PM says he is for property rights bill
Historic first general convention of NWA in Biratnagar

Biratnagar, Oct, 3 (RSS): Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that social reform will remain a far cry unless women participate actively in the country’s social, economic and political activities.

Prime Minister Deuba, who was speaking at the inaugural function of the historic first general convention of Nepal Women’s Association (NWA) here today, stressed the need for one and all to encourage women’s active role in every sector of society.

Stating that women are by nature hard working and democratic, Prime Minister Deuba regretted that women’s role and participation in politics and social reform activities has not been up to the level desired even after the restoration of democracy.

However, the women are coming forward and at least one woman official is elected in every ward bringing the total number of elected women representatives to 36,000, he said adding, necessary environment should be built and women should aspire to get elected to Parliament in larger numbers.

Stating that he is in favour of getting the women’s inheritance rights bill passed by Parliament during the ongoing session of Parliament and is holding discussions with various political parties for that purpose, Prime Minister Deuba expressed the belief that the bill will be passed during this session.

The government is determined to constitute a women’s commission with the objective of working for the upliftment of all women, he said adding that the country’s overall development is not possible unless women, the downtrodden and ethnic groups are entitled to equal rights and the government is thinking of a commission for the upliftment of the downtrodden.

As it fully understands the people’s desire for peace, the present government has initiated a dialogue with the Maoists with a view to lifting the country out of violence and terror, the Prime Minister further said.

The people are already so scared of the Maoists that they are wondering what would happen to the country if the Maoists came to power, he said adding, the people now know the Maoists very well.

The government is very sincere about the peace talks and wants the Maoists to reciprocate by demonstrating honesty towards the talks with respect for the people’s sentiments, he said.

He also ruled out any possibility of compromise with anyone at the expense of Constitutional Monarchy and multi-party democracy.

As it is the responsibility of the government to main law and order in the country, it will leave no stone unturned to fulfil that responsibility, he said.

HM grants audience

Kathmandu, Oct. 3 (RSS): His Majesty the King granted an audience to Minister of State for Environment of Luxembourg Eugene Berger at the Royal Palace today.

Royal Nepalese Honorary Consul General in Luxembourg Guy Aach, vice president of Luxembourg Scouts Paul Gediz and president of the Nepal-Luxembourg Friendship Association Jean Heldenstein were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, His Majesty the King granted an audience to Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Mitsuaki Kojima at the Royal Palace today.

Mr Kojima is returning home on completion of his tenure in Nepal.

Additional portfolio

Kathmandu, Oct. 3 (RSS): Minister for Water Resources Bijaya Kumar Gachchhedar will, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, look after the Ministry of Health in the absence of Health Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari who today left for Melbourne, Australia to take part in the Sixth International Congress of the Asia and Pacific Region on AIDS to be held there.

This is stated in a notice issued today by the Principal Press Secretariat of His Majesty the King.

Burger calls on Deuba

Kathmandu, Oct. 3 (RSS): Mr Eugene Burger, Environment Minister of Luxembourg paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at the latter’s office in Singha Durbar today.

On the occasion Minister Burger said that Luxembourg is ready to jointly work in alternative energy and environment projects in Nepal.

Honorary Royal Nepalese Consul General Guy Aach was also present on the occasion.

Likewise, FAO resident representative Winston R. Rudder paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Deuba at the latter’s office today.

Discussions on projects launched in Nepal with FAO assistance was held on the occasion, according to the Prime Minister’s office.

Lauding the commitment made by Prime Minister to implement the land reforms programme. Rudder said that FAO is ready to provide necessary technical assistance for implementation of the land reforms programme effectively.

PM attends reception

Kathmandu, Oct. 3 (RSS): Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba attended a reception hosted here this evening by Ambassador of South Korea to Nepal Ryoo See-Ya.

Also present on the occasion were heads of constitutional bodies, ministers, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions and other distinguished persons.

Various bills passed

Kahmandu, Oct. 3 (RSS): The meeting of the House of Representatives today unanimously passed the Bank and Financial Institutions Loan Recovery Bill-2058 and Nepal Rastra Bank Bill-2058.

Also today, chairman of Natural Resources and Means Committee Lekhanath Acharya presented the Kamaiya Labour (prohibition) Bill-2057 along with a report of the committee.

Earlier, the appropriation bill passed by the National Assembly was also tabled at the meeting of the House of Representatives.

Koirala stresses equal rights to women

Biratnagar, Oct. 3 (RSS): Nepali Congress President and ex-Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has stressed the need to ensure equal rights for men and women so as to enable them to contribute to the country’s development.

NC President Koirala, who was inaugurating the first national convention of Nepal Women’s Association (NWA) here today, described men and women as two wheels of a vehicle and said that social change is possible only when they move ahead in tandem.

Stating that given the rights and responsibilities women will prove better performers than men, he pledged his cooperation in all initiatives for women.

A Monarchy has no room for a republic, which is never acceptable to the Nepali Congress either, he said.

As the present Constitution is "written with the blood of martyrs" a drastic change in it will not be acceptable, said the NC president, adding the Constitution in itself is flawless; if there is any flaw, it is in us and the Constitution should not be blamed for whatever mistakes we make.

"Democracy has made no mistake, it is we individuals who might have made mistakes," he further said.

People in different parts of the country have now started resistence against the Maoists, he said adding, he will spearhead such a resistance movement.

Once the people rise up against them, the Maoists will face total annihilation, he said, stressing the need to proceed with the campaign against violence and terror.

NC general secretary Sushil Koirala urged women to shun individualist attitudes and continue the struggle for maintaining political culture and attain their rights.

At the inaugural function, NC central member Miss Shailaja Acharya released "Smriti Ka Panaharu", a collection of poems by Sharada Acharya.

On the occasion, Miss Acharya stressed the need for women to unite for their rights and well-being.

NC central member and patron of Nepal Women’s Association Mrs Nona Koirala highlighting the historical background of the association urged the government to announce special programmes for women’s education.

NC general secretary Govinda Raj Joshi warned that the Maoists should not take as weakness the present government’s peace initiatives, while NC central member Ram Chandra Paudel spoke of the need to ensure social justie and equality and build an egalitarian society through the empowerment of women.

NC Morang district president and MP Ashok Koirala expressed the view that no one can shake the foundation of democracy if the women become united while Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Mrs Chitra Lekha Yadav underlined of the need for providing opportunities to women in the task of nation building since the 21st century is a century of women.

Central president of Nepal Tarun Dal Bal Krishna Khand remarked that women have played a crucial role in restoring democracy in the country.

Chairperson of the Nepal Women’s Association central committee Mina Pandey, from the chair, complained that women have been denied equal opportunities even after the restoration of democracy.

At the function, various women including central member of the association Rukmini Koirala, MP Lila Koirala and convenor of the NWA first general convention management committee Mrs Ranudevi Adhikari also spoke.

On the occasion, letters of honour for Mrs Sushila Koirala, Mrs Dwarikadevi Thakurani, Mrs Indira Acharya, Mrs Kamini Giri and Mrs Nalini Upadhyay of the Nepali Congress were given to Mrs Nona Koirala, Sunil Kumar Bhandari, Miss Shailaja Acharya, Mrs Lila Koirala and MP Ashok Koirala respectively.

At the function, a message sent by founding member of the NC and former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai to the first historic general convention of the Nepal Women’s Association wishing the convention a success was also read out.

At the start of the programme, NC central member and patron of the association Mrs Nona Koirala had hoisted the flag of the association.

A total of 600 representatives are taking part in the three-day general convention.

The association was established under the leadership of the late Mangala Devi Singh in 2004 B.S.

Media can play catalytic role for tourism: Gupta

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Oct. 3: Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta today said that mass media plays an important role in generating awareness among the people about the importance of cultural heritage and contributing to the development of tourism industry of the country.

"Mass media has not only been playing an important role for consolidating democracy but also in pointing out anomalies and at the same time highlighting the positive things of the society," Minister Gupta said. He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of a two-day symposium on ‘Role of Mass Media in Creating Cultural Awareness for Tourism’ here today.

However, he said, the question is whether to take the mass media as a part of infrastructure for national development or not. "We have to be clear about this and change our old mentality towards it," he said.

He commended NTB for its initiative to work together with the press for promoting Nepal’s tourism industry. "As mass communication is an important tool to create public awareness, we want the world organisation, UNESCO, to involve itself for the development of this sector," he said.

He also emphasised the necessity to further strengthen and develop the mass communication sector for the country’s development.

Organised by Editors’ Guild of Nepal in cooperation with Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, the symposium was supported by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

Shankar Prasad Koirala, Acting Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that Nepal’s cultural heritage and monuments have been important attractions to the foreign visitors.

"Researches have shown that about 50-58 per cent visitors visiting the country go to the cultural heritage sites and other sightseeing spots during their stay in the country. All other visitors, whether they be trekkers or mountaineers, also directly or indirectly visit the cultural heritage," Koirala said.

He also urged the media to focus on creating awareness among the local people about the importance of cultural and historical heritage and monuments at the local level.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Yoshiaki Kitamara, UNESCO Representative to Nepal, said that the tragic royal incident and the political activities have affected Nepal’s tourism industry as adverse publicity tarnished the country’s image in the international sector.

"Now efforts have to be made to revive Nepal’s image as a safe and peaceful tourist destination," Dr. Kitamara suggested. He, however, pointed out that political contentions that Nepal has seen in the last few years are natural for a young democracy.

He further said that mass communication has to be utilized for conducting campaigns to create cultural awareness.

Addressing the function, Harihar Birahi, Chairman of Press Council, Nepal, expressed the view that mass communication has an important task to preserve the cultural heritage through raising awareness.

Similarly, Tara Baral, convenor for mass media committee for UNESCO, said that press has to carry out the responsibility as a social mobilizes. Baral also spoke about the need of preserving cultural heritage.

Tara Nath Dahal, general secretary of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), drew the government’s attention towards allowing community-based radio stations so as to create public awareness among the local people.

Khagendra Basnyat, Secretary General of Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, chaired the function. Subash Nirola, Director, Tourism Products & Resources Development of NTB, delivered his welcome speech, whereas Padam Singh Karki, Chairman of Editors’ Guild Nepal, extended the vote of thanks.

In today’s session, Dr. Hari Sarmah and Yuba Raj Pandey presented working papers on ‘Role of mass media for cultural awareness and its impact on tourism’ and ‘Role of mass media for creating cultural awareness in Nepal’ respectively.

Agricultural road to be constructed

Charikot, Oct. 3 (RSS): Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Mahesh Acharya laid the foundation stone for the rural agricultural road to be constructed from Mahakal Bhagawati to Kalinchok Bhagawati at Bhimeswor Municipality Ward No. 12, Kalimati Tole, Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion Minister Acharya said as no one is greater than the people in democracy, every one should move ahead to fight against poverty by relying upon the wisdom of the people.

As the road is important for the transformation of the lifestyles of the farmers, HMG will cooperate in its construction.

MP Ram Jiwan Singh said he will provide some amount from the MP’s fund for the construction of the road and called on all to cooperate in it as it yields larger income from little investment.

The 26-km road is estimated to cost Rs. 260 million.

At the function presided over by ward chairman of the Bhimeswor Municipality Ward No. 12 Karna Bahadur Shahi, various other speakers including chairman of Ward No. 9 Ram Bahadur Basnet, teacher Basudev Badal, CDO Dipak Kumar Joshi, Mayor Chok Bahadur Dahal and ex-minister Bhim Bahadur Tamang also expressed their views.

Government expenditure rises by 80.3 per cent: NRB

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Oct. 3 The first month of the fiscal year 2001-2002 has witnessed decline in narrow money (M1) and slight rise in broad money (M2). Total government expenditure accelerated mainly due to higher growth in both regular as well as development expenditures.

During the review period, resource mobilization grew by 13.1 per cent as a result of higher growth in revenue receipts. However, the growth of government spending being higher than that of resources, a marginal budgetary deficit was observed during the review period, according to Nepal Rastra Bank.

The rate of inflation went up slightly mainly due to a rise in the prices of sugar and related products, spices as well as oil and ghee despite a decline in the prices of grains and cereal products as well as pulses under the food and beverage group.

In the external front a moderate growth of exports accompanied by a modest growth in imports helped to narrow down the trade deficit and subsequently the current account deficit during the review period.

The foreign exchange holdings of the banking system increased substantially owing to a surplus in the balance of payments emanating from the growth in net transfer income and official capital inflow as well as a decline in the trade deficit.

The resulting foreign exchange reserve was sufficient to cover merchandise import of one year. In the share market, share transaction as well share price (NEPSE) index declined compared to the previous months.

In the money market, treasury bills rate remained at 4.78 per cent whereas the inter- bank rate stood at 3.06 per cent, according to a press release issued by NRB.

During the first month of the fiscal year 2021/02, broad money registered a growth of 0.5 per cent (Rs. 1006.3 million) amounting to Rs. 214819.8 million compared to a decline of 2.1 per cent (Rs. 3850.4 million) during the same period of the previous year.

An increase in net foreign assets of the monetary sector, compared to a decline last year, is attributed to the marginal growth in broad money.

Narrow money declined by 1.4 per cent (Rs. 992.3 million) during the review period compared to decline of 3.9 per cent (Rs. 2376.1 million) during the same period of the previous year.

As a result of decline in credit flow to the government, total domestic credit of the banking system declined by 0.1 per cent (Rs. 187.5 million) during the review period as against a decline of 1.6 per cent (Rs. 2561.6 million) in the preceding year.

The flow of bank credit to the private sector increased by 0.5 per cent (Rs. 649.2 million during the review period in contrast to a decline of 0.1 per cent (Rs. 115.1 million) during the same period of the previous year.

On the fiscal front, total government expenditure registered a growth of 80.3 per cent to Rs. 2967.7 million during the review month in contrast to a decline of 7.5 per cent during the first month of the previous year.

Of the total government expenditure, regular expenditure increased by 116.6 per cent to Rs. 942.9 million, development expenditure by 241.8 per cent to Rs. 195.5 million and freeze expenditure by 58.6 per cent to Rs. 1829.3 million.

The salary hike of government employees in the previous year, payments of overdue amount on pensions as well as on medical care allowances to retired government employees and a substantial increase in the expenditures incurred for internal security are mainly attributed for such a rise in regular expenditure. Furthermore such a high growth observed in both the expenditures is also attributed to the low base of these expenditures due to abnormal situation in the previous year.

Revenue collection, the major resources to finance the budget, increased by 57.9 per cent to Rs. 2914.0 million during the review period in contrast to a decline of 24.1 per cent during the same period last year.

As a consequence, resources mobilization grew by 13.1 per cent in the review period compared to a growth of 3.9 per cent during the same period in the previous year. However such resources mobilization remaining lower than the government expenditure, a budget deficit of Rs. 12 million was incurred during the review period.