The five-day Modern Endurance Training in Altitude - a sports seminar - conducted under German Sports Co-operation Program concluded recently. A total of 60 coaches including participants from Singapore and Honk Kong took part in the program conducted by Professor Ulrich Hartman and Gunter Lange from German National Olympic Committee. The program, related with endurance build-up, was conducted under Germany government's four-year grant project to develop coaching skills in Nepal. "The participants were very keen and I am sure they learnt several new things from this course," Hartman, who comes from Munich's Technical University, said. Hartman also hailed Nepali Olympian Rajendra Bhandari's effort in the Olympics and claimed that Nepali athletes also could give a good fight at the international level provided the coaches are educated. "There was a dramatic change in the performance of the 5,000m runner (Rajendra) in the Olympics," he added. Rajendra, the 9th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games double silver medallist, had bettered his record by an outstanding margin of 30 seconds in the Athens Olympics. German NOC representative Gunter Lange has been providing other basic training for Nepali coaches. "This time Rajendra was approached with new methods of training and the athlete promptly returned the results in the Olympics," athletics coach Sushil Narsingh Rana said.

Coaches from different sporting events attended the seminar, which will focus on 'strength' next year. Five Nepali coaches have been sent to Germany from the bilateral project so far. On the occasion acting ambassador of Germany to Nepal Tesh gave away certificates to the participants. The 'endurance' seminar focused on altitude training, energy supply, training planning, physiological training methods, testing in field, training monitoring and diagnostic proceedings. "It was very nice and I came to know several new methods of coaching in this seminar," coach from Singapore Yew Ling told The Kathmandu Post. Hartman is scheduled to provide a day lecture at the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) on Monday. Besides seminars and training, the German government has already provided equipment worth Rs 400,000.

OTHER NEWS

• 'Draw budget for tourism': Tourism entrepreneurs recently urged the government to allocate adequate budget for tourism industry so as to carry out effective promotional packages in the international market. "The regular increase in the tourists arrivals over the year indicates that tourism industry can grow even amid the conflict. Therefore, the government has to help private sector to go in the international market with the aggressive marketing packages," they said. Prabin Pandey, President of PATA - Nepal Chapter, said that the government is not paying proper attention for tourism promotion despite its vital role of growing national economy. Basanta Mishra, President of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) expressed concern over negatively exaggerated message circulated about the Nepali tourism industry in the international market. "It is true that the country is mired by the domestic violence. However, no untoward incident, so far, has occurred for tourists," he said.
  
  
• Government bans 15 manpower agencies: The government has disallowed 15 foreign employment agencies to send workers abroad on suspicion that they have been supplying manpower to Iraq through Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. "The agencies have been temporarily prohibited to send manpower abroad, as the department is investigating cases against them," an official at the Department of Labor and Employment Promotion (DoLEP) told the Post.
  
  
• Air Sahara starts operation: Air Sahara, a leading Indian private airline, commenced its operation to Kathmandu from 16th September 2004, as part of its plan to expand international networks. Air Sahara began daily flight on Delhi-Kathmandu route, thereby connecting other Indian cities. As per its daily flight schedule, its aircraft leaves from Delhi at 1.15 PM and from Kathmandu at 4 PM.
  
  
• Concrete actions sought to address child labor: - Experts, politician and businessmen have stressed upon the need to develop effective code of conducts to control rampant child labor in Nepal and urged the government to play more constructive role in this regard. Speakers at a national program organized jointly by Nepal Trade Union Congress (NUTC) and International Labor Organization (ILO)-IPEC to develop a code of conduct against worst form of child labor also urged the government, non-governmental organization and the private players to be more proactive to address the issue. Speaking at the program, T.P Khanal, chief of NUTC's Child Labor Department, said that the development of such code of conducts would provide a big impetus to address the issue of child labor. "There is an urgent need to organize massive campaigns to deal with the issue and we are hopeful that the proposed code of conduct will tackle with the problems," Khanal stated.
  
  
• Industries to reopen: Ending the almost month-long industrial shutdown, the Maoist labor wing All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) Wednesday, withdrew the indefinite closure it had imposed on more than four dozen industries. The breakthrough came after a month of mediation with human rights activists working overtime, and the government's commitment to release two of ANTUF's cadres, and make public the whereabouts of detained rebels.
  
  
• PIA to resume operation: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) that had suspended its flights following devastating attack on its office on September 1 is all set to resume its operation to Nepal from September 20. According to a press statement issued here today, the PIA will restart service on Karachi-Kathmandu route and other sectors, including Europe, USA, Canada, and the Middle East. The other international airlines, which had stopped their flights in the wake of riot on September 1, have already resumed their services.
  
  
• 34 Tibetans handed over to UNHCR: The 34 Tibetan immigrants who had illegally entered Nepal en route India, and were detained by Royal Nepalese Army personnel Teghari Barrack (Kailali) on Saturday, were handed over to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sunday. District Police Office Kailali handed the Tibetans over to a UNHCR representative, who was on Saturday invited by local authorities for the purpose. The Tibetans, including six minors and an equal number of women, had come down to Nepal via Taklakot pass along the Sino-Nepal border, on their way to India to meet their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
  
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu