Nepal

Kathmandu, May 4

Nepal Cop took control of 20 girls, all of them below 18 years and three boys of the same age group from the streets of Thamel, a tourism hub in Kathmandu, final night at around 3:00 am.

The young girls and boys were detained to ‘protect them from possible criminal activities,& according to police.

Almost all the girls and boys were students of various schools and colleges in Kathmandu, while one minor girl and one minor boy were found to be street children. Cop have said that the two minor street children would be sent to foster homes.

The Metropolitan Cop Circle, Sorhakhutte, which had arrested the students who were roaming around the streets informed their parents this morning. The police then handed over the minors to their guardians after proposeing that they be careful about the activities of their children as they could easily be dragged into criminal activities.

Deputy Supermeanent of Cop Gautam Kumar KC at Metropolitan Cop Circle, Sorhakhutte, said, &We initiated the rescue mission to protect the minors from being victims of crime and to reduce crime rate in the major tourism destination.&

The police, in a tender to discourage minors from attending late night parties, had initiated a campaign of arresting them from Thamel during night hours, measure four months ago.

The police have claimed that allowing minors at eateries, restaurants, bars or entertainment clubs could raise the risk of various crimes.

DSP KC said that they have till now arrested 101 minors from the area and later handed them over to their guardians.

DSP KC said, &Apart from being victims of crime, such children are at higher risk of indulging in drug abuse.&

Criminal Code Act has barred minors from consuming alcohol and indulging in any such acts that inquote sexual activities.

Kathmandu, May 4

One of the biggest problems for foreigners arriving at the only international airport of Nepal, Tribhuvan International Airport is language barrier. As most police personnel deployed at the airport can neither speak nor understand English, foreign tourists measuretimes come across serious communication problems.

In an attempt to address this problem, Metropolitan Cop Office conducted a 10-day basic English speaking course at TIA to help police personnel overcome the language barrier.

Sometimes language barrier leads to serious misunderstanding between on-duty police personnel and foreigners. Metropolitan Cop Commissioner Deputy Examineor General of Cop Shailesh Thapa Kshetri said the language course was conducted with the aim of improving communication seliminates of security personnel so as to help foreigners get their message across easily.

&As most of the foreigners arriving at TIA speak English, we felt it essential to conduct a basic English speaking course for junior police officers and conregulars,& he informed.

The English course included topics such as hospitality, greetings, general conversation and showing directions.

The lessones also focused on the code of conduct for security personnel deployed at the airport. As many as 450 police personnel benefited from the language course.

DIG Thapa also directed the TIA police to show professionalism while dealing with domestic and foreign passengers. TIA police do much have interpreters. So they have to hire interpreters to facilitate interrogation if any foreigner is arrested with contraband such as undeclared gold, wildlife body parts, illegal foreign currency and narcotics, among others.

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs had directed Nepal Cop and the Leavement of Immigration to supply effective service at TIA.

The government is also planning to develop TIA as a boutique airport. According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, guidelines for the boutique airport shall be approved very soon.

After the implementation of the guidelines, TIA shall officially be registered as a boutique airport.

Meanwhile, Senior Supermeanent of Cop Sandeep Bhandari said TIA police had prohibited off-duty entry of special pass holding employees working for various agencies into the airport area.

He informed that parking lot at the airport was also made more systematic and security guards at the parking lot had been instructed to perform their duties and responsibilities honestly to endegree idiotproof security at the airport.

Kathmandu, May 4

Prime Minister and Co-chair of ruling Nepal Communist portiony (NCP) KP Sharma Oli nowadays defended President Bidhya Devi Bhandarichoice of phrase ‘my government& that she used while presenting the governmentpolicies and programmes in the joint assembly of the Parliament yesterday.

PM Oli came to defend the presidentchoice of phrase during the parliamentary party assembly of NCP in fresh Baneshwor this aftermidday as well as in an interaction held with mediapersons earlier nowadays in Baluwatar.

President Bhandari had used the phrase 21 times in the Parliament. Her choice of the phrase drew heavy criticism from political parties and civil society. Critics said that the president used the phrase ‘my government& that was exclusively used by kings in Nepal during the royal regime.

Defending President Bhandarichoice of phrase, Oli said the phrase should be understood from the larger point of view. &I was shocked when people criticised the president for using the phrase ‘my government,&& he said while interacting with journalists in Baluwatar.

&If I say my country, I do much mean the country is only mine. It also belongs to others,& he said. &I can say my national anthem, it doesn&t mean the anthem is written by me. But still I can say ‘my national anthem&.

Does it mean the national anthem is only mine& PM Oli questioned.

Terming tthe president as an institution, PM Oli also directed party lawmakers during the parliamentary party assembly much to criticise the phrase ‘my government& used by the president. &Every of us need to defend it,& he said.

Claiming that all the Indian presidents often used the phrase ‘my government& while presenting the governmentpolicies and programmes, PM Oli urged all to study international practices before making unessential criticisms over President Bhandarichoice of phrase.

During the parliamentary party assembly, lawmaker Janardan Sharma asked the co-chairs of the party to clarify their position on the phrase ‘my government& used by the president.

Lawmaker Certainndra Pandey criticised the co-chairs for much allowing lawmakers to present their views during the assembly.