GOLD PRICE SURGE CONTINUES Kathmandu, 6 Sept: Gold price continued its rise The yellow metal was traded for Rs.60,000 per tola Wednesday increasing by Rs,200 per tola compared to the previous day. Silver was traded for Rs.1160 per tola after a sight gain. Nnnn ETIHAD AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES 40% DISCOUNT ON FARES Kathmandu, 6 Sept :Etihad Airways has announced 40 percent discount from 10 September 10 to 13 March on flights from Kathmandu to Europe, Middle East and Africa. The discount applies on economy class and pearl business class on selected booking class , a statement said. Nnnn VIRAL FEVER SWEEPS KANCHANPUR, KHOTANG Kathmandu, 6 Sept.: A massive viral fever outbreak sweeping across Kanchanpur and Khotang has resulted in health facilities chock-a-block, with hundreds of patients rushing for treatment every day, The Himalayan Times reports from .Mahendranagar/Khotang Shiva Dutta Bhatta, Senior Public Health Administrator, said around 1,000 viral fever patients are visiting health centres in the district every day. There are 11 health posts, seven sub-health posts, three primary health centres and one zonal hospital in the district. Bhatta said all the health facilities are crowded with patients. In Khotang, the 15-bed district hospital is scrambling to manage patients. There are patients who are being treated on the floor and even in hotel rooms, said hospital sources. As many as 12 patients, who were admitted to the hospital, have been kept in hotels and they are being treated there, stated the hospital, adding that some of them are being treated at their homes. Death toll in Dailekh seven Viral fever death toll has reached seven in the last one week in Dailekh with one more patient succumbing to the disease on Wednesday. Karna Bir Kami, 70, of Badalamji VDC died on Wednesday. A local said two to three members of each family are suffering from viral fever in the VDC with 1,231 households. Nnnn GOVT. APPROVES UNDAF REPORT Kathmandu, 6 Sept.: The government has approved the United Nations Development Assistance Framework document with some changes that could irk the ethnic rights groups, Ram Kumar Kamat writes in The Himalayan Times.. According to Vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, the UNDAF document that the steering committee (comprising government and UN representatives) today [9Wednesday] approved has removed phrases like ‘religious minorities’, ‘structural’, ‘structural discrimination’ and ‘statelessness’. “We have approved the document because the UN system in Nepal accepted our suggestion,” said Kshetry, adding that words like ‘stigma’ and similar formulations have also been removed from the document. The phrase ‘religious minorities’ has been replaced by Muslims, women, children and others, according to Kshetry. Advocate Dipendra Jha, Chairman of Third Alliance, said government’s decision to remove some words/phrases that reflected the plight of minorities and disadvantaged groups was against the spirit of the Interim Constitution. “We will challenge the government decision,” he added. Kshetry said since the document was of both the government and UN system, it should be mutually acceptable. “The government is committed to the rights and concerns of minorities, but at the same time, it should also be sensitive towards all other communities,” said Kshetry when asked about the concerns being raised by ethnic rights groups over the changes made in the UNDAF document. “We know that there are ills in the society, yet we cannot officially say that there are injustices and corruption,” he argued. On UN system’s concern about the UNDAF document, he said it was ‘like spending merely $3,000 and trying to shake the whole world’. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Robert Piper said he would sign the document probably tomorrow or on Friday. “I am satisfied with the changes,” added Piper. The NPC had written a letter on August 1 to Piper seeking removal of phrases like ‘religious minorities’, ‘structural discrimination’ and ‘statelessness’ from the UNDAF text, which had irked ethnic rights groups no end. NPC’s letter was perceived as an attempt to undermine the plight of minorities. UNDAF identifies areas of cooperation on the basis of which necessary budget is allocated for programmes over a period of five years. Prevention of conflicts has been the major concern of all the donor agencies and development partners, including the UN system in Nepal. Nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “Dahal and Bhattarai pushed the nation into hazard by presenting a request letter to RAW. This has dampened the political situation.” (RPP Chairman Pashupati ShushereRana, The Kathmandu Post, 6Set.) nnnn