Baglung, Jan. 27: A group Bel-bibah for the girls from Newar community has been performed here under the auspices of Nepal Bhasha Mankakhala.

Thirty-one girls of five to 13 years from Kathmandu, Myagdi and Baglung district participated in the traditional ceremony under which Newar girl is wedded to Bel, fruit. As there is believed in the community that as Bel is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu a Newar girl, once wedded to Bel, will never be widowed.

The performance of the rites, if held individually, cost Rs 20,000 to 25,000 while the ceremony held in a group cuts down the cost to Rs 670 per head. Thus, the collective ceremony is a cost saving device, besides being a means of checking ostentation and lavish spending on social occasions.

At the function was presided over chairman of Nepal Bhasha Mankakhala Parashuram Shrestha, Newar Priest Harsharaj Rajopadhyaya shed light on the significance of the programme.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27 : An 11-member working committee of the 20-year old Nepal-Cuba Friendship and Cultural Association has been re-constituted with a view to promoting friendship and cultural ties between Nepal and Cuba and make the association more efficient.

The working committee is re-organised under the chairmanship of Ramkrishna Karmacharya.

Its finance, women development, communication, co-ordination and organisation sub-committees have been formed under the convernorship of Karna Shakya, Chandra Kala Anchal Rana, Phanindra Raj Pant, Niraj Ranjit respectively.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27 : The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (fnj), in a statement issued here today, has drawn he attention of His Majesty’s Government towards the situation in which most of the newspapers and magazines have stopped reaching the international subscribers because of the increase in postal costs and demanded immediate withdrawal in the hike in the postal charge while sending periodicals abroad through the post offices.

In this context, fnj has called upon all the publishing houses to send their opinions and suggestions concerning the impact on account of the hike in the postal charges.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27: The Department of Nepal Standards and Measurement has lifted  the ban  imposed on the use of Nepal Standards Logo on  the high density polythene pipes of various sizes being used in drinking water projects produced by the Nepal Polythene and Plastics Industries Pvt . Ltd ( Nepothene).

The lifting of ban was made after inspecting the production of the pipes under the supervision of the representatives of the department after the ban was imposed earlier and after the mistakes were corrected after inspections undertaken  daily  which  has proved that the pipes have been produced as per the Nepal standards, the department disclosed today.

Ilam, Jan. 27: Traffic along the Mechi highway that was halted since a week ago over disputes relating to bus fares and other reasons  resumed today.

Talks to this effect had been held yesterday evening between the committee chairman and cdo of Jhapa district Dilli Raj Joshi, cdo of Ilam Narendra Raj Sharma and bus operators of Jhapa district under the coordination of the zonal transport management committee.

At present an agreement has been reached only on the resumption of  traffic, but all other disputes on the bus fares have not been resolved, cdo Narendra Raj Sharma said, expressing hope that they will be resolved in course of time through dialogue.

Mr  Sharma said the issue of the Ilam-Dharan and Biratnagar route bus operation was also raised but had not been solved. It will be resolved through talks very soon, he added.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27: As per the suggestions made by the tourism entrepreneurs, industrialists, businessmen and personalities of various sectors  to the Prime Minister on the problems of the Tribhuwan International Airport in the wake of the recent incident  there, chief advisor to the Prime Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka   advised the concerned chiefs and staffs of various bodies to behave with the passengers decently, not to make unnecessary delays and to fulfill one’s responsibility   sincerely without any fear.

Earlier Dr. Khadka had inspected the security arrangement at the Tribhuwan International Airport, the check in counter, the cargo system, pass arrangement, the immigration, the sterilised area and the customs offices.

On the occasion Dr. Khadka assured that discussions would be held with the concerned bodies on changing of old equipment and training of the employees in order to make them more efficient.

Also  present on the occasion were senior expert Khagendra Prasad Poudyal and deputy director of the Department of Immigration  Atma Ram Pandey.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27: The Town Development Fund (TDF) has agreed to provide the Bharatpur, Banepa and  vyas municipalities loan assistances of Rs 11,800,000.

Documents to these effect were signed by acting executive director Harka Bahadur Chhetri on behalf of the town development fund, mayor Him Bahadur Piya and secretary Hem Sharma Pokhrel on behalf of the Bharatpur municipality, Mayor Dr. Surendra Bade Shrestha and secretary Tara Prasad Sharma on behalf of the Banepa municipality and Mayor Dhruba Raj Wagle and acting secretary Rajendra Aryal on behalf of the Vyas municipality.

The town development fund will provide Rs 6,841,000 out of the total cost of Rs 7,600,000 for the construction project of the Mahendra Bus   Park in Bharatpur municipality and the remaining balance will be met by the Ministry of Local Development and the municipality itself.

Similarly, the Town Development Fund will provide a   loan of  Rs 1,960,000, or 90 per cent of the total cost of Rs 2,178,000 for the construction  of  road and sewerage to be constructed near the Ancient Chandeswori Park at the Banepa municipality and the rest of the amount will be provided by the Ministry of Local Development and the Banepa municipality.

Likewise, the Town Development Fund will provide 90 per cent or Rs 3,000,000 for construction of the 11-room shopping complex costing Rs 3,300,000 at the premises of the Vyas municipality and theremaining Rs 300,000 will be provided by the Ministry of Local Development and the municipality.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27: Office-bearers of Nepal Tor-Steel and Iron Rod Manufacturers Association and Nepal Biscuit Industries Association met separately with Minister for Industry Omkar Prasad Shrestha at the Ministry of Industry today and held discussions.

On the occasion, Minister for Industry Shrestha said that  regular consultations and discussions with industrialists and businessmen have been organised with the objective of soliciting practical suggestions from the entrepreneurs regarding steps to be taken to run the country’s industries at full capacity.

He also said that the government was seriously contemplating what steps were necessary to run the industries at full steam.

During the discussions suggestions were given for strictly monitoring the quality of food items like biscuits which are mostly used by children and the sick.

At the programme, advisor of the Ministry of   Industry Ananda Raj Mulmi underlined the need for the government and the private sector to join hands in ameliorating the problems facing the nation’s industries.

He said the government was making a serious study as to the steps necessary for the creation of a sustainable economic system by eliminating the present impracticalities.

President of Nepal Tor-Steel and Iron rod Manufacturers’ Association and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (fncci)  pradip Kumar Shrestha spoke on the problems facing iron and steel manufacturing units.

He said Nepalese firms should be given priority in the supply of iron rod and tor-steel products to big projects through open competition, regular supply of electricity of the designated voltage and time slots should be ensured, concession given on  power tariff since electricity is a major component of the iron and steel industry and monitoring carried out on the quality of products being supplied and sold.

He also called for timely amendmend of the Labour Act, effective implementation of the  One-Window Policy, stopping of unauthorised trade and equal treatment of imported items and items manufactured in the country.

Kathmandu, Jan. 27: A meeting participated in by high-level representatives of various hmg ministries and offices was held here Wednesday under the chairmanship of Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar to ensure the success of the “Raid Gauloises Trans-Himalayan 2000” international adventure tourism programme to be organised in Nepal at the start of the millennium.

The meeting decided to constitute a coordination committee with high-level representatives of the various ministries and offices for the success of the millennial event.

On the occasion, Minister Gachchhadar stressed the need for making the Trans-Himalayan 2000 programme successful since it would contribute to Destination Nepal Year 2002 to be organised in the near future.

Assistant Minister for Tourism Narayan Singh Pun shed light on the importance and significance of Trans-Himalayan 2000.

President of the Trekking Agents’ Association of Nepal (taan) rajendra Bantawa and local representative of the event organisers, Gate Himalayan Adventures Pvt. Ltd., Ashok Mansingh Basnet, fielded various queries at the meeting and gave detailed information about the programme.

About 800 persons from more than 15 countries will take part in Trans-Himalayan 2000  to take place in mid-April. The participants   will take part in various adventure sports such as rafting, trekking, cycling, conoeing in the designated ten days.

According to experts, since the event would be broadcast live over television in more than 50 countries and as various articles and write-ups covering Trans-Himalayan 2000 would be published in major newspapers and magazines, the event would make significant contributions in promoting Nepal’s tourism and this would open up a new vista for the country’s tourism industry.

Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar had made the announcement of Trans-Himalayan 2000  to be organised as the tenth programme of the famous French adventure tourism organisers,  Raid Gauloises, at a joint press conference organised by the Ministry of  Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Embassy of France on October 28.

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has also assumed patronage of the programme.

Lalitpur, Jan. 27: The findings of Nepal Labour Force Survey 1998/99, released today, shows unemployment and underemployment rate much lower than claimed by previous studies related to labour situation in the country.

For the first time in Nepal, the survey recognises women’s work which are “economically meaningful activities, though not necessarily in the market sphere” as economic activities at par with international definition and standards recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The survey estimates Nepal’s unemployment rate at 1.8 per cent, which is less than 200,000 people aged 15 and over were unemployed during the survey year. Unemployment in urban areas runs at 7.4 per cent, but in rural areas it is only 1.2 per cent with Eastern Terai cities having the highest unemployment percentage. Kathmandu valley also has a high unemployment of 10 per cent. The national youth unemployment rate is 12 per cent.

The Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) of 1996 puts unemployment rate at about 5 per cent.

Senior Labour Specialist Robert J. Pamber said that the 1.8 per cent unemployment rate was an “expected” phenomenon, which he cautioned, was a “very bleak” picture of economic scenario for a developing country at Nepal’s stage where “people cannot afford to remain unemployment” even for a subsistence living.

In addition to the unemployed, the survey classifies some 4 per cent of the labour force as having work but being in time-related underemployment.

Like the previous studies, this survey also recognises agriculture sector as the largest employer, yet the labour force absorbed by the sector is lower than the earlier estimations. According to the freshly released NLFS report about 7.1 million of over 15 population, which makes 73 per cent of the work force, are employed in agriculture sector. The National Census 1991 put the percentage at 81 per cent. Outside agriculture, 1.7 million people work in the informal sector compared to only 600,000 people hold white-colour jobs.

The NLFS considers people with 40 plus hours per week as fully employed. The press release distributed during the data dissemination seminar claims that the latest definitions has wider coverage of economic activities that incorporates traditionally unrecognised activities like water fetching and firewood collection also within the boundary of production.

The unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent as given by NLSS 1996 would have gone slightly to 5.2 per in 1998/99 if the 1996 definitions had been used, and on the contrary, underemployment rate estimated at 47 per cent in 1996 would have dropped to 32 per cent in the survey year, the press release says.

The survey estimates that 41 per cent of children of the 5 to 14 year age group are economically active.

A special feature of the NLFS is its more prominent gender sensitivity than any of the previous studies. The survey collects additional information about various non-work activities to measure the contribution of men, women and children to household maintenance. According to the survey, men and women spend roughly the same amount of time doing the work activities with 216 million hours a week for men and 197 million hours for women, a disproportionate share of household maintenance activities are done by women. Women spend 132 million hours a week on these activities, compared to only 25 million hours spent by men. The similar imbalance is maintained between girls and boys as well. The survey says girls aged 5 to 14 years spend 12 million hours a week on household maintenance where as boys’ share of household maintenance contribution is only 3 million hours.

Dr. Meena Acharya expressed content that the NLFS is comparatively more gender sensitive. “The finding may help make corrections to the plans drawn to increase employment opportunities that went wrong because the earlier studies made women’s works invisible,” she said.