Nepal

Kathmandu, October 31

All preparations for celebration of Chhath festival in Kathmandu valley are over with the banks of different rivers, mainly the Bagmati, and ponds decked with fancy lights and special platforms made for worshipping.

Chhath, the greatest festival of the Mitihila community, will be celebrated tomorrow by offering prayers to the setting sun and wishing for happiness, well-being, good health and prosperity.

Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees, from the Tarai and hills alike, throng the river banks and ponds to perform Chhath rituals. Ponds and river banks in Kamalpokhari, Gaurighat, Kalimati, Balkhu, Kupandole, Shankhamul, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur witness huge crowds of devotees.

According to the Chhath Organising Committee, the festival is a four-day celebration. ‘Nahay Khay&, which literally means ‘bathe and eat&, is the first day of the festival. It was celebrated today. On this day, devotees take holy dips in water bodies, eat one meal and clean their houses and surroundings.

Kharna, the second day of the festival, will be observed tomorrow. On this day, women take holy bath, observe a day-long fast and offer puja to the Sun god. Fast-observers don colourful costumes and carry thakuwa (sweet dishes made from wheat and rice flour), bhshuwa, fruits and holy threads, among others, as prasad in a special bamboo basket during Shasthi puja, the third day of Chhath on Saturday, to the river banks and ponds before offering argha to the setting sun. It is the main day of the festival.

The festival will conclude on Sunday after worshipping the rising sun. Special security measures have been put in place in and around the designated festival spots to prevent untoward incidents.

Chhath is dedicated to the sun god and goddess Chhati Maiya.

The post Water bodies decked with lights, bridges for Chhath appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Kathmandu, October 31

The Government AttorneyOffice, Kathmandu, today filed a charge-sheet against former speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara at Kathmandu District Court charging him of attempt to rape.

Parliament Secretariat staffer Roshani Shahi had lodged a first information report on October 4 accusing Mahara of attempt to rape. As the Government AttorneyOffice filed the charge-sheet late in the afternoon, KDC could not conduct his trial hearing today. It has been scheduled for tomorrow.

If convicted, Mahara could face a jail sentence from five years three months to maximum seven years six months as per existing laws. Attempt to rape crime carries a jail sentence between 3.5 and 5 years. But government attorneys invoked additional clause of the new penal code seeking additional punishment as Mahara allegedly committed the crime misusing power.

Joint attorney of Kathmandu District AttorneyOffice Chandra Kanta Khanal said Maharacase attracted Criminal Offence and Punishment Determination Act. Clause (e) of Section 15 (2) of the act states that the quantum of punishment for any crime a person holding a position in government office, public or corporate body commits by misusing power shall be increased 1.5 fold.

Mahara was arrested on October 6 after Shahi lodged an FIR accusing him of attempt to rape. Shahi said Mahara thrashed her before attempting to rape her on the night of September 29, at her rented room in Tinkune. Even though Shahi retracted her statement, police completed their investigation saying they had enough evidence to corroborate the victimaccusation.

Mahara resigned from the post of speaker after the ruling NCP asked him to resign as both speaker and Member of Parliament.

Mahara has been in police custody since October 6. He was admitted to Norvic Hospital while in custody after he complained of hypertension and respiratory problems.

Police had, on October 27, submitted their investigation report to the Government AttorneyOffice, Kathmandu, after 20 days of investigation. The latter, however, waited for the Tihar festival to get over before filing the case.

A few days ago, Shahi filed an application at the KDC saying police had coerced her into filing the FIR against Mahara.

On September 30, Shahi told www.hamrakura.com that Mahara had raped her, but a day later, she retracted her statement and told another online portal that what www.hamrakura.com reported was false. She had told www.hamrakura.com that Mahara had come to her room with a bottle of whisky and beat her up before sexually assaulting her.

According to a police source, Maharastatement was that though he was near Shahiresidence on September 29, he did not enter her apartment or do anything to Shahi.

Mahara was taken back to police custody after the charge sheet was filed. Hearing on the case will be held tomorrow.

Meanwhile, it has been found that police investigation does not include MaharaDNA test. Police had said they would conduct MaharaDNA test if necessary, but Mahara did not oblige the police stating it violated his right to privacy, as per police sources.

The post Attempt to rape case filed against Mahara appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Kathmandu, October 31

A recent investigation by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has exposed how employees at the Immigration Office of Tribhuvan International Airport collude with middlemen to grant departure permit to hundreds of people, mainly women, on visit visa for Qatar and Dubai, in an unauthorised manner.

This was revealed after the anti-graft body arrested immigration officer Kamal Prasad Parajuli from his office on July 31 for colluding with agents to send youths to Gulf countries in contravention of the existing laws and rules, which prohibit sending women to Dubai and Qatar as housemaids. He was found putting departure stamps on their visas without maintaining their records to cover up his unethical acts.

Joint Secretary Pradip Kumar Koirala, CIAA spokesperson, said Parajuli had teamed up with other immigration employees to issue departure permits to as many as 249 persons. They used to disable official computer network and exchange SMS for communication to decide who should be provided with departure permit on visit visa.

According to the CIAA, other immigration employees involved in the illegal act are Manahari Baral, Dinesh KM, Toran Parajuli, Chakra Bahadur Shrestha, Manoj Kumar Pokharel, Jagadish Chandra Nepali, Bijay Sapkota, Shailendra Dhakal, Birsingh Bhandari, Padam Prasad Bajgain, Roshan Gautam and Bhoj Prakash Neupane. Gautam and Neupane are computer operators. According to call detail records retrieved from immigration employees, they did not verify any document or maintain records of women migrating for work to Gulf countries on visit visa once the migrants provided them Rs 10,000 each, through agents.

They were found to have destroyed evidence of departure of women without entering their details into the Immigration System of the TIA. According to the CIAA, the immigration employees had collected Rs 2.48 million from 248 persons for issuing departure permits. They were charged at the Special Court in accordance with section 3(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The anti-graft body has claimed recovery of Rs 2.48 million along with a fine equivalent to the amount from each defendant.

The culprits were dismissed from service and were handed down jail sentence. The CIAA said further investigation into other suspects was under way.

In 2012, the government had imposed ban on women below 30 years of age from leaving for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates to work as domestic helpers. To make the provision further stringent, the age bar was later reduced to 24 years in 2015 by imposing ban on the women aspiring to work in Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon and Malaysia.

In March 2017, the ParliamentInternational and Labour Relations Committee had instructed the government to impose ban on Nepali women taking up jobs in Gulf countries as housemaids.

According to the 2019 report ‘Rights Situation of Migrant Workers& released by the National Human Rights Commission, various studies showed that the ban did not stop women from migrating to Gulf countries, rather they opted for illegal means to go to Gulf countries for employment challenging the restriction.

The government had taken such measures to protect women migrant workers from forced labour and other forms of exploitation.

&However, these measures have not discouraged the agents active in sending women abroad through illegal means. If a woman goes for foreign employment through illegal channel and she gets injured or dies during her illegal stay in the destination country, her family members will not get any financial assistance from the government,& the NHRC said.

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Kathmandu, October 31

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who was admitted to Grande International Hospital yesterday, underwent haemodialysis for the second time today. He underwent the same treatment yesterday too.

PM Oli was discharged at around 8:20pm.

The hospitalMedical Director Dr Chakra Raj Pandey told mediapersons that dialysis was conducted to lower creatinine level in his blood. Creatinine is a waste product that is filtered and released into urine by the kidneys. Increased creatinine level in blood may mean that kidneys are not working as they should.

Pandey said Olihealth was fine after dialysis. &PM Oli is in his spirit, cheerful and strong,& he said, refusing to disclose further details of his medical test results. He urged all to respect the patientprivacy. Both the hospital and Olisecretariat did not reveal that he had undergone dialysis yesterday.

When asked whether Oli needed routine dialysis, Pandey said this would be determined after a few days of observation of creatinine level in his blood. He said there was no standard as to at what level of blood creatinine dialysis should be conducted and that it varied from patient to patient. He added that a patienthealth status changed minute by minute, so nothing could be predicted at the moment.

&Presently, PM Olikidneys are functioning well and creatinine level has fallen after dialysis. The situation is improving and he will soon be able to join office,& said Pandey. He also made it clear that Oli was not kept in the Intensive Care Unit, but added that he was kept in the dialysis room to ensure he did not develop any other infections.

When asked whether the PM needed to go abroad for further treatment, Pandey said that was his choice and the decision depended on his team of doctors.

Earlier in the day, Nepal Communist Party Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal had said Oli underwent dialysis this morning. Dahal, who met Oli at the hospital, also said doctors would decide whether Oli required routine dialysis after a few days of observation.

Oli had undergone kidney transplant surgery 12 years ago. He has been visiting various hospitals in foreign countries for health check-up ever since. Oli was admitted to Singapore-based National University Hospital twice in August. He had undergone plasmapheresis in NUH after his blood creatinine level rose.

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