Kathmandu, June 5:

The US Educational Foundation (USEF) in Nepal and the US Mission are celebrating Fulbright Week-2006 from today, according to the American Centre here.

This week (June 5 - 9) honours the 45 years in which USEF has been working in Nepal to administer the prestigious US government-funded Fulbright, Humphrey, and East-West Centre scholarship grants.

US Ambassador to Nepal James F Moriarty officially opened USEF’s new Educational Advising Centre today. Last year, the advising office received more than 56,000 visits, the American Centre said in press statement.

Envoy Moriarty will host the 45th Annual Fulbright Day reception on Friday, introducing the 2006 Nepali Fulbright, East-West Centre, and Humphrey scholars. On Fulbright Day on Friday, the Ambassador will officially announce a $10,000 grant to the Fulbright Alumni Association of Nepal (FAAN) to organise community-level discussions on democracy and civics. “USEF is pleased to announce a new scholarship called the International Fulbright Science and Technology Award, which will be formally launched next year,” the statement said. More than 600 scholars and students from Nepal have studied in the United States on Fulbright, Humphrey, and East West Centre scholarships over the past 45 years. USEF is supported jointly by the US and the Nepali governments, and its board members are both American and Nepali officials and academics.