BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

THE NEPALESE GOVERNMENT signed the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-Safety approved by the convention on bio-diversity early last month, the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation said. The protocol aims at checking international trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The technology can be used to improve strains of agricultural crops, prepare vaccines against many diseases and enhance defensive capability for fighting disease, thereby increasing production. But scientists believe that the technology is not fully secure and could have adverse effect on the environment, bio-diversity and human health.

THE NEPAL FOOTBALL FAN Club (NFFC) has congratulated Nepal’s national football team for winning its first ever World Cup qualifying match after they defeated Macau 4-1 in Iraq last week. This is a momentous occasion for Nepali football, Nepali sports and most importantly the over 23 million Nepali football fans around the globe, the club said. There is, however, a great air of sadness for the millions of Nepali football fans who have been gravely deprived of viewing this historic occasion due to the incompetence and apathy of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and Nepal Television (NTV). The ongoing ANFA feud is no excuse for not being able to show the games live on Nepal Television, the club said

THE TOTAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2000/01 has accelerated due mainly to a pick-up in regular expenditure despite a slowdown in development as well as freeze expenditure growth, a report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said. According to the NRB, during the review period an impressive growth of exports accompanied by a comparatively slower growth of imports helped narrow down the trade deficit. Similarly, a significant growth in revenue collection coupled with an impressive growth in foreign cash grant has contributed to the growth of resources mobilization to 19.2 percent compared to 7.8 percent over the same period last year. The export of readymade garments, woolen carpets and jewelry to third countries declined whereas that of pashmina, tanned skin and pulses increased significantly.

NEARLY THREE MILLION CHILDREN in 72 out of 75 districts of the country have been administered Vitamin A during the two-day national Vitamin A Program Friday, officials said. The capsule, administered to children between six months and five years, is part of a government strategy to reduce child mortality, night blindness, measles, chronic diarrhea and severe malnutrition in children. Officials said the program, introduced in 1993, has helped to reduce nearly 30 percent child mortality and has vastly improved the health of Nepali children.

THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT Program (UNDP) has agreed to support a three-year project — Landscape Scale Conservation of Endangered Tiger and Rhinoceros Population — in and around the Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP), reports said. According to UNDP, the project document was signed Madhav Ghimire of the Finance Ministry and Ms. Alessandra Tissot of the UNDP. A separate project cooperation agreement was also signed between the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), the executing agency, and the UNDP for the implementation of the project. Co-funded by the Global Environment Facility, the UN Foundation and UNDP are also supporting the project. More than 100,000 people residing in and around the corridor forest in the area are expected to be directly benefited by the project.

NEPAL HAS MADE CONSIDERABLE progress over the last one decade since the restoration of democracy, a senior government official said. Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat told a meeting of ruling Nepali Congress party workers at Dhangadhi in Kailali Saturday that the blacktopped roads increased from 7,000 km to 14,000 km in the past decade. Similarly, there was an addition of 350 MW of power during this period and some 240,000 telephone lines were installed. The minister said Nepal had made notable progress in the areas of road transportation, health, communications, electricity, among other areas, over this period. Dr. Mahat said the government had introduced the internal security and development plan to intensify development and construction works in the Maoist-affected areas