NAWALPARASI: Two motorcyclists died after a tanker hit their motorcycle they were riding at Danda along the East-West Highway in East Nawalparasi on Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Yubaraj Ghimire and Pitambar Pathak of Nawalparasi, said police.
The incident took place when the tanker, Ba 3 Kha 9158, carrying milk, hit the motorcycle, Ba 28 Pa 2031, along the East-West Highway in Kawasoti Municipality.
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Army and US Army are organizing a joint military training at the upper area of Mustang district, near the Chinese border. Military personnel from Mahavir Battalion (Ranger) of the Nepal Army and the US Army are taking part in the joint military training under the Indo-Pacific Command, according to NA source.
A total of 48 military personnel, including seven from the US Amy, are taking part in the three-week-long military exercise that will conclude next week.
The US Embassy in Kathmandu has stated that these types of joint military exercises will help in strengthening the military and friendly ties between the two countries along with the exchange and development of defense skill and knowledge.
KATHMANDU: The Press Council Nepal has enlisted five media as disobedient for violating code of conduct. Upon the complaint lodged by the victims for publishing baseless news, defamation or violating journalist code of conduct in different ways, the Council had sought a clarification from ‘Weeky Rajdhani Astha’, ‘Nada times weekly (Kaski, later named Nada express), “Swaraj Weekly’, ‘Fast times daily (Sunsari) and Gorkhapatra daily (Kathmandu).
The media, however, ignored the approach from the council and have been enlisted in the category of disobedient as per article 7 of the Journalist Code of Conduct, 2016. This article facilitates the Council to list any media as disobedient and making public the details of the action taken for condemning the journalist or media house ignoring the decision or directives of the Council.
KATHMANDU: Never had Myanmar’s Mohammad Sayed, 21, thought he would be languishing in an abysmal condition in the hastily built camps in Kathmandu’s Kapan. He recalls the day when he, along with his family members and friends, fled his homeland following a military crackdown on ethnic minorities, Rohingyas.
Photos: Krishna Khatri/Khabarhub
“I can’t explain how we were forced to leave the country,” he told Khabarhub reminiscing those horrible moments back in 2017. “In fact, we were treated as second-class citizens there,” he recalls subtly adding, “We escaped brutal killing by the military there.”
Sayed and his family fled the country saving themselves from the ‘cruel clutches’ of the Myanmar military, entered Nepal via Bangladesh, India, and reached Kathmandu. “In fact, I had never heard about Nepal where I am today,” he quips.
Twenty-eight-year-old Rafik Alam’s plight is no lesser than Sahid. “Imagine how we toddled for five days to reach Biratnagar without food,” he recalls his bitter experience. Alam, too, was unaware that there existed a sovereign country called Nepal. Alam is worried about his three sisters’ whereabouts. “I don’t know where and how my three sisters, who have been separated while fleeing, are doing?” he raises concern.
Most of the Rohingya families, currently languishing in the shelters in Kapan area of Kathmandu, have been separated with their family members. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), around 650 are spread out over Nepal though the exact numbers are yet to come.
Nuru Aamin’s sufferings are no less. “The military burnt my house into ashes before my eyes. They killed my wife before my eyes, confiscated my properties,” he shares with a shuddered throat. Aamin has more to share. He and some of his family members were able to escape empty-handed. “They did not spare my brothers,” he shared.
Photos: Krishna Khatri/Khabarhub
Moh. Ayas, 37, too, is unaware of the whereabouts of his two sisters and a brother. Currently, he lives with his wife, parents and a son in Kapan.
Sayed, Alam and others are representative figures. The ministry has not taken initiative to find out the exact number of the Rohungya refugees in Nepal.
Majority of the Rohingya refugees want to be repatriated to their homeland. “We are waiting to go back with dignity and respect. We don’t want to stay in Nepal,” they said unanimously. However, they said the Myanmar government has to return their land and property.
Nepal government’s policy
Meanwhile, the Government of Nepal, which has given refugee status to Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees, is not in a mood to give the status to Rohingyas, who are also languishing in several camps of Bangladesh. The Rohingyas have been facing aversion in Bangladesh as well and are at times accused of carrying out terrorism activities there.
Rohingyas
The Rohingyas, who live majorly in Rakhine of Myanmar, are not recognized as citizens of the country. Reason: It has been said that they were brought to Myanmar as laborers by the British during their rule. The Myanmar government has been alleged of carrying out ethnic cleansing by forcing them to leave the country in one pretext or the other. It has been said that the discrimination against Rohingyas is because of the difference in religious faith since more than 80 percent in the country follow Buddhism.
Photos: Krishna Khatri/Khabarhub
BUTWAL: Secretary-General of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that there is no dispute within the party on Venezuela case.
Speaking at a program in the district on Sunday, leader Paudel asserted that there is no point to comment further in the case as the party has already endorsed the statement issued by the party chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
In another context, leader Paudel opined that the government should always welcome the constructive suggestions positively regarding its activities.
HUMLA: Flights to Simikot Airport in Humla were disrupted on Sunday due to snowstorm in the district. According to Chief District Officerof Humla, Madhav Prasad Dhungana the flights were disrupted since the runway was covered with snow.
Nepal Army and the Armed Police Force personnel and airport employees worked the whole day to clear the runway. Passengers were stranded due to the forced closure of the airport. Dhungana informed that it might take another two days to clear the runway for operating the flights.
Meanwhile, snowstorm in Humla blew away roofs of over one dozen schools, including the Simkot-based Mansarobar Secondary School.
KATHMANDU: The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) has blacklisted a total of 67 foreign companies hiring Nepali migrant workers.
The Department took action against them following complaints lodged by migrant workers, according to Dilip Kumar Chapagain, the director general at the DoFE.
Malaysian companies among those blacklisted top the list, taking the total number to 52 while the other companies are from Saudi Arab, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Acting on complaints from Nepali migrants, right organization, and Nepal’s missions, the DoFE decided to this effect accusing the companies of not complying with the contract signed with them. That means the department now will not issue labor permits to these companies.
“Even the diplomatic missions at the destination countries where the companies operate are notified of the action against them,” said Chapagain.
The black listed companies belong to Malaysia, Saudi Arab, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, among others.
A record maintained by the Department shows that over 2,000 workers were in trouble at the destination countries due to negligence on the part of the labor destination countries. The Department has already rescued over 50 migrant distraught workers from abroad.
KAVRE: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota has urged all concerned to refrain from interfering in government activities. Speaking while laying the foundation stone of Panchakanya Temple in Banepa on Sunday, Minister Baskota said that the government is engaged in carrying out development activities, and is committed to accomplishing the development projects gradually.
Maintaining that the constitution has guaranteed basic rights of the Nepali people, he claimed that it would also help in achieving the national goal of ‘Happy Nepalis and Prosperous Nepal.’
KATHMANDU: Weather in Kathmandu improved today after three days of rainfall and snowfall in areas around the capital city.
According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather will remain partly cloudy in the western region along with eastern and central hilly regions. Weather in the rest of the country will remain clear.
KATHMANDU: Issues facing forestry ranging from conservation to infrastructure development were discussed amidst a program organized at Pavilion Media Hall at Durbar Marg today.
“Land ownership of the forest area cannot be handed over to the communities or an organization,” remarked Shakti Basnet, Minister for Forest and Environment (MoFE) at a program ‘Infrastructure Development and Forest Management’ organized jointly by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and Institution for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR). “We cannot fell down the trees to build new cities,” he said.
However, Anand Prasad Pokharel, former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation insisted that trees should not stand as impediments in the much needed development of infrastructure in the country. “The government needs to come up with policies and regulation stipulating the immediate cutting down of trees as not to delay the development works,” he said.
Likewise, lawmaker Shanta Chaudhary suggested that the management of the forest should be human centric so that the people benefit from it.
When it comes to forest, afforestation alone is not the solution but that its conservation is equally important, stated Govinda Prasad Bhattarai, Acting General Manager at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
The program brought together stakeholders such as Purna Kumari Subedi, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Co-operatives and Natural Resources, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Chairman of Law Justice and Human Rights Committee, Dr. Uday Raj Sharma, former Secretary of Government of Nepal, Dr. Krishna Prasad Oli, Member of National Planning Commission (NPC), among others.
