14TH NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE SECURTY DAY OBSERVED

14th NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE SECURITY DAY OBSERVED
Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: The 14th National Earthquake Security Day is being was observed Monday 16 January to prepare and educate people and in memory of people killed in a 8.3 Richter scale 1934 leaving a trail of death and destruction.
An estimated 40,000 will die if a quake of that magnitude again jolts Nepal
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) announced a
new fund for earthquake preparedness in Nepal.

DIFID will provide around Rs 2 billion over four years for Nepal’s disaster risk management and as well as to help reconstruct at least 162 schools damaged by the September earthquake last year.
“DIFID’s new disaster preparedness programme will strengthen Nepal’s disaster risk management and support building code compliance. It will scale up resilience of people to earthquake and other disasters,” reads the statement.

The support also aims to improve preparedness for national and international emergency response and train 4,000 volunteers across Nepal in search, rescue, and first aid activities. Terming Kathmandu a high risk city prone to earthquake, UK Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan, said steps should be taken to reduce the risk.

“I have been focused on earthquake risk in Nepal since my first visit here as UK minister. An earthquake in Kathmandu has all the components of cataclysmic tragedy. This is a risk that the UK cannot ignore,” the statement quoted Duncan as saying while announcing the fund.
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NA DEFUSES FIVE BOMBS AT BANKE
Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: A bomb disposal unit of Nepal Army (NA) has defused five bombs at Manpur, Banke, Monday planted on Nepalgunj-Gulariya road highway.
Leaflets and flags of Terai Janatantrik Madesh Mukti Morcha
-Bhagat Singh faction were recovered from the site.
ode under specific conditions.

Prior to the bomb disposal unit defused the explosives, locals were gripped by an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety over the out of the blue.

Three sockets bombs, a string bomb and a time bomb were
defused.
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NEPAL CAN BE A BRIDGE BETWEEN INDIA, CHINA SAYS PM BHATTRI
Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today said Nepal has to pull itself out of the longstanding traditional foreign policy concept of the ‘buffer state’ initiated by the former Royals, and should redirect its effort toward making Nepal a ‘vibrant bridging state’ of South Asia and East Asia, Lekhnath Pandey writes in The Himalayan Times..

Talking to some selected journalists, a day after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit, at his official residence in Baluwatar today, Bhattarai said, “Due to its specific strategic location, Nepal could, should and would be a vibrant bridging state not only between India and China, but also of entire South Asia and East Asia.”

Pointing out that international power balance has gradually been shifting towards this region, he said, “In this context, we have to redefine the traditional thought of Nepal as a ‘yam between to boulders’ laid down by feudal king Prithvi Narayan Shah, though it was contextual in his era.”

According to him, only cordial and balanced ties with our giant neighbours, India and China, could translate the vision into reality. He, however, did not forget to mention that Nepal’s historical tilt towards its southern neighbour was evident, and would continue for some time due to historical, cultural, geographical and economic factors.

He made it clear that the view of one person, one government or one party could not materialize the concept. “All persons, governments and parties have to maintain unanimous view on foreign policy matters,” he stated, referring to non-unanimity among national stakeholders on most challenging policy issues.

Bhattarai has shared the ‘bridging nation’ idea with both the Chinese and Indian establishments and intelligentsia and has received positive feedback. He even incorporated the concept in his speeches at the UN General Assembly and SAARC Summit.

“I shared this idea with visiting Chinese premier Wen Jiabao yesterday. He fully agreed and even encouraged Nepal to uphold and strengthen cordial bilateral ties with India,” he said.

When asked how Nepal could be a bridging state and what his vision was, the PM said there should be physical connectivity — rail and road links — with both southern and northern neighbours, special economic zones should be set up and huge Chinese, Indian and American investors should be attracted to hydropower, tourism and cultural sectors.

“We have asked Chinese help in building a Special Economic Zone in Kavre. Similarly, we have a vision of building such zones in Mahendranagar, Birgunj, Bhairahawa. Goods produced in the northern area could be exported to China and products of the Tarai’s SEZs could be export to India.” he explained.

He also said the concept of making only Lumbini a Buddhist cultural destination was not appropriate. “Lumbini, along with Sarnath, Kushinagar, and Bodh Gaya of India should be developed as cultural destinations in an integrated way,” he said, “In this way; Nepal could be a cultural bridging state for China and India.”

Viewing India, China and United States as nations that matter the most to Nepal, Bhattarai said his government had gained the trust and confidence of the establishment and private sectors of all three countries, which he attributed to his liberal-economic policy. “So, Wen Jiabao visited Nepal at this juncture after finding commonalities between the Chinese economic view and mine,” he claimed, adding that our foreign policy will fail if we cannot link it up with our economic policy.

He has the vision of establishing two independent think tanks — Institute of Strategic Studies and Foreign Affairs, and Institute of Economic and Development Studies to translate new foreign policy measures into action and link it with the economy. “Let the government assist such institutions financially, but let them work independently,” the PM said.
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JUDICIAL COUNCIL SHOCKED AT NBA RECOMMENDATION
Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: The Judicial Council — which is authorised to
appoint and take action against corrupt judges — says it is shocked by some of the names recommended by the Nepal Bar Association for the post of judges in the Supreme Court.

“We will definitely look into the names while appointing judges, but it is shocking that some of the names recommended by the NBA go against minimum standard for the post,” a member of the JC told The Himalayan Times.

On January 11, the umbrella organisation of lawyers had recommended the names of senior advocates Ram Sitaula, Devendra Singh, Purna Bahadur Chand and advocates Baburaja Joshi, Bishnu Bhattarai, Anil Kumar Sinha, Hari Prasad Upreti, Prakash Raut, Ram Krishna Nirala, Hari Krishna Karki, Anita Sapkota Chapagain, Chandeshwor Shrestha, Tulsi Bhatta and Baburam Kunwar for the post of SC judges.

Similarly, the Law Faculty of Tribhuvan University had recommended the names of five professors — Laxman Prasad Upadhayay, Dr Amber Prasad Pant, Bidhya Kishor Raya, Dr Rajit Bhakta Pradhananga and Guna Nidhi Neupane on November 18.

Total 11 posts — six permanent and five ad hoc judges — are lying vacant in the Supreme Court while 18 judges for the appellate courts and half a dozen judges in district courts are lying vacant for last many months.

The JC could not appoint judges on time as the NBA delayed recommending judges.

“The names which were not even considered last time for the post of appellate court judges were recommended for the post of Supreme Court judges, so we will look into the names seriously,” the member added.

The lawyers community has already criticised the recommendation blaming that the persons selected did not even have seniority.

The Progressive and Professional Lawyers’ Association, the body of UML lawyers and Democratic Lawyers’ Association, the body of Nepali Congress lawyers, have blamed the NBA for selecting names going against judicial
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MUSLIM COMMUNITY CHALLENGES REPORT OF GOVT.
APPOINTED PROBE
Kathmandu, 16 Jan.: The Muslim community in Nepal has seriously objected to the government's report on the murder of Faizan Ahmed, general secretary of the Islamic Sangh Nepal, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The January 12 report, which "portrays Ahmed as an agent of terrorist groups in Pakistan", according to a statement released by the Muslim community on Sunday, was flawed. "Ahmed, who was murdered metres away from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's Office in Ghantaghar on September 26 last year, was a social worker, dedicated to the welfare of humanity."
Saying that the report was biased, the community has challenged the government to prove it. The statement has demanded that the report be reviewed. Instead of putting "unproven" allegation on the deceased, the government should arrest murderers and impart justice to the bereaved family, it was stated.
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