Kathmandu, Feb. 3 : A nine-member Nepalese parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Taranath Ranabhat will pay a weeklong visit to Japan from February 7 at the friendly invitation of Speaker of the lower house of  Diet (Japanese Parliament) Soichiro ito.

During the visit, the Nepalese parliamentary delegation will pay a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Keiji Obuchi, Speaker of the lower house of Diet Soichiro ito and chairman of the House of Counsellors Juro Saito and exchange views on various aspects of inter-parliamentary relations.

His Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan and Her Majesty Empress Michiko Opf Japan will grant audience to the Nepalese parliamenary delegation, according to the Parliament Secretariat.

The Nepalese parliamentary delegation will also visit the historical, cultural and industrial places of Tokyo and Kyoto during the visit.

Mrs Narmada Ranabhat, wife of Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, and mps Tanka Prasad Rai, Mrs Kashi Poudel, Mrs Tirtha Gautam, Lalbabu Pandit and Govinda Bikram Shaha, and joint secretary Bishnu Datta Uprety and under secretary Krishna Prasad Pandey are included in the Nepalese parliamentary delegation.

Janakpurdham, Feb. 3 : Janakpur Cigarette Factory (JCF) has resumed its operations from yesterday following an accord reached through dialogue between the management and the workers’ union.

Factory workers had disrupted the operation of the factory for two days demanding reinstatement of Yusuf Saphi who was expelled by the management.

Under the 5-point accord reached between the two parties, the retrenchment issue will be put off pending a verdict on the court petition lodged by him, according to the General Manager of the factory.

Both the parties also agreed not to seek any academic certificate from the workers for grade 7 and if any notification on behalf of workers needs to be transmitted it can be done in consultation with the management.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3:Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar gave away certificates to the participants of the Millennium English Language Course-2000 for tourist trekking guides.

The one-month English language course organised by the Nepal Tourism Board under the convenorship of Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP) was participated in by 38 persons from the trekking companies.

On the occasion, Minister Gachchhadar stressed the need to move ahead tourism promotion activities in an integreted manner.

Stating that language is a medium for attracting tourist, Mr. Gachchhadar called on the trainees to make maximum use of the knowledge gained from the training.

Chief Executive of the Nepal Tourism Board Pradip Raj Pandey said that the board had been carrying out various works in coordination with other institutions for producing skilled manpower in the tourism sector.

President of KEEP Ukesh Raj Bhuju  executive director P.T. Sherpa said that keep had been carrying out tourism and environmental awareness programmes.

Baratpur, Feb. 3:Students have vandalised the furniture in an office room at Saptagandaki Multiple Campus at Bharatpur, Chitwan.

The incident took place following a students’ rally taken out in protest over a clash between two rival student groups at Birendra Multiple Campus. Two students, Mahesh Baniya and Bikas Koirala, were seriously injured in the clash.

Property worth Rs. 85,000 has been damaged at the campus which  was constructed with the people’s participation, it is learnt.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3 : Chairman of the working party on the accession of Nepal to the World Trade Organisation (wto) Roger Farell called on Minister for Commerce Ram Krishna Tamrakar at his office today.

On the occasion, Minister Tamrakar sought special cooperation from the developed countries in the context of a small countries like Nepal with weak economy acquiring membership of wto.

Chairman Farell said that considering his role, he would extend cooperation for wto membership of Nepal.

Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce Mohan Dev Pant and Nepal’s envoy to the permanent mission of the United Nations Dr. Shambhu Ram Simkhada were also present on the occasion.

Mr Farell is now in Nepal to hold discussions with the various governmental and non-governmental officials to make preparation for Nepal’s wto membership.

Meanwhile, Minister for Commerce Ramkrishna Tamrakar today held discussions with the honorary consul generals of various countries in Nepal  on matters relating of development of Nepalese trade.

At present honorary consul generals of 21 countries have been designated in the kingdom of Nepal.

On the occasion minister Tamrakar expressed confidence that representatives of the countries having honorary consul generals in nepal will actively participated in the export promotion conference to be held in Kathmandu from March 6 to 8.

The honoray consul generals said that the publicity materials prepared by the export promotion conference secretariat had been sent to their respective countries and that it would be followed up. They also expressed their views in making the export promotion conference a success.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3: The committee constituted by the Ministry of Health to make recommendations for the improvement and management of the hospitals providing special services submitted its report to the Minister for Health Dr. Ram Baran Yadav here today.

Special secretary at the Ministry of Health Dr. Som Nath Aryal is the convenor, Ramji Dahal of phcp and gtz, r. p. Panjiyar of theTribhuvan University and Dr. Janardan Lamichhane of jsi are the members and Dr. s. s. tiwari of the Ministry of Health is the member-secretary of  the committee constituted as per hmg’s decision taken on June, 1999.

Studies on 17 hospitals of the kingdom rendering special services have been covered in the report submitted by the committee.

The report has laid emphasis on the need for each hospital to have clear conceptions and targets, experienced and experts without political prejudices should be included in the board, the purview of the board should be clearly defined, and the chairman should be appointed from among the board members who is not a medical practitioner.

The report has also suggested that it will be better to appoint a person with managerial expertise to the post of director of the hospital, separate provision should be made for administration of hospitals, competent and specialists should provide emergency services, specialized services should be available round the clock at the emergency ward and registering the names for out patient services should be from 8.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the valley and from 8.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside the valley.

The report has pointed out the need for hmg to take steps to set up a central cremation plant in the kathmandu valley and provide its services to the governmental and the private organisations on paying specific fees and improve the nursing services immediately.

Considering the environmental and sanitary condition of the hospitals, the management should formulate and implement an action plan immediately and continuously monitor it for its effectiveness, it adds.

On the occasion Health Minister Dr. Yadav said that as hmg has adopted the health policy of providing preventive and  curative services, the suggestions of the report will be implemented as early as possible after studying it to improve the standard   of health services.

He noted that the hospital development board should not be considered a recruitment centre for persons having no technical knowledge.

Convenor of the committee Dr. Aryal said that the report has been prepared keeping in mind the means and resources of hmg.

Committee member Lamichhane elucidated the main features of the report.

Talking to rss after the programme, secretary at the Ministry of Health Srikant Regmi said that the suggestions which can be put into practice would be implemented immediately while short-term and long-term policies will be formulated for the rest of the suggestions.

He informed that considering the difficulties faced by the patients on account of two days’ holiday a week, it has been changed to one day a week.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3: It is being widely felt that there is a need of capable and dynamic   farmers groups for development of  agriculture and rural areas in Nepal.

The need  for such farmers groups and development programmes should come spontaneously and that the government should only  lend a necessary help to the programmes.

The two-day worksop on Transformation of  Rural Asia: Lessons for Nepal organised under the joint auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Asian Development Bank (adb) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (fao) has pointed out to the need of introducing programmes with  the concept of “For The  Farmers by the Farmers.”

The seminar has recommended that reform measures have to be moved forward as the existing technology is inadequate for the development of  agriculture and   rural areas, and to bring products  befitting  the competitive market at low cost.

The seminar has also recommended that coordination has to be increased between the government, the non-governmental organizations and the private sector to develop them to compliment each other.

It has also stressed the need to find markets in the European Union, the Middle-East, Japan, East Asia and China to  avoid  the problems caused by the open border.

The seminar came to the conclusion that investment should be made in   irrigation, road, electricity, market, agriculture and processing industry for the development of agriculture and rural areas and to attract private sector participation in the possible sectors.

The seminar has also recommended that development of agriculture, rural development areas and the rural financial market in Asia should be considered in an integrated manner.

Today’s programme was inaugurated by former governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank   Ganesh  Bahadur Thapa.

Dr. Nimal Fernando  of the Asian Development Bank presented a working paper on the experience of  Asian countries  on the rural financial markets and Dr. Harihar Dev Pant, Dr. Biswombhar Pyakurel, Ramesh Poudel and Ashok Sharma presented working papers on the experiences of Nepal in this region.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3:The leaders of the main political parties at a face to face programme organised here today  said that as the people’s war launched in the name of Maoism since the last four years is concerned with politics together with the economic, social poverty and lack of development programmes, the government should make its position clear to the public.

They said the problem will surely be lessened if a package programme together with the socio-economic development is brought forward for the resolution of the problem created by the so-called  Maoists.

Speaking at the programme organised by the Reporters’ Club Nepal, member of the standing committee of the cpn-uml Bharat Mohan Adhikari stressed the need for the persons involved in violence and murder  to come under competition by exercising the rights given by the  present constitution as the problem is far from solved  but  has weakened our nationalism and democracy through extremist and terrorist activities in the name of Maoism.

General secretary of  the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Pashupati Shumsher J.B. Rana said  other parties have not been informed about the future strategy and the views and efforts being made by the government and stressed the need to  provide a sense of impartiality for reaching a  national consensus.

Central member of the cpn-ml c.p. Mainali said the violent activities  carried out in the name of Maoism  are  extreme leftist activity and that  it will  not solve the problems of the national existence and the people.

Independent intellectual Padma Ratna Tuladhar said as some of the demands put forward by the Maoists are against the constitution, the talks can’t provide concrete solution but will help in lessening the violence  which   proves the necessity of talks.

The programme was presided over by president of Reporters Club Nepal Rhishi Dhamala.

Nepalgunj, Feb. 3 :President of the Nepali Congress (NC) and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that if the violence and terror unleashed on the pretext of Maoism is not checked, a situation will come when the government has to take stern steps to combat it.

Mr. Koirala made this remark while addressing seperate mass meetings at Musikot of Rukum district and Khalanga of Jajarkot district today.

Emphasising the need for all-party understanding at the centre and the local bodies, development packages should be provided on the basis of geographical condition and the administration should be made more competent and effective to resolve the problems of the Maoist affected districts, NC president Koirala said that he would take initiative in this regard.

Stating that he had not forgotten the promises made on law and order, and development made during the time of elections, he expressed commitment to fulfill the commitments.

The mass meetings at Rukum and Jajarkot were presided over by NC district committee presidents Gopalji Jung Shaha and Jhalak Man Wagle respectively.

At the all-party meeting and discussions with the office chiefs, he acquired information on  the law and order situation and development endeavours.

Also today, NC president and former prime minister Koirala addressed a mass meeting at Dang Tulsipur.

Meanwhile in Tulsipur, former prime minister and president of the Nepali Congress (nc) Girija Prasad Koirala has said that as the Maoists, without any objective, aim, principle and programme have unleashed terror and violence, he is thinking of how to put an end to it and has undertaken the tour.

Mr. Koirala was addressing a mass meeting organised by NC Dang district committee at the local Arniko ground today.

Law and order followed by development endeavour are the main issues of the country, he said, adding that if the Maoists did not come to hold talks within the purview of the constitution, other means have to be adopted to ensure law and order and end the situation of uncertainty.

Assistant Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Narayan Singh Pun said that the person who works against the freedom of others is a terrorist and such elements could be eliminated soon with the joint effort of the democrats.

Head of the nc organisation department and mp Baldev Sharma Majgaiya, MPs Krishna Kishor Ghimire and Gehendra Giri, National Assembly member Bijul Kumar Bishwokarma and ddc chariman Bharat K.C. demanded an international airport and resumption of domestic air services to Dang at the programme chaired by acting president of NC Dang district committee Mahadev Shaha.

nc president Koirala arrived here after taking part in mass meetings at Jajarkot and Rukum districts.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3:Five of the eight victims of yesterday’s street attacks at different places in Kathmandu were discharged today from Bir Hospital where they were admitted for treatment of various injuries.

The police sources said they are convinced of involvement of three “youths” out of the twenty-two arrests made in suspicion of involvement in the indiscriminate street attack on innocent passers-by.

Durgesh Sah’s first visit to Kathmandu to see his sick cousin turned out to be a terrifying experience when he was slashed in arms and head upon his denial to hand over money to a group of young gangsters. “The youths looked to be college educated and from good families, they were not wearing masks and were smoking cigarettes,” the 17-year old student from Sarlahi said from his hospital bed.

He later identified one of his attackers who is in the police custody now.

“We are, to some extent, satisfied that three of the twenty-two arrests are involved in the rampage,” said Deputy Superintend of Police Devendra Subedi, the officer who is investigating the incidents. He claimed that all the gangsters would be put behind the bars by the end of this week.

However, another victim Lekh Bahadur Adhikari offers quite different story about his attackers than Sah. Though he “cannot imagine their motive behind the attack” he claimed to be sure that it was not for money. “I have undergone an experience where I was threatened to extract money, but this gang did not feel that they were doing it for money,” he said at the hospital.

The police claim that the gangsters involved in the attack are “young drug addicts”. So far, the police investigation have revealed that the same group was involved in three attacks which took place in Teku, Om Bahal and Yangal within a period of twenty minutes, whereas different groups were involved in attacks that took place in Teku-Pachali, Lagan, Khushibhu and Vanasthali.

On contrary to DSP Subedi, another police officer with Kathmandu District Police Office, DSP Ganesh Raj Rai claimed that the police is convinced on involvement of Sandip Gurung, Raju Munikar, Upakar Shrestha and Ujjwal Nakarmi in the Wednesday incidents, who were arrested in Kathmandu on Wednesday. “The other three members of their gang are still at large,” DSP Rai said.

Prakash Pandey, another victim, also remained in the hospital who, according to Bir Hospital sources, needs a plastic surgery on the face.