Poverty should not be a barrier to education: Saud

RSS

KATHMANDU, Sept. 8: On the occasion of the international literacy day, Minister of State for Education and Sports Narayan Prakash Saud has expressed gratitude to all individuals, institutions and other organisations concerned and involved in informal education and literacy campaign for their contribution from their respective quarters and also wished for further contribution in making the ongoing national literacy campaign a success.

In a message, Mr. Saud has said literacy is the first step of development and a literate person can move ahead successfully in every sector of life. Literacy is the first way to gain knowledge and skills in order to become involved developmental works like education, health, cleanliness, family planning, environment protection and agriculture, he added.

Our prime responsibility is to provide to the disabled, neglected, under privileged, dalit, backward community, nationalities and women who have been deprived of the right to education due to poverty and low level of awareness access to education and include them in the mainstream of development, Mr. Saud said in the message.

Similarly, UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura has said at a time when final preparations are being made for the United Nations literacy decade, lessons must be drawn from the experience of the past and think over how poverty can be eradicated when roots of ignorance are left undisturbed.

In his message given on the occasion of the International Literacy Day today, UNESCO Director General Matsuura said that the proposed decade will be crucial for galvanising action to achieve agreed international goals of 50 per cent improvement in level of adults literacy by 2015, especially among women.

Noting that one in five people in the world still do not have access to literacy skills, Mr. Matsuura asked how can we build equitable information societies or thriving democracies if so many remain without the basic tools of literacy?

Stating that it is increasingly recognised today that there are multiple "literacies" which are diverse, have many dimensions and are learned in different ways, he said that each kind of literacy must lead to sustainable and meaningful use- and this must be the goal for the forthcoming literacy decade.
The international literacy day is an opportunity to send a message of hope and encouragement to the estimated 862 million adults, of whom about two-thirds are women, whose illiteracy currently excludes them from full participation in the society, he added.

Forthcoming election to allay confusion: Khakda

RSS

LALITPUR, Sept. 7: Minister for Home and Local Development Khum Bahadur Khadka has said that the forthcoming mid-term election is the means for relieving the country from the existing state of crisis and confusion.

Speaking at a talk programme on current politics and mid-term elections organised by the Nepali Congress Lalitpur Constituency No-1 regional committee at Chapagaon today, Minister Khadka who is also the General Secretary of the Nepali Congress Party said election is the only way out of the political and constitutional crisis facing the nation today.

He said that the government expects active cooperation from all the political parties and the civil society to hold the mid-term elections in a free and fair manner.

It is the prime responsibility of the government to safeguard the life and property of the people, Mr. Khadka said, adding that the government is introducing a new security concept to maintain law and order and tranquillity in the country.

NC Lalitpur district president Sagar Shumsher Rana, central member of Nepal Tarun Dal Rakesh Bhandari and other speakers expressed the view that only healthy political practice can strengthen democracy and democratic political parties should keep themselves active among the people.

NC Lalitpur Constituency No-1 president Kewal Bahadur Lama presided.

Municipality Building damaged in explosion

RSS

MADHYAPUR, Sept. 7: A band of the Maoist terrorists has damaged the building of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality by detonating a powerful bomb there at 4:45 a. m. today.

Official documents kept in the Almirah and furniture have been badly damaged in the explosion that took place on the ground floor early in the morning.

Offices of the engineer and the deputy mayor as well as the revenue, registration, planning and sketch approval sections and the meeting hall have been damaged, executive officer at the municipality Pashupati Pokharel told RSS.

Property damage caused by the explosion is estimated to be over Rs. 100,000/-.

The terrorists, pretending to take an ambulance for a patient, had taken the ambulance driver and a security guard under their control by brandishing a pistol after reaching at the gate of the municipality office complex where the ambulance was parked and had warned them not to make any commotion.
Thereafter, four terrorists had entered the office premises by climbing over walls and pointed pistol at another guard Shyam Bahadur Khadka and fled from the site warning of an explosion within 7-8 seconds.

A police team rushed to the site immediately after a tip-off about the terrorists planting a bomb. Unfortunately, the bomb went off when the team was about to reach the site, superintendent of police Deepak Ranjeet said.

According to him, a search has been mounted to trace the culprits.

Commander of terrorist group killed

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Sept.7: Security forces killed a platoon commander of so-called terrorists' militia squad at Bhainsa Naka of Dang district Friday.

A Defence Ministry statement today said that commander alias Bibek was shot dead in clashes after the forces found and raided a shelter of the terrorists' group in the area.

The security personnel recovered 490 bullets of .303 rifles and 4,00 kg of explosives from the site.

In their search operations at different places on Friday, the security forces found 14 pieces of gelatin, shotgun bullets, two pipe bombs, which were laid to explode, 13 fireworks and 73 packet of cape used for explosion from Chucchepati of Chabhil, Kathmandu.

In other search operations, the search operations found three sacks of socket bomb and 11-coil wire at Nunthala of Solukhumbu, and socket bombs, explosives, mines and logistics at Chyandanda of Khotang.

The security forces provided health services and medicines to 409 local people at a temporary health camp at Marge of Salyan.

In Solukhumbu, four people have surrendered to the security forces renouncing their affiliation with the terrorists' group on Friday, the Defence Ministry said.

The police new report said that five persons of a single family were killed in a landslide triggered by incessant rains of Thursday night, at Ramche Village Development of Rasuwa. Those who died are Tenzing Ghale, his wife Pasang Ghale, two sons and a daughter.

About three kilometres road, from Mulkharka to Gram, has been obstructed by a huge landslide caused by the rains with three buses, two tankers carrying petroleum product and four trucks have been trapped along the road. The army and police are working to rescue the vehicles caught by the landslide.

Lok Bahadur Kunwar of Phasingkot of Palpa died when a house at Gongabu VDC of Kathmandu he was living in collapsed today morning burying him.