EC starts imparting training to election officers

Chief election officers and election officers to be deployed for local level election take part in an election management and operation training held at Dhulikhel, Kvare on Monday. NARAYAN
Apr 10, 2017-

Election management and operation training to chief election officers and election officers to be deployed in local-level election has begun at seven different places of the country on Monday.
The Election Commission has appointed District judges as the chief election officers and under-secretaries of judicial and administrative sectors and government attorneys as election officers.
Two-day training has been organised from today in Biratnagar, Sindhuli, Dhulikhel, Pokhara, Hetauda, Surkhet and Dhangadhi for the 75 chief election officers and 669 election officers, according to the EC.
The chief election officers and election officers would impart such type of training to 42 thousand people including polling officers and assistant polling officers after the training.

The local-level elections would be held at four metropolitan cities, 13 sub-metropolitan cities, 246 municipalities and 481 rural municipalities across the country in a single phase.
Inaugurating the training at Dhulikhel today, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav said that the election fever is gradually gripping the country.
"Employees to be deployed in the election and voters should not worry as peace and security situation across the country is conducive and political environment has stabilized," said Yadav.
Directing the employees and the security personnel assigned on election duty to play an impartial role and fulfill their responsibility for conducting the election in a free and fair environment.
He said the Election Commission has a clear policy of observing financial frugality in the management of internal expenditure while minimizing the dependency on foreign assistance in the context of elections. The Chief Election Commissioner also called on the people to gear up for the campaign of stabilising and strengthening democracy, federalism and republic by voting in the local level election, the first step towards implementing the constitution.
Chief District Officer of Kavre Shiva Prasad Simkhada, joint attorney at the Office of the Government Attorney Patan, Narayan Prasad Poudel, and Joint Secretary at the Election Commission Nawaraj Dhakal said that the local level election is important step towards the formation of the local government and the employees assigned for election duty should uphold the credibility and impartiality of the election and that the all works related to the election were going on full speed.
One hundred and nine persons from Dolakha, Ramechhap, Kavre, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Rautahat, Lalitpur and Kathmandu district from the region are attending the training RSS

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Pakistani court sentences accused Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav to death

A Pakistani military court sentenced an Indian accused of espionage to death on Monday, potentially ratcheting up tension between the two nuclear-armed states.
Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016, in the turbulent province of Baluchistan, which has seen a long-running conflict between Pakistani security forces and a militant separatist movement.

The Pakistani military said in a statement he had confessed to being tasked by India’s intelligence service with planning, coordinating and organising espionage and sabotage activities in Baluchistan “aiming to destabilize and wage war against Pakistan”.

The sentence was passed by a Field General Court Martial and confirmed by the powerful army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The military did not announce any date for the execution.
There was no immediate comment from the Indian government.
Pakistan accuses India of helping the separatist movement in Baluchistan, a charge denied by India. In its turn, the government in New Delhi says Pakistan aids separatist fighters in Kashmir, part of India’s only Muslim-majority state, which Pakistan also claims.

Last September, tension between the neighbours escalated after gunmen killed 19 Indian soldiers at an army camp in Kashmir, an attack India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

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Tim Pigott-Smith, a versatile British actor who recently played Prince

Tim Pigott-Smith, a versatile British actor who recently played Prince Charles on stage and screen, has died at the age of 70.
The actor's agent, John Grant, says Pigott-Smith died Friday. Grant called him "one of the great actors of his generation ... a gentleman and a true friend."

Pigott-Smith was already a veteran of stage and screen when he came to international attention as a sadistic police officer in British-controlled India in the 1980s miniseries "The Jewel in the Crown."
The show became a global sensation, and Pigott-Smith said it "changed my life."

Born in Rugby, central England in 1946, Pigott-Smith trained at the Bristol Old Vic theater school and built up a diverse career on stage, television and film. He became a regular on British TV screens in everything from "Doctor Who" to "Downton Abbey," and had roles in movies including "V for Vendetta," ''Gangs Of New York" and the James Bond thriller "Quantum Of Solace."
He is due to appear onscreen with Judi Dench in Stephen Frears' historical drama "Victoria and Abdul," due for release in Britain in September.
He recently won Olivier and Tony award nominations for the London and New York runs of the play "King Charles III," which imagines disastrous events after the current heir to the British throne becomes king. He reprised the role for a TV adaptation.
Pigott-Smith is survived by his wife Pamela Miles and their son Tom.

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NRA to facilitate distribution of land ownership certificates

The National Reconstruction Authority has decided to make necessary arrangements to conclude the housing grant agreement with beneficiaries who are yet to receive the relief due to lack of land ownership certificate.

A meeting of the executive committee presided over by NRA Chief Executive Officer Govinda Raj Pokharel had recently made a decision to the effect. For this purpose, a panel led by executive committee member Dhruba Prasad Sharma was formed to offer suggestions on policy provisions that could be made to address the problem.
A press release issued by the NRA said the panel will submit a report to the committee with a recommendation within one week. The government had already entered into grant agreements with 548,255 out of 636,036 identified or recorded beneficiaries of the housing grant in 14 districts worst-hit by the quakes.

Despite being genuine beneficiaries, as many as 77,781 households are still deprived of the facility for want of land ownership certificate.

The government provides beneficiaries a total of Rs 300,000 each to reconstruct their homes damaged by the quakes in three instalments. Land ownership certificate is required by the local levels to sign the grant agreement with the beneficiaries. Quake survivors without land ownership certificate have to register their land with the district survey office and land revenue office to receive the certificate as per existing NRA guidelines.
Earlier, the NRA had directed the Ministry of Land Reform and Management to instruct its line agencies to expedite land registration for those lacking the certificates. It even issued the Guidelines for Land Registration, 2016 after holding consultations with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Land Reform and Management to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, the NRA said it has completed a survey in 17 districts least affected by the quakes, identifying 44,443 beneficiaries of housing grants.

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Tourist arrival surges in Annapurna region

Tourist arrival surges in Annapurna region

LAMJUNG: The surge in the arrival of tourists at the Annapurna region has been a matter of great joy for entrepreneurs and villagers here.

As per the data provided by the Timsa Check Post, Besisahar, more than 2,500 foreign tourists travelled through the Annapurna circuit in the month of March.

According to Check Post employee Mina Gurung, 2,596 foreign tourists travelled through the Annapurna trek route in the month of March alone.
Gurung said 100 more tourists were arriving every day since the start of April.
Israeli, German, French, Australian, British and American tourists usually travel through the Annapurna trek route.
The domestic tourists have also increased of late with the construction of the motorway to Manang district headquarters, Chame.

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Nepal Eye Hospital marks 43rd anniversary:

Nepal Eye Hospital marks 43rd anniversary:
 The Nepal Eye Hospital, the oldest eye hospital of Nepal, observed its 43rd anniversary on Saturday.
 The hospital was founded in 1974 by a group of social workers with the objective of preventing blindness in the country.

Speaking at the anniversary function, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lauded the hospital for providing services to the poor, backward, elderly and helpless. “This historical hospital has also contributed significantly to producing skilled ophthalmologists for the country,” he said.
He also pledged every possible support for the advancement of the hospital and its services.
On the occasion, Chairperson of the hospital and senior advocate Biswakanta Mainali stressed the need for developing an eye research centre in the country.
In the fiscal year 2015/16, the hospital provided service to 73,208 patients, out of which 4,270 unerwent surgery, the hospital informed.
The hospital provides 25 per cent discount to patients above 80 years and subsidy to the poor patients, according to the hospital.

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DFO drafts pest extermination proposal

DFO drafts pest extermination proposal
The number of complaints regarding damage caused by wild animals have increased greatly at the District Forest Office Kathmandu,

said District Forest Officer Indra Sapkota.

Sapkota said the DFO had been receiving many complaints against monkeys, wild boars, and porcupines destroying crops on the outskirts of the Valley.

“Locals have filed numerous complaints demanding that the DFO address the problem,” DFO Indra Sapkota told The Himalayan Times, “However, there is nothing we can do, because we do not have the authority or regulation regarding pest management.”
Sapkota said they have been receiving complaints against wild boars and porcupines from the outskirts of the Valley such as Tokha, while complaints against monkeys come from both the outskirts and urban areas of the Valley.
The DFO reportedly receives complaints against monkeys the most, followed by wild boars and porcupines.
The DFO has sent a draft of a pest extermination proposal to the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation for approval to combat the issue.
Regarding the proposal, the ministry’s Biodiversity and Environment Division Chief Dr Maheshwor Dhakal said the proposal was under discussion.
This week, the Supreme Court had issued an interim order to act against the havoc caused by monkeys in Pashupatinath to the Pashupati Area Development Board and the Government of Nepal.
Meanwhile, wildlife expert and visiting professor of Kyoto University Japan Dr Mukesh Kumar Chalise has appealed the government to first conduct a research on monkey habitat, activities, and health before taking any drastic decision.
“The government must first conduct a thorough research on monkeys before deciding what steps must be taken to minimise human-animal conflict. Based on the research, the government must then decide its course of action, whether it be relocating the monkey population or exterminating them,” he said.

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