CANP CLOSED

22 PLAYERS INVITED FOR CRICKET CAMP

Kathmandu, 5 July: Twenty-two players have been invited by Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to join Wednesday the  first round of the closed camp for the ACC Emerging Teams Cup to be held in Singapore from 17 to 25 September.. Paras Khadka, Subash Khakurel, Sharad Vesawkar, Gyanendra Malla, Amrit Bhattarai, Prithu Baskota, Shakti Gauchan, Sanjam Regmi, Basant Regmi, Ram Naresh Giri, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Binod Bhandari and Naresh Budhayer for have been invited. Pradeep Airee, Chandra Sawad, Yagyaman Kumal, Anil Mandal, Rahul Vishwakarma, Binod Das, Mahesh Chhetri and Avinash Karna have also been asked to join. Nepal is in Griup A with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan  while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the UAE and Singapore are in Group B,. Nnnn . . MAHABIR PUN’S INTERNET EDUCATION COVERS 16 DISTRICTS Kathmandu, 5 July: While big telecommunications companies such as NTC and NCELL are making their mark in the communications business in city areas, prestigious Magsaysay awardee Mahabir Pun is busy extending internet education to the rural areas of the country, Dulip Poudel writes in Republica from Baglung.. Pun, who initiated this novel practice from Nagi village in Myagdi, has now extended it to 16 districts across the country. Nagi is Pun´s birthplace. According to Pun, wireless internet education systems have already been brought to Myagdi, Parbat, Kaski, Syangja, Tanahun, Nawalparasi, Gorkha, Nuwakot, Dhading, Makwanpur, Sindupalchowk, Dolakha and Jhapa districts. "I have set up wireless internet connections in 160 villages in 13 districts and this project won´t stop at that for sure," he said. Currently, Pun is engaged in installing wireless connectivity in the northern VDCs of Gorkha. Work is also progressing in Rukum, Rolpa and Dolpa districts, informed Pun. "The locals in the far western region can reap huge benefits if the government assists us in our endeavor," he said. "One day I will connect all the schools in the villages with wireless internet education. It is my dream to bring modernity across the country," added Pun. With the extension of wireless internet connectivity, facilities such as E-education, E-communications, E-medicine and E-commerce are also reaching the villages. The availability of internet connectivity in schools has improved the education system and the knowledge level of students, said teacher at Galkot Higher Secondary School, Debendra Khatri. "Now village children know about internet and are familiar with its use, all thanks to Pun´s hard work," said Khatri. Pun said he feels blessed that all locals and Nepalis across the globe are helping in this project. "I have been providing necessary materials from the community and collecting donations from person to person," said Pun Nnnn

FLOOD-HIT DARCHULA GRAPPLES WITH FOOD SHORTAGE Kathmandu, 5 July: Bimala Sittoli, a resident of Kante VDC-5 in Darchula district, came to Khalanga, the district headquarters, with two purposes in mind: selling her potatoes and buying rice grains instead, Bikram Giri writes in Republica from Darchula.. Sittoli had brought 22 kgs of potatoes from her village. She wanted to buy rice grains with the money that she would get by selling her potatoes. She earned Rs 990 by selling her potatoes per kg Rs 45. But, she could not buy even a single kg of rice grains. As soon as she sold out her potatoes, Sattoli rushed to the Darchula district office of Cottage and Small Industries, which has been selling rice grains supplied by the Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) in recent days, only to return empty-handed. Having returned empty-handed even from nearby Indian towns, Sittoli wanted to buy just 30 kgs of rice grains for her family. But, Narbhan Theker, an office assistant at the Khalanga depot of the NFC, refused to sell even a single kg of rice grains to her. “We do not have rice grains,” said Theker. “Come again tomorrow or day after tomorrow.” Sittoli thought Theker was lying. So, ignoring Theker and other NFC officials, she barged into the go-down, only to seed the whole room empty. “I could not find rice grains anywhere,” said a dejected Sittoli. “How will I feed my children now?” After failing to buy rice grains, Sittoli bought a few kgs of sugar and beans before returning home. In the aftermath of the recent devastating Mahakali river flood, which swept away many houses and rendered dozens of families homeless, the locals of the flood-hit villages are now finding it difficult to cope with the food shortage. After the Mahakali flood damaged the Baitadi-Darchula road in many places, NFC has been unable to supply food grains to Khalanga. Food grains are supplied by NFC to Dadeldhura, from where the Nepal Army (NA) helicopters are expected to transport them to Khalanga. But, due to over-work and adverse weather conditions, the NA choppers, too, have not been able to supply all food-items to Khalanga in time. Days after NFC supplied 300 quintals of rice grains to Dadeldhura by trucks, an NA helicopter transported 143 quintals to Khalanga on Saturday. But, all 143 quintals of rice grains were sold out just in two days´ time. As soon as he knew about the supply of rice grains, Bhagrathi Karki, a resident of Chhapari VDC-7 of Darchula, rushed to Khalanga on Monday. But, by the time he reached Khalanga, NFC go-down had already run out of stock. “I did not get rice grains,” said Karki. “I will now stay in Khalanga for a few more days. If I do not get to buy rice grains, I will have to return empty-handed.” On Saturday, apart from rice grains, the NA chopper had transported 10 quintals of pulse, eight quintals of sugar, 12 sacks of beaten rice and 1,000 liters of edible oil to Khalanga. “There are no more rice-sacks left,” said Prem Singh Kunwar, junior assistant at Nepal Salt Trading Corporation Limited, Darchula. “We only have a few sacks of beaten rice, sugar and edible oil left now.” No more food grains have been supplied to Darchula since Saturday. As food grains meant for Darchula get stuck in Dadeldhura and Surkhet, the flood victims have been facing severe food shortage nnnn