KATHMANDU: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) said it will install around 8,000 street lights in major road sections in Kathmandu.

The KMC will start installing the lights from next month, KMC spokesperson Ishwor Man Dangol informed. The lights will be set up along the Tripureshwor-Chakrapath, Kalanki-Airport, and Thapathali-Kamalpokhari section of the roads. Dangol informed that the KMC has set aside Rs50 million for the project.

The installation of the lights is expected to facilitate people’s movement at night as well as to minimize road accidents and robberies.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu is preparing to install CCTV cameras in various areas of the capital. According to the Range, the KMC has released Rs30 million for the project.

KATHMANDU: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Monday filed a case of corruption at the Special Court against Umesh Kumar Thakur, the then accountant of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) at the Ratnapark distribution center.

The CIAA has charged Thakur of embezzling amount worth Rs 5.2 million.

The CIAA investigation found that he had used fake bills and vouchers to misuse government funds. He has also been alleged of influencing an internal probe committee formed by the NEA to look into reports of embezzlement worth ten million rupees.

DHADING: One person died and four others injured in a mini-truck accident at Tilar, Tripurasundari Rural Municipality-4 in Dhading district today.

The deceased has been identified as Arjun Bhujel, 27, of Tripurasundari Rural Municipality-7 of the district.

The mini-truck (Ga 1 Kha 5959), loaded with stones, was en route to Karki Gaun from Khahare of Tripurasundari Rural Municipality when it fell some 15 meters down the road at 10:30 this morning, police said.

Among the injured is the mini-truck driver Rajesh Bhandari, 28, of Tripurasundari-4. He has suffered injuries on his head and back. Likewise, Tilak Shrestha, 25, of Tripurasundari-7 has suffered a fracture on his right leg. Both of them have been sent to the Trauma Centre in Kathmandu for treatment.

District Police Office, Dhading has deployed a team of police to investigate into the accident case.

KATHMANDU: Amid speculations that CK Raut’s signing of the 11-point agreement with the government was a mere hoodwink, a national council meeting of the Alliance for Independent Madhes (AIM) not only decided to join the mainstream politics, but also changed the party’s name to ‘Janamat Party’.

A two-day meeting held in Lahan of Siraha from Sunday participated by over 150 representatives decided to change the name of the party while terming the 11-point agreement as a historic and significant achievement of the Madhesi people.

A day after signing the agreement with the government on March 8, Raut flew to Janakpur where he was given a hero’s welcome by his supporters shouting slogans of ‘Free Madesh’. In the agreement, he had agreed to accept Nepal’s territorial integrity.

Earlier on Sunday, to everyone’s surprise, the meeting started by playing the national anthem ‘Sayaun thunga phulka hami…’.

The two-day meeting deliberated on the 11-point agreement signed between the then AIM and the government.

Likewise, the party has also decided to ‘move ahead’ abiding by Nepal’s constitution and its territorial integrity.

The flag of the new party will be a tri-color party flag with red, white and green vertical strips with a red octagon symbol on the white strip. The central working committee headed by Raut will have 35 members, the party said.

OKHALDHUNGA: Okhaldhunga Community Hospital has made a mandatory rule of banning the sale and distribution of alcohol in its surrounding areas.

The hospital has declared an alcohol free zone in the area around 500 meters with the initiative of Lalupate Club and District Police Office. Action would be taken against them if anyone is found selling and consuming the liquor, hospital authorities said.

Although the campaign was launched five years ago, it is yet to be effective. The campaign has been revived by the District Police Office with the coordination of the Club with increased monitoring at Sobru area.

Chief at District Police Office, Pushpa Raj Malla, said that they have strictly implemented the rule after holding discussions with entrepreneurs and local leaders of the area in the presence of club members and people’s representatives.

Malla said, “We have been taking initiative to control alcohol-related incidents in view of the violent and illegal activities in the district lately.”

The local Lalupate Club has been brought into operation with the support of Okhaldhunga Community Hospital for eight years at Sobru. The Club, run by 16 people, has facilitated the treatment of more than 175 persons indulged in addiction.

BIRATNAGAR: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Upendra Yadav today said he has not thought of quitting the government immediately.

Speaking to journalists in Biratnagar today, Minister Yadav said his party would continue to serve from within the government.

On the occasion, he justified the government’s decision to ban the activities of the Biplab-led faction saying that it was the duty of the government. He said no group, in any pretext, will be allowed to terrorize people.

In another context, Minister Yadav, who is also the Chairperson of Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal, asserted that the term ‘referendum’ has not been mentioned anywhere in the agreement with CK Raut adding that referendum and people’s mandate are two different terms.

KATHMANDU: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota today dismissed claims that the new information technology bill was aimed at curtailing people’s rights to expression.

Minister Baskota said the bill was brought to manage digital medium adding that the bill does not question the rights to expression. He added that the bill was brought to develop digital signature.

According to him, the bill aims at discouraging cyber bullies and crimes as well as curbing the flow of indecent contents on the internet.

Speaking at a program in the capital today, Minister Baskota said operation of social media without registration, and those media posing threat to national independence and social security would be banned.

Minister Baskota also stated that social networks like Google, Facebook and Twitter have evaded tax in Nepal. “Therefore, they have to be made systematic,” he added.

KATHMANDU: Rastriya Janata Party (RJP)-Nepal lawmakers obstructed Sunday’s parliamentary proceedings demanding the government to release the report prepared by Girish Chandra Lal commission.

The probe commission was formed to investigate into the alleged cases of human rights violations during the Madhes agitations.

No sooner had the session commenced, the RJP-Nepal lawmakers stood from their respective seats as a gesture of protest. The lawmakers said they would not allow the parliamentary session to run until the report was made public.

Party lawmaker Laxman Lal Karna demanded that the report be unveiled immediately.

The commission was formed by the erstwhile Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur-led government on September 18, 2016 to probe into the Tharuhat and Madhes agitation. According to RJP-N lawmakers, the commission has already submitted the report to the government on February 12, 2018.

KATHMANDU: The government has stepped up security measures alongside scrutinizing the activities of the Biplab-led faction.

The Home Ministry has intensified surveillance on the group’s activities after the government announced the Biplab-led group as a criminal and violent outfit.

Security organs, including the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force Nepal and the National Investigation Department (NID) have adopted high alertness following the government’s directives.

According to police spokesperson Uttam Raj Subedi, high alertness has been maintained in all districts. Subedi informed that security personnel, who have been deputed for security of designated personalities, have also been directed to adopt high alertness.

The government last week announced the faction as a criminal group and decided to take action against any organization, group or person involved with it.

Likewise, the Home Ministry has issued a 35-day notice on March 15 to the group to submit all illegal weapons to the government.

KATHMANDU: On March 6, police raided a house at Kapilvastu and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including an SMG rifle, bullet, magazine, and a pistol.

Prior to this, police acting on intelligence input confiscated illegal arms from Itahari and Pokhara stored in a house.

Police suspect that these illegal arms are intended to be used to intensify bombing as well as kidnapping operations in the country.

They have been using the arms to extort money, getting huge contracts, killing or poaching of endangered animals, kidnapping or demanding ransom, and carrying out illicit trade, among others.

“It is high time that the government stepped up vigilance and security measures to counter the use of illegal weapons,” Jay Bahadur Chand, a former additional inspector of police said.

He said that such a tendency could even lead to the possibility of misuse of legal arms. The use of illegal arms has been a growing problem in the country.

Police suspect that people with criminal background acquiring a license to possess arms has seen a rise with several of them changing their behavior and seeking out arms in a different manner.

They have been using the arms to extort money, getting huge contracts, killing or poaching of endangered animals, kidnapping or demanding ransom, and carrying out illicit trade, among others.

Says Uttam Raj Subedi, spokesperson of Nepal Police, “These weapons fuel criminal activities while spawning a culture of violence. Reports suggest ninety-five percent of the criminal activities in the country have been carried out by using such weapons.”

After the downfall of the Ranas in 1950, the government passed a law aimed at controlling the use of arms forbidding license to citizens for possessing small arms. However, during the Panchayat regime, some influential people having nexus with the palace started possessing small arms.

Currently, Nepali citizens can legally possess 12 bore guns along with one hundred bullets, 22-bore guns with 200 round bullets, and air-guns only.

The number of such ‘influential people’ acquiring license to possess small arms increased significantly after the restoration of democracy in 1990. The then cabinet authenticated the possession of such arms to a few influential and high-ranking individuals citing ‘security reasons’.

Currently, Nepali citizens can legally possess 12 bore guns along with one hundred bullets, 22-bore guns with 200 round bullets, and air-guns only.

However, the Home Ministry does not have the actual data of how many people have obtained the license to possess guns in the last three years. According to a Home Ministry statistics, a total of 34 thousand 314 arms, including pistol, revolver, improvised or home-made, and other guns have been found to be registered until 2015.

According to Ram Prasad Acharya, Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, a total of 11 thousand registered arms are in Kathmandu alone. He said the number of people applying for a license is overwhelmingly on a rise.

If the number of license seekers and arms possessors is to be considered, it will exceed the number of security forces in the country. Most of the arms make their way into the people’s hands and are made in the USA, Singapore, United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany.

According to Home Ministry data, a significant number of industrialists, political leaders, upper-class people, a few dons and political cadres are found to be possessing arms legally.

Likewise, all banks have acquired the license to possess guns. Each bank can own five to eight guns, according to the Home Ministry.

According to the Arms and Ammunition Act, any person wanting to acquire the license should submit an application in the prescribed form to the Chief District Officer (CDO).

However, the CDO may issue the license only if he/she deems it appropriate to issue the license with the prescribed terms and conditions.