Her Majesty opens orphans’ home

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LALITPUR, April 16- Her Majesty Queen Aishworya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah inaugurated the newly-built orphanage, Shaligram Balgriha, amid a function at Lubhoo, today.

On the occasion, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was also present. Shaligram Balgriha, an orphanage promoted by the Help for Children Beilngries (HCB), Kathmandu, is dedicated to social service and education for orphans.

During the programme, Chairperson of the HCB, Kathmandu, Gautam Das Shreshtha, presented a report about the organisation and said the organisation is here to produce competent and self-dependent Nepali citizens in the future. Carl Rebele, Chairperson of Nepal Hilfe Beilngries Germany, highlighted on the programme objectives and thanked the agencies for assistance.

During the programme Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Kamala Pant and Vice Chairperson of the organisation Bimal Man Singh Shreshtha also addressed the programme.

Prominent personalities, high-ranking officials, journalists and representatives of various organisations were also present on the occasion.

Maoists destroy documents

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JAJARKOT, April 16 - Maoist insurgents destroyed all the documents of Karkigaon VDC in Jajarkot district on Saturday.

Nepali Congress District President Yagya Bahadur Khatri told The Kathmandu Post that a dozen Maoist workers came to the VDC office during the daytime on Saturday. They broke the door of the VDC office, took out all the documents of the VDC and burnt them. They handed over the furniture of the VDC office to Narayani Secondary School.

When they were about to set the VDC office building on fire, local people advised them not to destroy the building and they did not set fire to the building.

Syangja hospital begins service

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SYANGJA, April 16- The 16-bed Syangja hospital came into operation by admitting 11 patients, Sunday, ten years after the completion of its construction.

The newly constructed building had to be repaired before beginning its service as it began to fall apart even before it was used.

The hospital has a posting of three medical officers but except Dr Keshavraj Dhungana, Chief of the District Public Health Office, there was no other medical officer in the hospital.

It all began with the initiative of Dr Dhungana, who braved the challenges of running a hospital without either the necessary staff or adequate medical equipment, and decided to operate the hospital at the assurance of the co-operation of his DPHO staff.

Even though the hospital possesses an x-ray machine, simple surgical equipment, a medial lab, emergency and maternity cells, it lacks the approved medical staff like the medical officers, radiographer, lab technicians, among others.

Neither has the hospital received the budgets from the government. It has also not received the supply of drugs and medicines.

"The waiting for the start of the hospital has gone too long ; the people have grown impatient; and the building is gradually getting dilapidated," says Dr Dhungana."At this situation, I undertook to run the hospital, even if that has meant being alone in the venture because such moves will surely exert a pressure on the government not to dally any more."

Agriculture policy needs amendment

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LALITPUR, April 16 - International agencies and institutions have poured down billions of rupees to improve agriculture policy of Nepal, where around 90 percent population depends on it, but the output has been poorer than ever, agriculture experts said today.

"Till 1960s, Nepal was known as an exporting country but by 1970s, it started importing food grains. This indicates the failure of the agriculture policy," they said.

"Unless the country launched a new policy on this field, Nepal’s agricultural output would not be satisfactory," Indra Raj Pande said while addressing an interaction programme organised by Agriculture Concern Society-Nepal (AGSN) today.

"We first have to teach the lawmakers about the real condition of the farmers. Though they might have come out of the farmers’ communities, they often remain silent on this side in the policy- making table," Pande said.

Chitra Bahadur Shreshta, representative of All Nepal Farmers Association (Revolutionary) said that though the government has declared several policies to safeguard the rights of the farmers, they are actually suffering due to the state’s negligence towards the biggest contributor to the gross domestic production.

"There are five types of farmers : landless, poor, middle class, rich and land lords. In all ways, the poor farmers suffer and the rich community exploits others," he said.

Ek Dev Chaudhari of Backward Society Education (BASE), an NGO working in far west region said, that new policies are being introduced to divert the people’s attention from the real problem.

"The existence of the poor farmers is at danger because of Nepal’s being member of World Trade Organisation (WTO)," he said.

However, Padam Bahadur Singh, chief of Information Division at the Department of Agriculture said that since "we cannot stay unaffected of the globalisation in this age, we cannot say no to WTO membership."

Yet, he admitted that the agriculture policy of Nepal is somehow incomplete and needs amendments to meet the farmers’ demand.

AGSN general-secretary Shambhu Prasad Kattel said that the government is doing harm to the farmers, just to please some influential businessmen.

AGSN is a newly formed institution which aims to work as a facilitator for the agriculture expert and farmers to share ideas and plans, and also to act as a pressure group to help the farmers against the government.

Cop hit by his own rifle

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JAJARKOT, April 16 - A policeman who was on duty in police -striking base in the remote Daha VDC-3 which lies between Kalikot and Dailekh was hit in his own palm by his own rifle due to his carelessness.

The constable, Man Bahadur Khadka, resident of Dolakha ,had covered the muzzle of the rifle with the palm of his right hand when his left hand pushed the trigger of the rifle by mistake. The bullet has made a hole in his right palm.

According to the District Administration Office, constable Khadka was flown to Nepalgunj by helicopter and admitted to Regional Birendra Police Hospital for treatment.

One dies in road mishap

HETAUDA (PR)- A motorcyclist was killed instantly and another man sustained serious injuries on Sunday night when the bike they were riding met with an accident at Sunachuri on the Hetauda-Narayanghadh section of the busy East-West highway, police here said.

According to Superintendent of Police at the District Police Office in Hetauda, Madhu Sudhan Budhathoki, the person killed in the accident has been identified as Dhanraj Syantan from Padam Pokhari VDC-4. Sano Kanchha Tamang from the same VDC was injured. Tamang is undergoing treatment at the Bharatpur Hospital.

DSP Bhudhathoki said the vehicle that hit the bike (Lu 1 Pa 9035) has yet to be arrested. Both of them were found lying in a pool of blood when the police arrived at the site to rescue them.

Certificates given away

KATHMANDU, (PR) - Australian Ambassador to Nepal Crispin Conroy recently distributed certificates to 82 participants of the workshop on income-generation training and small lodge management workshop, conducted in Solu, a press release said.

Chairman of Khumbu District Development Committee Ang Ngima Lama said that though the region is rich in natural, cultural and religious heritage, it has not been able to establish itself as a popular tourist destination. On the occasion, students of Ringmu performed Sherpa dance, which reflected the rich cultural heritage of the locality. The workshop was conducted with the help of Kathmandu Environment Education Project (KEEP) under grants from USAID and Australian embassy.

Four Nepali girls rescued

MORANG, April 16 (PR)- Four unmarried Nepali girls, who were being trafficked to India, have been returned to their respective home from Jogbani Customs point, according to Maiti Nepal, a Non-Governmental Organisation campaigning against women trafficking.

Those who were withdrawn from the Customs point have been identified as Sabita Rajbansi and Kumari Rajbansi from Damak Municipality-16 in Jhapa, Saili Satar from Darbesa VDC in and Parbati Rai from Belbari VDC in Morang.

Having returned from the border point, Sabita Rajbansi said that some Muslim boys from her village escorted them to the Jogbani Customs on their own expenses promising them of lucrative jobs in the coastal city of Bombay, Maiti Nepal quoted her as saying.

The alleged boys are at large and police refused to make their names public. More than 150 Nepali women have been returned to their home since a branch office of the NGO was established at the Customs point.

Nepali to design logo for BP trust

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KATHMANDU, April 16 - At a general meeting of B.P. Koirala Memorial Trust (BPKMT) held today at the Trust’s office, an eleven member committee was formed.

The committee entitles Sushil Koirala as the chairman, Prakash Koirala as the vice-chairman, Shri Harsh Koirala as the general secretary and Puroshottam Basnet as the vice-president, along with seven other members.

Meanwhile, another committee formed under BPKMT to make a film on the legendary B.P. Koirala has selected Yagyanidhi Gautam as the winner of the logo competition. Gautam has been awarded the cash money of Rs 10,000 as advertised in the newspaper.

However, the committee has now proposed the renowned artist Uttam Nepali to design the logo for the committee.

Dhadingbesi badly needs dumping site

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DHADING, April 16 - Women of Dhadingbesi engaged in cleaning the bazaar every Saturday over the last one month are compelled to throw away garbages in Thopal Khola (rivulet) due to lack of a particular dumping site.

Dhadingbesi bazaar is known as upper bazaar, central bazaar and lower bazaar. The upper bazaar is cleaned by ‘Bhedbhav Rahit Mahila Samuha’, central bazaar by ‘Nari Jagaran Samuha’ and lower bazaar by ‘Sahara Mahila Samuha’.

Every Saturday, women associated with these women’s groups embark on cleaning campaign early in the morning with a spade and broom in their hands. The DDC has made available a tractor to them and they throw away the garbages in Thopal rivulet.

Until a few years ago, Thopal rivulet was clean and people used to bathe in the rivulet, but it is increasingly getting polluted over the last three or four years. Currently, it is so polluted that it has actually been turned into a dumping site.

Chairpersons of the three women’s groups Parvati Khand, Bhagawati Upreti and Kosi Maya Dhamala said their bazaar cleaning campaign had been successful to some extent but lack of dumping site was a major problem. They also felt the need to run an awareness-generating programme. They had in vain hoped some clubs and individuals would place drums at different points to dispose the garbage. They also hoped the concerned government body will resolve the problem of dumping site.

Former Chairman of Dhadingbesi Town Development Committee Keshab Raj Adhikari said women’s effort to clean the bazaar was praiseworthy but they had not received cooperation from other people.

He added that the committee was planning to fix a dumping site at Maidi Bhanjyang but its term expired before the arrangement was made for the dumping site. Currently, there are no office-bearers in the committee.

There is no sewerage system and roads are littered with garbages and other filth as a result of entry of mule at any time of the day, vegetables sold everywhere and lack of toilet. Lack of dumping site has further aggravated the situation.

Malaria cases decline by 15 pc: HMIS

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KATHMANDU, April 16 - At the time when the media reports are pouring in that malaria is spreading in epidemic proportion in some of the VDCs of Sindhuli district, some reports still say that malaria cases are declined.

Sources from Health Management Information System (HMIS) claim that the malaria cases declined by 15 % from year 1999 to year 2000.

However the major areas termed as "Malaria Triangle" comprise of Sindhuli, Dhanusha and Mahottari.

According to the statistics prepared by HMIS, the number has been reduced from 8959 to 7616 in the year 2000 in comparison with the year 1999.

The Department of Health (DoH) further identifies Kathmandu as a Malaria Free city.This is primarily because the mosquito needs minimum 15-degree temperature for transmitting this disease.Interestingly, another reason is the lack of unpolluted water which is also one of the requirements for transmitting the disease.

According to an entomologist of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, (DoH),Purushottam Gautam Champi, Dukuchap, Devichour and Bagmati belt of Lalitpur are newly-affected areas seen in some 2-3 years.

According to the another statistics of HMIS, the killer malaria Plasmodium Falciparum (PF) and ordinary malaria Plasmodium Vivax (PV) are found about 10% and 90% respectively. However the rate of malaria affected death is not alarming as compared to in African countries, Gautam added.

In the case of Nepal, DoH is providing free medicine to 64 districts nationwide. USAID and WHO are the major donor helping DoH to reduce this disease.

Rain affects wheat production

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MORANG, April 16- While the mango and lychee plantations here have been supported for better yield by the recent rains, the unspected downpour has ruined the ready-to-harvest cultivation of wheat.

"Just on the day when I was planning to harvest my wheat plantation, there was an untimely rainfall which virtually ruined my crops. It can’t fetch half the price now," said Umalal Choudhary of Sundarpur-5.

According to another farmer at Bahuni VDC, Hari Prasad Nepal, the rains have not only crushed the plants to a low quality, they have also rendered the harvest most difficult to sell in the market. "I’ve lost the investment of Rs 35 thousand plus and opportunity cost of my five bigahas land," complains Nepal.

The farmers who own mango gardens, however, are rather glad at the bright prospects of their yield this year, specially after a poor harvest last year.

Tekendra Rijal of Rangeli VDC says, "Last year’s drought during April dealt a blow to the blossoming mango flowers, ruined the fruitage and left us with heavy losses," adding, "We hope to be compensated this year for last year’s damage."