District judges appointed

Kathmandu, Apr. 18 (RSS): As per the authority provided by His Majesty the King in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal and on the recommendation of the Judicial Council, the Chief Justice has appointed and installed 15 persons as judges of various district courts.

According to the Judicial Council Secretariat, those appointed district judges are Balendra Rupakheti (law officer, Public Service Commission) in Baitadi, Ajaya Raj Upadhyaya (Deputy Attorney General) in Salyan, Binod Mohan Acharya (under secretary, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority) in Kalikot, Bholanath Chaulagai (Deputy Attorney General, Appellate Government Lawyer, Patan) in Manang, Achyut Bishta, (law officer, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) in Dailekh, Yagya Raj Bhatta (deputy registrar, Appellate Court, Patan) in Dolpa, Shekhar Prasad Poudel (bench assistant, Supreme Court) in Solukhumbu, Balchandra Sharma (deputy registrar, Appellate Court, Mahendranagar) in Darchula, Ishwar Raj Acharya (editor, Supreme Court) in Rolpa and Ram Prasad Adhikari (bench assistant, Supreme Court) in Mugu.

Likewise, Indra Bahadur Karki (deputy registrar, Supreme Court) has been appointed district judge in Jajarkot, Gopal Prasad Bhattarai (deputy registrar, Supreme Court) in Rukum, Ram Prasad Oli (deputy registrar, Supreme Court) in Jumla, Jagat Prasad Shrestha (personal assistant, Supreme Court) in Mustang, and Rajesh Kumar Kafle (senior bench assistant, Appellate Court, Patan) in Bajura.

Training for UN peace force from April 24

Kathmandu, Apr. 18 (RSS): The United Nations Training Assistance team seminar will be organised from April 24 to May 11 under the convenorship of the Royal Nepal Army and the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations Training Department and Evaluation Services. The training will be the first of its kind in Nepal.

The training aims at creating a unit of trainers for providing training to those involved in peace keeping and also at bringing about uniformity in work.

Though such seminars have already been held l0 times in different places of the world, it is the first of its kind in the whole of South Asia.

A total of 40 trainees from 23 countries will take part in the training.

The training to be organised at the Royal Nepal Army Peace Keeping Service Training Centre Panchkhal is expected to reinforce Nepal’s commitment to world peace. The number of countries contributing to peace-keeping operations in the world has reached 117.

Research on rebirth

Kathmandu, Apr. 18 (RSS): Indian psychologist Dr K.S. Rawat has claimed that four out of every six human deaths due to accident or murder will lead to rebirth in the form of animals and the other two to rebirth in human form.

Dr Rawat made this claim at a programme organised by the Nepal-Britain Society here recently. He also presented the results of scientific research carried out by himself.

According to a press statement issued by the society here today, Dr Rawat has carried out research in rebirth on some 500 people, and a professor at Virginia University in America has also been undertaking global research into rebirth.

The programme was held under the chairmanship of president of the society Mrs Pratima Pandey.

Vehicles with Indian plate being checked at border points

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Birgunj, Apr. 18: The army, deployed to check the unauthorized trade and smuggling at the border posts, started checking vehicles with Indian registration numbers.

On Monday, army personnel, deployed as revenue patrol, caught about two dozen motorcyeles, which had entered Nepal without permission or without paying revenue.

With this, the number of vehicles with Indian registration plates here has been a dramatic decline.

In the last one month, the army has also seized 19 four-wheelers and submitted them to the customs office.

According to the chief of Customs at Birgunj, Ishwor Prasad Pokharel, the customs office has decided to confiscate seven of those vehicles.

Similarly, the army has also confiscated one cartload of Diyo detergent soap for evading the Value Added Tax and submitted it to the Birgunj customs office.

When the cart carrying the soap was stopped by the army on Monday, it did not have any document regarding VAT and the driver and another person in the cart had run away leaving the goods behind. According to the Birgunj customs office, no one has come to claim about 300 cartons of soap.

Suit filed on charge of corruption

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Apr. 18: The Kaski district prosecutor’s office, on the request of the Special Police Department, has filed a lawsuit against Division Engineer Ashok Kumar Chaudhary and ten others at the Pokhara Appellate Court on charges of corruption.

In the lawsuit, a full compensation of loss incurred to the government and punishment according to the Anti Corruption Act - 2017 has been claimed.

According to the Special Police Department, the DE and other defendants had connived with the contractors in certifying forged documents verifying five different development projects, which actually had not been completed.

The development projects included Lamjung Besi Sahar- Manang road construction, horse-trail from Sundar bazaar Sishaghat - Bhorletar of the Vyas Marg, horse trail of Gilung Harkebhir, Horse trail from Ilam Pokhari to Dudhpokhari, renovation and reconstruction of Bhote Odar- Gauda horse trail and a suspension bridge over Marsyangdi River at Bhulbhule VDC.

They had without verifying and checking the completion of the works had certified for the projects.

The Special Police Department said the defendants, while in the district road department of Lamjung district 10 years ago, had, in collusion with the contractors, certified the projects, submitted bills, paid or recommended for the payment of the bills without verifying and checking the projects.

Those, who are accused, include DE Maniratna Tuladhar, Assistant Engineer Ishwor Kumar Gurung, Overseers Musharu Yadav, Sukra Bahadur Adhikary, Padma Prasad Shrestha, accountants Prabesh Kumar Dhakal, Ghanashyam Shrestha, Chandra Bahadur Chhetri, Accounts controller Narayan Adhikary at the Office of the Controller of Lamgunj, and assistant accountant Chudamani Sharma.

SLC Examinations
Exam norms flouted at Bara Centres

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Kalaiya, April 18: Want to pass the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) Examination? Go to Bara district accompanied by your guardians who can help you in resorting to unfair means at examination by passing you notes or answer chits from outside.

The various SLC examinations centres in Bara have been witnessing rampant cheating activities with guardians themselves crowding the centres with handfuls of chits and other materials to help their wards at least secure passing grades in the examination.

Notwithstanding the consensus hammered out through the all party talks, SLC examination centres in the district have been under the seize of over ambitious guardians guided solely with helping their children fare better through whatever means it may be.

According to eye witnesses at the Chyutaha centre, one of the most infamous centres known for SLC irregularities, the guardians of the students here do not even acknowledge the presence of the Bara District Education Officer, Dinbandhu Jha to sneak into the hall to pass the written answers to their wards.

The Hira Mani Bhandari, Chief District Officer of Bara District, said that along with Chyutaha, Kalvi centre is also known for irregularities. And apart from Chyutaha and Kalvi, examinees at the headquarter based examination centres at Shree Chandra School and Panna Devi School have also been found to have deviated heavily from the examination norms.

The guardians of students appearing for examinations in these centres are said to have provided different promises and offerings to the police and examination attendants so that their children can cheat so that they can secure good marks. And because of the flocking of the guardians at these centres, the hotels and restaurants are doing brisk business, Birendra Shah, one of the restaurant owners said.

However, District Education Officer Jha said that the concerned authorities are doing their level best to stop such malpractice from spreading in the 11 centres of the district where 3,422 students are sitting for the SLC examination.

Likewise from Pokhara says, amidst news of malpractices during SLC examinations in various centres, some of the news related to the examination is, however, heart warming.

One of them is the participation of the physically disabled students in the ongoing SLC examination.

In Kaski district, out of 5,226 SLC examinees, seven dumb and five blind students are taking this year’s examination. The blind students are appearing in the examination from Amar Singh School centre while the hearing impaired students are seated in Ghorepatan School.

According to Kaski District Education Officer Yogendra Bahadur, three people, who are in police custody, have also been attending the examination from the Kaski District Jail.

Likewise, in Sindhuli district, physically disabled students are also appearing for the SLC examination. Among these handicapped students, Mam Kumar Devkota is blind and is attending the examination from Phosretar School centre. Devkota is taking the assistance of a girl student of eighth grade to write down the answers.

At the Gomati School Centre, two handicapped students are taking the examinations. One of them has only one fingers and another has paralysis and cannot move his body. They are being helped by the junior students. According to the superintendents of these centres, their friends are allowed to write down what the disabled students dictate to them.

NATIONAL CENSUS - 2001
Govt urged to update data of disabled persons

Nepalgunj, Apr. 18 (RSS): Specific programmes have not been moved ahead for the protection, welfare and rehabilitation of the disabled persons as a result of the lack of factual data of the disabled persons in the country.

Even though the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics of 1981 states that 10 per cent of the Nepal population are disabled, the figure is not believed to be correct.

Arrangements have been made under the National Population Census-2001 to collect datas and remove the controversy concerning disabled persons in the country.

Taking into consideration that actual data of the disabled persons cannot be obtained through the provision being made for collecting the data of disabled persons in the National Population Census-2001, the enumerators should be apprised of what kind of person falls under the definition of disabled, president of the National Federation of Disabled Muneswore Pandey said.

There are three categories of disabled persons, president of Nature Nepal Purusottam Shrestha said that the enumerators should be apprised of the 10 questions to be asked for identifying disabled persons.

Mr Pandey said that His Majesty’s Government should launch a people’s awareness programme before the National Population Census taking into consideration the fact that the guardians hide the disabled persons within the family because of superstitious belief, illiteracy and poverty.

As the disabled is not been included in the people’s awareness programme launched by His Majesty’s Government for the National Population Census-2001, Mr Pandey said His Majesty’s Government has not been very sensitive about the disabled persons.

The president of Nature Nepal said that if the factual data of disabled persons could be collected under the National Population Census-2001 in accordance with the definition of the United Nations, it would help His Majesty’s Government as well as international and national non-governmental organisations to launch concrete programmes to check disability and rehabilitate the disabled persons in the country.

Provisions have been made under the National Population Census-2001 to collect the datas of physically handicapped persons, blind persons, hearing impaired persons and mentally retarded persons, according to Banke district census officer Sarbadev Ojha.

National Federation of Disabled-Nepal organised a Far Western and Mid-Western Development Region workshop at Kohalpur with the participation of the disabled persons to generate awareness on the National Population Census-2001, according to convenor of the National Population Census Awareness Preparatory Committee Sudarsan Subedi.

Similar workshops will be organised in Jhapa of Eastern Development Region, Kapilvastu in Western Development Region and Kathmandu in Central Development Region by April 23, Mr Sudebi added.

His Majesty’s Government has made arrangements to collect datas of disabled persons under the National Population Census-2001 and issue identity cards to the disabled persons in 12 districts last year and 14 districts this year with the objective of including the disabled persons in the national mainstream.

Altogether 176 disabled persons in Banke district were provided identity cards, according to Chief District Officer Balkrishna Prasai.

Pigs vaccinated in Morang as precaution to Japanese encephalitis

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Biratnagar, Apr. 18: More than 4,500 domestic pigs in Morang district have been vaccinated against the Japanese encephalitis. According Dr. Kashinath Yadav, chief of the district veterinary office, the pigs have been innoculated during the month of Chaitra to control the spread of then virus. Normally, Japanese encephalitis spreads with the advent of summer.

The vaccines were received from the Malaysian government.

However, Dr. Yadav said the veterinary workers face unexpected problems in some villages.

In the village of Pathari, pig farmers did not allow their pigs to be vaccinated. "It is mainly because the people did not want or could not pay the vaccination fee of Rs. 15 per pig," he said.

Vitamin ‘A’ to be administered to children from today

Kathmandu, Apr. 18 (RSS): Vitamin A capsules will be administered to some 3.1 million children six months to five years of age in 72 districts of the country under the two-day National Vitamin A programme beginning tomorrow.

Some 40,200 local women volunteers have been mobilised for the programme which has been a regular feature under the health programme of His Majesty’s Government. The programme is organised twice every year in April/May and October/November.

Gorkha, Dhading and Salyan are the three new districts added to the programme this year.

His Majesty’s Government has been running the Vitamin A programme since 1993 with the objective of cutting down the rate of infant mortality and many other diseases resulting from the deficiency of Vitamin A.