RS. ONE MILLION WAARD FOR DR. SURESH RAM RAJ SHARMA Kathmandu, 18 Nov.: Former Vice-chancellor Dr. Suresh Ram Sharma has been awarded the one million rupees Gopal-Kamala Rajbhandary Rotary Award for Vocational Excellence. The awarded is given every two years. Rotary International District 3212 recommended the award for Dr. Sharma’s contribution to technical education. Dr. Sharma resigned this month after serving for more than 21 years as Kathmandu University vice-chancellor following differences with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Nnnn DOCTORS RESUME SERVICE AT PATAN HOSPITAL Kathmandu, 18 Nov.: Doctors and other staffers at Patan Hospital resumed Out Patient Department (OPD) Service Sunday after consultations Saturday with locals. Services have been disrupted demanding resignation of Vice-chancellor Dr. Sangeeta Bhandari and Rector Soumya Bhattacharya. nnnn SWIMMING NATIONAL RECORD IMPROVED Kathmandu, `18 Nov.: Siring Gurung,,15, Saturday set a new national record in the men’s 1,500 meters freestyle while participating in the 9th Asian Swimming Swimming Championship in Dubai. Gurung covered the distance in 19 minutes 05.25 seconds improving a personal record of 19 minutes 48.18 seconds established two months during the 17th Open National and Age Group Championship. nnnn 17 POLICEMEN GUILTY IN JHUMKA JAILBREAK Kathmandu, 18 Noov.:: A committee formed by the Nepal Police to probe the recent Jhumka jailbreak has found 17 policemen, including an inspector, guilty, Amak Khadka writes in Republica from Itahari.. The committee led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ramesh Phunyal has stated that inspector Ishwor Basnet, who was in-charge of the security of the Jhumka jail, among 16 others, was the main guilty. The other 16 policemen held guilty by the Phunyal committee include sub inspector Jit Bahadur KC, two assistant sub inspectors, some constables and policemen. "Especially those policemen who were on duty in eastern and southern security posts have been found guilty," said Phunyal. Altogether 35 out of 46 policemen led by inspector Basnet, who were deployed for the jail´s security, were suspended immediately after the incident. The rest 11 policemen have also been transferred elsewhere. "As per the prisons act (1963), the guilty policemen can be sentenced to jail, too," said Phunyal. On November 9, altogether 12 inmates, including one Bangladeshi and two Indian nationals, had escaped from the Jhumka jail by digging an 80-feet tunnel. "The escapees required at least one month to dig the tunnel," said Phunyal. "The fact that on-duty policemen were unaware of this for so long clearly shows that they were involved in the jail break." The probe committee has also revealed that policemen themselves helped the inmates to hide the earth removed from the tunnel, which was thrown into a pond located inside the jail compound. The escapees had managed to dig the tunnel without letting other inmates know about their plan under the cover of manufacturing bamboo furniture. Other inmates were not allowed to enter into the furniture factory built on the premises of the jail. "No one had taken permission for running the furniture factory inside the jail," said Phunyal. "But, the police did not bother about shutting that factory." The Phunyal committee, which was previously instructed to submit its report within a week, has sought a couple of days more to reach a conclusion. "We will submit our report within two-three days," he said. Another probe committee led by Shambhu Koirala, director general of the Department of Prison Management, is also submitting its report within the next few days. Eleven of the total 12 escapees are convicted criminals -- most of them involved in cases of murder, abduction, drug peddling and human trafficking. Ram Prasad Upadhyaya, the jailer, was also suspended subsequently after the jailbreak. Nnnn CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS SUPPORT ANTI-GOVT. PROTESTS Kathmandu, 18, Nov : Selected civil society leaders representing various professional sectors have vowed to support the opposition parties agitating to oust the present government, but have set conditions, reports Rtepublica.. Almost all the civil society members, who aired their views at a gathering convened at Nepali Congress (NC) head office at Sanepa, Lalitpur on Saturday, said they are ready to support the opposition parties´ agitation for ousting the present government but only on condition the leaders commit themselves not to cheat the people yet again. They said civil society members are ready to take to the streets for safeguarding democratic values but for that the agitating parties need to convince the people about the relevance of their agenda and their agitations. They came down heavily on leaders from the major parties, including the NC and CPN-UML, for failing to work as per the commitments made by them during past movements. "Caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai must vacate the office. His continued stay in office is unconstitutional," said Dr Sundarmani Dixit as leaders from 15 agitating parties listened in the hall packed by hundreds of civil society members. "But what will people get for braving the bullets and batons to be rained down by the police? Are you ensuring employment, electricity and security for the people?" He criticized the party leaders for cheating the people by not fulfilling the commitments they made when appealing for mass movements in the past even though these same parties have led governments repeatedly since then. "We are yet again ready to support your agitations to oust Bhattarai but how are we to rest assured that this time the people will not be cheated," asked Dixit. Former chairman of Nepal Bar Association, Shambhu Thapa, claimed that agitations against the present government have become imperative, saying Prime Minister Bhattarai´s recent statements and decisions clearly indicated that he was following the path of Hitler. "We can clearly see the Hitler tendency in him. He is planning to stay in power for an indefinite period even as constitutional bodies and other vital democratic institutions are on the verge of collapse," Thapa said. Former member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Sushil Pyakurel and activist Kanakmani Dixit criticized NC and UML leaders for failing to play the role of effective opposition parties. "There are several scandals involving Maoist leaders such as the Shaktikhor video tape row, the issue of taking 500 million rupees [from unidentified Chinese for horse-trading during the prime ministerial election], misuse of eight billion rupees from state coffers and the issue of Balkrishna Dhungel, who is roaming scot-free even though the Supreme Court has convicted him of murder," said Dixit. Representatives from various sectors such as former United Nations assistant secretary-general Kul Chandra Gautam, Prof. Surya Lal Amatya, Rameshwar Upadhaya of the University Teachers´ Association, Dr Bhola Rijal, engineer Sakaldev Suchiyar, NGO activist Sharmila Karki and senior journalist Harihar Birahi, among others, suggested the leaders come up with a clearer roadmap on their future political course if they are to get the support of professionals. Push agenda of CA election All those offering their suggestions at the gathering advised the party leaders to go for elections for a constituent assembly-cum-parliament for a five-year term to accomplish the incomplete task of writing a new constitution in the first year and work as a regular parliament for the remaining four years. They criticized the idea of reinstating the dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA). "The only solution to end the protracted political stalemate is to hold elections for a new CA," said former speaker and leading civil society member Damannath Dhungana. Other civil society members including Gaurishankar Lal Das, Arjun Karki, Dr Birendra Mishra, Mohan Mainali and Dinesh Bhattarai said the political parties needed to focus their efforts on holding CA elections in the coming spring. Responding to queries, NC President Sushil Koirala and CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal made it clear that they were already headed towards elections and there was no confusion in their respective parties on the political course ahead. Koirala said they were committed to working as per the suggestions offered by the professionals, while Khanal said they were "enlightened" by their ideas and promised to respect these in the days to come. nnnn .