NEPALI RUPEE DEPRECIATES AGAINST US DOLLAR Kathmandu, 9 June: The Nepali rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar. Sunday’s exchange rate against one greenback was fixed by the Nepal Rashtra Bank at Rs.91.14. The US dollar gained as the Indian rupee also depreciated. Nepal’s has a fixed exchange rate with the Indian currency; but the value is fixed daily by the central bank against convertible currencies. The Nepal rupee against the dollar was devalued to maintain the cross-border exchange rate with the Indian rupee. Nepal has an open 1,700km border with India. nnnn. JAWALAKHEL PLYS THREE STAR CLUB IN QUARTERFINAL OF GURKHA CUP Kathmandu, 9 June: Jawalakhel plays Three Star Club in the third quarterfinal of Gurkha Cup at Dashrath Rangashala Sunday. Nepal Army Saturday qualified for the semifinal beating Nepal Police Club MMC was the first to qualify for the semifinal berth. Nnnn CAPITAL SUNDAY MORNING TEMPERATURE 21 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, June 9: Sunday morning temperature in the capital on a cloudy morning at seven was 21 degrees Celsius Mercury is expected to rise to 29 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Nnnn MEDiA GOOGLE “The government was formed to hold elections as per your understanding. team during their meeting with the senior leaders today, If possible, forge consensus within next few days, if not, give us the responsibility." (Unidentified government official in The Kathmandu Post telling members of a HLPC, 9 June) DALITS ASSAULTED IN RAUTAHAT Kathmandu, 9 June : Around a dozen dalit people in Pipariya VDC of Rautahat district were attacked and their houses vandalized by non-dalit locals on Friday evening. A month-old dispute over the use of a local temple at Bhimdabar village in the VDC turned nasty on Friday after the locals attacked the dalits indiscriminately, Madan Thakur writes in Republica. . The issue had heated up on May 12 when a group of locals barred family members of Umesh Ram Chamar and his bride from getting married in the temple. Chamar had planned to tie the knot with a girl belonging to his own community. Criticizing the attack, a local Bhiju Thakur said that the dalits would not have had to face such brutality if the local authorities had settled the smouldering issue back then. “Angered at being forbidden to enter the temple, a group of dalits had retaliated against the indifference shown to them by attacking Jitendra Sah, a non-dalit, and his wife, when they were returning after making out their citizenship cards. The latest attack comes in the aftermath of that attack which has remained unaddressed by the authorities,” said Thakur. The dalits were thrashed after they tried to stop the attackers from destroying their houses. According to Garuda Area Police Office, Haridayal Mahara, Gurudayal Mahara, Mahabir Ram, Banti Ram, Upendra Ram, Sunita Devi Ram, and Jeetni Devi Ram have received serious injuries from the attack. All the injured are being treated at a health clinic at Anamika. Other victims identified as Ruplal Ram, Bhagwan Ram, Nandalal Ram, Dipani Devi Ram, Chandra Jyoti Ram, Kamodiya Devi and Sunauni Ram along with a dozen others have been admitted to Rautahat District Hospital at Gaur, informed police. Describing the scene of the attack, another local, Ruplal Ram, informed that more than 100 people, who had come in four groups, attacked the dalits mercilessly. “Their houses have been destroyed and all their possessions smashed and even stolen,” said Ram. “Had the police arrived a few hours earlier, the dalits wouldn"t have had to go through such brutality,´ added Ram. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (SP) Gobinda Ram Pariyar informed that they have arrested Ramdev Raya Yadav and Chote Lala Yadav for their involvement in the attack. “We have zero tolerance for such social discrimination and all the attackers involved will be identified and arrested very soon,” he said. Nnnn SEIZED RHINO HORNS FAKES; CIAA PUZZLED Kathmandu, 9 June : The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has smelled irregularities as the rhino horns seized by the Chitwan National Park (CNP) across the country are turning out to be fake, Raesh Kumar Poudel writes in Republica from Chitwan.. The anti-graft body inquired about the matter with CNP officials over phone on Thursday. “CIAA asked us as to how the horns confiscated by CNP are turning out to be fake. CIAA has also said that a team would visit CNP for further interrogation,” Tika Ram Poudel, assistant conservation officer of CNP told Republica. In one of the latest incidents, police on April 28 arrested five persons and confiscated a rhino horn at Bardibas of Mohattari district. The police then handed over the arrested and the seized horn to CNP. Later, CNP had sent the confiscated horn to the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) to test if it was genuine. It was found to be fake. A rhino horn seized from Rautahat district on May 13 also turned out to be fake. Similarly, another rhino horn seized on March 20 by a joint team of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and CNP patrol was also fake. This has made the CIAA suspect collusion of the police and CNP officials. However, Poudel said, “We take the seized horns to NAST for verification. But we don"t have any role in the horns turning fake.” He said the smugglers might have resorted to dealing in fake rhino horns lately as the conservation parks of the country have tightened security. According to him, smugglers are reportedly making rhino horns from the horns of cows and buffalos, among others. On June 8, 2011, a team of CIB had arrested Dinesh Adhikari aka Chari on suspicion of his involvement in rhino horn smuggling. The team had even seized a rhino horn. But he was released on bail after the rhino horn turned out to be fake. NNNN