His Majesty gives away RNA prizes

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev gave away Pragya Puraskar and prizes to the winners of the National Poems Recitation Festival 2059 of the Royal Nepal Academy (RNA) at a special function held at the Narayanhity Royal Palace this morning.

Senior literary figure Kamalmani Dixit received Mahendra Pragya Puraskar of 2058 and senior singer Koili Devi Mathema the Indra Rajyalaxmi Puraskar.

Dixit received the Mahendra Pragya Puraskar of Rs. 100,000 with a silver medal for his remarkable contribution in the Nepali literature through Nepali literature and culture for the last five decades.
Mahendra Pragya Puraskar is provided in every two year.

Mathema received the Indrarajya Laxmi Puraskar of Rs. 50,000 with a silver medal for her remarkable contributions in Nepali music. Indra Rajya Laxmi Pragya Puraskar is provided every year.

Nab Raj Lamsal of Dhading received a prize of Rs. 10,000 and a certificate, Radhakrishna Bhattarai of Sarlahi Rs. 6,000 and a certificate and Tank Bhattarai of Khotang, Pratibha Bohora of Kapilvastu and Shailendra Shinkhada of Dhading received Rs. 3,000 and certificate.

Nab Raj Lamsal of Dhading stood first, Radhakrishna Bhattarai of Sarlahi second and Tank Bhattarai of Khotang, Pratibha Bohora of Kapilvastu and Shailendra Sinkhada of Dhading stood third in the National Poems Recitation Festival 2059 organised on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Royal Nepal Academy.

On the occasion, Vice Chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy Mohan Koirala said the academy has been the glorious centre of the Nepali literature due to the patronage of the monarchy since its establishment.

Member secretary of the academy Dr. Tulasi Bhattarai shed light on the contributions of the Monarchy in development of Nepali arts, literature and culture.

The Royal Nepal Academy was established in 2014 B.S.

About 600 books and half dozen journals have been published by the Royal Nepal Academy, it is stated.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kuber Prasad Sharma and academicians were present at the function.

HM gives away Mahendra Bidhyabhusan

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev gave away Mahendra Bidhyabhushan "A", "B" and "C" to various persons at a special function held at the Narayanhity Royal Palace this morning on the occasion of the 28th Education Day.

A total of 150 persons including 94 have received Mahendra Bidhyabhushan "A", 31 "B" and 25 persons received Mahendra Bidhyabhushan "C" this year.

The Mahendra Bidhyabhushan "A" is given to those who have completed Phd degree, "B" to those who have secured the highest marks in Masters degree and "C" securing highest marks in Bachelors degree.

Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha and senior officials of the Ministry of Education were also present on the occasion.

NAM nations must foster common interest
Chand addresses 13th Summit in Kuala Lumpur

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has said that the Non-Aligned Movement has an urgent duty to seriously address the problems of developing countries and defend their common interests, with meaningful and synergistic partnership among themselves and with developed countries.

Prime Minister Chand was addressing the l3th Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement which started in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, today.

Chand said that the Non-Aligned Movement must join hands for the implementation of the pledges made by the international community, and that efforts should be made to ensure effective fulfillment of collective commitments on the eradication of poverty, creation of a fair world trading regime and adequate financing for development in a sustainable manner, with a special focus on the needs of the least developed countries.

In the face of dwindling Official Development Assistance (ODA) and lack of other comparable resources, it is imperative for the development partners to stand by their commitments to meet the agreed targets, he said adding, developed nations should also provide deeper debt relief and open their markets for developing countries, particularly the least developed ones.

Pointing out that most of the non-aligned countries, which are also developing countries, are struggling to eradicate poverty through sustained and accelerated economic growth, he said inadequate resources as well as the lack of capacity and fair mechanisms to cash in on the virtues of globalisation stand firm as obstacles.

Scourges of HIV/AIDS and other diseases have complicated their problems, the least developed countries are in a further precarious situation, and if they are also landlocked, their misery becomes intractable, he observed.

Earlier, remarking that the on going summit bears special significance as it is the first in the new century, Chand said this is yet another opportunity to renew our pledge to collectively work towards achieving the common goals of peace, security, development and justice, and that more than anything, it is also an opportunity for the movement to reposition itself firmly in the changing global political and economic environment.

The hard-earned momentum of the post-cold-war era continues to be arrested by the frustrating waves of recession and terrorism, ethnic strife and complex conflicts and religious intolerance, he said adding, a general sense of financial and social insecurity prevails especially among the developing coutnries.

The threat to global peace and security continues to haunt us, he said.

Pointing out that the situation with regard to disarmament of Iraq has become one of the most challenging issues that confront us today, he said it has been the movement's continuous position to advocate peaceful solutions to all problems.

In the interest of world peace and stability, Nepal would like to see all obligations regarding weapons of mass destruction fulfilled as well as all diplomatic avenues exchausted before any military options are mandated, he said.

He also hoped that a durable solution will be worked out from all sides to prepare the necessary ground work to enable Israel and Palestine to live as neighbours within secure and recognised boundaries.

We earnestly welcome and support every effort that helps build an environment conducive for a peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula, he further said.

Observing that terrorism steals the peace and the prospects of prosperity of citizens and societies alike, and that it moves across borders, corrodes the unity of sovereign states, undermines their political stability, drains their economic potentials and devours the fabric of societies, he said it must be condemned in all its forms and manifestations, and curbed at all levels.

"In my own country in the past few years, we went through a period of large-scale violence directed against civilian lives and properties, government installations and development infrastructure", he said adding, "despite the efforts of the government to protect the citizens, violence reached such a proportion that scheduled elections to the representative House of Parliament could not be held".
His Majesty's Government has now initiated a process of peace in the country and the people are experiencing a sense of security, he stated.

In conclusion, Chand said that since its inception, the Non-Aligned Movement had been a beacon of hope for countries under colonial domination and a harbinger of independence and freedom in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As a founder member of the movement, Nepal is convinced that no other forum provides a better avenue for the movement's success than the United Nations, he observed adding, our movement must, therefore continue to work in unity to strengthen the United Nations-the only world organisation which is the true pivot of multi-lateralism.

In this way, we can turn our movement into a force for change to build a better world, he said.
Earlier today, the summit was opened by outgoing chairman of the movement Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

The chairmanship was handed over to Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Also today Prime Minister Chand held separate bilateral meetings, on the sidelines of the summit, with Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, and Bounngang Vorachit, Prime Minister of Lao PDR.

Lao PDR is the current chair of the group of land-locked developing countries.

Matters relating to bilateral relations as well as NAM and issues of other international significance were discussed during those meetings.

Nepal's permanent representative to the UN Murari Raj Sharma, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Thailand Janak Bahadur Singh and Foreign Secretary Madhuraman Acharya were present during the meetings.

This afternoon, Prime Minister Chand attended a luncheon hosted by the Prime Minister of Malaysia at Putra World Trade Centre.

Keep education out of politics, says DPM

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal, who is also looking after the Prime Minister's portfolios, presented the Birendra Education National Shield, flag, prizes and certificates to community and institutional schools topping the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) Examinations-2002 at a programme organised here today.

The schools bagging the national shield are Tarun Secondary School, Balaju among community schools and Graded English Medium School (GEMS), Khumaltar, Kathmandu among institutional schools.

The prize carries a purse of Rs. 100,000.

Minister Ojha also presented the Birendra Education Regional Shield, flag, certificate and cash awards to community and private schools topping the SLC examinations at the regional level.
The prize carrying a purse of Rs. 50,000/ each was received by Saraswati Secondary School, Sunsari (Eastern Region), Biswaniketan Secondary School, Kathmandu (Central Region), Siddhartha Secondary School, Syangja (Western Region), Janata Secondary School, Pyuthan (Mid-Western) and Laxmi Secondary School (Far Western Region) among the community schools.

Likewise, those awarded among private schools are Little Flowers English School, Jhapa (Eastern Region), Birendra Army Residential Secondary School, Bhaktapur (Central), Gandaki Boarding School, Kaski (Western), Dipshikha Boarding School (Mid-Western) and Aishwarya Niketan Secondary School, Kailali (Far-Western).

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Mandal said His late Majesty King Birendra's contribution to the education sector is incomparable and Education Day would be incomplete without remembering His late Majesty.

Stating that the education sector should be kept aloof from anomalies and abberrations, Mandal said it should be developed into a centre of peace and not politics.

Education Minister Devi Prasad Ojha said as a large number of children are yet to gain access to education, His Majesty's Government is enforcing the 29-point educational reforms programme to bring an end to this situation.

Member of the Raj Parishad Standing Committee Swami Dr Prapannacharya, Assistant Minister for Education Rabindra Khanal and other speakers also expressed their views on the occasion.

On the occasion Education Minister Ojha and Assistant Minister Khanal presented the shield and prizes to regions and schools winning in athletics and volleyball.

Likewise, Dr Prapannacharya presented Rs. 50,000 and a certificate to Jahit Secondary School, Mustang in the remote region.

Admn must ensure peace, stresses Pandey

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KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: Minister for Information and Communications and General Administration Ramesh Nath Pandey has emphasised the need for the administration to guarantee peace to the people in context of the restoration of peace in the country.

Speaking at the evaluation meeting here today on implementation of the immediate relief programmes announced by His Majesty's Government, Minister Pandey said the programme would be reviewed, considering the changing situation of the country.

Minister Pandey, who chaired the meeting, pointed out the need to accelerate development work and said that the people should feel that they have benefited from the peace restored in the country.
Expressing the view that the progress report presented at the meeting was not appropriate in terms of the changed context, Minister Pandey said that the existing style of presenting progress reports should be changed.

The international community has expressed interest in reconstruction of the damaged development infrastructure, Pandey said adding that the concerned bodies should be involved in the implementation programme for development and construction work.

Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr Shanker Prasad Sharma had presented the progress report.

Ministers, NPC members and secretaries of different ministries were present at the meeting.
His Majesty's Government had announced the immediate relief programme on November 14, 2002.

Experts expect WTO to be key issue at NAM Summit

By Rajkumar K.C.

KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: The ongoing 13th Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) Summit, being held in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to be 'very crucial' in bolstering the South-South Cooperation to protect the economic interest of developing and least developing nations (LDCs) across the world.

Keeping the political agenda aside, emerging economies, out of 116 NAM members, are pinning high hopes that the 13th NAM Summit would find a solution to mitigate the unwanted pressure of globalisation from the developed economies.

If the summit fails to thrash out some resolutions to protect the economic interests of the world's developing nations, it will just become a ritual, says Prof. Mohan Prasad Lohani, a former ambassador. "The position of developing economies in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will be the focus of the summit this time," Prof. Lohani says.

The WTO is a rule-based system. Free and fair trade are its fundamentals. However, developing and LDCs are not in a position to compete with developed world. Economists say that free and fair trade is possible among the nations with equal economic strength. This is high time to raise common voice to safeguard the economic interests of poor nations in the world trade regime, they say.

The WTO and globalisation, according to analysts, are the major factors that have created difference between developed and developing economies.

The WTO, reduction of international tax, capital flow, trade barriers and labour issues will be main issues for discussion in the summit, experts believe.

Economists say higher international tax on global capital flows has put pressure on the developing economies. It has narrowed down their competitive edge. Volatile capital flows, according to economists had sparked successive financial crises in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, which must be checked to prevent severe disruption of developing economies.

The economic situation of LDCs like Nepal, Bangladesh and many other African countries is more vulnerable. NAM could be the best forum to protect the interest of the LDCs, said Hiranyalal Shrestha, a political analyst and foreign relations expert.

Economic disparity is the only reason of terrorism and war; Shrestha said adding, "If the disparity is narrowed down there will be no problem of terrorism or war." How can LDCs compete with rich economy in terms of export and import of goods? Hence, the NAM should find a way in this regard, he said.

According to a report, ten million people are annually joining the ranks of the poor and more than one billion are surviving on under a dollar a day. If the international tax is lowered, it can be used as seed money a global poverty alleviation fund.

Prof. Guna Nidhi Sharma expects that the 13th NAM Summit would take a different turn to promote the interests of third world economies. Third world strategy on economic matter is likely this time, he said.

Prof. Sharma thinks that the summit would find some leeway for LDCs in the world trade. This will help the countries like Nepal, he said.

Nepal is in the process of joining the WTO. If it fulfills some requirements on customs the membership would be granted before the Mexico summit to be held in September.

A high-ranking official at the Ministry of Commerce and Industries is optimistic about more leeway after the NAM summit.

Yogi Naraharinath hospitalised

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Feb.24: Yogi Naraharinath, the vociferous advocate for safeguarding the cultural, tradition, and religious interests of the Nepalese, is in critical condition due to high blood pressure, pneumonia, diabetes and infection in his right leg.

The 92-year-old advocate of humanity is presently undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Bir Hospital. Dr. Sital Adhikari of the Hospital, who is involved in the treatment of Yogi, told the Gorkhapatra, sister organisation of The Rising Nepal today that his health condition was improving gradually. Doctors are hopeful about an early recovery of the Yogi, who had fallen sick while preparing for his 129th Kotihom, a grand religious ceremony, at Basamadi of Makawanpur district.
Dr. Adhikari said that he showed some signs of recovery in his diabetes problem since yesterday. The Yogi is being providing oxygen and liquid diet through pipe to.

Earlier, doctors of the Birendra Army Hospital, Chhauni had been provided medical treatment to Yogi at the Pushupati Aryaghat Sewa Kendra.

Yogi Naraharinath, whose real name is Balbir Singh Thapa, was born in 1971 B.S. at Lalu Village Development Committee of Kalikot district in the mid-western Nepal. Due to his sharp mind and a keen sense, a noted sage of that time called Chandannath Mathaka Mahanth Shipranath had taken him under his care at the age of 9 assuring that he would take care of his education and upbringing.
At the age of 13, Naraharinath was initiated as a Yogi. In 1996 B. S. he had already gone through the sacred verses of various religions and philosophies from Guru Chhipranath at Gorakhanath Math in India. Then he went to Haridwar for his higher education in grammar and philosophy.

Yogi Naraharinath, who is the member of the Raj Parishad Standing Committee, has several books and translations on history, culture and architecture to his credit. He is the founder member of Spiritual Council, Karmabir Mahamandal and the World Hindu Federation.

Recognising his talent, Brijlal Kedia Hindu University has decided to run a faculty to honour Yogi Naraharinath. The academicians will decide about the name of faculty to be established in his name, a press statement of the University issued today said.

National Museum needs urgent reforms

By Bishnu Prasad Aryal

KATHMANDU, Feb. 24: Specimens at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) are in danger due to lack of a suitable storeroom for them.

The museum, the only one of its kind in the country, was set up in 1975 to preserve the natural heritage. A property of Tribhuvan University (TU), it occupies only 360 square metres of space and has not been expanded since although the number of specimens has grown five-folds. Because of the congestion, the animals, birds, reptiles and plants are heaped atop each other.

"It's been 29 years and the space in the one-storied building has not expanded an inch," said Keshab Shrestha, director of the NMNH and associate professor of Botany at TU. Due to lack of space, taxidermy procedures and materials as well as the specimens of rare and endangered species are at risk of being damaged, he said.

The museum has a collection of about 60 per cent of the biodiversity recorded in the country. Although it began small, it now has 55,000 specimens out of 15,791 identified species of flora and fauna of plants, animals and fossils, including rare, endemic, endangered and vulnerable ones. They have been collected from nearly 60 districts of the country, from the tropical lowlands to the alpine meadows.

A Rs. 260 million's master plan is in the offing to upgrade and improve the museum. TU has provided 10 hectares of land for the construction of the building on its premises. "Should the government put it in its priority list, some foreign agencies have already shown interest to help," he said.

According to the NMNH, Fuhlrott Museum and Research Institute of Germany is interested in cooperating with Nepal and is already preparing the master plan. A team, being led by its director Dr. Prof. Hermann Schliech is arriving here in May to unveil the master plan.

This, however, is not the first master plan the Natural History Museum has formulated. Two other master plans were made in the past to build a hall big enough to carry out the activities of a museum under one roof - collection, preservation, exhibition and interpretation of the natural and cultural objects of our environment. "However, they did not materialise due to lack of sufficient response from the governments and the university," said Shrestha.

The museum's gallery has a permanent exhibition of the acquired specimens showing the evolution of mankind in a bid to share and disseminate knowledge to students, general visitors and tourists. "It is indeed a paradox that Nepalese students must go to Indian museums to study about the flora and fauna found in Nepal," said Shrestha.

Some of Nepal's endemic species are on display in foreign lands such as Rhinoceros unicornis in New York, Lophorous impejanus (danfe) and Boss grannies (yak) in the UK. Brian Hodgson (1824-48) collected 9,512 birds of 663 species, of which 150 were new to science and 1,000 skins of mammals, reptiles and fishes from Nepal and deposited them in the National Museum of London.

Many others, too, collected birds from Nepal and took them home.

In more recent times, Flemings (1946-1976) collected a very large number of birds from Nepal and brought out an outstanding book entitled "Birds of Nepal". But unfortunately his collections can only be seen at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, not at the NMNH of Nepal.

Since the last 15 years, the museum is taken as the scientific authority on fauna by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is an international agreement signed by more than 140 countries of the world to control the illegal trade in rare and endangered species of animals and their parts.