Swasthani Brata comes to end

By Perina Pathak

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : A month-long Swasthani Brata, which started on January 27 this year, has concluded today. Like every year thousands of devotees thronged the banks of Shali Nadi at Sankhu on this concluding day of the month-long fasting and prayers. However, due to escalating Maoist problem and the imposition of emergency, number of devotees visiting the holy site for puja of Swasthani Mata went down considerably this year in comparison to previous years.

Throughout the entire period of the month-long fasting, devotees for the whole month eat a single meal and recite the Swasthani manuscript every day. Some stay at their homes throughout the month, whereas some prefer to stay at the bank of Shali Nadi. "Those taking fasting has to pass through discipline rituals of daily life, such as they cannot have salt, should not think about domestic affairs and other restricted fruits," said Sujan Rajopadhyay, priest of Madav Narayan, the main god on the bank of Shali Nadi where the devotees throng today.

Every year thousands of devotees visit Sali Nadi, which is 40 kilometres east of the Kathmandu Valley, during the period. "This year only 262 devotees came to live here for a month stay and fasting, but last year there were above 300 devotees, " said Jeevan Man Singh, member of Shree Sali River Renovation Committee.

The fasting and puja of Mata Swasthani is popular among the Hindu community and both male and female equally participate enthusiastically, which is clear form 31 male (young and old) fasting at the Shali Nadi bank.

Says 71 years old Bisheshwor Joshi, who came all the way from Jhapa for Swasthani puja , "I came here for the first time when I was 24 years old. When my wish was fulfilled that year I am here again. I am looking forward to visit next year too."

"On my first visit I came walking all the way and only two people were here for fasting, "Joshi remembers his first visit.

Along with Joshi was Krishna Laxmi Suwal, 12, youngest among those 262. Even after a month long arduous fasting, Suwal looked very energetic and fresh. "I heard successful stories from my neighbours and friends that if we could successfully complete the one-month-fasting of Swasthani then the wish will be fulfilled." said Suwal,

"So I also took fasting so as to fulfil my wishes," she said. Her 14 years old sister Anita Duwal, who also completed her month-long-fasting, said, "I wish to be good in my education and ask god to make me successful in my academic field."

There is no exact date when the fasting and reading of Swasthani scripture started, said Rajopadhyay. "Whereas according to Swasthani scripture, Chandrawati started the procedure of fasting in human community."

Chandrawati, queen of Nawaraj (King of Shankharapur) was a sinner and she passes through different difficulties. Later she learns Swasthani fasting from nymphs and teaches the technique to all the people.

"It is believed that Chandrawati is the first person to introduce the Swasthani fasting to humankind," said Rajopadhyay.

Today the month-long puja ends after Yagya, sacred-thread ceremony, marriage and other rituals that are performed in a man’s life from birth to death", he said.

Effective awareness the best solution to prevent AIDS

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : The roleplay of parliamenta-rians in controlling HIV /AIDS was highlighted at a national seminar on "The Role of Parliamentarians in the Campaign Against HIV/AIDS," organised in the capital today.

Speaking at the programme, Minister for Health, Sarat Singh Bhandari stressed the need for an awareness campaign as a vital tool in the absolute elimination against the menace that is HIV/ AIDS as this would be the best option to prevent the disease from running into epidemic proportions.

Minister Bhandari informed participants at the programme that the process of drawing up a five-year national strategy against HIV/ AIDS was nearing its completion and the government was committed to implement the planned strategy. "The government is marking this current year as a ‘People’s Awareness Year’ against HIV/ AIDS to make more people aware of preventive measures," Bhandari said.

He also disclosed that the government is going to set CD – 4 self-count machines in five development regions for check ups of migrant populations in view of the an increasing migration of the people from one place to the other.

"It has been difficult for the government to identify affected sectors or particular people as there are no organised sex industries in the country as found in neighbouring countries", Bhandari said.

He also stressed for statutory changes as well as a radical change in people’s mentalities to obtain the desired success in controlling HIV/AIDS. "Fear of death should supercede social hesitations in having this scourge identified," he further added.

Speaking at the same programme, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tara Nath Ranabhat suggested that governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in AIDS control should focus on illiterate people living in rural areas. "They should not be confined to only urban educated groups and the ‘dollar earning’ mindset of people," he said.

Contrary to Bhandari, Ranabhat alleged that the Ministry of health and other institutions involved were creating ineffective slogans and slangs in their awareness programmes and advertisements. "Rural folks are generally embarassed while listening to the advertisements in their radios and turn them off instead," Ranabhat added.

The Speaker presumes this as a misuse of foreign donations and said, " Spending money for ineffective advertisements will not help controlling AIDS but denigrate the government as well as the whole nation".

CPN (UML) leader, Madhav Kumar Nepal, feared the country becoming the habitat of only the elderly and younger children due to the intensified effect of HIV in the younger generation. "The only way to control spreading of the epidemic is to increase public awareness and MPs can play a significant role in educating the people in their own constituencies," he added.

Deputy Speaker Chitralekha Yadav suggested that the government focus more on communicative information, identification and alliance building as the fundamental tool in controlling AIDS.

MP Shankar Prasad Pandey stressed the need for an attitudinal change of every individual to preserve oneself from the rapidly rising epidemic of AIDS.

Dr Hernando Agudelo of UNFPA highlighted the role of politicians as important decision-makers to formulate practical strategies in controlling HIV/AIDS.

Night market begins in capital

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : Now the Kathmanduites need not stay home after office hours, for something new is happening in the heart of the capital city. For the first time in Nepal, the trend of "night market" has begun from today.

Brightly lit, the market created in front of the main entrance to historic Basantpur has caught the attention of hundreds, each curious and anxious to take up a stall. With two lines of beautifully-tented tables, the market can accomodate about eighty stalls.

The night market as a project aims to give a facelift to small-scale industries in Nepal, which are often the ones to catch the attention of tourists. And most likely this is the concept of a private company – Raj Gharana Restaurant and Bar Company who has taken the particular place under lease from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City for ten years with a yearly rent of about Rs 200,000.

Sources at the KMC say that the market is a platform on which people in the small-scale industry, unable to rent shops in the capital or market their products, can come in the forefront.

According to the organisers, for the first fifteen days, the stalls will be provided free and then will charge a nominal amount therafter. Tek Bahadur Gurung, one of the organisers says, "The trend of night market is a new concept here but our main purpose is to promote tourism of this country and to employ young people who are jobless."

It is estimated that one hundred and forty youngsters can get employment at the site.

As much as they can, the organisers try to stress on Nepalese products. One could display and sell chiefly Nepalese products in the stalls. The stalls could have anything Nepalese from edible food stuffs to clothes and handicraft items.

The number of stalls that opened today are not many but everyone is gearing up for tomorrow. The market starts from six in the evening to ten at night. It may be better tommorow, so take a look!

Kirtipur city council meet held

Post Report

KIRTIPUR, Feb 27 : After two-month-long waiting, the Kirtipur municipality held its City Council meeting and passed the budget for the running fiscal year today.

The meeting of Kirtipur City Council, held on 27 December was suspended when the opposition raised voice against several agenda of the annual plan.

Mayor of Kirtipur municipality Hira Kaji Maharjan today presented his plans and programmes of developing the newly emerging city and also proposed a budget of Rs 471,193 for the municipal works, which was passed by the city members.

"The budget concentrates on constructing roads and providing drinking water to the locals, " said the official.

He said the municipality decided to hike the fees for giving permission to build houses but added that the municipality might categorize the area into two and decide two fees for separate areas.

Japanese assistance to education project

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Feb 27 : The Embassy of Japan Wednesday donated eighty-two thousand and five hundred American dollars (NRs 6,356,625) as a grant assistance to an education project for the poor children run by the Milan Club Nepal.

A grant contract, including some educational equipment for primary schools, was signed here today at the Japanese Embassy between Takamichi OKABE, Charge d’ Affairs, Embassy of Japan and Amar Narayan Mali, Vice President of Milan Club Nepal.

Educational materials donated by government schools in Japan included 1,894 sets of desks and chairs, 46 blackboards, 44 musical instruments, 103 harmonicas, 30 xylophones, two video cassette players and three video monitors were provided to 11 primary schools in Dharmasthali, Kavresthali, Sangla and Phutung VDCs in the Kathmandu district.

All the costs including the shipment of the teaching materials are borne by the Japanese government while the Club and the VDCs concern will bear the operation and maintenance costs of the projects intended to help the poor children most of whom include orphan girl child.

"Our major concern in Nepal is in the field of health and education," said Saburo Sato, First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan. Briefing the journalists about the salient features of Japanese grants, Takamichi OKABE said, "Our grants support the local administration and not the central government."

"Though the size of our grant assistance is not large, in future, we want to implement as many projects as possible," Japanese officials said expressing their government’s keen interest to support in other environment-related and income-generating projects in Nepal.

Amar N. Mali, Vice President of Milan Club Nepal who received the assistance to run the education project for the poor in Nepal, said the teaching equipment will be shipped from Japan in a month after which they will be available for the children currently attending schools in four VDCs devoid of a minimum level of teaching aids and other facilities.

Policeman kills 14-year-old girl

Post Report

DHANGADHI, Feb 27 : A 14-year old girl of Chaumala Village Development Committee (VDC) of Kailali district, was shot dead by an aggressive policeman of Badimaika Armed Police Camp here yesterday.

Mina Kumari Singh alias Manju died on the spot when Kabindra Bohara fired his SMG gun at 9 o’clock on Tuesday morning, according to police.

Police suspected the culprit shot her in anger as he suspected she was telling his senior officials about him. "He shot her on the right side of the chest while she was combing her hair," said a family member.

The murderer also threatened his senior officials afterward but the Camp Chief successfully took back the gun telling him that she was only injured, according to police.

Kabindra has been taken into custody by the District Police Office while the corpse of Mina has been handed over to the family after a post-mortem, according to police sources.

Kidnapping on the rise in bordering districts

By Gopal Devkota

BIRGUNJ, Feb 27 : The open border with India is helping Indian kidnappers ‘make hay while the sun shines,’ increasing their activities by the day, in Birgunj. Two children were kidnapped in two different incidents last week and police suspect Indian nationals were involved in both of these criminal acts.

Both children were released after the culprits received a ransom. Police raided a house in the city and arrested a woman involved in one of the kidnapping incidents, according to the police. "The police have also found weapons which include a pistol, used in the kidnapping, in the house of the suspect," said Kamal Kharel, a police inspector here.

The police used information provided by a child and raided the house of Uddhav Singh Rajput of Birgunj Municipality-25. The woman, Khusbu Khatun, is being prosecuted for keeping illegal weapons, according to Kharel.

"But the main culprit, Sabir Dewan of Aathhapur, Betiya of India and husband of the woman could not be arrested," said Kharel. Dewan is a highly wanted criminal in India, according to the police. The kidnapped child, 16 year-old Javed Alam, was kept in the house after the kidnap. The criminals released him after receiving 10.05 million rupees in ransom 4 days ago.

The woman confessed that the boy was hidden in her room but refused her involvement in the kidnapping, according to Kharel.

The next boy, 8-years old Bikash Yadav was taken to Betiya of India after the kidnap. The police have suspected involvement of Indian criminal Pappu Yadav in the kidnapping. Bikash was released for a ransom of 40 million rupees.

"No one has been arrested in the incident as yet, but we have contacted the Indian police for support," said Kharel.

Freed Kamaiyas in trouble again

By Kamal Panthi

GULARIYA, Feb 27 : The government decision to distribute the 400 bighas of forest land to freed Kamaiyas known as bonded labourers, in Baidiphant and Kalo Bel area of Dadhabar Village Development Committee (VDC)-8, has come under fire from VDC representatives.

The government started logging trees for the process of land distribution. "The forest is
a part of the Royal Bardiya
National Park and the Kamaiyas should not be settled here," says Dayaram Khadka, Chairperson of the VDC.

The VDC also filed a petition in the Supreme Court against
the decision of the government
but the court has not given its verdict as yet. "We are surprised to see the government logging trees before the verdict of the court," says Khadka, "the destruction of a part of the forest will not be good for our environment and the resources here will also be inadequate for this a large number of people."

"The government should not settle them in the forest without looking out for other possibilities," says Hari Prasad Gyawali, the Chairperson of Forest and Environment Concern Group. "The destruction of forests should only be the last option."

Khadka says the settlement can be done in treeless areas adjoining the forests. "Such land can be small, but it can be found," says Khadka.

The government also decided to distribute 150 bighas of land in Khaireniphat and Sicty Riharphat of Sauraha VDC-3 and another 100 bighas in Tepari of Gulariya Municipality -12. But the 25 bighas among 95 bighas of land of Sicty Riharphat has trees planted by Nepalgunj Forest Project while local Community Forest Consumers’ Committee is conserving 70 percent of 55 bighas in Khairenipath.

The locals there are also protesting but the Land Registering Committee has already started dividing land among the Kamaiyas.

"The forest can still be saved," says Dhananjaya Poudel, assistant forest officer. "The decision can be overturned to save the environment."