DOZEN NAWALPARASI VDCs FACE INUNDATION THREAT AFTER GANDAK BARRAGE SPUR COLLAPSE Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: Around a dozen VDCs in Nawalparasi district face risk of inundation after the Spur No. 12 of the Gandak Barrage collapsed today [Thursday], RSS reports from Parasi.. A total of 13 VDCs in the district face the risk after the spur constructed to control the Narayani River, collapsed. The river has cut off the land around the spur. Locals claimed that the spur collapsed as it was constructed below the standard by the Indian contractor company. Local people and police administration has been making efforts to control the river by cutting off more land now, said Shyambucha Magar, a local resident. Similarly, it is learnt that the Spur No. 3 based in Paklihawa VDC is also in a dilapidated condition. The river started to cut-off the spur after the river water was on the decline. The river has more than 300,000 cusec of water now following the incessant rainfall since mid-September in the country. Nnnn PM UNVEILS NUTRITION PLAN Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai made public the Multi Sector Nutrition Plan to Accelerate Improvement of Maternal and Child Nutrition in Nepal prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC) here today [Thursday], RSS reports. On the occasion, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai also released the 10th International Volunteering Year Book on activities of volunteers in development works of the country. There is a plan to reduce chronic malnutrition by 20 per cent in the next five years in the Multi-Sector Plan. Consultation meeting will be held by coordinating with the concerned ministries, donor agencies, experts and civil society and a package programme would be brought with strategic goals on the basis of priority. The plan incorporates objectives of increasing multi sector cooperation and coordination, strengthening monitoring and evaluation procedures, determining the financial resources and manpower to guarantee the capacity and commitment for sustainable implementation of the programme in order to take stock of the progress. Now there are 41 per cent children stunted for lack of nutrition in Nepal, it is learnt. On the occasion, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai said the government is committed to fulfill all the goals of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and added that some achievements have been made in reducing child mortality and malnutrition rate. He further said problems of poverty, lack of education and geographical remoteness have been hampering development attempts. The Prime Minister said programmes of increasing food security and social and economic programmes to reduce malnutrition are in the top priority of the government. Pointing out the need of technical and financial assistance from donor agencies for the development works of Nepal, he said service of international volunteers will be encouraging in these works. Similarly, Vice-Chairman of the NPC, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri said malnutrition problem is a major problem in the country and expressed the commitment for facilitation and providing all support needed for the implementation of the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan. Chhetri said role of volunteering service will be more effective to increase service and facility for the backward people in remote areas. Nnnn PROTESTS SPREAD TO PAKISTAN AGAINST ANTI-ISLAM FILM Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: Hundreds of Pakistanis angry at an anti-Islam film that denigrates the religion's prophet clashed with police in the Pakistani capital Thursday, the most violent show of anger in a day that saw smaller demonstrations in Indonesia, Iran and Afghanistan, AP reports from Islamabad.. The vulgar depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an American-made movie has angered Muslims across the world, with many taking to the streets to rally against the film. In recent days, the decision by a French satirical magazine to release cartoons crudely depicting the prophet has added to the tension. In Pakistan, a crowd of more than 1,000 people tried to make their way to the U.S. Embassy inside a guarded enclave that houses embassies and government offices. Riot police used tear gas and batons to keep stone-throwing demonstrators away from the enclave, and hundreds of shipping containers were lined up to cordon off the area. Some protesters were students affiliated with the Islamist hardline Jamaat-e-Islami party. The demonstrations are expected to grow in Pakistan on Friday, the traditional day of prayer in the Muslim world. The Pakistani government has called a national holiday for Friday so that people could come out and demonstrate peacefully against the film. That decision drew rare words of praise from the Pakistani Taliban, which is usually at war with the government. A spokesman for the militant group said it welcomed the decision but also thought the government should expel all American diplomats. Violence over the amateurish movie, which portrays the prophet as a fraud, womanizer and child molester, has left at least 30 people in seven countries dead, including the American ambassador to Libya. Two people have died in protests in Pakistan. In Indonesia, the U.S. consulate in the country's third-largest city of Medan shut its doors Thursday for a second day because of demonstrations. About 50 students from an Islamic university gathered in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province in Indonesia. They burned tires and forced a McDonald's restaurant to close. The door was later covered with a sign saying, "This must be closed as a symbol of our protest of the 'Innocence of Muslims' made in the U.S.," referring to the title of the film. In Iran, hundreds of students and clerics gathered outside the French embassy in Tehran to protest the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the French weekly. Protesters chanted "Death to France" and "Down with the U.S." and burned the flags of the United States and Israel. The demonstration ended after two hours. In Kabul, a few hundred people demonstrated in the downtown area against the film, chanting ant-American slogans before dispersing peacefully. nnnn