IT sector will get priority, says Chaudhary

Kathmandu, July 2 (RSS): Minister for Science and Technology Surendra Prasada Chaudhary has said that his ministry is committed to giving emphasis to sustainable development of science and technology and work towards developing human resources by maintaining coordination with other ministries.

Furnishing replies to queries raised by MPs during debate on appropriation heads pertaining to his ministry at the House of Repesentatives today, Minister Chaudhary said as development of science and technology provides huge boost to the development of the country, the Ninth Plan also gives emphasis to the development of this sector aimed at contributing to poverty alleviation and resolving the problem of unemployment.

He also informed the House that the ministry is working to develop necessary infrastructure and manpower to set up a satellite system and a national science information system in the country.

Stating that programmes will be carried out to protect and promote natural heritage in the country, Mr Chaudhary said works will also begin towards building up an information technology park to move ahead the information technology sector as a priority sector for the sustainable and overall development of the country.

Mr Chaudhary also said that programmes for developing and promoting alternative sources of energy like solar, bio-gas, hydel, etc. will be carried out in every district.

Royal Nepal Academy for Science and Technology (RONAST) will be restructured in order to upgrade its efficiency, a bill on intellectual property rights will be introduced and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology will be developed as a reliable weather forecasting body, he added.

MPs Raghuji Pant, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Dhanendra Basnet, Om Prasad Ojha, Fatik Bahadur Thapa, Urmila Aryal, Kunta Sharma, Ratna Prasad Sharma Neupane, Sushila Nepal and Ananda Prasad Pokharel had sought clarifications from Minister Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Sports is to constitute a national education coordination committee to provide suggestions on policy matters by maintaining coordination between the bodies associated with education on the recommendation of the National Education Commission.

Responding to questions raised by MPs concerning the appropriation head under his ministry at the House of Representatives today, Minister for Education and Sports Amod Prasad Upadhyaya said a plan of action also has already been prepared to gradually implement the suggestions stated in the two reports of the high-level National Education Commission.

The ministry has adopted the policy of expanding pre-primary education for four or five year old children in the kingdom, there is a policy for providing teacher training programme and making available textbooks free of cost to the schools that have adequate infrastructures for pre-primary education, the disabled children constituting nearly five percent of the children's population will be brought into the primary education mainstream and special education programmes have been also proposed.

Annual administrative grants being provided at the rate of Rs 10,000 to primary schools, Rs 12,000 to lower secondary school and Rs 20,000 to secondary school will be continued in the next fiscal year, he said, adding Rs 9.5 million has been allocated for the districts that lack basic and primary education project.

Stating that an arrangement has been made for providing scholarship to poor and genuine local students, scholarships for students from remote areas, women scholarship and scholarship for dalits, the education minister noted that one district from each of the five development regions and one VDC each from 35 districts have already been selected for implementation of compulsory primary education.

An arrangement has also been made to provide scholarships to the children of martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of the nation and the people, he noted.

Ten thousand primary school teachers and three thousand lower secondary and secondary school teachers will be provided training in fiscal year 2057/58 B.S. in order to ensure quality of education, Mr Upadhyaya said, adding that efforts are being made to make timely changes in curriculum, lay stress on the application of educational materials and bring about improvement in the evaluation system.

Noting that efforts will also be made to reduce the number of drop-outs and the primary school nutritious food project will be made more effective in the 12 districts with low quantity of food and low admission of students, he remarked that an amendment bill to theEducation Act-2028 BS will be presented in this parliamentary session in order to make private schools more accountable to the society.

Curricula of up to fifth standard of nine mother tongues schools have already been prepared so far and classes up to third standard have already started in seven mother tongues, he said, adding that the literacy campaign which is now operational in 10 districts will be expanded to 10 more district in the next fiscal year.

The programme for establishing a polytechnic school with the Chinese cooperation is also moving ahead and a total of 654 higher secondary schools have already been opened in various parts of the country, the minister said, noting that the government has pursued the policy of gradually shifting the proficiency certificate level into the higher secondary school from the university.

The government has also initiated the process for setting up an Agriculture and Forestry University and a university in the far-western development region.

As regards the universities to be set up, potential institutes in the concerned region will be given priority and the task of preparing regulations of the National Teachers Service Commission is going on speedily, he added.

The programmes for developing infrastructure for South Asian Games, sports development and for setting up the Dal Bahadur Rana Memorial Trust have been proposed for the next fiscal year, the minister said, adding the building of stadiums in the eastern and far-western regions have also been proposed.

Those asking questions to the minister were Kunta Sharma Ramesh Datta Lekhak, Shankar Nath Sharma Adhikari, Homnath Dahal, Ratna Prasad Sharma Neupane, Ram Bahadur Bista, Asta Laxmi Shakya, Shiva Raj Joshi, Netralal Shrestha, Hridayaram Thani, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Ananda Prasad Pokharel, Om Prasad Ojha, Narayan Prakash Saud, Laxman Prasad Mehta, Pradip Kumar Gyawali, Ghanendra Basnet, Sherdhan Rai, Sohan Prasad Chaudhary, Damber Singh Sambahamfe and Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav.

Dr. Mangalsiddhi Manandhar, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Dilliram Sharma, Harinarayan Chaudhary, Urmila Aryal, Krishna Prasad Dahal, Prakash Jwala, Bijaya Subba, Janakraj Giri, Mahendra Prasad Yadav, Durga Linkha, Basanta Kuamr Nemwang, Tirtha Gautam, Renu Kumari Yadav, Fatik Bahadur Thapa, Devilal Thapa, Nara Bahadur Hamal, Jagat Bahadur Bogati, Kamal Prakash Sunwar, Dr. Banshidhar Mishra, Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi and Sabitri Bogati Pathak had also demanded clarifications.

The Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the Finance Minsiter, the Health Minister, the Minister for Information and Communications and the Minister for Land Reforms and Management are scheduled to reply questions concerning their ministries at the House of Representatives tomorrow.

Nepal's handmade paper industry becoming victim of its own success

BY HEMLATA RAI

Sindhupalchok, July 2: Nepal’s handmade paper industry has become victim of its own success. Prized for its strength, durability and beautiful texture, the century old business is facing acute raw material shortage---due to pressure on the fast depleting Himalayan foothill forests, the native harvesting ground for Lokta shrubs, by the popularity of hand-processed paper.

Although the demand for handicrafts made of Lokta paper in the international market is still high, ironically enough, the local Lokta paper manufacturers have slowed down their production. "We have not been able to produce enough of Lokta paper despite its high demand due to a shortage of Lokta shrub," says Bharat Basnet of Bhairav-Kunda Paper Industry of Sindhupalchok.

Lokta (Daphne papyracae), a Himalayan shrub native to Nepal from which the bark is extracted for raw material for paper-processing, grow at the altitude of between 1,500 to 3,000 meters. As long as the use of the hand-processed paper was confined to religious scripture and legal documentation, the exploit over the plant was within the regeneration limits. However, as the Lokta-paper emerged as an export item the plant came under tremendous pressure.

"Its different these days—you just cannot go to jungle anytime, extract barks and come back in the evening. You have to travel to inner terrain, camp there for a few days to have your load full," says Ratna Bahadur Waiba of Sindhupalchok whose family depends on the bark collection for hard cash.

Villagers in the hills collect the inner barks of the plant seasonally and sell them to paper-makers who transfer them into rough but beautifully textured paper---a technique believed to be brought to Nepal by Chinese travellers in the 11the century. The uniquely manufactured paper was in demand at home and abroad, especially in the Tibetan monasteries as it is resistant to insects, temperature extremes and damp. The import of machine-made Indian papers and collapse in Tibetan market following the Chinese annexation in 1950s brought a blow to the handmade paper industry.

The market of Nepalese handmade paper revived in the early 1980s when United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) started promoting the age-old technique to produce greeting cards to sell all over the world. Encouraged by the sweeping success of greeting cards, Nepal’s business community hurried to cash in on the so far untapped but high potential of paper-based handicrafts.

"There is a huge market for Nepalese handmade paper, what we have explored so far is something like a small drop," says Bishnu Prasad Shrestha, President of Association of Handmade Paper Industries.

The export of handicrafts made out of handmade paper has increased steadily in the recent years. During 1998/99, handmade paper industry was the third largest exporter among the handicraft manufacturers after woollen and pashmina.

In 1998/99 Nepal exported more than Rs. 138 million worth of handmade paper products, according to Handicraft Association of Nepal. A year before, the export value stood at Rs. 96 million. United States is the largest market for Lokta paper handicrafts; almost 40 per cent of Nepalese export of handmade paper products are sold there. United Kingdom and France are other major markets in Europe.

"Nepal’s jungles still have large potentials for Lokta harvest. Only some sections of the jungles have been over-exploited while other areas remain under-utilised," claims Bishnu Prasad Shrestha. He further claimed that managing the forests "scientifically", regulating licence-issuing procedure (for Lokta bark collection) and controlling over-exploitation of some particular patches of forest is answer to the present problem of depicting Lokta plants.

Association of Handmade Paper Industry estimates that handmade paper industry directly or indirectly provides employment to approximately 40,000 people. However, their employment is at risk as the mounting challenges imposed by the humans on the unique Lokta plants are becoming more visible.

Play effective role in House, lawmakers urged

Kathmandu, July 2 (RSS): Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai had an exchange of views with Nepali Congress MPs from the western region at his residence at Bhainsepati today as part of his exchanges with NC MPs.

On the occasion, Mr Bhattarai said that MPs should be more anxious to play an effective role in parliament, and necessary improvements should take place in parliamentary work and in its entire management. He said a seminar should be held for discussions among MPs towards making the role of parliament more effective.

He said as the law and order situation in the country is worsening, party workers should be more active to give people a feeling of security, the government should show particular gravity, and in order to bring about solidarity in the Nepali Congress everyone should be accommodated and dialogue and understanding fostered especially in the central leadership.

On the occasion, the MPs said MPs should do their homework for playing a more active role in parliamentary discussions, the working procedures of parliament should be progressively reformed and party and government should show more seriousness about improving the worsening state of law and order. Party and government should come up with a clear and identical attitude towards resolving the Maoist problem.

Present during the discussions were Minister Ram Krishna Tamrakar, Ministers of State Ram Bahadur Gurung and Mrs Kamala Pant, and MPs Chiranjibi Wagle, Harilal Joshi, Palten Gurung, Hari Bhakta Adhikari, Mahadev Gurung, Prakash Bahadur Gurung, Gopal Man Shrestha, Duryodhan Singh, Surya Prasad Pradhan, Bharat Kumar Shaha, Romi Gauchan, Arjun Prasad Joshi, Dilliraj Sharma Komal Bahadur Ghale, Jeevan Prem Shrestha and Dil Bahadur Gharti.

'Maoist issue needs to be solved through dialogue'

Kathmandu, July 2 (RSS): Minister for Works and Physical Planning, and Water Resources Khum Bahadur Khadka has said that it is the need of the day to resolve the Maoist problem through dialogue.

Minister Khadka was distributing land registration certificates to those buying housing sites under the Imiliya housing and bazaar area, Kapilvastu.

Mr Khadka said that as the time has come for the people to assess the development endeavours of the Nepali Congress government, the elected representatives of the party should perform with enthusiasm.

Various speakers including MPs Birendra Kumar Kanaudiya and Brijesh Kumar Gupta, district development committee chairman Rajesh Sharma and NC general committee member Rudra Pratap Shaha also expressed their views on the occasion.

Minister Khadka also gave away certificates to thirty persons at the programme.

Chairman of rural housing company Keshaav Babu Khatri presided over the programme.

'Govt firm to bring about sustainable economic dev'

Kathmandu, July 2 (RSS): Minister of State for Population and Environment Shivaraj Joshi has said that the government is determined to bring about sustainable economic development in the country while at the same time maintaining population and environmental balance.

Replying to questions raised by MPs during discussions on the budget appropriation for the Ministry of Population and Environment at the House of Representatives meeting today, he said the ministry is working on a long term 20 year population plan as per the targets of the Ninth Plan for population growth control and management.

Remarking that as pollution in the urban areas has increased because of increasing use of plastic bags, arrangements have been made for producing plastic bags of 20 microne or more and for plastic bag backets to mention the name of the producer and the microne level, he said the government would encourage industries that produce quality jute and cloth bags and bring them to the market.

The main responsibility for disposal of garbage has been given to the municipalities with direct involvement by the private sector also, and the participation of the general public is needed for alleviating environmental pollution, he said adding that educational and awareness programmes on pollution would be further expanded.

Mr Joshi said the government is alert to the need for minimising pollution from industry, taking up control measures, carrying out initial environment impact studies and bringing existing industries under specified environmental criteria.

The government is thinking in terms of bringing the pollution in rivers in the valley under control through long term integrated programmes and setting out pollution standards for water, Mr Joshi said adding that HMG has started initial work on a long term environmental plan and work on criteria for air and water pollution would be carried out this fiscal year.

HMG will play an effecitve role in the coming days towards integrating the environmental aspect in long term development planning, minimising negative impact on environment, preserving natural heritage and managing the environment and fostering popular awareness of environment in the villages, he said. The government is working on formulating and implementing a work policy in environment conservation and pollution control under existing law and policy, he added.

Population education has been included at school level also and in non formal education, and the causes behind population growth will be identified and solutions sought accordingly, he said.

Clarifications from Minister of State Joshi were sought by Til Kumar Myangbo, Bharat Kumar Shaha, Dharma Nath Prasad Shaha, Ram Kumar Chaudhari, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Gorakh Bahadur Bogati, Krishna Prasad Dahal and Ananda Prasad Pokharel.

Details about BJM incidents demanded

Kathmandu, July 2 (RSS): Bharat Mohan Adhikari of CPN-UML spoke at the House of Representatives today of police firing and baton charges on workers taking place at Biratnagar Jute Mill (BJM) Saturday from 11 am to 8:30 pm.

Speaking after seeking time from Speaker Taranath Ranabhat at the very outset of the meeting, he said police had fired 11 rounds of rubber bullet, used 50 shells of teargas and also baton charged the workers injuring about 44 workers including Shyam Gurung and Lekhanath Dhungana.

He also referred to crowds of people thronging Koshi Zonal Hospital.

He said that an all party meeting was held as assured by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies to seek an amicable solution to the problem, but immediately after the meeting, police demolished three houses and manhandled the striking workers.

He demanded details about the incident.

Citing researcher Ramesh Dhungel as reported in the press, Gopal Prasad Koirala of Nepali Congress said as two Nepalese villages that were included under Chinese territory when the border was demarcated in 2019 BS have been determined as belonging to Nepal, the facts should be made public.

Dhanendra Basnet of CPN-UML said that some unknown persons with masks killed Bhakta Bahadur Basnet of Chhinamakhu VDC ward No 8 after tying up membrs of his family and looted his property. He demanded action against the guilty and return of the property.

Referring to the landslide at Dumeshwar triggered by the downpour on June 12 and 13, the collapse of 15 houses and loss of much property, Shivaraj Joshi of Nepali Congress asked the government to provide relief to the victims.

He also drew the attention of the government to the difficulties in transportation on the Surkhet Dailekha road because of the rain faced and asked the government to arrange a halt at Dhailekha for the Nepalgunj-Kalikot helicopter service.

Lalbabu Pandit of CPN-UML said that the law and order situation in Biratnagar was not good despite what the Home Minister said yesterday at the House, some six persons have been admitted to Biratnagar hospital after sustaining severe injuries and several persons had been arrested, police had used teargas shells and opened fire on the striking workers and vandalised the house of Rupa Khadka at 8.30 pm.

Though the government has proposed a dialogue with the agitated workers, the talks team is still in Kathmandu, he added.

Prakash Jwala of the same party referred to the encroachment of land in Banke by some 210 landless settlers, land which was once given to a person for sugarcane cultivation and later taken back after he failed to use it as planned and drew the attention of the government towards making alternative arrangements for settling them.

Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi of CPN-UML expressed dissatisfaction over the condition of the jails in the country and said palpa jail set up some 74 years ago is on the verge of collapse and the inmates are deprived of medical facilities and reading material.

Referring to the affect of landslide triggered by recent incessant rain on human abodes in Dhuwang and Dangwang vdcs, Hari Acharya of National People's Forum said the government should devote attention to saving those abodes.

Nara Bahdur Hamal of CPN-UML said that some four persons have died in the landslide that occurred at Dhumeshwar on June 14 and 19 houses are on the verge of collapse. He further said there is a rumour that the maoists themselves are providing relief to the victims since the government has done nothing to date.

Ram Bahadur Bista of Nepali Congress said that local people are facing difficulties due to landslips at different points on the Silgadhi-Saphebagar road and asked the government to augment its air services on the Tikapur-Saphebagar, Tikapur-Julma and Mahendranagar-Saphebagar routes.

'Shun prejudice for dev of educational sector'

Rauthat, July 2 (RSS): CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the present system of education should be oriented towards employment.

Laying the foundation stone of the five-room building of Durga High School, Thadatol, Chandranigahapur, Mr Nepal called on the guardians to impart practical education without making any discrimination between sons and daughters.

He pointed out the need for all to shun prejudice for the development of the educational sector and the burning issues of the society and the nation.

DDC chairman Rajendra Raut Kurmi said in the absence of the light of knowledge, the world could not be recognised.

The school building is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 600,000.

The inaugural function was chaired by chairman of the school building construction committee S. Kafle.

Happy b'day RNAC on your 43rd year of turbulent flight

BY NAVIN SINGH KHADKA

Kathmandu, July 2: If its age were the only yardstick, Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) does deserve a pat on its back. Surely, 42 years of its operation is enough to make a mark for itself. As years role in, it will carry on celebrating its anniversaries -- as it did recently after completing four decades and two years. Come 2008, and it may see its birthday-bash under the banner of golden jubilee.

But, do only the years it has lived, or it will, qualify RNAC's well being? Certainly not. As long as there are many other more important measuring rods indicating the shambles the national airline is in. Its fleet, financial status, organizational performance, and you name it, are the standards pointing at the corporation's feeble state.

Perhaps, it is the rarest of the rare national flag carriers in the world whose fleet is weakening each passing year. There were its hey days when RNAC operated 19 aircraft at a time. Today, it has not even one dozen.

More than four decades after it began its operation, the corporation is still in no position to buy an aircraft to add into its grossly inadequate international fleet (only two Boeing 757s it lease purchased almost a decade ago).

One of the reasons behind the sorry state is most of its sales agents -- both in the country and abroad -- who have taken RNAC for a ride.

The tip of the iceberg is right under its nose -- the local GSAs here many of whom either owe it whooping amount or have already absconded pocketing prodigious sum.

The list of RNAC's troubles may go on and on. But, it is only one issue that has overshadowed the rest of others for quite some time now. It has indeed stolen the focus of RNAC managers and even outsiders including the press. That is why you see RNAC's aircraft leasing deals hitting headlines every now and then.

These deals have so much got into the national flag carrier's blood that if only it successfully leases in an aircraft -- without generating much controversy -- to press in its international routes, the job is "done." Meaning, leasing an aircraft smoothly in the last five years or so has been the toughest nut to crack.

Going by the last half a decade's track record, the politically appointed bosses of RNAC at different times spend most of their tenure searching for an aircraft to lease. And while doing that, there have been most notorious scams like Chase Air scandal some two years ago when the national flag carrier ended up paying money to the supplier that did not have an aircraft to supply. No dearth of minor hitches and glitches.

Consider what is happening right now. After signing an MoU with Ansett Worldwide Service Limited a month ago, RNAC is still engaged in a brawl with the Australian Company in a Boeing 767 leasing deal. According to the initial agreement, the aircraft should arrive here on July 4.

But the two parties are yet to meet eye to eye on several clauses of agreement, says a highly placed sources in the corporation, leading to the extension of the lease-period of an aircraft of China South West Airlines RNAC has been using now.

In keeping with the last year's instruction of Commission of Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), RNAC has to call for global tender to lease an aircraft. And that is what it does, most often to reject the bidders terming then unqualified. Even if some are selected as qualified, by the end of the bidding process, something goes wrong.

By that time, the corporation lands up on danger badly needing an aircraft since its earlier leased aircraft becomes all set to fly back finishing its lease period. Then starts the eleventh hour frantic search for an aircraft to press in the international routes fuelling rumors and speculations of kickbacks. Having undergone such tough times, some RNAC top shots claim that leasing should be done through negotiations.

But it was the same negotiations while leasing aircraft in the past -- when global tender was not mandatory -- that made the grapevine abuzz with kickback-rumors. Over the years, RNAC's aircraft leasing process has almost become like treading on a mine-field -- with no certainty what may happen when.

Ironically, what shows that the national flag carrier will still not be off the hook is this: After spending a whooping above 50 million US Dollars in aircraft leasing in the last few years, RNAC is yet to have its own rule to lease an aircraft. Not even after nearly one dozen political appointees headed it one after another in the last one decade.