The Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) National Coordination Council (NCC), United Arab Emirates, has urged the Nepal government to take urgent steps to save life of Dolma Sherpa.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala through the Nepali envoy in UAE, the NRNA has appealed to accelerate the diplomatic efforts to save a Nepali life by scrapping the death sentence give to her by the local court in charge of murdering a Filipino woman.
NRNA has cited instance of scrapping such death sentence of a Filipino woman because of the diplomatic efforts taken by the Filipino president.
The NRNA said a high level meeting between the government of Nepal and Kuwait was necessary to deal with the issue. nepalnews.com ia Jan 15 08
The government is launching free health service programme across the country beginning Tuesday.
Health services from health posts and sub-health posts will be provided free of cost.
There are 676 health posts and 3129 sub-health posts located in various parts of the country.
The government has launched the free health service in line with the provision in the interim constitution, which states that health service is a fundamental right of the people.
The basic essential services provided by these institutions would be availed free of cost to the people. Furthermore, specified essential drugs, too, will be provided for free.
Health Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel has said that this decision was made following agreement among the seven parties. nepalnews.com sd Jan 15 08
India has announced that it would extend a financial assistance of Rs 29.84 million to Nepal for construction and repair of road from Jaladh Bridge to Ram Temple in Janakpurdham, Dhanusha under the India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu and the Greater Janakpur Area Development Council for providing the aforesaid assistance, according to a press release issued Friday by the Embassy.
Under the MOU, an oversight committee consisting of engineering and administrative experts from Greater Janakpur Area Development Council will be constituted to oversee the project for its effective and timely implementation.
According to the press release, this is among the eleven development projects undertaken by the Government of India in Dhanusha in recent years, apart from 5 ambulances gifted to different organisations in the district under the India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme. nepalnews.com Jan 11 08
A Nepali official from its embassy in Saudi Arabia has met with Dolma Sherpa in Kuwait who has been given the death sentence by the Kuwaiti government.
The Nepali mission in Saudi Arabia had deputed Lok Bahadur Thapa to assess her situation and make efforts to revise the penalty that a local court has given her on charge of murdering a Filipino woman.
The Kathmandu Post quoted another official in the mission as saying Thapa met Dolma at the central jail on Wednesday.
Back at home in Sindhupalchowk, the family members of Sherpa remain unaware of the death sentence given to her. Kantipur daily reported her house in Gumba area of the district has been locked since a week. The villagers also do not know where Dolma is living now.
Her husband is in Israel. The villagers also do not know where their five years old son is. nepalnews.com ia Jan 10 08
Claiming that they would not allow pro-regression parties to organise any program, the students close to the eight political parties have intervened and foiled the gathering of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) in Rajbiraj on Monday.
The students belonging to unions affiliated with the Maoists, Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (Democratic), and UML pelted stones and thrashed activists of NSP injuring twelve persons.
The clash occurred near Shiv Shankar Chitra Mandir when the NSP leaders and workers were heading for Keso Anirudrawati Secondary school premises where they were planning to hold mass meeting.
Even NSP chairman Laxman Lal Karna and its senior leader Rameshwor Raya Yadav were injured after the students attacked them accusing them of having backed the King during royal regime. Injured persons were taken to Sagarmatha zonal hospital.
The NSP was earlier chaired by Badri Mandal, who was an active supporter of the King and was a minister in the royal cabinet. After the April change, leaders led by Karna had removed Mandal from the party.
Earlier, the students had foiled the gathering of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP-Nepal) in Pokhara for the same reason. They also attacked RPP-Nepal cadres when they tried to submit a memo to the Prime Minister in Baluwatar.
The attacks have come in the wake of concerns expressed by Ian Martin, Personal Representative of UN Secretary General, about the need to allow any kind of political party to express their opinions in a peaceful manner in order to ensure free and fair elections of Constituent Assembly.
Meanwhile, on Monday, two pro-monarchy parties RPP (Nationalist) led by Rajeshwore Devkota and Bidwat Parishad led by Jit Bahadur Arjel have decided to become united under the RPP-Nepal led by Rabindra Nath Sharma to strengthen the hands of ‘nationalists.’
The Nepali Congress (NC) has formed a committee under the convenorship of its vice-president Prakash Man Singh to oversee the preparations being made for a join mass assembly to be held on January 14 in Kathmandu.
The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of Valley leaders of the seven parties at NC central party office. The committee would have representation from all seven parties.
Similarly, another committee under the convenorship of NC’s Kathmandu district president Dhyan Govinda Ranjit has been formed to look over the management of venue where the joint mass assembly is going to be held. The committee would comprise leaders of Valley committees of all the seven parties.
There has also been agreement that all the parties would mobilise their respective sister organisations in order to make the mass meeting a success.
As per the 23-point agreement signed by the seven parties, joint mass assemblies have been planned in seven cities across the country. nepalnews.com ag Jan 08 08
CPN UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal
CPN UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that increasing “highhandedness” on the part of Maoist cadres could jeopardise the unity of the seven parties.
“The unity of the seven parties could be seriously affected if the Maoist highhandedness continues. The Maoist leadership must do something about it,” Nepal told reporters after meeting Nepali Congress leader and former state minister Dilendra Badu, who has been undergoing treatment at the TU Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj after being attacked by Maoist cadres in Darchula Tuesday.
He added, “People are fed up of Maoist activities. This sort of attack [on NC leader] casts serous doubt of their sincerity.”
Speaking further, the UML general secretary defended yesterday’s police raids at the Young Communist League’s offices in Kathmandu Valley. “Those raids were well within the authority of the state,” he said.
He also criticised the Maoist party for reviving the United Revolutionary People’s Council, the Maoist ‘parallel government’, which was dissolved after the peace agreement.
“The revival of the council is a violation of the comprehensive peace agreement,” Nepal said. nepalnews.com mk Feb 07 08
Nepal has become a state party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
On behalf of the Nepal government, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Madhu Raman Acharya on Thursday signed the Convention and its optional protocol 2006 at the treaty section signature room of the UN Headquarters in New York.
The UN General Assembly had adopted the Convention and the optional protocol on 13 December, 2006.
Under the Convention, states parties would guarantee that persons with disabilities enjoyed their inherent right to life on an equal basis with others. Children with disabilities would have equal rights, would not be separated from their parents against their will, except in their best interests, and would in no case be separated from their parents on the basis of a disability of either the child or the parents. nepalnews.com ag Jan 04 07
A Nepali woman domestic help has been slapped death penalty in Kuwait on the charge of murdering a local woman, according to rights activist working for women’s welfare. In a programme on Nepali migrant labourers organised in the capital Wednesday the right activists also called upon the government to ask the Kuwait government to grant an amnesty to the accused woman.
According to representatives of Maiti Nepal, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) including various NGOs, Dolma Sherpa of Sindupalchowk was handed down the death penalty by the Kuwaiti court. A mother of a three year old son, Sherpa’s husband is reported to have been working in Iraq.
“After Kuwait-based rights activist Raju Nagpal informed us through email about the court verdict this week we sent letters informing about Sherpa’s plight to Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the labour department and the concerned ministry,” said Bijaya Rai Shrestha of Paurakhi, an NGO working for women, “We are awaiting its reply.”
Sherpa has been languishing in the central jail in Kuwait for the last five months for allegedly murdering a wife of her employer.
“Charging that hair strands found on the hand of the deceased woman were that of Sherpa, the police had filed a case against her. Based on this evidence the court slapped the death penalty after investigating Sherpa’s finger prints,” Shrestha said, adding that she still doesn’t have any idea what kind of court handed down the sentence or whether there was a provision for appeal against the court’s verdict.
Claiming that Dolma was innocent since her blood test report did not establish proof, Nagpal in an email he wrote to Shrestha has said, “She is crying, thinking the fate of her child back home and pleading for her life.”
It must be mentioned here that the government had imposed a ban in 1998 against Nepali women working in the gulf after Kami Sherpa, a Nepali women domestic help, killed herself while fleeing a rape attempt in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, three Nepali women are languishing in the central jail of Saudi Arabia from the past few months.
Those who are serving time in the Riyadh located jail are Kavita Karki of Jhapa, Hira Thapa of Kaski and Bimala Timalsina of Chitwan. It was not immediately clear on what charges they were put in jail.
Despite the government ban, an estimated 10,000 Nepali women work in Saudi Arabia mostly as domestic help. nepalnews.com ag Jan 03 08
Two Nepali-speaking residents from southern Bhutan, also known as Lhotsampas, have emerged winners in the first parliamentary polls that was held in Bhutan Monday aiming to transform the country from absolute monarchy to a ‘constitutional democracy.’
Dr Mani Kumar Rai and Justin Gurung who had contested from Samchi and Chirang constituencies, respectively, have won the election held for the National Council or upper house of Bhutan by convincingly beating their closest contestants. Both Rai and Gurung are of non-political background. Rai, a veterinary doctor, is a resident of Charghare and Gurung, a graduate in commerce from St Xaviers College in Calcutta, is a resident of Funtechuk of Chirang.
Of the eight Nepali speaking candidates who had filed their candidacy for the NC election, four including Rai were from Samchi alone. As per the result published by the Election Commission after counting the votes, Dr Rai had secured 7,996 votes beating his close rival Bishnu Lal Gurung who had only got 5,612 votes.
Justin Gurung, however, had defeated his closes rival from Dukpa community by almost double votes. Gurung got 6,181 votes while Pema only got 3,217 votes. nepalnews.com ag Jan 03 08