Manang team meets Chand

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: A delegation led by chairman of late King Mahendra Memorial Trust of Manang, Bhujung Gurung today called on Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand and informed him that a life size statue of the late King will be constructed and installed in the district. On the occasion, Prime Minister Chand assured of HMG's all possible cooperation in making the sculpture of the late King.

Courtesy call

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: Australian Ambassador Keith Gardner paid a courtesy call on Minister for Health and Science and Technology Dr Upendra Devkota at latter's office today.Matters related to development in the field of health in Nepal and of bilateral interest were discussed on the occasion, the personal secretariat of the minister has informed.

Report approved

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: National Assembly Social Justice Committee, at its meeting today, approved the report prepared by the subcommittee with Surendra Parasad Pandey as the convenor. Committee chairman Ambika Pant Chapagai presided over the meeting.

Greetings extended

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: President of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Sher Bahadur Deuba has extended warm greetings to the entire Muslim brothers and sisters and wished them peace, progress and prosperity on the happy occasion of their great festival of Id Ul Ahad.

Curfew lifted in Siraha

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SIRAHA, Feb. 12: Siraha District Administration since yesterday has lifted the curfew orders which were regularly being issued in different parts of the district for controlling Maoist activities since the state of emergency was lifted in the Kingdom.The people are free to open their shops and work up to late at night following the removal of curfew in the area.

Araju Deuba elected new MAN president

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: Dr. Araju Deuba, Rajan Singh Bhandari, Vishnu Raj Adhikari and Ramesh Prasad Koirala have been elected the president, vice-president, general secretary and treasurer respectively of the executive committee of the Management Association of Nepal (MAN).

Likewise, Kamal Aryal, Mukund Nath Dhungel, Raghu Pant, Bejoy Bahadur Shrestha, Sudhir Babu Khatri, Uttar Kumar Shrestha, Dileep Adhikari, Narendra Bahadur Rajbhandari, Shambhu Shumsher JB Rana, Shanti Laxmi Shakya, Dr. Shailendra Sigdel, Dr. Suniti Shrestha and Dr. Surya Lal Amatya are the members of the committee.

Dalits victimised by rights violations

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LALITPUR, Feb. l2. The National Dalit Commission has made public the initial report on human rights violations prepared after a study tour of areas badly affected by the Maoists. Speaking at a press conference organised by the commission today, spokesman of the commission Min Bishwakarma said the facts of the situation were garnered through interactions with the families of those killed by the state on grounds of being Maoists and also those killed by Maoists for allegedly advocating the state's case or acting as informants.

He said that on the basis of discussions with human rights workers, legal experts, political party representatives, journalists and members of the general public in the affected areas, 11 women and l96 males were killed in 111 VDCs of the Rajapur area in Bardiya district in the course of security operations. Similarly, of the 32 persons killed so far by the Maoist side, 20 were members of the general public, seven were army personnel and five police personnel.

The study team toured Bardiya, Dang , Kailali and Jumla from Magh 2 to l6 and sought information from the CDOs concerned, army personnel, police, armed police and the Maoists. According to the report, l8 Dalits were killed in Phulbari and Goltakuri VDCs of Dang district by the security forces. Bhim Bahadur Kami, 52, and Shivakali Kami, 45, of Chandanath VDC ward No 9 Lasingachaur in Jumla were killed while at home by gunfire emanating from security forces barracks around 7 pm.

Similarly, l50 persons have been killed so far in security operations and of these most were of the Tharu, Dalit and Magar communities. The violence, killings, arrests and disappearances that have taken place in the country have mostly affected the Dalit community, team member Deepak Jung Bishwakarma said.

Task force presents report

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: The task force constituted to carry out a study and present a report on the need and structure of the disabled empowerment commission in order to provide the differently able with services and facilities and equal opportunities presented its report to Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Gore Bahadur Khapangi here today.On the occasion, Minister Khapangi expressed commitment to study and implement the recommendations in the report.The task force constituted under the convenorship of Minister Khapangi had Dr Laxmi Narayan Prasad, Muniswar Pandey, Dipawali Sharma and Kiran Prasad Siwakoti as members.

'Govt-Maoists talk to ensure peace'

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: The talks to be held between the government and the Maoists in the country should be continued and taken to a logical end.

This view was expressed by various speakers at a special function organised by the National Press Club Nepal today on the occasion of the 61st birthday of Kim Jong Il, honorary life member of the club and head of state of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). On the occasion, the speakers expressed the view that taking the government-Maoist talks to its logical end would ensure peace and stability in Nepal. They also stressed that Nepal could learn a great deal from Korea in its initiatives for peace.

Addressing the programme, Assistant Minister for Education and Sports Rabindra Khanal said that the relations between Nepal and DPRK have been cordial ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Ambassador of DPRK to Nepal Jon Song Myong said the initiatives being undertaken for peace in Nepal is praise-worthy.Central president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Taranath Dahal spoke on the partnership between Nepal and the DPRK in promoting world peace.

He said the DPRK was seeking to resolve the threat of war in the world through peaceful means.
The National Press Club Nepal had given honorary life membership to Il and also presented him with the 'Journalism for Peace Award' while he was a teacher of journalism in 1992.A message of best wishes from the Prime Minister was read out on the occasion.Prime Minister Chand has stated in the message that Nepal and DPRK have always remained good friends and expressed common thought in favour of peace throughout the world.At the programme presided over by club president Ram Krishna Karmacharya, fighter for democracy Chandra Shekhar Raghubansha, FNJ Kathmandu branch president Hari Lamsal and secretary of the National Press Club Shiva Bista also expressed their views.

Global philatelic exhibition to be held in Kathmandu

By Indra Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: The total philatelic market in Nepal is comparatively small - with annual transaction put at Rs. 5 million. Last year, the Nepal Philatelic Bureau under the Nepal Postal Services sold stamps worth Rs. 3.54 million, and the remaining by the Nepal Philatelic Society, an organisation of Nepalese philatelists.

Last year, the society sold stamps worth Rs. 1.5 million, said Kedar Shakya, secretary of the society. The society sells both Nepalese and foreign as well as old and new stamps. There are 146 regular buyers of Nepalese stamps in 48 countries. There are another 48 regular Nepalese buyers. These buyers have a permanent account in the Nepal Postal Services. "The stamps are sent to their addresses as soon as the stamps are issued," said Umesh Basnet, in-charge of the bureau. These collectors sell Nepalese stamps in the international market through philatelic societies in the respective countries.

After the establishment of Nepal Philatelic Society in 1966, the philatelic market in the country has been growing. The recently established Philatelic Bureau in Biratnagar has added essence to this profession. Nepal Philatelic Society in coordination with the Nepal Philatelic Bureau is organising an international exhibition in Kathmandu soon. Along with the professional philatelists, a few other amateur collectors are expected to participate.

One of those enthusiasts is Bharat Prasad Yadav, assistant accountant at the Janakpur Cigarette Factory. Popularly known as Hanuman, Yadav started collecting stamps 15 years ago when Devendra Bahadur Shah told him that stamps could be a good source of income. He has since then been collecting every kind of stamp - both cancelled and new. He now has two albums filled with stamps. Because he does not know much about philately, he has kept the stamps in a haphazard manner - not according to the countries and their dates of issue. He does not know how many stamps he has. He does not even know of which country some of the stamps belong to.

Still, he wants to show his collection at the exhibition. As soon as he heard about the exhibition, he came to Kathmandu to register. His main aim is to sell them. But he could be sorely disappointed when he finds that the money will not be according to his expectation as the cancelled stamps usually fetch 20 paisa each. Still, his interest is inspiring.

The number and variety of stamps that are issued every year differ. Last year 11 varieties of stamps were issued while this fiscal year 15 has been proposed. In its 112-year history, the highest denomination of a stamp is Rs. 30 and the lowest two paisa.

Education Day publicity meeting held

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: The meeting of the publicity sub-committee was held at the Ministry of Education and Sports to hold the 28th Education Day in an orderly manner. The sub-committee incorporates chiefs of various directorates, bodies and the government media. A meeting of January 27 chaired by Minister of Education and Sports had constituted five sub-committees for selection of best schools, organising cultural programmes, sports and talk programmes in electronic media and discussed on awarding best articles in newpapers.The slogan this year is 'Four stages of ideal education: Peace, tolerance, good conduct and employment.

Deputy Speaker Yadav on Japan visit

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 12: At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government of Japan, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Chitralekha Yadav reached Tokyo yesterday, for a 7 days visit.Yadav was received at the Narita International Airport by Charge d'Affairs at the Royal Nepalese Embassy Mohan Krishna Shrestha.Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Yadav attended a luncheon hosted by Hiroyasu Izumi, Director of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Division, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.During the meeting, Izumi briefed Yadav about the activities connected with the human rights and humanitarian welfare activities undertaken by the Japanese government in many countries, according to the Royal Nepalese Embassy, Tokyo.Later in the afternoon, Yadav visited Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) headquarters in Tokyo.Toru Taguchi, Managing Director of JICA, welcomed Yadav and briefed her about the JICA activities in Nepal.Yadav, speaking on the occasion, thanked the people and government of Japan for extending continuous economic and technical cooperation to Nepal.

She said that many projects which have been accomplished by Japanese economic cooperation are assuring direct benefit to the Nepalese people in the field of education, health, rural communications, transportation and other areas.She also said that many Nepalese nationals have got the opportunity to have further training in Japan in fields which are quite useful for our cause and expressed her hope that Japanese economic cooperation would be continued in future.Also on Wednesday, Yadav visited Institute of Cultural Affairs in Tokyo. She was welcomed by Shizuyo Sato, Director of ICA and she briefed about the ICA activities in Nepal.Charge d'Affairs Shrestha was present on above occasions.

Peace rally in Kapilvastu

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KAPILVASTU, Feb. 12: Wishing for peace and preservation of human rights, Nepal Human Rights Organisation, Kapilvastu organised a peace rally and mass meeting at Taulihawa yesterday
The rally participated by local students, teachers, businessmen, office workers and human rights activists had passed through different streets of the municipality with banners and placards displaying different anti-violence slogans before turning into a mass meeting.Speaking at the meeting central chairman of the organisation Sudip Pathak said both the government and the Maoists should work honestly to give the present crisis a permanent solution.Former MP Brijesh Kumar Gupta, freedom fighter Dan Bahadur Thapa and others also had spoken on the occasion.