BYYCOTT

CPN MAOIST CENTRAL COMMITTEE CONTINUES POLL BOYCOTT DISCUSSION

Kathmandu, 2 July: CPN Maoist central committee resumes in the resort town of Pokhara Tuesday when the four-day conclave in scheduled to conclude.

Committee members are discussing a proposal of Chairman Mohan

Baidhaya to actively boycott the 19 November constituency polls.

The proposal has received widespread support at the meeting.

Ways to oppose the vote, including urban guerrilla war, are being discussed.

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TUESDAY MORNING  TEMPERATURE IN CAPITAL 20 DEGREES CELSIUS

Kathmandu, 2 July: Capital’s morning temperature at seven was 20 degrees Celsius

Tuesday.

Mercury on a rainy day is expected to rise to 3- degrees Celsius.

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BIG  PARTIES AT ODDS OVER CONSTITUENCY DELIENATION

 

Kathmandu, 2July: The major political forces--UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF)--are divided over the basis for electoral constituency delineations for the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections scheduled for November 19, Gani Ansari writes in Republica.. At a discussion with members of the Constituency Delineation Commission (CDC) held in the capital on Monday, NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi argued that the number of electoral constituencies in Madhes should be increased in proportion to the population increased there over the last decade. The CDC has started discussions with stakeholders in order to gauge their opinion on the delineation of constituencies. “While the population in Madhes stood at 48.40 percent of the total national population 10 years ago, this has now gone up to 50.27 percent,” Nidhi told Republica, “So, the number of electoral constituencies should also increase accordingly.” There were 116 electoral constituencies in Madhes and 124 in the hills during the last election held in 2008. Nidhi maintained that there was discrimination against the Tarai region while electoral constituencies were delineated for the 2008 poll. CPN-UML leader and advocate Agni Kharel maintained that a particular region should not be treated as a single entity in order to increase the number of electoral constituencies there. “District-wise population growth should be taken into consideration in increasing the number of electoral constituencies,” he said and asked, “How can we treat the entire Madhes as a single electoral constituency?” Kharel maintained that electoral constituencies should be delineated on the basis of geography, population and administrative access. UCPN (Maoist) leader Hita Raj Pandey stated that geography, population and culture should be prioritized while delineating electoral constituencies for the new CA poll. "The CDC should take necessary decisions on determining the electoral constituencies as it needs to neither increase nor reduce the number of constituencies from 240,” Pandey said. Stating that the commission should delineate the electoral constituencies as per existing constitutional provisions, Vice-chairman of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Hridayesh Tripathi said that constituencies should be increased in accordance with population growth. MPRF leader Shivaji Prasad Yadav claimed that there would be 122 electoral constituencies in Madhes in proportion to the population there. He warned that less than 122 electoral constituencies in Madhes would not be acceptable to his party. Chairman of Rastriya Janamorcha Party Chitra Bahadur KC said there would not be any electoral constituency left in the hills region in future if population alone was made the basis for constituency delineation as migration from the hills to the Tarai was high. CDC members have also sought suggestions from political parties on the population threshold for constituency delineations. However, leaders present at the discussion stated that it is the commission that should take the decisions regarding the issue. Asked about threshold, a member requesting anonymity said, “We will take a decision on it only after holding discussions with experts.” Leaders representing 15 political parties were present at the discussion. The CDC is scheduled to hold meetings with other parties on Tuesday and with experts on Wednesday.
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FEW GET PAST NEW VEHICLE LICENSE TEST

Kathmandu, 2 July:: Metropolitan Police Traffic Division (MPTD) that has earned acclaim for its anti-drink driving campaign is now planning to go after those who use modified vehicles and vehicles that cause sound pollution, Republica reports..

DIG Keshav Prasad Adhikari, newly appointed MPTD chief who resumed his office about ten days ago, informed that he has been working on plans including a crackdown on vehicle modification and unwanted sound in the wake of growing public complaints.
He said, “We have found that many vehicles in Kathmandu are modified creating several problems.”

According to the MPTD, the vehicles that are modified, motorbikes in particular, run the high risks of being involved in accidents. DSP Pawan Giri, spokesperson of MPTD, said that the modified vehicles lose their original features and are unfit for roads under auto-engineering phenomenon.
The seat, leg guard, looking glass, among others, are not properly installed in line with auto-engineering system, as a result of that there are high risks of accidents, DSP Giri said.

"We have found several modified motorbikes, whose looking glasses are fixed in such an odd position that the rider of motorbikes won´t be able to use them properly," he said.

The seats are modified in a way that the rider of the bike either has to lean aside or have to stretch back to see the looking glass, he said. The distance between the rider and the handle is also not proper after they are modified. “With the help of upcoming campaign, we hope to caution vehicle modifiers as well,” he said.
But we can´t resist those vehicles that are brought in the market which are already modified by the company itself, DSP Giri said. As those manufacturing-company- modified vehicles are well-tested before they are brought to the market and manufactured according to the auto-engineering phenomenon, there is no point resisting such modified vehicles, he added.

MPTD is also planning to discuss with the related authorities if the vehicles used for public transportation are manufactured meeting the standards in terms of weight, seat arrangements, and entry and exit doors and so on.

We found that many body building companies have been constructing the vehicles not as per the auto-engineering phenomenon, said Giri, adding, once the chassis of the vehicle is brought, the body builders prepare all the infrastructure of the vehicles. As none of the stakeholders are inspecting or regulating them, many vehicles are unfit technically, he said claiming that it is also one of the causes of many accidents.

The new traffic Chief Adhikari said he will also focus on transforming the manual operation of traffic points into technology-based. Recently, the traffic police began installing 16 CCTV cameras at different areas known for heavy traffic flow.

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QUALITY OF UTERINE PROLAPSE PROCEDURES QUESTIONED

Kathmandu, 2 July: While complaints have been raised from various quarters about the quality of uterine prolapsed surgery being provided by the Family Health Division (FHD), under the Department of Health Services (DoHS), the FHD has been monitoring the service quality, The Rising Nepal reports..
Private hospitals have been providing free surgery for uterine prolapsed in different remote parts of the nation through mobile camps in the consent and financial support of the Ministry of Health and Population.

Private hospitals are selected for offering prolapsed surgery programme through bidding process. Regional Health Directorate is involve in the selection process.

Private hospitals conduct mobile camps for few days in any parts of the nation. Patients who complain of uterine prolapse can visit in the camp and undergo surgery. However, complains have been reported that large number of surgery being carried out in such mobile camps at once, Dr. Shilu Aryal, chief of safe maternal programme under the FHD said.

Patient sufferers from different complications after conducting a surgery. On the other hand, they cannot go for follow up as the mobile camp closed within few days. Patients are compelled to bear another kind of health problem even after the surgery. Sometimes a surgery may fail with no chance to recover from it, she said.

Poor sanitation during surgery, blood transmission problem, lack of proper area for surgery have invited complications during surgery, Dr. Aryal added.

Although, more deprived women have accessed in door to door service through mobile camp, it has raised the question about the quality of service, she said.

The FND has been preparing new guideline for the uterine prolapse porgramme, Dr. Aryal said.

According to the Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2011, around 600,000 women in Nepal have been suffering from uterine prolapse.

According to World Health Organization, Nepal is more vulnerable country in respect to uterine prolapse in South East Asia.

Demographic diversity and women involvement in hard working during pregnancy and early stage from delivery as well as early marriage and early child bearing are considered to be major causes of uterine prolapse in Nepal.

It is a matter of discussion in international forums, Dr Aryal said.

It is especially a problem of poor Nepalese women residing in the remote hilly parts.

The MoHP has been providing free service from 2007. According to records, every year more than 10,000 women receive the services provided by MoHP. Around 200,000 patients need immediate surgery, the FHD said.

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MEDIA GOOGLE

“The government must enlist Bahun and Kshetri communities as indigenous groups,” he added. He maintained that the state must recognize the identity of Bahun and Kshetri communities in line with ILO Convention 169.”

(Coordinator Min Bahadur Thapa of Khash-Kshetri Integration

Coordination Committee in Republica, 2 July)

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“Stating that the political parties were ready to address the rational demands put forth by the dissenting political parties, he however clarified that alteration on 11-point political agreement, 25-point agreement to remove constitutional barriers and dissolution of Interim Election Council (IEC) were out of question.

“The political parties are willing to consider on extension of High-Level Political Committee (HLPC), IEC and election constituencies if it could create environment for the polls. If this helps polls, we are ready."

(Maoist Spokesman Agni Sapkota in The Rising Nepal, 2 July_

“Question would be raised towards Chairman of Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi, President Ram Baran Yadav, major four political parties and senior leaders of major parties if CA polls are not held in the slated time,:

UML”s Shanker Pokhrel in The Rising Nepal, 2 July)

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