NEPAL QUALIFIES FOR SEMI-FINAL OF ACC U-16 ELITE CUP BEATING IRAN Kathmandu, 8 May: Nepal beat Iran by 167 runs in the ACC U-16 Elite Cup in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday and also qualified for the semi-finals. Nepal won all three group matches to qualify for the semi-final. Iran and Nepal met for the first time. nnnn. MAOIST BAIDHYA FACTION ANNOUNCES ANTI-GOVT.PROTESTS Kathmandu, 8 May: NNISU-R cadres close to UCPN-Maoist vice-president Mohan Baidhya today [Monday] launched one-and-a-half-month-long protest in a bid to press the government to address their demands, The Himalayan Times reports. At a press conference today, Sharad Rasaili of the All Nepal National Independent Students Union-Revolutionary said they will organise various programmes till June 16 to make the government address their concerns. The programmes include handing over memoranda to the Ministry of Education (MoE) and District Education Offices (DOE) on May 8-9, data collection on the anomalies in the education sector on May 10-16, interaction with stakeholders on recent school fee hike and scrapping of the private education system on May 18. DEO gherao is slated for May 20, while on May 21, the student body is to padlock administration sections of institutional schools, picket the MoE on May 22 and ‘preventive action’ against all concerned on June 5-15. Rasaili said, “From June 16 onwards, we will stage regional-level movements and educational strikes if the government pays no heed to our concerns.” The students have floated a 26-point charter of demands covering school education, universities including the Tribhuvan University and Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training. Rasaili said the government should at least guarantee free and equal school education up to Grade XII as a fundamental right in the new constitution. Rasaili demanded that the government bring new curricula to provide practical and scientific education to produce human resources endowed with technical skills. The student body also wants primary-level education in mother tongue, community school education improved through budget increase for such schools, school fee hike rolled back, at least 25 per cent scholarship for students and science faculty in the each constituency. Nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE ‘Nepal has always been a harmonious society. There has been great unity among the people of diverse socio-cultural and religious backgrounds as well as between people from the mountains, hills and plains.” (President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, Republica, 8 May) nnnn