RAPE AGAIN IN SIRAHA Kathmandu, 1 Jan. Two persons are on the run after a rape overnight in Lhangadi VDC-9 near Lahan. Siraha, police said... A woman was gang-raped. Nnnn MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 3 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 1 Jan. Capital’s temperature Monday morning temperature was 3 degree Celsius. Mercury is expected torise to 19 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Nnnn. GERMAN CHARGED . Kathmandu, 1 Jan.:: Police has filed a public offense case against Germany national Menphrint arrested on charge of child sexual harassment, RSS reports from Ratnanagar. He will face action for his act, said Chief of Chitwan District Police Office, Deepak Thapa. 'We have registered a case against him under Public Offense Act and strong action will be taken based on evidence', he added. Police on December 28 had arrested the Germany national red hand from a hotel at Sauraha on the charge of molesting children in and around Sauraha on temptation. Likewise, police had rescued a child from the room. The case has been filed after investigating the incident during two days, police said. Local entrepreneurs have demanded stern action against him accusing the police administration of merely registering feeble case despite having evidences of sexual harassment to children in the past. Police has recovered some 13 equipments including recorder, camera, laptop and data cables from him and further investigation will be made based on this, police said. nnnn DR. KC's LONE CRUSADE CHANGES 1 Kathmandu, 1 Jan.: Who says change is not possible through individual endeavor? With strong will power and relentless efforts, everything is possible, and change is inevitable, Professor Govinda KC at the Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine (IOM) has proven this in the politics-ridden institute and the TU Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Arjun Paudel writes in Republica.. When all the government hospitals and institutions remain plagued with political meddling, Dr KC successfully rescued IOM and TUTH. To save TUTH, an epitome of quality medical care in Nepal which was struggling to maintain its very identity due to gross mismanagement and politicization, KC had staged a series of hunger strikes and he finally succeeded in his mission. The change brought through the single-handed efforts of Dr KC was a visible and significant one in the year 2012. The whole country and the civil society were overwhelmed by his selfless efforts and had also supported the peaceful protest. Dr KC along with other professors, doctors and students were dissatisfied with the decision of the TU´s executive council to extend the term of Dean Arun Sayami. They had warned the TU authorities against extending Sayami´s term, but the executive committee ignored the request and extended his term for an indefinite period. But Dr KC would not relent, he vowed to launch more protests against corruption in the TU. Demanding action against IOM officials including Dr Sayami who were implicated in several cases of irregularities by the Jayaram Giri-led committee formed after the 17-day TUTH strike in March 2010, Dr KC staged fast-unto-death thrice within a period of three months. And he started fast unto death on May 14. Dr KC ended his strike only after Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai invited him to the former´s residence and assured to fulfill his rightful demands. Bowing to the pressure of Dr KC´s strike, Prime Minister Bhattarai was compelled to write to the TU´s executive committee directing it to form a committee to recommend names of office bearers on merit basis. At that time, six top positions at IOM, including that of dean were vacant for the past eight months. Following continuous pressure of protest and Prime Minister´s directive, the TU finally sacked Dr Sayami from the post of IOM dean and appointed Prof Dr Kumud Kumar Kafle to the post. But Kafle retired after five weeks due on age ground. Kafle-led committee had recommended names of office bearers on the basis of merit and seniority, but TU VC Hira Bahdur Maharjan had prepared another list of names. Dr KC smelled a rat and again resumed protest on July 4 which lasted for four days. The executive council meanwhile appointed Dr Dharma Kanta Baskota as dean at IOM but Dr KC and agitating doctors rejected the decision outright saying it was not in line with seniority and merit. This prompted Dr Govinda KC to launch fresh fast-unto death protest. Dr KC´s last strike that started August 12 lasted six days until the government bowed to his demands. Classes at IOM remained halted and later all services except emergency at TUTH were disrupted. As Dr KC´s health worsened, doctors intervened and put him on a saline drip. Doctors threatened to stop all services except emergency at medical institutions across the country. An extended meeting of Nepal Medical Council (NMC) had decided to close all medical institutions across the country for two days to pressure the government to fulfil Dr KC´s demands. Finally the government bowed to the pressure and Dr Prakash Sayami as appointed as new IOM dean. Professor Dr Prakash Sayami, dean of IOM, later recommended the names of office bearers but TU VC Maharjan refused to accept the names saying the recommendations were not inclusive. Then Dr Sayami tendered his resignation over the dispute. IOM sources said VC Maharjan had sought to make political appointments to the vacant posts. When Dr KC again threatened protest, the TU council made the appointments as recommended by him. Following this Dr Sayami withdrew his resignation. The TU executive committee has appointed Dr Bimal Sinha as the chief of planning section, Dr Bharatmani Pokhrel as the examination head, Dr Sarad Onta as the academic chief and Dr Sarala Joshi as the chief of administration. Top positions at IOM had remained vacant for the past one year, which had severely affected the institute´s academic calendar. With the appointment of new office bearers, every shortcoming is expected to come on track. Later, as per the recommendation of IOM Dean Office, Dr Bhagwan Koirala was appointed as director of TUTH. Dr Koirala who served for eight years as the director of Sahid Gangalal National Heart Center is credited with markedly improving the hospital management. Within weeks of his appointment, Dr Koirala has made his presence felt at TUTH. Two changes are already visible -- first, the bed occupancy rate has reached almost 100 percent with Dr Koirala ensuring that patients do not have to turn back. Secondly, patients now do not need to queue up for hours to get admission as Dr Koirala has ensured that the ticket counter is open continuously from 10 am to 5 pm. Dr KC has proved that one man´s efforts can bring big change. Nnnn MBBS, MD STUDENTS LEFTIN LURCH IN CHINA Kathmandu, 1 Jan.: More than 60 Nepali students enrolled in MBBS and MD programs in various universities in China have been left in the lurch after Motherland Charitable Foundation failed to pay the fees to the universities, Nitjana Sharma writes in Republica. . The guardians of the students said they had paid the foundation Rs 1.5 million per student for the six-year MBBS program and Rs 750,000 per student for the three-year MD program. The foundation also runs an education consultancy. “The foundation had claimed that it had received donations from Nepalis and foreigners in Europe, the US and Canada to provide 50 percent scholarships to those who wanted to become medical doctors in Nepal,” said Arjun Kumar Thapa of Rautahat, who sent his daughter for the MBBS program after paying Rs 1.5 million through the foundation. “I went to the foundation after reading a newspaper advertisement claiming to provide scholarships, but it did not even pay the universities the amounts the guardians had paid.” The foundation located at Chandi Complex in Kalimati, Kathmandu, has been found cheating guardians and students since the last three years. Purushottam Pokharel, one of the guardians, said that foundation owners Raja Jha, Mukesh Jha, Prabina Khokali and Anita Shakya did not deposit the amounts the guardian had submitted to their organization. He said most of the guardians have paid all the money the foundation demanded. “Five students who went to China three months ago have not even gotten their admissions to the universities,” said Neela Jha, whose husband Dr Neeraj Aryal also went to China through the foundation. Jha said her husband has been waiting in China for the approval of his documents as the consultancy is yet to deposit the admission fee at Launing University. The Chinese university sent back Dr Shabana Khan who went there for his MD three months ago. Similarly, the university also refused to admit Babita Sah to the MBBS program, informed Tara Kumari Rai, coordinator of the action committee formed by the guardians of the victims. As many as eight students who went to Southern University for the MBBS have been left helpless while 17 MD students are said to be stranded at Launing University. Similarly, six MBBS and eight MD students at Chauchang University, 11 MBBS students at Xindao University, and two MBBS and 27 MD students at Teinjin University have been left helpless after the foundation failed to pay the fees to the universities. The official website of the Ministry of Education has stated that education consultancies are only authorized to provide counseling and cannot send students to foreign countries. Following the guardians´ complaint at the Metropolitan Police Range, police have arrested Raja Jha of Janakpur, one of the members of the foundation. The three others are still at large. Nnnn