KMTNC to get Japanese aid of around Rs 2.5 M

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Sept. 4: The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC) is to receive a grant assistance of US $ 33,450 equivalent to about Rs. 2,497,000 from the Embassy of Japan, according to a press release of the Japanese Embassy here.

The grant, provided under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Project (GGP) Scheme of the Government of Japan in Japan’s Fiscal Year 2001, is to be utilised for the implementation of the Manasalu Conservation Area Project.

A grant contract to this effect was signed and exchanged here today between Mitsuaki Kojima, Ambassador to the Kingdom of Nepal, and Jai Pratap Rana, Member Secretary of KMTNC, the press release further states.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Japanese envoy Kojima expressed his pleasure in extending the grant to KMTNC for the purpose of providing drinking water and sanitation facilities top the local inhabitants of the Conservation Area. He expressed the belief that this project will help in improving the well-being of the people compatible with the conservation of the natural heritage in that area.

The KMTNC, in 1997, had initiated an eco-tourism development project in the northern part of Gorkha district through the Department of Tourism of His Majesty’s Government, with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank.

The Manaslu region was declared a conservation area in 1998. The responsibility of the nature conservation activities was given to KMTNC for a period of ten years. The objective of the project was to improve the socio-economic conditions of the local people leading to the conservation of the region.

Under the grant contract, KMTNC will carry out the sustainable development component of the project by constructing seven drinking water systems and seven community toilets in different parts of the conservation area, the press release adds.

NEWSROOM CHATTER

Looks Good

IT’S such a busy national life these days. The papers have the juiciest news to deliver to the readers: first government-Maoist face-to-face talks; the agreement on the sale distribution and consumption of alcohol; the announcement of the revolutionary land reform and so on. It seems that the nation has come alive after a few months of the national tragedy. The people as such are ready to gulp down all the sensational news because they are hungry for it. The people as such are burdened by the task of eking out a living and that is not easy. And when some news breaks, for many prospects of a better life crisscross their mind. The landless may hope for a piece of land that they can call their own. The housewives battered by their addict husbands may hope for a truce at home. A person lives on hope. Now there is still some hope left for the aspirations to be fulfilled. But, who knows what the future has in store for the mass. (PNK)

Is It Right?

NEPAL Women’s Association (Revolutionary) after scoring a big victory by forcing new alcohol rules has again come up with a new campaign. This time they have sought to clamp a ban on the glamorous fashion shows in the country. This scribe is pretty shocked to hear their grudge about the fashion shows. With the advancement of new technology, banning fashion shows will not help thousands of people being glued to the TV channel.

This kind of attitude taken by the Association only shows that they are only keen on coming time and again with slogans to ban this or the other thing instead of trying to do something worthwhile. If they continue with such an attitude, the day won’t be far when even the general people will raise their voices against them. (ASR)

Meaningless Growth

WHEN all plans fail then the planners are forced to leave things in the hands of the almighty. The plans are never carried out as planned, especially in an underdeveloped country like Nepal. This is so because the element of bias intervenes even during the planning process. Though the government has plans to encourage private institute of learning and ensure that they are distributed proportionately throughout the Kingdom, they seem to be confined in the capital city only. Nepal has gone through different stages of development. At one time it was the stage of the growth of restaurants. The number of restaurants mushroomed like anything in Kathmandu. Then came the stage of private schools, which exceeded the number eight thousand. Now it is the turn of colleges and universities. There is no denying that colleges are the most essential institutions for the development of a country, but if only well off people can have access to them then their growing number is meaningless to those living in the far-flung districts. (AM)

Award By Threat

THE recently held Nepalese motion picture award produced one of the funniest moments in the history of prize giving ceremony. The award committee handed the best actress award, not on the merit of the artiste but on the certain recommendation that is tainted with tepid threat for life of the one who decided about the award. If the standard of Nepalese movie is looked upon, you may feel that they are not better than the lowly rated potboilers of Indian films. Me think that if our most films are directly copied from Indian movies then why should we award our artistes whose performance are also supposed to be the copy of the performance of original ones. For Nepalese movies and its artistes, the "award by threat" seems the most appropriate way because nobody could have been able to judge performance of our artistes in Nepali potboilers. (NU)

Fatherly Love

CORRUPTION, favouritism and nepotism are the major evils of Nepalese politics and bureaucracy. No one disagrees with this claim. And recently, it was found that the disease of nepotism, which is indeed like a communicable disease has started affecting the Nepali film sector as well. The best example was the recently concluded 4th Motion Picture Awards. How? It is as transparent as the rays of the sun. Prakash Thapa was the head of the jury and a film by Bijaya Thapa, his son was one among the competitors. The result: the son’s film was nominated for 12 awards and was given three awards though it was a complete failure. And the losers of the awards are now busy condemning the old man claiming that he damaged the image of the Motion Picture Awards by making decisions in favour of his son. However, this scribe holds a different view altogether. Who would want to be a stupid father in this selfish world by not deciding in favour of his own son? Perhaps, our cinema people have failed to understand this fact. (BG)

Dubious Unity

It’s a common practice on the part of the left parties to hold meets to discuss issues concerning national interest. At every such meeting, the representatives of the different left parties seem to emphasise the need to ‘work together’ for tackling various national problems ranging from ‘raising’ the living standard of the underprivileged groups to the accomplishment of the goal of unity among them. But the interesting fact is that the parties seem to fail to initiate anything concrete to materialise their vision. Despite their much-hyped slogan of ‘unity’, they are, in reality, divided. If they were really in favour of unity, the number of such parties would not have increased in such a manner. One left party in the beginning has become many now. Maybe that’s development as you may call it. (BMD)

Height Mania

Gals invariably go for high-heeled shoes because they highly respect the role of height to mount the effect of their looks. The pads of the ladies’ footwear are getting ever thicker in order to cater to the craze for the height. If height were the sole factor for attraction, the height of the shoe heels would set the proportion of everyone’s beauty. But they say that beauty is the symmetry of so many subtle aspects. Therefore, magnificence is beyond the capacity of shoe heels only. For those who are irritated by the nasty boys calling them Hey dwarf! sporting high-heeled shoes is not a bad idea. Surprisingly, taller ones are not free from the mania. When all go for the same idea, the plot of looking better than the others is marred. The result is back to square one. (BT)

Back To Seers!

Natural science in Nepal is still in its infantile stage, so innocent and yet highly unreliable. It rains heavily when the Department of Geology and Meteorology predicts dry spell in its weather forecast and vice-versa. They have not been able to foresee, and thus give precaution about, any of the natural disasters, including earthquakes that take people by surprise usually in the most unusual hours. A better and surer idea to remain alert would be to rely on the prophecy of the astrologers who have been correct at several instances. Even the prominent political leaders do not initiate any of their ‘good deeds’ without consulting such sages. Now it seems every seer is going to have his good old days back! (GB)

Painful Pace

IT was in June that the authorities started extending the long stalled Ratnapark-Bhadrakali road from the existing three-lane to a four-lane one. But even after nearly three months’ time the extension of only about 500-meter road is not completed and the commuters are having a very tough and time-consuming drive there. The innumerable potholes and ever-increasing dust are making the road worse than ever and are causing a great loss to the health of commuters. The story does not end there. It is the vehicles that are damaged the most due to the bumpy road.

Looking at the pace of construction work going on at one of the ‘busiest roads’ in the heart of the capital city, one can easily surmise what the authorities are concerned with and what not. This very example reflects the overall development pace of the country. (KPS)

Lots Of Smoke…

THE much-hyped land reform programme has won wide acclaim. People regardless of their backgrounds have expressed positive views. The announcement brightened the faces of many landless who now have high hopes that they will get a piece of land and no longer be homeless in their own country. The main opposition party not only praised the move calling it a ‘revolutionary’ one, the party also went a step further by organising a procession in its support. All this is a telling tale of the the rising popularity of the PM after his successful bid to bring the Maoists to the table.

But alas! when the government came up with the Bill on land reform that fixed the ceiling on landholdings, it poured cold water on many who were earlier happy at the government’s announcement. According to some land experts, the government would not have much land even after this new ceiling is clamped. The surplus land that would be taken over by the government would be insufficient to be distributed among the hundreds of thousands of landless people throughout the country. Who could ever know that, the much talked about land reform programme would go the way of ‘lots of smoke but no fire’.(RRS)

Blindfaith give Kalawati hellish life

Mahottari, Sept. 4 (RSS): Kalawati Devi, a resident of Gonara VDC ward No 4 cannot return her village even three months after she had been publicly manhandled and forced to take human excreta on the charge of practicising witch-craft.

She is now compelled to live a hellish life by frequently wandering in Sursand, India as well as in Janakpur, Nepal.

The local people allege that a large number of non-governmental organisations working in Mahottari district are involved in making money instead of uprooting out such anomalies prevaling in the society.

Meanwhile in Birgunj, the local people manhandled 70 year old widower Manturiya Devi Saha, the mother of Dipchandra Saha, a resident of Sirsiya Village Development Committee ward No 9, on the alleged charge of being a witch and forcefully fed her human excreta.

The 70 year old woman who fainted after being manhandled by the local people has been admitted to the Narayani sub-regional hospital for treatment.

A group of people including chairman of ward No 9 Lalbabu Raut Kurmi also manhandled Dipchandra Saha and his wife Mrs Dewani Saha, vandalised their home and looted cash and goods from their home, according to the sufferers.

The persons involved in manhandling and vandalism are at large.

Standoff continues in Sunsari

Itahari, Sept. 4 (RSS): The standstill of vehicular traffic caused by the students since the last three days, demanding that the bus and its driver which overrun a student of Mahendra High School, Chakargatti be brought to the accident site, continued today.

Clashes had taken place over the dispute between the police personnel and the agitated students at Jhumka bazaar area throughout the day on Monday. The normal life of local people of Jhumka-Chakraghatti-Chatara regions have been affected badly by the strike.

Police had intervened repeatedly to disperse the violent mob after the agitated students obstructed the vehicles plying on the road and pelted stones on them.

Some of the agitated students have been injured while some of them have been detained by the police following the clashes.

Dozens of students and police personnel have been injured in the clashes, according to the eyewitnesses.

Mina Rayjamajhi, Sumitra Khatri and Chandra Kala who sustained injuries are said to be in serious condition.

The students came to the streets today in violation of the agreement reached between the students, the representative from VDC, the police and the local administration on Monday to end the stand-off of vehicular movement and take stern action against the bus driver.

The police have been compelled to crack down on the students after they violated the agreement and created a tense situation in the locality by resorting to vandalism.

Rice mills in Siraha closing

Siraha, Sept. 4 (RSS): About 534 rice mills in Siraha district run with the investment of about Rs. 1 billion have closed down because of the shortage of raw materials, skilled man power, capital and failure to compete with others mills across the border.

About 10,000 workers have lost their jobs because of the closure of these mills in the district.

According to the officials dealing in excise duty, the government used to receive revenue over Rs. 50,000 a year from these mills.

At present 759 rice mills in operation in Siraha district.

Three large rice mills belonging to the Muraraka organisations at various places in the district have also been shut down.

Establishment of small-scale crushing mills have displaced the large-scale rice mills and at the same time, the failure to improve the age-old industries with out-dated technology as well as returns in proportionate to the investment are the main reasons for the closing down of the rice mills, businessman Parameshwar Murarka confides.

The rice mills will not flourish as long as they cannot launch promotional activities, generate employment, explore potential markets and create friendly relation between employees and the employers.

Koshi truck entrepreneurs meet opens

Itahari, Sept. 4 (RSS): The annual meeting of the Koshi Truck Entrepreneurs Association passed the budget of Rs 4,620,000 for the forthcoming year.

The meeting inaugurated by president of the Biratnagar Truck Entrepreneurs Association Krishna Bahadur Khadka held extensive discussions on matters relating to the professional rights and welfare of the truck entrepreneurs, the welfare of the truck workers, the loss caused by the entry of Indian overland trucks and the taxes collected at different places.

At the meeting chaired by president of the Koshi Truck Entrepreneurs Association Tika Khadka, Top Prasad Acharya, Gajendra Nepal, Harkanath Thebem, Sher Bahadur Limbu and Nirmal Mahat threw light on the problems being faced by the truck entrepreneurs.

Secretary of the association Purusottam Kafle had presented the income and expenditure report.