Kathmandu, Feb.3:The fourth donors’ meeting of Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) will take place on February 9, the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee stated here today.
All major donors including World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Co-operation Bank, Swiss International Development Association, Norwegian Development Fund, Nordic Development Fund, among others, are scheduled to take part in the meeting.
The fate of the US$ 400 million MWSP, expected to supply 17 million litres of water a day into Kathmandu valley, remains undecided since the project is still short of fund. Officials at the Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning had revealed late last year that the diversification component of the project still needed US $ 17 million. This despite the fact that donors have assured they would fund different components of the project – either in the form of loan or grant.
For the two days just before the donors meeting beginning next week, local and foreign experts will also meet to discuss on the hydropower component in the MWSP, according to Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, Director of MWSP. The central theme of the discussion will be what will be the contribution of the hydropower component in the entire project expected to begin by the end of this year and be over by 2004.
“During the meeting of the expert, the hydropower component will be evaluated on merit basis,” said Pyakurel. “The discussion will focus on how much has the hydropower added cost to the project and how much will be its benefit. Whatever conclusion is reached will be put up during the donors meeting.”
Knowledgeable sources say the planned hydropower has added around 40 million US Dollars to the Melamchi water diversification component. “Though the power plant itself adds the cost of US $ 18 million, there are other additional costs like bigger tunnel and increased quantity of water for the hydropower,” they say.
The hydropower is initially expected to generate electricity between five to 25 MW. Once the waters of Yangri and Larke are also piped in the Melamchi tunnel afterwards, the power plant is supposed to produce as high as 50 MW.
A 28 kilometres long tunnel is designed to divert the Melamchi waters at the end of which the power plant, if approved, will be installed. The Norwegian Government has committed US $ 24 million grant for the tunnel component while other donors like Swiss International Development Association, Norwegian Development Fund, among others, have assured assistance for the same.
Interkraft, a consortium of Norwegian companies and Nepalese investors, had earlier stated its willingness to build the hydropower at the end of Melamchi tunnel provided that it gets the privatised shares of Butwal Power Company. Interkraft and Independent Power Corporation based in London had reached the final bidding round of the BPC late last year when the latter pulled out of the bid as the government was yet to decide on the privatisation process.
Apart from its tunnelling part, donors have also assured funding MWSP’s other components. The Japanese Government has assured of funding the water treatment plant, Asian Development Bank for the bulk distribution and the World Bank for the water distribution network rehabilitation in the capital. During summer, Kathmandu Valley hardly gets half the supply of its 14 million litres of water demand every day.
Kathmandu, Feb. 3:Minister for Health Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has said that in the context of the minimum level of cancer treatment facilities available for cancer patients in hospitals in Nepal, the B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital established with the cooperation of the government of China would provide quality services.
He observed that establishment of an international standard hospital with all kinds of equipment, technology and facilities needed for the treatment of every kind of cancer has provided a great relief to Nepalese cancer patients.
Talking to rss at his office today, Dr. Yadav expressed the confidence that the B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital would play a leading role in the field of cancer treatment through the three-pronged preventive, curative and promotional strategy as per its objectives.
He said that the hospital was important in that it would save Nepalese a huge amount of money spent going abroad for the treatment of cancer.
The availability of international standard cancer treatment services within one’s own country would provide great relief and help in building confidence in the patients, he added.
He said the hospital for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer was established in memory of the popular leader the late B.P. Koirala who suffered for a long time from cancer of the throat and ultimately died of the disease.
The government of China had expressed its intention to construct the hospital in Nepal at the estimated cost of Rs 820 million as a token of friendship and long-standing relations betwen Nepal and China during a friendly visit paid to China by then prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala in 2049 bs.
The agreement for the construction of the hospital between the then Chinese prime minister Li Peng and then prime minister of Nepal Girija Prasad Koirala can be considered historic in cancer prevention and control.
The B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital came to fruition after the parliament adopted the B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital bill tabled by His Majesty’s Government in 2053 bs.
In course of the talk, Minister Yadav said that a lot of work such as opening health institutions outside Kathmandu valley in order to extend preventive health services to the doorsteps of the people, opening primary health sub-centres at every village and primary health centres at the constituency level and improving the quality and management of health services at the district, zonal and regional hospitals had been carried out in accordance with the New Health Policy introduced during the time of the Nepali Congress government.
He said big hospitals with ultra-modern facilities and medical colleges were opened in Chitwan, Dharan, Pokhara and Nepalgunj in this period for the training and production of skilled manpower in the health sector.
Dr. Yadav described the B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital constructed with the joint investment of the governments of Nepal and China and the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan started with the collaboration of Nepal and India, as landmarks in the Nepalese health sector.
A majority of the people in Nepal live in the villages and it is the view of the Nepali Congess that means and resources should be allocated to the villages, Minister Yadav said, adding, but three or four medical colleges were opened in the capital against the spirit of the health policy formulated by the Nepali Congress government during a time of political instability in the past.
Our intention is that these kinds of medical colleges should be opened only outside Kathmandu valley, he clarified.
He said some amendments were being considered in the act governing the B.P. Koirala Memorial Hospital under which the Health Minister would be ex-officio chairman of the hospital.
The Health Minister also expressed his intention of making reductions in the perks and facilities enjoyed by the chairman of the hospital board of governors which he said was a big amount considering the economic standing of the country.
The chairman of the hospital board of directors draws a monthly allowance of Rs 55,000 and enjoys a large number of other facilities, which is a big liability for a country like ours, he said.
He expressed the view that the chairman of the board of governers should hold an honorary post and the powers and perks of the director general and members of the board of directors should be reduced through timely amendments in the related acts and regulations. He added that the present board of directors would be reconstituted.
Minister for Health Dr. Yadav also was critical of the hospital management for its decision to procure two radiotherapy machines at the same time.
The economic condition of the country and the pressure of patients should have been considered before buying the equipment. The second one should have been purchased only if the first one had become dysfunctional. Two machines, each costing Rs 280 million, have been bought at the same time, he said.
Hinting at involvement of big commission interests in the purchase of the machines, the minister vowed to check such irregularities and said non-technical, contract level staff and staff working on wage basis would be removed and he would not allow negligence at a sensitive institution like the hospital.
Executive Director of the hospial Dr. Sampurnananda Dhungana said that all kinds of facilities, equipment and services were available for the treatment of cancer at the B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital which was built to the same standard as Chinese cancer hospitals.
He said the facilities and services available at B.P. Koirala Memorial Hospital were not less than the facilities and quality of service at the Tata Cancer Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Hospital in India.
Ten cancer patients have been referred for treatment here from India by Tata Hospital and other hospitals. This shows the standard of treatment facilities at B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, he said.
He said that a team of Chinese specialists was also working there.
Senior politician Nirmal Lama who had gone to India for cancer treatment has also been referred from there to B.P. Koirla Memorial Cancer Hospital.
Chief of the Chinese team of specialists Dr. Shiyu Lin said that all kinds of treatment services were available at B. P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital which can be compared to any modern cancer hospital in China.
Kathmandu, Jan. 31: Commerce Minister Ramkrishna Tamrakar released ‘Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Trade Directory Millennium 2000’ amid a function here today.
The directory provides Nepal’s business and industrial information and is useful to those willing to invest in the country, said the organising NCC sources. “The directory includes the government policy on industry, commerce, foreign inves.iment and technology transfer, labour, civil aviation, water resources, tourism and regional as well as global trade.”
The directory also provides brief information of Nepal’s export-import companies, commercial details of various industries, banks, financial institutions, airlines, and diplomatic missions, they said.
Commending NCC for publishing such an informative trade directory that would attract foreign investors in the country, Minister Tamrakar said that modern information system plays an important role in national development as it promotes various economic activities.
He advised NCC to move further with its activities that would support national development and asked them to set up an information division with modern technology to provide Nepal’s business and industrial information to national as well as foreign investors.
NCC President Mahesh Kumar Agrawal while welcoming the guests and participants said that they had created a web site to provide Nepal’s industrial and business information globally.
He appealed the minister to take initiatives to end the existing conflict in the exchange of Indian currency that “has severly affected Nepal’s trade and tourism.”
Kathmandu, Jan. 31: Director for In-focus Programme-International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) Frans Roselaers today said that Nepal’s government “reconfirmed its serious commitment” towards ratifying International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour and other core labour conventions.
He also said that child labour was interrelated with development problems and problem of poverty therefore eliminating it was a complex and difficult issue. “Political will as well as full support from social partners is necessary to achieve the goal,” Roselaers added. “The government can start the task from firstly focusing on worst forms of child labour,” he suggested.
ILO’s newest convention, adopted by International Labour Conference in June last year in Geneva, identifies all forms of slavery or slavery like practices such as sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, use, procurement or offering of children for prostitution, production of pornography or pornographic performances and other illicit activities particularly for drug production and trafficking and any other work that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
Talking about child labourers under bonded system, he said Nepal had various forms of bonded labour system in practice. “Therefore the Kamaiya system should be treated as a part of huge bonded labour system and lessons should be derived from other country’s experiences of fighting against such unjust labour system,” he said. He also stressed that improving children’s access to educational facilities and their parents’ access to justly paid job opportunities are the only answers to the problem.
He also said that ILO was cautious about not letting funds be misused by aid receiving countries. “In my current visit we’ll also discuss about improved use of the fund and tightening financial control while carrying out various projects,” he said. He also said that both the aid donor and receiver countries are “vulnerable” as both may suffer public criticism even for small mistakes.
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Kathmandu, Jan. 31: Minister for water resources govinda raj joshi chaired the first quarterly progress evaluation meeting of irrigation projects and programmes run in the current fiscal year under the water resources ministry here today.
At the meeting chiefs of the projects and programmes presented reports on the first quarterly progress and problems of their programmes.
Speaking on the occasion Minister joshi directed the officials concerned to give special attention in implementing irrigation projects, lowering cost of irrigation programmes, giving priority to projects of national importance and attaining cent per cent progress within the second quarterly period.
National planning commission (npc) member ramesh ananda baidya, secretary at the ministry of water resources biswanath sapkota, executive secretary of water and power commission bidhanath Nepal and high ranking officials linked with irrigation projects under the ministry of water resources attended the meeting.
Kathmandu, Jan. 31: tribhuvan university, centre for Nepal and asian studies (cnas) and the graduate school for international development and cooperation (idec) under hiroshima university of japan entered into an agreement here today on academic exchange programme.
According to the t.U. information section,the agreement has been signed with the objective of carrying out academic research and organising exchange programme for researchers, teachers, students and university staff.
The agreement was signed by t. U. vice chancellor navin prakash jung shaha, cnas executive director prof. (dr) tirtha Prasad mishra and president of hiroshima university Dr. Yasuo harada and idec dean prof. (dr) shyuchi nakayama.
Kavrepalanchok, Jan. 31: A bus heading for timal mechchhe pauwa from banepa met with an accident at akhor of ward no. 7 patlekhet this morning killing three persons on the spot and leaving as many as 25 others injured.
One passenger succumbed to his injuries enroute to hospital.
The injured have been sent to hospitals in dhulikhel, banepa and Kathmandu.
The bus was carrying about 60 passengers.
Kathmandu, Jan. 31 : His Majesty’s Government has, as per the decision of the council of Ministers, constituted a task force under the leadership of ex-home secretary khem raj regmi in connection with the introduction of armed police service within Nepal police.
The task force is mandated to collect suggestions from experts concerned regarding the proposed service’s organisational structure, terms and conditions of service and facilities, its jurisdiction, and updating of the existing legislation concerning Nepal police and submit a report to the government.
According to the spokesman of the home ministry, the task force members include ex-inspector general of police motilal bohara, additional inspector general of police pradip shumsher j. B. Rana, ex-additional secretary ramananda vaidya, and the representatives of the office of the attorney general and the ministry of defense. Joint secretary at the home ministry is member-secretary of the task force.
The task force is required to submit a report in 45 days.
Kathmandu, Jan. 31 : An emergency meeting of the academic council of royal Nepal academy (rna) held here today under the chairmanship of rna vice-chancellor mohan Koirala expressed deep sorrow at the untimely death of honorary member of the academy and famed archaeologist and sociologist janak lal sharma.
The meeting observed a minute’s silence praying for eternal peace to the departed soul. It also extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members.
In a resolution, the meeting has said that the death of Mr sharma, who has made outstanding contribution to the field of history, archaeology and sociology through research and study, has caused irreparable loss to the country.
Kathmandu, Jan. 31: A 16-year old boy suffering from paralysis was charred to death when his house at Lajimpat caught fire this morning. Ramesh Maharjan, son of Pancha Narayan, was in his bed when the fire began from the first floor of the house.
According to the police control room, the fire spread uncontrollably all over the house after a kerosene-stove burst.
The fire destroyed household goods worth one million rupees, said Bachaspati Regmi, police inspector at Durbarmarg Police Post.
Fire Brigades of all the three districts of the Valley with a great difficulty brought the fire under control in two hours as the street to the house was too narrow for any vehicles.