Pokhara, Apr. 26: Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare Mrs Kamala Panta says the present government going ahead with its plan to end the Maoist terrorism and guarantee security to the people as a matter of priority.

Addressing a gathering of Nepali Congress workers here recently, Mrs Panta said the programmes like the women’s awakening and “The Bishweshwar with the Poor’ aimed to correct economic imbalance in the country.

The national development would not gain momentum so long was women role in it were not properly assessed, she said.

National Assembly member and Nepali Congress Kaski district unit president Shukraraj Sharma suggested that the government should launch such programme whose objective might be clearly understood by the women of remote areas as well.

Butwal, Apr. 26: A political worker is reported to have committed suicide because he was fed up with politics.

According to police, Gyan Bahadur Thapa, a political worker, who committed suicide, left behind a letter along with a leftover of toxic material on the bank of Charange rivulet.

In the letter, he said he was going to take his own life because he was let down by the party despite his complete dedication to politics.

Gyang Bahadur is reported to be a Nepali Congress worker from Devdaha Village Development Committee Ward No. 9. He is survived by his wife, one son and one daughter.

Pokhara, Apr. 26:His Majesty’s government recently initiated the task of providing compensation to the land owners who were yet to receive compensation for the land acquired 24 years ago for construction of Pokhara Stadium.

A total of Rs. 16.4 million was distributed today to 30 landowners who claimed the compensation with adequate evidences. The compensation paid today was for 53 ropanis of land out of the total of 97 ropanis acquired for the stadium.

The government is yet to pay compensation for the rest of the land. the remaining land owners will be given the compensation after examining the evidences they have presented.

National Assembly member Shukra Raj Sharma, member sectetary of National Sports Council Binod Shankar Palikhe, Mayor of Pokhara Krishna Thapa and Kaski CDO Shyam Sundar Sharma jointly distributed the compensation today.

Kathmandu, Apr. 26: RPP leader and ex-prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand gave away certificates to the participants of a two-day central training programme organized by the National Democratic Farmers Organization here today.

On the occasion, Chand said poverty alleviation, law and order, good governance and corruption have now been limited to slogans only.

RPP vice president Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani stressed the need for one and all to leave behind a stronger and more prosperous Nepal for the coming generation.

RPP central member Jog Mehar Shrestha and secretary of the party publicity department Kiran Giri stressed the need for developing agriculture for the development of the country. Nilkantha Kafle presided.

Some 125 representatives from 70 districts participated in the training programme.

Meanwhile in Hetauda, central spokesman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and former minister Kamal Thapa recently inaugurated a special programme and district level training cum seminar of the party organised here by the RPP central committee.

Altogether 287 persons including RPP office-bearers of Constituency No. 1, 2 and 3 committees, the chairman and secretaries of 43 VDC units, district level office bearers and those of the Hetauda municipal committee are attending the training cum seminar, it is learnt from the RPP district committee.

On the occasion, Thapa called upon all the political parties to work for the economic development of the country and take the fruits of sustainable development to the people.

RPP spokesman Thapa called upon HMG to deal with the violence unleashed by the Maoists at a political level.

RPP Makwanpur district committee president Lok Bahadur Thapa presided over the function.

Likewise  in Nepalgunj, a district level training programme conducted here by the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Banke concluded recently.

During the programme RPP central members Prem Bahadur Bhandari and Phateh Singh Tharu spoke on the current political situation in the country and the role of the RPP in the existing political scenario.

Similarly, RPP Banke district secretary Ramesh Aryal spoke about the RPP ideology and 10 years after the restoration of democracy while Hikamat Dhakal dwelt on the basic principles of party organisation.

Some 110 representatives of village, district and regional level party workers as well as the chairmen of the sister organisations took part in the training.

Ex-minister and party central member Shanti Shamsher Rana inaugurated the training.  RPP Banke district chairman Chet Bahadur Thapa was on the chair.

Meanwhile in Pokhara, the first national convention of Rastriya Prajatantrik Vidyarthi Sangathan is to begin here on May 9.

Seven hundred delegates from seventy districts of the country and 300 observers would attend the convention, its central chairman Bhuvan Pathak said at a press meet here Monday.

Inaruwa, Apr. 26: Nepali Congress central member and ex-minister Vijaya Kumar Gachhadar has called upon all the Nepali Congress workers to bury their past differences and help bring all party workers to a political mainstream in order to resolve the Maoist problem plaguing the nation.

Addressing a Nepali Congress workers’ gathering here recently, Gachhadar said if the bitterness that characterised the recent election of Nepali parliamentary party leadership continued unchecked it would be greatly damaging to the party itself.

Only a norm-and value-based politics could succeed, he believed, advising the party workers to shun a tendency to take all credits for oneself and heap up blames on others.

The party workers should raise their voice against any wrong move on the part of the party leadership in order to lead it on the right track, he said.

The 10th general assembly of the party was slated to take place in October/November this year, he said, noting that but the dissolution of the election district  working committees so close to the scheduled general assembly raised doubt on whether the general assembly would be free from controversy.

The popular leaders B.P. Koirala during his own lifetime had devolved the mantle of the party leadership on the three leaders, Gachhadar recollected, suggested that now the two leaders should hand over the party leadership to the new generation. Emphasising the need for healthy competition within the party, he further said the party workers should always be on guard against obsequiousness and sycophancy.

He also vowed to launch a nation-wide campaign against irregularities and inconsistencies.

Nepali Congress Sunsari district constituency No. 2 Unit chairman Hari Lal Mehta presided over the gathering.

Kathmandu, Apr. 26: The Bagmati Area Sewerage Construction and Improvement Project implementation and follow-up committee says it has completed three forth of the pollution control in Bagmati River and environmental protection work in Bagmati including Pashupati area over the last four and a half years.

The main objective of the project is to keep preserve ecology of the Bagmati River from Shivapuri watershed area to Chovar.

The task involves construction and operation of sewage processing centres and its maintenance, control of river erosion, construction of roads and afforestation along the river and generating public awareness on river pollution control.

Its work were divided into four phases and the current first and second phase works are concerned with construction of drainage and sewerage from Gokarna to Tamraganga and Mitrapark to Tamraganga, tunnel from Tamraganga to Tilganga sewage processing centre at Guheswari expanse and 8-metre roads and 12-metre green belts from Gokarna to Tamraganga along Bagmati River and promotion of public awareness on environmental preservation.

Preparation of a master plan on Shivapuri-Chovar  drainage system will be completed within these phases, while construction of drainage on both sides of the river and a sewage treatment centres is targeted to be completed in the third and fourth phases.

The  sewerage system under construction aims to cover about 537 hectares area with a population of 198,000 in the first and second phases. Nearly 66 percent of the work have now been completed.

Construction of 1446 metres of drainage from Gaurighat-to Tamraganga has been completed while 10 kilometre portion of the 12-kilometre Gokarna-Guheswari drainage system has been completed so far.

55-metre sewerage crossing from the sewage treatment centre south east of Guheswari to the Bagmati River has also been completed.

The project has also completed 4.35 kilometre of the river control and embankment construction works.

According to the committee, 61 percent of the sewage processing centre construction have also been completed and the rest will be through by next February.

It had acquired 95 ropanies of land for the construction of the Sewerage Processing Centre.

Land survey is also underway for acquisition of land falling within 20 metres of the river banks for green belt area.

Besides, it has provided a three-day training to 135 women of Nayapati, Pashupati, Sundarijal, Gokarna, Danchhi and Bhadrabas as part of its plan to generate public awareness on its works.

One kilometre road along green belt area has already been built whereas the plan is to build a seven-kilometre road.

Tamraganga-Tilganga tunnel construction work has been delayed because of the negligence on the part of the contractors. Only 185 metres of tunnelling work has been done so far whereas the plan is to complete 522 metres of tunnel.

As a result of the delay, pollution of the river at Pashupati and Guheswari river continued still unchecked. Posing grave problem from religious, touristic and environmental aspects.

As per the government decision of March this year, a contract was reached  last month with a Chinese company to complete the entire tunnel work in 14 months  at the cost of Rs 89.33 million. Under the contract, the company is required to complete the tunnel work by the end of next fiscal year.

Kathmandu, Apr. 26: Jumla district has witnessed a 20 per cent  decrease in the number of smokers.

The number has come down remarkably as 81 per cent of the 90,000 population   had been smoking and 32 per cent of the children between the age 10-19 were among them.

Ninety four  per cent of the people in the remote and high land VDCs were found smoking. They used traditional sulpha for smoking.

This fact was revealed at a seminar organised here today by the Mrigendra Samjhana Trust in order to inform about the pneumonia control programme for the children under five launched jointly by the Trust and the local people in the district with the   financial cooperation of  the Health Tax Committee of the Ministry of Health.

According to an assessment report prepared by a team led by Prof. Hari Bhakta Pradhan,  those giving up smoking are from the Chhetri community  rather than Dalits and Brahmans and males more than females.

The report states that  in some VDCs the percentage of those giving up smoking is more than 50 per cent.

It further states that some have even  thrown  sacks of tobacco in the rivers, broken sulphas and given up cultivating tobacco.

After the programme, the Trust treated 7,942 patients for pneumonia, 261 for diarroaha, 233 for dysentery and 1,117 for those giving up smoking during the period 055/56.

It is said that the child mortality rate from pneumonia and diarroaha decreased to 183 per thousand from 336 per thousand because of the save the children programme launched by the Trust since 1981 in association with usaid.

Speaking on the occasion, special secretary at the Ministry of Health   Dr. Somnath Aryal  said that even though hmg has been allocating Rs 50 million for checking advertisement of tobacco and alcohol products from the electronic media, it is being widely advertised by other medias.

Founder of the Trust Dr. Mrigendra Raj Pandey pointed out the need to provide continuity to the programme.

From the chair, trust chairman Dr. Krishna Jung Rana called on the hmg to continue providing assistance for the programme.

Also speaking on the occasion were programme coordinator and reader Ramji Prasad Pathak, assessment team leader Prof. Hari Bhakta Pradhan and trust vice chairman Bhim Bahadur Adhikari.

Amargadhi, , Apr. 26: We used to buy vegetables in the past, but now we do not need to buy any more.

Beludevi Karki, a 50-year old resident of Sutari Village of Ganeshpur VDC, Dadeldhura replied with a smile on being asked about vegetable cultivation while heading towards Manana area in Amargadhi Municipality, ward No. 1 to observe the vegetables being cultivated there.

Her husband has gone to India to earn money. She is supporting her 5-member family through vegetable cultivation on two Ropani of land. In addition, she has started to accumulate her earnings by constituting a postal service group under the women development branch.

The group with four other women members has saved Rs 5,000 so far.

Durga Prasad Bhatta, a resident of ward No. 10 who has adopted the same calling since the past four years, is of the opinion that vegetable cultivation is lucrative compared to wheat or paddy crops.

Padma Singh Bhandari, a nominated member at the municipality, is one of the experienced farmers of the district. He started in this calling in 2032 bs and since 2042 he has begun to sell the vegetables.

Asked what he has gained through this calling, he replied, “one can benefit about four times more than through cereal crops. We used to take loans for buying our clothing, but that compulsion has ended once and for all”.

The start of non-seasonal vegetable cultivation in parts of Amargadhi Municipality such as Manana and  Panouli Dhakouli and also in Bagarkot, Ganeshpur and Mastamandu VDCs since the past few years has brought about significant changes in the living standard of the rural poor.

The credit goes to the community-based economic development project (cbed).

The project introduced by His Majesty’s Government in Dadeldhura district in April, 1996 in collaboration with the Candian International Development Agency is being implemented with joint efforts from the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Co-operation and the Agricultural Development Projects Services Centre, Kathmandu.

Land used for vegetable cultivation in the district by the end of 1999 totalled 1,780 Ropani. Some 915 women have been involved in this calling so far through 134 creative groups constituted under the project.

They have produced some 867 metric tonnes of vegetable to date   including almost all varieties.

The project has been introduced in 15 VDCs in the district and Amargadhi Municipality. The VDCs are Kailapalmandu, Mastamandu, Ganeshpur, Asigram, Bagarkot, Koreli, Nava Durga, Manilek, Belapur, Samaiji, Ajaymeru, Bhadrapur, Chipur, Jogbudha and Shirsa.

Cauliflower, cabbages, tomato, radish, cucumber, chilly, green onion, pumpkin, peas and beans are among the non-seasonal vegetables produced commercially in the district.

After the steady growth in vegetable output, the produce has been despatched to major towns such as Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Mahendranagar, Atariya, Silgadhi and Sanphebagar, Lekhnath Joshi, 21-year old vegetable contractor of Dadeldhura Farmers Cooperative Ltd. said.

Joshi, who has been in this business since the age of eight has to pay the cooperative up to 50 paise per kg of vegetable and is entitled to a five per cent share of profit on the sale of seeds, saplings, tools and equipment, fertilisers and pesticides purchased through the cooperative.

The cooperative was established with the involvement and initiative of local farmers taking into consideration that a mere increase in output does not yield ample returns, agriculture and management resource expert of the project Madhav Prasad wagle told rss.

Market research has been conducted with a view to identify   potential vegetables and fruits for sale within and outside the country. The markets researched include Dipayal, Mahendranagar, Dhangadhi, Nepalgunj, Kohalpur in Nepal and Barel, Khatiya, Rupaidiya, Tanakpur and Gouriphanta in India, he elaborated.

Following introduction of the cbed project in Dadeldhura district, commercial vegetable cultivation has been carried out by local farmers on an extensive basis.

He said at present they are seeing turnovers ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 150,000 annually.

Asked whether there is any problem of over production, contractor Joshi said that the farmers are cued in advance from time to time about the likely demand for non-seasonal vegetables.

But there is a shortage of cold storage to accommodate the growing volume of vegetables, president of Dadeldhura Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kali Prasad Rijal said. A cellar store has been constructed under the project, it is learnt.

There is also a shortage of water for irrigation and in the rainy season buds are destroyed by snails, farmer Beludevi Karki said. If the problems are sorted out, cultivation can be carried on more smoothly.

The farmers of Dola Marana have also been able to take advantage of this calling, a local youth of the same VDC, Bir Bahadur Karki, remarks.

Some 22 families in Dola and 20 families in Manana under Amargadhi Municipality are involved in this calling as are most of the people of Bagarkot VDC.

Kathmandu, Apr. 26: Some 560 joint ventures in collaboration  with foreign investors have been permitted in Nepal to date following the restoration of democracy in Nepal.

According to statistics provided by the Department of Industry, the total outlay in the joint ventures is about Rs.60 billion.

Only 154 joint ventures had been sanctioned five years ago, and in the following years, on average 60 projects have been sanctioned every year.

Of them, the number in the manufacturing sector is 255. Tourism and the   service sector have played a growing role in attracting foreign investors to Nepal.

On a country-wise basis, Indian investors have played a large part in the joint ventures in Nepal. Some 171 joint venture projects from India have received licenses.

They account for 33 per cent of the total of joint venture projects. India also accounts for the same percentages in terms of project investment and employment opportunities generated, it is stated.

The United States of America and Japan are the other countries that   rank high in joint ventures. Besides  these, 9 commercial banks, 3 finance companies and 3 insurance companies are also in operation.

The constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal l990 says that the state shall pursue the policy of attracting foreign investment and technology in the national development effort.

The successive governments formed after the restoration of democracy in Nepal have given high priority to liberalisation policy in order to expedite the process of economic development and the present government is determined to create a positive atmosphere conducive to foreign direct investment here in keeping with that policy, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramkrishna Tamrakar said.

The prospects for foreign direct investment in Nepal have grown with the trade and transit treaty with India and Bangladesh and access to the Tibetan market for products of Nepali origin, he elaborated.

He is of the opinion that the prime concern for Nepal now is how to attract more foreign direct investment to the country.

Kathmandu, Apr.26: Having recorded a one per cent rise in the GDP growth rate last year, Nepal’s economy should achieve an economic growth rate of five to six per cent in the current year, the Asian Development Bank has stated in its Asian Development Outlook 2000 which was launched here today.

Both the growth rates, of last year and the one expected to, are the result of a better performance in the agriculture and the industry sector, particularly the carpet and garment industries, said the Outlook.

“The Outlook notes that the macroeconomic situation in Nepal was stable in 1999 despite the uncertainty caused by the change in the government. Real GDP growth rose to 3.3 per cent, from 2.3 per cent in the previous year.”

Inflation rose to almost 13 per cent in 1999 due to rise in food prices. The budget deficit remained as 6.1 per cent in 1999, with domestic revenue collection substantially lower than the budgeted amount, with actual revenues about 10 per cent of the GDP. The shortfall in revenues was balanced by slower-than-budgeted growth in development expenditures. Nepal’s current account deficit declined dramatically in 1999 because of strong export growth and a contraction in imports, mainly related to foreign aid.

Price performance in 2000 will benefit from bumper harvests throughout the region. As a result, inflation is expected to fall to five per cent despite increase in prices of kerosene, diesel and electricity in the second quarter of the fiscal year. Domestic revenue estimates in the current budget are optimistic with a projected growth of 14 per cent. Actual revenue performance will critically depend on the effective implementation of the value-added tax.

The fiscal deficit for 2000 is projected to reach seven per cent and to continue to rise in 2001. Development expenditures in 2000 budget are projected to grow by 33 per cent. These will be mainly financed by foreign grants, which are projected to grow by 47 per cent.

The Outlook notes that the peg with the Indian rupee provides a useful nominal anchor for the economy, but to sustain it, the Central Bank must reduce inflation and interest rate differentials with India. “The current account deficit is expected to widen in 2000, as aid-related imports return to their previous levels, particularly if the government succeeds in its ambitious development agenda. Merchandise imports are projected to grow 15 per cent, with investment goods expanding faster than consumer goods imports. Export growth should continue to be strong in 2000, but will slow without the grain export of the previous year. The current account deficit is thus expected to reach about eight per cent of GDP in 2000, and more than nine per cent of the GDP in 2001. The debt-service ratio should remain at a low six per cent, as much of the debt is concessional.”

Highlighting the contents of the Outlook, Richard Vokes, Resident Representative of the ADB, told a press meet today that apart from the need to continue and sustain reforms in the agriculture sector, civil service reform and financial sector reform need to be at the core of the government’s broad-based reform agenda. “If the new government, as promised, push forward with implementation of a second round of economic reforms, then the outlook for 2001 is for continued strong growth.”

Vokes further added that in case of Nepal, which has not been much affected by the crisis, corporate and financial governance reforms are nonetheless crucial for generating pro-poor economic growth given the serious problems facing the financial sector and the weak governance in both the financial and corporate sectors.

Having outlined poverty as the main social challenge in Asia today, he said that the ADB has adopted poverty reduction as its overarching development objective. “Fundamentally, the ADB believes that promoting economic growth remains the best path to poverty reduction.”

To make the poor share the growth, the Outlook, said Vokes, has emphasised a number of policy priorities including openness and market orientation, human resources and physical infrastructure, improving governance, strengthening social protection, increase in the flow of foreign assistance and providing international public goods.

“We are very encouraged by the government’s Reform Agenda for Poverty Reduction set out in the government’s Country Memorandum presented at the recent Nepal Development Forum in Paris last week, along with a paper highlighting the government’s Priority Reform Actions. These cover all the key elements identified above. However, as we discussed in Paris, the second round reform agenda requires urgent actions across a wide range of areas.”