Briefs (Spotlight Weekly)

Crown Prince Paras (middle) with U19 cricket players and sports officials

CROWN PRINCE PARAS BIR BIKRAM SHAH DEV awarded cash prizes to all the members of the Under 19 Nepalese national cricket team, which had last week won the Asia Cup tournament in Karachi, Pakistan. Each player received cash prize of Rs 25,000 on behalf of the government.

THE GOVERNMENT IS CURRENTLY DRAFTING CYBER LAWS to regularize and promote the use of Information Technology in the economic development of the country. Experts had been raising demands for such laws claiming that would promote the e-business. In the draft law, there is a provision for Rs 50,000 penalty and 6 months in jail for hackers.

ACCORDING TO THE NEPAL RASTRA BANK (NRB), total deposits at the banks in the country have increased by two fold in the last five years to reach whopping Rs 202 billion. Among the total deposits, Rs 96 billion is in savings account followed by Rs 65 billion in fixed deposits. The NRB has said that the reasons for increase in total deposits are the rising remittances, lack of proper investment opportunities and the attraction of depositors towards safe bank deposits. Narendra Bhattarai, chairman of Bankers' Association, said that the deposit has been steadily increasing in the last one decade at the rate of around 15 percent.

IN A JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY SIX OF THE NINE original drafters of the current Constitution, the experts have called for restoration of House of Representatives and formation of all party government to end the political impasse. The constitution drafters said that the current active monarchy should pave way for the restoration of the parliament and all party government. "It is an unfortunate situation to see constitution-less environment even when we have a constitution. Any kind of progress or reform should also be built on the present constitution," said Bishwonath Upadhyaya, chairman of he drafting committee that came out with the present constitution in 1991. The experts also said that the Article 127 of the constitution cannot be used to deactivate other provisions of the document. "The only use of the Article 127 is to undo complexities," said Upadhyaya. The joint statement was also signed by Mukunda Regmi, Laxman Aryal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nilambar Acharya and Bharatmohan Adhikari.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS RECOGNIZED THE claim by Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa of having ascended the Mount Everest in record time of less than 11 hours on May 26 this year. The government had initiated internal investigation to find out the truth after another mountaineer Pemba Dorji Sherpa filed a protest case against Lhakpa's claim demanding proper probe. On May 23 Pemba had climbed the Everest in 12 hours. But his record was broken less than three days later by a fellow Sherpa climber ñ Lhakpa Gelu. According to the government's probe Lhakpa had indeed climbed the mountain in 10 hours 56 minutes and 46 seconds.

THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS AGREED TO PROVIDE assistance worth Rs 750 million to the Nepalese government to build a separate 200-bed emergency and trauma center at the Bir Hospital. An agreement to this effect was signed at the Finance Ministry on Tuesday (July 29) by Indian ambassador Shyam Sharan and Finance Secretary Bhanu Prasad Acharya, on behalf of their respective governments. The new facility will be constructed within the next two years. The facility will include five Operation Theaters and will be equipped with state-of-the-art services.

THE GOVERNMENT HAD ANNOUNCED IN ITS budget to form Special economic Zones (SEZ) to accelerate the pace of economic growth. According to Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, finance minister, the necessary laws on the SEZ will be formulated by January next year. "Special laws on SEZ in the southern industrial hub of Birgunj and Paanchkhal of Kavre will come into effect by next January," he said. The government is mulling to develop SEZ to give a boost to export trade and promote industrialization. The SEZ will be equipped with necessary infrastructures as well as industry-friendly laws.

NEPAL WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION (NWSC) is still using pipes laid down 108 years ago although they are rusted and shabby. Such century-old pipes are still used to supply water in old city areas around Rana palaces. The corporation is using pipes that are century-year-old to newly installed ones to supply drinking water. "The pipes used to bring water from Bhimdhara in Balaju and Birdhara in Budhanilkantha are more than one hundred years old," said Kaushal Nath Bhattarai, general manager of NWSC. Donor countries had recommended replacing 60 percent of the pipes used in the valley five years ago. But this advice is yet to be implemented. However, the NWSC is waiting for the day when water from Melamchi project will come because to withstand the water pressure from the project, it will need to replace all existing pipe networks. Meanwhile, consumers using water from such old pipes could be suffering from health hazards particularly during monsoon season, experts say. According to Dr. Shiva Shankar Jha, director of Shukraraj Tropical and Communicable Disease Hospital, said that 70 percent of patients who visit the hospital suffer from water-borne diseases. According to one data, out of total deaths in the hospital in the last six years, 16.5 percent died of water-borne diseases. The corporation says it regularly chlorinates the drinking water to make them clean and healthy.