Crown Prince to inaugurate hospital today

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NEPALGUNJ, Nov. 26: His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev is scheduled to inaugurate the newly built Birendra Police Regional Hospital here tomorrow.

The hospital set up to serve police personnel, their families and the public also in the mid and Far Western Regions has 17 beds.

According to chief of the hospital Dr. Minraj Pathak, provision has been made at the hospital with two doctors for x-ray, pathology, an Out Patient Department (OPD), an emergency service and minor surgery.

Germany provides assistance for various projects

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 26: The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has agreed to provide a grant assistance of 2.5 million Euro (Rs. 197 million) for the implementation of the neighbourhood support programme in the neighbourhood of Middle Marsyangdi Hydro electric power plant under construction.

Under the agreement, the German assistance will be utilised the financial contribution exclusively for the financing of various employment generating investment measures in the surrounding area of the Middle Marsyangdi Hydro Electric Power Project construction site of Lamjung district, according to the press release of the Finance Ministry.

Bhanu Prasad Acharya, secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Dr. Martin Raschen, chief economist of KFW of Germany for South and Central Asia signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments.

The government of the Federal Republic of Germany also provided a grant assistance of 1.3 million Euro (Rs.100 million) under the German Emergency Fund for the rehabilitation of local government buildings in Achham, Doti, Dadeldhura and Darchula and hospitals and health posts mainly in Achham and Bardia districts.

Part of the assistance would also be used in the expansion of Green road construction activities in Gorkha, Lamjung and Sankhubasabha districts under Rural Development Programme.

His Majesty's Government of Nepal has expressed its sincere appreciation to the Government of Federal Republic of Germany for its continued support in the development endeavours of Nepal.

Nine terrorists killed in encounters

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Nov 26: At least nine terrorists were shot dead in encounters with the security forces in Panchthar, Rukum, Ramechhap and Dang districts, said a Defence Ministry statement today.

The security forces recovered guns, socket bombs, combat dresses, generators, foodstuffs, Rs. 45,000 and different logistics from the encounter sites.

In the search operations carried out in Jugaha Khola and in the headquarters of Jumla and in Jaybageshwori of Bajura, the security personnel seized one short machine gun as well as magazines and bullets, one SLR rifle and its magazine, a microscope, 17 guns, 523 sutali bombs and 53 socket bombs.

A medical team of the security forces set up temporary health camps in Gorkha and provided health services to 89 locals, the Ministry said.

Nepal highlights UML commitments

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 26: General Secretary of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the party is on the alert to safeguard the national integrity, democracy and issues related to peoples living.

Inaugurating the zonal level workers gathering organised by CPN-UML Bagmati Zonal co-ordination committee at the party central office here today he said the murder, violence and terrorist activities of the Maoists have shown that it is not a responsible party.

Nepal also informed that the party is organising a mass meeting on December 15 in Kathmandu to safeguard democratic rights and inform the public about the present crisis.

The function was held under the chairmanship of CPN-UML Bagmati Zone peoples awareness programme chief Surendra Pandey.

Standing committee member Keshav Prasad Badal and central committee member Rajendra Pandey also shed light on various activities of the party.

Likewise, CPN-UML standing committee member and former minister Mod Nath Prasrit gave away prizes and certificates to distinguished students of different schools and colleges at a programme organised by All Nepal National Students' Union, Kaski on the occasion of 21st martyr Phanindra Memorial Day.

Speaking on the occasion Prasrit said it is a unfurtunate that some opportunistic attitude has been prevailing in the party and the party is to adopt appropriate measures against such elements.
Different student leaders and party members also spoke on the occasion. Union president Jhapat Bahadur Ranabhat had presided.

Parties responsible for crisis: Speaker

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LALITPUR, Nov. 26: Speaker Taranath Ranabhat has said consensus of all the major political parties is necessary to safeguard the peoples sovereignty achieved through the Popular Movement of 1990, multi party democracy, Constitutional Monarchy and the Constitutional Rights.

Inaugurating the two day conference on workers of health and security jointly organised by Nepal Trade Union Congress and Japan International Labour Foundation Ranabhat said the activities of the political parties created the present critical situation in the country.

He urged the Maoists to join the mainstream politics by giving up violence, murder and terror.
There is the need of political consensus among the political parties, monarch and people to resolve the problem of the country which has created difficulties in religious, social, and cultural sectors, he said.

General secretary of the Japan International Labour Foundation Toru Yashikawa said the workers should be imparted knowledge about the health and accident and informed that a total of 1.2 million workers are killed in the work related accident every year in the world.

Speakers including general secretary of Nepal Trade Union Congress Pushkar Acharya, vice president Indra Dev Mishra, Rajesh Palikhe, Sudha Dahal and Achyut Raj Pandey also spoke on the occasion.
A total of 50 persons from 20 districts have been participating in the seminar.

The function was chaired by secretary of the Nepal Trade Union Congress Ramji Kunwar.

Govt mulling to introduce English from class one

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LALITPUR, Nov. 26: Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha has said that His Majesty's Government is planning to introduce English subject from class one under the primary education curriculum.

The new draft curriculum will be ready within this year and be implemented from the coming academic year, it is said.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi here today he said primary education is the base of education therefore the curriculum should not be based on formality only but it should be refined according to the need of the country.

He also stressed the need to develop the curriculum in accordance with the changed global context and the curriculum should be developed with the objective of imparting knowledge to prevent violence and terror, create an environment of peace and generate the feelings of patriotism.

Speaking from the chair, Assistant Minister for Education and Sports Rabindra Khanal stressed the need to develop the curriculum to bridge the gap between the rich and poor.

Speakers including the secretary at the Ministry of Education and Sports Chuman Singh Basnet, poet Bairagi Kainla, former secretary Jaya Ram Giri, Director General of Education Department Satya Bahadur Shrestha, Director General of the Curriculum Development Centre Shiv Prasad Satyal, Director Jagannath Awa, Dr. Trailokya Nath Upreti and former member of the National Planning Commission Bal Gopal Baidhya also expressed their views.

Govt keeps doors open for talks, says Khapangi

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DHARAN, Nov. 26: Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Gore Bahadur Khapangi has said that the government has kept the door open for talks with the Maoists.

He made this remark while speaking at a reception organised in his honour by the Rastriya Janamukti Party (RJP) in Dharan today.

He said the government will announce the dates for holding elections once law and order is restored in the country.

At the programme, M.S. Thapa Magar, president of the RJP, alleged that the country was heading towards the doldrums as a result of lack of unity among the so-called bigger political parties.

RJP central vice-president Srawan Kumar Limbu, central member Kamal Chharahang and others also expressed their views at the programme.

The party's east region president Samjuhang Palungwa presided over the programme.

Meanwhile, in Biratnagar, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Gore Bahadur Khapangi has urged all the political parties to co-operate the government to maintain law and order and hold election as soon as possible.

Speaking to the press here today Minister Khapangi said the Maoists are happy with the present government because the government has initiated the efforts to control corruption, one of the demands of the maoists, and they will come to the negotiating table.

Replying a question he said the executive power is with the present Council of Ministers.

Khapangi said that the clause 127 of the Constitution can only be exercised by His Majesty the King and His Majesty the King constituted the present cabinet in accordance with the same clause of the Constitution. He stressed the need to pay attention about the political corruption in the country which is very dangerous and can end the political system of the country.The function was chaired by Shekhar Regmi.

Employees submit request to Chand

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 26: Employees of Himal Cement Company Ltd have submitted a request to the Prime Minister to promptly implement the Supreme Court verdict invalidating the government's decision to move the factory outside the valley and retire the employees.

The employees also requested that the units concerned be ordered to make available to them their salaries, which they have not received since the month of Magh last, provident fund payments, home leave, medical treatment and other facilities which they had been getting in the past.

A working committee of the employees says that given competent management the factory can break its previous production record of l,600,000 million bags of cement a year.

The communiqué handed in to the Prime Minister's office has also been forwarded to the commission for investigation of abuse of authority, it is stated.

Upgrade services of RNAC: Sharma

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 26: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kuber Sharma has said that it will be better to sort out the immediate problems of the beleaguered Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) and keep on resolving them rather than thinking in terms of providing all the solutions at the same time.

At a programme organised at the RNAC central office here today, he said that in the present age of privatisation and globalisation it was necessary to upgrade services including marketing management and called for though about suitable alternatives instead of taking decisions in a hurry.

Assistant Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ravi Bhakta Shrestha said that the indifference towards RNAC in the external market should be tackled to move ahead with professionalism.

RNAC officiating general manager K. B. Paudel also expressed his views on the occasion.

Maoists intensify drive to destroy physical assets

By Our Correspondent

SURKHET, Nov. 26: People in the eastern part of this district in mid-west Nepal have been fleeing their villages The villagers are deserting their homes for fear of being forced into the village committees of the armed Maoist terrorists.

Majority of the youths from the concerned VDCs have already fled, while the old people are also trying to leave the VDCs under one pretext or the other.

In another development, a Maoist activist set a jeep of the Regional Health Training Centre on fire at Kalagaon of Birendranagar Monday night. According to the office, a Maoist activist doused the jeep with kerosene and set it on fire before fleeing the scene.

That same night, a group of Maoist terrorists exploded a pressure cooker bomb, about 30 metres from the tower of the regional transmission centre of Radio Nepal in Surkhet. The terrorists had fled the scene long before the security forces arrived.

According to our Sarlahi correspondent, Maoist terrorists so far have destroyed 32 VDC buildings in this district in south central Nepal, incurring losses worth hundreds of thousands of rupees. Out of the 99 VDCs in the district, the Maoists have so far set fire to the buildings of 32 VDCs. Regular administrative works have been disrupted as important documents and records of the VDCs were destroyed in the fires.

The Maoists burned down 12 VDC buildings last year, while 20 were destroyed in arson this year, reports our correspondent, quoting the District Development Committee. Some buildings have been completely destroyed, while in others the windows, doors and furniture were burnt.

Local Development Officer Shadananda Chaulagain says the destruction of each of the VDCs means a loss of about Rs. 125,000. However, details of the true losses have yet to be worked out.

The destruction of important documents in the VDCs has created problems in collecting revenue and in auditing, said Chaulagain.

It is learnt that removal of police posts along the highway in the district due to security fears has only made it easier for the Maoists to target the VDC offices.

Shankarpur and Sundarpur are among the most affected. After the Maoist terrorists destroyed important documents of the VDCs, people must now visit the district headquarters for administrative works that earlier could have been done in the village. All VDC secretaries are now living in the district headquarters of Malangawa for security reasons.

Chaulagain said he had instructed the VDC secretaries to remain in their particular VDCs to address the people's problems. He even said that the budget made available to the VDCs and DDC was not sufficient to reconstruct the damaged development infrastructure.

According to our Jhapa Correspondent, Maoist terrorists attacked a telephone tower at Baigundhura in south Jhapa in east Nepal. A group of six Maoists terrorists damaged the tower around seven in the evening on Monday, using hammers and swords.

The attack has damaged the tower, cutting off all communication links. So the people in the area must now walk to Shivagunj, 15 km away, from Baigundhura to make a telephone call.

Thirteen telephone lines were in operation in the area from Baigudhura tower, said Binod Kumar Kaduwal, Chief of the Telecommunications office in Jhapa. The attack has caused a loss worth Rs. 500,000, and the possibility of repairing it soon is remote.

Maoists had also destroyed telephone towers at Gauradaha and Jurepani of Jhapa in the month March this year.

Constituent Assembly irrelevant: Koirala

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 26: Nepali Congress president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has called upon all lovers of democracy to unite for safeguarding democracy at present when it is being attacked from all sides.

Addressing a public meeting organised at local Basantapur by Nepal Students' Union central committee today, Koirala said he was always ready to lay down his life for the protection of democratic norms and values.

The Nepali Congress wishes the King and the people well, he said, adding that the youths should pledge to protect democracy when it is in difficulty.

Terming the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990 as the best of Constitutions, he said those demanding a constituent assembly should make clear which particular articles in the constitution they want to change.

A constituent assembly is irrelevent. We should function under the present constitution, reinstatement of the House of Representatives is the only way of making the Constitution functional, he observed.
The Nepali Congress president expressed the view that since the present Constitution has vested sovereignty in the people, it should not be allowed to be usurped at any cost.

Pointing out that everything but the preamble of the Constitution can be altered, he said the Nepali Congress did not want to enter into an agreement with any force in disregard of the preamble constitution.

The Nepali Congress wants to hold talks with all forces including the Maoists while protecting the achievements of the 1990 people's movement, he stressed.

He remarked that since the country's problems cannot be addressed without resolving the Maoist problem, the Maoists should be brought into mainstream politics.

The Maoist problem should be resolved with the help of the King and parliament and parliament needs to be reinstated to that end, he noted.

Spokesman of the Nepali Congress Arjun Narsingh K.C. central member of the party Krishna Prasad Sitaula Nepali Congress Kathmandu district working committee president Tirtha Ram Dangol, former president of Nepal Students' Union Dhanraj Gurung, general secretary Yadav Pandit, central vice-president Raju Khanal and president of the Free Students' Union Council Bishnu Panthi also addressed the gathering.

Nepal Students' Union central committee president Bishwa Prakash Sharma chaired the public meeting.

Similarly, in Biratnagar, Nepali Congress central member and former minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat has said the Constitution was being attacked successively at a time when the country was in the grip of the Maoist problem.

Dr Mahat made the remark while addressing the 'party consolidation and public awareness campaign programme' organised by the Nepal Women's Association central working committee in Biratnagar today.

He said since the King is the sysmbol of national unity, the Nepali Congress is in favour of Constitutional Monarchy.

Nepali Congress central member and party consolidation and public awareness campaign east region coordinator Nona Koirala called on the Maoists to join the national mainstream for protecting the achievements of the 1990 people's movement.

MP Ashok Koirala said since the Parliament is the heart and soul of demoracy, Parliamentary elections should be held at the earliest. He said the parliament should be reinstated if elections cannot be held.

Former minister Amod Prasad Upadhyaya, central general secretary of Nepal Women's Association Kamala Thapa, Nepal Women's Association Morang district president Ranu Devi Adhikari and others also addressed the public awareness meeting.

Central president of Nepal Women's Association Mrs Mina Pandey chaired the meeting.

Similarly, in Biratnagar, Nepali Congress central member and former minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat has said the Constitution was being attacked successively at a time when the country was in the grip of the Maoist problem.

Dr Mahat made the remark while addressing the 'party consolidation and public awareness campaign programme' organised by the Nepal Women's Association central working committee in Biratnagar today.

He said since the King is the sysmbol of national unity, the Nepali Congress is in favour of Constitutional monarchy.

Nepali Congress central member and party consolidation and public awareness campaign east region coordinator Nona Koirala called on the Maoists to join the national mainstream for protecting the achievements of the 1990 people's movement.

MP Ashok Koirala said since the Parliament is the heart and soul of demoracy, Parliamentary elections should be held at the earliest. He said the parliament should be reinstated if elections cannot be held.

Former minister Amod Prasad Upadhyaya, central general secretary of Nepal Women's Association Kamala Thapa, Nepal Women's Association Morang district president Ranu Devi Adhikari and others also addressed the public awareness meeting.

Central president of Nepal Women's Association Mrs Mina Pandey chaired the meeting.

Kayaking: Flowing with ferocious whitewaters

By Bishnu Budhathoki

SUKUTE (SINDHUPALCHOK) Nov. 26: For three days beginning Saturday, everyone was flowing with the ferocious whitewaters of the Bhotekoshi river. There were 78 men and women kayaking and rafting along with the surf and the waves.

The three-day Peak UK Himalayan Whitewater Challenge (PUKHWC), held from November 23-25, was a big success as is it has always been in the past. Despite fears that security might pose a problem this year, it went without a hitch, much to the joy of all, the participants, organisers and the audience.

" The event has proved that Nepal is a peaceful destination for the tourists where they could enjoy the natural beauty at peace," said Pete Astles, chairman of Peak UK, a kayaking company and one of the organisers.

The event was organised jointly with Nepal Association of Rafting Agents (NARA) to mark Destination Nepal-2002 and on the occasion of Mt. Everest Golden Jubilee Celebrations. Altogether 78 kayakers and rafters from more than a dozen countries from Asia, Europe, Australia, America and South Africa took part in the competition, while hundreds of tourists crowded the banks of the Bhotekoshi River to cheer and applaud the participants as they passed by.

Besides successfully hosting the competition, what the programme was able to prove was that that Nepal is the world's premier tourism destination for adventure lovers.

The Peak UK Himalayan Whitewater Challenge was a multi-discipline one-boat event that combined state-of-the-art forms of extreme whitewater slalom, head-to-head down river racing and amazing displays of freestyle rodeo maneuvers to find an overall whitewater champion. The country has been hosting the event for the past nine years.

In the men's senior, Tara Bhandari, Jhalak Lama and Santosh Magar stood first, second and third respectively from Nepal in the slalom, down river race and free style rodeo. In the international men's event, Snow Boy, Pete Astles and Stan Ricketts came first, second and third.

In the junior level competition, Shyam Shrestha, Lila Magar and Sanu Babu Sunuwar bagged the first, second and third position. Among the foreigners, Lynsey Evans, Mariann Sather and Lindsay Wright received the first, second and third prizes.

Likewise, in the Raft Down River Race competition, Drift Nepal, N K's Friends of French and Raging River Runner 'A' stood first, second and third respectively.

Distributing prizes to the winners, chief guest Damodar Rana, co-coordinator of Mt. Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration committee, said that such competitions would help Nepal promote its tourism industry. "It also helps to give a positive message to the foreigners that Nepal is a safe destination," he said.

Mahendra Singh Thapa, chairman of NARA, said that the programme was organized to prove that Nepalese kayakers were no less competitive than foreign kayakers.

The rafting and kayaking competition was also organised to raise funds for NARA so that it can host more such events.