Their Majesties visit Gorkha Durbar

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 9: Their Majesties the King and Queen left here for Gorkha today.Also accompanying Their Majesties is His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev. Meanwhile, Their Majesties the King and Queen visited the historic Gorkha Durbar in Gorkha district this afternoon.

Their Majesties are scheduled to perform a special worship at the Gorakhkali temple tomorrow morning.

Accompanying Their Majesties the King and Queen is His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev.

At the Gorkha Durbar, Their Majesties were accorded a warm welcome by regional administrator Balkrishna Prasai, chief of the Royal Nepal Army Brigade at Gorkha Prakash Bahadur Basnyat, Deputy Inspector General of Police Kumar Koirala, Chief District Officer Madhav Prasad Ojha, acting chief of the RNA Gorkha Brigade Tek Bahadur Chand and others.

Army destroy terrorists' memorials

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 9: The security forces have destroyed the memorial and the welcome gate erected by the Maoist terrorists at Sisne Himal in Rukum and at Jaljala Lek in Rolpa districts in mid-west Nepal. The two structures were erected by the terrorists in the initial days of their rebellion symbolising the terrorists' "people's war". The Defence Ministry said today that the security forces have launched a seize operation in those areas of the districts.

The Ministry said that the security forces have found three guns and logistics from Melbisauna and the Dhungachalna of Bajhang district in far west Nepal. The forces have also destroyed the welcome gate and bombs hung from banners and pamphlets at Dhungachalna of the district.

The Ministry said that the bomb disposal team of the security forces disposed a banner bomb hung by the terrorists at Bangla of Arghakhanchi district in mid-west Nepal.

Maoists kill NC, UML activists

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NUWAKOT, Oct. 9: The regional member of Nepali Congress party Constituency No-1 in Kumari VDC-4 of Nuwakot was hacked to death on Monday night by a band of Maoist terrorists near his home.

According to Chief District Officer (CDO) Mohan Bahadur GC, Gurung, the former vice-chairman of Kumari VDC was dragged outside his home in Dandagaon of the VDC and cut to two pieces with a Khukuri.

The terrorists are also reported to have kidnapped Ram Bahadur Pudasaini, from the same locality.
Meanwhile, in Dhading, two CPN-UML workers of Dhading district were reportedly murdered by two different groups of the Maoist terrorists on Monday night.

Those murdered include area member of the party Ram Chandra Shrestha of Katunje VDC-3 and Jeevanpur Village Committee member Gopi Thapa.

Shrestha who was kidnapped from his house at midnight on Monday was later found dead some 300 metres from the house while Thapa was dragged out of his home in Dharkebazaar on the Prithvi Highway and murdered at the stream nearby, it is learnt.

Similarly in Chautara, the underground Maoist terrorist guerrillas have caused damages running into thousands of rupees in an arson attack at local Irkhu VDC office building.

According to information given by the outgoing chairman of Irkhu VDC Bishnu Bahadur Tamang, a group of about 4-5 Maoists set fire to one of the rooms of the VDC office at around 12 on Sunday night.

All the furniture and documents inside the room were gutted in the fire. Similarly, the windows and doors of the building were also damaged, it is learnt.

Canada to help Nepal's reform initiatives

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 9: Canadian Ambassador to Nepal Peter Sutherland launched today the Local Development Facility which aims to respond to innovative, need-based Nepalese initiative to support Nepal's devolution process and the management of conflict in a peaceful way.

Launching the initiative, the Canadian ambassador said that the facility will support the government's new reform initiatives to reduce poverty and promote local governance capacities, said a statement of the Canadian Embassy issued today.

"It is designed to be responsive to innovative and timely initiatives which address basic human needs and build socio-economic infrastructure and capacities of both the government and the civil society at the local level," the Canadian Ambassador said.

In addition to supporting Nepal's devolution process, the facility is designed to respond to the changing development environment in Nepal by helping to build local capacity to prevent violence, manage conflict and contribute to peace, he said.

The Facility is a 5-year project from 2002 to 2007 with a budget of C$ 4.3 million and will be implemented by the Canadian Cooperative Office.

Home Ministry denies reports

By a Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 9: The Home Ministry has denied reports that it has restricted the movement of any people.

A statement issued by the Ministry said that it is always conscious of maintaining and respecting the people's basic human rights and is aware of its obligation not to violate the fundamental rights of any person.

The Ministry has said that its attention was drawn to reports in some newspapers, and has asked them to confirm the reports before publishing them so as to avoid any confusion among the common people. The Ministry also said that it is always willing to assist the media in providing correct information.

Over 440 dead in aftermath of rains

y Rameshwor Yadav

KATHMANDU, Oct 9: More than 440 people lost their lives and 55,337 families were affected along with a huge amount of property destroyed or damaged by the rains and floods in the country this year, Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs Tika Dutt Niraula said.

Speaking at a seminar 'Disaster Reduction for Sustainable Mountain Development', organised on the occasion of International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Day 2002, the country has been facing problems in rescue and mitigation of disasters due to difficult geographical structure, inadequate communication facilities, technological gap, institutional weakness and lack of co-ordination among the organisations working for disaster management.

"We cannot utterly prevent the natural calamities but creating the awareness among the public about the disaster and it a possible way of the mitigation of it," he said.

The seminar was organised by Nepal Geological Society (NGS) in collaboration with Ministry of Home Affairs and other related departments.

Chief guest and member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel said that natural disasters such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, fire and epidemics are common phenomenon causing considerable loss of life and property in the country every year.

"Among the natural calamities, floods and landslides cannot be prevented because of scarcity of resources and funds," he said, adding that scientists, people working in this field, and the civil society should work together to reduce the effective of natural disaster.

He claimed that scientists in Nepal often remain passive, and they do not play their role as they should have to prevent it. "Nepal lies in a sensitive zone, and natural disaster of unpredictable dimension could happen here."

Coordinator of NGS-ISDR Council Ramesh Kumar Aryal said that they should learn from the traditional wisdom of the people living in the mountains to cope up with natural disasters and other hazards in the mountains.

He said that because of the complex geological and fragile structure of soil, the country has been witnessing huge losses of life and property caused by earthquakes, floods, landslides, soil erosion, and the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).

President of NGS Pratap Singh Tater, Director General of Department of Mines and Geology, N.R. Sthapit and general secretary of NGS Rajendra Prasad Khanal also spoke on the occasion.