ONCEALED HASH RECOVERED FROM TRUCK

CONCEALED HASH HIDDEN SACKS RECOVEREDFROM TRUCK GOING TO KAKARVITTA FROM CAPITAL

Kathmandu, 30 Nov.: Policemen Wednesday intercepted a truck going to Kakarvitta, Jhapa, from the capital and recovered a huge haul of marijuana in 21 sacks at Hariwon, Sarlahi along the Mahendra Highway.
The marijuana was hidden inside the truck (Na 2 Kha 9528) carrying textile materials from Kathmandu to Kankadvitta, said police.
The driver and helper have been arrested.
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NOBODY INJURED IN FIRING DURING FIRING BETWEEN TWO GANGS IN KAVRE
Kathmandu, 30 A pistol cartridge and four motor cycles were recovered by police Tuesday following a gang fight between two rival gangs at Methinkot-2, Jorsalla, Kavre.
There were no injuries.
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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE SCHEME BEING LAUNCHED
Kathmandu, 30 Nov.: The government plans to introduce an unemployment insurance scheme (UIS) in the next fiscal year. Under the UIS, workers in the formal sector will receive unemployment benefits in cash for the period they are without work, The Kathmandu Post reports..
To participate in the scheme, employees will be required to make periodic payments to which the employer will add its contribution in the ratio of 1:2.5, as per a draft of the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA). The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM) has been working on the act with technical assistance from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
“The amount to be contributed by the worker and the employer is yet to be finalised,” said Nabin Pokharel, under secretary at the MoLTM.
He added that following discussions with the private sector including the employers and trade unions, the ministry will finalise the amount of the contribution and the allowance.
He also said that unemployment benefits would be paid for a minimum of three months and a maximum of nine months. “The minimum amount of the monthly unemployment benefit will be 60 percent of the minimum wage or the average monthly insurable earnings of the worker during
the last six months preceding the termination of employment,” he added.
“The programme is being introduced so that workers who have been laid off won’t have to face financial problems until they find another job,” said an MoLTM official. According to him, all the formal workers in the private sector can benefit from the scheme.
Mahesh Baral, director of the social security fund management committee, said the ministry was discussing if the UIS should be introduced as a separate scheme or as part of a social security package. “If the UIS is developed as a social security scheme, the contribution of 1 percent of a worker’s monthly salary won’t be sufficient to implement the programme.”
He said that the contribution of the workers and the employers should amount to at least 21 percent of the basic salary. “After the modality is set and the scheme is implemented, it will work as a temporary relief package to the workers,” added Baral.
Other ministry officials said that the scheme would be extended to workers in the informal sector in the future.
Meanwhile, stakeholders including trade union officials have criticised the government for the delay in bringing the scheme. Ramesh Badal, secretary of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), said that the proposed UIS was not a new idea and that the major
trade unions had been demanding it for a long time.
“As the government has already taken some three years to implement it, there is no point in implementing the programme by itself. The government should implement the scheme as a complete social security package.”
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TOURISTS STRANDED IN CHITWAN AS TRANSPORT SERVICE DISRUPTED

Kathmandu, 30 Nov.: Vehicles operating from the remote area of Parsa, Thori, to Chitwan’s headquarters Bharatpur have been disrupted since past three days, RSS reports from Parsa.

Passengers and tourists have been stranded when vehicular movement was completely halted by locals of Thori demanding vehicles also be operated in front of their houses, informed Ram Prasad Kunwar, a local.
Now some foreign tourists are entering Nepal via the old Thori costumes office. Tourists traveling to different sites of Chitwan such as Madi, Meghauli and Bharatpur via the route of Thori have been facing tough time.

To the contrary, transport entrepreneurs have denied the demand of locals saying it was not possible to bring vehicles to the doorsteps of locals.
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LEOPARD KILLS GIRL CHILD IN KHALANGA

Kathmandu, 30 Nov.:An eight-year-old girl child, Sunita Saud, of Pancheswor-5, was killed in a tiger [read leopard] attack on Tuesday afternoon, RSS reports RSS from Khalanga.

The wild beast attacked her to death while she was collecting fodder in the forest.

Saud, a second grader at local Bhumiraj Lower Secondary School, was killed in a tiger attack, informed Shiva Singh Saud, a local.
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