South Asian movement against tobacco-used materials. A few days back, it was held in the capital.

Meanwhile, four people were injured today when a truck, numbered Na A Kha 8879, fell down to a small river from the Mahendra highway, near Shamrejgunj.

16 absent during check

By a Post Reporter

JAJARKOT, April 18 - Of the total 24 offices located in this district, 16 chiefs are found absent from their offices.

Although there is a provision under which chief of any office in the district cannot leave office without receiving permission from the Chief District Officer, more than half of them are away from their office without his permission, Chief District Officer Binod Khanal said.

Instead of seeking his permission, they first go to Nepalgunj or Kathmandu and telephone him to tell him about their compulsion, Khanal said.

The chiefs of some of the offices are absent for months. The presence of employees in almost all the offices is also very thin in this district which is affected by the underground CPN (Maoist).

As many offices such as Food Corcoration, Land Revenue Office and Health institutions are directly related with the daily life of the people, local people feel inconvenienced due to the absence of the office chiefs.

The offices in which the chiefs are present include District Police Office, District Administration Office, Nepal Telecommunications Office, Kosh Tatha Lekha Niyantrak, District Education Office, Cottage Industry Office and jail.