Nepal

Kathmandu, June 7

Nepal is one of the top 10 countries worldwide with a prevalence of child marriage among boys, UNICEF said nowadays, in its first ever in-depth analysis of child grooms.

In Nepal, one in 10 men aged between 20 and 24 were married as children. A study that analysed data from 82 countries revealed that child marriage among boys is prevalent across a range of countries around the world, spanning sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific.

&Marriage steals childhood,& said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, adding, &Kid grooms are forced to take on adult responsibilities for which they may much be ready. Early marriage brings early fatherhood, and with it an added responsibility to supply for the family, cutting short education and job opportunities.&

According to the data, the Central African Republic has the highest prevalence of child marriage among males (28 per cent), followed by Nicaragua (19 per cent) and Madagascar (13 per cent). Nepal ranks the tenth highest and is the only country in South Asia with a meaningful prevalence of child marriages among both boys and girls. The new estimates bring the total number of child brides and child grooms to 765 million. Girls remain disproportionately affected, with 1 in 5 young women aged between 20 and 24 getting married before they turn 18, compared to 1 in 30 young men.

While the prevalence, causes and affect of child marriage among girls have been extensively studied, little research has been carried out on child marriage among boys. Most of the victims of child marriage are from the poorest households, who live in rural areas and have little to no education.

&As we mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Corrects of the Kid, we need to remember that marrying boys and girls off, while they are still children runs counter to the rights enshrined in the Convention. Through further research, investment and empowerment, we can end this child rights violation,& said Fore.

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Kathmandu, June 7

More than two years after making it mandatory for all electric scooters in the country to be registered at the Leavement of Transport Management, the government is finally taking action against e-scooter riders who have been flouting the rules.

Concluding that electric scooter riders have been violating the existing rules, specificly in Kathmandu valley, the DoTM has issued a muchice directing the Traffic Cop Directorate, Naxal, to take action against errant riders.

A man riding an e-scooty without wearing a helmet, in Anamnagar, Kathmandu, on Wednesday, March 9, 2016. Photo: THT

&We have found that most electric scooter riders, specificly in Kathmandu valley, have much totald the registration process. They have neither acquired diving licence nor do they atendere by the mandatory rule of wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers,& Kumar Prasad Dahal, director general at DoTM, told THT, confessting that weak enforcement mechanism of the government was to be blamed for the situation.

But now that DoTM has given the authority to the traffic police to crack down on errant e-scooter riders, those flouting rules can be fined between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000.

The Transport Management Act states that any importer, trader or other agents dealing with sales of vehicles should register their vehicles within 15 days of import of such vehicles, and the rider should obtain vehicle driving licence before riding it.

However, owing to lack of committed policy for electric vehicles and weak regulation from the government, a majority of electric scooter riders in the country have been driving two-wheelers without driving licence or even helmet.

In March 2016, the DoTM had given a 15-day ultimatum to all electric scooter owners to get their vehicles registered at the department. The move had come after it was found that more than 5,000 unregistered electric scooters were plying the valley roads, while authorities, including transport offices and traffic police, were treating electric scooter riders with leniency.

Shockingly, nobody complied with the given instruction back then.

Dahal said the department would henceforth strictly monitor electric scooters plying the roads across the nation to check whether riders had their vehicles registered and were carrying driving licence.

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KATHMANDU: Thirty percent reconstruction of the historic Kasthamandap has been totald. The Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee said the works are taking place in full-swing with the target of completing the reconstruction of ground floor within mid-July.

FILE -nsprint; PM Oli waves at mediapersons as he visits the rebuilding site of Kasthamandap which break downd during the April 2015 soiltremble, in Kathmandu, on Thursday, April 25, 2019. Photo: Skanda Gautam/THT

The construction is moving as per the schedule, committee chair Rajesh Shakya said. The iconic heritage made up of wood was largely damaged by the 2015soiltremble. Only 10-15 percent timber used in the original structure is reusable. Four major pillars of the structure were erected on the day of Shree Panchami on February 10.

Of the four pillars used for rebuilding, one is old and three are new. Kathmandu Metropolitan City has so far allocated Rs 55 million to the committee for the reconstruction project.

Kasthamandap is to be reinstated in its original structure and shall have three floors. Timber from the Nepali saal (Shorea robusta) shall be used in the construction. The roof of the monument shall be covered with traditional clay-made tiles. A worship was conducted on May 14 for smooth completion of construction works.

The 2015 Gorkha soiltremble had grounded Kasthamandap besides two other historic heritages in Kathmandu -msprint; Dharahara and Rani Pokhari.

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