THREE REMANDED TO CUSTODY TO INVESTIGATE MURDER OF JHAPA JOURNALIST

THREE REMANDED TO FURTHER CUSTODY TO INVESTIGATE JOURNALIST MURDER IN JHAPA
Kathmandu, 9 April: Three persons, including a couple were remanded to
further custody for five days by Jhapa district court Sunday to investigate the alleged murder of journalist Yadav Poudel whose body was found Tuesday morning at a bus park in Birthamod in the eastern district
The court ordered further remand of Som Dhakal and his wife Manju, who operate hotel in the town and Yubaraj Giri.
Main suspect Madan Rai is missing.
Poudel was stringing for Avenues TV and Rajdhani daily newspaper while
working with a local newspaper.
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AIDE OF MINISTER CHARGED FOR CORRUPTION
Kathmandu, 9 April: CIAA Sunday registered a corruption charge against
Nagendra Yadav, personal aide of Minister of Forest Laxman Mahato, at the special court.
CIAA has sought recovery of Rs 50,000 and imprisonment of Yadav
who was apprehended while taking a bribe in the capital from local people of Mugu
demanding compensation for land acquired by government.
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ONE DAY’S PASHPATINATH OFFERING MORE THAN A YEAR’S
Kathmandu, 9 April: On the first day of transparency of monetary offerings to the Pashupatinath temple on Sunday, the never-known per-day income of the shrine stood
around Rs 111,000, Ankit Adhikari writes in The Kathmandu Post..
At this rate, regardless of special celebrations, the gross annual income of the country’s most popular Hindu pilgrimage could cross Rs 40 million.
Sunday’s collection includes offerings made during the morning and afternoon prayers only. The evening (after 2pm) offerings will be separately counted and made public on Monday morning. The cash will be deposited in an account with the Nepal Investment Bank.
According to Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) Treasurer Narottam Vaidya, the achievement, breaking the 700-year-long Pashupati orthodoxy, means a lot for the Hindus the world over.
Culture Minister Gopal Kirati said this is sure to pass a positive message on to other well-to-do temples at home and abroad. “We have set an example by implementing this long-cherished plan,” he said. “I am sure this will contribute greatly to the overall development of the temple, thereby maintaining the sacredness of the Pashupatinath.”
A separate committee headed by priests and officials counts the money collected on a daily basis. Before this, the temple priests—Bhattas and Bhandaris—used to divide the money among themselves without anyone else’s consent. Therefore, the actual income of the Pashupati temple was never known to an outsider, not even the government or the PADT. Now on, that the priests’ hold over the monetary offerings has been lifted, Bhatta, Bhandari, and all other sects of holy men working there will be provided fixed salaries.
A subcommittee formed in November last year to decide the issue has proposed to Kirati that priests should be paid fixed salaries. All the four major sections of the priests and helpers—Bhatta, Bhandari, Bishet and Rairakami—will receive salaries and perks as provided to civil servants by the government.
Minister Kirati told The Post that it has been decided that the Mul Bhatta, chief of the four Bhatta priests, should be paid Rs 40,000 monthly and a daily allowance of Rs 3,000.
The remaining three Bhatta priests will receive Rs 30,000 per month and Rs 2,000 in daily allowance. Four high-class priests called Bhattas, who are fetched from South India every four years, carry out religious activities at the Pashupatinath temple. A Bhandari will be paid Rs 350,000 when he is in charge of temple affairs. There are 101 Bhandaris, each handling temple affairs for a period of one month in turn.
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