Nepal

KATHMANDU: Nepal Police have arrested three persons along with equipment used for printing fake currency bills, from Nayabasti, Gokarneshwar Municipality-6 today morning.

A police team from the Metropolitan Police Circle Bouddha arrested Rajan Pariyar (26), Santosh Nepali (35) and Mahendra Nepali (21) of Dolakaha Mailung Municipality-7 with the device.

The trio was arrested red-handed while printing fake notes in a rented apartment, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Circle Bouddha, Deputy Superintendent Ramesh Singh said.

Police confiscated 34 units of Rs 1,000 denomination fake currency notes, a photocopy machine used for printing the fake notes, one CPU, one computer monitor, one camera, four pairs of scissors, four glue sticks, 142 units of large size paper and 149 units of small size paper from their rented apartment.

Metropolitan Police Circle Bouddha said that investigation on the amount and the number of fake currency notes printed so far is ongoing.

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KATHMANDU: Issuing a press release on Sunday, Govinda KC, senior orthopaedic surgeon, who recently retired from Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) after serving for 26 years, said he had serious objections to the the Medical Education Commission, for increasing fees for MBBS and BDS programmes.

He said the fees should not be increased without empirical studies.

&The commission should take decisions giving priority to students and guardians, rather than considering the benefits of medical college owners,& KC said.

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70pc work on Singha Durbarnorth, east and south façade completed

Kathmandu, October 20

Retrofitting of western facade of the main complex of Singha Durbar is set to start within October 28. A contract for retrofitting was awarded to Sharma-Gauri-Parvati-New Technical JV.

Central Project Implementation Unit and the contractor company had concluded an agreement to this effect on October 14.

Retrofitting of northern, eastern and southern facades of the historical structure is under way. National Reconstruction Authority had awarded the contract to the private contracting firm.

CPIU Project Director Nawaraj Pyakurel said nearly 70 per cent of retrofitting of northern, eastern and southern facades was already completed.

Budget estimated for retrofitting of all facades stands around Rs 620 million. The NRA has decided to preserve the original structure of the main complex of Singha Durbar through retrofitting of its all facades. It initiated the process ofretrofitting as a recent study showed that retrofitting rather than reconstruction could make it stronger without losing the buildingoriginal architectural and aesthetic value.

According to findings of the study, there was no major damage to the walls of the building and even the bricks were robust and firmly held, leading the government not to demolish any of the facades.

However, some of the planks of wood needed to be replaced in the course ofretrofitting. Archaeologists had also urged the government not to demolish the building, but renovate it by using traditional methods as its original beauty could not be retained through reconstruction following its demolition.

Retrofitting of the building will be consistent with the governmentconcept of preservation of archaeological heritages and monuments. The iconic structure of the governmentadministrative headquarters suffered damage during the 2015-earthquakes. The structure was built in 1908 by then Prime MinisterChandra Shumsher JBR, during the Rana regime and bears unique aesthetic and archaeological value.

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Kathmandu, October 20

The Association of Private Medical and Dental Colleges has warned that colleges will not admit new students this year even though the Medical Education Commission had increased fees for medical studies. The association, issuing a press release on Saturday said it would not admit new students until their demands were met.

The association has said rise in tuition fees for MBBS and BDS programmes by the Medical Education Commission was not acceptable as the revised fee structure was one-sided and was announced without any discussions with owners of private medical colleges.

&The decision made on fee hike is one-sided, unscientific and impractical. The associationmeeting on Friday decided not to accept the commissiondecision,& it said.

The association had earlier warned that there would be no new admissions until their demands were met. It had demanded that medical colleges be given 150 seats for MBBS and 75 seats for BDS programmes, respectively.

The government has decided to allot 100 seats for MBBS and 50 seats for BDS programmes.

The association has also demanded that procedures for admission of foreign students be eased and the report submitted by the parliamentary committee on education and health be implemented, at the earliest.

It has also demanded that a clear policy on admission of foreign students be framed before medical colleges started admitting students.

The association had also submitted a memorandum and keys of medical colleges to the prime minister, minister of education, science and technology, minister of health and population, vice-chair of the Medical Education Commission and vice-chancellors of universities on September 24.

On October 18, the Medical Education Commission hadrevised the fee structure.

As per the revised fee structure, a Nepali student pursuing MBBS programme inside Kathmandu valley was required to to pay Rs 4.02 million in fees for a five-and-a-halfyear course, up from Rs 3.85 million in the last fiscal.

A student pursuing MBBS outside Kathmandu valley, on the other hand, was required to pay Rs 4.44 million in fees, against Rs 4.24 million in the last fiscal.

The MEC had set fees for five-and-a-half-yeard, Bachelorin Dental Surgery at Rs 2.02 million, up from Rs 1.93 million, in the last fiscal.

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