Mahottari, Jan. 16: Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Sharatsingh Bhandari has said that programmes like the Bishweshwor among the poor and the women’s empowerment campaign have been launched by the government with the objective of raising the living conditions of the people of rural areas.

Speaking at a meeting with the nc workers at Pokharbhinda vdc in Mahottari district, Minister Bhandari called on the party workers to dedicated themselves to strengthening the party by forgetting mutual bickering and differences. The government is working for resolving the problems of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, he added.

The party workers should fulfill their responsibility honestly, Minister Bhandari said, adding that preliminary planning for the river control, which remains as the major problem of Mahottari district are under way.

The function was presided over by nc constituency No. 3. president Kailash Yadav.

Butwal, Jan. 16: Minister for Works and Transport Khum Bahadur Khadka laid the foundation stone today for the bridge to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 28,500,000 over the Jharahi river in Nawalparasi district.

On the occasion, Minister Khadka said the government has planned the implementation of a grand project to develop the Hulaki Marga as a highway.

Minister Khadka also said the bridge to be constructed at Jharahi will be instrumental in promoting economic activities in Rupandehi, Nawalparasi and Kapilbastu districts.

MP Devendra Raj Kandel said a promise to construction of the bridge was also included in the election manifesto of the Nepali Congress.

MP Duryodhan Singh Chaudhari said the bridge will also help in the development of the Lumbini zone and stressed that a black-topping of the Bhairahawa -Parasi road is quite urgent.

MP Bharat Saha said the bridge is to be constructed is in line with the proposed plan for constructing Lumbini zonal ring road.

Nawalparasi ddc chairman Ishwori Prasad Pandey said the teachers and employees in the remote areas in the district have been facing difficulties in their teaching and administrative works.

Mayor of Ramgram Municipality Govind Chaudhari said the Hulaki Marga should be developed as an alternative highway.

From the chair, secretary at the Ministry of Works and Transports Hiranya Lal Regmi said the construction of the bridge will contribute to bringing about economic and social prosperity in this region.

Also speaking on the occasion were nc Nawalparasi president Krishna Chandra Nepali, regional director of the western road division Sudhir Prasad Upadhyaya and chief of the Butwal road division Guru Prasad Dhakal.

The bridge is expected to be completed by the end of next fiscal year.

Kathmandu, Jan. 16: Education Minister Yog Prasad Upadhyaya left here today for Bangkok, the capital of Thailand to take part in an Asia Pacific regional conference on “Education for All” to be held there from Jan. 17 to 21.

Minister Upadhyaya is leading a seven-member Nepalese delegation to the conference organised with the objective of reviewing the progress made pursuant to the commitment expressed by all the participants at the “Education for All” world conference held in Jomson, Thailand in 1990.

Talking to rss prior to his departure at Tribhuvan International Airport, Minister Upadhyaya said ministers of all the participating countries will present papers on behalf of their respective countries on matters relating to the Education for All programme, exchange views and formulate new programmes for the future.

Other members of the delegation are education secretary Jayaram Giri, under secretary Pursottamnath Pradhan, executive director of education development and research centre Hridayaratna Bajracharya, reader at Tribhuvan University Dr. Tirtharaj Khaniya, Agatha Thapa of “Seto Gurans” and personal secretary of the Education Minister Pramod Dhakal.

Kathmandu, Jan. 16:The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (fncci) issued a press statement today urging Indian Airlines to resume without delay its flight to and from Kathmandu in view of the smooth operation of other international flights from Nepal.

The fncci has taken seriously non-operation of air services in the wake of the hijacking of Indian Airlines ic-814 flight and the postponement of Indian Airlines flights to and from Kathmandu despite deep friendship and high understanding between Nepal and India has created a situation of uncertainty, and prolonging of the situation cannot be justified, it is stated.

Observing that tourism entrepreneurs are getting disheartened by the unexpected postponement of Indian Air Services at a time when efforts were being made to operate additional flights between Nepal and India and when tourism between the two countries was witnessing a healthy trend, the fncci noted that this is not in favour of any side.

Biratnagar, Jan. 16 :Minister for Finance Mahesh Acharya says that though, with the introduction of the Value Added Tax (vat) the revenue has increased this year as compared to that of the last year necessary reform process is yet to be made in it.

As businessmen are required to give purchase bills to the consumers as according to law and many businessmen are yet to register their firms in line with the legal process the communications sector should extend cooperation in this task he adds.

Speaking at a meet the press programme organised by Morang District branch of the Nepal Press here today, Minister Acharya said that compared to the volume of import, export trade was limited and therefore agro-based sectors should be encouraged to increase the production growth rate to bring in more dynamism in the economic development of the country.

Stating that the economic liberalisation process was continuing in a creative, dynamic and dedicated manner, the Finance Minister stated that as compared to last year, the development expenditure had remained balanced, the budgetary deficit was decreasing, the foreign currency reserve had increased, investment promotion of the banking sector had become consolidated and the interest rate was being decreased this year.

Pointing out that political violence seemed to have its negative impact on political, economic and social growth, he expressed the view that the administration should be competent to maintain political stability and prevent criminal activities in the country.

He said that as Nepali Congress which has crossed many hurdles for fifty years is pursuing liberal and flexible policy, it will not split at any cost but other parties including the communists had split immediately when there was ideological rivalry.

Furnishing replies to the questions posed by journalists, the finance administer said that it was but natural for the party president to alert the government to make it more dynamic. He said, “in a parliamentary democracy, the party lies close to the people and the government lies close to the policy of the party, while the style of functioning is different.”

President of Morang District Committee of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Deepak Dahal said that hmg should immediately introduce working journalists’ act to provide facilities to the journalists.

Speaking from the chair, president of Morang District branch of Nepal Press Union Hem Raj Regmi said that permanent status should be provided to journalists working on temporary basis for many years, advertisement should be provided to the periodicals of the mofussils without any discrimination, foreign visit of and safety of journalists should also been ensured.

Kathmandu, Jan 16: Nepali Congress President and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said the government should pay due attention to the development of science and technology.

Mr Koirala made this remark while inaugurating an exhibition jointly organised by the Earthquake Safety Day National Committee, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Society for Earthquake Technology, Nepal on the occasion of Earthquake Safety Day today.

Stating that government should make efforts towards encouraging the construction of earthquake resistant buildings in the future, he said public awareness is the only effective way to ensure safety in the event of natural disasters like earthquake.

On the occasion, Mr Koirala also distributed prizes to winning students of painting, essay and poster competitions organised by the Earthquake Safety Day National Committee.

In essay contest, Pashupatilal Shrestha, Monika Bastola and Karmapath Aryal came out first, second and third respectively, while in painting competition, Jayanti Maharjan came out first, Samjha Khatri second and Jeevan Suwal third.

Similarly, in poster competition, Dina Shrestha came out first and bagged a cash prize of Rs. 10,000, while Balaram Wagle, Priyanka Goyal, Rasmi Amatya and Sujita Maharjan received Rs. 500 each as consolation prize.

On the occasion, the nc chief also released a book entitled “precautions to be safe from earthquakes” published by the National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Surendra Prasad Chaudhary, from the chair, underlined the need for including in school curriculum measures to be safe from natural disasters.

Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology Poshannath Dahal and Joint Secretary Punya Prasad Neupane said Magh 2 has been observed as Earthquake Safety Day since last year in keeping with the government’s decision.

Various other speakers including senior manager Dave Holester, Director of the United Nations Regional Assistance Centre Kobayashi and senior professor of Roorkee University India Anandaswarup Arya also expressed their views on the occasion.

Panchkhal, Jan 16;An international level training co-ordinated by United Nations Peace Keeping Operations Department conducted by the Royal Nepalese Army with assistance from US army pacific command for peace keeping began here today.

Army peacekeeping personnel from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and United States are participating in the “South Asia Peacekeeping Multi-platoon Training Event” to be held until January 31st. However India and Pakistan withdrew from the training citing various reasons, it is said. Army personnel from Australia, Canada, China, Fiji, India, Kajakhastan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga and United States and ten others representing the United Nations are participating in the training as observers.

The training which aims at enhancing the preparedness of the peace-keepers, increase international networking among peacekeeping forces of various countries is believed to be of great help in peacekeeping in accordance with the international covenants and treaties.

Inaugurating the training, Prime Minister and the Minister for Defence Krishna Prasad Bhattarai said economic prosperity is impossible without peace and stability.

He also mentioned that world is suffering because of the political chaos, ethnic strife and religious and communal disputes and the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor is also to blame for the threat to world peace.

“As a member of the United Nations, Nepal has been doing its best according to the UN Charter, in various areas and is especially active in peace keeping, he said, adding that Nepalese take pride in the Royal Nepalese Army being involved in peacekeeping under the umbrella of United Nations and hope to continue into the future.”

He also said that the award of Nobel Peace prize to the peacekeeping force of United Nations is a fitting evaluation of the work of the peacekeeping force.

The Assistant general secretary of the United Nation’s Peacekeeping Department Young Jin Choi (please check the spelling with the RSS despatch) praising the contribution of Nepal in international Peacekeeping said only peace can bring about prosperity.

“There is still great need for unified efforts to control the strife and violence in various parts of the world and this training is a part of that effort, he said.

Delivering the welcome address, Nepalese Army Chief Prajjwal Shamsher JBR stressed the need for capacity building in the area of international peace- keeping to combat the conflict between nations and the internal civil strife.

With this first ever training for South Asian countries being organised in Nepal, he suggested that the training centre at Panchkhal be declared as the centre for such training.

Citing that His Majesty the King during the Coronation had proposed that Nepal be declared as Peace zone, Rana said the proposal had invigorated peace process in the world.

Present during the ceremony were Ministers, Commander of American Pacific Command Commander-in-Chief Admiral Dennis C. Blair, Army chief of Bangladesh Major General Hassan Masood Chaudhary, Sri Lankan Deputy Chief of Staff Major General K J C Perriera and diplomats.

It is to be noted that from the year 1958 about thirty-five thousand officers and soldiers of Nepalese army have served in the peace-keeping force out of which thirty-five have lost their lives.

Wreaths were laid by the UN Assistant General Secretary and Army chiefs in honour of the memory of the martyrs. The Royal Nepalese Army held aerial shows and performed para jumps on the occasion.

Kathmandu, Jan. 15:  Maghe Sankranti, one of the main festivals of the Nepalese, is being celebrated throughout the kingdom today in accordance with age-old tradition.

It is customary to take holy dips in river confluences, perform worship at various shrines and take yam and ‘chaku’ as special food on this occasion.

Hindus observe this day as Makar Sankranti as it marks to the sun’s journey northwards.

As the belief goes, eating items like ghee and chaku, sesame seed candy, vegetables and yam and giving them away in charity on this day after taking holy dip helps one become healthier.

Devotees take holy dips at Devghat, Dolalghat, Barahachhetra, Ridi, Triveni and other rivers throughout the country.

Religious fairs are organised especially at the confluence of the Kali Gandaki and Trishuli River at Devghat in Tanahu district.

The Kankai River in Jhapa district is also a famous pilgrimage site. Devotees from various parts of the country take holy dip at Devghat and Kankai rivers also.

On the occasion of Maghe Sankranti, Gangasagar in India also attracts devotees in large numbers from Nepal

Bhaktapur, Jan. 15:Mayor of Bhakatpur Municipality Prem Suwal has said that the Municipality will be active at all times to develop wood crafts since the core identity of Bhaktapur is wood craft.

Inaugurating the 33rd annual general meeting of the Wood Craft Cooperative Ltd. here today, mayor Suwal said the Municipality is carrying out various programmes including preservation of historical assets and arts and culture in the district in total transparency in collaboration with Transparency International.

Chairman of the cooperative Shyam Sundar Dhaubhadel, from the chair, underlined the need for all to assists in the sustainable development of the cooperation involved in the development of indigenous arts and culture.

General secretary of the cooperative Balram Prajapati, presenting the annual financial report, spoke of the profit of Rs. 17,830 earned by the cooperative last fiscal year.

Sarlahi, Jan. 15 :Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Sharat Singh Bhandari has said that as per the programme of the Nepali Congress His Majesty’s Government has announced a plan for providing housing and employment to sportspersons of outstanding achievement.

Mr Bhandari, who was inaugurating a function at Malangawa Saturday to felicitate sportspersons of Sarlahi district winning medals in the Sri l08 Sri Mahavirjhanda festival, the Asian Games and the Eighth Saf Games and inaugurate a zonal level karate and kick-boxing championship, said that sportsmen are ornaments of the nation and the robust performance in the Eighth SAF Games showed unprecedented national unity.

During the function chaired by Malangawa Municipality deputy mayor Rajendra Prasad Yadav, district sports development committee chairman Dhirendra Kumar Shrestha also expressed his views.

On the occasion, Minister Bhandari presented shawls and certificates to Mahantha Ram Narayan Das Bairagi who donated land worth Rs 5,000,000 to the district sports development committee and Sabita Rajbhandari, Dhojman Moktan, Tara Shumsher Rana and Ram Kumar Bhattarai who won medals at the Eighth SAF Games.