Nepal

Kathmandu, August 17

Lawmakers, representing the ruling and opposition parties, have criticised the government for remaining silent on lawmakerquestions raised in the House of Representatives.

The ongoing fourth session of the Federal Parliament received hundreds of questions from lawmakers, but the ministers have not answered any of them till date.

The HoR regulations state that the concerned ministers shall answer the questions raised by lawmakers within five days in the House. However, the ministries, including the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, have not addressed lawmakers& concerns till date.

On June 6, ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker BirodhKhatiwada had drawn the attention of the Speaker saying that Zero Hour in the House had become meaningless.

The main opposition Nepali Congress lawmaker Gagan Kumar Thapa, on August 11, during Zero Hour, said that it would be useless if the government didn&t answer the questions raised by the lawmakers in the House. &The government should follow the regulations of the House,& he added.

Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal lawmaker LaxmanLalKarna told THT that the government should follow the House regulations. &Ministers are responsible for this. They must answer the questions raised by lawmakers,& he added.

Parliamentary experts former speaker Daman NathDhungana and former secretary general Surya KiranGurung told THT that the speaker should play crucial role in implementing regulations effectively. He said Speaker Krishna BahadurMahara should be able to make the government accountable towards the Parliament.

Gurung also added that the ruling party should also respect democratic norms and values and act accordingly.

&It will set a bad example for parliamentary practice. The ruling party must realise that in the future they might also have to play the role of opposition lawmakers,& he said.

DilliMalla, press adviser of Speaker Mahara, said that the concerned ministers had already been alerted to follow the HoR regulations.

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Kathmandu, August 17

President of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities Jagat Baram and eight others were injured when police baton-charged the protest rally taken out against the government decision to recruit over 9,000 employees in local levels.

Among the injured, Baram, Ram Nepali, Sonam Sherpa, Uspar Sunar are undergoing treatment at Model Hospital in Kathmandu. Member of Save Reservation Campaign Anand Gupta said protesters undergoing treatment at Model hospital had suffered serious injuries.

Gupta said the police also arrested Kausar Sah, Dalmardan Kami, Arjun Serma, Raghu Thapa Magar, Tej Bahadur Kerung, Shyam Limbu, Sonam Sherpa, Sabin Pulami Magar, Purkha Jit Rai, Mingmar Lama, Sura j Rai and Ganesh Tiruwa.

Gupta said among the arrestee, Ganesh Tiruwa and Raghu Thapa Magar also suffered injuries when police baton-charged the protesters. He said police released them after they told the police that they wanted to take them to hospital for treatment. Police also fired tear gas canisters in Putali Sadak to force the protesters to disperse.

Gupta said police used excessive force against the protesters when they were protesting peacefully. Gupta further added that ‘Save Reservation Campaign& had organised a baton-rally today, but they were protesting without batons at Putali Sadak as police snatched their batons at Bhrikuti Mandap.

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and other groups working to empower the marginalised communities in the country are protesting against the government decision to recruit over 9,000 employees in local levels.

Meanwhile, Federal Public Service Commission has said that it cannot ensure reservation in all seats as there are only one or two seats in some local levels.

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Kathmandu, August 17

Traffic police took action against 7,089 reckless drivers and riders, who did not slow down or wait to allow pedestrians to cross the road using zebra-crossings in Kathmandu valley in fiscal 2018-19. They were slapped with a fine of Rs 1,000 each.

Metropolitan Traffic Police Division In-charge Senior Superintendent of Police Basant Kumar Pan said the erring drivers were fined as part of pedestrian safety campaign.

&Drivers involved in road accidents near or on zebra-crossings are dealt with seriously. They may be slapped with up to 10 years of imprisonment depending on the gravity of the case,& he added. According to MTPD, recklessness and negligence on the part of drivers are equally responsible for the rising number of pedestrian deaths. Pedestrians do not feel safe even while crossing the road on zebra-crossings due to reckless driving.

SSP Pant said such vehicles were under surveillance of on-duty traffic cops and CCTVs. Traffic police have also booked vehicles stopped on zebra-crossings to pick up and drop off passengers. Zebra-crossing is not a halting point for vehicles, and motorists have to respect it and give priority to pedestrians to cross the roads safely, he warned.

Halting vehicles on zebra-crossing blocks the visibility of pedestrians and does not allow them to cross the road safely, increasing the chances of accident. As many as 254 persons were killed in road accidents in the valley in fiscal 2018-19. Around 33 per cent of the victims were pedestrians, MTPD said.

The valley has over 1,000 zebra crossings and some of them are under the surveillance of CCTV cameras. Despite awareness programmes to encourage pedestrians to use zebra-crossing, many breach the rule. At many place zebra crossing marks have already faded. Similarly, encroachment of footpaths is rampant and pedestrians are forced to use main roads.

Realising that the valley roads are not pedestrian-friendly due to poor infrastructure, MTPD had recently identified New Baneshwor, Putalisadak, KesharMahal, Kalimati, Thapathali, Koteshwor, Chabahil, Gaushala and Narayan GopalChowk as places where overhead bridges should be constructed as soon as possible to reduce traffic jam caused by regular movement of pedestrians. Similarly, fence will be constructed on either side of Koteshwor-Kalanki road to reduce road accidents by discouraging the trend of jaywalking and wilful road crossing.

Traffic management has turned out to be a daunting task due to inadequate traffic lights and overhead crossings at thoroughfares and main roads.

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Kathmandu, August 17

Police arrested a person with two automatic pistols and 20 rounds of live bullets from Nagdhunga of Chandragiri Municipality, yesterday.

The arrested possessing illegal arms and ammunition has been identified as Sulabh Lama aka Munal, 28, of Konjysom Rural Municipality-2, Lalitpur. Acting on a tip-off by an intelligence official, police searched a bus heading to Kathmandu from Dhading and held him with firearms and bullets.

A binocular, five mobile phone sets, a diary containing telephone numbers and other documents were also seized from Lama.

Lama has been kept in the custody of Teku-based Metropolitan Police Range for further investigation to find out his motive of carrying arms and ammunition.

The tendency of possessing illegal small arms has been on the rise with increase in smuggling of such firearms, according to Nepal Police.

Police have also warned that easy availability of small arms might pose a serious threat to public security.

The security agency arrested 326 persons with 287 firearms across the country in fiscal 2018-19 compared to 377 persons with 284 weapons in fiscal 2017-18. As many as 926 rounds of live bullets were confiscated in 2018-19 against 452 in 2017-18. Data with Nepal Police hints at growing gun culture in the country.

Spokesperson of Nepal Police Deputy Inspector General BishwarajPokharel warned that proliferation, possession and misuse of firearms could give rise to crimes, posing a serious threat to lives and property.

Of the firearms seized in 2018-19, 57 were pistols, three revolvers, 51 home-made pistols, 22 rifles and 154 muskets.

According to police, criminal gangs usually possess firearms because they threaten victims for extortion, kidnapping and robbery, and also commit murder.

Small arms are mainly smuggled into Nepal through the southern border and possession of home-made pistols and muskets in remote areas of the country has been common for years. Despite all efforts, police have not been able to control smuggling of firearms.

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