Nepal

Kathmandu, July 22

Acknowledging its contribution to quality eye health care services, the World Health Organisation has today given Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology recognition as its collaborating centre for ophthalmology.

The announcement was made during a programme organised here to celebrate the silver jubilee year of the institution.

Jos Vandelaer, WHO representative to Nepal, handed over the recognition certificate to Reeta Gurung, chief executive officer of the institution, during the event. TIO is the first WHO collaborating centre in Nepal in the field of ophthalmology.

WHO collaborating centres are institutions such as research institutes, parts of universities or academies, which are designated by the director-general to carry out activities in support of the Organisationprogrammes.

Currently, there are over 800 WHO collaborating centres in over 80 member states working with WHO in areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases and health technologies, according to WHO.

WHO has provided this status to the institution for its significant contribution to eye care service delivery, education and training in the field of ophthalmology, and ophthalmic research.

Speaking at the programme, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said, &The institution has done extraordinary work in the area of eye health care and has contributed to the countryprosperity.& He also assured all the required support from the governmentside for the growth of the institution.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Population Upendra Yadav said a separate eye unit will be established in the health ministry.

Established to support prevention and control of blindness in Nepal and beyond, TIO has, till date, examined and treated more than six million eye patients, while more than 400,000 cataract and other major eye surgeries have been performed. The institution has a state-of-the-art intra-ocular lens manufacturing unit which produces high quality intra-ocular lenses which are used in cataract surgeries. These lenses are exported to more than 70 countries in the world.

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KATHMANDU: Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa on Tuesday said the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal was a major threat to peace and security in the country and would be brought to the political mainstream soon.

&Though the government is largely successful in maintaining law and order in the country, complete peace will not be possible unless the Chand-led group is brought to the political mainstream like the CK Raut group,& he said. Thapa added that the government had repeatedly urged CPN to come to the negotiating table. &Informal talks with CPN are under way,& he said.

Thapa reiterated that it was the duty of the government to neutralise activities of the banned CPN. According to the MoHA, more than 500 leaders and cadres of the outfit have been taken into police custody.

• Home minister makes light of Nirmalarape

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Kathmandu, July 23

Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa today said the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta was not the first incident of its kind in the country.

Responding to the queries raised by mediapersons during a press meet organised at his office in Singha Durbar to make public the one-year report card of the Ministry of Home Affairs, he said, &What happened to Nirmala is nothing new. Such incidents occurred in the past, are taking place at present and may continue in future too, and cannot be prevented completely.& Nirmala, a 13-year-old girl, was raped and murdered in Kanchanpur on July 26.

Nearly one year after the heinous crime that drew national and international attention, the government has yet to bring to book the perpetrator(s).

On why the government failed to identify and arrest the guilty, Minister Thapa claimed that mixing politics with the issue had added to the complexities of criminal investigation. &Some tried to link the Nirmala rape and murder to the MoHA for shielding the perpetrator(s), which is very sad. Investigation is still on and the government is committed to punishing the guilty, no matter how long it takes,& Thapa said.

He also urged all to cooperate with the government to lead the investigation to a pragmatic end.

&Nepal Police has been successful in solving more than 95 per cent of criminal cases and is being criticised merely for its failure to arrest perpetrator(s) in five per cent of the reported crimes,& he said. He added that the government would bring to book the guilty of all outstanding cases.

Home Secretary Prem Kumar Rai said blunders and negligence on the part of Kanchanpur police at the outset of criminal investigation had made it difficult to identify and arrest the culprit(s).

Nepali Congress has taken serious exception to the home ministerremarks on the Nirmala murder and rape.

Taking to THT, NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma termed it an ‘irresponsible statement&.

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Kathmandu, July 22

Twenty-two ministries, including Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, and eight constitutional bodies have submitted delegated legislation to the office of the parliamentary Delegated Management and Government Assurance Committee.

Chair of the committee Ram Narayan Bidari confirmed that the panel had received delegated legislation of the ministries and constitutional bodies.

On March 24, the committee had directed the ministries and constitutional bodies to submit their delegated legislation within a month. But they failed to do so within the allocated time. Even, Nepal Medical Council and Nepal Telecommunication Authority have been asked to submit their delegated legislation.

Delegated laws incorporate office or institutional rules, regulations and by-laws. Based on the parent laws, ministries or constitutional bodies are entitled to draft delegated legislation. These laws must be under the jurisdiction of the main act endorsed by the Parliament. &The Parliament cannot draft all the required rules, regulations and by-laws to run offices or other government bodies. So, the Parliament has given the authority to prepare delegated legislation to the ministries and other government bodies,& said Bidari, adding that there was a chance of misuse of authority if these laws were not cross checked.

He said his committee would scrutinise all the delegated legislation drafted by the ministries and constitutional bodies before approving them.

Bidari also said even secretaries and ministers didn&t know how many laws they had in their ministries. So, the committee started inquiry into the delegated legislation and asked the ministries to submit their delegated legislation.

Member of the panel Radheshyam Adhikari said till now they had not gone through the content of delegated legislation.

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