Kathmandu, Apr. 24: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Development Ram Chandra Poudel has said that the lifestyle of the late Rambhakta Kokh Shrestha will inspire us all to end anomalies, abberations, corruption and violence being faced by the country.

Speaking at a function organised by the Naturopathy Institute to mark the 13th day of the demise of social worker and educationist the late Rambhakta Kokh Shrestha here today, the Deupty Prime Minister said that the vision of the late Shrestha concerning the development and education systems of Nepal are exemplary.

Mr Poudel said that the late Shrestha, who considered labour, skill and good behaviour as his philosophy of life, would help to guide our society on the right path.

Chairman of the Naturopathy Institute Jeevan Chandra Koirala said that the national medical system has lost a great fighter in the demise of the late Shrestha who struggled for sustainable development of education, health and politics in the country.

Literatteur Bharat Jangam stressed the need to follow the lifestyle of the late Shrestha.

Mayor of Banepa Municipality Dr. Surendra Bahadur Bade Shrestha, ex-deputy mayor Lik Narayan Bhail, Dhruba Bahadur Raut of Nepal Cancer Relief Society and vice-chairman of the Naturopathy Institute Dawalkaji Shrestha threw light on the contributions made by the late Shrestha to the Nepalese society.

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Prithivi Raj Ligal has spoken of the need for all to seriously ponder the sustainable development of the country.

The National Planning Commission vice-chairman was inaugurating “The Construction Industries Training Centre” here on Sunday.

The training centre has been established with the joint efforts of Nepal Engineering College, the Society of Consulting Architects and Engineering Firms of Nepal and the Federation of the Contractors Association of Nepal.

The training centre also has representation from the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Institute of Engineering and the Koemanco Nepal.

On the occasion, Mr. Ligal pointed out the need for long-term vision for investing in the development and the construction works. He said it is the responsibility of all to see that development projects are completed in the stipulated time and are effectively managed.

Such training centres have added importance in a developing country like ours where there are limited means and resources, Mr. Ligal said, adding the technicians and manpower in the construction industries should be highly skilled and trained in order to face the challenges facing the construction sector. Joint-secretary at the ministry of Science and Technology Mohan Bahadur Karki said that such training centres could play an important role in training skilled manpower and providing quality services in the country. He also stressed the need for providing skill development training to the national work force at all levels.

Advisor of the World Bank Mr. N.D. Sharma, highlighting the importance of the construction industry in the all-round development of the country, said it is necessary to provide training to the policy-makers as well as the contractors for the long-term development of the construction sector.

Dean of the Institute of Engineering Jeev Raj Pokharel said it is necessary for all to move ahead in a coordinated manner for its effective management in the context of the construction industry emerging as an important industry of the country.

It is learnt the centre is going to conduct project administration and management training for the construction industries, construction management training for senior engineers and managers and construction project evaluation and follow-up training for overseers and new engineers by 2000.

Former president of the Society of Consulting Architects and Engineering Firms of Nepal Ishwar Raj Onta, general secretary of Nepal Engineering Association Hari Darshan Shrestha, president of the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal Jeep Chhiring Lama and former president of the International Federation of the Contractors Associations of the Asia And Pacific Region Ganesh Lal Shrestha cast light on the importance of the construction industry.

President of the Construction Industries Training Centre Keshab Kunwar presided over the programme.

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: A conference on “People, Environment and Himalayan Landscape” began here other day.

Participating in the two-day conference jointly organized by Tribhuwan University, CPNAS and the Paris-based national scientific research centre are scholars from Nepal and France. The scholars of the two countries are scheduled to present their respective study reports and discuss them.

Minister of State for Education and Sports Dilendra Prasad Badu, inaugurating the conference, spoke of the need for sociologists, planners and researchers to first understand the relationship between man and nature.

Stating that man’s reckless treatment of nature has resulted in drought, earthquakes, etc, Mr Badu said we have to make use of nature judiciously.

He also expressed concern over the adverse effect on nature caused by the application of modern technologies brought about by man for their own interests.

French Ambassador Michel Lumoux, director of the Paris-based National Scientific Research Centre Prof Dr Fernard Mayor and Prof Dr Tirtha Prasad Mishra also expressed their views at the function chaired by dean of the institute of science and technology Prof Dr Krishna Manandhar who is also holding the portfolio of TU Vice Chancellor.

Meanwhile, the Tribhuvan University, Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (C-NAS) and the French National Scientific Research Centre Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on mutual cooperation between them in the field of scientific research.

According to the Tribhuvan University information section, executive director of the C-NAS Prof. (Dr.) Tirtha Prasad Mishra and director of the French National Scientific Research Centre Prof. (Dr.) Fernand Meyer signed on the memorandum of understanding on behalf of their respective sides. The memorandum of understanding is for a five year term

Under the agreement, C-NAS and the French National Research Centre will work together in the field of academic, cultural and scientific research and educational development activities, it is learnt from the T.U. Information Section.

Rautahat, Apr. 24: A meeting of the Nepali Congress Rautahat district working committee has decided to request the district administration to consolidate the law and order situation in the district and bring to an end the climate of terror and violence in the district. The meeting also decided to hold a mass meeting in protest against the violence and arson that erupted a few months back in local Rajpur Farahadawa. Nepali Congress Rautahat district working committee president and Minister of State for Forest and Soil-Conservation Mohammad Aftab Alam chaired the meeting.

Talking briefly to journalists after the meeting, Minister of State Aftab Alam said that terrorists involved in the arson and violence at Rajpur Pharhadawa would be arrested soon.

He said the politics of terror and violence has never succeeded anywhere in the world and expressed the belief that likewise the so-called “People’s War” launched by the Maoists in Nepal will also not see the light of the day. Minister of State Alam also expressed the present government’s strong determination to provide good governance by ending terror and violence and the cancer of corruption from the country.

In Pokhara, there are a number of ways in which generous and philanthropic people can help the society. Danda Raj Pahari, a resident of Baidam, Pokhara, and an engineer by training, has shown just how people can make the difference if they have the will to contribute to the society.

Pahari has volunteered to construct a 12,000 square feet 12-room modern building of the local Tal Barahi Secondary School for running ten plus two classes in the near future. This has also inspired the local people and they have also decided to contribute in the building construction. The building is estimated to cost Rs 11.4 million. At a press conference organised here on Saturday, Mr. Pahari handed over a cheque of Rs 1 million and the design map of the building to the school management committee.

Mr. Pahari, who completed his engineering studies in Germany in the last ten years, has also written a book on Nepalese cuisine in the German language. It is learnt that he has donated the entire money collected in royalty from the book to the school.

There are 1,200 students enrolled at the Tal Barahi school at present. Among them 630 are girl students.

In Janakpurdham, vice-chancellor of the Mahendra Sanskrit University Madhav Raj Gautam has stressed the need for development of all the national languages for greater development of the Nepali language.

He also urged understanding and cooperation between the different language communities to achieve this goal.

Vice-chancellor Gautam made these remarks while speaking at the concluding function of a five-day Hindi-Maithili orientation seminar held here at the Hajari Janak Vidyapeeth on Thursday.

The orientation seminar was jointly organised by the Mahendra Sanskrit University and the university grants commission.

Vice-chancellor Gautam further said the onslaught which the Sanskrit language was facing from all directions was indirectly affecting the Nepali language, the language of the nation, as well and warned other national languages could also face similar situation.

At the programme presided over by principal of the Vidyapeeth Jeev Nath Biyogi, chief of the Department of Hindi Suryanath Gopa, chairman of the Maithili central department Brij Kishor Thakur, Ram Dayal Rakesh, Dr. Rajendra Bimal, chief district officer Binod Gyawali, Tarakanta Jha and others also expressed their views.

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: Minister for Law, Justice And Parliamentary Affairs Mahantha Thakur inaugurated a weeklong training for officials involved drafting laws organised jointly by the ministry and the Judicial Service Training Centre here today.

Speaking on the occasion Minister Thakur said the present government has promised to maintain corruption-free good governance in the country and for this the existing acts and law should be reviewed and made simple, transparent and people-oriented as far as possible.

Mr Thakur also pointed out the need to bring qualitative improvement while formulating acts and law as they have to be of international level in the present context when foreign transactions are on rise in the country.

Chief Secretary Tirthaman Shakya said at present acts and law are being made with political objectives and without carrying out necessary home work because of which majority of the acts are found to have many shortcomings. It has become essential to introduce practical and people-oriented acts and law after extensive discussion and study, he added.

Parliament secretary-general Dr. Iswor Prasad Upadhyaya expressed confidence that the lack of experts in making the works of the executive, judiciary and legislative more effective would be fulfilled through the medium of the training.

From the chair, officiating secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Udaya Nepali Shrestha said proper attention should be given to issues like formulating and implementing laws after making a thorough study of it.

President of Nepal Bar Association Harihar Dahal said the Ministry of Law should be more active in order to increase the registration of bills in the parliament. Errors made in some acts have put legal workers in a difficult situation, he added.

Chief of Legal Service Training Centre Madhav Poudel shed light on the training.

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: The U.S. Mission to Nepal, on the occasion of the 30th Earth Day, hailed the efforts of the Nepali government and people to protect and improve its environment. The U.S. government has for many years worked with the government and people of Nepal to promote environmental protection and the sustainable use of resources both inside Nepal and to promote such ideas regionally and globally, the American Centre, Embassy of the United States, press release stated today.

At present, a number of U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Peace Corps, the State Department, the National Parks Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are active in working with Nepali government ministries and non-governmental organisation on environmental project.

Higlights include: USAID’s fostering of 1,300 community forestry user groups in the Mid and Far Western Regions, assuming management of over 123,000 hectares of forest resources, leading to increased output for community users and a better forest sink to reduce the impacts of global warming.

USAID and the National Park Service’s assistance in Shey-Phoksundo National Park’s effort to be nominated as a World Heritage Site. In the park buffer zone, these U.S. government agencies are working to protect Nepal’s biodiversity by promoting sustainable management practices and promoting income-earning activities for local residents.

Thirty-five Peace Corps volunteers working on natural resources protection activities, including work in the buffer zones of the National Parks, community forestry, soil conservation activities, and agro-forestry efforts. These volunteers are working directly in the field through local parks offices, district offices of the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and an NGO.

The agreement to bring an innovative environmental education program, called GLOBE, to Nepal. This programme being established through the Ministry of Education will give Nepali students the opportunity to learn to interpret data about the environment — air, soil, water — themselves and better understand human impacts on the environment and its complex interactions.

The U.S. State Department’s decision to establish its Regional Environmental HUB for South Asia in Kathmandu in 1997. The HUB promotes regional cooperation in areas such as water resources, disaster prevention, and clean energy.

The establishment in 1999 of the South Asia Regional Energy Initiative, whereby USAID will be promoting clean energy development in South Asia. This programme compliments USAID’s Nepal country-specific clean energy development programme.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. State Department continue to work with our partners in Nepal’s Department of Forest and Soil Conservation to protect endangered species, not just in Nepal, but around the world. At the current meeting of the Council of Parties to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the U.S. and Nepali governments are co-sponsoring several resolutions aimed at protecting endangered species.

Earth Day began in the U.S. thirty years ago and has now spread around the globe. The U.S. Mission to Nepal appreciates Nepal’s efforts to promote environmental awareness, natural resource protection and sustainable management and continues to work with Nepal on these efforts.

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Development Ramchandra Poudel says His Majesty’s Government has given top priority to resolution of ex-servicemen’s problems and is therefore committed to extending all possible assistance to resolve them.

Deputy Prime Minister Poudel was speaking at the concluding function of a two-day workshop on “Servicemen’s contributions to nation-building and organisational expansion of ex-servicemen’s organisation” held here today by Nepal Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation central working committee.

“Efforts are underway through diplomatic channels to resolve ex-servicemen’s various problems including pension hike,” he pointed out, saying “the present Nepali Congress government has a positive approach on ex-servicemen’s demands.”

Stressing the need for proper utilisation of the Ex-servicemen’s Welfare Fund, Deputy Prime Minister Poudel suggested that the fund should be used on health, education and other fields.

One should exercise one’s democratic rights to put forth one views and demands in a polite and disciplined manner and shun any activity that would mar mutual relationship, he advised.

The establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives had been a bulwark to pushing ahead the co-operative movement, he said, adding that this would facilitate the fulfilment of the ex-servicemen’s organisation’s demand for a co-operative centre.

“It is democracy that invests all power in the people and makes them sovereign,” he said, stressing that ex-servicemen, awakened segment of the society and the government should go hand in hand to counter the acts of violence of the so called Maoist who were out to undermine democracy.

He also advised the ex-servicemen to utilise their knowledge and skill in nation-building.

Central chairman of the organisation major Dipak Bahadur Gurung presided over the programme.

Representatives of the ex-servicemen who served in the Royal Nepalese Army, British Gorkha and Indian Army presented their problems and ways of resolving them.

Kathmandu, Apr. 24: In an effort to acclimatise themselves while climbing Mount Sagarmatha (Everest), four climbers of the five-member “Nepalese Women Millennium Everest Expedition, Spring 2000” have been shuttling between the Base Camp and Camp III established on the way to reach the highest point of the earth.

“On April 22, all four climbers spent a night in Camp II and the next day they were back to the base camp,” said a press release issued by Secretariat of Expedition Organising Committees. “On April 22, Climber Lakpa, Mingma, Dawa and Dolma went upto Camp I and returned to the Base Camp. After having four days rest in the Base Camp, all four climbers have planned to go upto Camp III on April 27.”

Meantime, one of the climbing members of the team Kesang Diki Sherpa could not join the acclimatisation process owing to her ill health due to fever and cough caused by influenza, the secretariat of the expendition organisation committee has stated. “She had her medical check-up at Pheriche Hospital on April 20 and now she is recovering her health at Pangoche in her relative’s house,” the press statement said.

The Nepalese women expedition team, organised by Sushma Koirala Memorial Trust, was seen off from Kathmandu on April 8. After the climbers arrived at the Everest Base Camp on April 14, Lama Ang Gyalzen performed three hour long ritual to please Goddess Miyalangsangma, the reigning goddess of Mount Sagarmatha. The Sherpas and the climbers strongly believe that without such rituals it is very hard to summit the mountain and sometimes the climbers have to face the anger of the Goddess which may bring injury or even death.

After the ritual was over, all five climbers went upto the Khumbu Icefall on full gear as a symbolic climbing commencement and returned back to the Base Camp.

Kathmandu, Apr. 23:Chief of the Army Staff General Prajjwal Shumsher J.B. Rana left here today for Bangladesh on an official visit at the invitation of the Chief of the Army Staff of Bangladesh Lieutenant General Muhammad Mustafizur Rehman.

Chief of the Army Staff General Rana is accompanied by his wife Mrs. Sindhu Rajya Laxmi Rana, Brigadier General Govinda Bahadur Gurung and Colonel Ranadwaj Limbu. He was seen off at Tribhuvan International Airport by Acting Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant General Sushilraj Karki.

Also present at the airport were the Bangladeshi Ambassador to Nepal, senior officers of Royal Nepalese Army and military attachè of foreign diplomatic missions in Kathmandu.

Itahari, Apr. 23: Cpn-uml central member Bhim Acharya unveiled on Saturday a statue of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa installed at Kalabazaar of Bharaul vdc in Sunsari district.

The statue of the first Nepali woman to scale Mt. Everest was installed at the initiative of the vdc at a cost of around Rs. 52,000/.

Various speakers on the occasion shed light on the contribution and courage of late Pasang Lhamu Sherpa. Chairman of the statue installation committee Rajan Karki presided.