UML CHIEF LAUNCHES STUDENT AKHIL FORCE

UML CHIEF ANNOUNCED LAUNCH OF AKHIL FORCE

Kathmandu, 22 Dec.: UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal
launched a separate ‘Ahkil Force’ of students affiliated with the
party in the capital Wednesday.
The UML chief announced this while launching a national meet
of its student wing
Jiban Rai is its chief.
Election of the body is being held this year.
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HOME MINISTER EXERCISE TO REMOVE IGP

Kathmandu, 22 Dec.: Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar has started homework to remove IGP Rabindra Pratap Shah because of his ‘controversial image’,
Saroj Raj Adhikari/Pratima Baskota write in Kantipur.
Efforts are on to replace his with AIGP Kiran Gautam.
Gachedhar plans to remove Shan by leveling a charge or by transferring to the home ministry.
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WIND POWER BRINGS LIGHT TO VILLAGE

Kathmandu, 22 Dec. :The people of Dhaubadi village in Nawalparasi district have been using electricity in their homes twenty four hours a day at a time when the country is reeling under harsh load shedding, RSS reports.
Altogether 46 households are using the electricity through Nepal’s first Micro Wind-Solar Electricity System.
The people now need not go to the forest searching for fire wood or to market for kerosene.
Students of the schools in the village have now the opportunity to operate computers, use telephones and watch television.
A 43.6 kw of power was generated from wind and solar at a cost of Rs. 18 million of Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance.
The five-kw wind turbines and two solar PV used here are the first of this kind of technology in Nepal, the Bank said.
The Bank cooperated to assist the ‘Energy for all’ programme of the government by promoting the renewable energy, said ADB’s South Asian Department Director General S. Hafiz Rahman.
The women of the village have now been undertaking vegetable cultivation through irrigation, said one Ramesh BK.
Planning Officer of the Alternate Energy Promotion Centre Surya Kumar Sapkota said the technology was used for sustainable operation and a cooperative was also established to run this.
The Cooperatives will resolve problems in technology and repair, and will raise electricity tariff.
As the community has accepted the ownership, it will run sustainably, said Environment Ministry Secretary Krishna Gyawali.
Minister for Environment Hemraj Tated and State Minister Durga Devi Mahato had jointly inaugurated the project on December 16.
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TCN STARTS SELLING TIMBER
Kathmandu, 22 Dec.: The government owned Timber Corporation Nepal (TCN) has started to sell timber in Kanchanpur in a very low price than the prevailing prices in the market, RSS reports from Kanchanpur.
TCN which was closed for the past 17 years because of political interference has now started to sell the timber.
TCN Branch Office Kanchanpur’s Assistant Manager Khemraj Joshi said the timber was sold as per the central policy of providing timber to the consumers in fair prices.
The TCN has hired Roshan Kiran Saw Mill for sawing timber at Aithpur of Bhimdutta Municipality for selling timber in cheap prices. TCN’s own mill run on diesel is, however, closed.
According to Joshi, consumers can buy timber at Rs. 500 to Rs 1,000 per cu ft. from the depot. The market price for timber per cu. ft. is, however, Rs 3,000- 3,500.
This year, TCN had bought 35,000 cu. ft. of timber to sell, and one who wants to buy will have to submit house map, citizenship and land ownership office at the office.
The Regional Office of TCN will provide 25- 50 cu. ft of timber as per the need, said Joshi.
The Majhgaun Saw Mill of TCN was closed in 2055 BS and is now re-operated, but the Gaddhachauki saw mill has been closed.
(RSS)
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ARMY DISSATISFIED WITH GOVT. DECISiON
Kathmandu, 22 Dec.:- The Nepal Army is dissatisfied with Tuesday's Cabinet decision to recruit 3,000 youths from the Madhesi and other minority communities, The Kathmandu Post reports.
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It plans to register its reservations with the government after receiving a formal order from the Ministry of Defence.
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai invited Chief of Army Staff General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung at his residence on Wednesday morning. The PM, however, did not clearly instruct the CoAS on the Cabinet decision, an Army source said. Gurung is meeting President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Thursday to discuss the decision.
"If the government's decision contradicts with the Interim Constitution and the Army Act, the Army will officially request the government to revise it," the source said.
The Army argues that recruitment is purely a 'voluntary process' and it cannot restrict 'the right to equality' guaranteed by the Interim Constitution by opening vacancies for any particular group. Under the existing recruitment process, 55 percent of the seats are filled through free competition, while 45 percent are recruited under the reservation quotas.
"If the government wants to make the Army more inclusive, it should amend the Army Act and offer more seats in the reservation quota," the source said.
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