BAT

NEPAL SENDS AFGHANISTAN IN TO BAT AFTER
 WINNING TOSS UPDATE
Kathmandu, 17 Aug.: Nepal won the toss and sent Afghanistan to bat in
the  ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore Saturday..
MORE
BUS RAMS INTO SAHID GATE DAMAGING IT WHILE KILLING WOMAN 
Kathmandu, 17 Aug.: A woman was killed, fout others  were injuired
Friday and the Sahid Gate, was damaged when a bus rammed into the
landmark in front of Dharahara.
Radhika Karki, 51, of Chandragarhi, Jhapa, died while undergoing
treatment at hospital.
The driver is absconding.
nnnnn
UML YOUTH FORCE ALSO TO BE DEPLOYED AT POLLING
STATIONS
Kathmandu, 17 Aug.:Youth Association Nepal ( YAN ), the sister organisaton of the CPN-UML, has decided to deploy its cadres in every polling booth during the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections scheduled for November 19, Bedaj Paudel reports from
Morang in The Kathmandu Post..
The second central meeting of YAN , which concluded on Friday, endorsed the concept of ‘every booth effective youth’ to deploy cadres in voting areas. A committee consisting of 1,787 members has been formed under Niru Pal to oversee the deployment.
YAN Chairman Mahesh Basnet also announced the formation of male and female wings of the Youth Force in the coming days.
YAN organised the central meeting here against the written directive of UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, who was concerned by the fact that a separate meeting of the dissatisfied YAN members was also being held in Kathmandu.
UML General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel, who attended the Gothgaon gathering, said he was unaware of the directions issued by the party chairman. He said that although YAN does not have the right to go against the party’s ideology, it could, however, conduct meetings and assemblies as mentioned in the organisation’s statute. Another UML leader, Shankar Pokharel, said Khanal’s letter was more of a personal request to YAN , not an official fiat from the chairman. He, however, said YAN should try to work out its differences with the disaffected members.
The UCPN (Maoist)’s youth wing—Young Communist League (YCL)—has also decided to deploy 200 members in each polling station during the elections. The YCL leaders said such a move is aimed at ensuring free and fair elections.
The Election Commission has said deployment of party cadres in breach of the election code of conduct could turn polling stations into battle fields.
Nnnn

726 LABOURERS DIED LAST YEAR ABROAD -
Kathmandu, 17 Aug.: At least 726 Nepali migrant workers died in East Asian and Gulf countries last year, a fresh report prepared by the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) reveals, Roshan Sedai writes in The Kathmandu Post..
What is more alarming is the fact that despite the government’s efforts to make the foreign employment safer, the death toll has seen an 80 percent rise as compared to the previous year when 643 had died in these countries.
According to the report, heart-related ailments are major killers, followed by traffic accidents, suicide, work place accidents, natural deaths and some deaths due to ‘unidentified causes.’
The actual number, however, could be higher as the report takes into account only legal workers who are entitled to compensation from the Migrant Workers’ Welfare Fund. Government records show that an estimated 2.5 million Nepalis, mostly youths, are working in the Gulf and East Asian countries.
Remittance from the foreign employment sector remains a life blood of the country’s economy, with the same contributing a whopping 22 percent to the GDP. However, the sector remains neglected in terms of resource allocation.
Nepal’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Udaya Raj Pandey attributed most of the deaths in the Gulf to workers’ failure to adapt to the harsh climatic conditions in the countries. “Things get worse when workers do not follow a healthy lifestyle,” he said.
Senior cardiologist Dr Prakash Raj Regmi, who deals with migrant workers’ health issues, said many Nepali workers have died of heart-related ailments as they are exposed to extreme heat and cold at the same time. “They work at very high temperatures and take rest in a freezing room. This causes a sudden contraction of the heart, leading to blockages in the blood circulation system and ultimately death,” he said. “Food habits, stress and hypertension are other major causes of the deaths.” Embassy officials admit that many Nepalis die of preventable ailments. The risk could be mitigated by drinking enough water, avoiding use air conditioners after working in the heat, avoiding liquor and keeping the windows open while sleeping, said ambassador Pandey.
The report shows that the highest number of deaths occurred in Malaysia (253), Nepal’s largest job destination, followed by Saudi Arabia (205), Qatar (151), UAE (47), South Korea (14) and Bahrain (14). A total of 42 others died in ‘other countries.’
Despite claims that there will be reforms in the pre-departure counselling and health check-ups programmes, 70 in Saudi Arabia and 11 in Malaysia died in road accidents last year.
“We know that the orientation and medical check-up systems have been largely misused by manpower companies and agents, orientation centres and some corrupt officials.
“However, curbing this trend with the resources at our disposal is a tough job,” Director General of the Department of Foreign Employment Binod KC said.
The slowdown in growth in other economic sectors has increased Nepal’s dependence on foreign remittance from its workers. The country received Rs 430 billion in remittance in the year 2012.
nnnn