Trump took shelter in White House bunker as protests raged

WASHINGTON: Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump to a White House bunker on Friday night as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the executive mansion, some of them throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades.

Trump spent nearly an hour in the bunker, which was designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to publicly discuss private matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The account was confirmed by an administration official who also on condition of anonymity.

The abrupt decision by the agents underscored the rattled mood inside the White House, where the chants from protesters in Lafayette Park could be heard all weekend and Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers struggled to contain the crowds.

Friday’s protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. The demonstrations in Washington turned violent and appeared to catch officers by surprise. They sparked one of the highest alerts on the White House complex since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 .

“The White House does not comment on security protocols and decisions,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere. The Secret Service said it does not discuss the means and methods of its protective operations. The president’s move to the bunker was first reported by The New York Times.

The president and his family have been shaken by the size and venom of the crowds, according to the Republican. It was not immediately clear if first lady Melania Trump and the couple’s 14-year-old son, Barron, joined the president in the bunker. Secret Service protocol would have called for all those under the agency’s protection to be in the underground shelter.

Trump has told advisers he worries about his safety, while both privately and publicly praising the work of the Secret Service.

Trump traveled to Florida on Saturday to view the first manned space launch from the U.S. in nearly a decade. He returned to a White House under virtual siege, with protesters — some violent — gathered just a few hundred yards away through much of the night.

Demonstrators returned Sunday afternoon, facing off against police at Lafayette Park into the evening.

Trump continued his effort to project strength, using a series of inflammatory tweets and delivering partisan attacks during a time of national crisis.

As cities burned night after night and images of violence dominated television coverage, Trump’s advisers discussed the prospect of an Oval Office address in an attempt to ease tensions. The notion was quickly scrapped for lack of policy proposals and the president’s own seeming disinterest in delivering a message of unity.

Trump did not appear in public on Sunday. Instead, a White House official who was not authorized to discuss the plans ahead of time said Trump was expected in the coming days to draw distinctions between the legitimate anger of peaceful protesters and the unacceptable actions of violent agitators.

On Sunday, Trump retweeted a message from a conservative commentator encouraging authorities to respond with greater force.

“This isn’t going to stop until the good guys are willing to use overwhelming force against the bad guys,” Buck Sexton wrote in a message amplified by the president.

In recent days security at the White House has been reinforced by the National Guard and additional personnel from the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police.

On Sunday, the Justice Department deployed members of the U.S. Marshals Service and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration to supplement National Guard troops outside the White House, according to a senior Justice Department official. The official could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The post Trump took shelter in White House bunker as protests raged appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

FNCCI to govt : Review lockdown extension and its modality

Kathmandu, 1 June : A day after the government decided to extend the nationwide lockdown for the seventh time till June 14, the private sector has urged the government to review its decision and modality of the lockdown.

Issuing a press statement today, the Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry stated that the continuous lockdown without any plan to normalise business activities would only deteriorate the economy and urged the government to change the modality of the lockdown, allowing businesses and the market to gradually operate.

People’s News Monitoring Service

‘Budget a bundle of false promises’

Kathmandu, 1 June : The main opposition party in the parliament, Nepali Congress, has remarked the budget goals as almost unattainable and a bundle of false promises.

Speaking at the House of Representatives Chief Whip of the party Bal Krishna Khand said that the budget is founded on loans. The existing revenue is less likely to suffice for general expenses.“The trend of budget seems continuation of false promises,” Khand said, adding, “Some of the projects and their deadlines like the ones for Pokhara International Airport, fast track etc. are repeated every year.”

Not only opposition party lawmakers but also the ruling party MPs  lambasted the government for not paying enough attention towards the hazards created by coronavirus pandemic.

People’s News Monitoring Service

Ruling party MPs unhappy with budget

Kathmandu, 1 June : As both houses of Parliament began discussions over the government’s budget  for 2020/21, even MPs from ruling party say they are not happy with the budget speech that was presented on Thursday.

Lawmakers who took part in the deliberations in the House of Representatives and the National Assembly yesterday, have not only questioned the principles and ideologies behind the budget, but also asked why it failed to break tradition in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic.

People’s News Monitoring Service

People tested positive to corona kept out overnight in Dharan

Province 1, Sunsari, Dharan - #Covid-19, 27 people, who were referred to Dharan from Kachankawall Rural Municipality after tested positive to corona, spent the Friday night outside when BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences refused their admission. The 27 people reached the hospital on Friday night at around 10 pm. When the hospital did not admit them they were forced to stay on the bus overnight. They even complain that they were not provided food. There are 67 infected people at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan. As there are only 70 ready-made beds in the hospital, there is a problem in getting admission, said Dr. Nirdesh Sapkota, Hospital's Spokesperson. 

Locals protest against the sale of rice which was bought for distribution in Dhading

Province 3, Dhading, Benighat Rorang, Ward 5 - #Governance, #Covid-19, Locals have protested against the sale of rice to traders which was bought by the Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality of  Dhading for distribution to those who are affected by the lockdown.The locals did not allow the truck to load the rice. The municipality had stored rice in the building of Chandrodaya secondary school in Benighat Rorang Municipality-5. The locals unloaded 50-60 bags of rice loaded in the truck and locked it in the warehouse. The Rural municipality had been purchasing rice and distributing it as a relief since the second week of the lockdown. According to Parashuram Ghimire, information officer of the rural municipality, they have an agreement to buy rice and sell it to the traders if the villagers do not need it.

Cleaners on strike protesting police brutality

Province 2, Parsa, Birgunj - #Governance, Cleaners of Birgunj Metropolitan have stopped work since Saturday condemning misbehaviour towards them. They have accused police of continually assaulting and verbally abusing the cleaners. The garbage is piling in Birgunj after the strike started. Birgunj metropolitan office has contracted a company, and they also mobilize their own cleaning staff to collect garbage. The workers claim that police assaulted Chhote Lal Prasad Kusuwaha, a cleaning staff, on Thursday and seized his motorcycle. Police again reportedly misbehaved with cleaners near Maisthan while they were taking garbage towards the landfill site on Friday evening. The cleaners have lamented that they were facing abuse at the hands of police even while they were fulfilling their duty despite the lockdown.

Home-schooling is better than online classes: A teacher’s experience

A computer rendering of the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain that causes COVID-19. Photo Courtesy: CDC

With the onset of novel coronavirus pandemic, worldly affairs around the globe have come to a grinding halt. The viral threat has affected normal life and rendered the people captive inside their own houses. Like in other countries, Nepal announced the lockdown on March 23, which subsequently extended repeatedly in an effort to control the contagious virus from spreading across.

The nationwide lockdown brought all the socio-economic activities across the country to a standstill with paramount effects in every sector.  Education is among the most affected sectors. Thousands of students are living in uncertainty as they do not have any idea about when their classes and postponed examinations will resume. The circumstances brought us to have online classes, but they too seem to be impractical, in particular, for those with slow learning aptitude and those needing special education support are left in the lurch as the present technology employed to run online classes cannot address their need. Rather, home-schooling should be promoted in such situations.

As a teacher, I personally feel pathetic in this situation for the students who are slower than other students. The remote pedagogy is not the right domain of teaching for slow learners. Even during the physical face-to-face class, the slow learners have to be provided with special care, constant emotional support, special teaching methods, and sometimes improvisation of the way of teaching to help them keep up with their peers. The online mode and the platform we are using, generally Google Meet and Zoom, may help for general pupils, but not for slow learners.

During my (physical) class, I used to provide individual care, but still, my care could not be enough for them sometimes. In such situations, I used to assign a mentor, a student with a better understanding, who could support the student with a low academic level of the same class. For their better performance and motivation, I used to summarise previous classes to make them connected to the lesson and provide basic concepts of the lesson before going into depth. Sometimes, based on the students’ participation and scores of the unit tests, individual talk or counselling used to be done. Students feel that the teachers care for them and get motivated. While teaching some new concept and after observing the class environment, I used to ask simple questions to make them participate. To improve their reading skills, many times, I tried to make them read in class and encourage them in front of all. Using motivational or acknowledging words, keeping them on the first bench, appreciating every good activity performed by them, clapping, saying “very good”, etc. were parts of my teaching strategy in a face-to-face class.

But now, while conducting the virtual classes, most of the slow learning students seem to escape the class or just attend the class without their participation. We can neither provide them any extra support nor leave them behind. Remote learning sometimes becomes monotonous and the desired lesson cannot be imparted to the students. The students’ active participation is missing in this system. Though it is okay with the average learners, it does not fit the needs and demands of slow learners.

Those who are already doing well at schools are nowadays doing similar or even they might have explored new dimensions of their learning styles, but those struggling are just falling further behind.

Instead of such a remote learning system, home-schooling should be adopted during such a situation. Every parent is capable of teaching new things to their children and the students learn with their parents in a better way. Instead of remote learning, parents can now focus on the life skills of the children. Knowing every aspect of children and helping them enhance their skills will be beneficial. Let them explore their hobbies and master them. Understand and support them. Be a mentor. Reading any old book can also improve their vocabulary. Sit and watch some inspirational and motivational movies together and discuss the moral.

The digital learning platforms cannot promote inclusiveness and creativity in education. The currently available tools are inapplicable for a student-centred teaching model. Being a teacher, I have learned how a slow learning student can learn. Education is something that teachers can impose on students. It should be a flexible, not a forced process.

In an online classroom, if students are not interested or motivated, they can hide far more easily. They can feign technological issues, turn off the camera, and mute the microphone. When students are not well engaged, definitely, it is very hard to bring the focus on the lesson as planned by the teacher. It affects the students with slow learning aptitude more severely.

Many parents may be anxious not just because their children are missing out formal learning, but also they are not able to create a learning environment at home. However, here are a few things that the parents of slow learning students can adopt:

• Encourage your children to make the notes of life skills that they have learned during the lockdown.
• Recite some inspiring stories which motivate your child.
• Give special time to your child and listen to them. It helps them improve their communication skills.
• Admire your child the way they are. It helps them accept their own qualities.
• British psychoanalyst Donalt Winnicoth says that play is the path to a child’s wholeness and wellbeing. So let your child play some creative games like word puzzles, maths puzzles, and chess, and so on.
• Engage your child on household activities, and gardening. Teach them about cultural identity, and its importance instead of imposing new things for them.

Aryal is pursuing an MPhil degree at the Department of Development Education in Kathmandu University-School of Education, and currently working as the School Coordinator at The Celebration Co-Ed School and College in Kathmandu.

Karnali adds 43 Covid-19 cases

Kathmandu, June 1

As many as 43 coronavirus infection cases have been confirmed in Karnali on Monday morning.

Tests carried out at Karnali Health Science Academy confirmed 19 cases in Jumla and 24 in Dailekh.

With this, the number of Covid-19 cases in the province has reached 166. The Dailekh district alone has 72 cases, the highest in the province.

11 dead, 22 hurt as bus carrying returnees from India rear-ends truck in Banke

NEPALGUNJ: As many as 11 persons died and 22 others sustained injuries after the bus they were travelling on collided with a truck in Banke district on Sunday night.

The bus was carrying returnees from India.

The bus (Na 5 Kha 5995) en route from Nepalgunj to Dang hit the parked truck (Ba 4 Kha 9064) on the road killing 11 passengers, including the bus driver, at Thuriya forest area along the Shamshergunj-Agaiya road section of East-West Highway last night.

A team of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Traffic Police and Banke Salyani Samaj rescued the injured and brought them to Nepalgunj-based Bheri Hospital at around 2:00 am, informed Banke Salyani Samaj.

Four of the injured are in critical condition, the Bheri Hospital informed. One of the deceased is a female, it added.

The post 11 dead, 22 hurt as bus carrying returnees from India rear-ends truck in Banke appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Police to probe manhandling of NMC doc

KATHMANDU, MAY 31

Nepal Police has formed a four-member probe committee to investigate the manhandling of an on-duty doctor at the emergency ward of Attarkhel-based Nepal Medical College and subsequent deletion of the CCTV footage of the incident.

The panel led by Superintendent of Police Somendra Singh Rathore of Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, includes a deputy superintendent of police.

On May 27, the doctor was allegedly beaten up by the son of a 54-year-old patient who had succumbed to ‘respiratory illness’ a few hours after being brought to the emergency ward of the hospital.

Talking to THT, the doctor, who was beaten up, alleged, “The man listened to us calmly when we briefed him about the death of his relative, but he charged at me and punched me when we sought his permission to test the deceased’s swab samples for COVID-19.”

According to him, the man alleged that his kin died due to the carelessness of doctors and that doctors were trying to hide their negligence by suggesting that the death occurred due to the respiratory pandemic.

After a heated debate on the issue with patients, doctors found to their shock that the CCTV footage of the incident inside the emergency ward was missing.

Doctors then went to Bouddha-based Metropolitan Police Circle to file an FIR against the man who had beaten up the on-duty doctor.

The medical fraternity, meanwhile, has criticised the incident and lamented that it was unfortunate doctors were being attacked even in the time of COVID-19 when they were risking their lives to save the lives of others.

Accusing the hospital’s administration of deleting the CCTV footage of the incident, protesting NMC doctors today padlocked the administrative block of the hospital and raised slogans outside the hospital decrying the bid to botch up the investigation.

The hospital’s management board later today formed an independent probe committee to investigate the case.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has written a letter to the hospital administration, Kathmandu District Administration Office and the local government, seeking fair investigation into the case.

The hospital administration, on the other hand, has refuted the allegation that it deleted the CCTV footage of the incident. Prakash Poudel, deputy director of NMC, said, “We do not know how the footage was deleted. We have handed over all the possible evidences to the police and will support the investigation.”

He added that the hospital administration was with the doctors and condemned the attack on a doctor of the hospital.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 1, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

The post Police to probe manhandling of NMC doc appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Chinese national held for misbehaving with girls

Kathmandu, May 31

Thamel police have taken Chinese national Chen Xi, 21, into custody after some locals caught a few Chinese men for allegedly misbehaving with some local girls in Chhetrapati area near Thamel, Kathmandu, yesterday.

Chhetrapati area was tense yesterday, after two Chinese men allegedly ‘groped’ and pulled two local girls aged between 14 to 16. The girls were moving towards their home from a relative’s home when the two Chinese men stopped them and started conversing with them using an application that translated Chinese into English.

Yadav Lal Kayestha, a local resident of Chhetrapati told THT that the girls had wanted to help the men. “However, after a few seconds, the Chinese men invited them for coffee. The girls refused and wanted to leave. But, one of the two Chinese pulled a girl towards him, groped and molested her,” Kayastha said.

The incident drew the attention of locals, including an elderly, who immediately came for their rescue.

The incident was reported to the nearby Sorhakhutte Police Circle where a heated argument took place. By the evening, scores of Chinese had gathered near the police circle to exert pressure on the police to dismiss the case. But the locals wanted the accused molesters to be arrested.

Today, police registered the first information report of the girls who accused one the men of misbehaving with them. After the FIR was registered, the Chinese national was arrested and presented to Kathmandu District Administration Office. He has been remanded to seven-day police custody, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepak Khadka, head of Sorhakhutte Police Circle.

Kayastha also said the same Chinese men, had a few days ago, tried to misbehave with a married woman at the same place.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 01, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post Chinese national held for misbehaving with girls appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

India expels two Pakistani officials for ‘espionage’

MUMBAI: India on Sunday expelled two officials working at the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi after they were held for espionage, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Two (Pakistani) officials were apprehended on Sunday by Indian law enforcement,” the ministry said, adding that the Indian government had declared them “persona non grata” for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission.

Both were expected to leave the country within 24 hours.

The Indian government also delivered a strong protest to the head of Pakistan’s Delhi embassy concerning the alleged espionage against Indian national security.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry condemned what it called the detention and torture of two diplomatic officials by Indian authorities.

“The Indian action has been accompanied by a negative pre-planned and orchestrated media campaign, which is a part of persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda,” the ministry said.

Indian and Pakistani troops in Kashmir were earlier this year engaged in some of the most intense cross-border fighting in at least two years.

India and Pakistan routinely accuse each other of using spies to gather intelligence through their diplomatic missions.

Last week, Indian police released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after an investigation found that the bird, which had flown across the contentious border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not engaged in spying.

The post India expels two Pakistani officials for ‘espionage’ appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

JSP-N registers private bill

KATHMANDU: The Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal is preparing to register a private constitution amendment bill at the Parliament Secretariat seeking to amend several provisions of the constitution to address the demands of Madhesis, Janajatis and other marginalised groups and communities.

Senior Advocate Mithilesh Kumar Singh, who is helping the JSP-N draft the bill said it would seek to introduce the presidential form of government modelled on the American system and fully proportional electoral system. Singh said the bill would also seek simplification of the current citizenship provisions so that poor Nepali citizens who do not own houses but live in Nepal would be able to get their citizenship without any hassle.

According to Singh, the bill would also seek incorporation of languages recommended by the Language Commission in the schedule of the constitution.

Singh said the JSP-N’s bill would also seek to create 11 provinces including one non-territorial province as recommended by the majority members of the erstwhile State Restructuring Commission.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 1, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

The post JSP-N registers private bill appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

People may defy lockdown now

People may defy lockdown now

Kathmandu, 1 June: At a time when medical experts are lauding for “testing, testing and testing”, the government is continuing ‘lockdown’ as the best medicine for Covid-19 pandemic.

The nation is in the third month of lockdown, yet, the government is unable to give alternate to lockdown. Along with extension of the lockdown period, spread rate of Covid-19 pandemic has inclined.

The best medicine is to conduct PCR test at mass and keeping Covid19 infected people in isolation, unfortunately, the government has failed while doing so. The government has failed to manage quarantine and isolation venues. The government had to keep on hold to the people entering Nepal from India at the border points and conduct PCR test on them before they travel to their home. On this also, the government has failed and the pandemic has become vulnerable in the country.

As all the activities have been halt for more than two months due to the lockdown, poor and middleclass people are suffering from different problems, including financial crunch, scarcity of food and mental health problem is on the rise. People now have reached to the stage of defying the lockdown. Their agitation can be witnessed in social networks.

People’s News Monitoring Service

 

Banke: 11 killed in midnight bus crash

Kathmandu, June 1

At least 11 persons died when a bus crashed in the Thuriya forest area of Rapto Sonari rural municipality-2 of Banke in Province 5 at Sunday midnight.

Twenty-two others have sustained injuries.

The bus was carrying Nepalis who were working in India but were returning home owing to the Covid-19 crisis. They were heading towards Salyan of Karnali.

Among the injured, five are critical, informs Banke Chief District Officer Ram Bahadur Kurumbang.

The bus (Na 5 Kha 5995) had crashed after it hit a stationary truck (Ba 4 Kha 9064) on the roadside.

The injured are undergoing treatment at various health facilities in Nepalgunj. The victims’ bodies have been kept at Bheri Hospital.

The victims are yet to be identified.

FNCCI calls for lockdown extension review

KATHMANDU, MAY 31

A day after the government decided to extend the nationwide lockdown for the seventh time till June 14, the private sector has urged the government to review its decision and modality of the lockdown.

Issuing a press statement today, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry stated that the continuous lockdown without any plan to normalise business activities would only deteriorate the economy and urged the government to change the modality of the lockdown, allowing businesses and the market to gradually operate.

Stating that the lockdown is not the only solution to cope with the current crisis, a that fact has already been accepted by several countries, the private sector recommended that the government make the lockdown flexible and resume economic activities by adopting precautionary measures.

“The government is only extending the lockdown and doing nothing substantial to ramp up COVID-19 tests or normalise economic activities. Such a lockdown is sheer waste of time,” reads the FNCCI’s press statement.

It adds that more than two months of lockdown has resulted in significant economic loss — worth more than four per cent of the gross domestic product — and rendered thousands of people jobless.

Moreover, industries are on the verge of collapse, while the general public is facing hardships, states the release.

“Ignoring all this, the government has been continuously extending the lockdown without consulting the business community and other stakeholders of the economy.

It is high time the government reviewed its decision to extend the lockdown and adopt an effective modality to both contain the spread of the virus and resume business activities,” adds FNCCI.

It has also urged the government to ensure easy mobility of workers and raw materials during the lockdown period.

The post FNCCI calls for lockdown extension review appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Sancho hat-trick keeps Dortmund in title hunt

PADERBORN: England forward Jadon Sancho capped a blistering individual performance with a second-half hat-trick which helped Borussia Dortmund to a 6-1 win at Paderborn on Sunday and kept alive their slim Bundesliga title hopes.

The result left Dortmund second on 60 points from 29 games with five rounds of matches remaining, seven behind champions and league leaders Bayern Munich, while Paderborn remained rooted to the foot of the standings on 19 points.

With prolific 19-year-old Norway striker Erling Haaland sidelined by a knee injury, the visitors missed a string of chances in the first half but Sancho lit up the second as Dortmund ran riot.

Thorgan Hazard, who took Haaland’s place up front, gave Dortmund a 54th-minute lead from close range after keeper Leopold Zingerle, who had made a string of good saves, failed to deal with an Emre Can cross from the left.

Sancho made it 2-0 with a simple tap-in from two metres three minutes later thanks some good work from Julian Brandt before an Uwe Hunemeier penalty briefly rekindled Paderborn’s challenge in the 72nd minute.

It turned out to be a false dawn as Sancho scored Dortmund’s third two minutes later with a fine left-foot shot from inside the penalty area and Paderborn fell apart in the closing stages.

Achraf Hakimi drilled in the fourth in the 85th minute with a crisp shot into the far corner and Marcel Schmelzer added the fifth in the 89th from close range.

The unstoppable Sancho broke away at the halfway line barely 60 seconds later and with Paderborn throwing everybody forward for a corner, he had all the time and space to put the icing on the cake with a clinical finish.

Dortmund, the 1997 Champions League winners who last won the German title in 2012, are at home to ninth-placed Hertha Berlin in the next round on Saturday while Paderborn visit fifth-placed RB Leipzig.

The post Sancho hat-trick keeps Dortmund in title hunt appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

China cities aid Pokhara metropolis

Pokhara, May 31

Various cities of China have helped Pokhara metropolis with health materials worth 79,000 US Dollars.

Mayor Man Bahadur GC said the metropolis had established relationship of brotherhood with different cities of China. He said nine types of health materials had reached Pokhara from Lingzi, Kunming, Guangzhou, among other cities of China.

Metropolis Chief Secretary Laxman Timilsina said as many as 10,000 surgical masks, gloves, shoe covers, among other materials had arrived in the metropolis from China.

COVID-19 Disease Control and Treatment High Level Committee Coordinator of the metropolis Manju Devi Gurung said the health materials would also be provided to the rural municipalities and municipalities adjacent to Pokhara, among other cities of Nepal.

The materials were provided with the initiative of former chairman of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry Bishowshankar Palikhe.

Meanwhile, the metropolis has provided some health materials to Federation of Nepali Journalists, Kaski.

Mayor GC and Deputy Mayor Manju Gurung handed over surgical masks, thermal guns, among other materials to Federation of Nepali Journalists’ Kaski Chairman Dipendra Shrestha today.

Mayor GC said there was no alternative to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the health materials provided by the cities of China would be used properly.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 01, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post China cities aid Pokhara metropolis appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Amendment bill to update emblem tabled

KATHMANDU, MAY 31

Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe tabled the Constitution Amendment Bill (second amendment) in the House of Representatives today seeking to update Nepal’s emblem by including the revised map of Nepal after amending Schedule 3 of the constitution.

On May 20, the government had issued the new administrative and political map of the country, depicting Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani as Nepal’s territories although India has administrative and political control over Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani and has counter claim over these territories.

The bill needs to be passed by two-thirds members of the House of Representatives present on the day of voting to amend the constitution.

Although the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is short of two-thirds majority in the Parliament, the bill is likely to be passed as the main opposition Nepali Congress has decided to support it.

Senior Advocate Mithilesh Kumar Singh said the bill would have to complete the process mandated by Article 274 (4) of the constitution which meant that the government would have to seek the consent of Sudurpaschim Province to incorporate Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani in that province. He said a notice would have to be sent to Sudurpaschim Province within 30 days about the change in the boundary of the province.

“Our new map depicts Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani as the country’s territories, but the map does not show which local level these territories belong to.

The government should also inform the Election Commission about these territories.

The government has not done census and it has not earmarked budget for these areas,” Singh added.

Parliament Secretariat Secretary Gopinath Yogi told THT that a notice would be published in the Nepal Gazette and Gorkhapatra tomorrow to inform the public about the presentation of the constitution amendment bill in the HoR as per the House of Representatives Regulation. The HoR cannot move any process on the constitution amendment bill in the next seven days. After seven days, the HoR can debate the principles of the bill before giving 72 hours to lawmakers to present amendments against the provisions of the bill, if any. If amendments are registered against the bill, then there will be a deliberation on the amendments; if not, discussion will take place on the contents of the bill.

According to Yogi, the bill could be put to vote directly after lawmakers discuss it or a special committee can be formed before the bill is put to vote. Parliament Secretariat sources said chances of forming a special committee were slim, as there was only one issue — the revision of map — for the amendment.

Once the bill is passed by the HoR, it would be sent to the National Assembly, where a similar process would be followed. Yogi said the Upper House would be able to immediately conduct other proceedings as the seven-days public notice process would have been completed in the HoR.

Parliament sources said that if both the houses wanted to fast-track the passage time, they could do so by suspending House rules. Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Rojnath Pandey said the House could shorten the time required to register amendments on the bill’s provisions. The HoR could pass the constitution amendment bill after three to four House meetings. “But if the House decides to hold two to three meetings in one day, then the bill could be passed within days,” Pandey said. He added that the bill would not be decided through voice voting.

Lawmakers will have to put their signatures to support or oppose the bill.

The post Amendment bill to update emblem tabled appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

NHRC deploys separate team to probe Soti incident

Kathmandu, May 31

The National Human Rights Commission has sent its own team to Jajarkot and Rukum West to probe the Soti incident where five people died and one went missing over an inter-caste marriage dispute.

The NHRC, issuing a press statement today, said the team would be led by Deputy Director Chandrakanta Chapagain. It added that the team would investigate the immediate reason behind the incident, state of caste discrimination in the area and the state of peace and security after the incident.

The rights watchdog has also said it will study the police and local government’s investigation of the case.

The constitutional body also urged all to not to instigate inhumane and criminal activities. It has asked the police, local representatives, political parties, human rights activities, civil society, and locals to support and help the investigation to instil justice and punish the guilty in the incident.

The NHRC also claimed that it had earlier conducted preliminary investigation into the incident with support from Nepal Bar Association, an umbrella organisation of lawyers, Federation of Nepali Journalists, similar organisations of Nepali journalists and the NGO Federation of Nepal.

On May 23, Nawaraj Biswokarma, 21, of Bheri Municipality, Jajarkot, along with his 18 friends, had gone to Soti village to escort a girl from the ‘Malla’ clan — the so called higher caste. The group, however, was confronted by the locals in Soti village, including ward chair Dambar Bahadur Malla and the girl’s family at 6:30pm that day. The boys were reportedly ‘beaten mercilessly’ and chased towards the Bheri River ‘forcing’ them to jump into it. Of the six youths, the bodies of five, including Nawaraj, were recovered in the past one week while one is still missing.

Meanwhile, a group of people led by leader of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal and former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai staged a protest against the incident here in the capital today.

Nationwide protest were organised across the country on the ground that the incident was instigated on the basis of caste discrimination.

The incident has also drawn the attention of international communities.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 01, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post NHRC deploys separate team to probe Soti incident appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

20 years of Royal Palace bloodbath

20 years of Royal Palace bloodbath

Kathmandu, 1 June: Today is the ill-fated day in the history of Nepal as the entire family members of King Birendra were massacred in the Royal Palace bloodbath on 1 June, 2001.

The nation lost a patriotic King and his family. The then Crown Prince Dipendra, elder son of King Birendra had opened fire at a gathering of the members of the Royal Family at Narayanhitty Royal Palace.

The People’s Review family pays heartfelt tribute to the late King Birnedra and all members of the Royal Family murdered in the Royal Palace bloodbath.

People’s News Monitoring Service  

 

Road accident claims 11 in Banke

Road accident claims 11 in Banke

Kathmandu, 1 June: 11 died, 22 injured when a microbus hit a truck in Raptisonari Rural Municipality in Banke. The accident took place when the micro bus heading towards Salyan from Nepalgunj hit a truck parked on the highway at 1 a.m. this morning. The microbus was carrying passengers returning from India to Salyan.

33 persons were traveling in the ill-fated microbus.

People’s News Monitoring Service

 

Man arrested on the charge of rape in Dang

Province 5, Dang, Shantinagar, Ward 5 - #GBV, #Children’sRights, Police on Thursday arrested 55-year-old Dallu Chaudhary of Shantinagar Rural Municipality-5 n the charge of raping a 10-year-old girl on May 26.  Police are further investigating the incident.

APF personnel open fire in air as ‘Indian smugglers’ try to enter Nepal

Kathmandu, May 31

The Armed Police Force personnel deployed for border security in the Sarlahi district of southeastern Nepal opened the fire in air after a group of Indian nationals tried to enter Nepal forcefully.

Around 30 Indians tried to cross the border into Bishnu rural municipality-2. When the security personnel tried to stop them, they tried to snatch away the arms, forcing police to open fire in the air to control the situation.

Chief District Officer Mohan Bahadur GC says they were smugglers trying to supply some goods illegally into Nepal. He, however, did not reveal what they were snuggling.

The incident occurred at around 6:00 am today.  The situation is under control now.

6-y-o dies in Dadeldhura soon after arrival, sample sent for Covid-19 testing

KATHMANDU: A six year old child who was placed in a quarantine facility in Dadeldhura district headquarters, Baghkhor, for a short while, has passed away.

The child, along with his parents, had returned home from Mumbai around midnight on Saturday and had been placed in Dadeldhura Multiple Campus that is serving as a quarantine centre. He breathed his last at around 3:00am.

The family from Nawa Durga Rural Municipality-3 of the district had entered the country via Gauriphanta border point in Dhangadhi and reached Baghkhor at around 12 last night, informed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dadhiram Neupane at District Police Office, Dadeldhura. 

An ambulance was called after the child fell seriously ill at around 3:00 am this morning and ferried him to the Dadeldhura Hospital. However, the child breathed his last on his way there, informed Medical Director Dr Jagdish Bista. 

The deceased’s throat swab specimen has been collected for PCR tests and the final rites will be performed only upon the receipt of his reports.

It has been learnt that the child had undergone treatment for Malaria at a hospital in Mumbai.

As many as 43 persons are quarantined at the aforementioned facility. 

The post 6-y-o dies in Dadeldhura soon after arrival, sample sent for Covid-19 testing appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Tear gas and burning cars in US cities as unrest continues

MINNEAPOLIS: Tense protests over the death of George Floyd and other police killings of black men grew Saturday from New York to Tulsa to Los Angeles, with police cars set ablaze and reports of injuries mounting on all sides as the country lurched toward another night of unrest after months of coronavirus lockdowns.

The protests, which began in Minneapolis following Floyd’s death Monday after a police officer pressed a knee on his neck for more than eight minutes, have left parts of the city a grid of broken windows, burned-out buildings and ransacked stores. The unrest has since become a national phenomenon as protesters decry years of deaths at police hands.

The large crowds involved, with many people not wearing masks or social distancing, raised concerns among health experts about the potential for helping spread the coronavirus pandemic at a time when overall deaths are on the decline nationwide and much of the country is in the process of reopening society and the economy.

After a tumultuous Friday night, racially diverse crowds took to the streets again for mostly peaceful demonstrations in dozens of cities from coast to coast. The previous day’s protests also started calmly, but many descended into violence later in the day.

— In Washington, growing crowds outside the White House chanted, taunted Secret Service agents and at times pushed against security barriers. President Donald Trump, who spent much of Saturday in Florida for the SpaceX rocket launch, landed on the residence’s lawn in the presidential helicopter at dusk and went inside without speaking to journalists.

— In Philadelphia, at least 13 officers were injured when peaceful protests turned violent and at least four police vehicles were set on fire. Other fires were set throughout downtown.

— In the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of a 1921 massacre of black people that left as many as 300 dead and the city’s thriving black district in ruins, protesters blocked intersections and chanted the name of Terence Crutcher, a black man killed by a police officer in 2016.

— In Tallahassee, Florida, a pickup truck drove through a crowd of protesters, sending some running and screaming as the vehicle stopped and started and at one point had a person on its hood, police said, but no serious injuries were reported. Police handcuffed the driver but did not release his name or say whether he would face charges.

— In Los Angeles, protesters chanted “Black Lives Matter,” some within inches of the face shields of officers. Police used batons to move the crowd back and fired rubber bullets. One man used a skateboard to try to break a police SUV’s windshield. A spray-painted police car burned in the street.

— And in New York City, video posted to social media showed officers using batons and shoving protesters down as they made arrests and cleared streets. Another video showed two NYPD cruisers driving into protesters who were pushing a barricade against a police car and pelting it with objects, knocking several to the ground.

“Our country has a sickness. We have to be out here,” said Brianna Petrisko, among those at lower Manhattan’s Foley Square, where most were wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. “This is the only way we’re going to be heard.”

Back in Minneapolis, the city where the protests began, 29-year-old Sam Allkija said the damage seen in recent days reflects longstanding frustration and rage in the black community.

“I don’t condone them,” he said. “But you have to look deeper into why these riots are happening.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fully mobilized the state’s National Guard and promised a massive show of force.

“The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said. “It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities.”

Soon after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into force, lines of police cars and officers in riot gear moved in to confront protesters, firing tear gas to push away throngs of people milling around the city’s 5th police precinct station. The tougher tactics came after city and state leaders were criticized for not forcefully enough confronting days of violent and damaging protests that included protesters burning down a police station shortly after officers abandoned it.

Trump tweeted Saturday night that the Guard “should have been used 2 days ago & there would not have been damage & Police Headquarters would not have been taken over & ruined. Great job by the National Guard. No games!”

Overnight curfews were imposed in more than a dozen major cities nationwide, ranging from 6 p.m. in parts of South Carolina to 10 p.m. around Ohio. People were also told to be off the streets of Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle and Minneapolis — where thousands had ignored the same order Friday night.

More than 1,400 people have been arrested in 16 cities since Thursday, with more than 500 of those happening in Los Angeles on Friday.

The unrest comes at a time when most Americans have spent months inside over concerns surrounding the coronavirus, which the president has called an “invisible enemy.” The events of the last 72 hours, seen live on national television, have shown the opposite: a sudden pivot to crowds, screaming protesters and burning buildings, a stark contrast to the empty streets of recent months.

“Quite frankly I’m ready to just lock people up,” Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said at a news conference. Demonstrations there turned violent Friday, and police were arresting protesters Saturday on blocked-off downtown streets. “Yes, you caught us off balance once. It’s not going to happen twice.”

This week’s unrest recalled the riots in Los Angeles nearly 30 years ago after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Rodney King, a black motorist who had led them on a high-speed chase. The protests of Floyd’s killing have gripped many more cities, but the losses in Minneapolis have yet to approach the staggering totals Los Angeles saw during five days of rioting in 1992, when more than 60 people died, 2,000-plus were injured and thousands arrested, with property damage topping $1 billion.

Many protesters spoke of frustration that Floyd’s death was one more in a litany. It came in the wake of the killing in Georgia of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was shot dead after being pursued by two white men while running in their neighborhood, and in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic that has thrown millions out of work, killed more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and disproportionately affected black people.

The officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck as he begged for air was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But many protesters are demanding the arrests of the three other officers involved.

Trump stoked the anger on Twitter, ridiculing people who protested outside the White House and warning that if they had breached its fence, they would “have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.”

Leaders in many affected cities have voiced outrage over Floyd’s killing and expressed sympathy for protesters’ concerns. But as the unrest intensified, they spoke of a desperate need to protect their cities and said they would call in reinforcements, despite concerns that could lead to more heavy-handed tactics.

Minnesota has steadily increased to 1,700 the number of National Guardsmen it says it needs to contain the unrest, and the governor is considering a potential offer of military police put on alert by the Pentagon.

Governors in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas also activated the National Guard after protests there turned violent overnight, while nighttime curfews were put in place in Portland, Oregon, Cincinnati and elsewhere.

Police in St. Louis were investigating the death of a protester who climbed between two trailers of a Fed Ex truck and was killed when it drove away. And a person was killed in the area of protests in downtown Detroit just before midnight after someone fired shots into an SUV, officers said. Police had initially said someone fired into the crowd from an SUV.

The post Tear gas and burning cars in US cities as unrest continues appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Xiaomi launches Mi 10, Mi Note 10 Lite

KATHMANDU: Xiaomi has announced the launch of two flagship smartphones in the Mi series in Nepal — Mi Note 10 Lite and Mi 10.

Mi 10 is the first and the latest smartphone in premium flagship in Nepal with a 108MP quad-camera setup, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform for 5G connectivity, a 3D Curved AMOLED display, a powerful 4,780mAh battery, and 30W wireless charging.

Mi Note 10 Lite offers a 6.47-inch curved AMOLED display, a versatile 64MP quad camera setup, a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G SoC and a large-capacity 5,260mAh battery.

Both products offer a selection of great features and scale new heights of premium smartphone experience, as per a media release.

Mi 10 will be available in two colour variants — Twilight grey and Coral Green in 8GB + 256GB variant at a price of Rs 89,999.

Mi Note 10 Lite is offered in 6GB + 128GB variant and three colour options: Midnight Black, Glacier White and Nebula Purple at Rs 44,999. Both phones will be available for purchase across offline stores, retail partners and online partners Daraz and Sastodeal very soon.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 31, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post Xiaomi launches Mi 10, Mi Note 10 Lite appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Toddler undergoing treatment in isolation passes away, PCR report awaited

BAJURA: A two-year-old undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of District Hospital here has passed away.

The toddler breathed his last this morning, the hospital’s chief Dr Rup Chandra Bishwakarma told THT. His swab sample has been drawn and sent to Dhangadhi based lab for PCR test, the doctor informed.

His family had arrived in the district from India eight days ago and placed in a quarantine centre at Budhiganga Municipality. The little child’s health started deteriorating on Thursday following which he was brought to the District Hospital’s isolation ward for treatment.

According to the family’s kin, the child was not faring well while on his way home from India. The deceased was running fever, had diarrhea and was experiencing difficulties with respiration. “His condition had worsened over the days. We tried our best to save the little child, but couldn’t,” the doctors involved in his treatment lamented.

The parents of the toddler too have been kept in isolation and their throat swab specimen have been sent for tests.

The post Toddler undergoing treatment in isolation passes away, PCR report awaited appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

FNCSI welcomes fiscal 2020-21 budget

Kathmandu, May 30

Small and cottage industrialists have welcomed the budget announced for the next fiscal year 2020-2021.

Issuing a statement today, the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI) has appreciated the government for addressing their issues while announcing the budget for next fiscal. Prioritising the small and cottage industries, the government has taken a step towards economic prosperity, stated the statement.

“Small and cottage industries have been requesting the government since very long to provide loans at minimum interest rate to encourage new investors. After all the effort, the government has addressed our issues announcing to provide loans to new investors at two per cent interest rate,” said Umesh P Singh, acting president of FNCSI, “The budget has announced of relief measures for the small industries affected during the lockdown period that will aid in their recovery.”

FNCSI has also welcomed the government’s announcement of income tax exemption for small and cottage industries.

“Mostly women are involved in small and cottage industries of the country. In this situation, the government’s announcement of extending income tax exemption period for women-run enterprises has encouraged women entrepreneurs. Around 11,000 women are directly involved in small and cottage industries at present,” reads the statement.

The budget has also brought programmes to promote local products of the country that will surely help small industries to grow, adds the statement.

The FNCSI, however, has said that the budget will be fruitful only if the government is able to effectively implement all the announced measures.

“Agriculture, small and cottage industries, hotels and tourism sector have been badly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s announcement on tax exemption, discount on utility bills, arrangement of loans at low interest rates are some of the positive sides of the budget,” reads the statement.

Prior to this, the government had only been prioritising big industries and this is the first time that it has addressed almost all the demands of small industries, said FNCSI Acting President Singh.

He further added that the FNCSI will soon meet the government officials to discuss effective implementation of the budget.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 31, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post FNCSI welcomes fiscal 2020-21 budget appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Global coronavirus cases surpass 6 million

Global coronavirus cases surpassed 6 million on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally, as Latin America reported a grim milestone of 50,000 deaths from the disease.

Countries such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico are struggling to stem the spread of the virus, which initially peaked in China in February before large-scale outbreaks followed in Europe and the United States.

The COVID-19 respiratory illness has claimed more than 367,000 lives worldwide, though the true number is thought to be higher as testing is still limited and many countries do not include fatalities outside of hospitals.

The first 41 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 10 and it took the world until April 1 to reach its first million cases. Since then, about 1 million new cases are reported every two weeks, according to a Reuters tally.

The pandemic has claimed more than 367,000 lives worldwide, though the true number is believed to be higher because testing is still limited and many countries do not include fatalities outside of hospitals.

Despite the continued increase in cases, many countries are opening schools and workplaces following weeks of unprecedented lockdowns that have stemmed the spread of the disease – but also hammered economies and thrown millions out of work.

Graphic – Tracking the novel coronavirus in the U.S.: here

Graphic – Where coronavirus cases are rising in the United States: here

Graphic – World-focused tracker with country-by-country interactive: here

The post Global coronavirus cases surpass 6 million appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

‘Intensify monitoring to curb black-marketing’

Kathmandu, 31 May : Consumer rights activists have demanded the government to intensify its market monitoring mechanism and take stringent action against black-marketers.

According to the activists, there has been artificial shortage of daily essentials in the market and black-marketing to rampant despite adequate stock. They have brushed aside the argument of whole-seller and retailer traders that hurdles in transporting goods to the market might the reason for unavailability goods.

People’s News Monitoring Service

Constitution amendment bill to be tabled in House today

Kathmandu, May 31

The government is tabling the constitution amendment bill in the House of Representatives on Sunday.

The government has recently registered the bill in order to revise the national emblem as per a new political map of the country.

The tabling was listed on the agenda of the House last week but was withdrawn at the last hour as all the parties in the House did not unanimously extend their support to the bill. The Federal Parliament Secretariat has put it on the agenda for the meeting today after the main opposition, Nepali Congress, decided to vote for the amendment.

The bill needs a two-thirds majority backing to get endorsed from both houses of parliament. The ruling Nepal Communist Party alone falls short of this requirement in the Lower House.

Meanwhile, the People’s Socialist Party Nepal is undecided whether to support the bill.

Double disaster: Will monsoon floods threaten Nepal’s Covid-19 fight?

The entire world is fighting against the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, and Nepal is no more different. The outbreak has created a global health crisis on an unprecedented scale for the living generation. This crisis has highly affected all economies of the world.

Nepal country is in lockdown and the impacts of Covid-19 are being felt by all; but the most vulnerable in our societies are the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. These groups are suddenly dealing with the double burden as they attempt to feed their families and make a living while also trying to avoid getting affected by the virus. The situation is getting harsh in these communities. They have now begun to wonder what happens if another disaster (flood) strikes.

Generally, in Nepal, the monsoon starts in June and lasts until September. Being an agricultural country, the monsoon rain is an essential part of national life; it is significant for the purpose of farming. But, at present, with increasing climate impacts, the intensity, duration, and timing of the monsoon have been highly affected. Hence, it brings unpredictable consequences.

File: A flood in Bhotekoshi River

Floods are an annual affair in Nepal as the country receives more than 80 per cent of annual rainfall in a few months of the monsoon. Unplanned urban structures and many embankments constructed near Nepal-India border regions are some core causes of floods in Nepal. In 2019, the monsoon started in the third week of June, and the country received the heaviest rainfall of the decade a month later. It caused heavy floods in different parts of the country, mainly lowland villages in Province 1, 2, and 3. The 2019 floods temporarily displaced 68,666 people of almost 12,000 households. This data clearly shows how severe danger the communities will face when flood hazard preparedness is not done on time.

So, if the similar flood hazards were to occur in 2020, while all the attention remains focused on fighting Covid-19, what would this mean for the many Nepalis who are vulnerable to flood? The situation will surely get even more complicated.

Meanwhile, if the flooding occurs, restriction on movement due to Covid-19 could be deadly as community members usually move to safer areas for food, shelter, health service, and security. The usual response to the displacement of thousands of people affected by floods is providing temporary shelters in schools or community centres. Hence, the inability to practise social distancing in these places could be a major cause for more transmission of the virus which further could cause the emergency in the whole country. Also, the flooding could cause the rise of other waterborne diseases like diarrhoea. It will be misfortunate as the entire health service is focused on Covid-19.

File; Floodwater enters human settlement in Bhaktapur, on Thursday, July 12, 2018.

So a proper plan is a must in order to fight multiple disasters at the same time.

Central, provincial and local authorities, primarily, must focus on understanding sectoral needs and guideline in response to the crisis. The Nepal Government must put a contingency plan in place to fight the disasters. The local government should focus on developing mechanisms such as a community disaster management committee, which generally involves the locals who have received the disaster risk management training. Also, the government should regularly coordinate with India in order to stop the unofficial construction of small embankments as they cause the blockage of flow resulting in a flood.

It is clear that the response activities this monsoon should maintain social distancing, the only way to fight Covid-19.

Dahal is a civil engineer.

NEA to launch mobile app on Tuesday

Kathmandu, May 30

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has developed a mobile application whereby any customer can read the electricity meter installed at their house and pay their bill online.

This new initiative has been developed by the power utility due to the fear of the coronavirus infection spreading and nationwide lockdown as a result of which NEA meter readers have not been able to visit customers’ houses to do the needful.

Customers will soon be able to download the application through which they can read their meters and pay the bill online, informed Kul Man Ghising, managing director of NEA.

“All customers are requested to pay the tariff online by reading the meter themselves and get a discount on timely payment,” he said, adding, “Before reading the meter, the customer has to go through some technical processes on the app.”

At present, three types of meters are installed in customers’ houses. Ghising said that meter reading should be done based on that. “The payment process can be started by entering the first four digits of the meter on the application,” he added.

As per him, NEA is going to introduce the mobile application from Tuesday to make its service more convenient and effective. Ghising further claimed that after the online technology is introduced, it will be easier for customers to read the meters and make payments.

To use this app, customers need to first register their details. After that, customers can log in by entering their mobile number and password.

According to Ghising, customers need to enter their actual meter number in the online meter reading system. If there is any misuse in the current meter number, action will be taken as per the Distribution Regulations of NEA.

At present, NEA has about four million customers across the nation. Of these, 40 per cent are industrial and the rest are domestic and other customers. As the industrial estates are completely closed, the online meter reading system is likely to be used only for households or other groups.

NEA is working to digitise all the activities connected with the customers. In the next phase, areas including power houses, substations and load centres will also be automated, said Ghising.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 31, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post NEA to launch mobile app on Tuesday appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Action plan to address problems of women, children and senior citizens

Kathmandu, May 30

The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has developed an action plan to address the problems facing women, children, differently-abled persons and senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown imposed by the government.

The objectives of the action plan are to provide emergency services to women, children, differently-abled persons and senior citizens; prevent potential violence and discrimination against them; mobilise resources of national and international non-governmental organisation through one-door system; establish and mobilise a joint mechanism of all three levels of the government for preparedness, response and recovery of beneficiaries during the pandemic; prepare and implement transformational programmes to translate challenges into opportunities and develop and implement proportional inclusive standard for providing relief to the beneficiaries.

The action plan envisions a 16-member steering committee led by the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens to respond to the problems of women, children, differently-abled persons and senior citizens, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 pandemic and its social impacts.

The committee includes representatives from the Ministry of Social Development of all seven provinces, National Planning Commission, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and other organisations.

Functions, duties and powers of the committee are to mobilise national and international social organisations affiliated to the Social Welfare Council; make arrangements for necessary budget for providing relief to beneficiaries; maintain coordination among governmental and non-governmental organisations; make recommendation to the Government of Nepal and concerned agencies with regard to relief for the beneficiaries; form and mobilise provincial, district and local level coordination committees for attainment of the objectives of the action plan; raise public awareness against COVID-19 and provide relief with special focus on women, children, senior citizens, differently-abled persons, single women, LGBTs, pregnant and lactating women, helpless persons and patients from remote areas.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 31, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post Action plan to address problems of women, children and senior citizens appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Trump postpones G7 summit, seeks to add countries to invitation list

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would postpone a Group of Seven summit he had hoped to hold next month until September or later and expand the list of invitees to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his return to Washington from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Trump said the G7, which groups the world’s most advanced economies, was a “very outdated group of countries” in its current format.

“I’m postponing it because I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Trump said.

It was unclear whether Trump’s desire to invite the additional countries was a bid to permanently expand the G7. On several previous occasions, he suggested Russia be added, given what he called Moscow’s global strategic importance.

Russia was expelled from what was then the G8 in 2014 when Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, was US president, after Moscow annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine. Russia still holds the territory, and various G7 governments have rebuffed previous calls from Trump to readmit Moscow.

White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said Trump wants the countries to discuss China at the summit.

Trump has attacked Beijing over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, and on Friday he ordered his administration to begin the process of ending special U.S. treatment for Hong Kong in retaliation for China’s decision to impose a new security law on the former British colony.

The decision to postpone the G7 summit is a retreat for Trump, who had sought to host the group of major industrialized countries in Washington as a demonstration that the United States was returning to normal after the coronavirus epidemic, which has killed more than 103,000 Americans to date.

Trump had canceled an in-person G7 meeting scheduled for March as the virus spread, but had recently sought to revive it.

French President Emmanuel Macron backed the idea of an in-person meeting, according to the White House, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to endorse it, saying there were too many health-related questions. This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she could not attend.

South Korea is aware of Trump’s invitation and will discuss the matter with the United States, a government official in Seoul told Reuters on Sunday.

The G7 groups the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada, and the European Union also attends.

The post Trump postpones G7 summit, seeks to add countries to invitation list appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

NHRC urges to stop arbitrary arrests

Kathmandu, 31 May : the National Human Rights Commission has urged the government to stop arresting people frequently in an arbitrary manner against the order issued by the Supreme Court from time to time.

Spokesperson of the constitutional body Bed Prasad Bhattarai, issuing a press statement on Saturday has said that the commission’s attention was drawn to the frequently arbitrary arrest of Chakra Bahadur Khatri of Halesi Tuwachung Municipality-2 of Khotang.

NHRC has urged to  respect and protect the human right of the person and to ensure rule of law by immediately halting people in an arbitrary manner against the orders of the apex court.

People’s News Monitoring Service

NHRC concerned about CPN leader’s arrest

Kathmandu, May 30

The National Human Rights Commission has expressed serious concern about arbitrary and frequent arrests of Chakra Bahadur Khatri of Khotang district, a leader of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal.

Issuing a press statement today, the rights body said the government was responsible for making the condition of Khatri unknown even to his family, meting out inhumane treatment to him and refusing to abide by frequent orders of the Supreme Court.

The NHRC said that it had corresponded with the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking clarification on the issue within 24 hours.

According to the NHRC, Khatri was last arrested on May 28 from Khotang and taken to Siraha through Udayapur and Solukhumbu the following day. It was his sixth arrest in the past one year.

“Arbitrary arrest of a citizen perpetrated by the Government of Nepal, local administration and police is against the fundamental rights guaranteed by articles 17, 20 and 126 of the constitution.

It is also in contravention of legal rights enshrined in sections 10, 200 and 202 of the new penal code,” read the statement issued by the rights body.

The rights body has also called on the government to end the tendency of making arbitrary arrest of a citizen against the constitutional and legal provisions and orders of the apex court, while respecting human rights and guaranteeing the presence of law in the state.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 31, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post NHRC concerned about CPN leader’s arrest appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Rajbiraj-based hospital to begin tests for coronavirus

Rajbiraj, May 30

Considering the increasing number of coronavirus patients in the province, Province 2 government has decided to set-up a laboratory for conducting tests for COVID-19 in Saptari headquarters Rajbiraj.

Rajbiraj-based Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital is all set to begin the coronavirus tests. After providing a PCR machine to the hospital, the provincial government also provided Rs five million rupees for the manpower required to conduct lab-tests.

Handing over a cheque bearing Rs five million rupees to the hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Chumanlal Das today, Province 2 Social Development Minister Nawal Kishor Sah asked health workers present at the hospital to work with high morale. “The provincial government is committed to helping the hospital with necessary equipment and fund to control the pandemic and address the concerns of health workers. We want health workers to work without any worries,” he said.

Upon receiving the monetary assistance, Dr Das thanked the provincial government and vowed to start testing from tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Minister Sah today handed over a Rs 2.5 million cheque to Nepali Army’s Bhim Dal Battalion for construction and management of an isolation ward. Due to lack of an isolation facility, 22 COVID-19 infected persons have been kept in separate rooms of quarantine facilities set up at different schools in Rajbiraj, Bodebarsain and Dakneshwori.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 31, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post Rajbiraj-based hospital to begin tests for coronavirus appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

The grandeur and the squalor

The grandeur and the squalor

By K. C. Bhatt

One of the misleading notions one might acquire while growing up on a significant doze of literature in English is that the life has to be often full of grand things to keep one engaged.

Even English people shy away from their literature which depicts the poverty and its ills in their society, like that of Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence, or the other kind which harangues people to carry out a revolution immediately, like the one created by the likes of George Orwell.

It was a time when people suffered famines mainly because the landlords living in or around the London city shipped away most of the grains produced in English countryside which they owned.

During this time someone like Charles Dickens created a work which did not entirely harp on the glory of the daily life in England but presented it in a way that it was not as heart breaking as the work of Thomas Hardy or D.H. Lawrence.

Then colonialism became a resounding success and the wealth started to reach even to the people on the margins of the margin in England. Now the need of glamour becomes overwhelming in English literature. Things and people were grand and the life never lacked grandeur. The life depicted by Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence appeared belonging to some very distant times.

Either the writers now were influenced to write things to celebrate the new imperial English grandeur or vilified enough to fall silent like Thomas Hardy.

In order to feel that power of being English strange rituals and codes were adopted by the colonials while living in a colony. The writers like George Orwell mocking these consciously acquired eccentricities had short, penurious and restless lives.

Since colonialism has be institutionalized like everything British, to the extent that the subjects would accept it as something preordained, anything that raised questions about the need and effect of colonialism was dealt with severely.

So becoming a champion imperialist became the vogue not only for the native English writers like Rudyard Kipling and so many others who wrote while serving in the colonies, but even for the writers from the colonial subjects like V.S. Naipaul and Nirad Chaudhary.

Having acquired the English sensibilities through the education English has imparted, the need of grandeur was more acute for these native writers from the colonies writing in English. These therefore went on to denounce their kins for everything in their existence — as it fell far short of being English.

Looking from this point of view the life was pointless if it was not aspiring to be as English as it was in the nineteenth century when the British colonial glory was at its peak. Some non British English writers have gone to the extent of assailing the British writers who failed to celebrate the British colonial glory and its superiority over all other nations.

Life has moved on since the colonialism started to retreat after the second world  war — but the way money flies to the former great colonial powers even today, one cannot be sure if colonialism is really over.

This ironical situation is more clearly depicted in literature currently produced by the publishing industry which is owned by only five media houses the world over. In fact they control almost everything that is printed today including the newspapers.

While a breed of non British people writing in English has mushroomed greatly, the content they produce has never given up the pursuit of glamour in life which is so British in essence. The squalor — as appears to a foreign eye — that is so obviously present around one rarely finds a way in the contemporary literature.

As for the Britain itself, the recent popular literature from there is either Mommy porn or occult. Anything closer to life is extremely rare and unwelcome there, it seems.

The writer can be reached at: kcbhatt@gmail.com

 

OHCHR seeks independent probe into Soti incident

Kathmandu, May 30

Expressing concern over two separate incidents — death of five young Dalits and a 13-year-old Dalit girl’s rape and subsequent death — the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for independent investigation.

The OHCHR expressed concern about the Soti incident and murder of a girl in Devdaha of Rupandehi.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said, “It is distressing that caste-based prejudices remain deeply entrenched in our world in the 21st century, and I am filled with sadness for these two young people who held high hopes of building a life together despite the obstacles presented by their accident of birth,” in a press statement issued from Geneva.

On May 23, Nawaraj Biswokarma, 21, of Bheri Municipality of Jajarkot District along with his 18 friends had gone to Soti village to escort a girl from the so called ‘higher class’, to marry her. The girl and the boy were in love and had decided to elope.

The group however, was, confronted by the locals in Soti village, including ward Chair Dambar Bahadur Malla and the girl’s family at around 6:30pm that day. The boys were reportedly ‘beaten mercilessly’ and chased towards the Bheri River ‘forcing’ them to jump into it. Of them, the bodies of five youths, including that of Nawaraj, were found on the following days, while authorities are still struggling to recover the body of one missing youth.

A search team deployed by Nepal Police had found the body of Sandip Biswokarma,17, from the river on May 27. The body of Lokendra Sunar,18, was found on May 26. Bodies of Nawaraj and Tikaram Sunar were found the day after the incident while Ganesh Budha’s body was found two days later. Govinda Shahi,17, who had also jumped into the river is still missing. Everyone except Ganesh and Govinda are Dalits.

In another incident that took place in the Tarai region of eastern Nepal in Rupandehi district, 13-year-old Angira Pasi, a Dalit girl, who was allegedly raped on May 22, was found hanging from a tree the next day. Locals had forced the rapist to marry the girl on the day she was raped.

Bachelet in the statement stressed that Nepal was a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, one of the core international human rights treaties. “After its last review in May 2018, the Committee tasked with monitoring the treaty observed that despite abolition of untouchability in Nepal, Dalits continued to face deep-rooted discrimination,” read the statement.

The official added that the coronavirus pandemic has made the underprivileged communities more vulnerable.

---

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 29, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.

The post OHCHR seeks independent probe into Soti incident appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

NASA resumes human spaceflight from US soil with historic SpaceX launch

CAPE CANAVERAL: SpaceX, the private rocket company of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, launched two Americans into orbit from Florida on Saturday in a landmark mission marking the first spaceflight of NASA astronauts from US soil in nine years.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT), launching Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a 19-hour ride aboard the company’s newly designed Crew Dragon capsule bound for the International Space Station.

Just before liftoff, Hurley said, “SpaceX, we’re go for launch. Let’s light this candle,” paraphrasing the famous comment uttered on the launch pad in 1961 by Alan Shepard, the first American flown into space.

Minutes after launch, the first-stage booster rocket of the Falcon 9 separated from the upper second-stage rocket and flew itself back to Earth to descend safely onto a landing platform floating in the Atlantic.

High above the Earth, the Crew Dragon jettisoned moments later from the second-stage rocket, sending the capsule on its way to the space station.

The exhilarating spectacle of the rocket soaring flawlessly into the heavens came as a welcome triumph for a nation gripped by racially-charged civil unrest as well as ongoing fear and economic upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Falcon 9 took off from the same launch pad used by NASA‘s final space shuttle flight, piloted by Hurley, in 2011. Since then, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.

“It’s incredible, the power, the technology,” said U.S. President Donald Trump, who was at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida for the launch. “That was a beautiful sight to see.”

The mission’s first launch attempt on Wednesday was called off with less than 17 minutes remaining on the countdown clock. Weather again threatened Saturday’s launch, but cleared in time to proceed with the mission.

SPACEFLIGHT MILESTONES

NASA chief Jim Bridenstine has said resuming launches of American astronauts on American-made rockets from U.S. soil is the space agency’s top priority.

“I’m breathing a sigh of relief, but I will also tell you I’m not gonna celebrate until Bob and Doug are home safely.” Bridenstine said.

For Musk, the launch represents another milestone for the reusable rockets his company pioneered to make spaceflight less costly and more frequent. And it marks the first time commercially developed space vehicles – owned and operated by a private entity rather than NASA – have carried Americans into orbit.

The last time NASA launched astronauts into space aboard a brand new vehicle was 40 years ago at the start of the space shuttle program.

Musk, the South African-born high-tech entrepreneur who made his fortune in Silicon Valley, is also chief executive of electric carmaker and battery manufacturer Tesla Inc. He founded Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, in 2002.

Hurley, 53, and Behnken, 49, NASA employees under contract to fly with SpaceX, are expected to remain at the space station for several weeks, assisting a short-handed crew aboard the orbital laboratory.

Boeing Co, producing its own launch system in competition with SpaceX, is expected to fly its CST-100 Starliner vehicle with astronauts aboard for the first time next year. NASA has awarded nearly $8 billion combined to SpaceX and Boeing for development of their rival rockets.

Trump also hailed the launch as a major advance toward the goal of eventually sending humans to Mars.

He was joined at the viewing by Musk, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz and Senator Rick Scott.

Earlier on Saturday, the crew bid goodbye to their families. Prior to climbing into a specially designed Tesla automobile for the ride to the launch site, Behnken told his young son, “Be good for mom. Make her life easy.”

During the drive, Behnken and Hurley passed former astronaut Garrett Reisman who held a sign saying, “Take me with you.”

The post NASA resumes human spaceflight from US soil with historic SpaceX launch appeared first on The Himalayan Times.