FURTHER DETAILS ON GOVT. FORMATION

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Minister without portfolio Ganga Lal Tuladhar was Thursday appointed government spokesman after joining the government of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.
He’s joined the government with Deputy Prime Minister and another minister without portfolio Bishnu Paudel—both from UML as well.
Maoists have joined the government and said they will lend outside support to the new government.
The Khanal government Thursday presented a Rs. 337.9 billion ordinance budget of the previous government for parliamentary approval by 15 February.
A Maoist/UML government was planning to present a budget for the remaining five months of the current fiscal year 2067/68.
Maoists have decided not to join the government charging UML of backing out on a secret seven-point agreement amid heavy criticism from without the party; NC and other parties also opposed the agreement.
MJFN of Upendra Yadav will decide Friday whether to join the Khanal government or not.
The government Thursday in its first meeting decided to construct a 2.4 km Nagdhunga-Naubishe $40 million tunnel to ease the movement of entering the Valley at Tkankot.
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VEHICULAR MOVEMNT RESUMES

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Vehicular movement resumed Friday in nine districts of Kosi and Mechi anchals after a crippling six-day strike by Limbuwan Federal State Council ended Thursday.
A four-point deal between Limbuwan activists and transport entrepreneurs and workers was reached with local administration help .
Transporters were demanding compensation for a damaged vehicle during the strike.
Limbuwan activists are protesting distribution of digitalized voter ID cards and demanded release of activists arrested during the strike.
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KRISHNA PRASAD BHATTARAI ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, 87, the only surviving founding member of NC, was admitted to Norvic Hospital Thursday.
Bhattarai quit NC after it abandoned a republic line by abandoning its traditional support for constitutional monarchy.
His aide Amita Giri said Bhattrai;s potassium count is high and blood pressure in low.
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CHILD MARRIAGE IN PARSA

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Even in the 21st century minors enter into wedlock, RSS reports from Birjung.
Ignoring the legal ban on child marriage parents solemnized marriage between two minors in Prasa district.
Mahendra Raut Dom of Pokhriya VDC-4 married off his son Bikran Raut Dom, 5, to the daughter of Bhuwar Raut Dom of Basantapur
VDC-8 of Thursday.
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NAC RESUMES NORMAL OPERATIONS

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.; Ailing Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)
Thursday announced increased from Kathmandu to international destinations, including New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur, after its second aircraft joined the fleet after a C-check.
The country’s flag-carrier will operate 22 flights per week to the Indian capital with reduced fare.
A reduced return fare between Kathmandu and New Delhi is now Rs 6,000
, excluding taxes.
The airline will operate six weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur, three to Hong Kong, Dubai, Doha and Bangkok.
Without more aircraft, the state carrier hasn’t reaped benefit from
increased passenger arrivals even as more foreign airlines fly into
Nepal.
NAC’s attempt to acquire two Airbuses in mired in controversy.
The airline makes money by servicing foreign airline at Tribhuban International Airport.
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CASINOS FACE CLOSURE

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) is is recommending the closure or the suspension of license of casinos in the capital and Pokhara that haven’t cleared their dues, Nagarik reports.
Parliament’s public accounts committee had ordered 10 casinos to clear their remaining royalty within 35 days.
The deadline expires Friday.
‘Until now, all dues have been cleared only by Casino Everest and
Tara,” DRI Director Mahesh Dahal said. “We’ll recommend to the
tourism ministry either the closure or canceling of operating license of the remaining casinos ff dues aren’t cleared by three in the afternoon
Friday.”
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RS. 70. 84 MILLION BUDGET FOR ANFA APPROVED

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: A Rs. 70.84 million for the fiscal year 2067/68
was approved by the 11th general assembly of All Nepa1Foortall Federation (ANFA) Thursday.
The assembly also cleared a Rs. 60.87 million for fiscal
year 2066/67.
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CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP POSTPONED

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: The 11th Asian Cross Country Championship
that was to be held in the capital from 17 February has been
postponed because of financial crunch.
Twenty-two nations were participating.
General Secretary Ravi Rajkarnikar of Nepal Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA) announced the postponement Thursday.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“We have decided to support the government to prevent a possible
presidential rule.”

(Maoist Vice-chairman Dr. Babauram Bhattarai, The Himalayan Times, 11 11 Feb.)

“We support and show solidarity with the people’s struggle that has spread to the Arab world from Tunisia. We support and respect popular revolt against autocrats who are ruling with the support of imperialists.”

(Maoist foreign department chief Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Naya
Patrika, 11 Feb.)
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RJP, CPN-ML SLAMS MAOIST, UML DEAL





Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Chairman of the Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) Surya Bahadur Thapa Thursday said that the seven-point deal reached between Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ would drag the country towards the path of crisis and devastation, The Rising Nepal reports from Chitwan.
Addressing the meeting of the party cadres in Bharatpur, Thapa said that there was no alternative to the alliance of democratic parties to foil the recent agreement reached between the two leftist parties.
A seven-point deal was inked between the chairmen of the two communist parties on February 3, before Khanal was elected to the post of prime minister in the Maoists’ support.
Thapa claimed that the seven-point deal was inked to bypass democratic and other political parties.
"The coalition of the two leftist parties will push the state towards crisis and difficulty," he said.
Thapa however said that it would not be wise to comment on the formation of Khanal-led government as the cabinet was yet to get its shape.




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EVEN DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS FORGED

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: In a sensational revelation, passport racketeers in the country who are thriving under the protection of corrupt power centres have been found to have forged even diplomatic (red) passports of two sitting lawmakers to send people to foreign lands, Babauram Kharel writes in The Kathmandu Post..

The matter involving two lawmakers of the Constituent Assembly (CA)—Gayatri Shah and Bishwanath Prasad Yadav—came to the fore with the arrest of a Nepali man and woman in the Abu Dhabi Immigration. The duo was trying to fly to Australia with forged red passports.

Replacing photos of the prospective clients, the racketeers had managed to procure red-passports, their citizenship certificates and CA identity cards issued in the names of lawmakers Shah and Yadav and attempted to supply two persons to Australia for a hefty sum of money.

One man—identified as Prithivi Chantyal—who was caught in Abu Dhabi told the authorities that he had given Rs. 16 million to Kathmandu-based agents Manoj Karki and Ashish Sherpa to ensure visa to travel to the UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Schengen countries on forged diplomatic passports.

The revelation has brought the two lawmakers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that had issued the passports and the Department of Immigration that allowed the two persons to leave the country under scanner.

It is unclear whether the lawmakers were hand-in-glove with the racketeers or the criminals had procured the passports through other channels. Speculation is rife that the ministry’s employees could be behind the scandal.

Last year, police had arrested non-gazetted officer Bachhu Ram KC for his nexus with passport racketeers.

Bharat Raj Poudel, Joint-secretary at the ministry, said investigation is underway. He also did not rule out ministry officials’ involvement in the scandal. The ministry has also asked the CA to furnish details about the forgery of lawmakers’ passports.

The copies of the passports, made available to the Post, show that the passport books were registered on July 25 and August 12, 2008 when the ministry was still based in Shital Niwas, and only the pictures of the lawmakers were replaced with the two clients.

It shows the ministry’s stamps were used in the passports to send the two men as lawmakers.

An application written on the letter pad of the foreign ministry was dispatched to the Australian High Commission in New Delhi requesting it to issue visa to the “parliamentarians”.

The racketeers had also presented an invitation letter that was allegedly sent by the Human Rights and Democracy Nepali Forum in Australia inviting the lawmakers to attend a programme on Jan. 18. The lawmakers, however, on their part claimed they were not traveling during that period and that the Foreign Ministry wrote no letters on their behalf. “I have absolutely no idea how they forged my passport.

I came to know of this very recently,” Shah, a leader of the Nepali Janata Dal, said. Yadav of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal also said he was unaware of the forgery.

Making a mockery of law, the two persons who were sent to Kathmandu from Abu Dhabi were let off the hook by immigration officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). The immigration at the TIA has no record of these forged passport bearers.

Asked about the lax security, Khada Nanda Dhakal, Chief of the immigration at the TIA, said the officials could have treated the two persons as VIPs thinking they were genuine lawmakers.

“Those holding red passports are usually not scanned as all the immigration processes are done by their aides,” Dhakal said.

Sources say TIA officials may have been involved in the high-profile scandal.

Authorities concerned have shown no urgency to launch probe panels, while CA Secretariat Spokesperson Mukunda Sharma, and the police said investigation is underway.


•
Passport racketeers have forged even diplomatic (red) passports of two sitting lawmakers
•
Nepali man and woman were headed for Australia on the forged passports
•
Abu Dhabi Immigration sent back the duo
•
Duo let off the hook by TIA immigration
•
Two lawmakers, MoFA and Department of Immigration under scanner
•
Unclear if lawmakers had a hand in the scandal
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60 AFP PERSONNEL SUFFER FOOD POISONING

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Sixty Armed Police Force (APF) personnel of Surkhet Bangeshimal battalion undergoing training suffered food poisoning
Thursday at six in the evening Thursday, Gorkhapatra reports from
Surkhet.
Thy are undergoing treatment at Surkhet regional hospital.
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SCHOLARSHIP ABUSE PREVENTION

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: The Ministry of Education (MoE) is gearing up to crack down on students who discontinue their studies midway without any reasonable justification after receiving scholarships, Om Astha Rai writes in Republica.

The MoE has already constituted a high-level committee to take action against such students. The five-member committee, which is headed by a joint secretary of the MoE, will figure out the total loss incurred by the government as a result of this trend.

Also, the MoE has written letters to all the universities and colleges, where Nepali students have been awarded scholarships, asking them to inform the government if any of the students drops out after receiving scholarship. The MoE has also asked them to regularly send the progress reports students who have been awarded scholarships.

“We have always been lenient toward such students,” Pralhad Aryal, under secretary at the scholarship section at the MoE, told Republica. “From now onward, we will not remain a mute spectator. All scholarship awardees should acknowledge the fact that the government´s scholarships are precious and someone else would have benefited if not them.”

According to the Scholarship Act (1964), the MoE can recover the scholarship money from such students. The high-level committee will determine the amount of money to be recovered from such students.

The move by the MoE against errant scholarship awardees comes in the backdrop of frequent cases of students quitting their courses midway. According to sources, two students who received scholarships to study abroad recently quit their courses. Most of the students, it is learnt, quit studies if they receive some other attractive opportunities.

“It is okay if a student does not complete study due to illness,” Aryal said, adding, “However, we can not be kind to students who abandon their studies just because they get other attractive scholarships or jobs.”

According to Aryal, the MoE has recently started to conduct orientation classes for scholarship awardees asking them to not take up any other opportunities during their courses.

“Scholarship is not just an opportunity,” he said. “It is a duty as well. This is what we try to explain to all students before they begin their courses.” The MoE has been providing more than 300 scholarships, mostly on medical studies, for Nepali students within the country and abroad.
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33% CHIILDREN DEPRIVED OF EDUCATION





Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: More than 33 per cent of children of Myagdi are deprived of education due to family, economic, social, physical and geographical problems, a study has showed, The Rising Nepal reports from Myagdi.
A lack of awareness among parents about the importance of schooling is also hindering children in gaining access to education.
Many differently abled children are deprived of education because they face various social barriers due to discrimination and stigma. As a result, children with a disability suffer from a social as well as physical handicap. This exacerbates pervasive inequality for disabled persons. According to research conducted across the district by Disable Children lekhajokha Center of District Education Office, 669 children are found to be differently abled.
The report said that out of a total of 669 children who are differently able, 208 are deprived of from the right to education. Among the total number of the disabled children who are deprived of education, 79 of them are physically challenged , 21 hearing impaired, five were mentally disable, 16 visually impaired, 15 dumb, 29 intellectually retarded, three have symptoms of autism and 22 suffer from multiple disabilities.
Financial status is another determining factor in whether a child can gain access to education. Those with poor financial status often miss out.
The report stated that among the total number of school going children, the children aged 10-18 top the list of those deprived of education.
Coordinator of the center Kalpana K.C. said that most of the children are found unwilling to attend the schools even after getting all facilities later.
She stated that many of the children were deprived education because of family matters and financial status.
She said, "Those children who are visually impaired are facing maximum problems due to the inappropriate education system and they are also facing difficulty in reaching to the schools."
Persons with disabilities remain the most disadvantaged and vulnerable group in a country like Nepal, she said.
"Widespread poverty, excessive inequality and social discrimination are the major factors that hold them back from enjoying the equal rights that every child of the country does" said K.C.
To ensure universal literacy for children in the district there was a pressing need to implement disabled friendly education systems at every school.
However, the Chief District Officer, Dil Nath Puri informed that by categorizing the disabled children according to the nature of their disabilities, the government had been providing scholarships of up to Rs. 13,000 for students of primary level and higher secondary level.
He said that for disabled students in the first grade, the government had been providing a scholarship of Rs.13,000, for second grade Rs.5,000 and third grade Rs.3,000.
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