Nepalgunj, March 3: A man who gave up the bad habit of smoking after a long struggle of thirty years and who has been raising public awareness against smoking in his locality here has been felicitated by the social service and integrated development service centre.

Harsha Bahadur Khatri, 46, was felicitated by patron of the Social Service Association Narayan Prasad Dhimal and woman ward member of the locality Durgadevi Khatri.

Khatri was presented with prizes and certificate on the occasion. Similarly, prizes and certificates were also given to Kusum Bishwakarma, Gita Bishwakarma and Maisari Khatri, who have been involved in the campaign against smoking.

Mahottari, March 3: The construction of the Shir Khola Irrigation Project at Maisthan village has been completed here with the financial assistance of Rs 3 million from the asian development Bank, His Majesty’s Government and local voluntary labour.

It is learnt the project with 1,635 metres long   irrigation canal irrigates some 1.5 hectares of land in Maisthan VDC benefiting a total of 2,207 farmers.

Kathmandu, mar. 3: Participants of an interaction programme on the contribution of Ram Prasad Rai in the Popular Revolution of 2007 organised by the Ram Prasad Rai Memorial Foundation to mark his 91th birth anniversary have felt the need for conducting research into the martyrs who fought relentlessly and resolutely for the cause of democracy.

Inaugurating the programme, Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Sharat Singh Bhandari said that it will be a true tribute if we follow the path shown by the martyrs who laid down their lives for the nation and its populace.

He stressed that those who are following the path of murder and terrorism have to come out openly among the general public for the sake of their own development.

Former Minister Bal Bahadur Rai noted that every citizen must safeguard democracy in order to maintain his identity as a Nepalese.

Former MP Tanka Dhakal said that people have not felt the existence of democracy even a decade after its restoration in the country and the need of the day is to move ahead with the ideology of the martyrs.

CPN (Marxist) politburo member Lok Narayan Subedi said everyone has to work unitedly for the economic and social development of the Nepalese people.

Chairman of the Foundation Bhim Prasad Nyaupane presided over the function at which central member Dillisher Rai also expressed his views.

Martyr Rai was born in 1965 B.S. At sandilug in Bhojpur. He attended the conference held at Bairaganiya in India on Asoj 10 and 11, 2007 at the call of the Nepali Congress to launch the popular revolution against the then rulers of Nepal.

Bardiya : Two people died after falling from a pontoon bridge over the Kothiyaghat River in Dhodhari VDC ward No 9 of Bardiya district, it is learnt from police.

Rabi Batai, l8, of Nepalgunj Municipality-ll and Prem Bahadur Rawat, 2l, of ward No l3 fell from the bridge while some members of a marriage procession from Nepalgunj were taking photographs of the bridge.

One of the bodies was recovered immediately. A search is on for the other.

Kathmandu: Alist and writer Nagendra Raj Sharma, who is undergoing treatment at the C.C.U. of the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for high blood pressure and palpitation, has made some improvement, according to the hospital sources.

Mr. Sharma was hospitalized on February 21 after suffering a   mild stroke.

According to hospital sources, he is able to walk. Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai had inquired about Mr. Sharma’s health last Tuesday.

Dhangadhi, Mar. 3: So-called Maoists have raided the house of former Bajura DDC president and  NC worker Dharma Bahadur Singh at Pandusen VDC in Bajura district and looted cash, jewelry, utensils and clothing, according to chief district officer Krishna Prasad Poudel.

The terrorists looted the house and terrorised the women and children. A search is on for the culprits. Meanwhile, the police have arrested two CPN-Maoist area commanders along with weapons during patrolling at Sugarkhal VDC in  Kailali district. The Maoists who were arrested in possession of a pistol are Chakra Bahadur Bhat and Sushila Acharya.

Kathmandu, Mar 3: A ten-day training for trainers  organised under the aegis of Nepal Press Institute and participated by 14 Nepalese journalists concluded here today.

The trainer of the Philippines Centre for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) Yvonne T. Chua conducted the DANIDA assisted training programme, which focussed specially on the methods for training, preparation for training materials and calibre and quality needed for a good trainer.

Speaking on the conclusion ceremony held today, NPI Chairman Gokul Pokharel said that the training had been organised keeping in view the growing demands of such training in Nepal.

Pokharel said that NPI would remain ready to utilize and cooperate with the manpower it had produced over the years through such training.

Thanking the participants for their hard works during the training, trainer Chua asked all the participants to translate the knowledge gained through hard training into practice.

NPI Executive Director Binod Bhattarai said that the training programme had been organised due to insufficiency of the skilled trainers in the journalism sector of the country. He further emphasised that NPI would utilize the trainers in accordance with need and trainers capabilities.

The Co-ordinator of the programme, Chiranjivi Khanal thanked the participants for their patience, hard work and regular participation.

The trainees of the programme said that training was very useful. They highlighted the need for using the services of trainees in accordance with their usefulness and capabilities. The programme was participated by  Kapil Kafle (Kamana Group), Bhusan Ghimire (Yug Sambad), Ram Prasad Khanal (Nispakshya), Yuv Raj Gautam, Ashwin Pudasaini (both freelance journalists),

Chitwan, Mar. 3: The B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital has added 25 more beds, bringing the total number of beds to 50.

The addition was made in view of the increasing pressure of patients, director of the hospital Sampurnananda Dhungana said.

The hospital located two and half kilometers south-west of Bharatpur, headquarters of Chitwan district, is visited by patients from both within Nepal and from India.

Kathmandu, Mar. 3: The Central Natural Calamity Relief Committee meeting held today under the chairmanship of Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka reviewed rescue and relief works carried out in the areas hit by natural calamities during the past one year and the loss of life and property caused by it.

The meeting decided to constitute a six-member committee under the convenorship of joint-secretary at the Home Ministry Dr. Madhav Prasad Ghimire in order to prepare a master plan on basis of the research and reports made in the past with an objective of increasing effectiveness of natural calamity management works.

It also decided to authorize the Department of Mines and Geology to prepare a map of Nepal informing about the vulnerable areas in terms of the large scale natural calamities which took place in the past, and request the concerned body to run the Food For Work programme in Udayapur and Gorkha districts affected most by floods and landslides this year.

Kathmandu, Mar. 3: A joint meeting of representatives of different human rights organisations and senior human rights activists organised by the Informal Sector Service Centre (Insec) today welcomed the initiatives for talks taken by both the Maoists and the government and underlined the need for human rights activists, intellectuals and various sections of society to make efforts from their respective places for creating a favourable situation.

The meeting also concluded that His Majesty’s Government and the Maoists should be honest and flexible in putting an end to violence and terrorism which has been raging on for the last four years, adding that attempts to dilute the present environment should not be made from all quarters.

The need of a “talks concern committee” was also felt at the meeting to help realize the talks between the Maoists and government.

Present at the meeting were Damannath Dhungana, Padmaratna Tuladhar, Sushil Pyakurel, Kapil Shrestha, Gauri Pradhan, Dr. K. B. Rokaya, Arjun Karki, Rabindra Bhattarai, Devi Niraula, Shivahari Dahal and Kumar Sapkota.