NEPAL LOSES BY TWO RUNS ON OMAN IN ACC TWENTY20 CHAMPIONSHIP

NEPAL LOSES BY TWO RUNS TO OMAN IN ACC TWENTY20 CHAMPIONSHIP
Kathmandu, 10 Dec.: Nepal lost by two runs in the ACC Twenty20 Championship in the capital Saturday and was placed third in the tournament.
Nepal scored 99 runs for the loss of nine wickets chasing a target of 102 runs
The game was reduced to 15 overs because of poor visibility.
Oman won the toss the elected to bat first.
Zeeshan Siddiqui scored (22) for Oman.
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MINISTER GUPTA CALLS FOR CONSENSUS ON OHCHR-N TENURE EXTENSION

Kathmandu, Dec 9, Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta Friday said that consensus among the political parties was necessary to decide on whether to extend the term of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) or not, The Rising Nepal reports/.
Minister Gupta made this remark at an interaction on ‘Human Rights Campaign in Nepal and Rishikesh Shah’ in the capital.
"I have been surprised upon hearing about Prime Minister’s unilateral decision of not extending the OHCHR’s tenure because it is the Maoist party that has been insisting that UNMIN and UN rights agency should continue to stay here," said Gupta.
He said that the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister would reconsider this matter, and at the same time, there was the need of political consensus on it.
He said that the government should rectify its decision, which he said, was taken without giving attention to the transitional stage of the country. "This is not appropriate."
Minister Gupta, who is also chairman of MJF-R, insisted that the National Human Rights Commission could not carry out the responsibility, which the UN rights agency had been discharging.
"There is no basis to believe that the NHRC, which had precedence of acting for the interests of the parties in the past, could perform the works of UNOHCHR."
He said that the presence of the OHCHR was still needed to protect human rights and tackle the challenges of the future.
Minister Gupta also expressed his dissension to the remark of State Restructuring Recommendation Commission chairman that the federal units should be structured from north to south.
CPN-UML secretary Shankar Pokharel said that human rights education had been oriented from the opposite direction that the state violated the human rights.
"The Nepalese state is very weak. All have undermined the state. A weak state could not protect the human rights of the citizens. It needs to be made strong so that it could protect the human rights," said Pokharel.
On the occasion, rights activist Ganesh Regmi was awarded with Dinesh Sewacharya Puraskar 2068 BS while another rights activist Salikram Tiwari was honoured for his contribution to rescue Nepali girls sold into the Indian brothels.
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ONE THIRD NEPALIS L40 AND ABOVE HAVE DIABETS
Kathmandu, Dec. 9, One third of the population over 40 years of age suffers from diabetes in Nepal and the figure could continue increasing in coming years if the problem is not addressed in time, experts said., The Rising Nepal reports.
Passive life style, obesity and fast food culture are mainly responsible for diabetes.
A 2-day international conference on diabetes organized by the Diabetes Nepal began here on Friday with an aim to aware people and share possible approaches to prevent the disease.
Inaugurating the conference, Minister for Health and Population Rajendra Mahato said that the rise in non communicable diseases including diabetes was a major health challenge in the country.
Coordination among concerned stakeholders is necessary to tackle diabetic as well as other non communicable diseases," he said adding that the government was committed to implement non communicable disease policy soon.
Minister Mahato said that the health ministry was dedicated to put in place effective mechanisms to contain the disease and to receive suggestions from all concerned quarters for prevention and control of diabetes.
Roshan Krishna Nyachhyon, president of Diabetes Nepal said that the conference would focus on updating the latest knowledge and responding to health needs of people suffering from diabetes.
Social worker and educator Laxman Rajbanshi said that the modern urban lifestyle was very much responsible for many diseases. He expressed his hope that the conference would benefit common people by providing practicable answers to their queries.
International health expert, Roy Taylor said that diabetes was a common and dangerous disease but definitely treatable.
I hope this conference will make a positive difference and open new perspective in treatment of diabetes, he said.
Kishore Chandra Wade Shrestha, the general secretary of Diabetes Nepal said that the education and awareness to general public and health workers was the best approach to tackle the epidemic of diabetes.
This conference is dedicated to sharing the experiences of experts on intensifying and accelerating different programmes for comprehensive understanding, prevention and management of diabetes.
Dr. Jyoti Bhattarai said that diabetes was much more of a political problem than medical one.
She urged that the cost of diabetes treatment could be substantially reduced if much necessary trainings to grass root health workers were provided.
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PANEL MULLS SALARY FOR PASHUPATNATH PRIESTS
Kathmandu, 10 Dec.:Transparency of monetary offerings to the Pashupatinath temple, which has always been a controversial issue, is likely to be maintained to some extent soon, Ankit Adhikar writes n The Kathmandu Post..
Standing on the recommendation of a committee formed last year as per a Supreme Court ruling, the Ministry of Culture about a month ago directed the temple administration to take necessary steps to ensure transparency at the Hindu shrine.
The committee’s recommendations include paying salaries to priests of the main temple—an alternative that has never been adopted—before taking control of the temple treasury for the sake of its transparency. Upholding the recommendation, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) formed a committee led by its Member Secretary Sushil Nahata to seek alternatives and negotiate with priests as to what would satisfy them in return for letting the offerings go into the state coffers.
According to Mod Raj Dotel, former secretary at the ministry and a member of the PADT subcommittee, provision of fixed salaries for the priests, though a viable option, has not been agreed to yet. “We are looking for as many alternatives as possible,” he said. “Transparency will be maintained at any cost and even the priests are positive about it. It is only that the model is yet to be decided. We are sure to reach a conclusion within three weeks.”
In a bid to examine the practice, and learn from big temples, in India, a team representing the committee left for the southern neighbour on Wednesday. Dotel said the practices of managing monetary offering in India would be analysed before deciding on an alternative. However, Ram Prasad Dahal, spokesman for the committee formed earlier as per the court ruling, said fixed salary would be the best idea to solve the problem.
“Before submitting our report to the ministry, we consulted with the priests. They were ready to accept the fixed salary system,” he said, adding that the pay scale had not been discussed. There are four levels of priests—Bhatta, Bhandari, Rairakami and Bishet—as per the operational rule of the shrine. The number of priests eligible for a regular pay would number 188—four Bhattas, 101 Bhandaris, 76 Rairakamis and seven Bishets, according to the committee. While four top priests are brought from South India for a four-year term, 101 Bhandaris are appointed on a rotational basis. A Bhandari gets to handle temple affairs for a period of one month and has to wait for 100 others for the responsibility again. Rairakamis and Bishets have the responsibility of managing logistics and materials needed for puja on the main temple premises.
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FORMER ,AOIST FIGHTERS IN YCL DISSATSFIED
Kathmandu, 10 Dec.:Nearly two dozen ex-Maoist combatants who were transferred to the Young Communist League (YCL) at the outset of the peace process have said they have been discriminated against by the party leadership, The Kathmandu Post reports.
Issuing a statement on Friday, they have demanded equal perks and treatment as enjoyed by the Maoist combatants in the ongoing integration and rehabilitation process.
“The integration process has reached its final stage but we are kept in the dark. Our paramilitary structure has been dismantled, about which we have a strong reservation,” the statement reads.
They also submitted a memorandum to Maoist party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday. Some days ago, Dahal had said that addressing the fate of some YCL members was a very important task for the party.
They claimed that they were deprived of the money that was collected in their name. The Maoists had collected Rs 1,000 from each combatant to support those who had been transferred to the YCL.
Brigade Commissioners Uma Bhujel, Dilip Prajapati, Yubaraj Acharya, Bhagat Badawal, Jhak Bahadur Malla and Gurendra Gharti Magar as well as Brigade Commanders Dhurba Budathoki, Kiran Rai, Dhurba Ghimire, India Angawa and Dewan Kirati, among others, have demanded that the party leadership guarantee them a good future.
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