HIGHER SECONDARY EXAMS FROM TUESDAY Kathmandu, 29 April: Altogether 398,115 students will appear for the Higher Secondary Level plus two examinations nation-wide from Tuesday.fromt 932 centers nation-wide.. Among them are 24,751 girls. Examinations conclude 12 May. Examination for class 11 students starts 14 May. Altogether 435,018 examineesm including with 217,175 boys and 217,843 girls are appearing for the tests. . The Office of the Controller of Examination said 833,133 students are appearing for class 11 and class 12 examinations. nnnn MAOISTS DEMAND ANNOUNCEMENT OF POLL DATE; OTHER DETAILS Kathmandu, 29 April: UCPN-Maoist spokesperson Agni Sapkota Sunday said that alternative to the current government would be sought if it failed to hold Constituent Assembly (CA) election by November, The Rising Nepal reports. Speaking at a regular press meet organized at the party’s central office in Parisdanda, he asked the government to announce the election date immediately. He alleged that it was rather preoccupied with unnecessary activities. “There is a growing speculation among the people about the possibility of election,” said Sapkota, reiterating that other alternatives would be sought if the Interim Election Council failed to deliver its promise. Stating that it was the task of the government to convince people about holding the poll by the targeted dateline, he opined that the government was formed with the prime purpose of holding election and it should work accordingly. “The government is engaged in transferring the servants and other trivial issues instead of creating favourable environment for the election, “said Sapkota. In a separate note, he said that the party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ embarked on India visit as a representative of the country, not only as a head of a particular party. Sapkota informed that chairman Prachanda would raise the issue of trilateral cooperation among Nepal, China and India during the meetings with the Indian leaders. He expressed his hope that the vision of trilateral cooperation would be translated into reality as it was beneficial to all three countries. The newspaper adds fro Chitwan: Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel Sunday urged all to believe that the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections would be held within the third week of November. Speaking with journalists at Bharatpur Airport, Poudel said poll day would be announced just a 100 days before the election. The NC leader said holding elections was the need of country to promulgate constitution through the CA. In another context, he said UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's India visit was his personal as he did not hold any public post. Meanwhile, NC treasurer Chitra Lekha Yadav called upon electorates to give majority to her party to write new constitution. She accused communist parties of not promulgating constitution even though they had absolute majority in the first CA. Speaking at tea party and training organized by NC Krustinacne Chour Village Development Committee of Kaski, she said that the constitution would be promulgated if NC garnered majority. Yadav claimed that more people had been switched towards the NC. She said that that NC always stood for the welfare of people and urged all to unite to realize socialism and democracy. NC leaders Debraj Chalise, Gururaj Ghimire, Youbraj Kunwar and others also expressed their views. During programme, Yadav honoured 11 party cadres who served the party for the long time. nnnn KOSHI TAPPU DISCOVERED AS NEW HABITAT FOR BENGAL FLORICAN Kathmandu, Apr 29: Bengal Florican, Considered as one of the world's rarest bird species, is showing a promising presence in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve as this reserve is a home to nearly ten per cent of the bird’s total world Population, The Rising Nepal reports.. According to a scientific paper published on April 26 in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, a survey carried out in April and May 2012 counted 47 Bengal Floricans in the reserve, which is the highest number found in Nepal’s protected area. One of the authors and lead researcher of the paper is Nepal’s noted bird scientist Dr Hem Sagar Baral, past president of Bird Conservation Nepal and currently chief technical advisor of the Himalayan Nature. “With the finding of globally significant population at Koshi, it gives much hope to bird conservationists in Nepal and in the world,” said Dr Baral. Bengal Florican is strictly protected by Nepal’s National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2029 and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It means, by law, all kind of international trade on this species is banned. Though being so critically threatened, the Bengal Florican’s significant presence has very rarely made news headlines in Nepal, said Dr Baral. “In terms of its conservation status this bird is as threatened as some of the vulture species which have drawn global attention in recent years.” Current global estimate of this bird is 250 to 999 adult individuals and 60 birds are estimated to be living at Koshi Tappu, a noted bird sanctuary in Asia. Bengal Florican was first surveyed on a nationwide scale in Nepal in April and May 1982 by Carol and Tim Inskipp, authors of several books on birds of Nepal. Since then several studies have been carried out in Chitwan, Bardia and Sukla Phanta protected areas. Habitat loss and hunting as a popular game bird decimated Bengal Florican population early on in the 20th century. This prompted the Red IUCN to list the species as threatened for a number of years. With only less than a thousand left in the wild today, the species survives mainly in India, Nepal, and Cambodia. nnnn