MOTHER ADMINISTERS POISON TO INFANT; BOTH DIE Kathmandu, 8 April A 21-year-0ld mother poisoned her one-year-old daughter in Dang overnight. Sanu Chaudhary of Manpur and her child died while being rushed to Ghorai for treatment. Chaudhary's husband Hari Bahadur has been detained for questioning. Mother also took the poison. nnnn TWO WOMEN INJURED IN CHITWAN RHINO ATTACK Kathmandu, 8 April: Two women were injured due to attack by a rhino at Gitanagar in west Chitwan on Sunday. A rhino ceros that is suspected to have come out of the Chitwan National Park attacked the two women when they were cutting grass on the Rapti River bank near Gitanagar which adjoins the national park. Those injured in the attack are Bala Adhikari, 35, and Muna Adhikari ,28, of Gitanagar-1. Eyewitnesses said that they were suddenly attacked by rhino when they were cutting grass with other friends. They are undergoing treatment at the Bharatpur Medical College. It is said the rhino had a calf with it. Their friends later drove away the pachyderm, preventing further attack. nnnn UML’S KHANAL SAYS MAOISTS WILL BE WIPED OUT N POLLS Kathmandu, 8 April: CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal Sunday claimed that the UCPN-Moaist would be wiped out through the new Constituent Assembly electionsm Deepak Shrestha writes in The Rising Nepal.. "Everything related to the Maoists have come to the public along with its charm and mystery," chairman Khanal said speaking at an interaction held at his residence by Reperter's Club, adding, "People have understood what the Maoists are and by whom they are mobilised." He also accused the Maoists of trying to deferring the elections in diffeent pretexts. "Even possibility of June elections are now slim due to the Maoists." Chairman Khanal claimed that the Maoists were barring solution to the technical and political preparations needed for elections. Referring to Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's expression that elections would not take place in November if not held in June, Khanal said, "That's the warning of a grasshooper and none should spoil political process for election by such expression." Nnnn 13 WORERS BEING SENT TO IRAQ Kathmandu, 8 April: The government is preparing to allow 13 Nepali nationals to work in Iraq for the first time nine years after Nepalis were prohibited from working in the war-torn country, Roshan Shedai writes in The Kathmandu. Post. The Ministry of Labour and Employment is planning to issue work approvals after a meeting of stakeholders last Monday recommended for reconsideration on the ban. The preparation to send Nepalis to Iraq comes after the Nepal government received requests from the South Korean embassy in Baghdad. Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, MoLE spokesperson, said the ministry agreed to issue work permits to 13 workers considering the fact that the embassy itself has made the request. “This is a different case since the demand is made by another sovereign nation,” said Khadka. The meeting attended by representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment Promotion Board, Ministry of Home Affairs and the DoFE, among other stakeholders, unanimously agreed to recommend the MoLE to grant work permits to those workers considering their special case. The officials concluded that sending workers to the embassy of a sovereign country is not necessarily sending them to Iraq . “But this doesn’t mean we have made any decision to endorse other similar cases or lift the ban on migration to Iraq ,” said Divash Acharya, DoFE director, who attended the meeting. The workers will have to go through other departmental procedures after the secretary-level meeting of the MoLE approves their recommendation soon. In a letter addressed to the DoFE a few weeks ago, the SKorean embassy has sought work permits to Deuman Tamang, Durga Lal Shrestha, Chandra Tamang, Jas Bahadur Tamang, Kesh Bahadur Ranabhat, Ram Bahadur Gurung, Yuba Raj Ghosai, Netra Bahadur Karki, Dilli Khadka, Sundar Tamang, Sawari Lal Khawash, Lok Bahadur Sharki and Sobar Tamang. The letter signed by Jun Byoung Park, a Korean embassy official in Baghdad, states that these workers had worked in the embassy earlier as security guards. “They (workers) are sponsored by the Korean embassy for their entry visa to re-enter Iraq and subsequently they will have work permit visa stamped on their passports upon arrival in Baghdad,” read the document. The workers had returned to Nepal on work leave. According to Deuman Tamang, they were paid between US$ 800 and 2,500 depending on the nature of their work. Nepal had imposed the ban calling Iraq as an unsafe work destination after 12 Nepalis were killed there in 2004. Although the ban was temporarily lifted in 2010 after the American Central Command that used to control foreign employment and security affairs in Iraq directed Nepali workers to return home by August 8 the same year, the government has not issued work approvals to anyone. Nnnn JOINT NEPAL US/NEPAL MILITARY EXERCISE FOR PEACEKEEKING ENDS; WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES MILITARY ASSISTANCE Kathmandu, 8 April: US Ambassador to Nepal Peter W Bodde on Sunday hailed Nepal’s abiding commitment to UN peacekeeping and announced assistance for strengthening the capacity of the Nepal Army’s Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre (BPOTC) in Panchkhal, Kavre, The Kathmandu Post reports.. Bodde made an aid announcement worth Rs 941.6 million during the closing ceremony of the multinational peacekeeping exercise—Shanti Prayas II. The joint exercise funded by the US government is the largest international peacekeeping training for the year 2013. “By hosting this exercise and other regional peacekeeping courses with international students, the BPOTC demonstrates Nepal’s broader commitment to enhancing cooperation across borders,” said Bodde. “To ensure that the training centre has all it needs, the US government will support Nepal’s own investments in the centre.” The Nepal Army (NA) plans to increase capacity of the BPTOC to train peacekeepers from three to five battalions in the future and develop it as a regional peacekeeping training centre. Of the support announced on Sunday, $6.5 million will be funded for facilities refurbishment and capital improvement and over $4.2 million will be spent on training equipment. Altogether 871 Army personnel, including 416 from the NA and 455 soldiers from 23 countries attended the two-week event. Addressing the closing ceremony, Chief of Army Staff Gen Gaurav SJB Rana said the BPOTC can take a lead in strengthening partnership and sharing knowledge on the best practices of UN peacekeeping. Rana said peacekeepers should demonstrate professionalism and farsightedness and there is a need of strong cross-country partnership to meet modern challenges. The NA chief also distributed certificates, mementoes and letters of appreciation to the participants at the programme attended by senior Army and Ministry of Defence officials. NNNN