Nepal

Kathmandu, August 14

Woman rights activists, government officials and stakeholders have stressed the need for a consolidated progress report to be presented in multiple UN forums being held in 2020.

They demanded the consolidated report as Nepal is not able to showcase its remarkable achievements made on gender equality and women empowerment in international forums.

The year 2020 will be an important opportunity for Nepal to present its achievements as it is the year for major UN reviews like Beijing+25, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG+5) and UNSCR 1325+20. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) had adopted resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security on October 2000. The resolution reaffirms and emphasises contributions women make towards conflict prevention, peacekeeping and conflict resolution.

Celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as well as ICPD+25 (International Conference on Population and Development) will also take place in the same year.

&Though Nepal is making remarkable achievements on women empowerment and gender equality it is not able to present these achievements in international forums. Such events are platform to showcase the achievements made by Nepal.

Therefore a consolidated document should be prepared on time to present Nepalachievements in equality and empowerment of women in such international forums,& said Bandana Rana UN CEDAW, vice-chair at a programme titled, ‘Gender Equality and WomenEmpowerment 2020, What it Means for Nepal,& organised in the Capital today.

The event was organised to discuss about coordinated and collective action in drafting official reports including issues related to gender equality and womenempowerment to be presented in UN forums.

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KATHMANDU: Winner of Madan Puraskar of Nepal, litterateur Madan Madan Mani Dixit has passed away today. He was 96.

Photo: Naresh Shrestha/ THT

Dixit, who was suffering from pneumonia was admitted to Sumeru Hospital last week and had just been discharged on Wednesday.

It has been reported that he became unconscious while moving to the restroom at home this morning. Subsequently, he was rushed to Putalisadak-based Himala Hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Litterateur Dixit‘Madhavi&, ‘Meri Nilima&, ‘Rigveda& and other creations were cherished for their contribution to Nepali Literature.

Dixit was also known for his contribution to Nepali journalism.

Last rites of Dixit will be performed in Pashupatinath Aryaghat today.

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Kathmandu, August 14

Human trafficking is not only a heinous crime, but also a vicious form of exploitation facing Nepali youths and children. Governmenteffort and investment have fallen short in combating the crime.

A report on ‘Trafficking in Persons-2019& recently released by the National Human Rights Commission said crime of human trafficking has yet to get due attention of the government. Government has assigned the responsibility of curbing human trafficking mainly to the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also responsible in the fight against the crime. &The budget appropriated to the MoWCSC for anti-human trafficking programmes and activities in the last fiscal was below Rs 10 million. It is estimated that around 35,000 persons, including 15,000 women and 5,00 girls were victims of human trafficking in 2018-19. If the appropriated amount is divided by Rs 35,000, budget per trafficking victim will be less than Rs 286. This petty investment meant for ending human trafficking is ridiculous in itself,& the report stated.

The report said that around 1.5 million population was at risk of trafficking in 2018-19 and nearly 35,000 of them ended up in various forms of trafficking. &If the budget of Rs 10 million is distributed among the vulnerable people, they will get around seven rupees each. The investment made by the government is too little to address the problems of trafficking,& it said. Previously Nepali women and girls trafficked by organised crime syndicates used to end up in Indian cities, New Delhi and Mumbai. Now trafficking of Nepali girls and women is not limited to neighbouring countries. Web of trafficking for worst forms of slavery and sexual exploitation has gradually spread across African and Latin American countries. Human traffickers have been capitalising on lack of employment opportunity in the country, low education level and poverty to lure women, girls and men into foreign countries with the promise of lucrative jobs and better future. The victims feel cheated only when they are left to fend for themselves in a foreign country.

The report also paints a bleak picture on implementation status of recommendations made by the NHRC to the government in regard to control of human trafficking, rescue and assistance of victims and their access to justice. &Most of the recommendations are limited to paper as the concerned authorities pay no or less attention to them. Even the rights body is not informed about the progress on implementation of the recommendations,& it read

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Kathmandu/Surkhet, August 14

The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has yet to decide the fate of Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development of Karnali province Khadka Bahadur Khatri, who has been indicted in a banking offence.

Patan High Court directed the police yesterday to arrest and produce him before the court within three days.

Chief Minister of Karnali Province Mahendra Bahadur Shahi told THT that the court order was a matter between Khatri and the court. &We will abide by the law,& he said when asked if he was going to sack Khatri in the face of his indictment.

Khatri is among five individuals who have been accused of providing fake bank guarantees of Rs 10.1 million to Bhojpur Technical Committee.

When asked if the ruling NCP will seek expulsion of Khatri from the Karnali government, party Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said, &I cannot say that at this stage because our party has not discussed the issue.& He, however, hastened to add that according to NCP the law should apply to everybody without any distinction.

The government recently filed a banking offence against Khatri, Raju Prasad Shrestha, Chhabi Lal Dhakal, Randhir Tumba and Dev Jung Shahi for submitting two fake bank guarantees to Bhojpur Technical Committee between June and November 2016. As per the chargesheet, the defendants prepared two fake bank guarantees of Rs 10.1 million of Agriculture Development Bank, Bhojpur, and submitted them to Bhojpur Technical Committee.

The order issued by Patan High Court termed Shrestha and Khatri ‘absconding offenders&.

Division bench of Judge Shree Kanta Paudel and Tek Prasad Dhungana admonished police and investigators for not producing Khatri and Shrestha before the court the day the chargesheet was filed against them. The bench wondered why the charge-sheet mentioned the minister as son of a minister when Minister Khatri had himself stated in his statement before the detectives that he was a minister. The court also told police to find out if he was son of a minister or a minister himself. The court directed police to produce him before the court within three days if he was a minister.

According to Spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General Sanjeeb Raj Regmi, Khatri does not face automatic suspension. In case a corruption case is filed against a public post holder, s/he faces suspension till his/her case is disposed off.

The ministersecretariat member told THT that Khatri had been consulting his lawyers and he would surrender before the court within a day or two.

Senior Advocate Surendra Bhandari said Khatri faced a moral question after the indictment. It will be morally wrong on Minister Khatripart to appear before the court as a defendant in a criminal case and continue to hold office, he argued. He said the posts of lawmaker and minister required high moral character, hence he should quit both the posts.

Karnali PA member and Advocate Dharma Raj Regmi said Khatritrial would determine whether he would remain a minister or face suspension.

He added that if the court frees Khatri on bail, he would face suspension, but if the court frees him after minor inquiry, he would not face suspension.

Khatri is a contractor and runs KSK Construction in Surkhet. He had provided security bond for the bank guarantee. Contractor Ranvir Tumba and Devjung Shahi have been accused of playing the role of main conspirators who produced fake bank guarantees. Police had arrested Tumba, Shahi and Section Officer of Agriculture Bank, Bhojpur, Chhabi Lal Dhakal.

Despite repeated attempts, Khatri could not be contacted as his phone was switched off.

Khatri was elected to the Karnali Provincial Assembly from Surkhet Constituency No 1 on the erstwhile CPN-UML ticket.

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