TIHAR FESTIVAL BEGINS

SENIOR COMMUNIST LEADER DEVENDRA LAL SHRESTHA DEAD

Kathmandu, 24 Oct.: Senior communist leader Debendra Lal Shrestha
‘Kailaba’ died Sunday at his home in Mangal Bazzar.
He was central advisor of leader UCPN (Maoist).
Shrestha jointed the Nepal Communist Party after it was founded in 2006 BS.
The public will be put public homage Tuesday at the Paris Danda central head office of UCPN (Maoist).
Nnnn

TIHAR BEGINS

Kathmandu, 24 Oct. Tihar celebrations started Monday.
Panchak started Monday
Bhai tika is on Thursday.
Auspicious time for tika is at 11.55 in the morning.
Nnnn

10 TEAMS CONFIRM PARTICIPATION SO FAR IN POKHARA FOOTBAALL TOURNAMENT

Kathmandu, 23 Oct.: Eight teams of A division will participate in the Martyrs Memorial A Division League at Safal, Pokhara,
Gold Cup 8 to 19 November in Pokhara.
Khem Gurung, the president of organizer Kaski District Football Association, said the top eight A division teams have confirmed their participation in the knockout
tournament.
10 teams including one from Bhutan, will participate
in the tournament.
More teams from other neighbouring countries could also join the knockout tournament.
Nepal Police Club, Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC), Mega Three Star Club, Yeti Himalayan Sherpa Club, Ranipokhari Corner Team (RCT), New Road Team (NRT) and Nepal Army Club have confirmed participation.
A final list of participants will be announced later.
Nnnn

PESTICIDE DISPOSAL PROCESS BEGINS
Kathmandu, 23 Oct.: The process of disposing over 70 tons of hazardous pesticides stored in different locations across the country has begun with the first batch of pesticides collected from Amlekhgunj reaching Kalaiya on Sunday for re-packing, Upendra Lamichane writes in Republica from Amlekhjung.

Around 50 tons of pesticides, brought from various European countries in 1973 for agricultural purpose, are stored in Amlekhgunj, Bara, while 12 tons are stored in Nepalgunj, 5 tons in Kathmandu, 4 tons in Pokhara and 3 tons in Biratnagar.

As Nepal government sought international support to dispose the pesticides, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) stepped in to undertake the costly process. GIZ plans to destroy the obsolete pesticides taking them to Germany. “We will collect all the pesticides from Amlekhgunj in the next three-four days and will take the pesticides stored in different places of Nepal to Germany within four weeks,” Project Manager of GIZ Wolfgang Schimpt said.

Manager of Agricultural Inputs Corporation Achyut Prasad Poudel said Nepal government couldn´t destroy the pesticides due to financial constraint despite intense public pressure to do so in the past. “This is very costly process and has been possible only due to foreign aid,” Poudel said. The pesticides, including DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), methyl bromide, BHC dust, will reach Germany via the dry port in Birgunj, Kolkata and Malaysia, he informed.

Around 10 persons wearing protective uniform started to load the hazardous pesticides into trucks since early Saturday morning. “The pesticides will remain in Kalaiya for three weeks at most,” Poudel said. But the locals in Kalaiya have already begun protesting the storage of the pesticides in their town. They are complaining of headaches due to the smell of the pesticide.

The locals of Amlekhgunj, who braved the stench of pesticides for a long time, have become happy after the process to remove the hazardous chemicals from their area began.

“We 4,000 Amlekhgunj residents are happier than the day we got democracy back,” Ganga Singh Rawal, a local, said. “We are grateful to those who have agreed to take away the pesticides,” she added. Around 1,000 students of Nepal Rastriya Higher Secondary School, adjacent to the pesticides store, are heaving a sigh of relief. “We can now study at school without any fear of suffering headaches or other health problems,” Suraj Sah, a 10th grader, said.

Environment activists have long been decrying the delay by the government in disposing the hazardous pesticides. They had been living in fear that an accidental leakage of pesticides might affect human health and cause serious damages to the environment, especially because the pesticides have been mostly stored in the vicinity of human settlement.

Nepal is a signatory to Stockholm Convention and Rotterdam Convention, which bans the use of certain chemicals. As per these conventions, such hazardous pesticides should be disposed of by the company that manufactured them. In Nepal´s case, however, most of companies that manufactured pesticides have already closed down. Therefore, Nepal had to request the GIZ for disposing of the pesticides.
nnnn



________________________________________




DON’T SOW SEEDS IF DISCIRD
Kathmandu, 24 Oct : Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala on Sunday urged the party´s Senior Leader Sher Bahadur Deuba not to sow seeds of division in the party, Manoj Adhikari writes in republica from Pokhara.

Addressing a mass gathering in Pokhara on Sunday, Koirala said no one will forgive those who try to divide the party. “I still shudder to recall the division of the party in the past,” he said.

Saying that the party´s four sister organizations were dissolved with the consent of the majority of party leaders, Koirala urged Deuba to accept the party´s institutional decision.

He also urged Deuba to abstain from making remarks in public against the party´s official decision. “Please let me know if I have made a mistake, but I urge you not to make irresponsible remarks saying there is anarchy and dictatorship in the party,” Koirala stated.

Speaking at a function in Biratnagar on Saturday, Deuba had accused Koirala of dissolving party´s wings against the sprit of the party unity. He had also accused Koirala of treating him in a disdainful manner.

In another context, Koirala said that peace process could not be concluded keeping NC at bay. He opined that Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has now realized that NC is indispensable when it comes to the task of concluding the peace process and constitution writing.

Koirala reiterated that NC would not join the government until the Maoists give up the politics of violence and dissolve the paramilitary structure of the YCL. “We can´t trust Maoists until they fall in line, and the peace process and constitution writing cannot be concluded until the Maoists address these concerns,” Koirala added.

He said that NC has been watching whether or not the Maoists would implement their commitments. Koirala said that the UCPN (Maoist) has no other alternative than to be flexible for the cause of peace and constitution writing.

He said that NC is powerful enough to overthrow dictatorship of the Maoists and added that all dictators in the world have met their downfall.

“I urge the Maoist not to impose dictatorship,” Koirala opined. “NC is capable to overthrow it.”
nnnn