NC WITHDRAWS STRIKE UPDATE

NC WITHDRAWS STRIKE UPDATE

Kathmandu, 19 Dec. : Main opposition NC Monday withdrew a strike Monday afternoon around three in the afternoon.
The party said government decided to withdraw charges against Shiva Paudel who died Saturday
Charges are also being withdrawn against Pramesh Rai, a colleague of Paudel..
The arty will lift the body of Paudel from a capital hospital for creation.
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KANGCHENJUNGA AREA ON NEPAL-SIKKIM BORDER ROCKED BY QUAKE

Kathmandu, 19 Dec.: The National Seismological Center, Lainchaur of the Department of Mines and Zoology, has recorded an earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter Scale at 3:20 am on Monday morning.

According to the Center, the epicenter of the earthquake was in Kanchanjunga area, the north eastern part of the eastern hilly district of Taplejung.

Earlier on December 15 also, an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale was recorded in the district.
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COLD CLAIMS THREE LIVES IN MOHOTTARI
Kathmandu, 19 Dec : With the sharp fall on mercury, the number of people succumbing to cold has reached three in Mahottari district, RSS reports from Bardibas.

According to the District Police Office Mahottari, two people who fell sick due to cold on December 8 died on Sunday.

The deceased have been identified as Uttis Sardar, 70, of Hariharpur- 9 and Laxman Das Baishnav. All the victims of severe cold are above 60 years of age, it is learnt.

The normal life in the district has been hit hard due to an increasing cold as a result of the continuous cold wave accompanied by thick fog for the past few days. The number of people suffering from cold-related diseases like common cold and pneumonia is on the rise in the rural parts of the district.

Following the dip in mercury, over 40 schools in the southwest part of the district have been closed for the next seven days by pasting a notice.

Meanwhile, the local administration has arranged bonfires in several places in the district with the support from the Nepal Police and the District Forest Office to avoid the cold.
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10 NEPALI YOUTH STRANDED IN DUBAI
Kathmandu, 19 Dec.: As many as 10 Nepali youths who are in Dubai for foreign employment have been stranded for the past one week after the company kicked them out of the job, RSS reports from Udayapur.

The youths from Udayapur, Nawalparasi, Dang, Jhapa and Dhankuta districts had reached Dubai five months ago for the foreign employment.

The youths including Lil Bahadur Bohara of Jalpa Chilaune-5 of Udayapur had gone flown to Dubai through Shubha Arati Manpower Company, Balaju.

Bohara told his relatives through telephone that they have been stranded there after the company kicked them out from the job as the manpower agents had sent them in visiting visa.

Quoting Bohara, his relatives said that the company kicked them out after asking for 1,000 Dubai currency diram for visa charge and they could not pay it to the company.

Bohara further said that they have been living there asking for help from other Nepali workers.

It is informed that they had gone to Dubai through Narayan Bisanku and Arjun Kafle—both agents of the Manpower company.

Bohara said they were unknown about the situation that the manpower company had sent them in visiting visa by luring them of good job.

Another victim Faguram Chaudhary of Dang said that they have been compelled to live with a nominal meal.

While talking to the Company owner, he told us to talk with the manpower agents and return home after paying visa charges, said Chaudhary.

When asked for support, officials of the Nepali Embassy in Dubai said it is very difficult to help them as they arrived here from illegal process, informed the victims.
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PAC TELLS GOVT. TO CANCEL ILLEGAL TRANSFERS

Kathmandu, 19 Dec.: The State Affairs Committee (SAC) of parliament has directed the Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) to furnish details of the transfers -- that was made violating the existing legal provisions -- and cancel them within 15 days. Republca reports.

The parliamentary committee gave such a directive to the ministry during a meeting with government secretaries at Singha Durbar on Sunday.

“The meeting directs the ministry to submit within a month to this committee a report on the implementation of the committee´s decisions,” said Ramnath Dhakal, chairman of the SAC, after the meeting.

The meeting also concluded that the ministry has largely been unable to take up the responsibility of playing a central role in the transfers, placements and deputations of civil servants as per the legal provisions.

Civil servants are supposed to be transferred once a year, and the MoGA has to give prior approval to a ministry for transfers and deputations.

The parliamentary committee had invited the government secretaries upon receiving complaints about massive bribery for transferring civil servants to lucrative positions. The committee had questioned why the secretaries yield to pressure from ministers violating the legal provisions.

At the end of the meeting, the SAC also asked the MoGA to immediately prepare a report on the management of bureaucracy and submit it.

The meeting concluded that the ministry has the practice of approving transfers, deputations and placements of civil servants based on subjective judgments and not the existing legal provisions.

The SAC chairman also directed the civil servants to begin homework on amending the legal provisions if it has created problems in the bureaucracy, and submit a report in this regard to the committee within a month.

The meeting drew the attention of the ministry over the plight of civil servants who have been compelled to work in remote areas for years, and directed it to manage transfers, deputations and placements in a justified manner.

894 transfers in four months

There have been altogether 894 transfers in the last four months alone. According to SAC, most of the transfers violated the existing legal provisions. The Ministry of Local Development has topped the list of ministries to transfer civil servants. SAC Chairman Dhakal said the ministry transferred 128 civil servants in the last four months alone.

Similarly, the Ministry of Information and Communications transferred 122, ministry of agriculture and cooperatives 81, ministry of home affairs 74, physical planning and works 55, and forest and social conservation 44 civil servants.

We´re under pressure for transfers: Secretaries

Meanwhile, the secretaries who were present at the meeting told SAC that they are under pressure from the ministers and trade unions for the transfers.

“We have created ministries unnecessarily. I have been transferred to so many places,” said Brinda Hada at the ministry of energy. She meant to say that a secretary gets transferred to less lucrative ministries if he or she doesn´t obey the order of the minister to transfer civil servants. “So transfers are made through political consensus,” she said.

Likewise, Keshav Bhattarai at the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation said that the secretaries are under pressure for transfers every time there is a change in the government. “Besides, we are also under pressure from trade unions,” he said.

Defending himself against the accusation of negligence, Pratap Pathak at MOGA argued that politicians exert enormous pressure for transfers.

Similarly, Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire pointed out the need for amending the existing laws to regulate the transfers of civil servants. Lilamani Poudel at the prime minister´s office attributed the rampant transfers to impunity. “It takes more than six months even to transfer a peon for dereliction of duty,” Poudel said.
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