ADB loan assistance for teacher education project

RSS

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a loan assistance of US$ 15.585 million (approximately Rs 1496.85 million) to His Majesty’s Government for implementing the Teacher Education Project.

A loan agreement to this effect was signed between His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and Asian Development Bank at the Finance Ministry today.

The Teacher Education Project aims at improving the quality of education through increased coverage of teacher training and institutional capacity building.

The project will carry out activities like strengthening the institutional capacity of National Center for Educational Development (NCED), Primary Teachers’ Training Centers and Distant Education Center to train primary school teachers.

In addition to providing training to 130,000 teachers, educational administrators and managers, the project will also help develop teacher education curriculum and teaching-learning materials.

Of the total US $26.9 million cost of the project, ADB will finance US $ 19.6 million and the remaining balance of US $ 6.3 million will be borne by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal.

The loan assistance carries an interest rate of one per cent during the grace period and 1.5 per cent interest per annum thereafter. The loan has to be repaid within a period of 40 years, including the grace period of eight years.

The loan agreement was signed and exchanged between Finance Secretary Dr. Bimal Prasad Koirala and Dr. Richard Vokes, Country Director, Nepal Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank on behalf of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and the Asian Development Bank respectively.

His Majesty’s Government has expressed its sincere thanks to the Asian Development Bank for the assistance and also for the bank’s keen interest and support for the socio-economic development of Nepal.

Govt to review community forestry guideline

By Kiran Chapagain

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: After sowing confusions—and conflicts—among the users’ groups of the hills and Terai over the rights of the communities regarding their forest resources last year, community forestry is on the spotlight again.

This time the cause of contention is no other than the guideline that the government prepared last year to better manage community forests.

And with the policy document prematurely drawing criticism from all quarters, the government is now in the process of reviewing the guideline to manage community forests throughout the country.

By doing so the government hopes to make community forestry programmes more effective and sustainable.

Once reviewed, it will be much easier for the community forest users’ groups and forest rangers and other technicians to better manage forests across the hills and plains that are nurtured by local communities or users’ groups, say officials at the Department of Forest (DOF).

Highly placed officials at the DOF told The Kathmandu Post that officials are currently making preparations to review the one-year-old Guideline for the Inventory of Community Forests.

"We are collecting suggestions through workshops and seminars to make amendments in the Guideline," said Krishna Bahadur Shrestha, the Deputy Director General at the DOF, who heads the Community Forestry Division.

The DOF formulated the Guideline, which has been described as a tool for sustainable management of community forests, in 2000. First introduced in the country in 1978 and supported by a number of bi-lateral and multi-lateral donor agencies, community forests today cover an area of 847,282 hectars and are managed by at least 10,969 users’ groups around the country.

"The Guideline is too technical for the common people and even for forest technicians to understand so we are going to review it," said Shrestha. "We are going to simplify it and wipe out those parts that are considered impractical."

The DOF has already conducted a few seminars involving stakeholders and are planning to hold more in the future before the guideline is actually reviewed. Officials refuse to give actual date to complete the review work.

The guideline inventory is considered to be a tool to estimate the growing forest stocks and resources at a particular plot of forest, besides being a guideline to access the amount of forest resources that can be harvested every year.

While the DOF is at it, those who could make use of the guideline in question say they found it very useful.

Achal Dhungana, the Chairman of Rangers’ Association of Nepal, says that the inventory should be instrumental in further strengthening the sustainable development of community forests in the country. "It has guided both rangers and users groups to assess forest harvesting and forest resources," he adds.

The Ranger Association has recently given a list of suggestions to make the guideline inventory more practical and understandable to the common people and rangers in the field.

Due to the "technicality" of the inventory, District Forest Officers (DFOs) are taking advantage of the innocence of the members of the community forest users’ groups, rangers say.

"There have been incidents of DFOs cheating users’ groups by suggesting them to use more forest resources than the inventory allows," a ranger said.

However, the designers of the guideline inventory are of the opinion that it is too early to review the document, as there are many things in the inventory that need to be implemented. "If we are to review it right now, most of its good essence can remain in shadow," says a senior forest technician involved in preparing the guideline inventory.

Thousands of illegal sheds to be demolished

By Krishna Bhandari

CHITWAN, Jan 28: Preparation is on to demolish around one thousand sheds in the buffer zone of Royal Chitwan National Park, which were illegally built at Yodhya Puri VDC-9, Bandharjhul of the Chitwan district, said the source at the national park.

The decision in this regard was taken in 26 Baisakh by a joint meeting of the District Administration Office and the national park, in the initiation of the latter and the concerned were informed to evacuate the region by coming Saturday.

The encroaching settlement in the region has various negative impacts on the wildlife of the park and poaching of wild life and smuggling of timber is rampant, alleged Puran Bhakta Shrestha, the chief warden at the park. He added that deforestation by the encroachers covering a wide area, which can almost accommodate a VDC in the park has caused landslides, floods and degraded the local environment.

People squatted upon the region in the number of around 200 in 1990, right after the restoration of democracy in the country when the country was in a mess and their number multiplied later, said the locals in adjoining villages of Yodhya Puri VDC.

If the squatters do not leave the region voluntarily, the harsh move shall be undertaken with the help of Royal Nepal Army personnel guarding the national park, informed the Park administration. However the squatters have criticized the move taken by the
park administration and have demanded it to provide an alternate for resettlement.

Before the move is initiated the park should identify the real squatters and arrange for their resettlement, says Naradmani Pouldel, the chairman of Yodhya Puri VDC. However, the park administration holds it that its responsibility is to provide security to the park and that the squatters defying its order will be subjected to a severe penalty under National park and Wildlife Protection Act-1973 and the existing laws in the case.

No telephones in Mustang

Post Report

POKHARA, Jan 28: Far flung district Mustang is being cut off from the telephone service as two telephone lines based on Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) system in the district are not functioning well due to worsening climatic situation.

Forty-two telephone lines based on MARTS system in the district ceased to function after the Maoist insurgents destroyed a repeater tower in Damek VDC-9 of the district. A total of eighty-two telephone lines in the remote districts Baglung, Parbat, Mustang and Myagdi have become dead after the destruction of the repeater tower, said Kailash Pandey, the chief at Telecommunication Office in Baglung district.

The tower is not repaired due to insecurity situation in the country, said Krishna Gyawali, a technician at the office. "It is not certain when the tower will be repaired as the Department of Maintenance of Telecommunication Office in the capital has not informed as yet," he added.

Paddy production rises

RSS

SUNSARI, Jan 28; Production of paddy in Morang and Sunsari districts is expected to decline by 91,542 metric tonnes because of drought conditions this year.

Morang and Sunsari districts which supplied millions of rupees worth of paddy to other parts of the country has suffered a loss of Rs 732,336,000 this year.

According to Morang district agriculture extension officer Daman Bahadur Dhungana, production of paddy in Morang district declined by 52,308 metric tonnes as the farmers of 32 village development committees could not cultivate paddy on 20,051 hectares of land because of drought conditions this year.

Morang district produced 264,758 metric tonnes of paddy as paddy had been cultivated on only 76,999 hectares this year. Paddy used to be cultivated on 9,750,000 hectares of land in the previous year.

Likewise, Sunsari district suffered a loss of Rs 313,872,000 as only 177,330 metric tonnes of paddy could be produced this year because of drought conditions.

Sunsari district had produced 216,600 metric tonnes of paddy in the previous year.

Due to the dry spell, the farmers could cultivate paddy on only 42,850 hectares of land this year.

Heavy snowfall disrupts life in highland areas

Post Report

BAITADI, Jan 28: Transport, communication and electricity supply have come to a standstill due to heavy snowfall over the last three days in the highland areas of the far-western region - Baitadi, Doti, Dadeldhura, Achham and Darchula districts.

The roads leading to Managalsen, Bajhang, Dadeldhura and Baitadi have been disrupted as a result of the snowstorms in the high altitude areas. Local authorities said that two to three feet thick snowfall has been recorded in some parts of the Highways. A large number of people travelling to and from the Terai region have been stranded in many places due to the heavy snowfall for the last three days.

The heavy blizzards have also disrupted the communication facilities and power supply. Local officials of the Nepal Electricity Authority said that the power supply had to be cut off because the heavy layer of snowfall toppled the electric poles in many places. Snow could be seen even on the electric wires.

Our reporter from Humla said that life in the district has come to a standstill because of the snowstorms for the second time of this winter. The district headquarters of Simikot has been covered with upto two feet thick blizzards. The local administration said that movement from one village to another has been completely blocked by the winter cloudbursts. The air service, the only means of transportation in the Himali district, has also been suspended over the last two weeks.

Meanwhile, life in the highland areas of Myagdi district has come to a standstill due to the heavy snowfall over the last two days, according to our correspondent. The high altitude areas such as Ghodepani, Ramche, Kuine, Mudi and Gurja have been covered with a thick layer of blizzards.

The high mountains surrounding the district headquarters of Beni Bazaar have covered with snow and the people are staying at their homes thanks to the freezing cold. These areas are the most famous trekking routes to Mustang district and the Mt. Annapurna mastiff. Locals said that it would take at least three months to melt the snow, which has also caused difficulties in carrying goods in the highland places.

Locals hand over guns

Post Report

HETAUDA, Jan 28 : ocals of two Village Development Committees have handed 81 country-made licensed and illegal guns over to the local authorities amid two separate functions held in their respective VDCs on Sunday.

Chief District Officer, Sitaram Khanal, said that the local people cooperated with the government’s efforts to bring an end to the ongoing violence. People of the Bhimphedi VDC handed 53 guns - 28 licensed and 25 illegal ones - over to the authorities at Ghosing.

Similarly, the people of the Nibuwatar VDC gave 28 guns – 11 licensed and 17 illegal ones – to the local administration.

Eighty-year-old Ek Bahadur Rana Magar said that they collectively decided to hand their guns over to the administration with a view to extending their support to the government. This is the first time that the locals have handed such a large amount of guns to the administration voluntarily.

Officials of the Royal Nepal Army, the Nepal Police, civil authorities and local representatives were present in the hand over function. Hundreds of locals were also present at the function.

Telephone lines in govt offices cut off

RSS

BHADRAPUR, Jan 28: Telephone lines of some 20 district level government offices in Jhapa district have been disconnected after they failed to pay their telephone bills.

Nepal Telecommunications Corporation office in Bhadrapur disconnected telephone lines of the offices after the dues owed by the offices since the past five years passed Rs. 2 million. Warnings of similar disconnection of telephone lines have also been sent to many other offices who have also not paid their telephone bills.

According to the office, the District Administration Offices that uses five telephone lines owes the telecom office Rs. 514,000, the district police office owes Rs. 143,000, the regional police office around Rs. 75,000, the national investigation department Rs. 500,000 and the Bhadrapur police post owes Rs. 59,000 to the telecom office.

"Despite of the big amount in arrears, telephone lines used by the above offices have not been disconnected owing to security reasons,"said the Telecom Office Chief Dhan Bahadur Basnet.

Telephone lines disconnected by the telecom office includes two lines of the Jhapa District
Court owing Rs. 55,000, two lines of the District Education
office owing Rs. 144,000, the District Irrigation Office (Rs. 100,000), the Water Supply Office
(Rs. 84,000), the Animal Hospital (Rs. 150,000), District Forest Office (Rs, 106,000), Internal Revenue Office (Rs. 71,000) Office of the Public Prosecutor (Rs. 21,000), the Building and Housing Office (Rs. 41,000), Mechi Zonal Hospital (Rs. 63,000), district prison (Rs. 33,000), the 7 No. Survey Office (Rs 27,000), Labour Office (Rs. 18,000), Agriculture Development Office (Rs. 20,000) and the Refugees Coordination Unit Office’s Residential Quarters owes Rs. 60,000 to the telecom office.

Similarly, the rural consumers cooperatives organisation also owes Rs. 18,000 while the dissolved landless settlers problem resolution commission’s office has to pay Rs. 25,000 in telephone bills to the telecom office.

Meanwhile, it has been learn that the telecom office reconnected one telephone line each of the district court and the district education office after they paid some percentage of the total amount in arrears.

"We will reconnect all the telephones line immediately after the offices pay back their dues", said the office chief Basnet.

Responding to the action taken by the telecom office, chief of the District Public Health Office Bhogendra Raj Dotel said the office receives annual budget  of Rs. 20,000 for telephone service but that is minimal considering the work of  the office that has to remain in contact throughout the district.

Every public office here share the similar story as that of the District Public Health Office. Increasing use of telephone and fax, which has been an essential part of the day-to-day office work, in the offices has made the budget allocated for the purpose insufficient.

However, one cannot ignore the fact that telephones are widely misused in the government offices increasingly for personal works rather than for the office work.