FOR FIRST TIME WILD ELEPHANT HERD FROM INDIA ENTERS BIRTAMODH IN JHAPA AND SPREADS TERROR IN TOWN

WILD ELEPHANT HERD ENTERS BIRTAMODH BAZZAR IN JHAPA FROM INDIA

Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: Wild elephant herd from cross the border
entered Birthamod area for the first time and is spreading terror in the town,
Radio Nepal reports in its Monday morning news telecast.
It’s not unusual for such herds to enter urban areas and villages but t
his is the first time the group has entered the heavily populated bazzar, sate radio said.
Police has been deployed in the town.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

‘If silence continues on money of PLA fighters, corruption will be
confirmed. I am in a high echelon in the party. But I’ not aware about this so far.’

(Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel, Annapurna Post, 12 Dec.)

‘I am a prisoner in the party. Nobody obeys. What to do?. I’m not a dictator. Why don’t they agree to what I say?”

(NC President Sushil Koirala, Annapurna Post, 12 Dec.)
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VACCINE DRIVE AGAINST TYPHOID BEGINS IN THE CAPITAL
Kathmandu, 12 Dec Kathmandu is known as the world capital of typhoid fever among the health experts and a few media specialists. However, outbreaks of typhoid hardly make news headlines here, thE Rising Nepal reports.
A 2008 study published in the journal ‘Open Biology’ had described Kathmandu as a typhoid fever capital of the world.
According to the research, community water spouts were the main sources of the outbreaks of typhoid in the valley

But there is no need to worry. A vaccination campaign has been launched in high risk areas in Kathmandu valley to prevent the illness.
Some 63,000 school students from grade Nursery to class 12 in Lalitpur district have already received the typhoid vaccines, according to Bal Krishna Bhusal, senior public health administrator of District Public Health Office, Lalitpur, said Sunday at a workshop for journalists organised by the Media Foundation Nepal.
According to him, all 120,000 school students of Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City and 41 Village Development Committees would be covered in the vaccination programme launched from December 1.
"Some 38,000 students of sub-metropolitan city and 25,000 of the VDCs have already received the vaccine," he said.
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. It is common in the developing world where it affects about 22 million persons, mostly children below 15 years of age, each year.
Some 14 per cent people among 12,000 studied populations in Lalitpur were found affected by typhoid. However, the per cent of people having the Typhi bacteria could be as high as 30 to 40 per cent, said Bhusal.
Similar were the views of Dr. Shyam Prasad Lohani. He said that of the total 17 million cases of typhoid, 600,000 resulted in deaths in 1994. The number of deaths dropped to 216,000 in 2004 among 21.6 million cases.
Dr. Lohani attributed to improved hygienic habit for the reduction in deaths.
Typhoid cases are common around the world except in North America and few parts of Europe.
It is one of the key water-borne diseases. According to a research carried by the Patan Hospital, the cases of typhoid fever are high in June and July.
This also proves that it spreads due to contaminated water, Bhusal said.
According to Dr. Lohani, one can avoid typhoid fever either by avoiding risky foods and drinks or getting vaccinated against it. "Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it," it is his mantra to keep oneself away from typhoid.
Typhoid fever can be treated with antibiotics. Once the diagnosis of typhoid is confirmed, the patient must take antibiotics for 10 to 14 days. However, typhoid bacterium has lately developed resistant power which results in poor response to medication.
Invented some 34 years ago, Vi Polysaccharide Vaccine which is being administered in Lalitpur now, was trialed in Kathmandu in 1986.
"It is one of the single most effective tools to control infectious diseases after safe water, claimed Bhusal.
The vaccination campaign is not a trail and it is totally safe, said Dr. Lohani.
Recommended by WHO, the vaccination campaign was launched in the support of Mitra Samaj, a Kathmandu-based NGO.
Earlier, some 2,530 persons of the tourism sector in Kathmandu received the vaccine.
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SNAG WON’T HIT CONSTITUTION PROCESS SAYS SPEAKER NEMWANG





Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: Constituent Assembly chairman Subash Chandra Nembang Sunday said that the constitution writing task would not be obstructed under any pretext as the peace process had already gained momentum, The Rising Nepal reports.
Speaking at an interaction in the capital, chair Nembang said that the statute writing process hit a snag in the past as the political parties split over as to which - constitution writing or peace process - should proceed first.
"Now this dispute is over after the parties agreed deal on concluding the peace process and bringing an integrated draft of the new constitution," he said.
He said that a task force under Dispute Resolution Sub-committee (DRSC) had already submitted a report to the latter to seek consensus on the disputed topics of the new constitution except the state restructuring issue.
"The report, prepared with hard work, present suggestion on solving the contentious issues such as form of governance, election system and judiciary.
He appreciated the formation of the State Restructuring Commission (SRC) though it was delayed, Newang.
"The SRC report will only be suggestive and it is the CA that has final say no the matter," he said.
The CA chair said that the integrated draft of the statute excluding the state restructuring would be prepared by December 30 as mentioned in the new calendar.
Nembang also highlighted the role of media in the peace and constitution writing processes and urged them to be more responsible while imparting information.
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INTERVIEW

NO ALTERNATIVE TO POLLS SAYS MAOIST MNISTER RAYAMAJHI IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE RISING NEPAL





The administrative instability at the local level due to frequent changes of local government officials has been said to be responsible for poor performance of the local government. What you think needs to be done to discourage and check the partisan interference in the haphazard transfers of the employees at the local level?
-I do agree with the points raised by you as for the last several years bureaucracy has been subjected to undue influence and interference from the political quarters. Local bodies have become the victims of transfers and changes of the responsible government officials and employees. LDOs and executive officers are found transferred before they physically get to their assigned locations and take over the mantle of responsibility. This has hampered the performance of the local bodies and led to deterioration of the situation. I would like to set example by making necessary correction of the mistakes committed in the past. I am not in favor of meddling in the working of bureaucracy and I do sincerely believe that intervention in bureaucratic norms and values will undermine the morale of civil servants.
You should be aware that around five to seven hundred VDCs are reckoning without the secretaries as a result of which ordinary people are denied of the basic services at the local level. Moreover, due to security or other reasons many VDC secretaries are staying in the district headquarters by not reporting to the respective VDCs where they are assigned. How are you going to ensure that these anomalies are corrected?
-I have noted this situation with seriousness and instructed that the VDC secretaries should be made to go to their respective VDCs and deliver services at once without any reluctance. Though there may be some cases where VDC offices may not be physically and institutionally equipped for service delivery to the people. In such a situation necessary arrangements should be made to warrant that services are catered to the people without having them to face any hassles.
You know that the country is going to be reorganized into a federation. The local government should be one of the principal tiers of federal structures endowed with effective mandates and competencies. What has MoLD done to articulate its position on the status of the local government in the federal structure of the country?
The MoLD has not developed its separate position as such on the set up and modality of the local government in the federal structure of the country. However, we are airing our views that the local government should be an important tier of the federal government structures in the country. The local bodies should be mandated with functions, finances, functionaries and freedom.
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