Govt keen to hold talks with Maoists

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DHANGADHI, Dec. 24: Assistant Minister for Population and Environment Gopal Dahit has said that His Majesty's Government has moved very close to holding talks with the Maoists.

Inaugurating an interaction concerning the current situation organised here today by the Tharu Welfare District Executive Committee, he said that the government was clear about holding talks with the Maoists, but there has been no clear response on their part.

Stating that there was no possibility of reinstatement of parliament and the interim government, he called on people not to be suspicious about Constitutional Monarchy and multi-party democracy.
Former minister Kashi Nath Joshi said that everyone should unite to resolve the problem that has erupted in the country. Pyare Lal Rana of the Nepai Congress (Democratic), Tilak Bahadur Singh of the Janamorcha Nepal, Chhed Lal Chaudhari of the RPP, Narad Muni Rana of the CPN-UML and a host of other speakers also expressed themselves at the programme chaired by chairman of the Tharu Welfare District Committee Kaiya Chaudhari.

Group-4 guards continue protests

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Dec. 24: Group-4 guards working at the American Embassy continued their protest for the second day as well. They attended work but refused to wear their uniform.

Negotiations between the Embassy and the company recruiting these guards had failed to reach any solution till late evening Tuesday. A meeting of the company also continued till late Tuesday evening.
A source at the company said that the central committee meeting was trying to find a solution to the problem as early as possible. The source said that they were paying the guards as agreed upon at the time of recruitment.

But the guards accuse the company of being biased while paying them. They said that the company pays low salaries to the old guards while it pays high salaries to newly recruited ones. They argue that the pay should be equal. It has been learnt that the old guards are paid lowly because they are illiterate.

The guards at the Embassy hope that an agreement will be reached soon and that their pay will increase.

The guards at the Embassy started their protest on Monday with demands for pay increases. It is learnt that the minimum pay is only Rs.1,500 and increases with seniority. The guards said that their scale should be at least Rs. 6.000 with a day's leave a week. Currently they attend duty seven days a week.

Group-4 is an international security service company with its headquarters in The Hague, The Netherlands. It provides services in 48 countries. They have been providing security services at the Embassy since the last six years. This is the first time the guards are protesting against the company.

Cold wave affects life in Mahottari

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MAHOTTARI, Dec. 24: A cold wave sweeping the mideast Terai region including Mahottari district since the last five days has affected general life here.

Dense fog and haze as a result of the cold wave has led to cancellation of the regular Kathmandu-Janakpur flights of Buddha Air since Friday, to the great inconvenience of passengers.
Daily newspapers published from Kathmandu also do not reach here on time due to the obstruction of flights.

Due to the cold shops are closed in the main commercial centres of the district like Jaleshwar, Mahotari, Gaushala and Pipara while the busy market of Bardibas also looks deserted as very few people venture out.

The cold wave has also hit the winter crop in the district. Similarly, a sudden rise in the number of patients suffering from influenza, flu and scabies has been reported at the district hospital and other health centres.

Galeswordham needs proper preservation

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MYAGDI, Dec. 24: Galeswordham of Myagdi district, which is famous for its religious and architectural significance, in now in the shadow due to the lack of proper preservation and communication initiatives.

Galeswor Shivalayadham, a shrine of Lord Shiva, is situated at a distance of some three kilometres north from the district headquarters Beni.

The temple of Galeswor Mahadev is situated on a large stone in the confluence of Kaligandaki and local Rahuganga river.

That very stone is the famous Shaligram (sacred stone considered to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu), says local intellectual and president of Myagdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sudarshan Shrestha.

According to an elderly man, the temple was built in the reminiscence of a legendary ox by the name of gale and the land would plough naturally wherever the ox used to go.

In the Galeswor area there are 8 other small temples including of Laksmi, Radhakrishna, Parbati, Jaleswor Mahadev, Narayan and other religious structures.

Devotees in large number attend the fairs in the same place on the day of Balachturdashi and Shivaratri (Hindu religious festivals) annually.Galeswor Shivalaya Area Development Fund has been established for the preservation, renovation and development of the area.No attention has been paid from the government side for the preservation and development of the area, complained the local people.

13 cases of leprosy found in Lamjung

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LAMJUNG, Dec. 24: Thirteen persons in Lamjung district have been found with leprosy in course of a research study conducted by District Public Health Office, Lamjung under the leprosy elimination campaign.

According to the office, the leprosy patients were found in Khudi, Udipur, Hiletaksar, Sundarbazaar, Tarpughat and Chandisthan VDCs of the district during the first phase of the research.

Chief of Army Staff returns

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KATHMANDU, Dec. 24: Chief of the Army Staff General Pyar Jung Thapa returned here today on completion of his seven-day official visit to India at the friendly invitation of Chief of the Army Staff of India General S. Padmanavan.

A contingent of the Royal Nepal Army presented a guard of honour to General Thapa at Tribhuvan International Airport.

The Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Kathmandu based foreign military attachés, and high ranking officers of the Royal Nepal Army were also present on the occasion.

Keep sports above political dispute, says Khanal

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BIRGUNJ, Dec. 24: Assistant Minister for Education and Sports Rabindra Khanal has said that sports should be kept aloof from political prejudice if it is to see expansion and long term development.
Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by Yuba Sports Club Birgunj here today, the Assistant Minister said His Majesty's Government has been doing its part for providing sportsmen needed encouragement and opportunity.He called for due respect for trainers if sporting talent is to be developed.

Referring to the role of sports in national pride, he said this is something that requires everyone to play an honest role.Central Region Sports Development Committee chairman Ajaya Dubedi and outgoing chairman Tara Shumsher Rana drew the government's attention to the need for employment opportunities for sportsmen and women.

Club chairman Shushil Lama chaired the function at which various other people also expressed their views.Assistant Minister Khanal also visited the Central Regional Sports Development Committee today and acquired information about its activities and physical infrastructure.

Project progress reviewed

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KATHMANDU, Dec. 23: The first four month progress review of different development programmes and project run under various departments under the ministry concluded here yesterday under the chairmanship of Minister for Labour and Transport Kamal Prasad Chaulagain.

Most of the programmes and project works were found to be completed in accordance with their objectives.On the occasion Minister Chaulagain emphasised the need to complete the programmes in time and make the progress reviews on regular basis.

Financial crunch halts Tundikhel fencing

By Schuman Sourav

KATHMANDU, Dec. 24: Only 38 per cent of the fencing around the historic Tundikhel, the vast open space in the middle of Kathmandu, has been completed, although the extended deadline of the project expired on Monday.

Nepal Adarsha Nirman, the contractor, has made it clear that it cannot go ahead with the construction until and unless the money due them is made available. Failure to release the budget on time led to the expiry of the completion deadline for the second time on December 23.

The fencing of Tundikhel falls under the Bishnumati Link Road Project, proposed and supervised by the Department of Urban Planning and Building Construction (DUPBC) under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW).

"We had submitted expenditures of Rs. 8 million before Dashain, but have not received any payment," said Birendra Raj Pandey, director of the construction company. He said that they were informed that the DUPBC had approved the bill. The construction cost was agreed at Rs. 28 million, but the company has so far received just Rs. 2.4 million.

Site in-charge engineer Sudib K.C. is confident that the company can complete the work within two months. "But we need the money," he said. "We are also short of materials. Without money, we cannot order them." About 200 tons of iron is expected to go into the fencing of Tundikhel.

Engineer Ravi Shah of the DUPBC said that the Ministry of Finance had approved the project, but he does not understand why it has not made the necessary allocations. The contractor has once again demanded that the deadline be extended.

Project Manager of Bishnumati Link Road Project, Engineer Amrit Shresthacharya said, "Tundikhel is the lungs of the city as well as a national heritage. That is why we embarked on this project to stop street vendors from encroaching the land as well as to make it safe and clean."

Talking about the budget, Shresthacharya said that the DUPBC has kept the fencing project under programme No. 48-4-969 while the Finance Ministry has treated this budget as an IDA loan in the Red Book. DUPBC's expected budget for this fiscal year is Rs. 89 million, of which Rs. 29 million was to be made available from internal sources and Rs. 60 million from the IDA loan. "At a time when we have not received any money from the internal sources, we don't expect to receive any of the IDA loan."

The general public is also keen to see this project completed. Says lawyer Madhav Thapa, "The concerned party must be serious to accomplish it as soon as possible."

Another passer by, Santa Bahadur Subba of Panchthar, had this to say, "The work must be completed using the money confiscated from the corrupt leaders."

The total perimeter of Tundikhel is three kilometres, while the total length of the fencing is 1.3 km. The height of the fence is 9 feet 3 inches with a durability of 80 years. Architect Purushottam Dangol has designed the fencing with eight gates, including ceremonial and emergency ones. The first fencing around Tundikhel was done in 1962.

(Sourav is an intern at the TRN)

Embezzlement draining PADT coffer

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Dec. 24: The bhattas (priests) and bhandaris (storekeepers) of Pashupati Nath Temple have been embezzling millions of rupees in funds offered by the devotees. As a result, the country has not been able to take up any development works as in other countries.

"No income has yet been deposited in the fund of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT)," said Basant Kumar Chaudhary, member secretary of the PADT today.

Many shrines around the world not only manage huge trusts, but also contribute to the development of education and health by establishing universities and hospitals, he said.

A small amount, Rs. 384,000, was made available to the PADT last year. The bhattas and bhandaris are using all the income received from the offerings for their personal benefits. Earlier, it was agreed that 60 per cent of the income should go to the priests, and the rest to the trust.

But after the priests and the bhandaris demanded more, the trust was willing to settle for a 25 per cent share of the offerings. "But they have filed a case in the Supreme Court demanding claims to all the offerings," Chaudhary said.

How much money actually flows in nobody knows, although there is a provision to provide receipts to those making offerings and prayers. The priests have been charging anywhere between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1.1 million for special worships at the temple, one of the holiest for the Hindus.

The 10-year master plan for the development of the Pashupatinath complex was approved by the government in 2000. The total cost of the project is more than Rs. 2 billion. Some 39 per cent of the budget will be managed by the government, 23 per cent from internal resources (trust), 33 per cent from national and international aid, and 5 per cent from other organisations.

Nearly Rs. 160 million provided by the government has gone into paying compensation for the land acquired for the master plan. "We have demanded Rs. 90 million from the government to acquire more land" said Chaudhary.

The people who have been evicted are to be resettled in a planned manner. According to the plan, an electric crematorium and a park will also be built.