RPP, NSP disrupt House for 6th day

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Aug. 27: Lawmakers from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) today again disrupted the proceedings of the House of Representatives for the 6th day demanding the ceiling on the property together with the government’s decision to freeze land sales and its transactions across the country.

Speaker Taranath Ranabhat today announced the adjournment of the House till 1P.M.Wednesday, after the protesting RPP and NSP MPs did not comply with his repeated requests to take their respective seats for the smooth running of the House.

The agitating MPs went to the well shouting slogans demanding the ceiling on the property.

Before resorting to shouting slogans, Hridayash Tripathi of NSP claimed that the government’s proposed land reform was incomplete and lame.

Tripathi said that the government should first solve the problem of the citizenship certificates then implement its land reform package.

He said that about 4.5 million people of the Terai have been deprived of the citizenship certificates.

Mushahar, Chamars, Dushadh and Sarki among others form the major chunk of the Terai population who are poor and landless, he said.

"But how can they get land since they are deprived of the citizenship papers?" the NSP MP said.

He also claimed that the government had not yet distributed the land that was confiscated during the land reform programme launched in 2021 B.S.

South Asia Region
Cooperatives vital for poverty alleviation in S.Asia

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Aug. 27: Despite its huge resources and adequate manpower, countries in the South Asia are still grappling with intense poverty and illiteracy.

Though official figures sometimes seem to be optimistic, the poverty in the rural areas in this region is very intense and sometimes alarming. Hence, the people in the region should join hands to alleviate poverty, said participants of a five-day seminar on "Executive Development Programme for Cooperatives and Rural Financing Institutions." here today. While sharing experiences bankers and community workers from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal stressed the need to focus on increasing productivity of agriculture. No country can make progress unless economy of the majority of the people living in the rural areas gets improved, they said.

Inaugurating the seminar, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr. Tilak Rawal said that the priority should be focused on rural areas to alleviate poverty for that Nepal Rastra Bank, as a central bank of the country has formulated policies to improve rural economy.

Governor Rawal further said that the entire region should be aware of massive poverty in the rural areas, for which joint efforts are vital. In this regard the NRB has made a provision and instructed commercial banks for giving priority to uplift rural economy. He also expressed satisfaction over the role of Rastriya Banijya Bank, Agriculture Development Bank, Nepal Bank Ltd and some other joint venture banks in micro finance.

Secretary at the Ministry of Finance (MOF) Dr. Bimal Prasad Koirala while speaking about the importance of micro finance stressed the need of joint efforts to ward off poverty from the region. Till the nineties South Asian Reion could be taken as one of the regions having economic stability, but we are under poverty now, he added. He also pointed out an urgent need to "revisit, rejuvenate and re-think" our priority. Since poverty is very complex thing to define, it should be tackled in a broad way, he said.

B.S. Minhas, additional secretary of Government of India and Chairman Mg. Com of the Centre for International Corporation and Training in Agriculture and Banking (CICTAB) spoke about the role of banks for poverty alleviation.

Prof. D.R. Oza, consultant of CICTAB also stressed the need to make joint efforts to battle poverty.

Devendra Pratap Shah, chairman/general manager of Agriculture Development Bank/Nepal highlighted the importance of the seminar. 'Since the poverty has been the major problem in the region, any developmental programme directly or indirectly address this problem if we are sensitive enough towards our nations' development', he said. Shah also emphasised the role of CICTAB to minimise the level poverty in the region.

Laxmi Devi Manandhar, Deputy General Manager of Rastriya Banjya Bank (RBB) also spoke on the occasion.

The five day seminar is participated in by the bankers and community activists from India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

It is learnt that the CICTAB established in 1983 with the financial and technical assistance of Government of India in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been developed as a sub-regional training centre for the promotion of mutual cooperation between member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) through training in agriculturale banking for rural credit. This centre has envisaged to organised workshops, seminars and trainings with special focus on co-operative development for experience and information sharing by providing a common platform to the agricultural and rural development institutions of its member countries.

Nepal Motion Picture Award
-45 films vying for 24 Awards-

BY BISHNU GAUTAM

Kathmandu, Aug. 27: As the day to distribute the fourth Nepal Motion Picture Awards (NMPA)-2058 is nearing, actors, actresses, film producers as well as the commoners are curiously waiting to observe the grand ceremony and know the lucky winners of the Awards.

The meeting of the Central Working Committee of Nepal Films Association held on July 4 slated August 30 for the NMPA-2058 ceremony.

"The preparation works of 4th NMPA ceremony are now in the final stage," Bishnu Gopal Shrestha, chairman of Nepal Films Association and the 4th NMPA-2058 Organising Committee told The Rising Nepal.

According to a press release of the 4th NMPA-2058 Organising Committee, noted artistes of the Nepalese films will participate in the grand ceremony to be held at the Birendra International Convention Hall, New Baneshwore.

Altogether 45 feature films produced from Baishakh 2057 (April 13, 2000) to the last of Shrawan 2058(August 16, 2001) are competing for 24 different Awards.

The selections of the final competitor films concluded yesterday (Sunday). A five-member advisory committee under the convenorship of senior director Prakash Thapa was formed for the selections.

Unlike in the past, the NMPA-2058 Organising Committee this time has also included audience-vote as one of the criteria for the selection of possible winners. Audiences could exercise their voting rights through forms or through website.

However, the committee has not yet made public as to how many films are in the final race for the Awards.

Similarly, the names of the members of jury that has the final 'say' to select and declare the winners of the Awards are kept secret.

Besides the Awards, noted film artistes will also be honoured with 'Mahendra Chalchitra Sadhana Samman', Ullekhaniya Yogdan Samman and Bishesh Yogdan Samman for their contributions to Nepalese films.

At the same time speculations regarding the success of the ceremony and the fairness of the selections are rife among artistes and film journalists. The past incidents are sufficient to fuel such speculations. None of the film festivals and the Motion Picture Awards organised in the country in the past was free from controversies.

The organisers of the First Motion Picture Awards-2054 had faced the toughest criticism. Artistes, especially those who failed to win any Award had accused the organisers of practicing favouritism while selecting the award-winners.

It is worth to mention that 121 feature films produced during the period of nine years from 2045 B. S. to 2054 B. S. had competed for 27 Awards in the First Motion Picture Awards- 2054. And Prempinda, a film by senior lyrist and director Yadav Kharel had bagged eight Awards.

Due to the controversies in the first Motion Picture Award, there was no formal Motion Picture Award ceremony in 2055 and 2056 B. S. However; a formal continuity was given to the Motion Picture Award by organising a 'Film artiste honouring ceremony' in 2056 B. S.

The Third Motion Picture Award-2057 held last year was less controversial although actor Bhuwan K. C., actress Jala Shah and director Daya Ram Dahal had opposed the selections. When K. C., Dahal and Shah found their names missing from the list of Award winners they organised a press meet the following day as protest to the selections.

Among the 34 films contested for the NMPA-2057, 12 were lucky enough to win at least one Award.

Nata Ragatko won Best Film Award along with the best director (Prakash Thapa), best lyric (Kiran Kharel) and best singer (female) (Sapana Pariyar) Awards.

Shiva Shrestha for his role in Thuldai and Niruta Singh for her role in Afanta won Best Actor and Actress Awards respectively.

Interestingly the Nepal Films Association that organised the NMPA-2054 did not recommend Nata Ragatko for Oscar. Instead, it recommended Mukundo that could win only Best Script Award in NMPA for the ultimate movie award. This controversial selection clearly indicates that those who were at the NMPA organising committees were also aware that their selections were hardly fair.

However, Shrestha assures that 4th NMPA-2058 will be concluded in a fair manner.

As sidelights to the Award ceremony, there will be fashion show by eminent models, dances by noted actors and actresses and programmes by St. Xavier school students.

-Demand of liquor reduced-
Impact of new alcohol regulation

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Aug. 27: Even before the government announced the alcohol regulation, distributors were already facing reduction in the demand because of the women’s wing of the CPN-Maoists call of a complete ban on alcohol in the country. And it became worse after the announcement for a rigid control on the selling of liquor.

Trans Nepal, the sole distributor of Gorkha Brewery products, could sale only 500 cases of Carlsberg beer last week while the regular supply used to be as much as 3,000 cases a week.

According to distributor Sujeet Joshi, the banning could make him lose at least Rs. 10 million since the parties who have taken thousands of cases of beer on credit may not be able to sell them.

After the decision Joshi and others who had been doing the liqueur business for years are now serious about shifting to other business.

It is not only the corporate sector but also the small timers who fear of losing their business.

Shanta Manandhar, a local restaurateur at Basantapur, is also among hundreds of people who are afraid of losing his age-old eatery business. Manandhar’s restaurant is famous among the Newar communities since he serves pure alcohol brewed at Bhaktapur with other traditional snacks and bites to his customers. "With the restriction on the free sale of alcohol, our business has already begun seeing a downfall," Manandhar says.

Now that the Home Ministry is mooting to regulate the sale of alcohol throughout the country, liqueur industries and people related to this sector are going to have a tough time ahead.

Managing director of Himalayan Brewery Prakash Bahadur Shahi is at his wits end. "I do not know what would I be doing with the industry, which can’t produce anything except alcohol," Shahi sounds gloomy about the future of his industry.

He adds that the control in the free sale of alcohol is definitely a welcome step but the number of shops the government is going to open for the sale of spirits should be increased.

And if there is anyone who is more surprised and stunned to hear the government’s ‘hasty’ decision about alcohol it is Bikash Suwal of Alpine Traders, New Road.

Suwal is with the imported liqueur business, which is going to be closed after 13 days of official ultimatum. He does not know whether his shop will remain open in two week’s time.

After the government decision he has stopped importing liqueur rather he is worried about the selling the stock. Suwal also plans to leave the liqueur business and try for another one.

Meanwhile, Nepal Liqueur and Tobacco Producers’ Association has decided to apprise the government about the affect to the industry and the national economy.

"We are meeting with the government authorities to tell them the bad impact of taking such hurried decisions without undergoing even preliminary calculations," Ramesh Shrestha, President of the Association, told The Rising Nepal.

He said that they would have negotiated with the ‘revolutionary women’ for the sake of industries and the national economy if they were included during the talks.

A high level official at the Gorkha Brewery said that the government’s request for the transformation of brewery industries into industries that produce other things was a nuisance.

"How can the liqueur producing machine produce other things?" he asked. However, he also said with some alterations the machine could be used for producing mineral water.

However, there are also many who are happy with the government decision to regulate alcohol.

"The declaration of legal drinking age (24 years), drinking hours and the fixing of the selling areas were some of the most sought after decisions," Kishor Odari, a resident at Ghattekulo remarked.

It may create difficulty to the liqueur industries for the time being, but he hoped that its effect on the national economy would be only temporary, he said. Moreover, the government has not banned the export of the liqueur, he added.

The regulation, however, may control the industrial production of bottled and sealed alcohol, the burning question that still needs to be answered is whether the regulation can check the production and bootlegging of illicit alcohol.

World Council convention
Team leaves for Eugene, USA

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Aug. 27: The annual convention of World Council (WOCO) is being held from August 26 to September 2 in Eugene, Oregan, USA, with more than 1,500 participants from different countries, including Nepal. An 11-member delegate led by Vimal Kedia, President of Round Table Nepal and Ashok Tibrewala left for Eugene on Sunday to participate in the convention. Round Table Nepal is the youngest member is the youngest member of WOCO, which has about 60,000 members in 60 countries.

At the convention Round Table Nepal will propose to hold the WOCO convention of 2004 in Nepal. If successful, the convention will be participated by more than 1500 delegates from different countries giving a boost to Nepali tourism giving exposure to the art, craft and natural beauty of the country. The other country, which is also trying to hold the 2004 convention is Singapore.

Round Table Nepal was formed two years ago and according to the organisation it has been making contributions in education and health sectors.

First total knee replacement surgery held in Dharan

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Aug. 27: Doctors at the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan successfully carried out a Total Knee Replacement (TKR) Surgery today. This is the first time such a surgery is done successfully in a teaching hospital of the country.

According to BPKIHS, the patient was 78-year-old Mrs. R.K. Pandey of Kathmandu who was suffering from advanced osteoarthritis of both knees leading to bowing of the legs. She could only shuffle with pain when she tried to stand and walk, a press statement of BPKIHS said.

Today, the right knee was replaced by a team of orthopedic surgeons comprising of Prof. Dr. M. Farooque (AIIMS), Dr. Shishir Lakhey and Dr. Pradeep Gupta and Dr. T. Rehman (all of BPIKHS).

According to Dr. Lakhey, the left knee will also be replaced after a week. The press statement said it is expected that within 10 days after the knee replacement on the opposite next week, the patient will be totally pain free and will be able to walk without support.