PANDEY

UDAYA RAJ PANDEY RE-ELECTED
Kthmandu, 4 Aug.: Udaya Raj Pandey has been re-elected  chairman of Nepal Readymade Garments  Industry Association.
He was elected Friday by the 22^nd general meeting.
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500,000 GAS CARDS DISTRIBUTED

Kathmandu, 4 Aug.: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has distributed some five hundred thousand gas cards as a relief to the customers of gas used for domestic purposes.
As per the scheme, a cylinder will be provided to each family in a month from the relief quota.
The corporation has directed gas producing companies to produce two coloured cylinders for different purposes.  The red coloured cylinder will be provided to domestic customers and blue coloured for hotels and other entrepreneurs.
The compensation of the red coloured cylinder's price will be fixed later after government decision, said Shiva Prasad Pudasaini, spokesperson of the corporation.
As many as one million gas cards will be distributed by mid-October. The price of both the cylinders will be the same. But the red cylinder users will get compensation through different banks, he added, RSS reports

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70 MORE NEPAL HIMALAYA PEAKS BEING OPENED TO

CLIMBERS

Kathmandu, 4 Aug.:  The government is all set to open around 70 new
peaks by 2014, Eliza Manandhar writes in The Himalayan Times..

A technical team, formed under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), is preparing to recommend names of around 70 new peaks for final approval from the Cabinet.

The technical team, till date, has made a detailed study of around 40 peaks and is looking forward to recommending names of at least 70 new peaks to its main committee.

According to the coordinator of the committee and former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association Ang Tshering Sherpa, the committee is looking forward to recommending the names of around 70 new peaks to the main committee that is under coordination of joint secretary of MoCTCA Purna Chandra Bhattarai.

The 70 new peaks will also include the 23 peaks that were selected earlier by the government for formal opening during the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the first ascent of Mt Everest. “We are unaware why the government announced programme to open 23 new peaks was not implemented,” said Sherpa.

According to Sherpa, during the peak selection, the committee might also include some peaks that were listed among the 23 peaks and will forward the final recommendation list of 70 new peaks. The government had, in 2003, opened 122 new peaks, and later nine other peaks in 2004, but since then no new peaks have been opened.

Currently, 326 peaks are allowed for mountain expeditions and adventure sports. Within 10 to 15 days, the technical committee will finalise the list of new peaks that holds high tourism possibility and are technically feasible for mountaineering.

“At present, we are preparing a report based on information provided by locals of those areas and the economic contribution that can be made through the commercialisation of those mountains in their respective areas,” Sherpa added. The selection process of the mountains is based on the recommendation made by the locals of those regions and also on demand of international summiteers.

The Tourism Industry Division had earlier also received a list of applications requesting the ministry to open restricted peaks to create fresh destinations for tourists who arrive in Nepal for mountain and adventure tourism. According to it, there is a high demand for new peaks and along with the permission to open the peaks, it will definitely attract quality number of mountaineers and create new destinations.

It has been almost 10 years since the government last announced the opening of new peaks for expeditions.

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MILLIONS SET ASIDE FOR CONFLICT VICTIMS EMBEZZLED
Kathmandu, 4 Aug.: A massive embezzlement of funds meant for
conflict victims has come to the fore in Banke district, Surendra Kafle writes in The Himalayan Times from Nepalgunj..

Three years ago, the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction had disbursed Rs 4.1 million to the Banke Agriculture Development Office for the launch of the Special Programme for Conflict Victims, a programme in operation in 29 districts, in all four constituencies in the district.

Local Peace Committee Secretary Tara Bahadur Khatri said the victims would visit the committee office time and time again, complaining that they had not received the assistance meant for them. "Many conflict victims would come to me weeping. I would tell them that they should visit the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO) as it is tasked with allocating funds," Khatri said.

According to Khatri, those tasked with distributing the assistance, meant for the purchase of cattle, seed and agricultural tools, would prepare fake bills and cheat the victims.

Khatri, who was secretary of the programme planning committee, said, "The programme got completed last year, but we are yet to receive details of the expenditure."

Jivan KC, planning officer at the DADO, said his office had deposited money in the accounts of conflict victims to avoid controversies.

The government had allocated Rs 1.4 million in constituency 1, nine lakh rupees in constituency 2, five lakhs in constituency 3 and 1.2 million in constituency 4. It had appropriated Rs 1 lakh for administrative tasks. Constituency 3 got one programme, whereas the remaining constituencies got two programmes each.

District Agriculture Development Committee had approved programmes that main committees formed in each constituency had selected.

Then LDO Bisworaj Dotel was chairman of DADC, former CDO Dhundiraj Pokhrael was its vice-chairman.

Madhav Prasad Acharya, account officer at the DADO, said Conflict Victim Committees in constituency 1 and constituency 4 are yet to submit the bills of Rs 7.53 lakh and 2 lakh, respectively. Khatri, who was chairman of the Monitoring Committee, said he had not inspected the programme.

Meanwhile, conflict victims have demanded action against those, who misused the fund.

Chandrakala Upreti, a conflict victim, said no one has received money from the five-lakh-rupee fund meant for distribution at Constituency 3. Upreti accused former chief at the Agriculture Development Bank, Yugal Tiwari, of embezzling the fund.

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