Human Rights activists condemn Maoist attack 

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KATHAMANDU, Aug 10:The Maoists were condemned for their inhuman act carried out on Thursday at the College of Applied Business, Kathmandu.

The National Human Rights Commission was shocked to hear about such a mean act, but was relieved to hear that no one was seriously hurt in the blast. After the inspection visit, they requested the concerned sector to let humans live in a fearless manner.

Similarly, in a press release issued by the Nepal University Teachers’ Association yesterday said that the association was worried about the regular attacks on educational institutes.

They expressed their discontentment at the Maoists act carried out on holy educational institutes. They have requested His Majesty’s Government to arrange necessary security at educational institutes.

Relief materials for flood victims being dispatched

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KATHMANDU, Aug 10:The non-profit organisation "Civil Society for Disaster Relief" is dispatching their second lot of relief materials for yet another 500 people in Chitwan and Nawalparasi, tomorrow. The relief materials are being collected and sent to victims of landslides and floods that occurred in the past few weeks which killed hundreds and left thousands dislocated.

At a press conference organised today, the society said that they have been able to collect cash funds worth Rs 800,000 and have collected tons and tons of clothes, food items, kitchen wares and items for temporary shelter.

Schools, private companies, firms, clubs, organisations and individuals have all donated cash, food items, toiletries and various other materials relevant to the victims of floods and landslides. The society that has earlier targeted to bring relief to 2000 people today said that with never-ending support flowing in from all sections of the society, they might be able to deliver the relief materials to more than 2000 people.

Dr Arzoo Rana Deuba, chairman of the Society said, "The response from the public has been so immense that we now think we can extend this relief for more than 2000 people that we earlier targeted."

The society also expressed that since disaster is unforeseen, bringing relief to disaster victims has to be prompt and prepared for. With the success of this relief society that has been able to bridge the gap between the donors and the needy, the society has decided to officially register the organisation and has today drafted a statute.

With the commencing of the society as an organisation, Dr Deuba also said that any individual, company or a club is welcome to become a member with the organisation, that will now provide the assistance to bring relief to the disaster victims.

The society till date has around 50 volunteers, who help in packing and sorting of relief materials. The relief materials will later be delivered to Mahottari also.

Singer Dhakal’s ‘Aadhar’ released

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KATHMANDU, August 10:Bhakta Raj Acharya, the senior singer of Nepali music released, cassette and CD, the sixth album Aadhar, of upcoming singer Ram Krishna Dhakal here today. On the occasion Dhakal also felicitated senior singer Bhakta Raj Acharya.

Asked to welcome his audience Dhakal said that being a singer the best way to welcome the audience is by singing a song. Then he started to sing Nirdhakka Bhayare… from the album Aadhar of which music was given by Sambhujeet Baskota and lyric was of G. Shah (literary name of King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev).

"I have tried to present something new to the audience," said Dhakal. "So I have presented songs in new singing style and in new formation." The album is a combination of all types of songs like melodious, sentimental, romantic, pop songs, and gazals. And there are altogether 10 songs from modern to patriotic songs.

Awarded with Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu in 1998 for being the youngest singer in Nepali music and with many more awards Dhakal has already brought his albums like Aashirbad (1993), Aashish (1996), Aasha (1998), Aaroha (1999) and Aagraha (2001) in the market. Moonlight Records brought the Aadhar in the public.

School children to exhibit images of Nepal in Berlin

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KATHMANDU, Aug 10:What would be the best medium for children to show how their country looks like to the outside world ? Definitely, the photographs they have taken. Taking this in view, two children of the country are soon visiting Germany for a three-day programme to exhibit the photographs,they have taken, at a world exhibition.

Binod Sarki and Nirmala Lama, both school children, who have hardly got chances to play with a camera, are the two lucky children who will soon be visiting Berlin, August 19, to exhibit the pictures taken by 15 Nepali children on April 30 under a dream project called Imagine, initiated by a German journalist.

Along with Binod’s and Nirmala’s photographs, 500 children from 43 countries are taking part in the grand exhibition that was initiated by a Berlin-based journalist Philipp Abresh. Together with Abresh, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is inviting 500 girls and boys aged 10 to 16 from all over the world to capture their life on film in a single day, on April 30.

Binod, a 15 years old student from Barbise of Sindhupalchok district, has chosen children like him who could go to school and others who have to work days and nights at other people’s homes, brick kilns and other industries as subjects for his photographs.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, he said, "The photos we have taken will be exhibited with those of children from other countries in a big country like Germany. And quite a lot of people will be visiting there. Of course, we are excited."

Binod added that he would tell others how his country looks like and will also learn from photographs of other countries.

Similarly, 13-year-old Nirmala, a girl from Kabhre but presently living at Saibu of Lalitpur district is eager to know what would be other people’s comment on her photographs.

She chose scenes from Chobhar, Bungamati, Khokna and surrounding villages to depict the situation of children.

The show will be open on 23-24 August at the GTZ Haus, Berlin where representative children from abroad will be present before political decision-makers and experts, according to the organisers. And they will also join a "Youth From" on the last day.

It is believed that taking an inquisitive look at the photos and stories will make strange cultures more familiar and encourage understanding of other ways of life.

"The young photographers themselves choose their three best pictures. They can photograph whatever they feel is important to tell other people about their story," said Azeliya Ranjitkar, the project coordinator of GTZ.

Established cooperation partners, like the local GTZ offices and others send the results to Germany where they will be put together at an exhibition.

Ranjitkar said that the children were familiarized for two hours on the objectives of photographs being taken and they were also given simple technical guidance on how to use simple automatic cameras, for many of them had never touched a camera before.

"With these collection of pictures they will show the country and the children of the country they live," she added.

GTZ of Kathmandu also plans to exhibit the pictures in the capital after returning from Berlin.

Vikchhyu Sudarshan’s death condoled

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LALITPUR, Aug 10:A condolence meeting was organised today the memory of late Vikchhyu Sudarshan Mahasthavir, a Buddhist scholar.

Late Vikchhyu passed away on July 21, at the age of 68.

Addressing the programme, the ambassador of Thailand Powthep Vanachinda said that he was very much impressed by the late monk’s intelligence, simplicity and dedication in the development of Buddhism in Nepal.

"I specially remember him for his candid remarks in the conservation of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha," he said.

Vikchhyu Kaudinya said that the late vikchhyu dedicated his life to revive the glory of Buddhism in Nepal by organising different local level programmes.

"He was perhaps the most prominent advocate of Lumbini. The Buddhist community is keeping mum when a scholar again claimed that Lord Buddha was born in a village in India. The scene would have been different if Vikchhyu Sudarshan is living," he said.

Vikchhyu Buddhaghosh, the chairman of Nepal Vikchhyu Federation, who offered Buddhist shila to the audience, chaired the programme.

The programme was organised by the Bir Purna Book Museum.

Sandwiched between scorching heat, psychological fear

Tilak Pokharel

This is probably the most odd season, at least for me. There is either rainfall or scorching heat everywhere during the monsoon. This week I had gone to Gorkha, one of the districts hit hard by the Maoist insurgency, on a regular trip. But here I am going to narrate how the scorching sun plus the psychological fear of the insurgency made my trip odd, but always unforgettable.

It used to take about three-and-half hours’ walk in total to reach the destination. So I planned accordingly and get off the bus at Kuringhat (of Chitwan district). Then after crossing a bridge over the Trishuli River, there was steep uphill to walk for about one-and-half hours and brief walk of about two hours to reach the destination. But I was virtually puzzled over whether to embark upon the walk or not because of the scorching, I should say, too much, sunlight. It was something more than impossible to challenge the heat coming from right above the head.

Then I thought of taking rest at Kuringhat for some time. But I could not come out of the hotel for more than an hour. Since two thirds of the trails was through jungle, I thought of starting the walk to avoid any probable but untoward confrontation with security men or the rebels so as to reach the destination on time.

As I am most untroubled and careless vis-à-vis taking prompt precautions, I neither had carried an umbrella nor a torch light. Amidst the scorching heat, I was compelled to take rest under the shed of the jungle after every 10-15 minutes’ walk. With the ailing legs and body aches, with the sweats flowing like river waters throughout the body, I finally reached atop Makaising village, but it took thrice more than the usual time, about five hours.

The sun was about to vanish in the horizons and my heart started beating faster and faster, as I still had to walk for about two hours more – mostly through jungles.

Then started the tough times. The darkness started to rule the trails. The state of being alone and psychological fear gripping the mindset, after about 30-minute walk, I could hardly trace the path. Fortunately, the sky was clear with no raindrops. But the trails were still slippery due to the heavy downpour of the past few days. But the light of the frequent lightening were of great relief to me to trace the path.

The situation was like that I could hardly walk three to four steps at a time. I would be groping in the dark to trace the path. Time and again I had to ‘somersault’; forget the number of falling downs from ladder-like hilly fields. Due to the brand new slippers on the foot, it was more difficult to walk, so I took them off and started walking barefoot along the trails, where pointed rocks were on every side.

Time and again when I fell down, the slippers used to slip away from the grip of my hands. Then it used to take minutes to search the new slippers in the pitch darkness.

Crawling, somersaulting and walking; with acute pain all over the body, I finally reached home, without materialising of the psychological fear, and had nice sleep. But I had to spend whole of the following day in bed.

CIAA files corruption case against ex-CDO

By Leela Ballav Ghimire

DHANKUTA, Aug 10:In a case involving corruption of around one million rupees, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a case against the then Chief District Officer (CDO) of Sankhuwasabha district and his four accomplices.

Yadav Prasad Dhungana, the then CDO and the rest are accused of forging a document concerning with nine hundred and ninety five thousand rupees in connection with salt transportation from Biratnagar to Khandbari, the headquartars of Sankhuwasabha district.

Indra Prasad Poudel, an officer at CIAA, filed the case against the alleged CDO along with Ram Mani Pokharel, the deputy CDO, Devendra Karki, the representative of the contracting party and Raj Kumar Shrestha of a finance company.

Dhungana and Pokharel are at large while the double bench of Nanda Raj Adhikari and Atma Ram Bhattarai ordered to release Karki and Shrestha on bail of four hundred ninety five thousand rupees.

Referring to the magnitude of corrupton, Dhurba Kumar Chauhan, a government lawyer, insisted that the culprits should be kept in judicial custody until the case was settled. But he was denied.

As to the legal provision, the culprits in such a case would have to serve a jail term for three years if found guilty and they can also be fined the amount they have forged.

Dhungana was appointed as the administrator at Eastern Regional Administrative Office after he quit the post of CDO in Dhankuta after the corruption. Of late, he served as the CDO in Ramechhap district.

Unidentified object scare continues

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NEPALGUNJ, Aug 10:The life in the Nepal-India border at Belaspur and Nepalgunj went panicky for the second consecutive day on Saturday when an unidentified object again attempted to kill a woman.

The same mysterious object had killed a 40-year-old woman in the neighbouring Indian village a few days ago. Sahim Khan, 55, of Belaspur-16 was sleeping peacefully on the terrace of her house when the fireball-like object flew towards her ready to attack her, say locals.

"When we rushed towards Khan’s house after seeing the object, it disappeared instantly," they said. The locals then brought Khan from the terrace and kept her safely inside the house. The locals said they saw the same object the previous day over Nepalgunj Municipality and Guleria area.

Even the object continues to attack villagers for the last couple of days and more and more people are attacked, authorities from both Nepal and India have failed to identify the object, which is said to be active at night and disappears instantly after the attack.

The local eyewitnesses said it resembles a fire-flame and attacks those sleeping outside their houses on rooftops and terraces. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Gokarna Bahadur Pal of Banke admitted that he saw the red object but said he could not identify it.

India’s Lucknow-based newspapers even published reports that said three people have been killed and more than a dozen wounded across the border after the mysterious object was detected in the region a couple of days ago.

Exiled Bhutanese leader passes away

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BIRTAMOD, Aug 10:Exiled Bhutanese leader and Vice President of Druk National Congress Cheku Dukpa passed away on Friday night at Damak of Jhapa. Dukpa, who was struggling for the establishment of democracy in Bhutan from Nepal, was undergoing treatment for hernia at Amda Hospital since the last week.

He was reportedly found suffering from acute kidney and liver problems during the treatment.

Dukpa lived a horrific life in Bhutan’s prison after he was arrested by the authority for allegedly supporting the 1990 Democratic Movement led by Lhotsampas, the southern Bhutanese. In 1996, he sneaked into Nepal after he was released.

Bhutanese party sources said that Dukpa’s health worsened following his release from the prison, where he was ‘brutally’ tortured by the Bhutanese authority.

The People’s Forum for Human Rights, Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee and a host of other exiled Bhutanese refugee organisations expressed their shock and sympathy at the untimely demise of their leader.n

Dukpa’s body has been taken to a Kakarvitta-based Buddhist monastery for performing last rites, which is scheduled on Monday.