LANDSLIDE KILLS ONE, INJURES TWO IN ACCHAM

LANDSLIDE KILLS ONE, INJURES TWO IN ACCHAM
Kathmandu, 15 Sept.: One person was killed and two were injured when a landslide triggered incessant rain buried a house at Budakot-2 in Accham overnight.
A mother and daughter were pulled out alive.
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MOVEMENT OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC COMES TO HALT ON MECHI RAJMARK
Kathmandu, 15 Sept.: Movement of vehicles came to a halt on Mechi Rajmarg in the east Thursday.
Transporters demanded security at workplace and right to pick-up or drop passengers anywhere along the route.
An indefinite strike was launched coinciding with the festive season.
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MEDIA GOOGLE
‘The cheap publicity [flying economy class to New York and riding a Mustang jeep] will not benefit the country. The PM can send his foreign minister [to New York] instead of him.”
(NC leader Ram Sharan Mahat, The Kathmandu, Post, 15 Sept.)
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HUMAN BONES FOUND IN NAGARJUNG
Kathmandu, 15 Sept.: Police on Wednesday discovered parts of a human skeleton on the premises of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park surrounding the Kathmandu Valley, The Himalayan Times reports.
The skeleton parts were scattered all over when a team of Metropolitan Police Crime Division and Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj reached the site acting on a tip-off served by a Dutch woman, a tourist visiting the national park, that she came across the human bones. Inspector Om Prakash Khanal said the skeleton parts were discovered in a den-like place in Bishnu Budhanilkantha. “We are yet to ascertain whether the skeleton is of a man or a woman,” he said. Officials said the skeleton parts would be referred to forensic lab for DNA tests on Thursday. A pair of black trousers, a yellow T-shirt, pantyhose and a tumpline were also found.
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SURGERIES AT HEALTH CAMPS FOR UTERINE PROLAPSE WITH FOREIGN FUNDING MAY CAUSE COMPLICATIONS
Kathmandu, 15 Sept.: Health camps on uterine prolapse that several NGOs and health institutions organise around the country could actually lead to more complications in women suffering from the disease, health experts say, Manish Gautam writes in The Kathmandu Post..
Often times, dozens of patients are operated upon in a single day in these camps. Many such hastily carried out operations, the experts say, have left women with complications in remote districts of the country. They say most of these camps don’t meet the set standards and are never monitored.
Government records show that every year it funds an average of 14,000 hysterectomy operations, mainly conducted through mobile health camps in remote districts. For every operation, the government provides an average of Rs 13,000 to health institutions and NGOs.
Besides, a large number of health camps are directly conducted and funded by foreign donors and INGOs. The government has no mechanism to monitor the quality of health services these NGO-run camps provide, which, according to experts, expose operated women to greater risks as none of the camps provide follow-up checks.
“Basically, a uterine prolapse operation is a major one. One has to meet all the requirements for the operations. And health camp organisers seldom focus on this,” Dr Naresh Pratap KC, the Director of the Family Health Division (FHD) said. “Even after the operations, the patients do not get post-operative services and follow-ups.”
Health officers from districts concede that many health camps conduct operations in haste and leave behind several complications in women.
“Many uterine prolapse camps have been organised in Bajura. Most of the organisations screen the cases in haste, thus compromising on the quality of the service being provided,” Dr Bhawani Sharma, the District Health Officer of Bajura, told the Post.
Many experts also fear that these health camps may have been operating on those who don’t actually need it. The reason for this being the sum of Rs 15,000 for operations in the Himalaya regions, Rs 13,000 in the hilly region and Rs 12,000 in the Tarai regions that these camp organisers receive.
“What I don’t understand is how they can conduct around 50 operations a day,” a gynaecologist at the FHD said, requesting anonymity. “It is hard for us to carry out around six operations a day. On the other hand, these camps operate patients in droves. This obviously raises questions about the quality.”
The doctor added that such operations often result in vaginal vault prolapse—the upper portion of the vagina losing its normal shape and sagging or dropping into the vaginal canal or outside the vagina—which is common among women who have had their uteruses removed.
KC said they will soon review the guidelines for such camps and make strict
provisions.
Considering the fact that many Nepali women suffer from this problem, the government had taken a decision three years ago to conduct the treatment for free.
Uterine prolapse is a condition in which a woman’s uterus (womb) sags or slips out of its normal position.
Government records show that though it had a target to carry out 13,000 operations in 2010-11, it carried out 14,044 operations during the period. Around 23,986 women with minor problems were treated, the records say.
These records do not include operations carried out by NGO-run health camps.
The government is, in fact, unaware of how many operations the NGOs directly conduct in a year.
Health Ministry officials say the total number of operations could be many times higher than the government record.
“The organisations that run the camps don’t send data of the operations despite our telling them to do so,” Susma Bardiwar, an official at the FHD, said.
“Though we come to hear of such things (happening in the health camps), we are yet to be sure as no one has conducted a research on this,” Dr Alka Singh, a gynaecologist, said. “Until and unless someone conducts a research on the post-operative complications and follow-up of the uterine prolapse operation in the health camps, we just can say it is half truth.”
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NON-COOPERATION OBSTRUCTS INVESTIGATION OF CURRENCY NOTE-PRINTING IN AUSTRALIA ‘
Kathmandu, 15 Sept.: The CIAA's investigation into polymer note scandal has come to a halt owing to non-cooperation from the Ministry of Finance and Nepal Rastra Bank, The Kathmandu Post reports.
CIAA officials said both the ministry and the central bank have not yet submitted the details of original documents that led to the signing of a contract nine years ago between NRB and the Australian note printing company— Note Printing Australia.
"We are yet to receive the required documents from the ministry and the central bank. It seems they are unwilling to give all the original documents with the intention of prolonging the case," said a senior CIAA official on condition of anonymity. He said CIAA officials have seized some documents from NRB's Thapathali-based Note Printing Department, but the documents did open the lid of secrecy. "The central bank is delaying to provide the original documents," he added.
However, NRB Spokesman Bhasker Mani Gyawali said he was unaware of the issue and that the concerned department had not informed him about the CIAA letter.
Issuing two separate letters on August 16, the CIAA had asked both the government bodies to submit the details within seven days. Following media reports that the Australian central bank's subsidiary branch, Note Printing Australia, had bribed Nepali politicians and the central bank through local agent Himalaya Pande while awarding the contract of printing 100 million of Rs 10 denomination in 2002, the CIAA took up the issue. "Now we will send our team to seize important documents from the central bank," said the CIAA official.
After the Nepal government's delay to investigate the bribe case, Christopher Wood, an official of Australian Federal Police, had handed over evidences for timely probe.
Australian national Christian Boillot, who was former sales executives at NPA, was remanded in custody there for the same case. On Monday, the Melbourne Magistrate Court remanded him for a week.
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