MALDIVES ENVOY ARRIVING
Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, emissary of Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, arrives Saturday to invite Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal to attend the 17th SAARC summit in the island republic in November.
Summits are held once a year. Bhutan hosted the last summit.
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DEPT. OF MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION DEPT.ESTABLISHED
Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Department of Money Laundering Investigation was inaugurated Friday in the capital by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari.
Anti-money laundering charges can be filed at the new government department.
Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) previously investigated such crimes.
The department was launched after government enforced the Anti-Money Laundering Act
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GOLD HITS RECORD RS.46,150 PER TOLA
Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Gold was traded for Rs. 46,150 per tola Friday.
Silver was traded for Rs. 1,120 per tola.
Trading fell with the increased price.
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DEUBA CHARGES DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI FOR DIRECTING ATTACKS
Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Nepali Congress (NC) senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has accused that the UCPN (Maoist) Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai has been directing his cadres to attack the NC activists in Gorkha district, The Kathmandu Post report from Gorkha..
Speaking at a programme in Gorkha on Friday, he claimed that what Bhattarai preaches and follows are two different things. “He calls himself the most democratic leader, but the fact is that he has been directing his cadres to beat up the cadres of other parties,” said Deuba.
Such statement from the NC leader came after he met with the NC activists in the district.
He claimed that after his interaction with the people and NC activists he came to a conclusion that the people of Gorkha were living under constant fear.
“It is the parties that should be scared of the public but the situation here is just the opposite,” he said.
Owing to the Maoist intimidation, the tasks of expanding the NC organisation and carrying out other party related works in Gorkha has been stymied, the NC leader said.
He also directed the NC activists to remain bold and not to be frustrated by the Maoist excesses.
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NT TENDERS FOR 10 MILLION MOBILE LINES
Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Nepal Telecom (NT) on Wednesday called for global tenders for its ambitious mobile network expansion project. The tender is NT’s largest till this date. The state-owned telecom giant plans to add 10 million mobile lines cross the country at a cost of Rs 15-20 billion, Ramesh Shrestha writes in The Kathmandu Post. .
The expansion project will be based on two technologies—Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), also known as third generation (3G) mobile telecommunications technology. According to NT, the project is targeted at addressing demand for 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services for the next four years. However, NT did not disclose the number of 2G, 3G or 4G lines to be procured through the project.
The supply, delivery and installation of the equipment and commissioning of the new lines will be carried out in two packages involving two vendors. Under package A, NT plans to add 5.2 million GSM/UMTS lines in the Central, Eastern, Far Western and Mid-Western development regions, according to the tender invitation notice issued by NT. Likewise under package B, a total of 4.8 lines will be added in the Kathmandu Valley and the Western Development Region.
“The new lines will come into operation within the next 15-18 months with an advanced network having better quality,” said Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai, NT’s deputy general manager. He added that the project would play an important role in providing service on demand at a time when NT is facing stiff competition from private operators.
NT plans to completely re-design the network in the Kathmandu Valley to address problems related to service quality. Similarly, networks will be built in major cities like Biratnagar, Birgunj, Pokhara and Nepalgunj for 4G services with a priority on data and voice services. The project is expected to be completed by 2015. NT had discussed the project extensively with the Public Procurement Monitoring Office to avoid legal complications.
Meanwhile, NT and China’s Huawei Technologies on Friday signed an agreement for supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of 2 million IP CDMA lines.
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CONSERVATION OF THREE WORLD HERITAGE SITES URGENT
Kathmandu, 6 Aug : Three World Heritage Sites of the Kathmandu Valley, Pashupatinath, Swayambhu and Changu Narayan temples, are under threat in lack of urgent repairs and preservation measures, Binu Shrestha writes in The Rising Nepal.
The Pashupatinath, most holy and revered by the Hindus, is standing on the foundation weakened by rat holes and leaking water.
The main temple is under threat in absence of urgent repairs. Only minor repairs have been done in the Pashupati temple in the past 50 years.
Bhandaris, the caretakers of the temple said that rat holes and leaking water have weakened the temple foundation. They complained that the Pashupati Areas Development Trust PADT did not properly respond to their call to carry out the repairs.
The temple is under the responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture, Guthi Sansthan, Pashupati Area Development Trust and Shree Pashupati Adhyayan Byawasthapan Swatantra Adhikar Sampanna Samiti.
Some time back, traditional temple caretakers including Kabindra Rajbhandari, Krishna Rajbhandari, Balram Rajbhandari and Devman Rajbhandari, had drew the attention of concerned authorities saying that the temple may collapse any time if immediate renovations are not taken.
The riverside temple built in 516 BS by King Mandev was renovated only twice.
PADT formed a committee for the purpose of carrying out the renovation but said it cannot do the works without external assistance. PADT treasurer Narottam Baidhya said that there is fund crunch for repairs as the money collected from daily offerings are not used for these works.
Bishnu Raj Karki, Director General of the Department of Archeology said that real damage and risk to the temple can be ascertained only after on-site inspections. The temple may need complete renovation right from the foundation, he said.
We can intervene only in case the PADT fails to do anything about it, Karki said.
The Pratappur Temple situated within the Swayambhu premises, is lying in a sorry state as its renovation works have come to a halt. The temple was damaged by lightning six months ago.
Passing of responsibilities between the temple management body and the department of archaeology have taken repair works nowhere.
The archaeology department has undertaken the repairing with works starting in late February. But the works have been halted time and again and the stated reason is lack of necessary budget.
General secretary of Swayambhu Management and Conservation Committee Mahendra Ratna Buddhacharya said that important artifacts of archaeological importance were damaged due to long exposure to rains.
Babu Raja Buddhacharya, main priest of Swayambhu temple warned that the damaged temple might fall if the repair works are handled carelessly.
The 350-year old Pratappur temple, adjoining the Swayambhu temple, was built during the time of King Pratap Malla.
Similarly Changunarayan Temple, built during the Lichhavi era, is under risk after landslides occurred on the eastern and western sides of the temple. The advancing landslide in the western side has reached near the Chandra Surya shrine.
Archaeological department chief Karki said that measures of concerned authorities are needed to protect the temple which are lacking.
The rampant sand extraction from the nearby Manohara has triggered the landslides. This activity should be stopped to save the temple, said Karki.
Aruna Nakarmi, chief of the archaeology department office in Bhaktapur, said they have been informed of the landslide and they plan to inspect the area on Friday.
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