Schools for deprived children

By a Post Reporter

BIRATNAGAR, May 1 - Separate arrangement for schooling of one thousand 200 children has been made in different VDCs of Morang district as they were deprived of the opportunity to read in schools.

Such arrangement has been made for children in Amaibariyati, Sorabhag, Nocha, Pokhariya and Kadamaha VDCs with the active initiative of Jeevan Vikas Samaj of Amaibaraiyati. Children from the poor families and those who were deprived of the schooling opportunity will be taught in the schools in the morning and evening.

The children will be taught by the children in the three schools established in Peta, Dharampur and Amai. Apart from this, one teacher has also been appointed in each of the schools.

The courses being taught are the same as those taught in government schools, said Buddha Narayan Mandal, teacher of the school at Peta.

According to Mandal, the best students of the schools teach the children. Teachers teach them only the lessons which the students fail to teach these children.

Chairman of Jeevan Vikas Samaj Yogendra Mandal said the children who were studying in these schools were mostly those who were from the economically backward families and who needed to support themselves by working as cowherds and labourers.

The organisation chairman has informed that all the books, copies and pencils are provided to the students by the organisation free of cost and the organisation has envisaged that it will eradicate illiteracy in these VDCs in the next 14 years. Such children will also be made aware of police, administration, legal aspects and children’s rights.

These VDCs are very backward from the viewpoint of education, economy,politics and construction and development works. The children studying in these schools are mostly from Musahar, Paswan, Mandal, Mochidum and Muslim families, according to chairman of Amaibariyati VDC Musaharu Mandal.

Mandal informed that no children would be deprived of the opportunity to go to school after the three schools have been established in these five VDCs.

Music award in offing

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, May 1 - The San Miguel Music Award 2000 will be held on June 3 when awards will be given for 15 different categories, organizers said here today.

The awards are going to be decided by the listeners themselves who will express their choice in two ways - by filing out nomination form available on the local newspapers or on the Internet websites. The nomination form will be available in the Kantipur daily and the Samacharpatra.

Each of the 15 categories will have five nominations each to choose from. The five nominations have been chosen from nearly 200 different songs that were released during the past year.

Listeners will be able to listen to a few seconds of the song on the website and cast their votes
right there. The sites www.sanmiguelaward.com.np is hosted by Unlimit Numedia. A link to this site has also been posted on www.kantipuronline.com, Kantipur Publication’s latest venture where news bulletins are updated as it happens.

Organizers say the awards are going to be decided by the people who matter most -- the listeners. The event is being organized by Vogue Ad & Event Management along with Mega Advertising Agency (P.) Ltd..

Four held with revolver

By a Post Reporter

DHARAN, May 1 - The Area Police Office has arrested four youths and seized a revolver and bullets as they were trying to commit dacoity in the commercial firm of Banshidhar Sitaram Lohiya at ward No 5 of Dharan municipality.

The four people are Bipin Shrestha, 17, of Dharan-3 and Amar Tiwari, 19, Manoj Rai, 18 and Abiskar Limbu, 18, of Dharan 13.

One member of the gang, Apros Ali, 18 has been absconding.

Police seized one pistol and six rounds of bullets from Bipin Shrestha. Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramesh Bhattarai told The Kathmandu Post that it was made in India though ‘made in England’ was inscribed in the pistol.

According to the report, the gang came to the firm at 8 p.m. when the firm was closed. There was no electricity supply. Taking advantage of the darkness, one member of the gang, Apros Ali knocked at the door and called out Bijay Kumar Singh, the main employee of the firm. When he opened the door, the men who had covered their faces with handkerchiefs entered the shop and urged him to change money.

However, when the employee did not see money in their hands for change, he told them that it was dark and he did not have the key. When they heard his words, they immediately trained a revolver at him, according to Singh.

In the mean time, other employees of the firm arrived at the scene and they snatched their revolver and hitting them with a bolt closed the door.

Upon receiving the information, police arrested the gang members except one within half an hour, Singh told The Kathmandu Post.

City council meet deferred

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, May 1 - The Fourth City Council of the Kathmandu Municipality has once again been stalled till Wednesday.

This is the third cessation of the council. The council had earlier been stalled on April 15 for 15 days stating that the policies, programmes and the budget study of the council had been not complete.

The Council had again sat on Sunday. This time it was stalled since the "time ran out". After Mayor Keshav Sthapit presented the budget, the CPN-UML and CPN-ML councillors had proposed various proposals. However, while discussing the budget and proposal, it was already 9:00 pm after which the council was again stalled said Hari Prasad Rimal, secretary at the council.

Maoists torch farm, give away cows to villagers

By a Post Reporter

JIRI, May 1 - Maoists torched six houses owned by Animal Development Farm in Chuchure VDC of Ramechhap on Sunday and gave away 70 cows belonging to the farm to the local villagers.

According to the In-charge of the farm Sher Bahadur Jirel, who reached here today, the armed rebels torched the buildings including the main office building after assembling all the cows at one place.

"They even called all the villagers, teachers and students from the village and gave speeches," said Jirel.

The VDC can be reached after two days walk from the district headquarters Manthali and four hours walk from Jiri, the headquarters of Dolakha.

"They took away binoculars, microscope, personal radios and cassette players from the office," said Jirel, who was beaten by the rebels. Jirel could not, however, figure the exact number of the rebels. "They were in hundreds," he said.

Meanwhile, in Rukum, armed Maoist guerrillas have started patrolling some villages situated in the remote parts of the district and have proclaimed that they are all set to fight the army, said eyewitnesses.

The rebels equipped with arms and ammunition and dressed in army uniforms are known to have held meetings with the locals in Simli village, situated four hours walk from the district headquarters, Musikot.

Last week the Maoists also staged street drama in Khara where they declared they were ready to face the Royal Nepalese Army.

Cops suspended for high-handedness

JUMLA, May 1 (PR) - Two police officers have been suspended regarding the death of Hast Bahadur Budthapa, who was allegedly killed by the police while he was trying to escape from the police on Friday.

The suspension notice issued today has stated that sub-inspector Ishwari Dutta Pandey and constable Gopal Gurung are guilty of the crime. According to Tika Dutta Niraula, joint secretary of Home Ministry and a member of the commission formed on Saturday to investigate the case, the suspension starts from Monday onwards.

On April 28, police had to open fire against Budthapa, a resident of Chandannath VDC ward No 3. Thapa allegedly snatched guns of the police patrol team, threw it away and tried to escape from them as he was being taken to the District Police Office. Police were allegedly taking him to the hospital for an alcohol test when he had tried to escape. Budthapa died on the spot when he was shot on his left thigh.

On Saturday, residents from the district had protested against the police’s move and had rallied around Khalanga Bazar. A homicide case has been filed against the two police personnel by Bharat Bahadur Budthapa, brother of the deceased.