Kathmandu, January 5, 2006

The 5.1 MW Andhikhola Power Plant, which is located in Syangja, has bagged the prestigious Blue Planet Prize of International Hydropower Association and UNESCO for the year 2005. The plant was built with technical and financial assistance from the Norwegian Development Agency. Chairman of the executive committee of the Butwal Power Company (BPC), Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, received the prize on behalf of the company today. The plant was given the award for achieving excellence in socio-economic benefits, environmental consideration and capacity building in hydropower development of Nepal. The International Hydropower Association (IHA) had announced the names of three winners of the 2005 Blue Planet Prize at an event held during the United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change in Montreal, Canada. BPC believes that the winning of the award independently recognises its capacity in developing sustainable hydropower project and recognises the fact that Butwal Power Company is a socially and environmentally-responsible utility. HE Anita Utseth, the Norwegian Deputy Minister for Petroleum and Energy, who presided over the awards ceremony, remarked that Andhikhola Power Plant (and other two projects) had demonstrated strong consideration of environmental, social and economic aspects and, as such were excellent examples of sustainable hydropower development.

Dharan BE students demand to shift department to Kathmandu

Lalitpur, January 5, 2006

Forty students who have been pursuing Bachelor’s of Agriculture Engineering degree at the Purvanchal Campus under the Institute of Engineering (IoE) of the Tribhuvan University, in Dharan, have demanded the Institute to shift the department to the Valley. The students have been organising a sit-in in front of the dean’s office of the institute in Kathmandu for the last three days demanding the Institute shift the department to Kathmandu saying that Dharan lacked sufficient infrastructure and teachers. They said most of the teachers do not want to spend much time in Dharan as they are Kathmandu-based. The IOE launched the Bachelor’s in Agriculture Engineering for the first time in Dharan six years ago. The Purvanchal Campus is the only campus that runs the programme under the TU. Students said the programme was launched in Dharan without any feasibility study. “The Institute should take responsibility for providing teachers and basic infrastructure needed for the programme. But when it cannot do so, it should shift the department to the Valley,” said Manoj Paneru, a third year student.