HEARING OF CORRUPTION CHRGES AGAINST TWO FORMER IGPs, JAYAPRAKASH PRASAD GUPTA REVIVED

CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAINST JAYAPRAKASH PRASAD GUPTA AND TWO FORMER IGPs REVIVED

Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: A division bench of supreme court Monday reopened hearing on corruption charges against Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta, and former IGPs.Motilal Bohara and Achyut Kharel.
Graft charges were filed against Gupta, now chairman of MJFN (Republican) when he was communication minister in the government of Girija Prasad Koirala.
A division bench of Chief Khil Raj Regmi presided over hearings of charges against Bohara and Kharel.
Corruption charge against NC leader Khum Bahadur Khadka was revived earlier.
Khadka was cleared by a special court on graft charge of CIAA on technicality
NC leader Chiranjivi Wagle was jailed after revival of graft charge by the apex court when Ram Prasad Shrestha, Regmi’s predecessor, was supreme court chief justice.
Three IGPs Om Bikram Rana, Hem Gurung and Ramesh Chand Thakuri have been charged in a Rs.280 million Darfur,Sudan,scam.
The CIAA charged them for grant in purchase of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for police peacekeepers with UN in the north African state
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NEWBORN ABANDONED TWINS FOUND

Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: Abandoned twins, a boy and girl, were found near a bush at Jorpati in the northeastern outskirt of the capital Monday and rushed to Shankarpur Hospital.
The twins are doing well after being treated with antibiotics
They’ll be treated for one week.
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REPORT ON CONSTRUCTION OF SECOND INTEARNATIONAL AIRPORT SUBMITTED

Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: A feasibility report on the construction of a second international airport at Nijgadh south of the capital in Bara was submitted by a South Korean firm to the ministry of tourism Monday.
Airport construction can be completed in four years.
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WOMEN LAWMAKERS BEGIN INDIA VISIT

Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: A group of 15 lawmakers of seven political parties began a familiarization visit of India Sunday.
The team has been invited by Indian government.
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NEPAL PLAYS USA IN ICC U-19 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER TUESDAY
Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: Nepal plays USA Tuesday in the last match of the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers in Dublin, North Ireland.

Nepal is second in the group with 12 points in six wins and two loses against Canada and Scotland.
Nepal has qualified for the 2012 World Cup to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Nepal defeated Afghanistan, Kenya, Vanuatu, Namibia, Ireland and Papua New Guinea.
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NA SOLD 450 TONS ANTIQUE WEAPONS 11 YERS AGO

Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: It has come to light historic and old weapons with Nepal Army (NA) arms and ammunition have been sold at cheap prices, Jitendra Shah writes in Kantipur.
Nearly 450 tons of antique weapons were sold 11 years ago when the war with Maoists had peaked and when modern weapons were being imported.
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PERSONAL INCOME INCREASES FOURFOLD IN 15 YEARS

Kathmandu, 9 Aug.: Despite political upheavals and unrest, average household income of Nepalis has increased by more than four-fold to Rs 202,374 over the span of 15 years due to rise in the number of employed population, switch from agricultural to non-agricultural jobs and increased receipt of remittances, Republica reports.

That is not all. With better income, Nepalis have started to lead better lives in 2010/11, shows the findings of the Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) released on Monday.
For instance, the third edition of the survey, which compared living standard of same households that were studied during the first NLSS in 1995/96, says almost 70 percent households have access to electricity at present, whereas only about 14 percent and 37 percent households had such access in 1995/96 and 2003/04 respectively.

The number of households with access to safe drinking water too has increased to 83 percent from 70.4 percent in 1995/96. Likewise, almost 18 percent households are presently using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - efficient and less polluting fuel - for cooking, up from 8.2 percent of 2003/04 and 0.1 percent of 1995/96.

“Over the span of 15 years, access of Nepalis to primary school has jumped to almost 95 percent from 88 percent, access to health centers to 74 percent from 45 percent, market center to 45 percent from 24 percent and paved road to 51 percent from 24 percent,” said Dhundi Raj Lamichhane, director of Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) that prepared the report.

Over the same period, per capita income of an individual has undergone a tremendous growth, added Lamichhane, stating that average per capita income of Nepali has gone up to Rs 41,659 in 2010/11 from just Rs 7,690 in 1995/96.

The survey also shows a significant change in sources of income of Nepali households. According to the survey, more Nepalis have started to make non-agricultural income, whereas in the past, agriculture used to contribute the bulkiest share in households income.

The contribution of agriculture sector in the household income has come down to 27.7 percent from 61 percent in 1995/96. Subsequently, share of non-agricultural income in household income has increased to 37.2 percent from 22 percent of 15 years ago. The survey notes that in 2010/11, almost 56 percent of total Nepali households are receiving remittances, which is a remarkable rise over 23.4 percent recorded in 1995/96 and 31.9 percent in 2003/04.

The survey has also traced striking growth in the number of employed population. According to the survey, a total of 78.5 percent of the total population were employed in 2010/11, whereas in 1995/96 only 67.2 percent Nepalis were employed.

“Good thing is that the percentage of not active population has dropped to 19.9 percent now from 29.4 percent of 1995/96,” said Lamichhane.
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NGOs,INGOs NOT COMPLYING WITH LABOUR ACT

Kathmandu, 9 Aug : Even though existing law makes it mandatory for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) to secure work-permit while hiring foreign nationals, the provision has been complied more in its breach, Ashok Thapa writes in Republica .

That is not all. These NGOs and INGOs also cold-shouldered recent initiatives of the Department of Labor (DoL) in which it asked NGOs and Association of INGOs in Nepal (AIN) to provide details of foreigners working with them and comply with work-permit rule.

“We took the initiatives in order to ensure effective implementation of the Labor Act and also to develop database of foreign nationals working in the country,” said Dr Man Bahadur BK, director general of the department.

However, only 300 workers responded to the department´s call. As a result of massive non-compliance, DoL has no record of volunteers and professionals working in Nepal. Nonetheless, DoL estimates that more than 20,000 foreign nationals are working with NGOs and INGOs.

DoI, however, has incomplete record of foreign professionals working in the private business organizations. According to it, around 7,000 foreigners are currently working in the private sector in Nepal with work-permit from DoI. But, even this figure is heavily under-represented, said officials.

In a bid to ensure similar compliance from NGOs and INGOs, DoL three weeks ago had asked AIN to provide details of foreigners working with INGOs.

So far, foreign nationals have been working in NGOs and INGOs in Nepal with the approval of Social Welfare Council (SWC). However, approval of SWC is not a work permit. Rather, it is a supporting document based on which foreign workers can apply for and get the work permit from DoL.

“Sadly, this provision has largely been flouted by NGOs and INGOs,” said BK who is also the coordinator of the Non-Nepali Employee Monitoring Committee (NNEMC) formed to inspect organizations employing foreigners.

He informed Republica that DoL has recently asked for details of foreign staff from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), GIZ Nepal and INGOs through AIN. The department has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to communicate with all diplomatic missions in Nepal and ask them to provide information about employees who do not enjoy diplomatic privilege.

“The committee is now preparing a list of multinational companies in Nepal and other organizations which are employing foreign staff without work permit,” said Krishna Hari Puskar, under-secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM).
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