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HM extends best wishes to Radio Nepal Kathmandu, April
2 (RSS): His Majesty the
King expressed the best wishes in a message on the occasion of the golden jubilee of Radio
Nepal today. The full text of
the message from His Majesty the King is as follows: We are happy to
know that Radio Nepal is celebrating its 50th anniversary as its golden jubilee. Radio Nepal has
great importance in a country like ours which is characterized by difficult terrain. It
has remained an effective medium of disseminating information to the nooks and corners of
the country. We extend our best wishes for Radio Nepal’s success in further
contributing to the national and social interest through dissemination of impartial
information and goodwill in the days to come. HM opens use of VSAT tech today Kathmandu, April
2 (RSS): Marking the
occasion, the Postal Services Department has issued commemorative stamps and the Nepal
Rastra Bank Rs. 50 denomination commemorative coin. Acting executive
director of Radio Nepal Mukunda Prasad Acharya said in a statement today that in a bid to
catering the information need of the remote areas which cannot receive medium wave
transmission, national transmitter programmes are going to be aired through 50 watt fm
transmitter in Jumla from today. Highlighting
some of the major achievements and ongoing programmes of Radio Nepal, Mr Acharya said in
recognition of the significant contribution of radio singers, musicians and lyricists, a
decision has been taken to provide them royalty from this fiscal year. He also said
that on the occasion of the anniversary, Radio Nepal has decided to present cash awards
equivalent to one month’s salary (basic scale) to all of its staff members. Likewise, deputy
executive director of Radio Nepal Mahesh Prasad Adhikari said Radio Nepal has a plan to
establish this year small fm transmission stations with the cooperation of local
authorities in some major city areas which are not covered by the medium wave
transmission. Month long anti-tobacco campaign begins Kathmandu, Apr.
1 (RSS): The month-long
anti-tobacco flame campaign started under the awareness raising programme at the call of
the World Health Organisation (who) to remove the adverse effect of consumption of tobacco
will be launched at Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Biratnagar also, it is learnt. The flame will
be handed over to Thailand after conducting various awareness raising programmes for one
month in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Minister
for Health Dr. Ram Baran Yadav received the anti-tobacco flame from ambassador of
Bangladesh Cyril Sikder at a programme held at the premises of the Ministry of Health. After Minister
Dr. Yadav handed over the flame to Nepal’s renowned marathon runner Baikuntha
Manandhar, a procession carrying placards against consumption of tobacco went through
Singha Durbar, Shahid Gate, New Road, Basantapur, Bhotahity, Bhadrakali, Tripureswar and
reached the Department of Health Services. Minister Dr.
Yadav, speaking at the programme, said that in the context of the increased death as a
results of tobacco consumption in the world, the programme would be useful in raising the
awareness of the people in countries such as ours which are still backward in educational
and health sectors. Speaking from
the chair, Minister of State for Health Tirtha Ram Dangol said that the consumption of
tobacco including smoking had adverse effect in the society and he had given up
smoking years back. Who representative Jan A.
Speets, Director General of the Department of Health Services Dr. D. B. Chataut and a host
of other speakers expressed their views at the function jointly organised by Ministry of
Health and who with the active participation of Nepal Jaycees and National Sports
Council. ‘Govt firm
for all round dev of country’ Kathmandu, Apr.
1 (RSS): The bridge to be
constructed at a cost of around Rs 1,802,000 with the cooperation of the Ministry of Works
and Transport, Kathmandu district development committee (ddc) and Kabhresthali and other
adjoining vdcs will be 17 metre long. The construction work will be completed in two
and a half months. Minister Khadka,
addressing a programme organised by Kabhresthali vdc after laying the foundation
stone, said that the present government was committed for the all round development
endeavour of the country. Minister Khadka
said that the development that had taken place during the period of thirty years of the
erstwhile regime and ten years after the restoration of democracy should be evaluated by
visiting various villages as it had been rumoured that there had been no development
during the last ten years. Minister Khadka
said that all the party should join hands and move ahead to prevent the increasing
violence and terror and safeguard democracy. Mp mangal Siddhi
Manandhar said that CPN-UML believed that the development endeavour should be carried out
from the local level. Former mp
rajendra Shrestha said that all the political parties should make joint effort in the
development of the country without any discrimination. Member of Kathmandu Development
Committee Keshav Raj Khadka presided over the function. Kathmandu, Apr.1 (RSS): 1:
Minister of State for Local Development Suresh Malla has said that since education is an
important aspect of human life and development, it should be made accessible to all. Minister of State Malla was speaking at a reception cum felicitation
programme organised in his honour by the Gitamata Secondary School, Swoyambhu here
recently. On the occasion, he urged those in the education sector of the country should
give serious attention to rectify the weaknesses in the present education
system. He said the present education system was clearly producing two different sets
of citizens–the privileged class who get their education in expensive boarding
schools and the underprivileged who study in public schools. Minister of State Malla, who is also the chairman of the school management
committee, said that the present education system was such that it was only producing
graduates with certificates to join the ever growing unemployment market. He pointed out the need for reform in the present education system and
stressed vocational education. At the programme presided over by school principal Bidya Devi Maharjan,
various persons expressed their views on educational development. The school has 3,000
students. Meanwhile, the four factions of the All Nepal National Free Students Union
(ANNFSU) organised an interaction programme here on the problems caused by
privatization in the higher education and the ways to resolve them. On the occasion, educationists Prakash Shrestha and Ramesh Sharma
presented working papers while Dr. Om Gurung, Padam Khadka and Biswonath Pathak commented
on the working papers. The programme was presided over by president of the ANNFSU-2022 Prakash
Pokherel. The working papers state that as education has become expensive due to
the policies of handing over education to the capitalists through privatisation,
it is not proper to privatise the higher education. The working papers have also expressed concern over the
decreasing standard of education in the public campuses. Changes in examination centres lead
confusion Ilam, Apr.1 (RSS): Changes made to examination centers in
Ilam district for the 2056 SLC examinations which start Apr. l4 have led to some
confusion. The changes were recommended by a meeting of the slc excamination
coordination committee held a few weeks ago. According to the District Education Office, the number of centers has
been reduced from ll last year to l0, five old centers have been removed and four
new ones established. This year the students will not be able to write their examinations from
their own schools. Meanwhile, the Nepal Teachers Association Ilam has submitted a letter of
protest at the District Education Office over the changes in examination centers. The protest letters says that the changes made are impractical and calls for
a return to the previous arrangement including the use of home centers. This year a total of 3,l66 students will appear for the SLC
in Ilam including regular and exempted candidates, it is stated. 2,957 HR violation cases reported Nepalgunj, Apr.1 (RSS): The Informal Sector Services Centre
(INSEC) mid- and far- western regional office here has reported 2,957 instances of human
rights violations in the mid-western development region in 1999. According to a report of the INSEC, out of the total cases of human rights
violations reported in the region for the year 1,790 were on behalf of the non-state
sector while 1,167 were on behalf of the state. Of the total reported cases of human rights violations, 119 were murders, 21
concerned rape, 39 were abduction cases, 309 detentions, five related to women
trafficking and 95 concerned suicides. In a press communique the office said that the state of human rights
situation in the country has deteriorated in the past some years and it was ever declining
due to the lack of seriousness on the part of the state and organised groups about their
responsibilities towards safeguarding and respecting of human rights. Meanwhile, National Assembly Member Rishi Babu Pariyar issued a
communique otherday expressing regret that inhumane treatment of the downtrodden and
oppressed communities and the practice of untouchability still take place in the country a
decade after the restoration of democracy. The communique says that the downtrodden and oppressed, who comprise 20
percent of the total population, are still at the receiving end of social malpractices and
ill treatment at the hands of the upper castes both in the capital and other parts of the
country, adding that the downtrodden have yet to really benefit from democracy. Referring to incidents of untouchability and discrimination that took place
at various times at Bhotenamlad in Sindhupalchowk district, Durgauli in Kailali district,
the women’s development branch in Dailekh district, and Budhanilkantha, Naikap and
Badbhajyang in Kathmandu, he drew the government’s attention to the economic
boycotting of the chamar community in Saptari and Siraha districts when they refused
to dispose of animal carcasses. He also pointed out that the four million downtrodden and oppressed in the
Kingdom have not been able to enjoy the rights provided by the constitution, and are
humiliated at public taps and wells, temples and gatherings in various places. He has urged His Majesty’s Government to investigate past incidents of
untouchability and communal discrimination and take action against the guilty. Eye care service throughout Kingdom Butwal, Apr.1 (RSS): Established in 2035 B.S. on Guthi Sansthan land at Tripureshwar, Kathmandu,
the Netrajyoti Sangh has now expanded its services to many places across the country from
Jumla to Taplejung and Bitadi to Jhapa district. Eye hospitals and eye care centres have become widespread in the country as a
result of the promotion of awareness work carried out by the Netra Jyoti Sangh, central
president of the Sangh Dr. Ram Prasad Pokharel said. According to him, whereas people had to go to India or other countries for
eye treatment in the past, Indians are now coming to Nepal for such treatment. It is learnt that the Sangh has been spending Rs 120 million annually from
internal and external sources on the treatment and care of eye patients. The Ministry of Health has given recognition to the Sagarmatha Chaudhari Eye
Hospital, Lumbini Rana Ambika Eye Hospital, Himalaya Eye Hospital and Geta Eye Hospital,
all run by the Sangh as high level modern eye hospitals where all eye care services are
available. Among these, the Sagarmatha Chaudhari Eye Hospital, Lahan, is learnt to have
provided eye care services to the maximum number of patients and established itself as the
hospital serving the largest number of patients. These eye hospitals which have been recogniSed as such by the health ministry
can provide all kinds of eye treatment have been serving people even areas in Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and west bengal states of India Bordering Nepal. According to Dr. Pokharel,
the sangh on the one hand faces the challenging task of making all institutions under it
self-reliant while on the other it has to expand its services to areas not yet covered. General secretary of the Sangh Dr. Sambhu Prasad Lakhe pointed out that
resource constraints, lack of modern tools and equipment, the gradual reduction of
assistance by donor agencies, the poor economic status of people, lack of subsidies and
very low investment in eye care services from the government, lack of ophthalmologists and
other trained manpower, donor interference in the affairs of the hospitals, managerial and
administrative lacunae and lack of planning and project formulation were the challenges
and difficulties facing the Sangh. This year, the Sangh is learnt to have provided eye care services to a total
of 640,051 persons through eye hospitals, district eye care centres and the community eye
programme being run by the Sangh. Out of these, 66,272 underwent cataract, corrective and other eye surgery.
Intra-ocular lenses were also implanted on the eyes of 58,953 persons, it is learnt. Compared to last year, the number of out-patients has increased by 0.63 per
cent this year and that of persons undergoing eye operations by 19.88 per cent. Similarly,
people with intra-ocular lenses have increased by 41.12 percent. Meanwhile, when the Sangh examined the eyes of 5,508 children under five
years of age from 3,885 households in 88 different villages across the Kingdom in
connection with looking for possible ways of reducing blindness and child mortality caused
by vitamin “A” deficiency, it was found that 153 children or 2.8 percent of the
sample population were at risk of becoming blind in the near future due to the deficiency.
According to world health organisation (WHO) categorization, villages or districts where
diseases due to vitamin “a” deficiency exceed 0.5 per cent are classified as
“Grave Health Hazard Areas”. Similarly, the sangh conducted a study as part of its school health programme
under which the eyes of 5,543 children from 69 different schools within Kathmandu Valley
were examined. The study found that 26 percent of the total sample population was suffering
from one or the other eye disease while 4.8 percent were vitamin “ A” deficient. It is further learnt that the Sangh has conducted a total of 57 eye relief
camps in different parts of the country this year, benefiting 28,875 people. |
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