TWO OFFICIALS PROMOTED Kathmandu, 2 Nov.: Government Thursday promoted Shyam Kumar Bhattarai and Rewati Raj Tripathi to the post of first class officers under the judicial service. Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun disclosed this after a cabinet meet.. Nnnn SOCKET BOMB RECOVERED FROM CAMPUS ENRANCE Kathmandu, 2 Nov.:: A socket bomb was recovered from the main gate of Sikchya Campus in Dadeldhura Friday. The campus peon recovered the bomb wrapped in a leaflet with pro-student slogans. Nepal Army and Nepal Police were alerted. nnnn NEPAL, CHINA AGREEMENT Kathmandu, 2 Nov.: Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Thursday to establish a Chinese Cultural Centre in Kathmandu. An agreement was signed in 1999 to establish cultural centres in both the countries. Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Yagya Prasad Gautam, signed the MoU with the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Yang Houlan signed the MoU “We will have a brand-new cultural exchange platform, which will enable Nepali friends who like Chinese culture experience, feel and understand China without going abroad,” said Ambassador Yang. “The establishment of the China Cultural Centre will promote exchanges and cooperation between our two countries in the cultural field and enhance mutual understanding and friendship.” Nnnn WANTED MAN ARRESTED Kathmandu, 2 Nov.: The Metropolitan Police Crime Investigation Division arrested an accused murderer on the run for four years. Police suspect Dhirendra Lal Das might had killed his wife Ranju Kumari Karna in 2009 and ran to ground since then, The Kathmandu Post reports.. Ranju was found dead at a Kalimati guest house where she was staying with her husband. Dhirendra was found changing places and avoiding being caught by police. Security personnel arrested him in Biratnagar. A police investigation shows that Dhirendra divorced his first wife and married Ranju. After their marriage Ranju stayed at her own house, not with Dhirendra, which might have resulted in a sour relationship, say police. Dhirendra, a teacher at Mahendra Morang Campus, had approached Ranju for Kathmandu visit and killed her in the Capital, the prove says. The arrestee has been sent to the Kalimati Metropolitan Police Circle for further investigation. Nnnn MIGRANT WORKER DEPARTURE UP Kathmandu, 2 Nov.:: Departures of migrant worker s rose 19 percent in the first quarter of the fiscal year on strong hiring from major labour destinations like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), 130,784 migrant worker s (including 34,135 returnees) left the country in Q1, The Kathmandu Post reports. In the same period last year, the number of outbound workers was 109,554 with most of them going to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Among the departures in Q1 this year, 92,330 workers went through the mediation of agencies while 38,451 left the country through personal contacts. The DoFE issues permission for foreign employment to people going through recruiting agencies or personal contacts. The number of workers using the services of agencies during the review period jumped 69 percent year on year. The trend of finding jobs through agencies increased after the government began applying restrictions on leaving through personal contact and involvement of middlemen more stringently, according to the department. Since Malaysia hires Nepali workers only through agencies, hiring has almost doubled from Q1 last year. It took in 41,244 workers this year against 23,503 last year. With the increase in hiring, Malaysia has again become the largest labour destination. “Compared to Gulf countries, Malaysia offers good salaries and facilities to Nepali workers which is the reason the number of workers going there has been increasing,” said Kamal Tamang, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies. He added that Nepali agencies had not been able to send workers to the Gulf in the numbers demanded as job seekers were more interested in going to Malaysia. A recent report has revealed that Nepal is the second largest supplier of workers to Malaysia after Indonesia. Local recruiting agencies said that more Nepali workers would be leaving for Malaysia this year as it has okayed hiring security guards from Nepal. “We expect to supply some 25,000 security guards this year,” said Tamang. In the last fiscal year, Qatar was the top hirer of Nepali workers. However, during Q1 this year, hiring of Nepali workers by major labour destinations like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait has dropped. Qatar absorbed 20,759 individuals against 36,385 workers in Q1 last year. Saudi Arabia hired 26,050 Nepalis this year. Similarly, the UAE and Kuwait hired 13,283 and 2,495 workers respectively during Q1 this year. nnnn