PROBE ORDRED INTO MISSING NAC SPARE PARTS OF AIRCRAFT

TOURISM MINISTRY FORMS PROBE TEAM TO CONDUCT STUDY OF MISSING NAC SPARE PARTS

Kathmandu, 5 Dec.: Tourism ministry has formed a high-level commission to probe missing or stolen aircraft spare parts in Nepal Airline Corporation (NAC) and illegal appointment of non-nationals in the state airline.
Parliament’s public account committee Friday directed the tourism ministry to order a probe and whether there was any negligence.
Joint Auditor General Thok Prasad Shibakoti heads a four-member probe body with SSP Kamal Singh Bam, Kumar Prasad Upadhaya and tourism ministry Joint Secretary Hari Bahadur Khadka as member-secretary.
Upadhaya is senior investigator of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority
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SUNIL KAUSHAL APPOINTED BOAR CHAIRMAN OF STANDARD CHARTERED BANK NEPAL
Kathmandu, 5 Dec.: Sunil Kaushal has been appointed board chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Nepal.
He has a 23 years experience in banking.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“Maoists will capture state power. there’s no confusion. Other communists also desire capture; but they can’t.”
“Maoist politburo member Janardhan Sharma, Nagarik, 5 Dec.)
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MASS PROMOTIONS OF 16,000 TEACHERS
Kathmandu, 5 Dec.:: A total of 19,000 teachers of public schools have got promotion and around 16,000 more are set to get elevated within a couple of weeks, Rudra Pangeni writes in The Himalayan Times.

With this bulk promotion, the first step of its kind after the introduction of the new education system in 1971, the Teachers’ Service Commission hopes to motivate teachers and create a proper learning in all 31,989 schools of the country that have 1,09,098 permanent teachers. “The promotion is expected to motivate teachers in the classroom,” said Udaya Raj Soti, newly-appointed chairman of the TSC.

We have promoted teachers based in 46 districts, while promotion of teachers in other districts will take place soon, Soti said. In terms of pay, one grade promotion is equal to the promotion of one level of civil servants.

Performance in the classroom and research for motivating backbenchers are among the factors that are taken into account while promoting teachers.

The teachers had not got promotion for long due to the absence of seats at the higher level. The promotion is expected to motivate the teachers and create a conducive learning environment, Baburam Adhikari, chairman of the Nepal National Teachers Association, said.

Licence application

TSC chief administrator Bishnu Nepal informed the commission will announce application for teachers’ licence exam soon. “For two years, would-be teachers are waiting to apply for the professional licence,” said Nepal. Plan to announce vacancy for teachers have failed to materialise with teachers’ unions putting forth their demands. Absence of fresh schoolteachers is said to have hampered creation of a learning environment.
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Kathmandu, 5 Dec.::According to the researchers, the first comprehensive research on snow cover in the Hindukush Himalayan region released here today claims that there are 54,252 glaciers in the Himalayas covering 60,054 sq km. Till now there was only an estimate of the snow covered area and it was said to be 110,000 sq kmm The Himalayan Times reports from Durban, South Africa.

"The study used a standardised methodology based on analysis of satellite images to prepare first ever comprehensive inventory of glaciers in the 10 major river basins in the Himalayas. It took about three years to come up with the results," said Samjwal Bajracharya, glacier expert at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, a regional inter-governmental agency that conducts research on glaciers in eight countries of Hindukush Himalayan region, including Nepal.

The report was released by the Chairman of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change — the United Nations climate change scientific body — Rajendra Pachauri, and Nepal's Environment Minister Hem Raj Tater at a programme to mark Mountain Day here on the sidelines of climate change meeting. Negotiators from 195 countries have gathered here to discuss climate change.

The study conducted used decadal (2001-2010) data on snow products recorded by moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer, which presents an account of snow mapping and monitoring initiatives at different levels from regional to global. The report claims it gives comprehensive baseline information for Himalayan glaciers that are one of the most data deficient areas when talked about the effect of climate change in the region.

"Longer-term data are needed in order to understand the relation between snow cover and climate change but the ten-year snow cover study has shown regional variations," added Bajracharya.

According to the study, the maximum annual average snow cover area was in 2005 and the minimum was in 2010.

"There hadn't been any mapping of the glaciers in the past. The previously stated figures were all estimates. Now we can say the actual snow covered area in the region," claimed Bajracharya who has been involved in glacier study for more than a decade.

The IPCC had mentioned in its controversial report published in 2007 that the glaciers in the Himalayas would disappear by 2035. It was later admitted as a mistake.

However, Pachauri said that it could undoubtedly be said that the glaciers were melting at a fast rate and the mistake is only the year that was mentioned in the report.
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