Agro-products to enhance Nepal’s reach to Europe

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: Agro-based products like Ayurvedic Medicines, honey, spices, orthodox tea, dairy products and fruits could enhance Nepal’s reach to the European market, say experts concerned.

They were speaking at an interaction programme on Nepal’s trade opportunities in Europe organised jointly by Nepal Chamber of Commerce, First Asian International, IBB Solicitors and Hastings Direct Insurance here today.

Noting that carpet, readymade garment, handcraft items, pashmina, leather goods, tea and the like are main products from Nepal that could be exported to Europe, the experts pointed out the need for cooperation from the EU member countries to promote such products. They were also of the view that daily consumable goods could also be exported to the european market following an increase in domestic investment in agro-based industries, export software with the development of information technology and develop hydroelectricity to expand its market in the South Asian Region.

Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lav Kumar Devkota expressed the view that the government should play the facilitators’ role for Nepal’s access to the international market.
He also disclosed that preparations are being made to celebrate the year 2003 as export year in order to promote Nepal’s products in the international sector.

Chamber president Rajesh Kaji Shrestha was of the view that accession to the World Trade Organisation and enforcement of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) could ease entry of Nepali products to the international market.

Chairperson of Bankers Association of Nepal Narendra Bhattarai said Nepal, which has so far stressed international cooperation and development, should now focus on international market as well.
Chairperson of Hastings Direct Insurance Davind Gundlachi and Anila Preston Wickramasinghe also expressed their views on the occasion.

Documents gutted in Parsa fire

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BIRGANJ, Nov. 15: Some 222 sets of registration documents in the record section of Parsa District Land Revenue Office have been gutted and some 16,000 others sustained minor damage by fire recently.

According to office chief Jit Bahadur Thapa, the registration records of fiscal year 2055/56 BS have been gutted completely and those for fiscal years 2038/39 to 2042/43 BS have been damaged partially.

Some 16,000 other records were damaged by the water poured by fire fighters in course of controlling the fire, he said.

Terrorists kill UML activist

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: Former vice-chairman of Katakuti VDC in Dolkha district Ram Bahadur Ghising was brutally murdered by a band of Maoist terrorists after kidnapping him from his house on the night of November 12.

According to the CPN-UML, the party Ghising was associated with, he was dragged out from his house while he was having supper and then hacked to death near Bagkhor in Ward No-8 of the same VDC.

Meanwhile, the party has, in a statement here today, said the country is being pushed into one crisis after another and that multiparty democracy is under a serious threat.  The party has also condemned and denounced such murders carried out by the Maoists. Meanwhile, in Sarlahi, Maoist terrorists destroyed a VDC building and an area post office situated in Bhaktipur VDC of Sarlahi district last night by detonating bombs.

According to local people, a band of some 15-20 armed terrorists set off bombs in the buildings and then fled shouting Maoist slogans.

Property worth about Rs. 100,000 is said to have been destroyed by the blast. The terrorists are being searched for, the district police office has said.

DPRK, Israeli ambassadors meet Chand

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Jon Song Myong and Ambassador of Israel Avraham Nir separately called on acting president of Nepal Saddbvhavana Party and Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasaad Mandal at the latter's office at Singha Durbar today.
Matters of mutual interest were discussed during the meetings.

RPP meeting

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: A meeting of the third central general convention main organising committee of RPP was held under the chairmanship of the party's President Surya Bahadur Thapa in the capital today.

Prime Minister and leader of RPP Lokendra Bahadur Chand was also present at the meeting.

Books with torn pages defame TU library

By Bishnu Prasad Aryal

KATHMANDU, Nov 15: The Tribhuvan University Central Library (TUCL) is a microcosm of the chaos prevailing in the education sector. “It is very shameful when students studying for their Master’s degree tear pages from books or attempt to steal them from the library despite the availability of photocopy machines at low cost,” said Krishna Mani Bhandary, librarian at theTUCL.

Uncountable number of pages of rare books, magazines and periodicals have been stolen. Many books on English literature are torn. Books from the UN section, Management Department, and science section are in deteriorating condition. Books in the History Department are least damaged.
“After we installed the security gate, theft of books has nearly been controlled, although many attempts have been made. But tearing of pages continues to be a big problem” said Bina Vaidya, deputy librarian.

Many important chapters from the rare books are not available in the new versions. Recently, students of the English Department were found tearing pages from even the Anthologies and Encyclopaedia, “We don’t have the right to check the bodies of students, so we are unable to catch them red-handed,” said Parbati Nepal, in-charge of the Acquisition Section.

Some 28 persons from various departments, including a vehicle driver and even one US citizen and an Indian have been caught red-handed while trying to steal books or while in the process of tearing pages. Most of them were caught under the supervision of Sabita KC, a book checker of the library. Kenneth Ivlych, an American citizen, was caught while attempting to pass the Exploring Mysticism through a window. He was fined Rs. 1,477, three times the books price.

An Indian from Manipur, Gaur Das Bramhachari Yayum Sharma, a student of Psychology Department at TU was caught with 19 rare and important books from the library in his apartment.
The library established in 1959 has 245,000 books, 60 per cent of which were donated. It employes 80 staff members. It is also the only authorised agency in Nepal distributing the ISBN for Nepal publications.

While the library has lost many a valuable book due to theft, many teachers, highranking officials, ex-students have not returned borrowed books for years, some since 1979. The library has been publishing the names of people failing to return books in the newspapers since the last three years. Since then more than 50 per cent of the overdue books have been returned. Yet about 5,500 books continue to adorn the shelves of the socalled intellectuals.

Some of those personalities include lawmakers Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Prithivi Raj Ligal, Human Rights activist Sudeep Kumar Pathak, Royal astrologer Mangal Raj Joshi, Suresh Acharya, Rajendra Acharya, Jeevan Chandra Koirala, Navaraj Gurung, Mohan Bahadur Basnet and cine artistes Krishna Malla and Shree Krishna Shrestha.
“If such people fail to return books, what can we expect from the younger generation?” questioned Bhandary.

“Unless we look upon the book stealers as any other thief will we be able to bring about some control in the theft,” he said. He blamed the past governments for not being sensitive towards developing the library. Since the last two years, the government has not provided any funds to improve the facilities in the library, although money is allocated in the budget.

According to library sources, the major reasons why large numbers of books get stolen are because it is open to all. Although a large number of staff are mobilised, they do not check the books properly to see if pages are torn from the book. The library has many valuable books. A volume of books costing Rs. 66,000 is the most expensive.

Each year, about 5,000 students find admission in all the 36 departments and other wings such as Library Science, Post-graduate diploma in Buddhist studies and M. Phil. in Management. “Just like the TU library, we also face similar problems of theft and tearing of pages,” Raju Shakya, information services manager at the British Council (BC), told The Rising Nepal.

UML leader congratulates Hu Jintao

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has sent a congratulatory message to Hu Jintao on his election to the post of the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

In the message, Mr Nepal has wished success to general secretary Hu Jintao and the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party in building a prosperous Chinese socialism.
He has also expressed the confidence that the friendly ties existing between Nepal and China for centuries will be further deepened during the tenure of the newly-elected general secretary.

Left parties meet stressunity

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: A meeting of four left parties convened today held serious discussions on the developments following what they termed ‘unconstitutional’ Royal proclamation made by His Majesty the King on October 4.

According to the CPN-UML, the meeting emphasised the need for all leftist and democratic forces to forge ahead unitedly after assessing the complex political situation the country is passing through.
The meeting also agreed to hold next meeting after holding consultations with other leftist factions.
CPN (UML) Standing Committee member Amrit Bohara, central member Yubraj Karki and Raghu Pant, CPN (United) general secretary Bishnu Bahadur Manandhar and central member Prakash Adhikari, CPN (Marxist, Leninist and Maoist) general secretary Krishna Das Shrestha, politburo member Ram Bahadur Shrestha, CPN-Marxist politburo member Lok Narayan Subedi and central member Achyut Raj Gyawali had attended the meeting chaired by acting general secretary of the CPN-UML Bharat Mohan Adhikary.

Nepalese rolling mills in doldrums

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BIRGUNJ, Nov. l5: With His Majesty’s Government unable to adopt a concrete policy on the development of indigenous industry, 24 rolling mills in the country that were set up with the investment of tens of millions have closed down completely. The remaining mills are also on the verge of closure.
According to information made available by the industry, Maruti Nandan, Hama, Narayani, Jagadamba, Gaurishankar, Himal, Sristeel, Ashok , Jdl Steel, Bhagawati And Sakha Rolling Mills were set up in Parsa and Bara districts, and of these, Gaurishankar, Shree Steel and Jyoti Rolling have been closed since a long time. The others are also running at a loss.

Setting up a rolling mill requires investments of 80 to l00 million rupees but the returns are low, according to Maruti Nandan Rolling Mill proprietor Ashok Vaidhya. Indigenous industry will not find a market at home until a policy is adopted requiring mandatory use of indigenous products by all big and small projects in Nepal, Vaidhya adds. The rolling mills in Parsa and Bara districts have a monthly production capacity of l,000 to 2,000 metric tons.

But the unrestricted entry of foreign produced iron rods has meant that international level projects under implementation in Nepal have also been using the foreign product, according to Satya Narayan Kyal of Narayani Rolling Mill. If all the mills are operated the cost price and market prices will fall, and in order to bring this about the government should make changes to the customs and tax policies, says Punam Chandra Agrawal, proprietor of Ashok Rolling .

Existing rolling mills in Nepal operating at full capacity can produce 350,000 metric tons of iron rod annually, according to former chairman of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce Babulal Agrawal.

He further says that 200,000 metric tons of iron rod is used in Nepal every year, but international level projects use 80 per cent foreign imported rods. If smuggling across the border can be prevented and big and small projects use up l00,000 metric tons of rod a year, most of the mills which have closed down can be revived, say industrialists concerned.

Over 600 traderspunished over trade malpractices

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: A meeting was held at the Department of Commerce (DC) in connection with the procedures and achievements of the market monitoring that is underway under its convenorship.
At the meeting, director general of the DC informed the meeting that the monitoring of the markets in Morang, Parsa, Rupandehi, Banke and Kailali districts has been broadened at the initiative of the DC.
He also underlined the need for one and all to assist the authority in making the supply system and its monitoring consumer-oriented, swift and effective.

Bhaktapur CDO Ram Prasad Khatiwada, Assistant CDO of Lalitpur Kashinath Marasini and administrative officer of Kathmandu district Pradeep Raj Kafle expressed commitment for their continuous support in the efforts made by the DC.

According to the DC, some 622 business firms and businessmen have been brought to book for irregularities in the sale of food and other commodities during the first four months of the current fiscal year.

Koirala greets Hu Jintao

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Nov. 15: Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala today greeted Hu Jintao on being elected as the general secretary of the Communist Party of China. In a congratulatory message, NC head Koirala expressed his confidence that China under Hu’s leadership would begin a new era in history. “I have a strong confidence that you will lead the 21st century China to greater peace and prosperity,” Koirala said in his greeting.

Hu, 59, was elected Communist Party general secretary Friday by the 16th Party Congress. Hu replaces 76-year-old Jiang Zemin who retired as party top brass along with other septuagenarian leaders. The leadership has now gone totally to the new generation. Koirala reiterated Nepal’s support for the one-China policy and not to allow its territory to be used against the northern immediate neighbour.

Noting that modernisation of China has been successful, Koirala said that the Communist Party of China has been functioning dynamically with new policies in the domestic, political and economic fronts as well as in foreign affairs.

“I have a strong hope that China, under your leadership, will adhere to its policy of peaceful coexistence with its immediate neighbours and the nations of the world,” said Koirala. Confiding that he was willing to work closely with the new CPC leader, Koirala expressed the hope that Nepal-China ties would strengthen further under Hu’s able leadership.