Kathmandu, Mar. 9:A delegation from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party lead by rpp central member Buddhi Man Tamang met with Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka yesterday and presented a memorandum concerning resolution of the Maoist problem and relief for the affected people.

The memorandum calls for immediate and concrete steps by His Majesty’s Government for distribution of relief in an impartial and transparent way to people affected by Maoist violence and police oppression,  speedy arrangements for the rehabilitation of displaced families, and guarantees of peace and security to the masses, according to a press released issued here today by the rpp.

On the occasion, Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka assured the delegation that hmg would take concrete and prompt measures in this connection and distribute relief transparently and without any discrimination.

The delegation included mps Balaram Ghartimagar, Netra Lal Shrestha and Govinda Bikram Shaha and others.

Nepalgunj, Mar. 9: Minister for Local Development and Chairman of the B. P. with the Poor Programme Chiranjivi Wagle has said the Nepali society can benefit a lot from the programme brought about with the aim of ameliorating the condition of poor people if we advance it with firm determination.

Mr Wagle made this remark while inaugurating a two-day introductory seminar for programme coordinators and chairmen of the district coordination and monitoring committees organized by the programme’s central committee secretariate at Pipari of Kohalpur VDC in Banke district today.

The programme is tailored to the objective of fulfilling the dreams of the late B. P. Koirala and aspirations of those who laid down their lives for democracy, the minister said, adding the programme also aims at exposing terrorist activities being carried out in the name of the Maoists by raising public awareness.

Success of the programme hinges on the initiation, loyalty and hard working of the officials and members of the committee, he added.

Vice chairman of the B. P. with the Poor Programme Haribol Bhattarai noted the programme has pursued the principles of the late Koirala.

Various other speakers including central coordinator Dr Ram Prasad Sharma and DDC Banke chairman Omprakash Jung Rana also expressed their views at the function chaired by programme’s Banke district chairman Maya Giri.

A total of 50 persons had taken part in the seminar.

Riddi (Gulmi), Mar. 9:His Majesty King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev inaugurated a newly constructed building of Ruru Sanskrit Campus under Mahendra Sanskrit University by unveiling a copper plaque amidst a function at ward No. 4 of Ruru VDC in Gulmi district today.

His Majesty is chancellor of Mahendra Sanskrit University (msu).

On the occasion, Her Majesty Queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah was also present.

His Majesty the King presented letters of honour to different individuals who contributed to the development of the campus.

Earlier on arrival Their Majesties the King and Queen were welcomed by Minister of State for Education Rajendra Kharel, msu Vice Chancellor Prof. Madhav Raj Gautam, MPs Phatik Bahadur Thapa, Pradip Raj Gyawali and Gokarna Raj Bista, Rector Prof. (Dr) Baburam Sharma Pokherel, principal of the campus Lalmani Pandey and cdo Shiva Prasad Nepal.

On the occasion, Minister of State Kharel said the government is carrying out works in keeping with the objective of developing the kingdom as a centre of Sanskrit education.

Stating that people’s traditional social attitude to education will change if we make education practical as well as useful to human life, he noted that it would help expand the base of education.

Msu vice chancellor Prof. Gautam said the university is making every effort to make Sanskrit education more practical and result-oriented by advancing old and modern subjects together.

A Herbs Garden and Processing Centre has been set up in Dang as part of the institute of ayurved science with a view to ensuring the integrated development of ayurved, he said, adding construction work of a laboratory has been completed and a curriculum for higher ayurvedic studies has been prepared.

Principal of the campus Lalmani Pandey, presenting a brief report of the campus, disclosed that the building was constructed at a cost of Rs 3.8 million.

The campus which began with 29 students has now a total of 110 students including 42 girls, he said.

His Majesty the King also went to Rhishikesh Temple in Riddi today and offered worship at the temple.

Kathmandu, Mar 9:The meeting of the Board of Directors of Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) held recently has elected Himalaya Shumsher Rana, chief advisor of the bank to the post of chairman for the second time, says an HBL press released today.

According to the release, outgoing chairman Narsingh Bahadur Shrestha completed the four years term as the chairman of the bank, and subsequently new chairman was elected.

The meeting also appointed Shrestha as the chief advisor of the bank, it is said. Meanwhile, the meeting of board of directors has also elected Manoj Bahadur Shrestha as the vice-president of the bank.

P.P. Khetan and Himalaya Bahadur Pandey have been elected as the directors of the bank, who were earlier in the capacity of alternative directors of the bank.

Kathmandu, Mar. 9: The Department of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Kathmandu VAT Office have jointly conducted surprise check and investigation at 34 business firms on suspicion of the tax leakage.

As nine firms have come out with a clean sheet in the investigation the documents taken from them have been sent back, the Department says. In cases where VAT leakage has been confirmed, the evaded taxes, fines, extra charge and their interests add up to Rs 8.5 million, it adds.

The investigation has found that the tax payers’ transaction was worth more than what they declared earlier and they also charged consumers more than the stated prices on taxable goods.

Some firms were also found doing transaction without getting themselves registered under VAT. The Department have also felt the need to widen the surprise checks and investigation and make effective monitoring in view of the failure on the part of the tax payers to do billing according to VAT system.

Meanwhile in Rasuwa, a candle-stick industry has been set up in private sector at the Rasuwa district headquarters of Dhunche.

Himal Candle Industry, started with an investment of Rs. 50,000 by a local resident Nirmal Sharma is the first such industry in the district.

The industry is going to supply its product to Dhunche and other tourist destinations of the district.

Kathmandu, Mar 9:The twelfth Insurance Congress of Developing Countries (ICDC) will begin in Kathmandu on March 12 with over 400 participants representing all continents in the first ever such meeting of insurance businesses in Nepal.

Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharam Mahat will inaugurate the three-day conference, which will broadly discuss the challenges the emerging insurance markets face in the 21st Century.

“Over 230 participants from around the world and an equal number of local participants will attend the conference organised for the first time in Nepal,” said Lava Prasad Sharma, the Chairman of Insurance Board. Sharma is also the head of the Organising Committee. This is stated in a press released issued by ICDC today.

“So far 194 international representatives have confirmed their participation,” said Ramesh Raj Bhattarai, Secretary at the Board. “We expect more confirmations.”

According to the Organising Committee, the Congress will be a forum where insurers, re-insurers, regulators  and surveyors of both developed and the developing countries will exchange their experiences in solving the problems facing the insurance business. “Nepal expects to benefit a lot from the Congress.”

“We are currently facing several challenges in helping insurance businesses grow at home due to the lack of interest, knowledge and awareness among the prospective clients.” said Sharma. “Even big industrialists, who do realise the importance of full value insurance, are only partially insured. “According to Sharma, business houses choose to have their bank loans insured because the lending institution requires that of them. Had there been an option, they would have ignored insurance even for their loan amount, he added. “This tendency has affected the insurance business and undermined its importance.”

Despite all that, Nepal’s 1.25 billion rupees insurance market is growing by 20-25 per cent annually, according to Sharma, and the premium collection this year is likely to touch the 1.5 billion market. “We expect the non-life part of insurance to rise to 1.25 billion rupees and life insurance to recover 300 million rupees by the end of the current fiscal year,” he said. Resource persons from South Asia, Middle East, Africa, America and Europe will present 11 working papers highlighting various aspects of insurance during the meeting.

Kathmandu, Mar 9:Just a year ago an enthusiast industrialist set up a leather shoe industry in the Terai area with a huge sum of capital investment. The production also came to the market. But unfortunately, its production could not exist at all. Ultimately the industry failed to exist. Similar was the case with a departmental store established in the heart of the capital which could not survive even for three months. There arises a question why some industries become successful while others fail to do so.

Despite having adequate infrastructure and potentials, a substantial number of industries being established in different sectors have often failed to achieve a desired success not because of capital crunch, but due to lack of proper information.

It is said that there is a practice of establishing business houses and industries on the basis of rough estimation which lacks proper analysis and observations. As a result, an industry or business house becomes successful, say experts.

They are of the view that the main reason of the failure of industries and business is the lack of information.

Since there is always cut-throat competition in the market, how can one expect to become successful without having proper information about business industries, experts question.

On the one hand, most of the industrialists are unaware of the information, and on the other, there is not any mechanism of counselling. Having considered this, a group of business and industrial professionals established an organisation named Industrial Information Centre (IIC) in 1992 with the aim of collecting and disseminating reliable information for the establishment, growth and diversification of business enterprises and industries.

According to Sneha Sayami, executive director of the IIC, it mainly collects and disseminate the needful information regarding business and industries in the country. Italso helps identify the need of potential cottage, small and big entrepreneurs to enable them to run their business houses successfully. Besides, it also designs appropriate business projects and conduct short term management and skill development training.

The centre also facilitates technical collaboration, joint venture, technology transfer and prepare feasibility studies and detailed survey of the market.Though there is no practice of two – way interaction between buyers and sellers, the centre conducts such meeting and arrange business tours so as to promote business and industries in the country. Apart from these activities the centre also helps business- men and industrialists in mobilising their resources in proper areas and find market.

Kathmandu, Mar. 9:The Employees Provident Fund (FPF) has constructed a total of 112 low-cost houses for its depositors in pokhara.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 27.4 million in two years, three houses have already been given a finishing touch.

The houses have been built on 35 Ropani of land at Ward No. 17 of Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City.

Use of hollow cement bricks, semi-precast technology and block projection frame has reduced construction cost by 35 per cent without affecting its quality, according to engineer Bhuwaneshwor Lal Shrestha.

The depositors who have deposited their money in the fund for at least 15 years can purchase the house by paying 25 per cent of the selling price as first installment and the rest can be paid off on installment basis at 10.5 per cent interest rate.

Of the 112 houses built as core houses, 33 have five rooms including one storeroom and one bathroom in one Aana and three Paisa of land meant for low-income people. They cost Rs 295,000 each.

Twenty seven houses meant for low middle class people built in two Aana and two Paisa of land have eight rooms including one storeroom, two bathrooms, one Pooja room. Each costs rs 435,000.

Similarly, the houses meant for the higher middle class people have a total of 10 rooms including one storeroom, two bathrooms and one Pooja room. Each costs Rs 500,000 and is built on three aana and two paisa of land.

According to officiating administrator of the fund Rajesh Rajkarnikar, the housing area has parking facility, schools and open ground with 22-foot wide main road and 13-foot wide inner roads. The area has drinking water, electricity and sewerage facilities including compound walls.

Mr Rajkarnikar said the housing project will be expanded to other parts of the country also in the future, adding the employees can also issue loans for such projects on demand.

Kathmandu, Mar. 9: Nepal is well known all over the world for its high mountain peaks. It is also seen as a rich country for a large number of high-value herbs containing unique medicinal properties.

The herbs found from the high altitudes of the mountainous regions to the plains belt of the Terai possess diverse medicinal properties. If they are properly cultivated and channalised to the market, they will definitely make the country’s economy advanced and strong.

Herbs such as Yarchagumba, Guchchi Chau and Shilajit are the major herbs found at high altitudes. Yarchagumba which exists half of the year as an insect and the remaining half as shrubs is a unique product of Nepal. The government has imposed a ban on its sale. Despite the best efforts from the government side, illegal trade in it could not be brought under control totally.

A number of herbs have vanished from the forests due to the lack of research work and scientific preservation.

According to botanists, Nepal is endowed with some 246 species of herbal plants that flower and 200 species that do not  flower. On one hand, they are useful for the treatment of various diseases while on the other, they  provide an alternative  income source to the local people.

It is estimated that some 1,500 varieties of herbs grow across the country. Of them, some 800 including Chiraito, Shilajit, Panch Aule, Harro, Barro, Amala, Tulsi, Neem, Jethimadhu, Padamchal and Pakhanbet are being used for the production of herbal drugs by Singha Darbar Baidyakhana. Other items such as sea-shells, coral and gold are also used for such drugs, managing director of the undertaking Chandra Raj Sapkota said.

According to him, the undertaking is currently producing some 110 varieties of herbal drugs through indigenous medicinal plants. It also imports some items from abroad such as sea-shells for the production of the drugs.

The herbal drugs produced by the undertaking are useful for patients of headache, chest pains, constipation, insomnia, fever, coughs, dysentery and diarrhoea, ulcer, sinusitis, arthritis, hypertension, uric acid problem and other ailments.

Diseases relating to infants, women and mentally deranged persons can be cured through such medicines.

Radha Baral, a resident of Sorhakhutte, says that she goes to an Ayurved treatment centre and prefer herbal medicine to allopathic ones as it has  long term benefit.

I generally take herbal mixtures such as Chawanprash in substitution for health tonics, Sushila Rimal who came to buy drugs at the Baidhyakhana says.

Most consumers are of the opinion that the herbal drugs being produced by the undertaking are far better in quality in comparison with the products of foreign companies.

It is said that people have been attracted towards the herbal drugs as they have a negligible level of side effects.

Following the reconstruction of the undertaking under the Ayurved Health Policy introduced by HMG in 2052 B.S. It has made headway both in production and sale of drugs.

The undertaking which was once nearly on the verge of collapse in 2046 B.S. is able to contribute to the revenue of the country.

It has earned a profit of Rs. 3.8 million during last fiscal year with a turnover of around Rs. 12.5 million in production and sale.

It targets a profit of Rs. 6 million in the current fiscal year through the production and sale of drugs equivalent to Rs. 20 million.

The herbal drugs being sold rampantly on the streets and footpaths are of poor quality and unreliable while a huge quantity of drugs worth tens of millions is also pouring in without any tests and controls. In this context, the government has to take stern measures to clamp down on the free trading in sub standard herbal drugs.

Kathmandu, Mar. 9:The participants of a workshop seminar organised here today pointed out the need to amend the discriminatory laws after reviewing it so as to provide equal rights to both men and women.

The speakers at the workshop seminar on national action plan prepared to implement the convention on elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women organised jointly by His Majesty’s Government and the united nations systems, said the laws on sharing of property, marriage, nationality, birth registration, and abortion  should  be amended by giving   top priority.

Although hmg has made a commitment by signing the convention on elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women ten years ago, the discriminatory laws still exists and it has received continuity on the basis of gender without the women being guaranteed equality, they said, adding that this is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal as well as the conventions on elimination of  all kinds of discrimination against women.

Addressing the workshop, Deputy Speaker Mrs Chitralekha Yadav opined that although the constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal has guaranteed the rights of equality to women, the women who constitute half the population of the country are deprived of economic, social and political rights.

Deputy Speaker Mrs Yadav emphasised on the need to accept women rights as human rights and added that as the representation of women in the parliament is low, it has been difficult for formulating new laws in the interest of women.

Minister of State for Women and Social Welfare Mrs Kamala Devi Pant  expressed the confidence   that the inequality of women in the economic, social and political sectors will come to an end once the  22 points mentioned in the action plan on the convention on eliminating all kinds of discrimination against women are put into action on the basis of priority.

The problems of the women should be considered as the problems of the nation, she said, adding that as the nation will only develop if the women are developed, every one should work with utmost commitment.

Supreme Court Judge Laxman Prasad Aryal said unless the mentality and  outlook on women   is changed there will be no improvement in the economic, social and political   sectors by merely formulating laws at the national level and by signing the international conventions.  He pointed out the need to implement the laws and conventions.

He also stressed on the need to constitute a committee with the chiefs of the the executive, the legislative and the judiciary in order to implement and evaluate the action plan on convention on the elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women.

Resident coordinator of the un systems Dr. Henning Karcher said the major challenge of Nepal is to alleviate poverty by the year 2000 A.D. and to  guarantee the rights of equality to women,  adding that a political commitment is essential for the empowerment of women.

Former vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (npc) Dr. Mohan Man Sainju said as   economic, social and political development is impossible without gender equality, all the organs of the state, the citizens and the media should be sensitive towards this.

Earlier, at the beginning of the workshop member of National Planning Commission Dr. Nirmal Prasad Pandey said  a separate policy should be formulated  so as to implement the action plan, the role of the local bodies should be made clear, emphasis should be laid on women’s awareness, the role of women in the economic sector be clarified, and the programmes launched for the development of women be evaluated properly.

At the workshop secretary at the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare Mrs. Urmila Shrestha, secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice Udaya Nepali Shrestha, advocate Sapana Pradhan Malla, resident representative of the World Food Programme (wfp) Douglas C. Coutts and other speakers expressed the view that considerable progress will be made through implementation of the action plan in the field of women’s rights.