Hetauda, Jan. 24 : Police confiscated explosive materials from a truck na.a.kha. 7445 enroute to Hetauda from Kathmandu while it was checked at Nawalpur police post last night.
According to makwanpur district police office, the confiscated explosives includes a big amount of gelatine, fuel cap and gun powder.
Some people travelling in the truck have been arrested on suspicion and the incident is under investigation, it is stated.
Lalitpur, Jan. 24: The three-week training programme for personal secretaries of members of parliament organised by the Ministry of Parliamentary affairs under Parliamentary system consolidation project concluded here today.
The personal secretaries of 79 mps took part in the programme where they were trained on how to enhance the importance of the mps in the Parliament, increase the participation of mps in public works and maintain coordination between development-related bodies.
Giving away certificates to the participants, Minister for Law and Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Tarani Datta Chataut said personal secretaries of the mps have an important role in maintaining cordial relationship between the people and the mps, in managing daily activities and enhancing the participation of mps in development works.
Secretary at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Srikrishna Gautam said the ability of mps can be evaluated by the role of their personal secretaries.
Executive director of Nepal Administrative Staff College Shambusharan Prasad Kayastha, joint secretary at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Bal Prasad Shrestha and other speakers also shed light on the importance of the training programme.
Kathmandu, Jan. 24 : President of jica kimio Fujita called on Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai at the latter’s residence, Baluwatar today.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Bhattarai thanked the Japanese Government and jica for their continued support in the socio-economic development of Nepal.
The jica president appreciated the democratization process that is taking firm roots in nepal and the achievements made in the economic sector over the years.
Kathmandu, Jan. 24: Minister of state for Land Reforms and Management and chairman of the Landless Settlers Problems Resolution Committee Dr. Ganga Dhar Lamsal has, as per the decision of the commission, formed landless settlers problems resolution committees in Sunsari and Siraha districts.
The Sunsari district committee headed by Devendra Katuwal has Dinesh Chandra Giri as co-convenor, and Bindeshwor Yadav, Bam Dewan, Allahudduin Hussain, Agamlal Chaudhari, Raghunandan Chaudhari, Nasib Lal Yadav and Bishworaj Sharma as members.
Likewise, the Siraha district committee formed under the convenorship of Mohammad Razaq Rain Includes Panna Lal Mandal as co-convenor, and Hari Bahadur K.C., Yogendra Prasad Yadav, Tek Nath Mahato, Rajdev Saha, Dev Kumar Tamang, Rambalak Singh and Ram Ekbal Yadav as members.
Kathmandu, Jan. 24 : There is growing sign of His Majesty’s Government’s resolve to control corruption and commision-mongering in development projects at a time when various segments of the society are emphasising the need to end corruption and the practice of commission seeking.
Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, in the course his inspection visit to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation recently, directed the official concerned to make transparent the amount of commission available on rnac aircraft purchase deal and deposit the amount thus received in the government fund.
This directive of the Prime Minister is regarded as an important step in the history of air service itself as well as an effective commitment of the Prime Minister to eradicating corruption and commission-mongering.
The board of directors of rnac recently decided to buy a wide-bodied boeing-767 and sought His Majesty’s Government’s approval for the same.
rnac which is operating air services to Europe, Japan, Singapore, India and other countries has only one boeing 656. The contract on acquisition of China South West’s boeing -656 on lease for one year expires on march 20, 2000.
rnac has been operating the aircraft acquired on lease since 1950. Before that, the national flag carrier had four aircraft including boeing 727 and boeing 757, of which two boeing-757 were sold. At present, rnac has only one boeing -757, one avro and eight twin otters in operation.
Asked whether rnac needs to buy aircraft, rnac former executive chairman Ajit Narayan Singh Thapa replied: “it is indeed very good for rnac to buy aircriaft, and a proposal for aircraft purchase was made during my tenure itself.”A boeing aircraft is said to cost about us $ 80 million at the present international price. The aircraft can be in service for twenty years, given good maintenance and repair.”
As regards the amount of commission likely to be offered in an aircraft purchase deal, thapa said commission might not be granted if purchse was made directly from the manufacturing company, “though amount of commision is a matter agreed upon between buyer and seller.”
rnac has to buy aircraft in order to be able to more competitive within the country and in the interantioan arena., says former minister for tourism and civil aviation Ananda Prasad Dhungana, Mp.
The Prime Minister had issued directives to make purchase deal relating to development and construction transparent and we, too, moved resolutions in the parliament calling for transparency in such deals, he recalled.
He is of the view that if His Majesty’s Government forms a committee on aircraft purchase to call open quotations from various companies and makes transparent the quotation of lowest bidding then commission can be turned into revenue.
Kathmandu, Jan. 24:Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has said that the Nepalese banking sector would move ahead for its improvement with a new approach for the new millennium taking into consideration existing challenges.
Addressing the function held to mark the 35th anniversary of the Rastriya Banijya Bank here today, Minister Acharya said that the infrastructures of all the financial sectors and not only the Rastriya Banijya Bank (rbb) had to be changed taking into consideration national and international economic condition.
Mr Mcharya said that His Majesty’s Government would carryout works to develop the Nepalese financial institutions in a more scientific manner.
Finance Minister Acharya said that financial institutions had to play a more important role in further strengthening the economic reform programme introduced by the Nepali Congress government.
Mr Acharya stressed the need for the industrialists and businessmen to make investments taking into consideration the long term welfare of the country and not only immediate benefits.
Referring to the existing favourable conditions for making investments in the country and the improvements being made in the foreign trade sector, Mr Acharya urged the private sector to make investments in agriculture, water resources, tourism, health and other service sectors.
The Finance Minister said that the government had carried out many works to expedite mobilization of revenue and development expenditures in order to make improvements in the economy of the country.
He said that the bank should make overall changes in its procedures of providing services and facilities to its clients and recovering loans from them on time at a time when an appropriate atmosphere has been created for making productive investments.
Speaking from the chair acting governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Prafulla Kumar Kafle expressed the view that the Rastriya Banijya Bank could still make progress if it moved ahead scientifically in accordance with its objectives despite the challenges faced by it.
Mr. Kafle said that the Rastriya Banijya Bank had made 27 per cent contribution in the collection of total deposits and 31 per cent in investments in the country.
Rbb execuive chairman Punya Prasad Dahal said that the bank faced challenges of carrying out audit at the end of the year, developing an effective system for recovering its investments, producing skilled and efficient manpower and developing a research, follow-up and evaluation system.
President of the fncci Pradip Kumar Shrestha said that the decline in investments of the banks at a time when industries are ailing cannot be considered as favourable for the economy.
Stating that the government should be serious to create a congenial atmosphere for increasing foreign investment, Mr Shrestha said that the industrialists and businessmen were facing difficulties as a result of the closure of banks on Sundays.
President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Mahesh Kumar Agrawal expressed the view that the banks would be competent if the industry and trade sectors were successful.
KATHMANDU, Jan. 24: Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bijay Kumar Gachchadar receiving TIA security probe panel report in Kathmandu, Monday.
Kathmandu, Jan.24:The high-level investigation committee, formed the following day of the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight 814 on December 24 last year to investigate the security system at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), submitted its report to the government today.
Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, Minster for Tourism and Civil Aviation, received the 63-page report during a formal ceremony at his office this afternoon from Hem Bahadur Singh, former Inspector General of Police, who headed the five-member investigation committee.
“The government will study the report and make its recommendations public very soon before they are implemented,” said Gachhadar. “Since the report is related to national security and is also a sensitive issue, its contents will be revealed only after being studied and discussed by the Ministers’ Council.”
He further said that he would “most probably present the report for discussion” in the cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday. “Then after, the report will be made officially public.”
The minister also said that the government had already begun a separate investigation on the hijack episode to investigate issues like who were the hijackers, among others.
The report, according to Singh, has recommended the review of the security system at the TIA and make it more efficient in keeping with the demand of time. “The recommendations also include points for immediate implementation and for the long term as well to make the TIA’s security arrangement more reliable and trustworthy.”
The recommendations, he further added, was based on the analysis of the facts derived in course of investigation, on the spot inspections and inquiry with those on duty at TIA on the day the hijack took place. He would not elaborate further on the report.
Amidst pressing queries from reporters, Singh said his job was done after the submission of the report to the government and that he was unable to comment on its content since “it was a confidential report.”
The government formed the high level committee on December 25 last year after the Indian Airlines’ Airbus was hijacked some half an hour after it took off from the TIA a day earlier. The hijackers, yet to be officially identified, made the aircraft land at several airports in the region and the Middle East before holding the 155 passengers hostages in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
On the eighth day of hijacking, they released the passengers and the crew members in exchange of three militants freed by the Indian Government.
The committee, initially required to submit the report within fortnight, had extended its deadline for another 15 days.
Itahari, Jan. 24: NC president and ex-prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that since even those involving themselves in the terrorist activity of the Maoists are the citizens of this country, he has decided to go to the Maoist affected areas to convince them that they should come within the framework of the constitution and work together with others for addressing the common issues of nation building.
NC president Koirala was inaugurating a week-long free eye relief camp organised jointly by Lions Club of Dantakali 325 a Dharan and B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences here today.
Expressing his commitment to bringing all the Nepalese people into the democratic mainstream and carrying out development works in deference to popular aspirations, Mr Koirala expressed confidence that he will be able to persuade the Maoists into accepting the parliamentary norms and values.
Since government efforts alone do not suffice for the development of each and every sector, social organizations should continue to contribute to the task of nation building, he observed.
Stating that the government is seriously considering various ways to develop the Koshi Tappu Wild Life sanctuary in Sunsari, which is famous for the number and varieties of birds it has, into a tourist destination, he said the golf course at Dharan, beautiful places like Bhedetar and other places of religious and historical importance have already started attracting many tourists.
Nepali Congress is committed to constructing a dam on the Sunsari river so as to providing adequate irrigation facility for the land south of the highway, he said, adding JICA has already completed its field study for that purpose.
As wished by the late B. P. Koirala when he was in All India Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment of cancer, the B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences has already been established with the joint assistance of India and Nepal and a B. P. Koirala Cancer Hospital has already been constructed at Bharatpur with the joint investment of Nepal and China, Mr Koirala said.
Assistant Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Narayan Singh Pun observed that every district of the country has the potentials for developing tourism infrastructures.
Vice-chancellor of B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences Dr. Shekhar Koirala said the institute has been able to maintain a distinct identity by committing itself to human health care and regular health care campaign for rural people.
Also speaking at the function presided over by president of the Lions Club of Dantakali Purna Subedi were Laukahi VDC chairman Devkrishna Yadav and Til Kumari Limbu.
More than 150 eye patients are expected to receive cataract surgery service under the camp.
Also today, NC president Koirala addressed party workers at a programme organised by NC Sunsari district committee at Laukahi.
On the occasion, he alerted all democratic forces against the conspiracy being hatched by anti-democratic forces to prove parliamentary system a failure.
In a democracy every one has the rights to work for his personality development through competition; leg pulling is not in anyone’s interest, he added.
Acting NC district president Ram Bahadur Basnet presided.
Kathmandu, Jan. 24: In view of the wedding to be solemnised by the grace of god between His Royal Highness Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah and Miss Himani Singh, daughter of Raoraja Bikram Singh, His Majesty the King has conferred the title of “Her Royal Highness the Princess” on her.
This is stated in a communique issued here today by the principal press secretariat of His Majesty the King.
Kathmandu,Jan. 24 : Their Majesties the King and Queen graced the Swayambara ceremony held in connection with the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah, son of Their Royal Highnesses Prince Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah and Princess Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah, with Miss Himani Singh, daughter of Raoraja Bikram Singh and Late Bipula Singh of Sikar, India, at Kalikasthan, Dillibazar today.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and other members of the Royal family were also present at the ceremony.