Investing in sports would bring in rich dividends, for the players would make the country proud by their stellar performances

After a protracted delay the keenly awaited seventh National Games has finally kicked off. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the Games on Saturday at Shahid Stadium in Biratnagar with much fanfare.

The closing ceremony of these Games will be held on December 30 at the Dharan Stadium in Sunsari. The delay in holding the Games has cost the country dear for it is by holding the National Games the athletes and other sports persons are selected to participate in international sporting events.

During the Games the talents are spotted who would be nurtured to represent the country in the international arena. Fittingly the slogan of the Games is “Live in Diversity”. At one time it was believed that the organizers would not be able to build the necessary infrastructure to hold them.

However, they have completed most of them at the last moment and different games are being held at several venues in the eastern region as well as in Kathmandu. However, the last-minute flurry has also left a number of shortcomings.

The inaugural ceremony featured cultural performances by 24 ethnic communities representing the nation.

Teams from the five development regions and three departmental teams representing the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force will be participating in these events. These eight teams consist of 3,972 players.

They are participating in 30 sports disciplines for 294 golds, 294 silver and 447 bronze medals. The Games are being held for the first time in the eastern region. Incidentally, most of the national players and Olympians hail from this region.

Much is expected from those participating in the games. We already have a new national record set in the women’s shot put set by Chandra Kala Lamgade of the Nepal Police Club and a hat-trick by Parshuram Bastola of APF Club after he finished first in the individual kata event.

He had also won the gold medal in this event in the fifth National Games held in Kathmandu and the sixth one held in the far western region five years ago.

The delay in holding the seventh National games had disappointed many players for they have been training very hard to excel in various sporting events. It takes hard work and also proper guidance from coaches in order to do well.

The lack of the necessary infrastructure for sports is glaringly apparent as inadequate facilities are available in the country. Sports should also be given due emphasis for this could bring glory to the country.

The players should also be provided with the incentives if they perform well. Now that the games are taking place it is expected that the players would break more national records in various disciplines.

However, it would have been better if the games were held in only one venue. It would mean that the players and officials would face hassles in shuttling from one venue to another, given the inadequate infrastructure and facilities.

Let us hope that the games are well managed with new talents emerging who would be able to make a name for themselves in the international tournaments as well.

Investing in sports would bring in rich dividends, for the players would make the country proud by their stellar performances.

Oil pilferage 

In a bid to discourage petroleum pilferage Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is all set to introduce a by-law that will take punitive action against those involved in petroleum theft.

Anyone involved in the theft of petroleum products will be fined up to five times the worth of stolen petroleum products for the transporters and government employees. Others involved in such act may even face imprisonment.

NOC felt the need to come up with Petroleum Transportation By-law following the complaints of theft of fossil fuels at time of crisis or at time when their prices become cheaper in Nepal than in border areas in India.

NOC is also preparing a ground allowing the 24-kilolitre tankers to ferry petroleum products in some selected highways to reduce cost of transportation. Besides, there will be a locking system to be strictly followed by all tankers.

Once an oil tanker is locked at an oil depot it can be opened only at its final destination. The locking system will make it impossible for anyone to steal petroleum products on the way to its designated destination.

It is expected that the by-law will come into force by February next year. Till date, oil pilferage is rampant due to weak monitoring system.