Budget’s revenue target will be met: Acharya

Kathmandu, June 9 (RSS): Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has expressed the confidence that the target of the revenue and the foreign assistance mentioned in the budget for the fiscal year 2057/58 will be met.

Responding to issues raised and clarification sought by the MPs at the second meeting of the House of Representatives yesterday, Minister Acharya informed that the target on the revenue and foreign assistance made in the budget has been set not at random but on the basis of the commitment of the foreign agencies and the fund of the projects remaining in the current fiscal year.

In response to the allegations made against him that the budget has not reflected the views put forward at the meeting of the National Planning Commission and the finance committee, the Finance Minister said although all the wishes of the MPs have not been solved in the budget, their urge to take into consideration in the budget the agro and social sector has been fully reflected and that their other ideas will be prioritised in the next budget.

The budget has been appropriated concentrating on the increase of the employees salaries and law and order situation, he said, adding that ideas of all the sections cannot be reflected in the budget despite the willingness to do so.

The amount for the constituencies of the MPs has been increased to Rs 1,000,000 from 500,000, he said, adding that this budget appropriation is a result of efforts to develop a system in legal and policy level and not to increase the role of the MP by undermining the role of local bodies. Acharya said the government efforts are underway to increase the development budget by unaffecting the general expenditure, adding that the pressure of the general expenditure can remain unchanged next year due to new provisions made in the management aspect in the present budget.

Regarding the allegations that the appropriation had not been made in a balanced manner, he said that the budget for some regions had been more as some development projects were underway and other development programmes had also been included.

Commenting on the criticism that the pay scale of the civil servants were unequal, he said this pay scale is brought with a view to building a system with the suggestion of the experts and added that a heavy pressure could take place on expenditures if a slight change is made.

The minister said as wished by the prime minister, HMG is committed to work in accordance with the sentiments of the opposition by remaining within the parametres of law.

Basic education programme to be launched in 60 districts: Upadhaya

Kathmandu, June 9 (RSS): Minister for Education and Sports Amod Prasad Upadhaya has said the basic and primary education programme will be launched in 60 districts from fiscal year 2057/58 B.S. and one boarding school each will be set up in Humla, Rasuwa and Mustang districts.

Responding to verbal questions asked by MPs at the National Assembly meeting the other day, Upadhyaya noted that a bill aimed at educational reforms will be presented at this session.

The minister also made it clear that as the teachers who were fired from the service by the Panchayat regime were reinstated in fiscal years 048/49 B.S. and 050/51 B.S, there is no such programme now.

There is no programme to set up Lumbini University in Rupandehi district at present and it is not true that the Higher Secondary Education Council is steeped in corruption, he further said.

Those asking questions were Jeevan Prem Shrestha authorised by NC’s Jagannath Paudel, Gaura Koirala authorised by CPN-UML’s Shanta Manavi, Devraj Ghimire of the same party and Devraj Ghimire authorized by Kedar Prasad Neupane.

Similarly, responding to questions asked by MPs, Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation Mohammod Aftab Alam said the government has formed a committee under the chairmanship of Prem Bahadur Bista to look into the settlement problem in the extended land of Royal Shuklaphant Wildlife Reserve for which some Rs 2.5 million has been allocated.

Stating that a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Bardiya district CDO decided to take various measures for the protection of spotted deer in Khairapur Wildlife Reserve, the Minister of State denied the report that wild animals are decreasing in the Royal Chitwan National Park.

However, it is true that some of the 544 rhinos are sick because of limitation of space and some have been found dead due to fighting between themselves, Alam said, adding the ministry has already initiated investigations into the incident after forming a commission.

Noting that wire fences installed to protect the life and crops of the people living nearby from wild animals have helped in stopping further damage, the Minister of State remarked that notwithstanding all this, if some person loses his/her life, he or she will be given due compensation.

Those asking questions with Alam were NC’s Bhim Bahadur Shrestha, Devendra Ghimire authorised by Uttam Kumar Mahat of the CPN-UML and Gaura Koirala of the same party authorised by Goma Devkota.

Health Minister Dr. Rambaran Yadav had presented the Nepal health service bill (second amendment) at the National Assembly meeting yesterday.

Likewise, Devraj Ghimire of CPN-UML spoke of the need to stop immediately distribution of voters’ identity cards which is taking place in a manner which cannot be accepted.

Lal Bahadur Biswokarma of the same party demanded that action be taken against those who were involved in beating up Teknath Chapagain, his wife and son at their own residence and misbehaved with the daughter and drew the government’ attention to the applications submitted by 31 Kamaiyas or bonded labourer at the Kanchanpur district administration office.

MP Mohanraj Sharma Chapagain demanded that since the beginning of academic year from Srawan is not practical, the session should be started from the month of Falgun or Baishakh.

CPN-UML’s Bir Bahadur Singh spoke of the need to make public details of the ministers, businessmen and leaders who are implicated in a controversial report recently published in various magazines and newspapers including "India Today."

Gajendra Narayan Singh of the Nepal Sadbhawana Party complained that dalits have been suppressed in Siraha district, voters’ identity cards have been distributed in Jhapa and Saptari districts in an illegal manner and no attention has been given to providing citizenship certificates to some 3.5 million people in the Terai region.

Rabindranath Sharma of the RPP said it is rumoured that the RNAC is going to purchase an aircraft which is not proper from both technical and financial viewpoints.

MP Chanda Shaha observed that education sector should not be politicised and it is not good to include only ruling party workers into secondary school board of directors.

CPN-UML’s Thammaya Thapa drew the government’s attention to the widespread irregularity while purchasing land by the Myagdi district education office.

Farmers unaware of pesticide impact

Kathmandu, June 9 (RSS): Most farmers are found to be unaware about the impact of haphazard use of pesticides and insecticides in agriculture on vegetation, animals and the environment.

According to experts, the reckless use of insecticides can have adverse impact on useful insects besides polluting air, water and soil and eventually impacting on human health.

Due to environmental destruction the expected increase in agro products has not been seen in our country where 85 per cent of people rely on agriculture, says secretary of the Nepal Bio-Technology Association Prof. B. N. Prasad.

‘On one hand, production has been reduced because of decreased fertility of soil caused by erosion, floods and landslides, and agricultural land has been destroyed due to haphazard urbanisation, on the other", he says adding that it is certainly an economic challenge that the number of those relying on this sector has increased.

According to government data, the number of persons relying on agriculture reached 7.5 per hectare in 2038 B.S from 5. 8 in 2028 BS.

Bio-resources and means have been destroyed deliberately or through human ignorance. The forest area that covered two thirds of the land a few years back has shrunk to one third because of gradual destruction. As a result, serious problems have been seen such as soil erosion, floods and landslides, low rainfall, deterioration of water resources, adverse climate and desertification.

Statistics show that 240 million cubic metres of fertile soil is washed away each year by floods and landslides and Terai river beds are estimated to filled up by 15 to 30 centimetres every year.

According to experts, 30 - 40 per cent of the land in a country should be covered by forests for ecological balance. But it is clear that environmental imbalance is increasing. There is less than 25 per cent forest cover in the world at present.

According to the World Development Report 1998, Nepal has lost 274,000 hectares of forest between 1990 to 1995 and seven per cent of the total land is on the verge of desertification. At present, the 16 conservation areas account for l4 per cent of the forest cover in the country. Environment management expert and team leader of the Bheri-Babai Hydel Project Environmental Impact Evaluation Study Team Dr. Govind Shaha says Nepal’s environmental problems are linked with the ecological diversity, the farming system and use of natural resources. The nature of the problem differs from rural to urban areas but every Nepali is affected by it.

Necessary financial resources can be collected at the local level for the socio- economic development of the country if we make sustainable use of bio-resources, Shaha says adding that it is essential to give proper attention to environmental conservation as it is associated with human existence.

Most countries have implemented economic development programmes integrating environmental impact assessment technology for sustainable development as the environmental condition of a country depends on the economic and social structure there.

Environmental impact assessment and implementation is difficult in Nepal at present due to lack of skilled manpower though the process of including this technology has been simplified.

The technology which came into use after being included in the national environmental laws of the U.S.A. in 1970, has been adopted by most countries of the world as basic infrastructure for sustainable development.

The technology has been used by 87 per cent of the countries of Asia and 40 per cent in Africa as it is an important pre-requisite for implementing the agenda -21 approved by the ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992 and the convention on climate change and bio-diversity.

Nepal has made commitments to environment conservation by ratifying international conventions on various issues including bio-diversity,environment conservation and pollution control.

Though this technology was included by the donor agencies in big development projects in Nepal since 2030 B. S. at an informal level, it was included at official level only since 2051 B.S..

The technology which was included in big national level development projects after the National Environment Impact Assessment Directory came into force in 2050 b.s. Received its legal basis after implementation of the Environment Conservation Act-2053 and the Environment Conservation Regulations- 2054.

According to environment experts, if the environment impact assessment process is implemented as per the National Environment Impact Assessment Directory-2050 and the Environment Conservation Regulations- 2054, we can make considerable achievements in this sector as these reports are not inferior in quality compared to such reports prepared in the developed countries.

Nepali film fest to be held on July 7-9

Kathmandu, June 9 (RSS): Nepal Motion Picture Association and Nepal Film Producers’ Association are jointly hosting the third Nepal Motion Picture Award and Nepali Film Festival Programme on July 7, 8 and 9.

Various artistes and personalities associated with the film industry are to be awarded the Nepal Motion Picture Award in 27 different departments on the occasion.

Similarly, artistes completing more than 25 years of service in the film industry will be honoured with the Mahendra Motion Picture Service Award, those making special contribution in the Nepali film industry would be conferred the "Outstanding Contribution Award" while popular Nepali film sector artists in the decade from 1990-2000 would be felicitated on the occasion. Thirty-four Nepali feature films which have been passed by the central censor board from 1997-2000 are to be screened during the film festival. A rally of film artistes and props and a publicity campaign through posters and pamphlets is also to be held on the occasion. Similarly, a seminar on "the challenges and solutions of the Nepali film in the 21st century" will be held.

Litterateurs and writers winning the poetry and short story writing contest on the topic "The Challenges and Promises of the Nepali Film Industry in the 21st Century" will be awarded on the occasion.

A 131-member organising committee and 15 different sub-committees under the main organising committee have been constituted under the chairmanship of president of Nepal Motion Pictures Association for organising the event. The organising committee says foreign film producers and film artistes have also been invited through the Nepal-based diplomatic missions of SAARC countries for participation in the film festival.

DOTS introduced in Solukhumbu

Solukhumbu, June 9 (RSS): The directly observed treatment system (DOTS) which is considered effective in curing TB patients has been launched at Solu district hospital, Phaplu from recently.

The number of districts where the DOTS programme has been introduced is now 60 including Solukhumbu.

A DOTS implementation committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Solukhumbu DDC president Anganima Lama to make the programme launched with the slogan "Identify the TB patient, inspire to administer medicine" a success.

Inaugurating the programme, director of National Tuberculosis Centre Dr. Dirgha Singha Bam said the programme has been launched here in order to make the treatment for TB available at local level.

During the function, ex- assistant minister Angadandi Lama, chief of the district health office dilli raman adhikari and chairman of Young Star Club Phaplu Buddhi Narayan Shrestha also expressed there views.

Prior to this, a 6-day introductory seminar on dots was held under the joint auspices of the National TB Centre and the district health office, Solubhumbu.

According to the district health office chief, the tb germ has been found in 27 out of 68 persons given sputum tests.

The dots programme is to be launched at a hospital run by a non-governmental organization, primary health center, 9 health posts and 24 sub health posts in near future, it is learnt.

House body meet held

Kathmandu, June 9 (RSS): The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) met the other day under the chairmanship of committee chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang.

During discussions on the purchase of the press machine by the department of printing, it was found that the director general bought the machine directly from a company without fulfilling the criteria mentioned in the financial administration regulations and against the PAC directives.

Similarly, as the director general tried to keep the committee in the dark by not informing it of various decisions taken by itself in the past and as it went against the directives of the Ministry of Information and Communications, he has been directed to respond to the committee within two months and the Council of Ministers has been also directed to have the agreement reached with the company abrogated and to purchase the machine in a transparent manner.

Also in the other day, World Bank (WB) vice president Jules Muis and WB country director Hans Rothenbuller met the chairman and members of the PAC and discussed the need of getting the foreign aid and grant funds audited by the Department of Auditor general, making transparent the process of public income and expenditure, controlling widespread corruption and irregularity, and implementing the resolutions on commissions passed at parliament.

Inspection

Baglung (RSS): Australian Ambassador Crispin Conroy inspected the rural drinking water project under construction at Ward No-6 of Malika VDC, Baglung district.

The project is being carried out jointly by Dhaulagiri community Resources Centre and Helvetas, Pokhara.

Conroy also met with the participating women groups of the women micro credit programme run by the centre and accquired information about other projects being carried under the centre.

The Australian Ambassador also took information about the forest and environment-related programmes run by the British-Nepal Project.

Loot

Kalaiya (RSS): A group of nearly 200 persons including women attacked the Ilaka Forest Office situated north of Madhuwan Village, Bara district at 8:30 pm Tuesday and fled with two rifles and 46 pieces of ammunitions. They also chanted Maoist slogans.

According to police, the looters are being searched for.

A similar group also snatched a computer and a camera after attacking a photography team engaged in preparation of voter identity cards at Dumarbana VDC office on May 26.