Kathmandu, Jan 3:Minister for General Administration Siddha Raj Ojha inaugurated a five-day training for the personal secretaries of the members of Parliament here today.Ojha said that the training had special importance since it would enable the participants to be familiar with the routine works of the ministries and at the same time develop the skills to respond effectively to the problems of the people from the constituencies of the concerning parliamentarians.He said that the training should not be confined to a mere formality but should be used by the trainees to utilise it in the line of making their role more effective.The training is being held under the joint aegis of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Nepal Administrative Staff College.The training, which is being organised in three phases will train 34 personal secretaries of the member of Parliamentarians in each phase.Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Shree Krishna Gautam said that the training package had been devised in such a manner so as to make the role of the trainees more effective in their day to day work.Executive Director of the Nepal Administrative Staff College, Shambhu Sharan Prasad Kayastha said that the objective of the training was to make the tenure of the Parliamentarians successful through the dissemination of training for their personal secretaries.He said that the parliamentarians had not been availed with a fully equipped secretariat owing to the constraint of resources faced by the nation.In the backdrop of this reality, it is essential to train the personal secretaries of the parliamentarians so that they can handle the secretarial works in an effective manner, he said.Under Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Umakanta Parajuli said that the names of 102 personal secretaries had been provided by the Parliament Secretariat for the training.

Kathmandu, Jan. 3:  Foreign Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat at a meeting of the House of Representatives Foreign Relations and Human Rights Committee today apprised the committee of the activities of the Foreign Ministry and the bodies under it, and the progress made by them so far.  On the occasion, he said in an effort to enhance Nepal’s image in the international arena the organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been changed and a provision has been made for the Royal Nepalese Embassies and missions abroad to report to the Foreign Ministry every month on the efforts they are making in promoting tourism, foreign assistance, employment, trade and foreign investment.  Efforts are also under way to construct the buildings of Royal Nepalese Embassies abroad, he added.  Speaking about the progress made so far in resolving the Bhutanese refugee problem, he said that relations with Bhutan have become much better than before and that the forthcoming ministerial level meeting is likely to be able to find a way out of the problem.   Replying to committee members’ questions regarding the Indian External Affairs Minister’s statements on Nepal in the context of the Indian Airlines plane hijacking and the involvement of a Nepal-based Pakistani diplomat in the fake Indian currency racket, Foreign Minister Dr Mahat said His Majesty’s Government is very sensitive to these matters.  Once all necessary facts are found they will be brought to light, he added.  The meeting was chaired by committee chairman Som Prasad Pandey.   Meanwhile, the House of Representatives State Affairs Committee met twice today.   At the first meeting, Minister for General Administration Siddha Raj Ojha and secretary at the ministry Ramananda Prasad Singh apprised the committee of the activities of the ministry and offices under it, and Civil Service Act and Rules.  As decided by the meeting, the committee members made surprise inspection of Tribhuvan International Airport to acquire information about the security and immigration system and various other aspects of the airport.  The second meeting of the committee analysed the present condition of the airport on the basis of their on site observation.  The meeting also decided to discuss their findings with the Minister for Civil Aviation, the Home Minister, the Assistant Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Home Secretary, the inspector general of police and the officers of National Investigation Department at the committee meeting tomorrow.

Kathmandu, Jan. 3: Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai initiated the Kathmandu-Mount Abu “Lord Pashupatinath Jyotirlingam Rath Yatra” (chariot procession) organised by the Bramha Kumari Rajyoga Sewa Kendra, Nepal, amid a special function here today.

Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai  at open Theatre, Tundikhel on the occasion of the initiation of Kathmandu-Mount Abu Lord Pashupatinath Chariot procession organised by Brahma Kumari Rajyoga Sewa Kendra,Nepal on Monday.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Bhattarai also performed worship and paid obeisance to the Shree Pashupatinath Jyotirlingam chariot.

At the function, Rajparishad Standing Committee chairman Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi inaugurated a religious talk programme on the topic “Entering into a new age through spiritual empowerment.”

Addressing the talk programme, Dr. Rayamajhi expressed the wish that the twenty-first century would be an age of spiritual thinking  and an age devoid of war, violence and nuclear weapons.

He said spiritual thinking was necessary in the political and social spheres and that religion guided mankind on the path of righteousness.

Science should foster world peace and human welfare in the twenty-first century, not destruction, he emphasised.

Dr. Rayamajhi, on the occasion, gave the banner of Lord Pashupatinath to the chief of the Rath Yatra sister Rajyogini Bramhakumari Rajdidi, an urn to Bramhakumari Kiran and cloth strap and badge of the Rath Yatra to the Bramhakumars and the Bramhakumaris.

Cpn-uml general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal pointed out the need for guiding the human society on the path of material and spiritual progress by imbuing morality, good conduct and pious deeds while at the same time freeing it of demonic forces.

Because national progress cannot be attained without character development, mankind should learn to live his life in good faith and benevolence, he observed, expressing the hope that the Rath Yatra would help spread the glory of Nepal, the country of Lord Pashupatinath, in the world.

Minister for General Administration Siddha Raj Ojha said that although Nepal is poor in terms of wealth, it is rich in spiritual heritage and that religion promotes happiness, progress and prosperity of all beings.

Calling upon all the religions to move ahead in ending the suffering, pain and tribulations of mankind, Mr. Ojha said that knowledge on spiritualism should be imparted at an early age.

Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Sharat Singh Bhandari observed that with the advancement of science and technology has come progress and development as well as wars and destruction.

Activities that have come in the name of modernisation have eroded religious values, cultural norms and moral standards, he opined.

He said although a Hindu country, Nepal has given equal importance to all the religions and warned that no any faith should try to take advantage out of the poverty and the compulsion of the people and convert them into other faiths.

At the programme, Minister of State for Information and Communications Govinda Bahadur Shaha released a song album “Mero Hajur” by Ananda Karki. On the occasion, Mr. Shaha called upon the entire humanity to adopt the path of righteousness and imbibe moral values so as to make the 21st century a golden age.

He said we should engage in good deeds and pious ways for one gets to know the fruits of his/her deeds in this life.

President of the cpn-ml sahana Pradhan emphasised imparting of moral education for character development and said we should all strive together to banish poverty, illiteracy, violence and hatred from the country at the dawn of the 21st century.

Member of the Rajparishad Standing Committee Swami Dr. Prapannacharya said that while religion preached peace, science invited violence and destruction.

Founder of the association for character building, Shree 1008th Swami Sachchidananda Bisuddhadev stressed that the twenty-first century should be an age of mutual trust and goodwill and said coordination should be maintained between science and religion.

At the programme presided over by director of the Brahma Kumari Rajyoga Service Centre, Bramha Kumari Rajdidi, president of Nepal Anubrat Samiti Mr. Hulas Chand Golchha, founder of the World Peace Academy Dhammachariya Bhikshu Gyan Purnik Mahasthavir,   senior vice-president of the World Hindu Federation International Committee Bharat Keshari Singh, Bramhakumars Ram Singh Ayer and Surat Bahadur Ayer, industrialist Jeevan Lal Piya and others spoke on the importance of spiritualism for national development.

The chariot procession will conclude in Mount Abu, India, on February 8 after passing through various towns in Nepal and India.

Lalitpur, Jan. 2: The Tharu Students Society organised a reception in honour of athletes from the Tharu community winning gold, silver and bronze medals in the recently concluded eight South Asian Federation Games.

Those felicitated on the occasion were gold medalist in Karate Binita Chaudhary, silver medal winner in football Devnarayan Chaudhary, bronze medalist in volleyball Tika Chaudhary and bronze medalist in athletics Harimaya Mahato.

The gold, silver and bronze medalists were presented a cash prize of Rs. 3,000/, 2,000/ and 1,000/ respectively.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Surendra Chaudhary presented the cash prizes and letters of appreciation.

Damak, Jan. 2: Dr. Kapil Mani Mishra, a research scientist who is currently engaged in various research works in Damak, Jhapa District, has developed a new technology under which dry hay which has low nutrition content could be refurbished and turned green.

Earlier, Mr. Mishra had developed an anti-venom for snake bite from the extracts of a certain kind of herbal plant found in Nepal while he was affiliated to the American Research Methodology International.

According to Mr. Mishra, dry hay, which is widely used as cattle feed, has a nutrition content ranging from 6-10 per cent only. He says the nutritional level can be raised considerably and the hay attains green pigmentation of about 32-40 per cent after the application of the u.T.S. (urea treatment of straw) process devised by him.

Mr. Mishra also said that cattle are also found to prefer the straw prepared through this process.

Urea and water are required for the treatment and the straw has to be fermented inside a room or a pit to prepare the straw in this way.

This method of straw preparation is found to be useful in the context of Nepal.

Biratnagar, Jan. 2: The Research Centre for Indigenous and Ethnic Issues, Nepal, held an interaction programme around the topic ” the Present Condition of the Indigenous Tribes and Ethnic Communities in Nepal and Challenges of the 21st Century” here on Saturday.

Inaugurating the interaction programme, president of the Nepal Bhasa Manka Khala and former minister Padma Ratna Tuladhar said that the indigenous people should themselves unite for their rights and the upliftment of their language and culture.

Language and ethnic issues still remain unresolved even after so many years of the reinstatement of democracy in the country, he said, adding that granting of local autonomy to local bodies would promote indigenous languages and culture.

Presenting a working paper, lecturer Ishwar Govinda Shrestha spoke of the need to grant local autonomy to areas predominantly settled by the people of the indigenous groups.

Commenting on the paper, General Secretary of the Federation Of Nationalities Parsuram Tamang, Upendra Yadav and Joint Secretary of Nepal Sadbhavana Party Khusilal Mandal pointed out the need for unity among the people of the different indigenous communities for the attainment of their rights and welfare.

Central vice-president of Tamang Ghedung Association Mahendra Jung Tamang, Ramesh Thapa Magar of the Magarat National Freedom Front, chief of the organisation department of the Janamukti Party Kumar Lingden, president of the Morang District Tamu Chhoda Dhi Rudra Gurung and Prof. Rajendra Prasad Gupta stressed raising the level of public awareness among the indigenous communities for their upliftment.

At the programme presided over by president of the centre Mr. Satya Narayan Chaudhari, professors Parsu Bhagat, Jibeshwar Lakhe, Saran Kumar Rai and central member of the Kirat Yakthung Chumung Ram Kumar Iwang called for the upliftment of indigenous language and culture in the twenty-first century.

Charikot, Jan 2: Inspector General of Police Achyut Krishna Kharel has said that if any policeman cannot present himself in the service of people he can’t be regarded as a true policeman .

Declaring open a newly constructed office building of the Ilaka police office at Jiri, Mr. Kharel noted that police are capable of ensuring peace and security in society.

He also distributed commendation letters to those contributing to the construction of the building.

On the occasion, Police Inspector Swoyambhuraj Bajracharya presented a report stating the cost of the construction as Rs 1,039,000.

Also speaking on the occasion were Deputy Superintendent of Police Bijayalal Kayastha, Deputy Inspector General of Police Ananda Bhattarai, social worker Tanka Bahadur Jirel, chairman of the Jiri vdc Norbu Sherpa, chief district officer Khagendra Dev Joshi and ddc chairman Lal Kumar k.C. also expressed their views.

Nepalgunj, Jan. 2: Minister for Agriculture Chakra Prasad Bastola has spoken of the need to provide all facilities including improved seeds, fertilizers and technical aid to farmers from one place.

Mr Bastola was addressing a seminar jointly organisesd by the mid-western region agriculture directorate and mid-western region livestock services directorate with the purpose of working out budgets for various offices of the region under the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday.

He also spoke of the need develop an agriculture resources centre for providing such facilities.

Kathmandu, Jan. 2: Former chief justice Bishwonath Upadhyaya today said that kidney disease is on the rise in Nepal. However, due to inadequate health facilities in the country, especially in the rural areas where the majority of the population reside, people are not getting due medical attention to treat kidney-related diseases, he said.

He said this while inaugurating an interaction programme on ” Kidney disease, surgeon’s role and future development” at the Russian Cultural Centre this afternoon.

Since most of the kidney specialists are concentrated only in Kathmandu Valley, if the majority of the people are to be availed of medical facilities to treat kidney-related diseases, then the government should pay due attention to this and come up with appropriate medical programmes, he said.

Earlier, he gave away letters of appreciation to persons who had contributed to the Nepal Kidney Care Foundation.

Special guest Dr L. Srinivasan, a consultant surgeon from India said that though kidney disease is a debilitating one, over the last few decades, medical research had made medical professionals understand the disease better and various forms of treatment aimed at improving the quality of life of such patients were available.

However, human and material resources are needed to build patient care facilities for people suffering from kidney diseases. While information about kidney diseases could be obtained through books, journals and electronic media, the training of medical staff can only be done in places where there are programmes for the treatment of kidney diseases and are already well established, he said.

Another special guest and chief consultant surgeon from India, Dr. P. Pravichandran, said that kidney disease, which is on the rise in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, is mainly attributed to rapid urbanisation and sudden increase in diabetic and heart diseases.

Though 80% of kidney failure are preventable or at least prolonged, it is not so in these countries because of the lack of co-ordinated approach among various health delivery organisations, he pointed out. Unlike other diseases, management of kidney-related problems are unique in that it needs highly trained and dedicated teamwork including the public, physicians, paramedics.

Lauding the role played by Nepalese doctors for their co-ordinated efforts to provide better treatment facilities to kidney patients in Nepal, he appealed to all to understand that it is not the responsibility of the doctors alone but the collective responsibility of society to combine and put up a united fight against kidney-related diseases.

DIG Prem Lal Shrestha of the Birendra Police Hospital, Special Secretary in Ministry of Health Somnath Aryal, nefrologists Prakash Raj Regmi, Rishi Kafle and Bharat Lal Shrestha also spoke on the problems, treatment and prevention of kidney diseases. NKCF’s general secretary Madhu Acharya outlined the foundation’s activities.

The programme was jointly organised by the Nepal Kidney Care Foundation and the Birendra Police Hospital. Litterateur Romola Devi Shah (Chhinnalata) was another guest of the function.

Kathmandu, Jan 2 (RSS):
A three-day “Brihat Vedic Vidwan” or greater Vedic scholars seminar organised by the Vedic Sanatan Karmakanda Mahasangh on the occasion of the 55th auspicious birthday of His Majesty the King ended here today by adopting a Kathmandu declaration.

The 9-point declaration stresses the need to restore Vedic religion and culture, organise trainings for performing Vedic Sanatan rituals, encourage everyone for studying Vedic religion and culture irrespective of caste and creed, and remove superstitions, social ills and aberrations.

At the concluding function, Minister of State for Land Reforms and Management Dr. Gangadhar Lamsal spoke of the need to further widen the path determined by our religious scriptures and Veds in the interests of humankind and improve it to suit our modern times.

Minister of State Lamsal also gave away commendation letters to various persons making contribution to the preservation of the Sanatana Karmakanda Sanskaras and Hinduism.

Acting chairman of the World Hindu Federation Jaya Prakash called on all Hindus for the preservation of the Sanatana religion as the new millennium will be a challenging one for all Hindus.

Chairman of the management committee Tilakraj Poudel pointed out the need of the preservation of the Vedic Karmakanda Sanskar as it is the inherent asset of Hinduism.

Various issues including the problems faced by this field, relationship between the Vedic Sanatana Karmakanda and astrology were also discussed in the seminar organised with a view to making the Karmakanda Sanskar and Hinduism more people-oriented

At the function presided over by president of the Vedic Sanatana Karmakanda Federation Pandit Chitra Prasad Subedi, various other speakers including vice president Murari Prasad Upadhyay, Prof. Ananda Dev Bhatta, Prof. Purna Prakash Nepal “Yatri”, Dr. Lokraj Poudel and Biswonath Dhakal also shed light on various aspects of the Hindu religion and culture.