GULF AIR ADDS TWO MORE FLIGHTS
Kathmandu, 28 Sept. Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, will add two more flights from 1 November to its winter schedule.
It will operate 14 flights a week between Bahrain and Kathmandu.
Nnnn
MORE FIRMS IN SOUP FOR FAKE CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS
Kathmandu, 28 Sept.: Department of Revenue Investigation has suspected three more firms involvement in fake customs declaration forms transactions, The Himalayan Times reports.
The department has brought three firms – Laxmi Traders, Rehant Traders and Mahalaxmi Enterprises – under irs probe, DG at the department Shanta Bahadur Shrestha said, adding that they have found Rs 51.1 million IC misappropriation by Laxmi Traders, Rs 30 million IC misappropriation by Rehanta Traders and Rs 156,000 IC misappropriation by Mahalaxmi Enterprises. Among the fictitious transactions, Laxmi Traders and Mahalaxmi Enterprises have made the fake customs declaration forms of Birgunj Customs Office and Rehant Traders has made the fake form of Krishna Nagar Customs Office, Kapilbastu, he said, adding that they have forwarded the fake forms to concerned customs office
nnnn
OPINION
SAGA OF ROTTEN FOOD AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Kathmandu, 28 Sept.: Early this year, a band of civil society and public organization representatives took to the streets with placards and banners with the message ‘bhrastacharilai kira paros’ (loosely translated, ‘Germs to the Corrupt’), Prem Khatry writes in The Rising Nepal.
This is not a ‘polite’ message, and the whole idea of the organisers was not to be polite, either. But for the public, these events and the nicely printed slogans gave some hope that something would be done to these most unwanted people of the country. The slogans were witty, in the first place. Then they aroused concern among the public about the deteriorating condition of good governance and the adverse impact of such a culture on the development aspiration, plan and implementation.
Time to wake up
The main point the groups and individuals holding the placards and wearing T-shirts with the slogans wanted to make was that the Nepali people had suffered way too much from the corrupt and, therefore, this is time to wake up to make a loud call and to act.
Despite such timely and clearly forwarded messages given by the public/civic society organisations and individuals to the government, not much was done to eradicate the culture of corruption. This was mainly because the government at the centre has remained preoccupied with other tasks. So calls to curb corruption have largely gone unheeded.
But this was not to go like this for a long time. There has been another round of action related to germs, and this time it is not the germs eating the ‘corrupt human’ but them living inside the food we consume and going inside our body system. At another level and form, corrupt behaviour demonstrated by another breed of irresponsible and criminal-minded people needs to be severely penalised, or that is what the Nepali consumers hope today.
The saga of the New Road-based and a host of other sweetmeat shops showed that there are a bunch of selfish, profit-oriented and criminal-minded businesses keeping busy, playing with the health of their consumers, especially in the city where consumers have less time to think about the quality of food items they need and consume. The question that haunts them all the time is: ‘Can I have this item or not?’
Thus, having something now at any cost is the only thought busy people in the cities carry with them and be happy. People, in general, seem to remain less concerned about the quality of food, drinks and other consumer items. The corrupt traders and suppliers take advantage of the people’s ignorance about the minimum quality and standard of the items sold in the market, their impact on the general health condition, the unchecked sky-rocketing price of the consumer items and the fast flourishing wealth of the corrupt-minded businesses.
This scribe remembers how he had to buy gudpak sweets to be taken to many places - from the hills to the terai - as small children and elderly relatives cherished them and sent early messages demanding their supply on different occasions. Now, looking back, one can only repent for ruining the health of many innocent people in the family and clan community on a regular basis. So the ‘Germs to the Corrupt’ is a valid, witty and timely slogan.
In fact, the general sentiment at this time is that these people need to be thrown behind bars for a long time and see that they suffer there from germs of all shapes and sizes. This must be done despite their sex, age and any other criteria. The killer shops must be closed forever, considering that these criminals have already made fortunes.
It is not only the case of sweets and milk. More, even strange and dangerous stories are coming. One highly pinching story comes from a shop where a Tuladhar (Buddhist by birth) woman reportedly was using beef in the delicacies offered to her customers. Similar other stories are coming to hurt the customers.
The Buddha was against killing of animals. Time passes, several vinayas (codes) are modified, and in Nepal one sect of Buddhism begins to consume meat on general and specific festive occasions. But here the devotee crossed all considerations and sold meat of such animals that are not publicly sold in restaurants serving the general public.
So, what has gone wrong with these human beings? Is profit the only consideration? Didn’t the Buddha say, ‘You can follow your family tradition and trade on items your ancestors did’? The meat found in this particular shop is consumed in the West.
As Dashain draws near, the traders - big and small - may be contemplating on committing more crimes by selling rotten food, tag high prices and even use illegal means to manipulate the officials going on inspection rounds. The case of a sauce factory in Lalitpur was a case in point. Here the government team said, ‘The factory was found mixing 80% pumpkin in the so-called ‘tomato’ sauce. But pumpkin is also an edible item, so the factory has been warned. Warned on what? It is not clear.
Minister ridiculed
Finally, it looks like corrupt businesses are well seasoned in our country. Just the other day, a vigilant team led by the concerned minister found many foodgrain shopkeepers in Kuleswor fleeing the scene on seeing him approaching. In fact, they had ridiculed the minister. For, they know - and the consumers also do - that the minister cannot spare time to do this round on a regular basis. And, in such a situation, one does not know what will happen during the Dasain shopping spree.
The most serious doubt now is that the government may let these criminals go scot-free and leave the public facing serious health problems. And, the public will have to resort to the witty curse - Germs to the corrupt.
nnnn
No comments:
Post a Comment