CHIEF JUSTICE RETIRES 5 MAY

THREE DELIVERIS ON FINAL DAY OF SLC EXAMINATIONS
Kathmandu, 2 April: Three girls delivered babies at three examination centers in three districts on the final day of SLC examinations Friday.
Basant Katuwal delivered a baby boy at a center in Baglung.
Ranju Kumari Mahoto delivered a baby in Sunsari.
Mana Kumari BK delivered a baby in Dolakha.
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CHIEF JUSTICE RETIRING
Kathmandu, 2 April: Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha will take compulsory retirement 5 May, The Himalayan Times reports.
CI Shrestha is learnt to have shared with a few lawyers that he would stop hearing cases from 5 April.
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RBB APPOINTS CHAIRMAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE AS WELL
Kathmandu, 2 April: Government has appointed Rashtriya Banijya Bank (RBB) Chairman Ram Prasad Adhikari chief executive officer as well, Annaurpurna Post reports.
Finance ministry issued an appointment Friday until another arrangement.
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SILVER RECORDS RS. 1,042 PER TOLA
Kathmandu, 2 April: Silver was sold for a record Rs, 1,042 pet tola (11664 gram) Friday.
Gold was sold for Rs. 40,000 per tola Friday.
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US AMBASSADOR HANDS OVER WOMEN’S POLICE BUILDING
Kathmandu, 2 April: US Ambassador Scott H. DiLisi Friday handed over a woman’s police building constructed with US government help to Nepal police in Damak, Jhapa.
The ambassador is currently visiting eastern terai districts.
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ANTI-ELEPHANTIASIS DRIVE SPREADS PANIC

Kathmandu, 2 April: The anti-elephantiasis drive has spread panic across the country with reports of people dying and falling ill after taking free anti-elephantiasis drugs. At least seven people died and around 700 took “seriously ill” in the last three days, according to unofficial reports, Dev Kumar Sunuwar reports in The Kathmandu Post..

The government administered two free different drugs — Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and Albendazole — to 14.5 million people aged above 2 years in 36 districts on March 26 and 27 and they began showing adverse side effects from Wednesday.

Diethylcarbamazine, meant to fight Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), was purchased from the multinational company Unichem at the rate of Rs. 0.60 per pill, said Rakesh Thakur, Public Health Administrator at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) under the Ministry of Health and Population. The other drug meant to kill intestinal worms was provided free by WHO.

So far Banke, Bardiya, Saptari, Dang and Okhaldhunga districts are reporting high rate of deaths and illness. Two persons died and more than 500 took ill in Banke alone. Two died in Saptari and 50 people were referred to BP Koirala Memorial Hospital, Dharan. Some 100 similar cases have been registered in various health institutions across the country as of Friday evening. Correspondents of the Post said one person died in Dang and another in Okhaldhunga. Around 50 patients are admitted to hospitals in each district.

Meanwhile, medical teams are in field studies in Banke, Bardiya, Saptari and Dang. The teams’ report will be ready by Sunday. “The drugs cause various side effects like high fever, severe headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness, but not death,” Dr Biswa Raj Khanal, senior Public Health Administrator at EDCD, said.

He said EDCD has been administering the anti-elephantiasis pill for the last 50 years and Albendazole for last 20 years at the recommendation of WHO. However, when the campaign was undertaken in 2003 similar adverse incidents were reported in its wake.

“Summer is the wrong time to administer these drugs. The drugs instead should have been given in winter,” said Dr. K.K. Kafle, chief of Department of Clinical Pharmacology under Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. He had led the study team in 2007.

After leprosy, elephantiasis is the second most serious disease causing permanent and long-term disability. It is caused by small, threadlike parasitic worms spread by Culex female mosquitoes.





Meanwhile, Nepal Medical Association (NMA) has called for an immediate stop to the anti-elephantiasis drive that is causing deaths and illness in those administered the free drugs. NMA called for a quality check of the drugs.
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MAOIST YOUTH URGE END TO PARTY DISPUTE





Kathmandu, 2 April: - Youth leaders of UCPN-Maoist Friday met with party senior leaders and press the top brass to manage the intra-party disputes, Thee Rising Nepal reports..
Around a hundred budding leaders who had already commanded Maoist mass organizations including the students and the women urged their seniors not to intensify the internal debate that may lead the party to split, which they said would be unacceptable to them.
Former chief of Maoist student wing Lekhnath Neupane said that they initiated the youth pressure campaign as they suspected whether the senior leaders were not giving adequate attention to manage the cadres in relation to internal struggle in the party.
The youths warned the leadership that they would take the pressure campaign to the grassroots while urging the party seniors not to intensify the already surfaced intra-party struggle.
Internal dispute of the party had come on the ground with the split in the workers’ organization of the Maoist. Intra-party struggle in the single largest party had been intense since the party’s extended meeting a few months ago in which three different

documents focusing on different tactical lines and the main contradiction of the party were presented by the party chairman and two vice-chairmen.
At the three-hour meeting held at the party’s head office at Paris Danda where most of the standing committee members of the party including party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ were present, the youth leaders also suggested the leaders to address the internal dispute using a particular method.
Neupane added that they reminded the leaders of the sacrifice of the people. "We stressed that there should not be a situation wherein decisions are made but implementations are neglected."
In response, party chairman Prachanda, vice chairmen trio, general secretary, and duo secretaries assured the young leaders that the party would remain united and that they were working to manage the dispute.
Meanwhile, Maoist standing committee (SC) meeting scheduled for Friday did not take place as many of the SC members failed to show up.
Maoist spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma said that the meeting was postponed as some members remained too busy in their works to attend the meeting. He did not mention when the next meeting would be held. The SC meeting was expected to finalise the names of the leaders to assume the post of ministers in the government.
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COMMITTEE TO OBSERVE SETO MACHINDRANATH FESTIVAL





Kathmandu, 2 April: The Federal Affairs Constituent as Parliamentary Affairs and Cultural Peace and Reconstruction formed a seven member sub-committee under the leadership of Purna Ratna Bajracharya to manage preparation and celebration of this year’s Seto Machchhindranath festival, The Rising Nepal reports.
This year, the white Machchhindranath festival falls on 11th of April.
The shape of white Machchhindranath chariot will be designed in a triangular shape following the traditional method.
The chariot procession starts from March 29 and 365 pieces of timbre are used for making the chariot. Nine kinds of timbre is used to build the chariot but due to the lack of several kinds of timbre, 25 per cent timbre of the sal tree is used these days to construct the chariot..
The Seto (white) Machchhindranath is a widely venerated deity of the Kathmandu valley and the chariot-pulling of the deity festival is a three day long cultural affairs.
During the festival, the chariot is taken to several parts of the valley. The pulling of the chariot starts from Jamal and then it moves to Ratnapark, Bhotahiti and Asan. On the second day, it is taken to Balkumari, Keltole, Indrachowk, Makhan and Hanumandhoka and on the third and last, it passes through Chinkmugal, Jaishidewal and Janabahal and Lagan.
Normally, the festival is celebrated for three days but it takes seven days to take it to the different parts. Many people visit the chariot and offer their worship to the idol of the Machchhindranath deity inside the chariot to celebrate the festival.
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