ITC TO HELP PROMOTE PASHMIN Kathmandu, 17 Nov.:The International Trade Center (ITC) is to help promote the market of Nepali pashmina made from the mountain goats in the international Market, RSS reports. The ITC responded positively when the government appealed to it to help promote the pashmina market to meet the demand for the same in the international market.ITC was established with a view to promoting the trade of the least developing countries (LCDs). The government has recently put the proposal before the Geneva-based ITC, seeking its supportive role for the promotion of the Nepali trademark Pashmina. According to Toyanarayan Gyawali, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, the ITC has vowed to endorse the proposal immediately. "The ITC has written positively with the final comment over the proposal and it will be sent to Geneva again once the National Steering Committee coordinated by Chief Secretary of the government endorses it. Nepal Pashmina Industry Association, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Ministry of Agriculture Development, Commerce and Supplies are the members of the Steering Committee. Under Secretary Gyawali is hopeful that the project of around two million US dollar will possibly be implemented by the end of this year once the ITC Board meeting approves the government's proposal. Various programmes will be broadcasted through major international media houses to promote the business of the Nepali pashmina in the global market with the implementation of the project. Nepal Pasmina Association has appealed to ITC to impart trainings to Nepali pashmina designers and organise promotive programmes in USA, Germany, UK and France, the big importers of Nepali pasmina. Nepal exports pashmina to 81 countries in the world and the mountain goat pashmina have got registered in 41 countries as Nepali trademark, said association's chairman Pushpaman Shrestha. According to Trade and Export Promotion Center, Nepal exported pasmina worth of Rs. 1.9 billion to Germany, France, USA and UK in the last fiscal year. Nnnn Kathmandu, 17 Nov.: Martyrs’ Memorial ‘A’ Division League, lifts off at the Dashrath Ranghashala 20 November, ANFA said. A cash prize of Rs 10.47 million is on offer. The winner will bag Rs 7.5 million. Sixteen top teams are participating. Nnnn BAL THACKERAY DEAD Kathmandu, 17 Nov.: Indian firebrand nationalist politician Bal Thackeray, who founded the right-wing Hindu party Shiv Sena, died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest, his doctor saidm AFP reports from Mumbai. Thackeray, 86, has "breathed his last", his physician Jalil Parkar told a huge crowd assembled outside the veteran politician´s house in India´s financial hub of Mumbai Nnnn AT LEAST 40 CHILDREN KILLED IN EGYPT TRAIN CRASH CAIRO : Up to 40 school children were killed when a train crashed with their bus which had crossed the tracks in a city south of Cairo on Saturday, the official state news agency and a doctor said, Reuters reports from Cairo. . While the official news agency said 40 children died, a doctor at a hospital in Assiut, near the crash site, said the death toll was 38, among them 37 children who were around four to six years old. "They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it," doctor Mohamed Samir said, citing witness accounts. He said four children and two women were seriously injured in the accident in the city of Manfalut, near Assiut, which is about 300 km (190 miles) south of the capital. President Mohamed Mursi ordered his ministers to offer support to the families of those killed, the official news agency reported. Assiut governor, Yahya Keshk, ordered an enquiry. Egypt's roads and railways have a poor safety record. Egyptians have complained successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards, leading to a string of deadly accidents. nnnn