36 BANGLADESHIS ARRESTED IN KUWAIT AIRPORT TUESDAY WITH FRADULENT NEPALI PASSPORTS Kathmandu, 2 May: Thirty-six Bangladeshis were detained Tuesday by immigration authorities at Kuwait airport for entering the emirate son fake hand-written Nepali passports on different flights. Fingerprint examination system at the airport detected the passport fraud. The incident once again exposes the widespread irregularities in passport distribution and its likely impact it could have on efforts to fight international crime, including terrorism, by using fraudulent travel documents. nnnn MOBILE CLINICS TARGET CITY’S SLUM DWELLERS Kathmandu, 2 May: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has started to operate mobile health clinics at various locations of the metropolis, targeting slum dwellers, whose overall health status is low, Arjun Poudel writes in Republica.. With the help of mobile clinics donated by the Chinese government, KMC has started to provide primary healthcare services. Compare to the villages, health status of big cities including Kathmandu is very poor. Various independent surveys also show that coverage by any health program in the capital is very low. “To improve the health status of people living in the slums, we have started to organize health clinics at various locations,” Executive Director of KMC, Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, said. At the clinics health workers from KMC will provide primary health care. “Slum dwellers are deprived of basic health facilities. Coverage by immunization is also low in those areas,” KMC chief Adhikari added. Similarly, a significant portion of pregnant women in the slum settlements are deprived of antenatal services. There has been massive migration of the poor to the capital and in their hectic struggle for survival, they remain deprived of basic healthcare facilities. “We have found pregnant women in the capital who have never had antenatal services," Dr Baburam Gautal, chief of the Health Department at KMC, said adding, “Regular antenatal care is a must to prevent the adverse effects of pregnancy.” Dozens of children might have missed out on immunization and the mobile health clinics are basically targeted at those populations, KMC said. The incidence of respiratory disease is also high in the cities. Though there are dozens of big hospitals in the capital, the government does not have any basic level health institutions in the metropolis. The poor cannot afford the services of big hospitals. KMC said that all services at the clinics are free. Three mobile clinics were deployed on Tuesday also. According to the metropolis, such clinics will be organized on Saturdays and on public holidays. The office said that the frequency of the services can be increased if they turn out to be effective. “Around 300 people received services from one clinic on Tuesday. Our health workers are also providing information about free health services at the urban health clinics and inviting people to visit there," Dr Gautam added. The District Public Health Office (DPHO) in Kathmandu has provided medicines to the metropolis for that purpose. KMC chief Adhikari said that the office is working to make available the services of doctors. The office is planning to hire the doctors. “We need at least four doctors and we are trying to find the resources,” Adhikari said. He said the office has also sought assistance from big hospitals like Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) and Bir. He said that hospital administrations are positive about sending doctors to KMC´s mobile clinics. Out of five mobile clinics provided by the Chinese government, KMC is using three. The metropolis said that the remaining two will be gifted to the people of landfill sites in Nuwakot and Dhading districts. Nnnn FAMILIES OF BLAST VICTIMS IN DESPERATE CONDITION Kathmandu, 2 May:The deadly Janakpur blast, which killed four and injured over 30 people on Monday, has devastated four poor families, Suresh Yadav writes in Republica from Janakpur. All four dead -- Ranju Jha, Jhagaru Das, Suresh Upadhyay and Bimal Sharan (Roy) -- were from very poor families. Three of them, except for Ranju, were the sole breadwinners of their families. As her husband Birendra was working in India, Ranju Jha -- a promising theatre artist of Janakpur, was solely responsible for looking after her two sons. Birendra is yet to arrive home. Ranju´s sons are yet to come to terms with the death of their mother. On Tuesday, Ranju´s eldest son Ansu, a twelfth grader, joined a group of protestors seeking justice. But he could not utter a word. Ranju´s youngest son Gyanu has not come out of home since Monday. Jhagaru Das, a resident of Janakpur-10, had been eking out a living pulling a rickshaw. After his death, Jhagaru´s wife, two sons and elderly parents have been forced to fend for themselves. • Bomb victims cremated When Jhagaru was about to have lunch on Monday morning, cadres of Mithila State Struggle Committee (MSSC) whisked him away from his home for a sit-in at Ramananda Chowk of Janakpur. Jhagaru´s wife Pramila Devi, 40, asked him to go only after eating something. He said he would return soon. But he didn´t. "My husband died hungry," said he. "He did not get to eat anything." Suresh Upadhyay, a mobile phone shop owner in Janakpur, had a wife, physically disabled son, seven-year-old daughter and an elderly father to take care of. They have now lost their sole breadwinner. Suresh -- who was also involved in social works -- had reached Ramananda Chowk to serve water to participants of the sit-in. Like Suresh, Bimal Sharan was also taking rest after serving lemon water to the participants of the sit in when the blast ripped through the sit-in venue. Always dressed like an ascetic, Bimal Sharan had been making a living for his family as a farmer. nnnn