Digital recording of newspapers fails to make headway

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 19: The preparation for a digital recording of Nepalese newspapers is going on at a snail’s pace as the Nepal Press Council (NPC) faces the problem of required budget, equipment and manpower, according to NPC chairman Harihar Birahi.

"The process of recording old newspaper pages in CD-Roms is going on slowly due to the lack of budget, sufficient scanners and needed manpower," said NPC chairman Harihar Birahi.

The NPC last year started recording newspapers in CD-Roms with the objective of preserving old newspapers in modern digital technology. The NPC has a plan to prepare a digital record of the newspapers since 1973 within five years.

However, this objective of NPC seems far from achieved in the fixed time as NPC is carrying out the process in the face of acute budget crunch, manpower and scanner machine that will be fit for broad sheets. Furthermore, there is only one scanner for tabloids.

And the process is likely to be hit worst this year as the government has cut NPC budget recently by Rs 3 million.

"It will take more than 15 years if the present pace of recording is not improved", adds chairman Birahi. There are more than 3 million newspaper pages waiting to be recorded in digital technology.

Meanwhile, UNESCO is going to help the recording process. "We have signed for the assistance of Rs1.6 million with the UNESCO," Birahi said.

Second phase of polio immunisation

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KATHMANDU, Jan 19: The second phase of Intense National Immunisation Day was successfully held today throughout the nation, according to the press release issued by the Department of Health Service.

More than 75 percent of targeted 4.1 million children below five years were given polio immunisation till the mid day at more than 38,000 of immunisation centres that were established in each ward of VDCs, municipalities, Sub Metropolitan Cities and Metropolitan Cities. More than 100,000 volunteers were mobilised for the sixth year of the immunisation day.

The Department of Health Services has expressed its gratitude for all those individuals and institutions who helped in the campaign to eradicate the polio from the country.

The pressing question of press passes

In these confusing days of emergency, the newsmen and the security personnel have their own tales to tell.

The journalists complain that the government does not honour the press cards issued by
the government itself citing security reasons. Journalists these days are being barred from accessing information from many places.

As for the security men, they defend their action saying it is because of "orders from above".

Rumour has it that in a recent case at Singha Durbar, some journalists were even beaten up by security men while seeking entry. This triggered the newsmen to take the matter to the higher authorities in government, but they were told to "manage" the press passes by themselves. But the jurnos daren’t take the responsibility.

Two valid questions arise in this context: what kind of a government is that which fails to recognise the passes it itself has issued; and what are the journalist associations doing about it?

In my own case, last week I had to meet a minister. When I contacted him over phone, he gave me an appointment at his office for the following day. But when I went there, the security personal at the gate stopped me. "You are not allowed in," one of them said. I duly showed my identity card, but it did not work. Then I contacted the Personnel Assistant of the Minister and requested him to tell the security guys to let me in.

But he said, "It is no use, even if I ask them to let you in, they won’t agree." He said I should rather jot down my queries and leave it at the gate from where he would pick it up later. I did as told. But when I later called, I found that my queries had not reached the Minister. So I had to again remind them that somebody should get those questions to the Minister. Finally they did.

Here I remember a coffee talk with a friend of mine. This was some months before the emergency. He had said, "If one is completely unemployed, he then becomes a journalist or at least he gets a press identity card from the numerous publications in the country. That is good enough for him to get into all kinds of offices, seminars and the like."

That might have been true during the pre-emergency days, but not in these crisis times.

Two journalists—Ganga Bista of Nepal Television and Shankar Khanal of Radio Nepal—are currently in police custody in Sankhuwasabha district. They were caught under the ordinance issued to quell the Maoists. Article 15 of the ordinance provides for a court to be instituted to hear and decide such cases. But no such court has been instituted even after seven weeks of the promulgation of the ordinance. Where does that leave the two journalists who, after all, are government media men?

I really don’t understand why the journalist associations are turning a blind eye to the issue. Is it that they are waiting for someone else to bell the cat?

This is certainly not good news for journalism.

The journalist’s job is not easy, if anyone thinks it to be so. One can plan any number of great stories, but if one is not allowed access to the sources to carry out the "scoop", where does that leave a journalist? He might as well just wait for the press releases and just give one side of the story—"..said the press release.",

A proper mechanism ought to be in place regarding press passes. The government ought to honour the very passes it itself gives out, and the journalists too should not misuse the passes. Let’s hope it finally turns out that way.

Archaeology team unearths wall remains in Jhapa

By Chintamani Dahal

BHADRAPUR, Jan 19: A 15-member team of the Department of Archaeology has uncovered the remains of a fortification wall while excavating in Kitchakbadh, a historical and religious site in Jhapa district.

The archaeologists have
been digging in around 10 bighas of land, 10 kilometers north of the district headquarters Bhadrapur, at Prithvi Nagar-5, near the Deuniya rivulet.

Although archaeologists are yet to carry out tests to establish the antiquity of the remains, one of them said that it can’t belong to a time any earlier than 1,000 A.D.

The place Kitchakbadh is mentioned in the epic Mahabharat, where one of the five Pandava brothers, Bhim, slayed the demon Kitchak. To mark this victory of good over evil, every full-moon day, a Bhimsen Mela is held here.

In an excavation two decades ago, a team at the Department of History in Mechi Multiple Campus at Bhradapur, had found in Kitchakbadh a triangular pond near the Deuniya rivulet. The pond now serves as a holy bath for the devotees visiting the place, after it was tidied up with help from a local industrialist, Mohan Agrawal. During the dig two decades ago, the archaeologists had also unearthed ancient bricks and pots.

But that excavation was called off after the Department of Archaeology denied permission.

Sources say if the latest finds have any historical value, the DDC and the Nepal Tourism Board will promote Kitchakbadh as an important tourist destination.

Welfare project for Kamaiyas held up

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DANG,Jan 19: The Food Security Project, which was initiated last year to provide work for the freed bonded labors, Kamaiyas, has come to a halt due to the absence of project officers and lack of follow up by the District Development Committee, said sources at the district office here today.

This has left more than 400 homeless Kamaiyas jobless.This is despite the fact that the Project received food worth 2.5 million rupees last year, and already 5.2 million rupees’ worth food have been received for this year.

Assistance for the Project comes from the UN’s World Food Programme and the German development agency, GTZ.

As part of the development work of the Project, roads were constructed last year in the rural areas.

But rest of the development work remains yet to be completed because of corrupt officials, says a report in the Kantipur daily. After the report was published, both Project Engineer Pamendra Kumar Das and Sub Overseer Chandra Dev Mahato, were stripped off their posts, according to Basant Raja Guam, National Coordinator of the Project.

Sarva Dev Ojha, acting Local Development Officer, says lack of technical manpower is hampering the Project work although donations have already been received. He says the District Development Committee has fulfilled its duties, but work can go ahead only if the technical manpower arrives.

Phewa lake to get back lost land

By Amrit Bhadgaule & Kulchandra Neupane

POKHARA, Jan 19: The Phewa lake might be one of the most scenic places in the country, but as yet, the mapping of the lake area has not been carried out. But that will soon change, said the District Development Committee (DDC) here yesterday.

The Committee has now begun work on identifying around 3000 ropanis of lake land that’s been registered in the names of private individuals. After it prepares the list of these registrations, the land will be taken away from the private owners, said the Committee officials.

In this regard, a Phewa lake Conservation Committee, has been instituted under the presidentship of Sudir Kumar Shah, Chief Land Revenue Officer here.

For the conservation of Nepal’s most famous lake, the Committee has also proposed a master plan to the Japanese government worth 880 million yen.

Shah said the mapping of the lake will begin once its border is demarcated. "Our first task is to determine the lake border which will help us determine how much encroachment has been done, " said Shah.

According to a recent report of the Kaski Department of Survey, more than 600 ropanies of lake land has been registered as personal property in the last 25 years. While in another survey conducted two years ago, a joint team of DDC, Regional Irrigation Office and Department of Survey, had reported that 3000 ropanis of lake land have been encroached upon. The report had also showed that each year the lake size is reducing by 0.18 sq. km due to soil deposition. The current area of the lake is 4.25 sq. km.

But even as the authorities are cancelling private registrations, Shah said that "even now there are applications for registering the land lying in the lake’s border." But he said they are no longer entertaining such registrations. "The registration of land of four bordering Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Phewa lake has been stopped since 1997," said Shah.

About 1500 ropanies of lake land is occupied by Janjagriti Secondary School of Sarangkot VDC, while the rest of the encroachments took place after the Phewa dam was broken in 1975. Most of the encroached land were registered in 1979, said Shah.

Oldtimers in Pokhara recall that the lake was bigger some half a century ago. "54 years ago the lake was up to Pame, but now half of that has become fields," said 67-year-old Pokhara resident Agnilal Baral.

The encroachment, and even the pollution at Phewa lake, is continuing despite the fact that over a dozen institutions are working towards its conservation. "There are a lot of people who have been making money in the name of the lake but only a few are really concerned about it," accused Punya Poudel, the DDC Chairman.

He said the masterplan for the lake includes the construction of a "Century Park" in the drained land. Preliminary work on the plan has got underway, said Poudel."