Committee formed to support fire victims

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KATHMANDU, March 2 : To assist the victims of last Wednesday’s inferno in Pashupatinagar Bazar of Ilam district, a group of people in the capital today constituted "Pashupatinagar Inferno Victims’ Relief Committee".

According to a press release issued here today, the committee was formed under the covenorship of Rana Bahadur Rai and Milan Moktan has been selected as its secretary.

Other members of the committee include Bhola Rai, Deepak Pradhan, Deepak Yonjan, Krishna Thapa Magar, Ram Rai, Roshan Gurung, Bikram Tamang, Devraj Pradhan and Sushila Rai, the release said.

The committee will collect donations from individuals and organisations and will hand over it to the victims. The release has also asked the interested to inquire at the telephone numbers – 416566, 440164 and 440228. The inferno, besides reducing millions of property to a cinder, had gutted over 35 shops.

Poetry anthology released

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KATHMANDU, March 2 : The Vice-Chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy Mohan Koirala today released a poetry book "The Sea and Other Poems," amid a function.

The Nepali poetry has English translations by Yuyutsu RD Sharma and Razen Manandhar with Debra Graumann.

Addressing the function, Koirala said that every Nepali writer cherishes a dream of a worldwide recognition so they are currently engaged in getting their works translated into English.

" Uprety’s poetry would be a great present from England to Nepali literature."

The poet composed the poems during his stay in England.

Senior poet Bairagi Kaila praised the poet’s experience with sea and simplicity of its language at the same programme.

Similarly, speaking at the programme, poet Yuyutsu R.D Sharma emphasised that Bhisma Uprety’s voice should be heard internationally.

The poet and the translators recited the poems in the programme organised by Sharansh Nepal.

The poetry contains 35 poems, of which 25 are the poet’s impression about the sea and feelings he obtains as he looks at the endless sea.

Over 300 Maoists loot jewellery, goods

By KP Ghimire

DANG, March 2 : A group of approximately 3 hundred Maoist rebels have looted the house of former chairperson of Shreegoan Village Development Committee (VDC) here, Friday night.

The group broke into Janardan Sharma’s house in Shreegoan VDC-3 at 23.00 hrs.in the night and locked up his 65 years old mother Rikha Sharma and his wife Sarala Sharma in a bedroom, according to family members.

"They were about 300 in number," said Janardan Sharma. "They looted all the jewellery and grains stored in the house and this included cloths worth more than 1 million rupees."

The looters stayed for about 2 hours and went north and south shouting slogans after exploding two bombs, according to Sharma.

The Maoists also put up a banner and a party flag in the garden of the house. Maoists have accused Sharma of being a mafia agent and exploiting the labour of poor people, according to the banner.

The police had not reached the place until 18.00 hrs. on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, Maoists rebels have confessed to the murder of 3 civil servants in Tribhuvan Municipality.

"Three villagers – Subash Roka of ward no. 10, Gir Bahadur Thapa of ward no. 6 and Uttam GC of ward no. 8 were killed for their involvement in so-called wrongdoing," said the hand-written pamphlets thrown around the city area by a self-elected Maoist Municipality Committee. The three victims were missing since February 21.

Couple fed excreta on charge of Witchcraft

By Mukunda Acharya

KALAIYA, March 2 : A couple were forced to swallow human waste in front of a huge crowd after abduction here 3 days ago.They’ve being accused of practicing witchcraft, according to a witness.

Jagnath Mahato of Bhatauda Village Development Committee (VDC) was accused of using his witchcraft on 16 years old Sanjaya Shah Teli to make him ill. Sanjaya’s father, Ram Chandra, did not take him to the hospital when he was partly unconscious since the morning of February 25, said the witness.

The villagers started looking for Jagnath who had escaped the village after he heard the rumours. "He was brought and told to treat Sanjaya," said a villager, " but Sanjaya died." The rites of him were only performed after beating and forcing Jagnath and his wife to swallow the human waste in front of nearly 2,000 people from neighbouring villages, said the villager.

Some villagers believe that Jagnath also killed the elder son of Ram Chandra a few years ago using his witchcraft. "Jagnath and Ram Chandra were both enemies," said a villager, "they were eye-to-eye since working together at the Khatum Rice Mill."

A son of Jagnath, Tej Narayan, brought police from Kalaiya but the villagers returned them. "The police returned after we told them not to intervene in our matters and that we will solve the problem peacefully," said a villager.

Survey teams to complete border demarcation

Bikas Thapa

BIRATNAGAR, March 2 : The Joint Survey Teams representing Nepal and India have almost completed updating of the border in eastern Nepal that stretches about 545 kilometres, according to a member of the team.

The team has nearly completed recording the status of border pillars and encroachment on no-man-lands at the border in Panchthar, Ilam, Taplejung, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari and Siraha districts of Nepal, according to Purna Bahadur KC, the officer of Nepal India Border Survey Team 1.

The team started working 6 months back according to a regular process of reconstructing destroyed and encroached border pillars, said KC. The joint teams of both countries have been working on these borders since 1981. Six teams have been formed to update the 1,890 kilometre borders on both sides of the fence.

The officials also agreed to displace all encroachers settled on no-man-land, to reduce the possibility of cross border crime, said KC. On a 62 km. stretch in Morang, 90 percent of encroachers are of Indian origins, according to KC.

The encroachers try to hide the border pillars, said Hem Raj Ojha, another officer of the team. "They will be ejected after an updating survey of the border," said Ojha.

The team has decided to reconstruct 19 border pillars, according to KC. "The decision to demarcate the border under a fixed boundary principle rather than using a river has been reached but there are still some technical problems to be worked out," said KC.

NTC fails to keep promises

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SARLAHI, March 2 : With the initiation of Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) to install an exchange based on the C.dot system and having the capacity to link150 telephone lines at Nawalpur Bazaar of the district, the locals here feel cheated by NTC.

Earlier, the NTC had assured the locals of installing an exchange having the capacity to link one thousand telephone lines while acquiring land from the locals freely. It had also promised to distribute telephone lines to nearby Haroun and Lalbandi Bazaar of the district, and this has also been a failure.

"Had we learnt of NTC’s murky plans earlier, I would not have provided the land," said a local Prakash Mainali, who contributed his four Katthas of land to the office about ten months ago.

The locals here argue that the construction at Nawalpur Bazaar was aimed for the installation of a bigger system and that placing of a smaller exchange system was decided later.

The institution had assured a group of representatives to install an exchange of higher capacity within July this year, however, the locals here say they are not convinced with the assurances given by NTC.

"The NTC is not serious with freely acquired land and the electric bnx of higher capacity supposed to be installed here must have been taken to other places," said Mainali.

After contacting Bachchu Ram Shrestha, Regional Director at NTC, he said that the exchange of low capacity linking is being installed at Nawalpur despite earlier plans, as the places to be supplied with telephone lines are located at far distances from each other. He said it was technically convenient to supply telephone lines by placing a separate low capacity exchange system for different places. The NTC branch office down here has informed that it will operate the planned services soon.

Man Maya reaps pension spending half of its amount

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MANTHALI, Ramechhap, March 2 : Man Maya, a 76 years old widow of Bindulu of Ramechhap district, has to spend half of her late husband’s pension just to go to the bank, to withdraw the pension.

After a branch of Rastriya Banijya Bank moved from Sanghutar, the market on the border of Okhaldhunga district moved to Manthali, headquarters of Ramechhap, a year ago, elderly people are in a quandary when it comes to withdrawing pensions for their late spouses.

"It’s a 3-day hike to Manthali from my village," says Man Maya, "the government has made it difficult for us to get pension by moving the bank."

She draws 1,800 rupees a month as pension since the death of her beloved. "I have to spend half of it in travelling only," says Man Maya, "I have to use a porter as I am too old now."

The people withdrawing pensions come once in 3 or 4 months. "How can we come monthly," says Dil Bahadur Thapa Magar of Palapur of Okhaldhunga. "Most of us come once in every 3-4 months."

The bank branches in Sanghutar and Manthali had the practice of distributing pension a year earlier, but now the branches in Thoseng and Sanghutar have merged into a single branch in Manthali due to security concerns after an increase in Maoists’ activities.

"More than 500 people would draw pensions from Thoseng and Sanghutar branches," says a bank official.