Their Majesties visit Kamaksha Temple

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KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: Their Majesties the King and Queen visited the Kamaksha Temple at Kanchipuram of India today and performed worship there.

According to Nepal Television, the temple is located 74 kilometres south west of Chennai.
After the worship, Their Majesties went to Kamakoti Shankaracharya Maath at Kanchipuram and familiarised themselves with the Maath.

Best wishes extended

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KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: By command of His Majesty the King, chief of the Royal Household Sardar Sharada Prasad Pradhan went to the residence of the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Zamir Akram at Tangal today and extended best wishes on behalf of His Majesty the King on the occasion of the National Day of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Nepal should always protect monarchical culture

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KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: His Majesty the King unveiled the statue of Adi Shankaracharya at the premises of the Sri Chandra Shekharendra Saraswoti University at Inarthu of Kanchipuram, India, Sunday.

Her Majesty the Queen was present on the occasion.

Their Majesties were welcomed at the function by Jagatguru Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswoti of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peeth, his heir Bijayendra Saraswoti and the University Chancellor.

The Shankaracharya statue is 60 ft. high and was carved out of a 100-ton rock by famous indian artist B. M. Istabadi. Their Majesties also planted saplings at the site. Their Majesties also inspected the various Departments of the University.The Jagatguru informed His Majesty about various aspects of the university.The university is being run under a trust and has studies being conducted on engineering, bio-technology, arts and theology.Nepalese students have also been studying at the university.

Hindus of the world over have high esteem towards the Hindu King of the only Hindu Kingdom in the world.In India, which is a predominantly Hindu country, Indian people have immense respect towards His Majesty as a Hindu King.The King has an important place in the Hindu philosophy and Aryan culture and all Hindus regard the King of Nepal as a Hindu Monarch.In this connection, the Jagatguru while talking to Nepal Television, said His Majesty is an immensely respectable personality for all the Hindus.

He said the King shows the country a right path and added many countries of the world are faced with instability in the name of democracy and politics. He said there is no meaning of democracy without a King.The Jagatguru said as the King is the best teacher, the Kingdom of Nepal should always protect monarchical culture.Heir to the Shankaracharya, Bijayendra Saraswoti said all the Hindus have high respect towards the King of Nepal.Hindu religion gives a message of peace to the world and teaches that others should in no way be harmed, he said, adding His Majesty is the source of faith for publicising the ancient religion.

The role of the Royal Family has been important in the promotion of Hindu religion, he said, adding it is a matter of great pride to have initiated the golden jubilee peetharohan ceremony of the great Shankaracharya from the only Hindu King of the world.

Pun calls upon parties to participate in peace process

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KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: Minister for Physical Planning and Works and Convenor of the government team for talks with the Maoists Narayan Singh Pun has called upon the political parties to eschew party interests and take part in the peace process to restore sustainable peace in the country as desired by the common people. Inaugurating the 29th convention of the Nepal Magar Association Kathmandu District Committee here today, Minister Pun said that as confrontation during the last seven years had claimed the lives of almost seven and a half thousand people, the present government was serious about preventing the killings and violence in the country. He said, "The government expects cooperation from all the political parties as well as civic society in this regard." The government had not yet expanded its team for peace talks so that representation in it of the political parties and civic society could be ensured, Minister Pun added. Making it clear that the demands for a Constituent Assembly, an interim government and a round table conference put forth by the Maoists would not resolve the problems faced by the people, he said, "The country could move along the path of development only after resolving the problems of women who constitute 51 per cent of the population, the 35 per cent comprising the indigenous people and nationalities, 20 per cent of oppressed classes and the poor account for 60 per cent.

Stating that the process of dialogue between the government and the Maoists was moving ahead with confidence, he said, "talks cannot be held by calling everybody out to the Tudikhel grounds. It has its own norms."The talks were not for winning or losing but for seeking consensus for resolving the problems, Minister Pun made it clear. Former minister Balaram Ghartimagar said that the loss of life and property in the past should also be included in the agenda of the peace talks.Devendra Rokka presided over the programme. The convention will elect a new leadership for the next two years.

TB control programme govt's top priority: PM

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KATHMANDU, Mar. 24: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has said that His Majesty's Government has put the tuberculosis control programme as a special priority sector programme and was implementing it accordingly.

In a message on the occasion of the World TB Day-2003 Prime Minister Chand has said that His Majesty's Government has, in coordination with health institutions and non-governmental organisations, made available effective medicines for the diagnosis and treatment of TB to all 75 districts free of cost.

The Prime Minister has heartily requested all the persons to extend cooperation in the TB control programme by taking people with symptoms of the disease to the nearest health post.
In view of the seriousness of the disease, His Majesty's Government has made some changes in the strategies of the Tuberculosis Control Programme, Prime Minister Chand said in the message, adding the DOTS strategy, which was started as a model in four districts of the Kingdom in 1996, has now been expanded to all the 75 districts.

The success gained by Nepal in the sector has been lauded by both national and international community, the message reads.

He has also wished speedy recovery to all the Nepali brothers and sisters with TB.

In a message on the same occasion, Minister for Health Dr. Upendra Devkota has called upon all to visit the nearest health agency if any symptoms of tuberculosis is seen and not to hide the disease.
He has urged people with the disease to take medicines regularly on the advise of the doctors and save oneself and others from the disease.

His Majesty's Government has taken the TB control programme as a special priority programme and enforced the DOTS strategy throughout the Kingdom, Health Minister Devkota said in the message, adding since the efforts of the government alone would not be sufficient in effectively implementing the programme and in making it successful, the programme is being implemented at the local level and the problems encountered in the process at the local level itself in cooperation with the dots committee.

Secretary at the Ministry of Health Mahendra Nath Aryal, in a message on the occasion, said all the government and non-government organisations should cooperate in the effective implementation of the Tuberculosis Control Programme.

Acting Director General of the Department of Health Dr. Laxmi Raj Pathak in a similar message on the occasion said that the cooperation of all the sectors of the society was essential in the successful implementation of the DOTS programme.

Director of the National Tuberculosis Centre and the SAARC Tuberculosis Centre Dr. Dirgha Singh Bam said that the message of this year's World TB Day slogan 'DOTS cured me- it will cure you too!' is that the inner feelings of the TB patients who have been cured by the DOTS procedure reach out to their fellow TB patients and the society at large.

PM's private secretariat refutes report

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KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: The Prime Minister's private secretariat has made it clear that there is no truth in a news item concerning the public inspection and follow up team carried by today's edition of the 'Nepal Samacharpatra' daily.

In a press release today, the secretariat has clarified that the Prime Minister has not given such directives to the Nepal Trade Union Congress as reported by the daily.

The secretariat expresses its regret that an imaginary and misleading news item has been carried by a responsible daily newspaper, the press release reads.

Govt to repair telecom towers

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NEPALGUNJ, Mar. 23: Minister for Information and Communications and General Administration Ramesh Nath Pandey has said the government is committed to restoring communications services by repairing damaged telecommunications towers and buildings in the Mid-Western Region.
Minister Pandey, who was inspecting the regional office of the Nepal Telecommunications Corporations here today, directed the concerned officers to inform the centre about work which it is not possible to carry out from the local level.

He pointed out the need to make services swift and speedy in the context of private sector involvement in telecommunications.

Some of the Corporations which were in profit in the past and paid revenue to government have now collapsed due to administrative weaknesses, he said and called on the employees to work with special responsibility to save the Telecommunications Corporation from such a plight.

Regional director of the corporation Amod Mani Dixit said the corporation incurred Rs. 3,300, 000 in losses monthly after the damaging of the towers and buildings at Rajapur, Jumla, Kalikot and Bijuwar.
Minister Pandey also gave directives to office chiefs in Banke district and said that the government plans to amend the civil service act to make the employees more responsible.

He also called for special attention to expediting development work during peaceful times.

CDO Dilli Raj Joshi called for amendment in the act to incorporate all the employees.

Pandey also inspected the Nepal Television Regional Transmission Centre at Kohalpur and called on the employees to produce and transmit interesting and investigative programming.

NTV regional chief Man Bahadur Ghale called for a committee to run the centre smoothly.

Minister Pandey also inspected the Regional Media Resource Centre where coordinator Rajanshri Chhatkuli informed him about the activities of the centre.

HMG eager to hold election soon: Pradhan

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KAVREPALANCHOK, Mar. 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Mahesh Lal Pradhan declared open the fourth general convention and general meeting of the Dhulikhel Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Saturday.

On the occasion, he said since the present government is totally free from greed for power, it would hand over to an elected government once some of its designated tasks are completed.

His Majesty's Government is very much eager to hold the general election as soon as possible, he said and made it clear that the political and economic condition of the country would be strong only with the strengthening of the national economy.

Acting president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Binod Bahadur Shrestha said the politicians should work for the welfare and well-being of the people and the country.

Vice-Chancellor of Kathmandu University Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma said that since the country's economy could be changed for the better through the medium of education, industries and businesses should endeavour to produce skilled and morally upright entrepreneurs.

At the programme presided over by president of Dhuilikhel Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nemlal Shrestha, various speakers including second vice president of the FNCCI Rajendra Khetan, third vice president Chandi Raj Dhakal and president of the association of District Development Committees Nepal Krishna Prasad Sapkota also expressed their views.

Next meet to expedite refugee verification

By Bhuwaneshor Sharma

KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: The 13th round of the Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) meeting on repatriation of Bhutanese refugees will focus on expediting the verification process and categorisation by the Joint Verification Team (JVT).

Foreign Minister Narendra Bikram Shah will lead the Nepalese delegation to the meeting scheduled for March 24 and 25 in the Bhutanese capital.

"Our efforts will be to undo obstacles that have appeared in the verification and categorisation process and expedite the process," Foreign Minister Shah told The Rising Nepal, Sunday. The categorisation and verification may go side by side after the MJC meet, he added.

The Nepal-Bhutan JVT team, which is presently categorising the 12,000 refugees who have been verified at Khudunabari, one of the seven UNHCR-administered camps in south eastern Nepal, will submit its results to the ministerial meeting, Shah said.

The meeting will also discuss starting the verification process in the remaining refugee camps and repatriation of the catagorised refugees, he added. He also hoped that the repatriation will start after the 13th MJC meeting.

Official sources said that the JVT has finished categorising 750 families out of a total of 1,933. The categorisation was to be completed before the 13th round of the MJC meeting.

The two countries had agreed to categorise the refugees into four categories - bona fide Bhutanese, non-Bhutanese, those with criminal records and those who had left Bhutan voluntarily - during the third ministerial-level talks in 1993.

A six-member JVT of the Nepalese side has been in Bhutan to undertake the categorisation process since a month. Sushil Sumsher Rana, joint secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, with five other Nepalese has been in Thimpu since a month.

The 12th round of the MJC meet in Kathmandu last month had decided to resume the pending works of the JVT in Bhutan from February 24. The work of categorising had been pending although the JVT had finished verifying the 1,933 refugee families in Khudunabari about 14 months before the 12th round of the MJC meet.

Categorisation was delayed due to the frequent postponement of the 12th round of the Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) meeting.

There are more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees of ethnic Nepalese origin living in seven UNHCR-administered camps in east Nepal. They fled the Land of Thunder Dragon in the last 13 years to escape ethnic cleansing.

Withdrawal of govt decision on vehicles demanded

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Mar. 23: Four travel trade associations have demanded that the government withdraw its decision to allow only a set number of vehicles to operate on certain days as this has hit the tourism industry hard.

"Since the new provision has hindered the entire tourism industry at a time when it is showing positive signs, we urge the government to issue passes for private vehicles owned by the travel trade entrepreneurs," reads a press statement issued today.

On Friday, the government decided to curtail the number of vehicles plying on the roads. Under the decision, vehicles with odd numbers are allowed to ply on odd days and those with even numbers on even days, according to Nepali calendar. The provision is applicable to all vehicles, except vehicles of health sector and security forces.

The associations making the demand are Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), Travel Agents Association of Nepal (NATA), Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) and Rafting Agents Association of Nepal (NARA).

SAARC meet to assess war impact demanded

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Mar. 23: A Nepalese diplomat has demanded that an emergency ministerial meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) be called immediately in order to assess the impact of the Gulf War in the region.

"The on-going war in Iraq will have adverse impact on the South Asian countries as people from the region comprise the largest number of workers in the Gulf. Therefore, an emergency SAARC-level ministerial meeting must be called to mitigate possible negative impacts," Yadav Kant Silwal, former Secretary General of SAARC, said at an interaction 'Gulf War and Security of Nepalese' organised by Press Chautari Kathmandu here today.

Nepal is currently chairing the SAARC and Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand is its chairman.
Stating that Nepal annually earns Rs. 30 billion in remittances from Nepalese working in the Gulf countries, the former envoy said that the war would definitely affect this flow of money into Nepal.
"The South Asian nations had unitedly raised voice for the role of the United Nations. The coalition forces, led by the United States, is waging war on Iraq by marginalising the Security Council," he said.

CPN-UML Standing Committee member Jhalanath Khanal said there should not be any delay to bring back those Nepalese workers who want to return.

Stating that the war was showing its effect on the economy and life of the people across the world, the UML leader said that the problem should be resolved through peaceful means, not by resorting to violence and force.

"Nepal should take a stance to avert this war, which is not justifiable," Khanal said.

The war will, undoubtedly, affect Nepalese workers there, said former Nepalese envoy to Saudi Arabia Surendra Bahadur Shrestha.

Many Nepalese, who had gone there by taking heavy loans, must now be facing the trauma of the war. "We cannot evacuate all the Nepalese. But we have the responsibility to help those who want to return."

Shrestha was ambassador there during the Gulf War in 1991. At that time, Royal Nepalese Airlines flew to Jordan and brought back those Nepalese who want to come back.

Shrestha was also ambassador to Iraq. "But I could not meet Saddam Hussein as I had no credentials to submit," he said.

President of Press Chautari Kathmandu K.P. Gautam said that the programme was organised to draw the attention of the concerned bodies on the impacts of the war on the Nepalese currently living in the Gulf countries.