NC MOURNS PAHADI’S DEATH
Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: NC flag
will be flown at half-staff for three days
At mark of respect
for Central Working Committee member Gopal Raj
Pahadi who died Monday..
A special meeting ofthe CWC
A special meeting ofthe CWC
took the decision
Monday.
The party will not organise any formal programme except
condolence ceremony during the period.
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ARMY CHIEF MEETS AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR
Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: Army Chef Gen. Gaurav SHumshere Rana
Jeld discussions with new Australian Ambassador Glenn White at army
Headquarters Monday.
They discussed bilateral ussues interest and mutual
relation.
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SHELTER FOR WOMEN, CHILDREN
KATHMANDU: The
Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare has brought into operation
shelters for women and children falling in risks and violence.
According to Under-Secretary of the Ministry, Khemraj Bhusal, shelters are brought into operation in eight main cities including Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Biratnagar as well as temporary shelters in different places.
At a programme organised by the South Asian Civil Society for the protection of child rights here on Monday, Bhusal informed that Rs. 50,000 has also been arranged to bring the women and children falling in risk and violence immediately by rescuing them.
He said that Rs. 5,000 has been arranged for legal support for the women and children falling in risk and violence and expressed the belief that it would make further contribution in the rights of women and children.
Professor of the Kathmandu School of Law Kapil Aryal expressed the view that coordination between guardians and government was necessary to end child marriage, flesh trade and sexual violence.
On the occasion, Officer at the National Human Rights Commission, Shreeram Adhikari, Child rights activist Subhas Bhattarai, Amar Khadka, Parbati Shrestha and Ishwor Thapa, among others, said that children should not be involved in risky works.
According to Under-Secretary of the Ministry, Khemraj Bhusal, shelters are brought into operation in eight main cities including Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Biratnagar as well as temporary shelters in different places.
At a programme organised by the South Asian Civil Society for the protection of child rights here on Monday, Bhusal informed that Rs. 50,000 has also been arranged to bring the women and children falling in risk and violence immediately by rescuing them.
He said that Rs. 5,000 has been arranged for legal support for the women and children falling in risk and violence and expressed the belief that it would make further contribution in the rights of women and children.
Professor of the Kathmandu School of Law Kapil Aryal expressed the view that coordination between guardians and government was necessary to end child marriage, flesh trade and sexual violence.
On the occasion, Officer at the National Human Rights Commission, Shreeram Adhikari, Child rights activist Subhas Bhattarai, Amar Khadka, Parbati Shrestha and Ishwor Thapa, among others, said that children should not be involved in risky works.
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TRAIN KILLS HINDU PILGRIMS
Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: : A train ran over a group of
Hindu pilgrims at a crowded station in eastern India early Monday, killing at
least 37 people. A mob infuriated by the deaths beat the driver severely and
set fire to coaches,
Officials,
AP reports from Patna..
said.
Several hours after the accident, flames and dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the train coaches, as protesters blocked firefighters from the station in Dhamara Ghat, a small town in Bihar state, officials said.
Dinesh Chandra Yadav, a local member of parliament, said the pilgrims were crossing the tracks in the packed, chaotic station when they were struck by the Rajya Rani Express train. Several other people were injured.
S. K. Bhardwaj, a police officer in Bihar, said 37 people were killed.
Railway official Arunendra Kumar said the train was not supposed to halt at Dhamara Ghat and had been given clearance to pass through the station. However, some pilgrims waited on the tracks thinking they could stop the train, he said.
The train stopped a few hundred meters (yards) beyond the spot where it hit the pilgrims. Angry mobs then pulled out the train driver and beat him. Yadav said the driver died, but Kumar said the driver was in hospital in critical condition.
The mob then got all the passengers out of the train and set some coaches on fire. Groups of young men also smashed the window panes of two other trains that were in the station.
A crowd of around 5,000 people had gathered near Dhamara Ghat station and were chasing away the district officials who tried to remove the bodies from the tracks. The crowds had blocked the railway tracks and the few policemen posted at the station had fled, state officials said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm in the area so that relief and rescue operations can be carried out without any hindrance, a statement from the prime minister's office said.
Bihar railway minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the mob set fire to at least two coaches of the train, and protesters were preventing firefighters from reaching the accident site.
Police said the state government was sending additional forces to the area, but their movement was hampered because the railway tracks were closed. Rail authorities have shut down train traffic on tracks leading to Dhamara Ghat, Bhardwaj, the police officer, said.
Kumar Ashutosh, a passenger on the train, said that within a few seconds of hitting people on the track, the driver slammed the emergency brakes and the train ground to a halt.
"Soon, groups of people began running toward the engine. They asked us to get down from the train. Some of them pulled out the driver and his assistant and began beating them," said Ashutosh, who walked nine kilometers (six miles) from the accident site to the nearby Saharsa station.
District magistrate Syed Pervez Alam said the dismembered bodies of passengers who had been killed were lying on the track. The angry mob has chased away policemen and officials who tried to reach the station.
"I had woken up and was sitting near the window, when all this happened. There were crowds of people on the platform and some on the track. It all happened so fast," Ashutosh said.
He said that although the train had been given clearance to pass through Dhamara Ghat without stopping, the driver was partly to blame.
"The driver did not slow down when the train approached the station. He maintained the high speed at which the train was moving, so it was difficult for him to stop when he realized that there were people on the track," said Ashutosh, who was traveling in the first coach next to the engine.
Railway officials said a rescue train on its way to Dhamara Ghat had to be halted at Saharsa because the tracks were blocked. Dhamara Ghat is about 280 kilometers (175 miles) north of Patna, the state capital.
Monday was the last day of monthlong prayer ceremonies at the Katyayani temple near Dhamara Ghat, a popular Hindu pilgrimage site. The pilgrims were returning from offering morning prayers.
More than 18.5 million passengers travel every day on India's vast railway network of about 10,000 passenger trains.
Several hours after the accident, flames and dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the train coaches, as protesters blocked firefighters from the station in Dhamara Ghat, a small town in Bihar state, officials said.
Dinesh Chandra Yadav, a local member of parliament, said the pilgrims were crossing the tracks in the packed, chaotic station when they were struck by the Rajya Rani Express train. Several other people were injured.
S. K. Bhardwaj, a police officer in Bihar, said 37 people were killed.
Railway official Arunendra Kumar said the train was not supposed to halt at Dhamara Ghat and had been given clearance to pass through the station. However, some pilgrims waited on the tracks thinking they could stop the train, he said.
The train stopped a few hundred meters (yards) beyond the spot where it hit the pilgrims. Angry mobs then pulled out the train driver and beat him. Yadav said the driver died, but Kumar said the driver was in hospital in critical condition.
The mob then got all the passengers out of the train and set some coaches on fire. Groups of young men also smashed the window panes of two other trains that were in the station.
A crowd of around 5,000 people had gathered near Dhamara Ghat station and were chasing away the district officials who tried to remove the bodies from the tracks. The crowds had blocked the railway tracks and the few policemen posted at the station had fled, state officials said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm in the area so that relief and rescue operations can be carried out without any hindrance, a statement from the prime minister's office said.
Bihar railway minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the mob set fire to at least two coaches of the train, and protesters were preventing firefighters from reaching the accident site.
Police said the state government was sending additional forces to the area, but their movement was hampered because the railway tracks were closed. Rail authorities have shut down train traffic on tracks leading to Dhamara Ghat, Bhardwaj, the police officer, said.
Kumar Ashutosh, a passenger on the train, said that within a few seconds of hitting people on the track, the driver slammed the emergency brakes and the train ground to a halt.
"Soon, groups of people began running toward the engine. They asked us to get down from the train. Some of them pulled out the driver and his assistant and began beating them," said Ashutosh, who walked nine kilometers (six miles) from the accident site to the nearby Saharsa station.
District magistrate Syed Pervez Alam said the dismembered bodies of passengers who had been killed were lying on the track. The angry mob has chased away policemen and officials who tried to reach the station.
"I had woken up and was sitting near the window, when all this happened. There were crowds of people on the platform and some on the track. It all happened so fast," Ashutosh said.
He said that although the train had been given clearance to pass through Dhamara Ghat without stopping, the driver was partly to blame.
"The driver did not slow down when the train approached the station. He maintained the high speed at which the train was moving, so it was difficult for him to stop when he realized that there were people on the track," said Ashutosh, who was traveling in the first coach next to the engine.
Railway officials said a rescue train on its way to Dhamara Ghat had to be halted at Saharsa because the tracks were blocked. Dhamara Ghat is about 280 kilometers (175 miles) north of Patna, the state capital.
Monday was the last day of monthlong prayer ceremonies at the Katyayani temple near Dhamara Ghat, a popular Hindu pilgrimage site. The pilgrims were returning from offering morning prayers.
More than 18.5 million passengers travel every day on India's vast railway network of about 10,000 passenger trains.
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