Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

AS THE GENERAL ELECTIONS have been postponed as per His Majesty the King's royal promulgation on Saturday, the scheduled election program under six phases which would otherwise have been begun Friday, have been put off, the Election Commission said.

"NAVA RATRI" or the nine night-long festival of Bada Dasain, the great festival of the Nepalese, kicked off from Monday. The first day of Bada Dasain festival is called "ghatasthapana." On this day, Hindus worship diyo (an oil-fed lamp), kalas (auspicious jar) and lord Ganesh in accordance with vedic rituals and sow maize and barley seeds in a jar filled with soil and cow dung for germination of the auspicious jamara (barley shoots). The golden barley shoots and the auspicious tika are given by parents to their children and by elders to their juniors on the tenth day of the Bada Dasain festival with blessings for peace, progress and prosperity.

EXPERTS FROM THE region have warned that modern concrete buildings in the cities have endangered historic monuments and rich heritage of the countries in South Asia. Experts and professionals taking part in the first two-day South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Architecture (SAARCH) in the Nepalese capital said Kathmandu presented a striking example of such a mess. One of the organizers and President of the Society of Nepalese Architects (SONA), D. N. Gongol, said that the conference would adopt Kathmandu declaration for heritage conservation calling for conservation for heritage to promote tourism. King Gyanendra inaugurated the conference here Thursday.

THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT Bank (ADB) has approved US$ 30 million loan assistance to Nepal (worth Rs 2.34 billion) to help improve access of the poor, ethnic and backward communities in the country in the secondary level education, Kantipur daily reported. The Secondary Education Assistance Project, that will be implemented between 2002-08, will be launched in all 75 districts of the country but focus on ten backward districts. Of the total project cost of Rs 5.83 billion, the government of Denmark has provided a loan worth Rs 2.34 billion while the HMG/Nepal will chip in Rs 1.15 billion, said Kavita Sherchan, PRO at the ADB's Kathmandu office.

EVEREST De CARGO, a Kathmandu-based cargo company, has been appointed as the General Service Provider (GSP) in Nepal for Federal Express Corporation, USA. Managing director of Everest De cargo, Rabindra Man Singh, said that his company was associated with FedEx, the world's largest courier service, for the last nine years and the new affiliation would place it in a better position of promote its business activities. Inaugurating the GSP office at Kantipath Tuesday, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Ravi Bhakta Shrestha, said the recognition of a Nepali cargo company by a leading global company was a matter of pride for the Nepalese business community.

A TOTAL OF 230 women have been rescued in the border region of Pashupatinagar by the local unit of Maiti Nepal, a non-governmental anti-trafficking organization. Young woman and girls from 28 districts have been rescued with the help of Police thanks to its volunteers manning the border, reports said. Fifteen women from various villages in Ilam, however, have recently been sold into slavery, bringing the total missing from Ilam up to 40. The women reported missing and sold via the eastern entrance of Pashupatinagar are from Dolkha, Sankhuwasabha, Kavre, Bhojpur, and from Nuwakot to Baitadi. Many innocent women who are sold are never rescued, according to Maiti Nepal co-coordinator Hom Dhakal. The organization has also handed over the culprits involved behind the trafficking business to police. They have been deported to Kathmandu for necessary criminal action against them. Maiti Nepal, led by noted social worker Anuradha Koirala, also runs a transit house in the eastern region of this border area.

The World Hindu Federation (WHF) Nepal has taken a strong exception to remarks recently made by a leader of Unified Marxist Leninist regarding the tradition of Kumari-the living Goddess — in the country. Bidya Devi Bhandari, former member of parliament recently remarked that the tradition suppressed and victimized women and that it should be done away with. In a press statement signed by Bharat Keshar Singh, the acting president of the WHF-Nepal, the federation has criticized Bhandari for making remarks that will hurt the sentiments of hundreds of thousands of people. "The only Hindu Kingdom of the world, Nepal has unique culture and identity. Making uncalled for remarks against the culture without giving deep thought could trigger divisions in society," the statement reads. Kumari has been traditionally regarded as the living incarnate of Taleju Bhawani Goddess. The tradition of worshipping Kumari is one of the ancient ones in the Kathmandu valley.

Gerard Baumont, the Honorary Royal Nepalese Consul Geneal in Toulouse, France hosted a reception on September 25, 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of His Majesty the King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. Baumont is also the chairman of the French Chapter of King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC). The reception was attended by governor of the district, two former French ambassadors to Nepal, high ranking officials and nine Nepalese citizens living in the Southwest area. Meanwhile, a Nepalese national Minesh Poudel was awarded with the FASIA award by the French Aeronautic and Space Institute in Toulouse.