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PM Koirala hosting a reception on the occasion of 58th Human Rights Day
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CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF (COAS) of Nepali Army General Rukmangad Katawal has expressed that NA is fully committed to “democracy and human rights.” Addressing army officers on the human rights day, General Katawal said that NA is committed to work for the Rule of Law and protection of individual rights. Meanwhile, International Red Cross Committee provided training to army officials on human rights issues.
IN A TRAGIC INCIDENT, FOUR PERSONS including a woman and her three kids died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Wednesday night (December 6) in Dhapasi of Kathmandu. The family of Shanti Bhujel met the tragic end because in an attempt to protect from winter cold they had shut down all doors and windows while burning a stove inside their room. Along with Bhujel – a single mother who lived in a rented apartment – three kids including daughters Anu Bhujel, 9 and Bunu Bhujel, 5 and a son Saru Bhujel, 4, were also killed. Police say her husband had abandoned her in the past. Doctors say that sleeping in a small and closed room by burning stove leads to quick depletion of oxygen and poisoning due to carbon monoxide.
US AMBASSADOR JAMES F. MORIARTY, on Thursday (December 7), announced the opening of USAID/Nepal-supported Mediation Centers at the Supreme Court and at the Patan Appellate Court. “Opening the mediation centers here at the Supreme Court and Patan Appellate Court is a major step in making court-related mediation a reality in Nepal ,” the Ambassador said at a brief ceremony at the Supreme Court. “The centers have been established as part of USAID/Nepal’s three-year, $5.6 million program to enhance the administration of justice in court, prosecutor and public defense organizations, to increase access to justice for the poor and disenfranchised, and to improve advocacy and legal frameworks for rule of law and justice sector reform,” states a press release issued by the US Embassy. “At the new mediation centers, 80 newly trained mediators now have the opportunity to practice their new skills. Additionally, these centers provide a visible presence in the court, managing the process for initiating and concluding mediation.” The initiative to open the centers involved a partnership among USAID/Nepal, nongovernmental organization ARD, the courts, the Nepal Bar Association, and FNCCI.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS PREPARED agriculture promotion policy aimed at market promotion and commercialization of agriculture. Joint secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Asheshwore Jha said that the policy includes provisions on diversification of agriculture, ways to involve private sector and assurance of government of support. “The policy has been prepared with the thinking that the living standards of farmers cannot be uplifted without transforming the agriculture from current subsistence-based to commercialized,” Jha said. It has also laid emphasis on the building of necessary infrastructure, technological improvement and conducting special programs to help women, Dalits and other disadvantaged people. The agro promotion policy is a part of the umbrella National Agriculture Policy of 2005.
MAOIST CADRES KEPT A TEAM OF POLITICAL LEADERS and human rights activists in captivity for four hours in Sukadeva of Hekuli VDC of Dang district. The 25-member team including leaders of Nepali Congress (NC), People’s Front (PF), Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), human rights activists and journalists had gone to the area to probe allegations that Maoist cadres had looted food grains and wood from the houses of district-level Congress leaders Lokmani Giri and Devendra Giri. However, the team was stopped by local Maoist leaders including Jehendar, Bikas and Padam. They were then harassed and kept in captivity. They were later freed after Maoist central member Narayan Sharma ordered their release through phone. Team members later told media that the Maoist cadres raised slogans against them and used vulgar words to belittle them. The Maoist cadres also claimed that the food grains were captured by ‘farmers.’ The team has concluded that in the past few days, the Maoists have felled wooden logs worth Rs 2 million from the orchard belonging to Dipak Giri, Shambhu Giri and Devendra Giri – all three of whom are currently displaced due to Maoist threat.
ACCORDING TO THE REPORT BY THE AUDITOR GENERAL, the total government arrears has reached Rs 30 billion. In this year alone, the arrears amounted to Rs 9.86 billion. Auditor General Gehendra Nath Adhikari submitted the annual audit report to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Wednesday. Submitting the annual report, AG Adhikari said the government needs to introduce stringent measures to control irregularities in ministries and various other public offices. The 2000-page audit report shows that the unsettled account (beruju) this year stood at Rs.9.86 billion. Of the total Finance Ministry incurred such arrears of Rs 2.9 billion followed by Defense Ministry (Rs 1.35 billion), Works and Physical Planning Ministry (Rs 1.04 billion), Education Ministry (Rs 990 million) and Home Ministry (Rs 950 million).
A DAY AFTER THE EX-ARMY MEN demonstrated against the delay in the hearing of their case, the Supreme Court, on Tuesday (December 5), ordered the government and the Nepali Army (NA) headquarters to make transparent the use of the Army Welfare Fund (AWF). A division bench comprising judges Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Damodar Prasad Sharma gave the order, asking the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the NA headquarters to maintain transparency in the use of the welfare fund set up with the money deducted from the salary of NA troops working in UN’s peacekeeping missions abroad. The bench also ordered the army headquarters to maintain standard auditing and disclose the details of the Fund. A group of ex-army servicemen had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court four years ago. In their writ, they accused the army headquarters of not providing salary to Nepali UN peacekeepers as per the agreement between the Nepal government the UN.
