Ogata meets Koirala

Kathmandu, May 3 (RSS)Mrs Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter’s office in Singha Durbar today.

During the meeting, the problems of the Bhutanese refugees as well as Nepal and unhcr relations were discussed.

On the occasion, unhcr representative Michel Dupoizat, Francois Fouinat, Director for Asia and Pacific Bureau, Ms Shako Shimozawa, executive assistant to the high commissioner, foreign secretary Narayan Shumsher Thapa and other senior officials were also present.

Likewise, Thai ambassador Powthep Vanachinda paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter’s office in Singha Durbar this afternoon.

On the occasion, views were exchanged on various matters of mutual interest.

Likewise, the visiting Pakistani delegation led by commander of National Defence College Lt. Gen. Saeed Uz Zafar paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at his residence in Baluwatar today.

On the occasion, matters relating to Nepal-Pakistan relations and mutual interests were discussed.

Pakistani ambassador Ms Fauzia Nasreen was also present on the occasion.

The delegation also called on Minister for Foreign  Affairs Chakra Prasad Bastola and foreign secretary Narayan Shamsher Thapa separately at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nepal-Pakistan relations and saarc cooperation were discussed on the occasion.

Dalit Pratibha Puraskar given away

Kathmandu, May  3 (RSS): Minister of State for Land Reforms and Management Gopal Rai presented the “Shahid Mina Swarnakar Dalit Pratibha Purasakar” to reporter of Rastriya Samachar Samiti Balaram Pyasi and musician Sushil Bishwokarma at a function here today.

The award was instituted in memory of the first Dalit singer late Mina Swarnakar.

Mr Pyasi has been awarded for his contribution to ending untouchability through journalism and Mr Bishwokarma for his contribution to uplifting Dalits through music.

The award carries a purse of Rs 3,101 each along with a letter of honour.

On the occasion, Mr Rai also launched a Dalit Jagriti song cassette containing songs of Tirtha Bahadur Gandharva and late Mina. The songs are composed by Motilal Nepali.

Sushil Bishwokarma had set the music to the songs.

Addressing the function, Mr Rai said Dalits have played an important role in the democratic history of Nepal and they are not less than any other people.

Many Non-Governmental Organisations opened for the welfare and betterment of the Dalits are not working satisfactorily, he added.

President of Dalit Sewa Sangh Motilal Nepali, from the chair, said his organisation has been trying to take the Dalits and non-Dalits together along the path of development.

On the occasion, Mr Pyasi noted that he will continue to write for the welfare of the Dalit community.

Various other speakers including Gokarna Aryal of Gorkhapatra Daily, Dr. Vidyanath Koirala and Dr. Haribansha Jha also expressed their views on the occasion.

Mina Swarnakar had died last year.

Mother’s Day today

Kathmandu, May 4 (RSS):Matatirtha or Mother’s Day is being celebrated across the country by offering fruits and sweets at the Matatirtha Kunda or pond at  Thankot today in memory of their departed mothers on the occasion of Matatirtha Aunsi or Mother’s Day.

The historic Matatirtha Pond is the subject of an ancient legend according to which the diety Lord Bishnu asked people who had lost their mothers to bathe in its water and then gave them a glimpse of the departed mothers.

The legend also mentions a piece of bread thrown into the pond by a cowherd who no longer had a mother, thereby initiating the tradition of honouring mothers on this day.

The Mother’s Day also celebrated by sons and daughters who present sweets, clothing and gifts to their living mothers.

Those without mothers make religious offerings in memory of the departed mothers.

NRCS meet held

Kathmandu, May 3 (RSS): Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare Mrs Kamala Panta recently inaugurated the tenth annual general meeting of the Lalitpur Chapter of the Nepal Cancer Relief Society (NRCS).

At the function, Minister of State Mrs Panta said that the government was committed to extending necessary co-operation to generate public awareness for the prevention and control of cancer.

Officiating secretary of the branch Madan Krishna Shrestha presented the progress report of 1998-99 and treasurer Kedar Karki the budget for 2001-02 at the general meeting.

Central president of the society Hari Prasad Paudel also expressed his views on the occasion.

Dr. Anjani Kumar Sharma and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Baral shed light on treatment and prevention of cancer, Dr. Santosh Man Shrestha on hepatitis “B” and “C” and Japanese acupuncturist Daisuke Yasioka on acupuncture at the programme.   President of Lalitpur Chapter of the NCRS Dhruva Bahadur Raut presided over the general meeting.

Meanwhile in Biratnagar, at its general meeting here recently, Patrakar Kalyan Kosh, Morang elected Prahlad Prasad Sah as the chairman of the Kosh board of directors unopposed.

Likewise, Keshav Bahadur Karki, Thakur Dev Dhungel and Mohan Bhandari have been elected vice chairman, secretary and treasurer unopposed respectively. Its members are Shyam Kumar Adhikari, Mulchand Tapadiya and Yagya Sharma.

Watermills boost local skill

Kathmandu, May 3 (RSS):  A 2-day workshop jointly organised by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and Centre for Rural Technology Nepal (CRTN) got underway here recently with the objectives of holding discussions on the present situation of the improved watermill (Ghatta), problems encountered in its application and the potential for further improvement  in the future.

The number of conventional watermill in Nepal is estimated to be around 25,000 but improvement has been carried out on only 680 of them. By 1984, the technology of improved watermill was gaining ground in Nepal.

Regionwise, the central development region has 54 per cent of the improved watermill followed by mid-western region with 20 percent of it. While the eastern region and western region both have 9 per cent of it each, the far western development region has only 8 per cent.

It is seen that the application of the improved watermill technology based on rural means, resources and skill and operated by the local people themselves will have least adverse impact on environment and at the same time enhance local efficiency and generate more employment opportunities.

Not only that, power can also be generated from watermills and supplied to the rural households. It has been estimated that nearly 948 kilowatt of power has been generated from 632 improved watermills in 42 hilly districts of the Kingdom hitherto and nearly thirty-one thousand families have d erived benefit from it.

The improved watermills have been found to be more efficient than the conventional ones in terms of quality and quantity both. An improved watermill can generate power from 0.5 to 3 kilowatt and grind 5 to 15 pathis of grains in an hour.

At the workshop, GTZ director for Nepal Peter Rhode expressed happiness over the participation of th organisation in the extension of the improved watermills in Nepal and underlined the need for the concerned authorities to accord top priority in the wider application and operation of these.

CRTN executive  director Ganesh Ram Shrestha said that if more improved watermills could be established in the country to generate power and meet the local requirements, it would have positive impact on the living standard of the rural folks.  

Under secretary of the National Planning Commission Surendra Lal Shrestha presented a working paper on the policy concerning improvement of the watermill while Lumin Kumar Shrestha of CRTN made presentation on the current situation of watermills.

Likewise, director of Centre of Self-Dependence Ram Kumar Shrestha presented a case of Jumla district on water mill improvement activities and Gyanendra Bhandari presented a working paper concerning financing mechanism for watermill improvement.  Attending the workshop are about 50 persons of various organisations concerned with improved watermill.

FAAN denies its merger with NNFA

Kathmandu, May 3 (RSS): The Film Artistes’ Association of Nepal (FAAN) organised a press conference recently and pledged the association has reactivated itself for the professional rights and welfare of all the artistes.

It also denied that it has merged with the so-called unified Nepal National Film Artistes’ Association (NNFA).

The Association had even formed a committee for the unification move but later backed out from the process and reinstated itself since the NNFA had made such provisions under which only the artistes working for celluloid “big screen” movies could become its members, a FAAN press release distributed on the occasion stated.

The NNFA was not representative all the film artistes, the press release further reads.

Replying to journalists’ queries, founder president of the association Rabindra Khadka and member Mohan Niraula alleged that the so-called unified film artistes association included only 10 per cent of all the celluloid film artistes.

They said since all the records of the financial transactions of the NNFA were not maintained properly, the concerned persons should make the financial statement of the association public in a transparent manner.

Meanwhile in Bhadrapur, a gathering of litterateurs and journalists at local Birtamod recently set up “Niyatra Publications”, a publication house which aims to publish the best but yet unpublished works of various writers.

The publications would also contribute to the enrichment of Nepali literature by undertaking various promotional activities.

Prakash Budhathoki, Lok Raj Dhakal and Krishna Baral are respectively the Vice-President, secretary and treasurer of the institution set up under the chairmanship of Krishna Dharabasi.

The other members of the publications include Chhabi Lal Khatiwada, Bishnu Kumar Bhattarai, Komal Prasad Pokharel, Lekhnath Bhattarai, Laxman Dhakal, Ratna Mani Nepal and Deepak Dhakal. It is learnt that the institution will publish yet unpublished books of both Nepali and Indian writers writing in Nepali.

Kala-azar kills 391 people in two decades

Janakpurdham, May 3 (RSS): A seven-day workshop on “the future perspectives of Kala-azar control activities in Nepal” began here recently. The workshop is being organised with the objective of formulating short and long term strategies as well as guidelines for appropriate technology for controlling the spread of kala-azar in Nepal.

About six million people of Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Udaipur, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara and Parsa districts linked with the Indian State of  Bihar are vulnerable to Kala-azar. Of the 15,391 people affected by Kala-azar in the past two decades, 391 people have already died of the disease.

The disease, which is transmitted by sand fly has an incubation period of three days to nine months. Failure to have proper treatment on time proves fatal.

Inaugurating the seminar Minister of State for Health Tirtharam Dangol expressed confidence that the seminar will come up with substantial conclusion on the diagnosis and prevention of the disease. Health Secretary Srikant Regmi, director of epidemiology and Disease Control Division Dr. Mahendra Bista, Dr. Panduka Vijayratne and Dr. G. D. Thakur of environmental health project and others presented various suggestions for preventing the disease. The seminar was organized jointly by the Health Ministry, the Department of Health Services, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division and World Health Organization.

Night Sky In May

By Rishi Shah

Okhaldhunga (RSS): Some persons on their way back from a wedding ceremony sustained injuries when a bridge over the Molung River between Baruneswar and Harkapur VDCs collapsed all of a sudden.

About 500 persons including students and others who use the bridge daily have been affected by the collapse.

One has to walk four hours to reach the district headquarters by any other route, local people say.

Mugabe to launch

THE  clear night skies of this month offer sky-gazers great opportunities to marvel at the planets, stars, constellations and other celestial wonders.   As it darkens, the zodiacal constellations of Taurus (bull), Gemini (twins) and Cancer (crab) are hanging relatively low in the western sky.  Leo (lion). Virgo   (Maiden), Libra (scales) and Scorplus  (scorpion) are stretching prominently from the sky overhead to the eastern horizon.  Later in the night, Sagittarius (archet).  Capricornus (sea goat and Aquarius (water bearer) are seen rising in the east till dawn.

Shaped like an upside-down wide tie, the constellation of Bootes (herdsman) is dominating the sky with its brilliant reddish yellow star Arcturus (Swati) right from the evening.  It is also called the guardian of the bear.  Arcturus is moving towards Virgo  with a space velocity of about 144 km/sec.  The main stars in semi circle of Corona Borealis (northern crown) are the bright Gemma also called Alphecca and Nusakan.  This constellation is  rich in variables and novae. The Blaze Star T is a best example of a recurrent nova.  Nova is a star that sudenly flares up to many times its normal brightness and remains brilliant for a limited period before fading back to obscurity.  Star R is a remarkable irregular variable.  A very rich   cluster of about 400 galaxies is housed in here.  It is similar to the rich aggregation in Virgo,  but it  is at a much greater distance.  The keystone pattern of Hercules (strongman) can be easily recognized primarily by the red variable as Ras Algethi, the head of the kneeler, and the binary Komephoros, the club bearer.   Here, the two globular star clusters M 13 and M 92 are magnificent objects for observation.

In 1960, the Polish astronomer Johannes Havelius added Canes Venatici (hunting dogs) to the sky.  Edmund Halley named its bright double star Cor Caroli in honour of King Charles I of England. The splendid globular cluster M 3 and the famous   Whirlpool galaxy M 51 are  wonderful telescopic targert in this constellation.   The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe defined Coma Berenices  (Berenice’s hair) in the sky around 1590.  Its brightness star is Diadem.  The whole area of this constellation can be considered as a large Coma star cluster with a group of more than one thousand galaxies.  The Black Eye galaxy M. 64 and the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4565 are unforgettable objects for telescopic viewing.

Ophiuchus (serpent bearer) intrudes into the zodiac between  Scorpius and Sagittarius.  The celebrated Bemard’s star, which is the second nearest star to us, is present here Proxima Centauri, is our closest star.  Serpens (serpent) is held by Opiuchus in two parts.  Serpens Caput (head) is in the west, while Serpens Cauda  (tail) is to the east.

Cygnus (swan) and Aquila (eagle) are soaring high in the east.  The eagle was the focus of attention last winter, when Nova Aquilae 1999 erupted and quickly faded. Deneb marks the tail of the swan.  The double star (Albireo is at the swan’s head in northeastern sky.  Lyra  (harp)  is depicrted by a parallelogram of stars.  Its chief star is the sparkling Vega (Avijit).  Vega.  Altair and Deneb draw the summer triangle in the sky.

Capella in Auriga (Charioteer), Castorl and Pollux (Punarvasu) in the twins are slowly slipping out view from the northwestern sky.  The crab is an obscure constellation.  The inverted question mark or the sickle-shape of the lion with its Regulus (Magha) is unmistakably prominent.  The glittering Spica (Chitra) in the Y-shaped maiden and the glimmering red super giant Antares (Jestha) in  scorpion are exhibiting their presence.  The square like Libra, the kite-shaped Corvus (crow), the long constellation of Hydra (water sperpent) and the imposing Centaurus (centaur) are hugging the southwestern sky.  The circumpolar constellations of Cepheur (king) Cassiopeia (queen).  Draco (dragon), Ursa Major (great bear) and Ursa Minor (little bear) are circling Polaris (Pole star or  Dhruba tara).  The eerie glowing curtain of Milky Way is stretching impressively from Cygnus to Sagittarius.

Though not visible to us, an unusual conjunction of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurs during the first two weeks of this month.  These five planets lie on the far side of the Sun with respect to the Earth.  The moon also   joins this group. Due to the proximity to the Sun in the Aries (ram)/Taurus region of the sky, these planets are mostly lost to the glare of the Sun.  At the end of the month, Mercury appears elusively in the evening in the west Locating Mars may be quite difficult after sunset in the  west.  The greenish Uranus and the blusih Neptune can be viewed with telescopes in Capricornus before dawn in the east.  The diminutive Pluto in Ophiuchus is well poisted for it to be spotted with good telescopes.  

The asterod Ceres (1) is wandering in Leo.  Vesta (4) is traversing around the Sagittarius and Capriconus area of the sky.  Iris (7) is crawling in Cancer.  Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to reach its maximum in the first weekend of the month from Aquarius.  It could remain active  for  about three to four days on either side of its peak.  Its origin is related to the debris from the Halley’s comet.  The coment LINEAR 1999 S4 appears in the predawn sky around Triangulum (triangle)  in the east.  The new moon falls on 04 May (Mother’s Day), while the full moon is on 18 May (Buddha Jayanti).  The accompanying star chart is approximately valid for night sky in the Northern Hemisphere at about 20 hours local time in mid-May 2000.