-By Sushma Amatya

Not the shopping extravaganza at the airport counter but the result of indulgence in food and not being active enough. Now, the good news is, you need not set aside an hour extra for a daily rigorous workouts anymore. Brisk walking 45 minutes a day everyday is enough to make you lose weight slow and steady and keep it off. You can easily lose your extra fat and keep it off, if you make a habit of it and pay attention to what you eat.

It takes a combination of regular exercise and a sensible diet to rev up your metabolism and burn off the unwanted fat on your body. If you only control your diet, it may work for sometime but what you lose could be more muscle than fat and the fat will come bouncing back as soon as you give up your strict diet. The body has a mechanism that holds on to its fat reserves as soon as it notices any sign of want, its way of preserving itself against starvation.

If you  hope to gain that svelte figure by exercise alone and continue to over eat or eat all wrong foods, the exercise may make you  feel better but it alone can not make a difference to your waist line or the unsightly deposits on your hips and thighs.

A sensible approach is to start slow and build up steadily on any activity that you may like and at the same time develop a habit of eating right. Working out an hour in morning does no good if after that you laze around the whole day munching on cheese and chocolates. Being active is important. So is learning to avoid empty calorie-rich foods, foods laden with calories but with little or no nutritional value.

If walking is not your idea, just buy   workout cassettes by Karen Voight, Jane Fonda, Cindy Crawford or one of those Australian exercise video cassettes that are available in our market now. You can alternate the videos to prevent monotony. If you are one of the rich with plenty of time kinds, just join up one of the health clubs. Aerobics, weight training, using the machines at the gymn do go a long way in shaping and toning your contours. The possibilities are endless, you just have to find an activity that works for you.

Once you build up your activity level and keep a check on your intake level, fat has to burn and it will burn depending on your age and your fitness level. It is better not to jump on  scales everyday, because if it is fat you are losing and muscles that you are gaining,  remember that muscles weigh more than fat. Measuring the inches or how easily you fit into that old pair of jeans would be a better way.

The old adage remains true, no pain, no gain. But take care to not to over do it. Learning the correct way to use a machine or an exercise routine is the second. It is no use blaming the video or others for the results of overlooking these basic steps. Find an instructor, or someone who already has a long experience in working out and get their advice. Getting it right is important.

At first the lazy body will come up with a variety of symptoms just to not to let you go for that another bout of sweating and stretching. So, your first battle will be to win your mind over your body. Once you throw yourself into a sensible regimen of re-creating a new you, you will gradually begin to enjoy it and soon form a habit of it. Sweat out the flab and build strong muscles. Muscles mean power, strength, vigour. Or, if you already have a lean mean body, start maintaining it. We can aspire to be the best that we can be taking all other factors like body type, genes etc into consideration. Let’s get started!

Being a diplomat’s wife and a working mother as well can be quite a juggling act that flies in the face of the notion that embassy wives have it good all the time.

When most of us are still groggy and not quite all there, Rita Thapa is on her way to office. Work at the World Health Organisation starts at 8 a.m., but Thapa, a director at its South-East Asian regional Office in New Delhi, is at her desk a good half-hour earlier so that she can plan her day better. But in the evening after a long day in office, she slips into an entirely different persona-that of an ambassador’s wife. Her husband, Bhekh B. Thapa, is Kathmandu’s man in the Capital.

Far from being ladies of leisure, they lead turbo-charged lives, a world removed from the impression we carry back with us from the cocktail circuit.

As Rita Thapa puts it: “No doubt, juggling both fronts has been tough. So tough that none my three children wanted to be come a doctor like me.”

Still, being a diplomat’s wife as well as a working mother is not that easy. Says Thapa: “From the very beginning of our marriage, I made it quite clear that I did not want to waste my education. I must say that my husband respected by views and never interfered. In fact, I had moved to New Delhi because of my work even before my husband was posted here.”

If you’re still not convinced that there’s more to being a diplomat’s wife than manicured nails and knowing which glass goes with which wine, here’s what Rita Thapa has to say: “You could be looking very well turned out at a reception, but five minutes before being there, you could be smelling of garlic and ginger because don’t forget, most diplomats’ wives do their own cooking or at least supervise the kitchen.”

Then she brings you down another notches or two closer to reality. “I would fall dead if I went partying every day!” she says. “As I like to be in office by 7.30 a.m., I can only manage one party a week.” There’s one helluva independent woman, who drives her own car to work and “completely forgets home” when she’s in office, just as she leaves “thoughts of office the minute” she reaches home.

A juggling act, therefore, is a constant in the life of a working wife of a diplomat, but it seems to be doing good to their married life.

(Though there are also other diplomats’ working wives, for the interest of Nepalese readers only Nepali diplomats portion has been reproduced here.)

—Humra Quraishi

The just concluded election for the office bearers of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), the apex body of Nepalese media people, clearly reflected the high level of politicisation within the journalism sector here.

Apart from the fact that the two main candidates belonged to the ruling party and the main opposition, the actual political infighting at the national level, could also be seen during the election.

For example, though the Publicity Committee of the ruling Nepali Congress announced Tej Prakash Pandit as its candidate for the prestigious post of the president of FNJ, Kishore Nepal, the Press Advisor to the Prime Minister, openly gave his support to “independent” candidate Suresh Acharya. If this is not a reflection of the tug-of-war that has been taking place between the government and the party, then what is?

It was also alleged in a Nepali Congress leaning vernacular weekly, that Kishore Nepal even joined hands with some extreme Left journalists, just to ensure the defeat of official candidate Pandit. Eventually, it was “independent” candidate Suresh Acharya who won. But insiders say Left-supporting journalists, were also enticed to vote for him when it looked like Pandit would win.

Meanwhile, in an interview with another newspaper on Tuesday, losing candidate Pandit has said that he will file a case in the court, as he had proof that proxy votes had been cast during the election. He alleges that out of the total number of 536 eligible voters, 37 were absent, yet it was announced that 526 votes were cast. “I am going to the court with proof of foul play during the election,” Pandit told in the interview.

Earlier, he had openly accused Kishore Nepal of going against him for personal reasons. Pandit had said, “How could I win when the Press Advisor of our own party’s Prime Minister, went against me and sided with the Leftists?”.

Not that there were no rivalry within the Left Front. Like the wide differences that exist at the political level within the Left parties, the journalists are also divided. Yet, just before the election, they got together, the UML supporting scribes, the ML supporters and even extreme Left leaning ones. However, this “unity” proved to be a superficial one, with groups and individuals going their own ways when the actual election took place.

The Left presidential candidate was badly drubbed, allegedly because a group of his supporters voted for winning candidate Acharya at the behest of Kishore Nepal. Similarly, the Front’s candidate for the General Secretary also lost when he was ditched by his own group. The Leftist could get satisfaction only in the election of the executive members, where four of their candidates won. It is some sort of a message that from the Left side, Maheswor Dahal, who won the contest for secretary, received the highest votes from their side – 224 – and the candidate for president, Gopal Thapaliya got the lowest number of votes – 138. Kishore Shrestha, who also lost got  181 votes.

How much real professional scribes can expect from the motley crowd of “political” journalists, is a serious question, yet, as mentioned by a senior journalist who was not a voter, “Just the fact that all the candidates were speaking of professionalism, is a step forward”.

-By Neeraj Vajracharya

About two decades back, people of the developing countries used to say that privatization was a policy developed in the developed countries of the West and it is not appropriate for the developing countries. They said their country faces a unique set of insurmountable problems in implementing privatization and it is not possible to make progress.

Many developing countries, in the past, including the South Asian region accepted privatization as a strategy of compulsion rather than that of the choice for economies.

But, it seems that things are changing quite a lot. Today, almost all member countries of this region claim that privatization is bringing about a good result and success in their countries.

Now people in this region have started to believe that privatization not only prompts the government channel resource, but they also say that it could be the answer to a host of economic challenges.

Delivering his inaugural speech at the recently concluded South Asian Privatization Summit held here in Kathmandu from December 2-3, 1999, Minister for Finance Mahesh Acharya, said that private sector-led development strategy had elevated many of the economies from the phase of under-development to a position of sustained prosperity.

“However, the control-oriented economic and political regimes have suffered from dangerous spectrum of economic backwardness, poverty, unemployment and indebtedness,” he  added.

Similarly, other participants at the Summit  expressed confidence that privatization can work in South Asia and bring very strong benefits to the economy. Some of the South Asian countries have also shown that even the most difficult economic problems can be overcome through privatization, they pointed out.

In Nepal, though there seems to be lots of difficulties to be sorted out, the government officials have said that the country’s privatization programme has been a reassuring success. “With majority of privatized enterprises performing better than they did under the government ownership, Nepal’s privatization programme has been a reassuring success,” says “Monitoring Privatized Enterprises”, a report issued on the eve of the Summit by Ministry of Finance.

“This report finally demolishes the frequent complaints that Nepal’s past privatizations have failed. In fact, they have been successes,” said a Ministry spokesman at a briefing in the Finance Ministry last week.

“Of the ten major enterprises privatized, nine have increased investment and in only one has investment decreased,” said Peter Young, International Director of London-based Adam Smith Institute which is working in a close association with the Privatization Cell of the Ministry.

Peter further added, “six have increased production, one remains about the same, and three have had reductions in production. Seven have increased sales and one has had little change. Five have shown profits.”

In Nepal, overall 16 former state-owned enterprises were privatized since the early 1990s. The report compiled by the Ministry concentrate on 10 major state-owned enterprises that have had time to establish a track record of success or failure, it is learned.

The Summit was organized jointly by Ministry of Finance and Adam Smith Institute and was participated in by almost 100 representatives from South Asian countries and organizations.

Kathmandu- Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) is buying a new plane. This was probably the best thing to happen to the country’s flag carrier in almost ten years.

Although the Executive Chairman of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation Bharat Bahadur Karki called it a ‘regular’ one, the press meet on Monday at Hotel Annapurna, instead of the corporation’s meeting hall, signified something different. In the last several years almost every news about RNAC was bad news. But at Monday’s meeting with the press, all the top officials of the Airline were almost beaming with pride and showed confident faces to the media.

The board of directors of the airline has decided that it plans do away with the much criticised practice of leasing an aircraft and this time it had decided to lease purchase a wide-bodied Boeing 767-300ER directly from the assembly line for its long-range flights to Europe and Japan.

The airline has also decided to buy two other short range aircraft for domestic trunk routes. The choice of these aircraft have not been decided, but  the two aircraft under consideration are Dash-8 and ATR.

Additionally, the Executive Chairman of the Corporation Bharat Bahadur Karki claims that the reliability of the airline has improved to almost 100 per cent and the punctuality is also more than 90 per cent. There are also similar improvements in the domestic sector, he said. The executive chairman also said attempts have also been made to maintain fiscal and financial discipline within the corporation. The corporation has paid Rs. 150 million out of its overdraft loan of Rs. 650 million and an additional Rs. 250 million will also be paid within days. That means income is growing. Similarly, the corporation has recouped Rs. 20 million out of its Rs. 400 million debt and attempts are being made to get the remaining amount.

It may mean Royal Nepal Airlines is beginning to rise again after a period of bad management and wrong decisions.

However, the executive chairman failed to satisfy the inquisitive journalists about the real cost of the aircraft and how it plans to pay for them. The long haul aircraft alone is said to cost about US$80 million with its two engines costing US$ 6 million each.

Chairman Karki said the actual cost of the plane will be known only after the order has been placed with their requirements and specifications. That is where many suspect the kick-backs and commissions are involved. But the executive chairman tried to play down the suspicion saying that the anti-bribery law of the United States prevents any such thing to happen.

Still, the decision to buy an aircraft is the right decision made by the RA, which has already paid more than US$ 50 million for leasing planes to meet its flight requirements.

Nonetheless, this and other steps on financial and managerial improvements can be called a good beginning by the new management. The only thing is that it should live by and carry out its decisions.

-By Dhana Thapa

The parliamentary by-elections  in three constituencies takes place tomorrow (Thursday). The seats in the three constituencies were vacated by three top leaders of the ruling Nepali Congress and the opposition CPN (UML), who each had won in two constituencies.

Nepali Congress party president and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had won in Sunsari No:6 and Morang No: 1. Similarly General Secretary of the CPN (UML) Madhav Nepal had won from Rautahat Constituency No: 2 and Rautahat Constituency No: 4 and UML’s former Home Minister K.P. Oli had won from Jhapa’s Constituency No: 6 and Constituency No: 1. According to regulations of the House, such winners can keep only one seat and a by-election has to be held within six months for the vacated seats.

Khum Bahadur Khadka

If nothing, all the three constituencies are “prestige seats” for the parties concerned. If  Morang No: 1 is the constituency from where a former Prime Minister and the current president of the ruling party has  won, then Rautahat and Jhapa also boast of having sent to the Parliament, the top two leaders of the main opposition. Furthermore, while Morang is considered the home of the Nepali Congress, Jhapa is well known as the bastion of the communists. It is the region from where the communist movement in Nepal started.

However in the meantime, it is the Rautahat constituency, which has gone on to become the most talked about one in the run-up to the current by-election. This has happened not only because late BP Koirala’s son Prakash Koirala is contesting the election there, but also because UML’s Madhav Nepal considers Rautahat his home turf. Glamourous actress Manisha Koirala, daughter of Prakash Koirala, has also significantly contributed in making Rautahat’s by-election an interesting one. In fact it is said thousands of people come to the Nepali Congress election rallies, just to gawk at her.

But apart from just the cursory interest because of a well-known name and glamorous screen idol’s presence, politically also Rautahat has gone on to become a keenly contested battle between two heavyweights in the ruling and opposition parties.

While Madhav Nepal himself is leading the battle from the UML side, it is Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka, who played a decisive role in creating an NC wave in the Far Western region of the country in the last General Election, is spearheading the ruling party’s battle.

Madhav Kumar Nepal

An observer who just came back from the district told this reporter that Minister Khadka has entrenched himself in Rautahat and he is going all out to ensure a victory for Prakash Koirala. It may be mentioned that Khadka is considered one of the ablest leaders in the second generation of NC leadership.  He is respected widely within the party for his organisational skill and also for his ability of leading from the front. This is something which cannot be said of most of the NC leaders, including Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and also party president Koirala.

On the UML’s side, Rautahat is the district from where the UML General Secretary won the first ever general election he contested.  So, he is concentrating to protect his “turf”.

Insiders predict that due to the able planning and tough stance taken by Minister Khadka, Congress candidate Prakash Koirala is ahead in the race for now. Moreover, his opponent is an unheard of name at the national political level.

-By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu- In order to bring about the latest high-tech health care systems for the cardiac patients in Nepal, Norvic Health Care and Research Center, an institute under the flagship of Chaudhary Group, organized an intensive three-day programme on “Cardiology at the Dawn of the Millennium” from November 26 to 28, 1999.

On the occasion, Norvic Health Care Center also announced various projects to upgrade its services for more sophisticated and high-tech heart care system. In the coming days, Norvic is spending more than Rs. 70 million for the same.

Various programmes organized on the occasion were also targeted at benefiting the general public as well as the medical personnels by providing greater awareness in the prevention of heart diseases.

World renowned Cardiac surgeon Dr. Naresh Trehan, Senior Cardiologist Dr. Ravi Kasliwal and other noted senior doctors from Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center, India, Dr. Praveen Chandra, Dr. Praveen Agrawal, Dr. Yugal Mishra and Dr. Anil Karlekar also participated the programme held in Kathmandu.

The hectic schedule of the programme began with a Heart Camp on Friday morning. The camp was conducted in connection to the increasing incidences of heart diseases in Nepal. Various measures of prevention of heart failures were discussed during the programme. A similar camp was also organized on Sunday morning at Norvic Health Care Center, Thapathali, during when Dr. Kasliwal provided consultancy to heart patients.

On Saturday morning, Dr. Trehan and Lunkaran Das Chaudhary, Chairman of the Chaudhary Group, jointly laid the foundation stone for the Super Specialty Cardiac Care Center with the latest CATH Lab and Cardiac Surgery (Operation) Theatre building at Thapathali.

The two-story building will be constructed at the cost of Rs. 70 million. The Norvic Heart Care Center has at present 30 beds. After completion of this project by mid 2000, it will have 50 beds. The center also targets to upgrade its services by increasing number of beds to 100 by 2002.

The visiting team of doctors had a busy schedules on Saturday starting with the live demonstration of Balloon Mitral Valvuloplasty (BMV) and Trans Esophageal Echocardiography (TEE). The live demonstration programme was inaugurated by Guest of Honour Dr. Trehan and was participated by a large number of Nepal’s leading cardiologists and general physicians.

The visiting team of doctors led by Dr. Trehan and Dr. Kasliwal presented the live demonstration of BMV and TEE by treating to the heart patients. The demonstration programme was linked with the Norvic’s future plans to introduced the services at their center.

At a get together programme later on the same day Dr. Trehan and his team also participated in an interaction programme with the patients at Norvic. This was held at Royal Nepal Army Club at Army Headquarters, Tundikhel.

In the evening the same day, a symposium on “Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology at the Dawn of the New Millennium”, which was participated by hundreds of prominent doctors of Nepal.

Just before the symposium, Dr. Trehan also participated at the talk programme with the journalists. During when he and Basant Chaudhary, President and Managing Director of Norvic highlighted on the tie up between Escorts and Norvic for the betterment of heart care system in the region.

The symposium held at Soaltee Hotel was inaugurated by Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. On the occasion, prime minister also released a book, “Heart Failure”, compiled by Dr. Trehan and Dr. Kasliwal. The book covers right from epidemiology to the state-of-the-art treatments, both medical and surgical.

In the first session of the symposium, which was chaired by Dr. D. B. Karki, Dr. Praveen Chandra, Dr. Yugal Mishra and Dr. Bharat Rawat respectively presented papers on “Acute Heart Failure: Intervention in Cardiogenic Shock”, “CABG in L. V. Dysfunction: Where are we heading?” and “Current trends in Medical Therapy for Heart Failure: The Role of Beta Blockens”.

Similarly, in the second session chaired by Dr. Migendra Raj Pandey Dr. Ravi Kasliwal and Dr. Damber B. Karki respectively presented papers on “The Emerging Challenges of Heart Failure After MI” and “Atrial Fibrillation.”

On Sunday, a public awareness lecture was jointly organized by Norvic and Mrigendra Samjhana Medical Trust focussing on the prevention of heart disease. The programme was chaired by Dr. Mrigendra R. Pandey and Dr. Trehan was the chief guest. On the occasion, Dr. Damber B. Karki, Dr. Praveen Chandra, Dr. Sanjiv Dhungel and Dr. Ravi Kasliwal presented papers.

-By A  Staff Reporter

Kathmandu- Skin does really talk. It reflects your inner state of  body and mind. Wishing for a glowing complexion, firm and smooth skin is the first step. Wanting it hard enough and cultivating enough determination to take necessary steps is the second. First, you have to eliminate any health problems. Good health is the basic ground that you have to prepare, only then can the rest follow.

The second round involves taking stock of your life style, how active you are, what you eat and how you care for your skin. Even half an hour of exercise daily will make a difference to your all round health, boost up your circulation and bring a glow to your face. Depending on what you like to do, you can choose  yoga, aerobics, karate, dancing and there are many more; or just settle for plain brisk walking.

Defusing any stress that you may be harboring consciously or unconsciously is another important step. No matter how much you take care of yourself, if you are stressed out, nothing can help you. Nothing ages faster than stress. To start with, even ten minutes of quiet time by yourself, letting go of  worries and concentrating on keeping your mind free helps a lot. Meditation in any form makes a difference to your composure, to your state of mind.

You are what you eat. If you continue to stuff yourself with junk food all the time, it is bound to show up on you sooner or later. The fact remains that you cannot remain 18 forever. Once you hit 18, the decline begins however unnoticed it may remain till you are 25. Learning to like healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, salads, cereals, beans, Tofu etc. will score more points for you health wise and skin wise. So will cutting down on salt, sugar, fat and preservatives laden foods.

Smoking adds to your wrinkles besides inviting the obvious health hazards. Drinking a glass of wine every now  and then is good nutritionally but anything more than that could be habit forming. Hard drinks means more diseases, bags under your eyes and a soggy complexion. You sure can drink plenty of water. Fruit juices, green or herbal tea are good drinks too.

Now comes the skin care ritual. Cleaning, toning, moisturising twice daily (morning and night) helps keep your skin free of unsightly blemishes. Protecting it from sun is very important. The more you expose yourself to the sun the higher number of Sun Protection Factor (SPF) you need. Sun is the worst enemy of skin. Avoid it as much as you can if you care for your skin. Never settle for cheap  creams, cosmetics when it comes to your face. It matters and it shows in the long run.

Exfoliating skin once a week with grains or good quality ready made scrubs helps skin get rid of dead cells. Applying a mask in accordance to your skin type once a week soothes and nourishes your skin and keep it youthful. Again, go for quality brands. Natural products are great if you have the time to indulge in it.

A sensible combination of all these steps in keeping with your type, age and life style will go a long way in keeping you vibrant, attractive, confident and strong.

(If you have any questions regarding fitness, skin care and fashion, do write in to us. Our experts will try to help you).

-By Sushma Amatya

Kathmandu- A local filmi bigwig was heard cursing in jest a man who confessed he had only seen one Nepali film in his life time, little knowing it takes a lot more than just watching  swadeshi films for one to declare oneself a patriot. And what with films as an art crossing all boundaries, it is nigh time Nepali film directors/producers etc realised  that they have to compete internationally if they want to attract the attention of discerning viewers. Quantity does not speak quality!

The presence of top heroes is not enough to draw in the “class” mass. Heroes (from left) Shiva Shrestha, Vijaya Lama and Bhuwan KC in film Ranko.

Not watching has its rewards, realised someone who tried to sit and watch a local movie one afternoon in a bid to educate oneself on the taste of the masses and see what the hullabaloo was all about. The person was forced to make a hasty exit after her sensibilities were visually massacred, not to mention audibly too. There is only so much suggestive jhatkas, lewd gestures, gaudy clothes, garish make up, overstated dramatisation and Indi-Nepali language that a person can take.

Not surprisingly, those who sat glued to such movies week after week start using those very words, the gestures in their conversation and also copy the way of dressing. There certainly are many better ways of influencing thousands of such simple minds!

These kinds of movies surely could have attracted the masses but if that is what attracts our audience… well, the very thought sends shivers down the spine wondering the impact of such visual and audio assault it could have on their psyches in the long run. Going by such a show, of which there are many, it seems that there really isn’t enough repertoire in our language, dress sense, dances etc. that we had to rely so heavily on borrowed cultures.  It is not so. Our vast reservoir of cultures could very well be a good source for hundreds of movies.

Sure borrowing from each other, cross-cultural mish mash are all fine but even to adapt requires a fine sense of balance that seems to be missing from these conconctions. Doling out one rehash after another to entertainment starved audience could work for sometime but that is rather irresponsible entertaining. That could be termed as insulting the audience. Some may remain ignoramus forever and lap up all that comes their way but those with a decent level of intelligence can differentiate worthwhile viewing from a worthless one.

Some believe that films have a set of formulas that have to be applied for a movie to run. Others abide by the idea that movies have a grammar that has to be stuck to. It was interesting to note not many thought of it as an art that is free to fly and experiment. An art that comes out of; deep feelings, stories that have strong roots, that appeals to human sentiments, forms that are created without having to lean on any preconceived notions.

To dare create a masterpiece, to take a risk and deviate from the known, to dare the audience to think and examine themselves and to be willing to work ones’ proverbial backs off would very well succeed in the making of a new genre of movies.

Any movie buff can tell that one develops taste with repeated exposures. The taste gets finely honed with time and then the buff can tell a good movie from a lousy one immediately. There are quite a few of them around here and they would like to see good Nepali movies.

Movies that stay with you long after the box office stopped ringing, movies that you can show  your children tomorrow as examples of good movies, movies that make dreams make true. Any takers? Good movie magic never dies, they are just rediscovered.

-By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu- Heart disease is a growing public health problem in both the developed and developing countries. Nepal like other countries in the subcontinent experiences fairly high incidences of cardiac disorders. Statistics reveal that almost ten percent of the population in Nepal face the threat of cardiac problems. Studies have showed that 50 per cent of deaths in the next five years will be due to heart diseases.

As there were no proper heart care centers in Nepali, there was no other way than to go to abroad for the heart patients. Since cardiac ailments require a state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained medical as well as paramedical personnel, proper treatment was available only in developed countries. Obviously, such treatment also cost them a lot.

Only a few Nepalese can afford to have such expensive treatment abroad. Many heart patients in Nepal have died in the past due to this very reason. But, in the recent past, the emergence of a fine institution in Nepal has greatly benefitted the people here.

In order to make available the treatments and facilities in our own country, Nepal’s premier industrial house the Chaudhary Group joined hands with Dr. Naresh Trehan, Executive Director of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center, New Delhi a couple of years back. Their association gave birth to the Norvic-Escorts Health Care and Research Center in April 1998 which is equipped with latest equipments and trained personnel to treat cardiac cases.

Norvic is also planning to expand its services by providing highly sophisticated treatment through world renowned experts. “By next year, Norvic Health Care Center will match the standard of any institution in South East Asia,” informed Dr. Trehan, who visited Kathmandu as the Guest of Honor for an intensive three-day programme on “Cardiology at the Dawn of Millennium” that was held from November 26 to 28, 1999.

Amidst a programme, Dr. Trehan and Lunkaran Das Chaudhary, chairman of Chaudhary Group, jointly laid the foundation stone for Super Speciality Cardiac Center with high-tech Cath-lab and Cardiac Surgery Operation Theater at the premises of Norvic’s at Thapathali.

Addressing a press conference organized on the occasion, Basant K. Chaudhary, President and Managing Director of Norvic, informed that the Rs. 70-million heart care project will be completed by mid 2000. “We are on a mission to bring speciality cardiac care closer to the Nepalese people,” Chaudhary added.

Speaking on the same occasion, Dr. Trehan expressed gratitude for being approached by the Chaudhary Group for the noble cause of establishing a high-tech heart care center in Nepal. When Dr. Trehan was practicing heart care in New York, then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and noted Indian industrialist H. P. Nanda of Escorts Group requested him to establish a high-tech, state-of-the-art heart institute in India. In order to fulfill their desire and make available the much needed heart care facilities in their own country, Dr. Trehan initiated the mission in 1982.

During the three-day programme, the Norvic Health Care Center also organized Heart Camps, live demonstration of Balloon Mitral Valvuloplasty (BMV) and Trans Esophageal Echocardiogram (TEE) procedures, held interaction with heart patients, lectures on public awareness and a symposium on “Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology at the Dawn of the New Millennium.”

The symposium held on November 27 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. On the occasion Prime Minister Bhattarai also released a book on “Heart Failure” compiled by Dr. Trehan and his colleague Dr. R. R. Kasliwal, Senior Consultant Cardiologist at Escorts Heart Institute. Dr. Trehan and Dr. Kasliwal along with a team of cardiologists have been regularly visiting Kathmandu to take care of Nepalese heart patients.