Kathmandu, Feb. 26: Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Prithivi Raj Ligal declared open the national conference and the sixth general meeting of the Federation of the Contractors Associations of Nepal here on Friday.
On the occasion, Mr. Ligal observed that like other sectors, the construction sector was also facing many challenges brought about by stiff competition.
He said the NPC was ready to add provisions in the documents prepared by it so that Nepalese contractors would get more opportunity for work but stressed that the Federation should come up with concrete suggestions in this regard.
He also urged the contractors and those involved in the construction business to improve the quality and standard of their works since donor agencies and donor countries gave priority especially to the standard and the quality of work.
NPC member Dr. Jagdish Chandra Pokharel called upon all the contractors to pay attention to many charges levelled against the Nepalese contractors such as they back down on the amount of tender bids, resort to political pressures to get contracts or engage in petty horse trading in bagging contracts and improve their public standing.
He said the contractors and construction entrepreneurs who are the backbone of development in the country should gear ahead in fulfilling their duty keeping with their professional ethics and full patriotism.
President of the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal, Ramesh Sharma from the chair requested the National Planning Commission to come out with a special policy and programme for the development of the construction industry since the provision of deducting 0.1 per cent of the amount on each contract and depositing it in the Construction Entrepreneurs Fund made in the Construction Industry Regulations would create enough fund for funding training, studies and research in the sector.
He commented that the newly introduced Financial Administration Regulations was not liberal as the previous one and it was also impractical on many counts.
He expressed his views against the pre-qualification and post-qualification process and said this should be done away with as it invited many distortions and all the contractors should be left to compete freely.
The immediate past president of the Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal and the International Federation of the Asia and the West Pacific Contractors Associations (IFAPCWA) Ganesh Lal Shrestha said that the international exposure and the role of the Federation has been enhanced after joining the IFAPCWA.
A total of 400 contractors and construction entrepreneurs are taking part in the conference which concludes on February 27.
Mahendranagar, Feb. 26: the district forest office kanchanpur has evicted several families settling and carrying out illegal farming by encroaching upon 75 bighas of land near the khula mandhitti at the mahakali river banks two kms east of the bramhadev mandi at ward No. 9 of mahendranagar municipality.
A team of police and forest security guards led by assistant forest officer deepak gyawali uprooted wheat crops in about 15 bighas of land and 63 houses in 60 bighas of land were destroyed since the occupants ignored the requests to empty the land they had been occupying since one and half years ago by destroying the forests.
Before setting fire to the houses built haphazardly by encroaching upon the forest land, the cattle, goods and other properties were safely brought out of the houses.
Meanwhile, the District Forest Products Supplies Committee formed under the chairmanship of district forest officer Ashok Dhungana has started to sell fuel wood by opening depots in five places keeping in view the needs of the general public.
The people can buy firewood at Rs. 1 per kg.
Arrangements have also been made to provide timber from the depots to the fire victims or the ones who want to construct houses and prepare agriculture implements at Rs. 265 per cubic feet.
Dhangadhi, Feb. 26: the District Administration Office, Kailali has concluded a series of meetings with district branches of different political parties, non-governmental organisations, human rights organisations and journalists in a bid to sound out their views on resolving the Maoist problem.
During the meetings held separately, they exchanged views on various matters including the background of the Maoist problem, the efforts made by governmental, non-government and human rights organisations and the role to be played by journalists.
Meanwhile, the District Police Office informed a press meet about the controlling of Maoist activities in the district.
Superintendent of Police Sharada Bhakta Ranjit said the police force is capable of bringing the terrorist activities of the Maoists under control and disclosed that arms and ammunition hidden in Tikapur Municipality by Maoists have been seized.
He also informed the press of the arrest of seven persons in this connection.
Kathmandu, Feb. 26: We fought for democracy, some of us were responded with bullets, some underwent severe torture, democracy came in the country, but we are still forced to live a neglected life.
This complaint was made by most of the elderly democratic fighters at a function organised by the Nepal Democratic Fighters Association to mark the 91st birth anniversary of the late Subarna Shamsher jb rana here today.
They also expressed their sorrow that democratic fighters such as Buddha Singh Gurung, Tara Koirala, Mahesh Karmocha and Dukha Sahani are living a sub-human life.
Vice chairman of the National Assembly Chiranjivi Prasad Rijal said the true honouring of fighters of democracy lies in following the task left by them.
Stating that the late Rana was not only a politician but also an economist, Mr. Rijal noted that it was he who introduced the land reforms programme with a view to making tillers the owners.
On the occasion, Mr. Rijal presented Rs. 25,000 from the mps fund to the association for bringing out a souvenir after identifying democratic fighters from 1997 bs to 2046 bs.
Mp ram Bahadur Bista observed that if the culture of forgetting democratic fighters develops in us it will cause a great damage to the entire nation in the long run.
Rambabu prasai remarked that those who fought for democracy throughout their life must be highly valued.
NC youth leader Haribol Bhattarai, vice president of the association Purnanda Sharma and Tara Koirala also spoke at the function chaired by association president Yagya Bahadur Karki.
Banke, Feb. 26: Pardeshu Tharu of Fattenagar is extremely proud of his newly acquired skill of reading and writing. Now, his next dream is to learn simple calculation. He fought a difficult battle to get this opportunity to attend an informal education class. However, the shy boy fears that his dream for further study may never turn to be a reality.
He was born to a Kamaiya family, an agriculture bonded labourer, and has been serving the Kisan family, an employer of Kamaiya, along with his parents.
“A Kamaiya is not allowed to make a choice,” he says in his mother tongue, the Tharu language. He said he craved to continue his study after the current informal education class comes to an end in another four months, but out of fear that he may be denied he has not yet dared to ask for a permission from his employer.
Kamaiya children are fighting an uphill battle against poverty as well as resistance from their employers to join and continue their study in the informal classes specially designed for them by NGOs and trade unions. According to a study conducted by Shiva Sharma in 1998, there are about 5,000 children working under the Kamaiya system in five districts of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardiya, Banke and Dang of mid and far western Terai. Banke has the highest number of children working under Kamaiya system.
Researches have found that Kamaiya system evolved soon after the in-migration of people to naya muluk, the Banke, Bardiya, Kailai and Kanchanpur, from hills some five decades back. “The Kamaiya problem is basically an ethnic problem generic to the Tharu community of mid and far western Terai,” reads the 1998 study done by Shiva Sharma. Tharus, the single largest tribal ethnic minority in Nepal, are indigenous to plains in the southern Nepal and are considered to be the oldest surviving settlers in the area. Department of Housing and Physical Planning in 1995, calculated the number of Kamaiyas to stand at 25,763 persons and 17,435 households in the four districts of naya muluk and Dang.
Shiva Sharma points out that eradication of malaria in the early 1960s that brought flow of migration from hills and provision of state awarding land grants to civil servants and military personnel as reward for their outstanding service that resulted in eviction of the original inhabitants and lack of legal property rights of Tharus over their land are some of the major reasons for Tharus to loose their rights over agricultural land. “‘The supply of labour was limited…evicted from their traditional rights over land, Tharus gradually accepted work with masters and the masters had every intention of ensuring labour supply on a continual basis,” Sharma explains about the evolvement and continuation of the system.
Raju Pariyar, an orphan from Naya Basti, Kalika Village Development Committee also has joined informal education arrangements in his village, however he is unable to attend classes regularly. “On the days I fail to comply with my master’s demand I will not be fed,” says the cattle herder. However, he is determined to leave his Kisan’s household if the employer denies permission to continue his study. “Phupu will feed me, I will go to school,” he sounds confident of support from his aunt.
However keeping Kamaiya children to three-hour informal classes has proved to be a tough task, according to Raju’s teacher Shiva Kumari Adhikari. Out of the 27 students who initially joined the class, only 18 are attending it regularly. All the 18 children are working at different Kisan’s places.
Madhav Chaudhary had to put extra effort to remain with the class—his master, though initially agreed to allow him to attend the class regularly took him to another district for work where he was confined inside home. But, the boy escaped the confinement and reached home to rejoin the informal schooling after an absence of one month.
The depth of poverty prevalent among Tharus is the biggest challenge against breaking the vicious Kamaiya system. According to a Nepal Living Standard Survey 1995/96, the incidence of poverty among Tharus are at 48 per cent as against national average of 45 per cent. And, illiteracy is the force that is preventing Tharus from obtaining alternative income sources to alleviate poverty among them. The literacy rate among Tharus is only 27 per cent as against approximately 38 per cent among non-Tharu communities in the naya muluk districts.
Kalu Kumar Tharu of Pedari VDC discontinued his Kamaiya-ship since last Maghi, the annual festival to renew Kamaiya’s contract with Kisans, to study. The boy offered to look after his two siblings and complete household works and in exchange his mother allows to continue his study.
Kathmandu, Feb. 26:Nepal’s participation in the three-day 16th Tourism Trade Fair (ttf) recently concluded in Mumbai, India remained quite effective and fruitful in terms of Nepal’s tourism promotion.
A total of 27 companies led by Nepal Tourism Board took part in the fair. The Nepali pavilion was decorated with attractive wood works, enlarged photographs of various tourist spots and several other items.
Useful travel information like visa fee structure, trekking area royalty, mountaineering royalty, international air schedules were put up for general information of the visitors.
Video documentary featuring some aspects of Nepalese tourism was a regular highlight throughout the fair.
Likewise, various brochures, pamphlets, travel guide books, posters, maps, travel manuals, cd-rom, lokta paper bags, passport bags, documentary on Nepal were distributed throughout the fair.
Coinciding with the fair a “Destination Nepal presentation and press conference” was held on Feb. 19 with the objective of dispelling security related doubts about Nepal from the minds of Indian travellers and projecting Nepal as a safe haven for tourists.
At the press conference, marketing and promotion director of Nepal Tourism Board Tek Bahadur Dangi cautioned the Indian tourists and people in general about the misleading propaganda launched by a section of Indian media regarding security matters in Nepal and asked them to differentiate facts from baseless rumours.
The security arrangement at Tribhuvan International Airport conforms to the international standards and the fourteen other international airlines including two national ones are operating flights to and from Kathmandu without any doubts about the security standards implemented at the airport, Mr. Dangi said, adding this itself is also a strong proof of good security system at the airport.
The cancellation of Indian airlines flights has caused loss not only to Nepal but also to India and other adjoining countries since the tour operators between the two countries have a tied up multiple destinations packages connecting adjoining areas in the Indian subcontinent, Dangi said.
Kathmandu, Feb. 26: international conference “tb. Net 2000” has concluded here after pointing out the need for forging co-ordination between member countries, institutions and persons associated with the health sector to combat tuberculosis.
Participating planners, tb and hiv/aids managers, tb specialists, medical doctors, intellectuals, economists, human right acivists and researchers expressed their commitment to preventing the malady in their respective quarters and countries.
At the conference held under the joint auspicious of tb. Net, united mission to Nepal, national tb centre and saarc tb centre in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and Tear Fund uk working papers were presented on power, poverty and tb and extensive discussions held on the remedial measures and future course of action.
The participants also expressed the view that the world’s tb patients living below the poverty line should have affordable and easy treatment facilities.
A large number of youths and especially women fall prey to this disease every year due to the effects of globalisation, global debt and gender inequality.
During the conference, the participants also held discussion about rampant treatment at private hospitals and clinics in developed and developing countries and the difficulties in implementing the dots strategy in a poor country like Nepal.
They pointed out the need for mobilising people’s participation in view of the rise in cases of tb and the high mortality rate.
According to statistics, one third of the world’s poor are suffering from this disease and some 5,000 die of it every day.
Dots strategy which was introduced by who over ten years ago now extends to 110 countries of the world. Here in Nepal, it has been implementing since the past 4 years.
Secretary at the ministry of health Srikant Regmi, at the concluding ceremony, said that His Majesty’s Government has introduced a National tb control programme and will implement dots throughout the country by 2003.
Director of the national and saarc tb centre Dr. Dirgh Singh Bam noted that dots is the best way to treat tb.
Tb net steering group coordinator Dr. Ian Smith expressed satisfaction over the successful extension of the tb net programme throughout the world. It was started just a few years ago.
Altogether 120 representatives from 18 different countries took part in the 3-day conference. It is the fourth such programme to be held in Nepal.
Kathmandu, Feb. 26:Can a human body discharge electric current? The question may sound farfetched. However, a Kamal Bhandari from Western Nepal’s Bardiya – currently living in Baneshwor – has been giving the feel of an electric shock to hundreds of people since February 22.
A hardware shop owner, Bhandari realised Tuesday that his body gave off electric current. “I felt a shock on Tuesday morning when I passed a metal box to a boy. The boy said that he got a shock too. I took it simply. But my sister told me in the afternoon that she also experienced a shock out of my touch. Then it was confirmed that my body was discharging current.”
The case was both a matter of surprise and fun in the family for a couple of days. By Saturday, it became an issue of public concern. Surrounded by curious visitors, the Bachelor degree holder said that he gave a feel of current to about 1,000 people only today. People wonder when Bhandari’s touch to a metallic object produces sparks.
Bhandari, 35, said that he consulted a doctor on Wednesday and was told that everything in him was normal. He said that had not experienced any biological problems. The doctor told him that the human body like any other object possessed ‘static current’. The discharge begins once it exceeds a certain limit.
Executive Director of National Forensic Science Lab Dr. Sewak Ram Bhandari said that a human body discharging electric current was not something unusual. All the objects as well as living beings possess ‘static current’. An object gets electrically charged when it is in friction with another.
Bhandari said that his body discharged current only when he wore shoes. The reason may be that the earth absorbs the current once he puts his shoes off. And the discharge is said to be higher during the sunshine. “It might be due to the ionic element in sunlight,” said Dr. Bhandari. The ionic element, according to Dr. Bhandari, works as a charger.
By Nepal News Correspondent
Kathmandu, Feb 26:
An earthquake measuring 5.1 in the Richter scale jolted western Nepal at about 10:00 hrs NST Saturday.
According to Department of Mine, the epicenter of the earthquake was Meghagaun of Rukum district, about 450 kilometer west of Kathmandu.
No damage of life and property has so far been reported.
Kathmandu, Feb 25 Five more finals were played on the fifth day under the preliminary round of the All Nepal Carlsberg Snooker Championship, organised by Gorkha Brewery Ltd in association with Billiars, Snooker and Pool Association of Nepal.
Durlav Karki overcame the challenge of Sudan Shakya to clinch the first position in the best of five frame final at Royal Dilliard, Karki, however had a poor start to the final, losing first two frames quite tamely at 22-45, 12-45. But, making one of the greatest comebacks, he completely took Shakya by surprise. His cautious approach paid dividend at last as he won the next three frames 45-38, 55-42, 48-38 to lift the title along with a winner’s cheque of Rs 5,000. Shakya collected runner’s up-prize of Rs 3,000.
The highest break of 22 points at the venue, registered by Jeevan in the second round, though remained untouchded, making him entitled to Rs 2,000.
Following the match, deputy managing director of Carlberg Soren Thygerson, marketing manager Rajendra Gurung and joint secretary of Billards, Snooker and Pool Association of Nepal Rajesh Bajracharya distributed prizes to the winner, runner-up and highest breaker.
In one interestings final played at 21 Club, Mahesh Shrestha beat Roshan Shahi in a gruelling battle. Shahi, who with a highest break of 42 points to his credit in the quarterfinal had a poor day as he was bereaved of luch several times during the match. While trying to finish off the frame, he ended up missing even easy pockets.
Shrestha eventually closed the match in seventh frame with the score of 67-31, 50-15, 54-40, 41-42, 29-75, 77-42, 66-24.
Other results:
Final
Crazy Balls-Pankaj Shah bt Dharmendra Shrestha (46-19, 31-72, 50-31, 59-41, 59-24); Raj Kumar Shrestha (24-pt highest break).
The Circle- Tashi T Sherpa bt Ajad Shrestha (30-44, 49-28, 54-58, 42-27, 53-15, 31-48, 52-27); Ajad Shrestha (27-pt highest break).
Terminal Club, Bhairahawa- Shisir Gurung bt Raju Shakya (60-42, 48-25) Butwal Snooker House-Amrit Chhetri bt Mahendra Joshi (Score N/A); Bishal Gurung (highest breaker).
Semifinals
Green Land Snooker & Pool-Kiran KC bt Tshiring Sherpa; Dharshan Shrestha bt Nabin Shahi.
SK Cafe-Palsang Gurung bt Sonam Gurung, Palden Sherpa bt Jack Gurung.
Black & White -Prime Lama Bishhu Lama; Buddha Lama bt Pasang Sherpa, Cosmos Solarium-Shanker Thapa bt Pema Lama: bt Bishnu Lama; Mukhiya bt Bishnu Rajbhandari, The Club—Bhavya Tulsiyan bt Michael Rai; Laxman Agrawal bt Pankaj.