Patience, harmony need of the hour: Koirala

Kathmandu, June 1 (RSS): A Nepali Congress valley level special gathering was organised under the coordination of the NC Kathmandu district working committee in the backdrop of developments in recent days within the NC party.

The special gathering was participated in by NC central members as well as officials of various party levels coming form various districts.

Addressing the gathering, NC president Girija Prasad Koirala said it is surprising that the announcement to hold general election has been made while the emergency is still on even as the local elections could not be held and added that he had told the Prime Minister to impose emergency only after discussions if he was to do so and not before that.

The need at present for the Nepali Congress is that of harmony, patience, morality and understanding within the party.

President Koirala said we should be alert in safeguarding democracy and the party at this hour forgetting anything else.

The gathering was held under the chairmanship of Kathmandu district working committee president of NC Tirtha Man Dangol.

KC for masterplan to boost tourism

Kathmandu, June 1 (RSS):  Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bal Bahadur K.C. inaugurated a workshop on "Sustainable Tourism Development" jointly organised by Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and UNDP on Friday.

In his inaugural address, Minister K.C. stressed the need for charting out a masterplan to boost tourism industry in the country which is witnessing a slump in the recent days.

He noted that efforts should be made to alleviate poverty and reduce regional imbalances by boosting tourism industry especially the rural tourism.

Reminding that the Tenth Plan has given top priority to poverty alleviation along with a long term masterplan about the sustainable development of tourism, he said national economy has suffered greatly as a result of a decrease in the inflow of tourists into the country.

He referred to agriculture, water resources and tourism as the major areas for bringing about advancement in economic sector of the country and opined that government also required to make a substantial investment in tourism industry.

Member of National Planning Commission Dr. Shankar Sharma said he had experienced during his visits to a number of developed countries that they considered Nepal one of the most popular outbound destinations from the point of view of tourism.

Assistant residential representative of UNDP to Nepal Bhesraj Dhamala said that it would extend co-operation in tourism sector of Nepal so as to fight against poverty, the main thrust of His Majesty's Government.

Dr. Gyanendra Ratna Tuladhar and a consultant from World Tourism Organisation Ludwig made presentations on "Tourism for Sustainable Development" on which participants commented and suggested various measures.

Law demanded to ban public smoking

Kathmandu, June 1 (RSS): Participants at a symposium organised here today to mark the World No-smoking Day have stated that the awareness raising messages against smoking should be included in school curricula.

The participants of the symposium on the role of government and the press in the campaign against smoking had been organised by Nepal Cancer Relief Society (NCRS) pointed out the need for the government to express commitment to generate awareness against smoking and said that law to ban smoking at public places should be enacted soon.

Advertising of smoking in the print media and billboards should be prohibited, and the statutory warning and the nicotine content in the cigarettes should be written in bold letters on the cigarette packet, they said.

Head of the policy and planning division of the Ministry of Health, Dr. D.B. Chataut said that as it would be very difficult for the habitual smokers to give up smoking, special attention should be paid to prevent people from getting addicted to it.

Professor Dr. Anjani Kumar Sharma said that advertisement of the cigarette should be totally banned.

Representative of the World Health Organisation Dr. Paramita Sudharto said that the world of sports was becoming the medium for advertising cigarettes and this that was the reason behind importance given to sports in the no smoking day this year.

Former NCRS president Karna Shakya said that the tax levied by the government on cigarette would help support the programmes of the NCRS also.

President of Nepal Advertisement Agencies Association Bhaskar Rajkarnikar and NCRS president Divakr Rajkarnikar also expressed their views on the occasion.

Chopper search called of due to bad weather

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, June 1: The search for the missing Asian Airline helicopter was called off for today due to bad weather.

The search operation started today at five in the morning with four helicopters, one each of Air Ananya and the Royal Nepalese Army, joining the two choppers of Simrik Air and Karnali Air in the search.

"The weather began to deteriorate after 9:30 a.m. and by 2:00 o’clock it was almost impossible to continue," said Pushpa Narayan Manandhar, an official of Tribhuvan International Airport search and rescue coordination centre. "Now, ground search is being mulled and we are talking to the police and the army," he said.

The search today centred on the Makalu-Barun Wildlife Reserve and the Sagarmatha National Park areas. In the morning the search was focussed on the Makalu–Barun area but the clouds below in the Khandbari area hampered the search.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, Chairman of Asian Airlines, said the helicopters are based on Tumlingtar for further search operation.

The helicopter with 10 people – six passengers and four crew members - two pilots, one engineer and one cabin member - went missing on its second shuttle flight from Makalu Base Camp to Lukla on Friday. The helicopter had completed its first shuttle flight in the morning and started its second flight at 09:53 am.

"The flight was supposed to last for 27 minutes but the chopper lost contact after about 10 minutes," Manandhar said. "We waited for half an hour and then immediately went for looking for it." He said the search would resume tomorrow morning.

The Nepal Civil Aviation Authority has announced an award of Rs. 25,000 for the first information of the helicopter and asked to contact the Centre at its Phone No. 472259 or 477166 or the nearest police post, security officials, DDC or VDC.

Meanwhile, RSS adds: Air Ananya Helicopter, which was one among four other helicopters of various airlines pressed into service since 5 a.m. this morning on a search and rescue mission for the 9 NACU (M 18- m tv) helicopter of the Asian Airlines that has gone missing since yesterday, has returned to Kathmandu after continuing the search until 9:30 a.m. As the search and rescue operation could not be continued due to bad weather condition around the possible area, the Tribhuvan International Civil Aviation office has stated.

The other three helicopters have been kept on the alert and are awaiting improvement in weather condition. Similarly, Air Ananya Helicopter which has returned to Kathmandu is also in alert position, it is learnt.

Meanwhile, according to TIA Civil Aviation Office, the amount of the reward for the first person providing information about the missing helicopter has been increased to Rs 50,000.

Nepal-Japan: so far yet so close, says envoy

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, June 1: Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Zenji Kaminaga has said that Japan and Nepal share many similarities in terms of geography, climate, culture, history and religion.

"We, Japanese, feel at home when we find common features in geography, plants and other similar things in Nepal," said Kaminaga, while addressing a discussion programme entitled "Similarities between Japan and Nepal" here on Saturday.

Lying at a distance of about 5,000 kilometres, Nepal and Japan are friendly nations. Japan is locked by sea, while Nepal is a landlocked country.

"About 80 per cent of the land in both the countries is covered by hills and mountains," he said, adding that Japanese think that high mountains are sacred places where enlightenment is obtained.

Kaminaga, who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1967, is also the author of Wealth of Asia and Wisdom of Europe.

He said there are cultural and ethnic similarites between the two countries.

He said that because of Buddhism, Japanese visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. He said Japanese mark the Buddha Jayanti or birth anniversary of Lord Buddha on April 8 every year in Japan.

He said Nepalese emperors are respected because they were religious and devoted to the country. "The Japanese emperors respected as they are neat and clean."

He said Japan feels proud of having diversities in nature and culture. "Japan is a unique country where there are a lot of natural resources."

Organised by Japan University Students Association, Nepal (JUSAN), the discussion programme was chaired by JUSAN President Dr. Gajendra B. Baniya. Keshav Shrestha, Vice-President of the association, delivered a vote of thanks.

SAGQ to launch joint tourism programmes

By Dambarjung Dangi

Kathmandu, June 1: In the spirit of the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ), Nepal, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh are in the process of launching joint programmes for the development of tourism industry in the region.

The countries in the growth quadrangle are working on different areas to exploit their natural resources and enhance trade by formulating strategies for mutual cooperation to attain common goal of economic development in the region.

Participants from the countries in the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) in the second meeting of the Tourism Working Group (TWG) said that the concept of growth quadrangle would help accelerate economic growth to a great extent.

During the second meeting of the TWG being held with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the participants also discussed the outcome of the first meeting held on May 15-16 last year and agreed to consolidate their common efforts for the development of human resources and tourism industry.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been providing assistance to the SAGQ for economic development programmes.

Speaking at the meeting, Richard Vokes, Country Director- Nepal Resident Mission of the ADB, said "ADB attaches great importance to the SAGQ, a sub-regional initiative of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) and it has been helping to support these initiatives through its South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)."

"These efforts have now gained considerable momentum under the RETA 5936: Identification and Prioritisation of Sub-regional Projects in South Asia, the lead activity under the SASEC," he said.

Tourism Working Group

The ADB should and can play only a facilitating role in promoting sub-regional cooperation initiative such as those being undertaken by the SAGQ. The process of sub-regional cooperation can succeed only when the participating countries themselves take ownership and lead the process, Vokes said.

"We are very encouraged by the strong ownership shown by the four member countries of SAGQ and the entire SASEC sector working groups," he added.

The tourism sector is one such area which could benefit from sub-regional cooperation. The region has rich tourism potential. Since inception, this group has agreed on priority areas where sub-regional projects can be identified to tap tourism potential in the sub-region, he said.

Vokes also said that the main objective of the second meeting is to discuss agreements reached in the previous inception meeting, to consider the draft background papers prepared by consultants and to prioritise the potential sub-regional projects and programmes for the sector.

Principal Programme Officer of the ADB, Massaki Nagata said that the technical assistance grants were also provided to BBIN to prepare and execute projects and to finance institution building, plan formulation and sector, policy and issues oriented studies. "Such grants amounted to US $ 19 million in 2001," Nagata said, adding, "The amount does not include grants for fostering regional cooperation among DMCs. Such grants to South Asian averaged US $ 3.5 million annually in the past three years," Nagata noted.

"The ADB has not been actively involved in the promotion of the tourism sector. There was a perception in ADB that since the sector generates sufficient returns for the investor, it is not a priority sector for public financing," Nagata noted.

In BBIN, tourism receipts are estimated at US$ 3.5 billion in 2000. This sector’s growth rate averaged four per cent annually from 1995-2000 with growth in Bangladesh and Bhutan averaging 24 per cent and 12.4 per cent, respectively for the same period, Nagata said.

The secretary of Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry of Bangladesh Satikal Islam, Commerce and Tourism Secretary of Bhutan Dasho Karma, and Secretary of Tourism of India J Dash also expressed their views on the occasion.

Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Dr. Bimal Prasad Koirala also expressed views at the meeting.