MICRO HYDRO POWER WORKSHOP BEGINS Kathmandu, 19 April: An international workshop on 'Role of micro hydropower in developing countries' began here from today [Friday], RSS reports.. A total of 50 hydropower experts, scientists and technicians of Nepal and 26 foreign delegates representing 16 countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa, Vietnam and Indonesia are participating in the four-day workshop. Inaugurating the workshop, Minister for Science, Technology and Environment, Umakant Jha, said that a developing country like Nepal should develop micro hydropower projects in the community level. Stating that it was a predicament to face load shedding in Nepal even if having immense possibility of hydropower, Minister Jha stressed on the need of moving ahead by giving priority to micro hydropower projects for the time being. On the occasion, Vice-Chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Prof. Dr. Surendra Raj Kafle, said that around 40 per cent people are deprived of using electricity in Nepal, as attention was not paid towards it although more than 2,200 micro hydropower projects could be built in Nepal. Similarly, Secretary of NAST, Prof. Dr. Prakash Chandra Adhikari and Chief of the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), Prof. Dr. Govinda Raj Pokhrel, said that the pace of development would gain momentum if Nepal could bring a concrete policy related to hydropower. Other participants in the programme expressed the belief that the workshop would be able to bring a policy related to hydropower and a concrete draft of programme for developing countries. The workshop is jointly organised by NAST, AEPC- Nepal, and Science and Technology Centre of India. Nnnn HEROIN WORTH RS.1.5 MILLION RECOVERED Kathmandu, 19 April: Binod Chidimar, 20, of Nepalgunj, was arrested Wednesday in the capital by drugs enforcement officials with 375 grammes of heroin. The haul was worth Rs.1.5 million in the market. Nnnn ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS FOUND IN SIRAHA Kathmandu, 10 April: Goods used in the 13th to 17th century of Bikram Era have been found during the excavation of Thakurgadh at Banauli of Pradha.VDC -6 in Bhawanipur of Siraha, RSS reports from Lahan.. A five-member team led by archaeology Officer of the Department of Archaeology, Ram Bahadur Kunwar during two-week long excavation found a box for keeping crimson powder, upper rounded part of an earthen vessel and a piece of mate, an earthen ware used to make curd. The goods were found in a ditch someone to 1.8 m deep. The team made the goods public at Thakurgadh in a press meet on Thursday. Kuwar said the goods are estimated to be of the medieval times and can only be said definitively after adequate tests. Goods have not been found in chronological order in Thakurgadh, which is in the list of Department of Archeology, and excavation will continue, he said. The Team is comprised of five people including archeologist Prakash Darnal, Assistant Guide Birat Thapa, Sub-Engineer Santosh Yadav and photographer. The 'Likhanawali' written by Bidyapati states that Shiva Singh, the king of Mithila in 13th century had sent his queen Lakhima to Banauli, at his friend king Puraditya's palace for safety with poet Bidyapati after being defeated from neighboring state, said Secretary of the King Puraditya and Poet Vidyapati Memorial Pratisthan, Ram Bharos Mahato. Puraditya had kept Vidyapati at a fort some 100 metres south of the palace for 12 years, which is now called Thakurgadh. The team also found some old goods 2,500 years old, while excavating at Khaptedanda at Devipur VDC- 8 in Siraha, said Kunwar. The team said Khaptedanda is also an important archeological site. nnnn