Bandh opposed with car rally

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: Dozens of cars hit the road in a rally today in Kathmandu in defiance of the general strike called by the Maoist terrorists. The vehicles with their indicators blipping and horns blaring went round the main thoroughfares of the city.

Growing number of people are challenging the bandh called by the terrorists. The Defence Ministry today said with the joint efforts of the security personnel and the civil society, the terrorists are getting discouraged.

Three terrorists were killed by security forces in encounters in Dangza of Rolpa, Janali Bandali of Achham and Dharapani of Nuwakot. The Ministry said security forces recovered weapons and explosives from them.

Three more terrorists were arrested in Kathmandu with explosives. They were arrested in Dhobi Khola, Kalimati and Hattigauda.

The search operations of the security forces in Dolakha, Ramechhap, Kavrepalanchowk and Sindhupalchowk have found guns and other weapons, explosives, equipment used for laying electric ambush, combat clothes and other items of the terrorists.

Security forces confiscated 14 guns, pressure cooker bombs, combat clothes, tools in Mangsima of Sankhuwasabha; one .303 rifle, 227 ammunitions, socket bombs, grenades in Barpak of Gorkha and sockets used for making bombs and a drill machine in Patna jungle of Kapilvastu.

The security forces have safely defused two bucket bombs and one pipe bomb in Kavre pass of Kavrepalanchowk planted against them by the terrorists. The troops seized 8 kilogrammes of explosives, 500-metre long wire, a camera flash, pipes, buckets and 10 detonators.

The security forces cleared and brought back to use a section of the Surkhet-Dailekh road and the Khawa section of Araniko Highway, where the terrorists had created obstacles.

Security forces airlifted Dil Bahadur Basnet of Narethanti, Baglung, to Pokhara for treatment. Basnet was seriously injured by the Maoists.

Terrorists' destruction costs billions to nation

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: The Maoists' deliberate destruction of development infrastructure is costing the country billions of rupees. Their targets are vital telephone towers and repeater stations, radio towers, post offices, hydropower plants, bridges, roads, schools, office buildings and more.

The Rastriya Beema Sansthan, a government undertaking, is assessing four major insurance claims totalling Rs. 350 million following the terrorists' trail of destruction.

The Nepal Rastra Bank has claimed Rs. 80 million, the Agriculture Development Bank Rs. 20 million, the Nepal Bank Limited Rs. 70 million and the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation Rs. 80 million.

The number of claimants is on the rise, said chief administrator of the National Insurance Corporation, Khem Raj Baral.

He informed that the Jhimruk hydro-electricity project alone has made a claim of Rs. 100 million for the damage done by the Maoists. The Shah Distillery of Bardiya has sought Rs. 30 million in insurance.

"We have not been able to go to all these sites for evaluation because of security considerations," Baral said.

The Maoists' attacks on the nation's property could have cost many times more if the damage done to VDC offices, land tax offices, banks and the destruction of important documents is included.

The communication sector has suffered the most. The terrorists have destroyed six telephone exchanges, 83 MART stations and 19 SPUR link stations, according to Nepal Telecommunication Corporation records.

The six telephone exchanges were destroyed in Mangalsen in Achham, Bijubar in Pyuthan, Sauraha in Chitwan, Labdhi in Kailali and Rajapur in Bardiya. Fifty-two MART stations were destroyed after the declaration of state of emergency on November 26. The cost of rebuilding them could run into hundreds of millions rupees.

Hundreds of villages, most of them in remote and hilly areas with no road link, are having to do without the only means of communication, cut off from the rest of the country.

The terrorists are showing no compunction, targeting even the farms, hydropower projects, banks and VDCs. Some villages are suffering because their small culvert or bridge was blown off by the Maoists.

This destruction will set the country’s development back several years.

US mulling $ 20 million aid package to Nepal

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: The US government is considering around US$ 20 million package in security and development assistance to Nepal.

The combined package will be finalised on the security assessment by a visiting team of American defence officials. "This team will submit a proposal to our government," said Robert Kerr, Director at the American Centre here. "Based on the team’s assessment, the aid package will be adjusted."

The security assistance could range from military training to hardware, he said, without elaborating. "Everything has been considered by the security team."

The team is returning home shortly. Kerr told this daily that he was not aware of any other US officials’ team visiting Nepal any time soon.

The aid package would also include the findings of five development assessments the US government has made. "The assistance will come as our support to Nepal’s democracy and the Nepalese government’s fight to protect the right of its people."

The Bush administration on Tuesday asked the Congress for the military assistance for Nepal, AP reported quoting the US State Department on the same day.

Several options are being considered for assisting Nepal if Congress appropriates the money, the report quoted the department’s spokesman Richard Boucher as saying. "The administration has been providing assistance directed toward immediate high-impact job creation programmes and to improve living conditions in rural areas."

"We reiterate our support for the right of Nepal to safeguard its citizens against these guerrillas within the framework of its own constitution," Boucher said, according to the news report.

US Secretary of State Collin Powell visited Nepal in January early this year expressing support for the government in its struggle against the outlawed Maoists.

Training to be held on rescue operations

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: A training course on 'Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue Techniques' will be held in Nepal from April 28 to May 8. This course is part of the U.S. government supported regional Programme for Enhanced Emergency Response (PEER). The PEER programme provides training in medical first response, search and rescue and hospital preparedness. PEER Nepal is run by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Bangkok, in collaboration with various branches of the Nepalese government. The programme aims to create Nepalese instructor cadres to build emergency response capacity and preparedness in Nepal.

The professional instructors for PEER's first South Asia Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue course are from the Miami Dade Fire Rescue Department, a US organisation with a "life-saving" mandate and over a decade of training experience in Latin American. The Nepalese and Indian participants in this course will learn modern techniques to reinforce collapsed building structure, breakthrough sample walls and concrete slabs and safely extricate entrapped victims. The curriculum will be reviewed and adapted to local Nepalese conditions for later national courses, which will be taught by the successful graduates. Each participant has already participated in other PEER courses in order to build upon life saving skills.

Nepal, India, Indonesia and the Philippines each participate in the PEER programme due to vulnerability to earthquakes, floods and landslides. Experts agree that Nepal is overdue for a major earthquake due to an extended build-up of unreleased seismic pressure in western Nepal. Kathmandu is rated as among the most seismically vulnerable cities in the world due to its geology, construction and population density.

Saptari dam project
Local people show exemplary participation

Saptari, Apr. 24 (RSS): The people of Ward Nos. 6 and 7 of Khoksar Prabha village development committee have been engaged in proving that development works can be moved ahead through social mobilisation.

At present more than 150 children, youths and elderly persons of the two wards are engaged in building a dam at the Khurhiya Pokhari (pond), carrying out earth work and filling the mesh wires with stones for protection of the Khurhiya Pokhari and digging canals upto their fields for irrigation purpose.

They have been contributing 15 hours of voluntary labour daily with the objective of completing construction work of the dam within this month.

The local residents had constituted an irrigation users' committee for building the dam after GTZ pledged to provide rice under the food for work programme for construction of the Khurhiya Pokhari dam in 2058 B.S.

Chairman of the Khurhiya Pokhari dam construction and irrigation users' committee Bhikhan Lal Chaudhary says that one has to engage in construction work in order to irrigate land.

The people of the two wards based on the foothills of the Chure range had been facing problems as their paddy crops were damaged during the monsoon and they had to depend on rain for cultivation of crops.

Shyam Kant Chaudhary, who has been involved in social mobilisation work, says that social mobilisation will take place automatically if a feeling is developed among the people that one has to carry out work for one's own development.

After construction of the dam and protection of the Khurhiya Pokhari, the 140 households of the two wards will enjoy irrigation facilities for more than 100 hectares of land during the monsoon and winter seasons.

Engineer of the GTZ food for work programme says that in a developing country like Nepal, social mobilisation plays a very important role in local development.

He said that GTZ had provided only 151 quintals of rice through the irrigation users' committee for protection and construction of the Khurhiya Pokhari dam but the achievement made by the people will be exemplary in the world.

The district soil conservation office has been providing irrigation users' committee with necessary construction materials and saplings to encourage the local people in social mobilisation works as well as to complete construction work of the Khurhiya Pokhari dam.

The Khurhiya Pokhari collects about 10,000 cubic metre of water flowing from the Chure range during the monsoon but the people have been deprived of irrigation facilities.

According to convenor of the district food for work programme Rajkumar Yadav, there are more than 100 ponds on the foothills of the Chure range in Saptari district.

Yadav says that the food for work programme has the objective of providing irrigation facilities, controlling floods and checking soil erosion in the district.

Local development officer Pradip Bajracharya says that social mobilisation is necessary for protection of such ponds, providing irrigation facility during winter and controlling floods during the monsoon season.

All-party rallies raise voice against Bandh

Lalitpur, Apr. 24 (RSS): An all party rally was taken out here today in protest against the Nepal Bandh declared by the Maoist terrorists.

Representatives of the ruling party, the main opposition party and other parties, and Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the transport operators association and the Royal Nepal Army Rajdal Battalion, the chief district officer, the chief of the district police, heads of various offices in the district, the mayor and deputy mayor and people from various walks of life participated in the peace rally.

The rally that began from Jawalakhel passed through various parts of Lalitpur and dispersed on reaching Mangal Bazar.

Meanwhile, mayor Buddhi Raj Bajracharya told RSS the Bandh did not evoke any significant response in Lalitpur.

Fourty per cent of the shops along the main bazaar, 60 per cent in the interior and 80 per cent in the rural areas remained open today.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home Devendra Raj Kadel has called upon the public to counter terrorist individuals.

In Biratnagar, an all-party meeting that convened under the chairmanship of Morang CDO Dolakha Bahadur Gurung has decided to open all the industrial units and operate transport services from today.

The meeting had taken the decision after conducting a follow-up on whether the previous all-party decisions have been implemented or not.

Anyone thwarting the all-party decision will be subjected to action, CDO Gurung said.

The representatives of the chamber of commerce and industry, transport entrepreneurs, trade union leaders, political activists and security personnel attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, in Itahari, an all party peace rally was taken out here this morning along with a call for opening all the industries and business firms and operating all the means of transport, ventilating their feelings against the Nepal Bandh.

The participants of the rally had carried placards with different slogans such as "Stop violence and murder," "Let us restore peace," "Never engage in brutal murder of any Nepalese."

Mayor of Itahari Municipality Sarwa Dhwaj Sanwa, RPP central member Ram Kumar Subba, local leaders Medini Sitaula and Amber Bahadur Gauli, industrialists and businessmen took part in the peace rally.

After the commencement of the rally, some of the shops in the locality were opened.

Meanwhile, the local markets in Dharan Municipality as well as in Inaruwa have remained open partially.

Oratory contest

Birgunj, Apr. 24 (RSS): On the occasion of the 9th memorial day of national hero Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the Free Students Union of Nursing Campus organised an oratory contest on "the role of girl students in social changes" here Tuesday.

Gargi Sharma, Vicky Thapa and Sumitra Sapkota were declared first, second and third respectively in the oratory contest participated in by nine students.

Giving away prizes to the winners of the oratory contest, chief of the Nursing Campus Shakuntala Baral said that the late Pasang Lhamu Sherpa had upheld the prestige of the Nepalese women.

At the function chaired by vice-president of the Free Students Union Ramkala Pant, assistant campus chief of Thakurram Multiple Campus Dr. Ghanashyam Neupane, president of Parsa district ANNFSU Arbinda Kumar Singh and others threw light on the record set by the courageous Nepalese women mountaineer late Pasang Lhamu Sherpa.

Surprise check

Birgunj, Apr. 24 (RSS): Forty-five employees of Birgunj sub-metropolis office were found absent during a surprise check conducted at the office by a team led by Parsa district administrative officer Balananda Kafle Tuesday.

According to Parsa district administration office, action will be taken against the employees found absent during the surprise check.

Bandh has no impact in Pokhara

Pokhara, Apr. 24 (RSS): The Nepal Bandh called by the Maoist terrorists did not have any impact on Pokhara sub-metropolis on its second day today.

The shops remained open and bus, taxis and motorcycles operated normally here.

Likewise, the proficiency certificate and graduate level examinations were conducted at Prithivinarayan Multiple Campus today.

Talking to RSS, regional administrator Madan Prasad Aryal said 95 per cent of the market remained open and bus services operated as a result of the cooperation received from the political parties, the social workers, industrialists, businessmen and others rendering the so-called Nepal Bandh ineffective.

General secretary of Pokhara Chamber of Industry and Commerce Ramesh Karmacharya said that programmes like Nepal Bandh should be totally stopped as the economic situation was deteriorating day by day.

Karmacharya said that the shops had opened because of the good security arrangements.

Secretary of the CPN-UML Kaski district committee Man Bahadur G.C. said that movement of the people would increase as people of the rural areas were not coming to the urban areas because of fear and terrorist activities.

Secretary of the Kaski district NC committee Naresh Shanker Palikhe said that a political solution cannot be obtained through Nepal Bandh as it would have negative impact on the political, economic and social sectors.

Chairman of Pokhara valley town development committee Ashok Palikhe said that the Maoists should give up violent and destructive activities and choose the correct path as the present economic situation was very weak.

Kaski DDC vice chairman Srinath Baral urged the CPN-Maoist to call of the Nepal Bandh as it was affecting the education and tourism sectors.

FNJ central member Badri Binod Pratik, FNJ Kaski district president Punya Poudel and FNJ district vice president Ramesh Poudel also expressed their views on the Nepal Bandh.

His Majesty appoints

Kathmandu, Apr. 24 (RSS): His Majesty the King has, in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990, appointed permanent representative at the permanent mission of Nepal to the United Nations Murari Raj Sharma as Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Venezuela also.

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

NHRC condemns hijacking of ambulances

Kathmandu, Apr. 24 (RSS): The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) stated yesterday that in stopping an ambulance at the Mauvakhola stream near the Mugling-Gajuri portion of Prithvi Highway, the Maoists have acted against international norms and revealed their brutal and terrorist mind-set.

Stating that such activities not only infringe the rights of the people to medical treatment but are also against minimum humanitarian sensitivities, NHRC has called for a halt to these deplorable and brutal activities forthwith.

Likewise, Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON) has condemned the hijacking of three Red Cross ambulances from Mauwa river on the Dhading-Chitwan portion of the Prithvi Highway enroute to Chitwan, Makwanpur and Kaski districts after leaving patients in Kathmandu on Monday.

HURON has appealed all not to obstruct the operation of ambulances of Red Cross, an universal philanthropic organisation rendering humanitarian services throughout the world.

Multiple entry visas for buyers of Nepal's products

Kathmandu, Apr. 24 (RSS): HMG has decided to provide multiple entry visas valid for five years to foreigners coming to Nepal and buying products of the country for export or giving purchase orders for export, with the proviso that they can stay for a maximum of 90 days at one time.

Also, a decision has been taken for the Department of Immigration to issue such visas on request by the products association concerned and the recommendation of the Department of Commerce. Provision has also been made for visa renewal on the basis of the efficiency of the visa holder.

Visa procedures for the foreign importers buying Nepalese products for export and giving export orders will be simplified, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has stated.

HMG believes that this provision introduced after taking into consideration the suggestions of foreign importers and Nepalese entrepreneurs and the export potential, will have a positive impact on the export of Nepalese products.

-Bandh makes little impact-

Kathmandu, Apr. 24 (RSS): The second day of the so called Bandh declared by the Maoist terrorists did not have any remarkable impact in the capital.

More vehicles plied the streets as compared to yesterday and most of the shops in the inner bazars were open.

The Bachelor Level examinations of Tribhuwan University were conducted without hindrance.

Terrorists hurled a petrol bomb at a micro bus (number plate Ba. A. Ja. 6252 at Jorpati), police said.

No one in the microbus which was waiting for passengers was injured.

When contacted, Bir Hospital and the Teaching Hospital reported no one injured because of the bandh.

Makwanpur: An all-party meeting held under the initiative of the district administration office decided to request shop owners in the main bazars of the district to remain open from tomorrow.

A team of officials and security personnel will request the shops to open.

Most of the VDCs, Hetauda Industrial District and Hetauda Bazar as well as transportion came to a halt.

No untoward incident took place in Hetauda Municipality and local bazars, police said.

Syangja: Bazars at the district headquarters were open but transport was totally halted. Patients have been aided by ambulances.

Bhadrapur: All the shops were open since morning.

District officials and security personnel tried to open shops in Chandragadhi, Birtamod, Damak, Dhulabari, Bhadrapur and Kakarkarbhita.

No untoward incident took place, police said.

Tribhuvannagar: Most of the shops remained open at Ghorahi Bazar of Tribhuvannagar. A peace rally was participated in by party representatives and the mayor.

Kapilvastu: Life remained peaceful. Most of the shops at Taulihawa, the district headquarters, opened only after noon. The chiefs of the security agencies led a team urging shops to open and only these were open. Educational institutions and industrial units remained closed.

Rajbiraj: The district police office arrested six suspected terrorists from various parts of the district for forcing shops, schools, and manufacturing units to close and intimidating the people.

Long distance buses were off the road but those going to Biratnagar, Birgunj, Janakpurdham, Siraha and some other places operated their regular services.

No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district and the security bodies were mobilised in a coordinated manner, the district administration office has stated.

Gorakha: The Nepal bandh at the call of the Maoist terrorists did not evoke any significant response. Campus level examinations were held smoothly whilst the market at various places including the district headquarters remained open.

Nuwakot: The so-called bandh called by the Maoists had little impact in the district. The shops at Battar, Bidur, Trishuli and other places were open.

The certificate level second year examinations was conducted smoothly at Nuvakot Campus.

Sitayan epic to complete in 10 yrs

Kathmandu, Apr. 24 (RSS): We will have to wait for another ten years to have to read the complete 'Sitayan' (the way of Sita) a Nepali language epic with Sita, the ideal Hindu woman as the chief character.

The epic being written with Sita the same character of 'Ramayana' written by Balmiki has its fourth volume already in the market, the fifth in the press and the sixth still being penned by the author.

The world's largest epic Mahabharata has one hundred thousand slokas and Sitayan will have a little less number of slokas.

Epic writer Dr. Ramesh Chandra Adhikari says he is making a hardwork to complete the 30 section epic with each section having three thousand slokas and the whole epic will have more than 90,000 slokas. The Balmiki Adhyatma Ramayan has 800, Bhanubhakta Ramayan 400, Tulasikrit Ramayan 1200 pages and the Sitayan will have 3,000 pages, he claims.

Dr. Adhikari who was impressed by the ideals of Sita when he was a student of Shastri (Bachelor in Sanskrit) and Acharya (Masters in Sanskrit), began to write the epic the same day on which he had a dream of Sita in an April night as he was quite absorbed in imagining Sita in 2054 B.S.

He said he is studying Raghubansha, Uttarramcharita and Ramayana at present. The first volume of Sitayan was published in 2055 B.S., the second in 2056, the third in 2057 and the fourth in 2058. He can complete a manuscript of one section in two months.

The present-day women think Sita as a mere symbol of devotion, but she is a symbol also of cooperation, coordination, and co–existence. She had been a good daughter, a good daughter-in-law, good mother, good wife and good queen thereby giving importance to familial coordination and prosperity. Her sacrifice is great. We can learn of familial tolerance, goodwill, social coordination, sacrifice, respect to each other, dutifulness, religious devotion and purity of character- says the poet.

I have been trying to clarify the thought and relevance of behaviour of Sita and the outlook of world's religions of Sita by taking her as a symbol and a character of the epic, he said.

The epic will have the melody, metre and presentation of life and world but there will be few characters. The epic aims at restoration of good things and eradication of the evil, it will have ideas of religion, politics, society, economy and gender making the epic quite longer.

The poet allocates his time from mid-day to four in the morning for writing the epic. As he says although he is a novice of poetics, he has chosen the difficult path as he thinks epic is the only medium that can give a world view.

Expressing satisfaction, he says, 1,000 to 1,200 copies have been selling in two months, many have read it and has been talked about by many.

The epic is no the first of its kind written on a woman theme.

The greatest poet of Sanskrit Kalidas had written Shakuntal. Priyasharanji has written on the same topic 'Sitayan' in Maithil language.

Progressive poet Modnath Prashrit had started writing 'Sitayan' 8-10 years ago from the point of view of materialism but has not been completed yet.

It has depicted the conditions of Nepali women symboled by Sita.

Likewise, Purna Prakash Nepal 'Yatri' has taken an ordinary village girl as the heroine of 'Sijapatibala' (2057) and shown the inter-relationships of the nation, nationalism, national language, national culture and the indigeneous people.

Youth poet Shailendu Prakash Nepal has also given a glimpse of Nepali life in his 'Anamika'.

But Sitayan will be longer because all aspects will be included, the author says.

Although the enthusiasm of the poet is good, the subject matter is not serious, this is the same theme as in Ramayan and every thing will be mixed-up says epic writer Yatri, adding the epic should have depth and not be propoganda.

Prashrit says Adhikari has done well by writing on a Nepali daughter, but he disagrees with the spiritual outlook of the poet.

But poet Adhikari says he has not written to become a mere poet, to spread fame or earn money but with a fond devotion to Sita, the heroine of the epic. If someone took the responsiblity of its publication, I can give more time to writing, he says.

PM directs on tightening security

Kathmandu, Apr. 24 (RSS): A meeting of officials of security bodies which was held today at the Prime Minister's Office, Singha Durbar under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba reviewed the security arrangements made to thwart the so-called Nepal bandh.

In this connection, the Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the security arrangements as more vehicles plied on the roads today as compared to yesterday and no big untoward incident took place.

The Prime Minister also directed the security bodies to beef up security to render the bandh more ineffective in the coming days.

Renovation of Changunarayan temple begins

Bhaktapur, Apr. 24 (RSS): Renovation of the upper storey roof of the historic Changunarayan temple included in the world heritage list has been started.

According to Bishnu Raj Karki, head of monument preservation and Durbar curator office, renovation of the gold plated copper roof is being undertaken with financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 million provided by the department of archaeology.

The office came up with the plan for renovation after water from the upper roof started ruining the wooden artifacts inside the temple.

The upper roof has been built with copper sheets whereas the lower roof has been built with a kind of tile called 'Jhigati."

According to Gopal Raj Banshawali, Lichchhavi King Haridatta Verma had built the Changunarayan temple in 323 A.D. in the course of building four temples of lord Narayan within Kathmandu valley.