Delegations meet PM

Kathmandu, May 1 (RSS):An 11-member delegation led by Nepali Congress Bharatpur town community chairman Pramod Kumar Shrestha called on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the Prime Minister’s residence, Baluwatar today to apprise him of various problems facing the Bharatpur town.

During the meeting, the delegation demanded that new telephone lines be installed at Ramnagar-Thimura area of Bharatpur, telephone lines be extended to ward No. 13 and 14, a suspension be built at the B.P. Shantinagar forest and drinking water facility be provided at wards Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 13 and 14.

The delegation also stressed the need to build a city hall, construct embankment along Narayani River from the existing lift irrigation to Dashimal and resolve the town’s other problems.

The delegation included Ten Prasad Gurung, Umesh Poudel, Mukti Lal Chuke, Keshav Kandel, Bamdev Khanal, Badri Acharya, Maiya Devi Shrestha, Jaya Ram Shrestha, Hari Bhakta Khanal and Devendra Gurung.

Meanwhile, a delegation from Rukum district led by Nepali Congress Rukum district president Gopalji Jung Shaha met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter’s residence today to apprise him of the problems created by the Maoist activities in the district.

The delegation asked the Prime Minister to take immediate measures to restore peace in the district, increase the financial assistance being provided to the Maoist victims and pay due attention to improving education, health, electricity and transport facilities in the district.

The delegation included mp Keshar Man Rokka, ex-mp krishna Gautam, nc district treasurer Navaraj Gautam and member Prem Prakash, Chuwang vdc chairman Nanda Bahadur Bista and other representatives.

Nepal dprk hold talks

Kathmandu, May 1 (RSS): Official talks were held between the delegations of Nepal and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (dprk) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.

Foreign secretary Narayan Shumshere Thapa and the visiting dprk Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil Yon had led the respective delegations, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign secretary Thapa briefed the dprk delegations on Nepal’s position on different national, regional and international issues such as the political and economic development taking place in Nepal after the restoration of democracy, liberal economic policy and the economic diplomacy pursued by His Majesty’s Government, terrorism, Bhutanese refugees, Non Aligned Movement and the United Nations.

Mr Thapa also welcomed the upcoming North South summit between the two Koreas.

Dprk Vice Minister Pak briefed the foreign secretary on the dprk’s domestic issues as well as their perception on different regional and international issues including the socio economic development in the dprk, the reunification of the Korean peninsula, nam and international scenario after the end of the cold war.

Responding to foreign secretary Thapa’s request, the leader of the dprk delegation committed their support to Nepal’s candidature for the ecsoc membership during the upcoming election at the un general Assembly.

The talks also focused on enhancing cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries.

Foreign secretary Thapa was assisted by joint secretaries Arjun Bahadur Thapa and Pushkar Man Singh Rajbhandari and other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and visiting dprk Vice Minister Pak was assisted by the dprk ambassador Kim Thae Jong and other official of the dprk Foreign Ministry and dprk Embassy in Kathmandu.

Earlier on arrival here, Foreign Secretary Thapa had received the visiting dprk Vice Foreign Minister at Tribhuvan International Airport.

Dprk Vice Foreign Minister Pak is paying a four day visit to Nepal at the invitation of His Majesty’s Government.

Thapa calls for improvement in labour laws

Kathmandu, May 1 (RSS):

RPP President and ex-prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa inaugurated a colloquium on 10 years after the restoration of democracy, present situation of Nepalese employees and workers and the future role of National Democratic Trade Union Council on the occasion of the International May Day here today.

On the occasion, RPP President Thapa stressed the need for one and all to recognize the importance of labour so as to help bring about social reforms.

He called for timely improvement in labour laws and stressed the management to be responsible for the rights and well-being of the workers.

RPP Vice President Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani stressed the need for the government to launch programmes for enhancing the skill and efficiency of the workers.

RPP spokesman Kamal Thapa complained that the lives of workers have not seen much change even 10 years of the restoration of democracy.

Joint coordinator of National Democratic Women’s Organisation Durga Shrestha and others also expressed their views.

President of National Democratic Trade Union Council Jaya Kumar Khadka presided.

Make stance on ‘Boeing sale’ clear, RNAC asked

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, May 1:Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation Employees Union (RNACEU) has taken serious concern over a news item printed in a Nepali daily Sunday.

The news regarding the sale of two Boeing 757s to buy three Airbuses has drawn the attention of RNACEU, a Union press release issued today said.

The Corporation has lost over Rs. 5 billion in a series of aircraft lease scandals since it sold two Boeing 727s at a very cheap price eight years ago, read the press release.

RNAC not only has been serving the nation for the last 42 years but also is playing a crucial role to make Nepal known in the world, said the press release. "It’s unfortunate that the Corporation, instead of compensating for the two 727s, is taking a move to sell the remaining Boeing 757s."

The Union also has demanded that the government, Tourism Ministry and the Corporation management make their stance clear about the issue.

South Asian Human Development Forum launched

Kathmandu, May 1 (RSS):Over 4 policy activists decided recently to give the voiceless a new voice.

Activists from throughout South Asia gathered here recently to design a vehicle to affect change to improve the situation of the disadvantaged in the region.

South Asia is the poorest, most illiterate, malnourished, least gender sensitive, in effect, the most deprived region in the world. The human development issues in South Asia need to be heard.

In response, the South Asian Human Development Forum was officially launched to strengthen efforts to address these important issues.

Speaking to the audience of South Asian Civil Society leaders, government officials and representative from international donor agencies attending the two-day workshop, Ram Chandra Poudel, deputy Prime Minister of Nepal praised the value of this initiative.

This will provide a platform for engaging the region's stakeholders and practitioners in a common effort to keep human development on the policy agenda in South Asia in the new millennium, he added.

Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Nihal Rodrigo also spoke at the inaugural ceremony of the workshop.

The forum will strengthen the agenda for human development in South Asia by increasing information, sharing dialogue, cooperation consensus building and policy advocacy ---development issues and promoting accountability for related policies.

The idea for the forum was born out of the Mahbub Ul Haq commemorative conference held in Ottawa, Canada last year which brought together policy activists from South Asia.

DDC to handover milk chilling plants

Kathmandu, May 1 (RSS):The National Dairy Development Board has requested all the sides concerned to immediately cancel their scheduled programmes for relay hunger strike, sit-in protests and other such protest programmes saying these programmes of the Central Dairy Producers' Cooperatives Association seem irrelevant in the context of the Dairy Development Board running various welfare programmes in favour of the dairy farmers.

In a press release issued by the board, it is said that discussions were being held for recommending an appropriate purchase and sales price of milk on the basis of evaluation and analysis of the current market price of milk.

It said measures were being taken for resolving the present problem regarding lactometres after studying the problem, arrangements were being worked out for keeping five elected members from the Central Dairy Producers Cooperatives Association in the board of directors of the National Dairy Development Board as against the present four members.

Similarly, it said tangible efforts were being made to terminate the provision of "milk holiday" within the next year by increasing the local milk consumption and works on restructuring the Pokhara Milk Distribution Project with main participation of the dairy producers' association was in the final phase of its completion.

According to the press release, plans were also afoot for the gradual restructuring of the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) according to the principles of cooperatives and works on the construction of a milk processing factory in Kohalpur of the mid-west development region would commence by the middle of this month.

Likewise, work on gradually handing over the milk chilling centres under the Dairy Development Corporation to the dairy cooperatives institutions has been started in connection with the restructuring of the corporation, the board said.

Fodder grass and pasture development programme and other such programmes were also being undertaken in an attempt to reduce the production cost of milk, according to the press release.

Pasang Lhamu's statue installed in Inaruwa

Inaruwa, May 1 (RSS):A statue of the late Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to scale Mount Sagarmatha, has been installed at the local Kalabanjar Chowk of Bharaul VDC in Sunsari district.

The six feet tall granite-marble statue designed by architect Arun Katuwal was constructed and installed at the cost of Rs 50,000.

Central member of the CPN-UML Bhim Prasad Acharya unveiled the statue at a function organised here recently.

A three Bigha land worth about 1.5 million rupees has been donated for construction of a shrine at Madhesa village in Sunsari district.

The shrine is to be constructed under the chief patronage of the Jagadguru Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswoti of the Kanchi Kamakothi Peeth.

Besides the shrine, a Sanskrit High School, a homeopathic clinic and dispensary, yoga centre and a shelter for cows is also to be constructed on the land donated by Chakra Bahadur Karki, a resident of the locality, it is learnt from the Sanatan Sanskriti Sanrakshan Samiti, Sunsari.

Although a number of service-oriented works are being carried out in different parts of the country with the patronage of the Jagad Guru, the Shankarmath shrine at Madhesha Village will be the first of its kind to be developed for the protection and promotion of the hindu religion and culture, it is believed.

In biratnagar, the local Balkalyan Bidya Mandir High School at Ward No. 15, Biratnagar sub-metropolitan city, organised a school level competitive poetry symposium here Friday in honour of senior literary critic and essayist Dr. Taranath Sharma.

On the occasion, litterateur Dr. Sharma gave away prizes and certificates to the winners of the poetry symposium.

Addressing the prize-giving ceremony, Dr. Sharma said that he gave up the opportunity to earn money in the united states and returned back to Nepal out of its love and to serve the motherland and to promote its respect.

Poet Ramesh Khakurel, short story writer Parasu Pradhan and chairman of the Purbanchal Bahudeshyiya Sahakari Sanstha Limited Chiranjbi Dahal underlined the need for creating literature that was full of patriotism and upheld social morality.

Various poets and poetesses had also recited their poetry at the programme presided over by school principal Shaligram Dahal.