BRITISH ASSISTANCE :Kathmandu, 25 Jan.: The two British organizations, DFID and Adam Smith International Nepal, have provided a grant assistance of Rs. 2.32 billion to promote Nepali agricultural industry. Yam Kumari Khatiwada, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Dominic O'Neill, Head of DFID Nepal, and Harry Kendell, Project Director of Samarth-NMDP ASI signed the agreement for the grant assistance at the presence of Minister for Industry, Anil Kumar Jha. The agreement that has been signed for five years would be mobilized through the Nepal Market Development Project for capacity enhancement and creating job opportunities to some 300,000 rural agro entrepreneurs. The project has the target of poverty alleviation in the rural areas. The project would be started from some 22 districts in the hills and Terai region this year and it will be implemented in all the 75 districts in view of their effectiveness, said Joint Secretary Khatiwada. The projects will be coordinated through Cottage and Small Industry Development Committee and Industrial Entrepreneurship Development Foundation in the districts. During the programme, Minister for Industry, Anil Kumar Jha, said the project will be handled effectively to benefit the farmers and small entrepreneurs to large extent and expressed gratitude towards British support in development efforts of Nepal. Nnnn CABINET APPOINTMENTS Kathamandu, 25 Jan.: The Cabinet Friday appointed Tourism Secretary Sushil Ghimire Sushil Ghimire chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation. Ram Bahadur Khadka has been appointed chief administrator of Rastriay Beema Sansthan, Avadesh Kumar Yadav the chairman of Press Council Nepal and Dharmendra Kumar Marahathha the chairman of Film Development Board Nepal. Nnnn DISPLACED JOURNALISTS STILL LIVE IN FEAR Kathmandu, 26 Jan.:: A group of Dailekh-based journalists, who fled to Surkhet after their lives were threatened by Young Communist League (YCL) cadres, still feel danger hovering over them, Khalendra Sejuwal writes in Republica from Surkhet. . Twenty-two journalists, including chief of the Dailekh district chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Puskar Thapa, had moved to Surkhet on January 24 for their own safety. Even after reaching Surkhet, Thapa is uncertain about their security. "The danger is always there. We can´t return to Dailkeh unless we are cordoned in with complete security measures," he said. Panic had spread like wildfire among the journalists after YCL cadres threatened to kill 10 more journalists just like Dekendra Thapa eight years ago. "After the killing of Dekendra, our lives were always in danger," said former chief of FNJ Bishnu Nisthuri. "The situation got worst for us following the dispute that broke out after the prime minister´s Dailekh visit. Even after learning that his visit would aggravate the situation, he went there. It was an intentional act," added Nisthuri. Another journalist, Bhupendra Skahi, informed that they would return to Dailkeh only after receiving complete assurances from the government in writing about their safety. "Fearing attack, I didn´t dare to step out of my house for 10 days. I shall return when things calm down completely," said Shahi. Gobinda Dev Bharati, editor of Dailekh-based Hamro Tesro Akha daily newspaper, claimed that Maoist district in-charge Karna Basnet had threaten him directly to kill him. "He threatened me, saying that his 50 cadres were enough to seize the market, and journalists didn´t have to show their power," Basnet said. Yagya Raj Thapa, brother of murdered journalist Dekendra Thapa, said that the YCL cadres had plotted to dislodge the journalists in order to abort the Dekendra murder case. "The recent posting elsewhere of the local police chief, who was undertaking the investigations, was also meant to shield the culprits who killed my brother," said Thapa. "We were compelled to leave Dailkeh after we kept receiving death threaths and writing of news became impossible," added Thapa, who is editor of Dailkeh-based Nepal Samacharpatra daily. Meanwhile, Surkhet-based journalists along with the displaced journalists from Dailekh staged an hour-long protest rally outside the Surkhet Regional Administration Office. During the protest, Surya Mani Gautam, central member of NFJ, commented that the displacement of journalists was a shame not only for NFJ but the government also. "The government should ensure complete security for the journalists to return to Dhailekh," said Gautam. Nnnn