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Peace inevitable for progress: HM PANCHKHAL (KAVRE), Nov. 29: His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev has observed that it is a matter of pride for Nepal that the Royal Nepalese Army, owing to the exemplary sense of duty and bearing of responsibility by its jawans, has been continuously availing of the opportunity to contribute to peace-keeping in different parts of the world. His Majesty the King made the remark while addressing the
third batch of the Shree Barda Bahadur Battalion Peace-Keeping Force at the Birendra Peace
Operations Training Centre in Panchkhal today. "In line with Nepal's commitment to the UN Charter, the Royal Nepalese Army has been, since many years, playing an important role in efforts at maintaining peace in the world", His Majesty noted, adding- "the Royal Nepalese Armymen have a double responsibility on their shoulders to fulfil their duty and responsibility in foreign land while at the same time undertaking the important task of spreading the glory and fame of the motherland." Noting that peace is inevitable for the progress and well-being of the entire human race, His Majesty the King said the fact that the Royal Nepalese Army soldiers have dedicated themselves in the pious task of maintaining peace and order not only in the foreign lands but within the country also is known to one and all. His Majesty noted earning prestige is the most important earning and expressed the hope that the labour and endeavours of the soldiers would lead to the enhancement of the national and international recognition gained by the Royal Nepalese Army. "The state of law and order in the country is in a complex situation and even though the country is in need of soldiers it is sending the Royal Nepalese Army personnel to Sierra Leone bound as it is in its commitment to world peace", His Majesty observed. His Majesty also expressed confidence that all ranks of the third contingent of the Shree Barda Bahadur Battalion would always bear in mind their motto "sacrifice is penance" and become successful in displaying to the international world an example of their professional knowledge and high morale. On the occasion His Majesty the King graced a display of military exercise presented by the Shree Barda Bahadur Battalion. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev was
also present on the occasion. The third contingent of the Shree Barda Bahadur Battalion leaving for Sierra Leone comprises 800 army personnel of various ranks and is led by Lieutenant Colonel Dipak Prasad Bharati. The Shree Barda Bahadur Battalion with the motto- "sacrifice is penance", was founded as "Bardabahini Company" in 1819 B.S. In course of the national unification campaign led by His Majesty King Prithivi Narayan Shah the Great. Nepal-India ties cordial: PM KATHMANDU, Nov. 29: Prime Minister Lokendral Bahadur Chand has said that Nepal's relationship with India has been very cordial and the bilateral relations are characterised by utmost goodwill, co-operation and shared understanding of each other's aspirations and concerns. Speaking at a gathering of Nepalese Alumni of Indian Academic Institutions in the Indian Embassy today to mark the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of Independent India, Prime Minister Chand said the diverse nature of the people to people interactions is indeed a great source of strength of the relationship between Nepal and India, and they have immensely enriched the contents of the relations. Healthy, educated and skilled human resources are key to the long-term progress and development of any country, and in recent time, our own educational institutions have also made strides in imparting knowledge and skills to the people here, Mr Chand said adding that, however, the greater need of ever-larger number of trained people for the advancement of the country requires sustained level of support and assistance from friendly countries like India. Prime Minister Chand said India can justifiably take pride in the fact that it has not only made tremendous progress in having one of the largest pools of technical manpower in the country, but also assisting other countries in developing technical manpower with sustained and focused collaboration programmes. It is obvious that Nepal has been an important beneficiary of this programme, he added. Describing Maulana Azad a freedom fighter with great
intellectual ability, the Prime Minister lauded the important contributions made by him in
promoting education in India with a missionary zeal and promoting institutional programmes
of education co-operation with other developing countries. Under this scheme, 50 scholarships will be awarded every year to Nepali students for under-graduate study within Nepal. This is the first time that the Indian government has initiated a scholarship scheme for Nepali students within Nepal which was otherwise granted in various universities and institutions in India. Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal, Ministers, former prime ministers, high ranking government officials and members of the Nepalese Alumni of Indian Academic Institutions were also present on the occasion. Hiranya Lal Shrestha quits CPN-UML posts KATHMANDU, Nov. 28: Hiranya Lal Shrestha, a foreign policy expert and member of the Nepal Communist Party United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), has resigned from all the party posts from Friday, citing prejudiced behaviour from his senior party leaders. "My belief that it is OK to discuss matters of mutual interest with foreign powers, but that they should not be involved in our internal affairs has been ignored by general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal," a statement issued by Shrestha reads. Shrestha looked after South Asian affairs as member of the central Foreign Affairs Committee. "I was excluded from the party delegation during important visits to the South Asian countries, except to Bhutan" said Shrestha. "I have resigned because I could not tolerate the frequent prejudiced behaviour from my party." Shrestha also expressed dissatisfaction for not having been consulted when his breakaway faction, the CPN-ML, reunited with the CPN-UML. "The party has neglected my seniority and expertise," he said. DPM flays NC leader's remarks LALITPUR, Nov. 29: Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal has said that the views on monarchy expressed by leaders of some political parties including Girija Prasad Koirala was against the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990. In an exclusive interview on current issues given to the National News Agency (RSS) here today, Deputy Prime Minister Mandal said that the objectionable and undignified remarks made by Koirala who was in favour of multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy and some leaders of some other political parties were deplorable. He said, "the leaders have spoken indecently in public against the monarchy which is unfortunate. Their utterances against the monarchy has made the government serious and have hurt the feelings of the entire Nepalese people. He said, "the allegations against the King, the symbol of national unity will not be tolerable to us. Insult to the King is insult to the Nepalese people." Deputy Prime Minister Mandal said that HMG will address politically the allegations against the King made by leaders of some political parties. He remarked that the views expressed by the leaders were motivated with lust for power. In response to a question, he said that the leaders of the
Nepali Congress had been talking of regression to cover up their evil deeds including
abuse of power and institutionalising of corruption. He said, "those saying that the constitution is not active, levelling allegations against the King and talking of regression are holding mass meeting and delivering speech by exercising the fundamental rights provided by the Constitution." Deputy Prime Minister Mandal said that those saying that the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 was ineffective themselves are opposed to the Constitution. He said that the incumbent government was active in creating the environment for resolving the Maoists issue, restoring law and order, holding elections and transferring power to the elected representatives. He said, "but the activities of the political parties at present have created hurdles in the effort of the government in resolving the Maoists' problem and holding elections as early as possible." Deputy Prime Minister Mandal said that Girija Prasad Koirala and Madhav Nepal do not have the guts to prove that the present government constituted in accordance with article 127 of Constitution of kingdom of Nepal 1990 is unconstitutional. Bomb blasts at TU, no one hurt KATHMANDU, Nov. 29: Suspected Maoist terrorists detonated a powerful bomb in the central office of the country's oldest and largest university early Friday morning. But no one was hurt in the latest spate of attacks unleashed by the violent group on educational institutions. The blast that occurred in the accounts section of Tribhuvan University Central Office at Kirtipur, about 6 kilometres south of downtown, has ripped the walls apart and damaged the windows. The damage is estimated at hundreds of thousands of rupees. The bomb attack on Tribhuvan University comes a day after similar blasts in the office of the Higher Secondary Education Council in Bhaktapur and a private college at Baneswor. Education facilities have been the target of increasing assaults after the student wing of the violent Maoist group called for a strike in the educational institutions for an indefinite time beginning next month. "It was a powerful socket bomb as the noise of the blast could be heard for miles around," said Rajendra Thapa, a sub-inspector at the Kalimati police office. Thapa, who visited the site after the explosion said shrapnels were found scattered around the spot. About two dozen people have been taken into custody for interrogation, Thapa said. Police suspect the Maoist terrorists to be behind the attack. A TU central office staffer said that the blast that awoke the local residents at 5:45 has causes fissures on the walls upto the third floor. A crater has formed on the ground floor. "The reception of the account section has suffered the heaviest damage," an employee said. The blast has drawn criticism from different quarters. The Nepali Congress party has condemned the blast calling upon the government to provide security at educational establishments. "We feel that the government has not paid adequate notice for the security of these facilities and urge that proper security measures be taken," said an NC statement issued today. Tribhuvan University has denounced the terrorist attack and has sought cooperation from all quarters to prevent such assaults in the future. This is a ruthless blow on the educational rights of the Nepalese people. We denounce this barbaric act, said a statement issued by the office of TU Vice Chancellor's office. It is a misadventure aimed at preventing the access to knowledge of the common citizens. Therefore, TU takes it as a well planned conspiracy to push the nation towards darkness, the statement said. Such activities will benefit none who stand for the cause of the people and the nation, it added. Former VC of TU Dr. Kamal Krishna Joshi in a statement has said that the attack on the university is an attack on the future of all the Nepalese. TU has provided access to education for the people with poor economic background. Its campuses are spread across the country. "No group accountable to its people and the nation can perpetrate such an assault," Joshi said in the statement. Another ex-VC of the university Mahendra Prasad has said that the attack aims to deprive hundreds of thousands of students from the light of education. He has called upon the concerned group not to rob the rights of the people to higher education. The Private and Boarding Schools' Organisation Nepal (PABSON) has urged the striking group not to engage in violence and arson targetting the educational establishments. It has also called upon the government to settle the problem by taking into consideration the gravity of the situation. TU Employees Association in a statement has also condemned the blast. At least seven rebels killed in operation KATHMANDU, Nov. 29: Five terrorist suspects were shot dead at Kaule of Nuwakot district on Thursday after they approached the security forces, who were camping there temporarily, in a suspicious manner. A press statement issued by the Defence Ministry said two
Maoist terrorists were killed in Jhapa and Achham on Wednesday after the Maoists tried to
attack the security forces with socket bombs. The security forces also distributed free medicines to 58 locals of Gorkha district and set up temporary free health camps for the local people. 13 indigenous languages endangered KATHMANDU, Nov. 29: Thirteen indigenous languages of Nepal
are endangered, said a survey on the languages conducted by UNESCO today.These languages
are Kumal, Majhi, Bote (Indo-Arya group); Bramu, Dura, Pahari, Raute, Raji, Hayu
(Tibeto-Burman group) and Mewhang, Koi and Tilung (Kirati). This has accelerated the abandonment of indigenous mother tongues dramatically, said the report based on the study of 60 languages, out of 92, listed by the National Census 2001. As part of UNESCO's global information gathering programme,
UNESCO/Kathmandu had commissioned a team to prepare a baseline survey of the state of
languages of Nepal within one year. Most of the indigenous languages have not developed their own standard forms yet, according to the finding.While each language has some dialectical differences, mutual intelligibility is one of the crucial factors for the distinction between language and dialect. Releasing the report, Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha accepted that his ministry had not been able to carry out activities to promote the endangered languages as suggested by the National Languages Policy Recommendation Commission. "The death of the languages will have negative impact on the very existence of the nation since it is an asset and mark of the country's prosperity," Minister Ojha added. Dr. Yoshiaki Kitamura, UNESCO Representative to Nepal, said that UNESCO has been giving priority to the preservation and promotion of the indigenous languages globally. Professor Sueyoshi Toba, a visiting professor at Tribhuvan
University and a key person in preparing the report, said that there was need for
all-round effort to preserve the endangered languages. Professor Dr. Kamal Prakash Malla said that the report was of social significance from both the qualitative and quantitative perspective. The report says that Nepal has remarkable variety of not only languages but also language families. Nearly half the population speaks Indo-European languages, the foremost being Nepali. About half of the 6,000 or so languages spoken in the world are under threat. Over the past three centuries, languages have died out and disappeared dramatically especially in the Americas and Australia. Today at least 3,000 tongues are endangered, seriously endangered or dying in many parts of the world. Experts question ex-CJ's intention KATHMANDU, Nov. 29: Once again former Chief Justice Biswonath Upadhyaya has generated much hue and cry and full length controversy by his polemic remarks on the monarchy, Constitution and political parties. The man, who had headed the committee that formulated the present Constitution 13 years ago, was himself at the centre of controversy more than once for his interpretation of the Constitution. Political parties and those who analyse the political clutter of the last eight years put the blame on the two decisions (related to recommendation for the dissolution of the House of Representatives by the Supreme Court) when Upadhyaya was the Chief Justice. We are not questioning whether the decisions on the recommendations for the dissolution of the House of Representatives by former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, that was accepted, and by former Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikary, that was denied, were right or wrong. It is also not the intention here to comment on the decision of the Supreme Court because it is over now. What is important is that His late Majesty had referred the matter to the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, whose verdicts have shaped the political course of the country. It might not be wrong to say, even from a common man's point of view, that the political confusions that pervaded the country were the fallouts of those decisions. But the references made by His late Majesty to the Supreme Court on those important issues were welcomed, and the verdicts were accepted and concurred by all the political parties, even though the UML, after the Supreme Court's verdict, went against it had brought out a demonstration against Upadhyaya. In his imputation, Upadhyaya saw the violation of the Constitution from the first day of its promulgation by the monarchy on trifle issues such as the appointment of four ambassadors, nomination to the National Council and the reference to the Supreme Court by His late Majesty of the Citizenship Bill, which was brought about as an economic bill in the parliament. It was opposed by all the opposition political parties and even a large section of the then ruling party. Is Upadhyaya sore that the Supreme Court gave a verdict against the bill which was pushed through the parliament by the Nepali Congress government headed by Girija Prasad Koirala? It is nothing but a hypothesis, but still it would be interesting to know what Upadhyaya would have said, had the King not referred to the Supreme Court the recommendations of both Girija Prasad Koirala and Manmohan Adhikary to dissolve the House of Representatives? Looking at the remarks which come from his acidic tongue, the former chief justice seems to enjoy being in the limelight and in controversy, even if for the wrong reasons. Also here is something that needs pondering: of all the former chief justices, it is only Upadhyaya who continues to enjoy all the perks of a government vehicle, the fuel to run it and the security, all at the cost of the tax-payers' money. It would be worthwhile to point out what another ex-chief justice Mohan Prasad Upadhyaya had remarked about Upadhyaya's comment. Sharma said Upadhyaya's remarks were nothing more than someone seeking cheap popularity, and that his babbling has no meaning and it would not be wise to run after such things. Says advocate Balkrishna Neupane, "It is not good on his part, who had been the leader of the Constitution Council of 2047 to speak so blatantly against the institution that has always been the saviour of the nation and the Constitution…he spoke irresponsibly like a low-profile political party leader to be in the limelight." If Upadhyaya thinks he can still speak on behalf of the Supreme Court or that it is a brave thing to throw mud at the most sanctious institution of the country, he is sorely mistaken. Courtesy call KATHMANDU, Nov. 29: Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Nepal Valery V. Nazarov paid a courtesy call on Minister for General Administration and Information and Communications Ramesh Nath Pandey at the latter's office Friday afternoon. During the meeting the Russian Ambassador informed Minister Pandey that Russia fully understands the problems being faced by Nepal at present, as it too has suffered due to terrorist activities and the menace of organised crime. He assured that Russia will fully cooperate with Nepal in containing these common problems. The envoy also expressed concern that the close relations between the two countries had substantially decreased in the last ten years or so. He hoped that the friendly relations would expand in the days to come. Minister Pandey recalled the immense contribution made by the then Soviet Union in Nepal's economic and social development projects and he assured the Russian envoy that such ties would be further strengthened. Minister Pandey also agreed with the Russian Ambassador's view that bilateral relations between the two countries must be expanded in the days to come. |
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