Investiture ceremony

RSS

KATHMANDU, Jan. 1: Foreign service medals and cash prizes graciously bestowed by His Majesty the King were given away to all ranks of the third, fourth and final batches of the second contingent Gorakh Bahadur Battalion (peace-keeping force) which returned home recently from peace-keeping duty in Sierra Leone, at an investiture ceremony at the Tribhuvan Army Officers' Club, Ganesh Dal Grounds, today by Field Marshal Neer Shumsher JBR.

A total of 401 army personnel, including officers, JCO's and other ranks received the medals at the investiture ceremony.Field Marshal JBR also gave away the foreign service medal to Major General Chitra Bahadur Gurung, who has returned home from New York after completing a two year assignment as military advisor to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Chief of Army Staff General Pyar Jung Thapa and other officers were also present on the occasion.

Chitwan team meets Chand

RSS

KATHMANDU, Jan. 1: An eight member delegation of Chitwan met with Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand yesterday and demanded co-operation from HMG on the plans to build a Paras Central Bus Terminal at Bharatpur Municipality. The Prime Minister assured all possible help to complete the task.

The delegation included MP Rhishibabu Pariyar and RPP central member Bikram Pandey.

PM to arrive in Biratnagar today

RSS

BIRATNAGAR, Jan. 1: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow on a three-day visit to Morang district.Prime Minister Chand will be present at the civic felicitations on Friday of Their Majesties the King and Queen by the people of the Eastern Region.Prime Minister Chand, who is also chancellor of the Purbanchal University, will chair the first convocation ceremony of the university to be held on January 4.

Govt transferring schools to communities: Ojha

RSS

BIRATNAGAR, Jan. 1: Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha has said the government has made arrangements for free school for the backward classes communities and the expense will be borne by the ministry.

He was addressing a programme attended by district education officers, headmasters, and teachers.
He also said the government school are being transferred to the community on experimental basis.
He said the facilities of the teachers will not be curtailed and also directed district education offices to forward the promotion process of primary teachers.

He expressed firm commitment for action on the fake certificate holders. He said he will not contest the elections until he is in the cabinet and will not hesitate to say no to actions that cannot be done.
The presence of Their Majesties the King and Queen in Biratnagar is glorious event for the people of Eastern Region and requested all to participate in the programme.

Also speaking on the occasion were Eastern Regional Education Director Ashok Kumar Aryal, Morang DEO Hira Prasad Dahal, Binod Basu Bhattarai, Professor Dinesh Shrestha, and headmaster of Saraswoti School Dilli Pokharel.The Minister also addressed sports officials at the regional sports development committee office. He called on the sportsmen to participate in the Royal felicitation programme.

Speaking on the occasion were National Sports Council member secretary Binod Shankar Palikhe and president of the eastern sports development committee president Sudhir Aryal. The minister also inspected the felicitation committee secretariat and district education office. Meanwhile, in Bhadrapur, Minister Ojha has urged teachers to not only raise a voice for their rights and well-being but also fulfill their responsibility honestly in increasing the quality of education in government schools on par with the private schools.

Addressing a gathering of headmasters of various public schools in Jhapa district here today, Minister Ojha said an ordinance will be introduced in case the existing act and regulations hinder the enforcement of the 29-point programme announced by the government. He also urged the headmasters, teachers and parents to join the first civic felicitation of Their Majesties to be held in Biratnagar of the Eastern Region on Jan. 3.

Information acquired

RSS

BIRATNAGAR, Jan. 1: Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Gore Bahadur Khapangi today went to the secretariat of Their Majesties the King and Queen Civic Reception and Felicitation Committee and acquired information on the ongoing preparations being made for the civic reception.
Likewise, former prime minister and leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Surya Bahadur Thapa also visited the secretariat today and acquired information on the preparations going on for the civic reception.

Scholarship to Nepalese students discussed

RSS

KATHMANDU, Jan 1: A delegation of university teachers led by Deputy Dean Baochun Chen of Fuzhou University, China paid a courtesy call on Assistant Minister for Education and Sports Rabindra Khanal at latter's office at Keshar Mahal yesterday.Matters of bilateral interest were discussed on the occasion.

Nepalese student Bijaya Jaishi, who is undergoing his Ph. D. course in the same university, also was present on the occasion.Matters about the security and increase of scholarship quotas to be provided to Nepalese students by the university on doctorate courses were also discussed on the occasion.
The Chinese side has given words to provide scholarships to Nepalese students of other levels too and help in the field of educational research.

People in eastern region in euphoria

By A Staff Reporter

BIRATNAGAR, Jan. 1: With the civic reception of Their Majesties the King and Queen only two days away, euphoria has gripped the people of this eastern region. Photographs of Their Majesties are selling for upto Rs.400 in the market. National flags are seen fluttering from every house, shop and pole along the road. Along the main thoroughfares of the city, colorful welcome gates are being erected. The city has been decorated with colorful banners.

The local people, students, businessmen, employees and intellectuals here believe the historic event will help foster ties between the Monarch and the people. "It is an opportunity for the Monarch to know about the woes and aspirations of the common people," says Ashok Kumar Mishra, President of the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs, Biratnagar.

Mishra said that it was the tradition of Nepalese Monarchs to begin their visits of the country from Biratnagar. He said that the three late Kings - Tribhuvan, Mahendra and Birendra - had chosen Biratnagar as the starting point. "It is the right of the King to go to the people," said Din Bandhu Goyal, former president of the Petroleium Dealers' Association, Biratnagar.

He said, "As per our Hindu tradition, there should be relations between the King and the people should be cordial. This type of event will cement such ties." Surya Subedi, an intellectual, holds the view that the Royal Visit is the need of the hour. "Their Majesties should also visit different parts of the country from time to time because this will help bring about changes in the life of the people as well as of the nation," Subedi added. The student community is happy to see the event, said Anju Aryal, a graduate level student. She said that they had seen many positive changes in Biratnagar following the announcement of Their Majesties' visit here.

"Biratnagar has gotten a face-lift. A sanitation campaign has been carried out. Development works have taken place on a war-footing. This all has happened due to the civic reception of Their Majesties," she said. "Their Majesties' visit will revive the hope of the people, who have been utterly frustrated by bad governance in the last 12 years," said Tirtha Parajuli, an employee at the Social Welfare Council, Itahari.

Parajuli said that the Royal visit must be extended to other parts of the country so as to boost development and awareness campaign in every nook and corner of the nation. Meanwhile, building of welcome gates in main streets of Biratnagar sub metropolis for the welcome of Their Majesty the King and the Queen is seen in growing pace. Along with the construction of the welcome gates with special initiative of the various organisations and industrialists and civic society, banana plants have been placed for auspicious decoration on both sides of the streets of the bajar.

Distinguished persons in the celebration committee and general public are busy making preparations for their daura and suruwal, the national dress of Nepal. The sale of clothes for daura, suruwal and coat and shawls, dhaka cap produced by cottage industries have been increased. The sale of banana plants, bamboo and earthen wares have also been increasing.

Arrival of tourists down by 28%

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Jan. 1: The total number of tourists visiting Nepal in 2002 decreased by 28 per cent as compared to the figures in 2001. Tourist arrivals from third countries went down by 36 per cent in comparison to 2001.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), altogether 215,922 visitors from different parts of the world came to Nepal by air in 2002. The number of tourists had stood at 298,456 in 2001. However, the month of December 2002 was good for the Nepalese travel trade industry. The month saw a growth of 20 per cent as compared to the corresponding month of 2001. That month, tourist arrivals from India shot up by a whooping 92 per cent.

A total of 6,722 Indians came to Nepal in December 2002. In the same month in 2001, only 3,505 had visited the country. Indian visitors grew by 2 per cent in 2002 as compared to the previous year. A total of 65,629 Indian visitors travelled to Nepal in 2002, while the number was 64,200 in 2001. Because of the 'Fly n' Win' scratch scheme launched by the NTB and the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC), meets with the press and tour operators under the Destination Nepal Campaign 2002-2003 (DNC-2002-2003) in India, the Indian market, which covered 22 per cent of total arrivals in 2001, took a 30 per cent share in 2002. Besides, attractive packages offered by Indian Airlines and Nepalese entrepreneurs helped increase the number of Indian visitors.

Similarly, the Japanese market showed a constant upward trend during the last seven months of 2002. In December, the number of Japanese tourists increased by 14 per cent as compared to the figure in the same month of 2001. During the month, 2,448 tourists from Japan came to Nepal. Similarly, tourist arrivals from Australia, Austria, Italy, Spain and Taiwan increased by 14 per cent, 27 per cent, 43 per cent, 53 per cent and 72 per cent respectively. But arrivals from other major markets such as the USA, the UK and the Netherlands recorded a slight negative growth. The number of tourists from China, Germany, USA, the UK and the Netherlands decreased by 21 per cent, 20 per cent, 4 per cent, 18 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.

Some of the factors responsible for the decline in tourist arrivals included general slackness in the tourism internationally, negative publicity by the international media about Nepal, the Maoist violence and political instability in the country.