TB research institute awarded

Post Report

BHAKTAPUR, March 17 : The Research Institute of Tuberculosis (RIT), Japan has been awarded the Rana-Samundra Bam TB Award (RSBTBA) amid a function here today.

The RSBTBA was founded to award national and international individuals, institutions that make special contribution in the control and prevention of tuberculosis in Nepal.

The RIT-Japan has been working to produce efficient manpower and technology in controlling and preventing tuberculosis in the country for the past many years.

Similarly, the RSBTBA has also declared to award the Space Time Dainik, a publication of the Space time Publications for its contribution in the dissemination of information making people aware of tuberculosis, a press statement issued by the fund said.

Dr Dirgha Singh Bam, director of the National and SAARC Tuberculosis Centre and the president of the RSBTBA had founded the award in the name of his late mother Samundra Kumari Bam.

Nation’s 60 pc of population lacks access to safe drinking water

RSS

KATHMANDU, March 17 : Arsenic contamination of the water supply in India, Nepal and Bangladesh is afflicting more than 35 million people and if left unchecked, could reach "catastrophic" levels, a UN researcher warned Sunday at the beginning of the 3rd World Water Forum held in Kyoto of Japan.

Hoping to attract attention to a crisis on a comparable scale with the global HIV problem, Zafar Adeel of the United Nations University in Japan said the infected populations could not wait the same 20 years for the international community to act.

" People need clean water to live," he said before convening a session, which is attended by some 10,000 delegates from 180 countries to find solutions to the crisis that deprives 1.4 billion people of adequate water.

South Asia turned to ground water when waterborne illness from polluted rivers made surface water a dangerous drink causing thousands of casualties mostly in children.

" Without international commitment to resolving the crisis, we could reach catastrophic levels in a very short time," he said.

Massive reservoirs in the plains of the Indus and Ganges rivers were built and the World Bank and the UNICEF constructed thousands of wells to tap into ground water sources.

The World Health Organisation has said more than 250,000 Bangladeshis could die in the next decade from tainted water, as the presence of arsenic has been detected on the order of several hundred parts per billion.

"The fate for Nepal and India is equally dire", Adeel said.

According to the United Nations, over one billion people in the world still lack access to safe drinking water and about 2.4 billion are without adequate sanitation. Over 40 percent population still lacks access to drinking water and over 60 percent of population lacks safe drinking water in Nepal.

Peace and safety vital for development

RSS

KATHMANDU, March 17 : Minister for Water Resources Deepak Gyawali paid a courtesy call on Ryutaro Hashimoto, former prime minister of Japan and the chairman of the organising committee of the Third Water Forum at the Kyoto International Hall this morning.

Minister Gyawali informed that after the cease-fire was signed on January 29 between the government and the Maoists, development activities are taking place regularly, according to the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Japan.

He said the government is taking action for the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure and for the rehabilitation of the people affected by the violence.

Hashimoto said that he was pleased to know that peace has come back to Nepal and wished for the well-being of the Nepalese people. "Peace and safety are very much important for development," he said adding that there are many Japanese people , including his friends , who are waiting to visit Nepal after peace and security is assured.

Hashimoto expressed his pleasure that silver jubilee celebration of the conquest of Mt. Everest in May this year will help promote the image of Nepal. Minister Gyawali presented a Makara - stone water spout and also highlighted its significance to him.

Later in the afternoon, Minister Gyawali made a presentation on the theme of water management in the mountains.

NATA hails signing of code of conduct

RSS

KATHMANDU, March 17 : Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA) has welcomed the recent Code of Conduct signed between the Government and the Maoists ascertaining the peace and harmony in the trouble -ridden Nepalese society.

NATA believes that the publication of 22 point code of conduct is a very concrete step taken to rejuvenate the nationalistic feeling inherent in the hearts of the Nepalese people and to evolve a long awaited law and order situation in the country, according to a press release issued by the NATA.

This new spirit will also help overcome the set-back situation suffered by the Trade and Tourism Industry, it stated.

NATA also reaffirms its strong conviction that both the parties will adhere to the commitment expressed in every word of the code of conduct and will exercise their best to make the forthcoming peace talks a resounding success in keeping with the expectations of the civil society, it added.

Hailstones cause widespread damage in Bara VDCs

By Shankar Acharya

BARA, March 17 : Hailstones that fell in Bara for almost about an hour from 5:15 am till 6 pm caused widespread damage across this district.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post correspondent the Crop Development Officer at the District Agriculture Development Office, Raghupati Kantha said that their preliminary study showed that 22 districts and Kalaiya municipality were under the destructive influence of this hailstorm, incurred loss of millions.

The hailstones had damaged crops such as wheat, lentils, maize, saplings of mango and litchi, and the vegetables that were just growing, said Kantha.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Bara, Birendra Shrestha, also talking to The Kathmandu Post correspondent reported on how this hailstorm shattered the glass of their van parked within the premises of the District Administration Office. “ I had not seen such a hailstorm before, and one or two hail stones seemed to weigh almost two kilograms,” Shrestha added.

Suman Dhungana, the chairman of the Bara Bus Entrepreneur Association, also reported a similar incident in which window panes of two buses had been broken. Likewise, the outgoing chairman of the Dahiyar VCD, Rajendra Prasad Jaiswal, contended that a layer of about one feet of hailstones had been reported in some parts of the VDC. “ Wheat and maize had been damaged due to cold waves some weeks ago, but now it has suffered cent percent destruction due to the hailstorm,” Jaiswal added. All the crops in Bariyarpur and Dahiyar VDC have been completely destroyed, while roofs made of delicate materials around these VDCs have been destroyed extensively, Jaiswal further added.

The victimised farmers of both these VDCs have presented a memorandum before the Chief District Officer (CDO), Madhav Prasad Regmi, notifying him about the extent of damage and demanding compensation.

According to the memorandum presented by the secretary of Dahiyar VDC, Ramdev Prasad Raut, it is learnt that around 900 tonnes of crops including wheat, maize and lentil had been damaged in this VDC alone. The victims from various other VDCs in Bara have slowly been pouring into the administration office to hand over their memorandum apprising about the damage and for compentation.

Till now no human casualties have been reported. A five-member Damage Evaluation Committee under the convenorship of a District Agriculture officer comprising of representatives from police, administration, Red Cross and District Development Committee has been formed to investigate and evaluate the actual extent of damage and the loss.

SASA appeals for help in its construction works

By Mohan Budha Aer

KAILALI, March 17 : The construction committee of Shankaracharya Ayur Science Academy (SASA) handed over a memorandum to Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand appealing to the government to contribute in its construction works. The committee also passed him another memorandum to be handed over to the King for the same cause, according to sources.

Though the construction committee was formed in 2000 under the chairmanship of Sharad Kumar Bhandari, the construction works of SASA have come to a halt due to paucity of fund since last year.

With its construction works initiated under Jayandra Saraswati Sawarna Fund, SASA was planned to be developed into a hospital with 700 beds and an academic institution that would produce 100 doctors a year. SASA’s total construction cost is estimated at thirty and half million rupees.

An ad hoc committee headed by Krishna Prasad Ghimire carried out a survey, prepared a master plan and had started the construction works in 1998. A cabinet decision in 1999 had provided roughly 81 bighas of land to SASA, while it later bought three katthas of land with its own fund.

"SASA construction works started with special assistance from Jagat Guru Shankaracharya and other donors," said Sathya Ram Paneru, a member of the SASA construction committee.

Shankarcharya has collected a huge sum from different muths in India for the construction of SASA. It was a lengthy procedure for the Indian government when channelling a huge amount to a foreign country from a private body, which has delayed the pouring in of the fund. Thus the construction of SASA has been halted since last year, according to Paneru who also added that the sensitive country security situation was also equally responsible for the halt in the construction works.

In the memorandum addressed to the King, the construction committee has appealed the King to hold talks with Jagat Guru Shankaracharya about the fate of SASA during his upcoming visit to India.

Kabya Batika museum underway in Itahari

By Bhim Ghimire

ITAHARI, March 17 : The Academy of Arts in Itahari district has started the construction works of an arts and architecture museum. Aspiring to be the first of its kind in the South Asia itself, the museum is named Kabya Batika. A total of seven institutions are contributing voluntary labour in the construction of the museum, according to concerned sources.

The unique aspect of Kabya Batika is that it features the works of noted artists from various parts of the country and in a way documents the identity of Nepali artists, according to Bikram Shri, the co-ordinator of the Museum Construction Committee and an artist.

Around six bighas of land of a community forest at Pacharakhai of Itahari-5 is allocated for the construction of the museum which will be ready after six months, as informed by Shri.

Presently many artists are working on stone, wood and various other forms of arts to establish themselves in the museum while many more are scheduled to visit the spot to mark their identity.

Artist Babu Lal Sharma has carved a wooden statue in ancient Mugal style and another artist Manjul Miteri is chiselling a stone into a beautiful statue. Still another noted artist Narsh Thulung Rai is carving an image of Lord Buddha on a log of wood.

Another major work in progression is a giant statue of the great poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota. An initiation of Sangeet Sagar Kala Kendra, the statue is developing with stone and marbles as its components. Total cost of the statue is estimated at Rs. 160,000.

"The total cost of the museum is estimated at two million rupees," said the co-ordinator Shri.

Meanwhile, the budding museum is receiving a team of artists from Pokhara including Vatsayan and Buddhi Gurung. The artists are expected to add colour to the museum either with their solo or group works.

Even the locals are excited to see the museum developing in their area. "The museum in the making will get life one day. The artists do not know how to beg so we need every body to help whole heartedly," said Bannu Chaudhari, the out going ward chairman.

Stress on making customs administration transparent

RSS

BIRGUNJ, March 17 : Finance Minister Dr. Badri Prasad Shrestha has spoken of the need to make the customs administration further active, transparent and free from anomalies.

Giving directives to the customs officials in course of inspection of the Birgunj Customs Office on Sunday, Dr. Shrestha stressed that all sides should move ahead to promoting industrial production by making Nepal’s exports trade sustainable, reliable and systematic.

Pointing out that uniformity has to be maintained in the customs evaluation process and it needs to be made more effective and practical, he called on all the employees concerned to work honestly in collecting revenue as per the target.

Any errors and shortcomings seen in the customs administration would be addressed in time as soon as possible, he said and expressed the view that a master plan should be prepared to run the Birgunj Customs Office into a model office.

Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Bhanu Acharya said that His Majesty’s Government was committed to making the customs administration more systematic, effective and scientific.

Also on Sunday, Finance Minister Shrestha inspected the Inland Revenue Office, Birgunj and the Dry Port at Birgunj.

On the occasion, chief tax officer at the Inland Revenue Office, Birgunj, Prakash Man Shrestha and Shambhu Prasad of the Dry Port appraised the Finance Minister about the progress report of their respective offices.

MP Rup Jyoti underlined the need for the employees concerned to work with commitment in order to make the customs administration more practical and systematic.

Humla still awaits regular RNAC flights

Post Report

SIMIKOT, Humla, March 17 : In the mountainous district of Humla, which has no access to any other means of transportation other than the airways, regular flights of the Royal Nepal Airline Corporation (RNAC) are coming into operation once again after a gap of four weeks.

RNAC had failed to provide regular flights since early February due to the snowfall in Humla, and also due to just one twin-otter that was available for this district. It is learnt that after this corporation conducted a delay flight en-route Nepalgunj-Simikot on Sunday, it is believed that RNAC has resumed its regular flights from that day.

Though RNAC conducted a delayed flight on Sunday, still the regular flights failed to come into full operation from Monday. Even though the snow had melted a week ago and regular flights could have come into full operation, but due to shortage of aeroplanes, RNAC, however, was not in a state to provide the service efficiently.

According to the operation in charge of RNAC at Nepalgunj, Lokraj K.C., though during the first week of February air-tickets for two flights had been issued, due to failure of conducting the scheduled flights, further sale of tickets had to be stopped. Though they had been conducting four regular flights in a week to this district, all the aeroplanes could not come into operation as they were being repaired, K.C. informed. Two aeroplanes will be added soon after which they can have the regular flights to this remote and cold district, he added.

Many of the people of Humla who had been to Nepalgunj are still waiting for the flights to resume, so that they can get back home. Many of these Humla people who have already bought the air-tickets of RNAC have been stranded at the Raja airport, in the hope of some flight arrangement. Many of these stranded Humla people have cancelled the RNAC tickets, and have bought the costly tickets of the private air-lines who cater to this remote district. Still many eagerly wait for RNAC to start its service and get back home without having to pay the costlier airfare.

The local airlines have been charging Rs. 3,915 per ticket from Nepalgunj to Simikot including the airport tax, while the passengers have to pay just Rs. 2115 per ticket in RNAC, it is learnt.

Similarly, the flights of Chaurjhari, which had been disrupted since one and a half year due to the security reason, has also come into operation once again.

Water transport starts in Itahari

ITAHARI, March 17 (RSS) - The Karnal River Transport Company, Sunsari has started operating the Baraha Kshetra-Simle water transport service on a trial basis.

The company has build an engine-fitted wooden boat with a seating capacity for 30 persons for operating transport services on the 13-kilometre from Chataraghat of Baraha Kshetra to Simle of Bhojpur on the Koshi river. The wooden boat, which uses the gear box from a Tata truck of the size 20 and the engine of a Belgium steam boat, has three rotors.

The indigenously made boat, which has a speed of 20 km/h, has been in operation for the last 12 days on a trial basis.

Ashok Thapa, a company employee, said the wooden engine boat was constructed at the total cost of Rs 500,000 and it was completed in three months. It is learnt that the company has started river transport services for the first time in Nepal with the objective of serving the people of the three hill districts of Bhojpur, Khotang and Dhankuta.

The transport fare of the 13-kilometre river travel has however not been fixed as yet, according to company sources.