22 LIVES LOST

GANESH LAMA SENT TO JUDICIAL CUSTODY

Kathmandu, 17 July: Ganesh Lama, charged for money laundering by the specual court was sent to judicial custody Wednesday. He was sent to the Metropolitan Police Sector in Singha Durbar. His statement before court was not completed Wednesday Lama will be produced at the court again Thursday. He has an estimated Rs. 270 million in accounted wealth. Cases were filed against Dipak Manangem Parshuram Basnet , Chakre Milan  Gurung and Abhishek Giri at the court for amassing properties through illegal sources. They ave connections with big parties. Nnnn

CHAIRMAN REGMI, US AMBASSADOR HOLD DISCUSSIONS

Kathmandu, 17 July: US Ambassador to Nepal Peter W Bodde called on Chairman of the Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi at the latter´s office Wednesday

Afternoon, RSS reports. .

Matters relating to mutual interest and concern as well as on Nepal-US relations were discussed during the meeting, according to Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Kumar Rai.

On the occasion, Chairman Regmi said that the government had made all necessary preparations for holding CA elections on the announced date.

Earlier, the Ambassador had inquired about the upcoming CA elections and shared the US government´s solidarity and readiness to provide every possible support to the elections.

"The US government is of the recognition that elections must be held at any cost, as election is the backbone of a democracy", Joint-secretary Rai said quoting the Ambassador

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BHATTARAI READY TO ACCEPT POST OF SENIOR LEADER

Kathmandu, 17 July:: US Ambassador to Nepal Peter W Bodde called on Chairman of the Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi at the latter´s office

Wednesday afternoon, RSS reports.

Matters relating to mutual interest and concern as well as on Nepal-US relations were discussed during the meeting, according to Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Kumar Rai.

On the occasion, Chairman Regmi said that the government had made all necessary preparations for holding CA elections on the announced date.

Earlier, the Ambassador had inquired about the upcoming CA elections and shared the US government´s solidarity and readiness to provide every possible support to the elections.

"The US government is of the recognition that elections must be held at any cost, as election is the backbone of a democracy", Joint-secretary Rai said quoting the Ambassador

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PADDY TRANSPLANTATION COVERS NEARLY 60 PERCENT FARMLAND

Paddy transplantation has progressed twice as fast this year due to favourable weather conditions across the country, Sangam Prasai writes in The Kathmandu
Post.
As per the preliminary estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture Development, transplantation has been completed on 59.2 percent of the country’s rice fields compared to 28 percent last year.
The ministry’s statistics show that transplantation has been completed on 903,538 hectares as of July 16. Ministry officials said that paddy transplantation was likely to be completed within two weeks at this current pace. Rice is grown on 1.52 million hectares out of the 3.1 million hectares of arable land available in the country.
Transplantation has been completed on 50,144 hectares, or 73.7 percent of the total land, in the mountain region. The transplantation rate in the mountains was 68 percent last year. Transplantation in the hilly region has been completed on 290,230 hectares, or 73.4 percent of the fields. The figure was 47 percent in the same period last year. Similarly, transplantation in the Tarai region has picked up significantly this year with sufficient rainfall. According to the ministry, paddy transplantation has been completed on 563,164 hectares, or 52.7 percent of the fields. Transplantation could be done on only 19 percent of the land last year due to a drought.
The Tarai, which is the major paddy producing region in the country, contains 71 percent of the rice fields. The hilly region contains 25 percent and the mountain region 4 percent.
In terms of region, the Far Western and Eastern regions saw the highest transplantation rate. According to the ministry, transplantation in the Far Western Region has been completed on 122,330 hectares out of the total of 160,492 hectares. Transplantation in the Eastern Region has been completed on 293,974 hectares out of the total 470,665 hectares.
Similarly, transplantation in the Mid-Western, Western and Central regions has been completed on 101,769 hectares (59.1 percent), 181,076 hectares (57.9 percent) and 204,388 hectares (49.8 percent) respectively. Paddy transplantation has been completed in Dolpa, Humla and Jumla districts in the mountains of the Mid-Western Region while Mugu and Kalikot districts recorded a transplantation rate of 90 percent.
Meanwhile, the central Tarai districts of Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Parsa and Chitwan recorded the lowest transplantation rates. Transplantation has been completed on only 43.8 percent of the total 306,493 hectares of paddy fields. Dhanusha showed the lowest transplantation rate of 17 percent followed by Mahottari (25 percent), Chitwan (32 percent), Rautahat (35 percent), Sarlahi (50 percent) and Parsa (65 percent).
“Labour shortages could be the major reason for the delayed paddy transplantation in the central Tarai,” said Hem Raj Regmi, under secretary at the ministry. “Besides, the maize harvest in some districts like Chitwan has delayed paddy sowing.”
Ministry officials said that a good yield could be expected due to the overall fine performance in paddy transplantation. However, heavy rains in June and July that triggered floods in many areas have affected around 18,600 hectares of paddy fields particularly in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Rautahat, Morang, Bardia, Banke, Jhapa and Udaypur districts.
According to Regmi, 17,000 hectares of paddy fields in the Tarai have been inundated. Around 1,000 hectares of paddy fields have been covered with sand and flash floods have washed away more than 400 hectares.

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BIHAR MIDDAY MEALS CLAIMS LIVES OF 22 CHILDREN

Kathmandu, 17 July: With the death of two more children, the toll due to consumption of contaminated midday meal at a government primary school in Bihar 's Saran district rose to 22 on Wednesday, IANS writes from Patna, Bihar.
While 16 children, aged below 10 years and studying in Class I to V, had died in Chhapra itself, four others were declared dead on arrival at Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) late last night. Two died at the hospital this morning, official and PMCH sources said.
Among the dead were two children of a woman cook of the midday meal project Panno Devi. Three children of another woman cook Manju Devi are under treatment at PMCH along with her.
Twenty five others are under medical supervision in PMCH, Superintendent of PMCH Amarkant Jha Azad said.
The Superintendent said the ailing children were admitted to ICU of paediatric department and senior doctors were attending to them round-the-clock.
The tragedy took place at the government primary school in Dahrmasati Gandawan village at Mashrakh block, about 25 km from Chhapra and 60 km from state capital yesterday.
BJP Vice President C P Thakur, himself a doctor, who visited PMCH, told reporters it appears to be a case of acute poisoning.
He said as per reports traces of organo phoshphrous have been found in the meal served to children which is poisonous.
Some women groups staged protest in Patna and also attacked the Midday meal scheme state office.
The agitated women broke flower pots in the office and also damaged table, chair and other properties.
Youth Congress workers led by its former state president Lallan Kumar and youth leader Rohit Kumar burnt effigy of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Dak Bunglow chowk in the state capital.
A Chhapra report said that angry villagers attacked the government primary school at Dharmasatii Gandavan village in Mashrakh block and broke furniture and the oven on which the meal was cooked.
The head mistress of the school is absconding with her family.
The deaths triggered a political row with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday calling Nitish Kumar "insensitive".
"The chief minister of Bihar instead of showing promptness in evacuating the children to a better medical facility has announced a ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for the children who died after having a midday meal. This showcases the insensitivity and the callous attitude," said BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Delhi.
In Bihar , widespread corruption is reported in the midday meal scheme and government guidelines on food quality are ignored.
In the past, dead lizards, frogs, insects and a rat were found in food cooked for the midday meal at schools, angering students and parents.
Hitting out at Nitish Kumar government, the state PCC chief said the Bihar government cannot escape the blame and should initiate action against the district administration for handling the situation in an "insensitive" manner.
Demanding action against the accused, Bihar Congress chief Ashok Chaudhary said at PMCH that his party has in the past pointed irregularities in midday meal scheme in the state.

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