Nepal

Kathmandu, June 21

The National Human Rights Commission has launched a fact-finding investigation into the death of Sarlahi district in-charge of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal in ‘an encounter with police&.

Nepal Police had said that Kumar Poudel was killed in a shootout that occurred in Lalbandi Municipality of Sarlahi yesterday. Issuing a press statement, the rights body said a team of Province 2 Office of the NHRC had been deployed to the incident site for investigation and monitoring of the circumstantial evidences. &The team will submit its report to the NHRC immediately after completion of the investigation,& it read.

The NHRC has appealed to concerned people and stakeholders to cooperate with the team in the course of investigation. The statement also said that the NHRC was concerned about the incident in which Poudel was killed during an alleged gun battle.

Recently, the rights body had formed a rapid response team to carry out speedy monitoring of the incidents of human rights violation across the country. The team led by the director of Law, Investigation and Monitoring Department of the NHRC will conduct monitoring of human rights violations in the country, including Kathmandu valley, and report promptly to the rights body.

According to NHRC, it is committed to ensuring protection, promotion and effective implementation of human rights. While studying the human rights situation of the country, a few additional challenges have been felt in the protection and promotion of individualright to life, dignity, freedom and equality. &We have to move forward respecting values and principles of human rights for sustainable peace and democracy. People expect an environment where they can freely enjoy their fundamental rights,& it stated.

The NHRC also stated that it was concerned about the governmentattempts to curtail freedom of expression and cultural and social rights of citizens, growing state of impunity, illegal detention, torture, re-arrest of released detainees, gun battles, murders, blasts, extortion and excessive use of force on peaceful demonstrations.

The post NHRC probing CPN leaderkilling in Sarlahi appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Kathmandu, June 20

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority today filed a chargesheet in Special Court against 13 individuals, including Department of Food Technology and Quality Control Director General Sanjeev Kumar Karna, for embezzling more than Rs 248 million.

Its investigation found that the individuals misappropriated Rs 248,095,116 while procuring four mobile laboratory vans for Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project, in collusion with supplier Prudent Meditech International based in Kathmandu, stated the anti-graft body issuing a statement.

Besides Karna, defendants in the case are Senior Food Researcher Purna Chandra Wasti, Accountant Ravita Shrestha, Non-Gazetted First-Class Officer Gurudutt Gautam, Section Officer Bhagirath Acharya, Joint Secretary Ganesh Prasad Chalise, Accountant Balaram Pokhrel, the then project director Narahari Prasad Ghimire, Senior Agriculture Engineer Saroj Adhikari, Senior Project Officer Tilak Raj Chaulagain, Project Director Laxman Prasad Paudel, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Indra Hari Paudel and representative of supplier Prudent Meditech Pravin Kunwar.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has sought a fine of Rs 124 million each from Sanjeev Kumar, Purna Chandra, Ravita, Gurudutt, Ganesh Prasad and Balaram. The anti-graft body has also sought a fine from Rs 41.34 million each from Bhagirath, Indra Hari and Laxman Prasad.

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Kathmandu, June 21

Fifteen families are living in staff quarters of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku even though the building was badly damaged in the 2015 earthquakes and was issued a red sticker by the Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.

The red sticker pasted on one of its walls clearly mentions that it is unsafe to enter or occupy the four-storey building. It warns that the structure has been seriously damaged and entry into the building may result in death or injuries.

The building has neither been retrofitted nor demolished even after more than four years of the earthquakes.

Deep cracks are visible on the building and its walls look like they will collapse any time, yet the building houses 60-odd people.

The building has 20 rooms, of which five are used by the hospital and the rest are occupied by families of doctors, paramedics and staff nurses working in STIDH. The hospital uses its ground floor as store room.

Some families even have newborns and infants. Children play and cycle in the vicinity of the building. During the day hundreds of patients pass by the building. It also has parking spaces for visitors.

&Whenever there is an aftershock it feels like the building will collapse,& Nabin Jaiswal, a physiotherapist assistant who is living in the staff quarters, told THT.

&Even when there is a mild aftershock the whole building shakes. I can&t even come down as I have a three-month-old baby,& said Babita Sharma, a staff nurse residing in the building.

&The hospital administration should at least get it retrofitted. We have been living here free of cost. It is expensive to live outside,& said Januka Pangeni, a staff nurse who has been living in the building for the past five years.

At a time when all other hospitals are reconstructing earthquake-damaged buildings, no initiative has been taken to reconstruct or retrofit the building.

A senior expert at National Reconstruction Authority told this daily that the hospital administration had not got the building listed with NRA for retrofitting or reconstruction.

&I am new here. Files have been sent to the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction,& Basudev Pandey, hospital director, told THT.

&There is no way to find out how old the building is. We have not estimated how much it will cost if we have to demolish it,& said Rup Narayan Khatiwada, administration chief at STIDH.

&It is utter negligence on part of the hospital administration. We have a separate department that looks into hospital buildings. We have a list of hospitals that need to be retrofitted or reconstructed. But that doesn&t include STIDH. The hospital administration should have informed us,& said Rajuman Manandhar, senior expert at National Reconstruction Authority.

&If a building receives a red sticker then it is unsafe to enter. After that, it should either be demolished or retrofitted. No one should be allowed to enter inside it,& added Manandhar.

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