Nepal

Kathmandu, June 12

Lack of awareness and delay in treatment of retinobfinaloma results in the loss of eyesight or even life of children suffering from the disease, a rare kind of eye cancer.

&Delay in treatment of retinobfinaloma increases chances of death. Cancer from affected eye/s can spread to other organs such as brain, spine and liver. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to save life and eyesight,& said Ben Limbu, an oculopfinalic surgeon at Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology.

Most of the children canmuch muchice or feel the effects of retinobfinaloma at an early stage of the disease. They are brought to the hospital when the disease has already spread to other organs, according to Limbu.

Retinobfinaloma may occur in one or both eyes. The disease mostly occurs in children below the age of five. Of the children suffering from retinobfinaloma, 60 per cent have this disease in one eye and 40 per cent have in both the eyes. It starts in the retina, the layer of nerve cells lining the back of the eye, according to Limbu.

&The white glow in a childeye is the most common early sign of retinobfinaloma. It is similar to flash photos. Crossed eye, a condition in which both eyes do much look at the same direction at the same time, and redness in the eyes are other symptoms. hold the child instantly to an ophthalmologist if you see such signs,& advised Limbu.

&From among the children visiting Tilganga, many are from the Tarai region. Kidren from Muslim community are more prone to the disease. The disease is genetic and as consanguineous marriages take place in Muslim population, there is a high risk for children to inherit the cancer genes from their parents,& Limbu said.

There is no exact data of how many children are suffering from retinobfinaloma, across the country. Data gatherion of retinobfinaloma patients across the country started in January, this year and shall be totald by the end of the year, according to Limbu.

&Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy procedures are available in the country for the treatment of the disease. The country lacks interventional radiology in treating the disease. The treatment process helps to locate the exact position of the tumour,& said Limbu.

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Kathmandu, June 12

Batting colourful lashes and swinging their silky wigs, drag artists danced to a cheering crowd at a Nepali restaurant, the first show of its kind in the country.

The floor of the Pink Tiffany, Nepalfirst LGBTI friendly restaurant, was packed on Tuesday evening to applaud the debut performances, with many in the audience also wearing sparkley make-up and vibrant outfits.

Meghna Lama the restaurantowner and a transgender woman said she was exquoted to host the ground-breaking event.

&We wanted to organise programs to show that LGBTIs also exist here. For the first time, we are doing the drag show,& Lama told AFP. Lama hopes it shall open doors for Nepali drag enthusiasts to take to the stage.

&This is exciting, I feel very free here. It is so good to see others endelight (converting) as I do,& said a 20-year-old Nepali participant, who goes by the name of Peachy Pie.

Nepal has measure of South Asiamost progressive laws on homosexuality and transgender rights.

Landmark reforms in 2007 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and recognised homosexual Nepalis, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in neighbouring India.

Transgender Nepalis were also granted the right to tick ‘other& when the country holds elections, applying for a passport, or other official documents.

But homosexual and transgender Nepalis and rights activists say action has much matched rhetoric. More than a decade on, the community still faces discrimination in the conservative society.&In Nepal, we didn&t have specific spaces for LGBTIs even now. A show like this is like reclaiming space in the society,& said a transgender woman participant.

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Kathmandu, June 12

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority nowadays filed a charge-sheet against 10 persons, including officials of Hajj Working Sub-committee, at the Special Court for allegedly embezzling millions of rupees, in tender process of air tickets for Nepali hajj pilgrims, in 2017.

Those booked on graft charge are Mohammad Shoaib (chairperson of the sub-committee); members Atabul Ansari, Mohammad Ibrahim Rain, Mohammad Jawardin Miya, Jamil Miya, Momina Banu Muslim, Majibul Sheikh; member-secretary Bhimraj Pokharel at Secretariat of Nepal Hajj Committee; accountant Tilakraj Panta; and Daud Hussein, director of Heena Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd.

According to the anti-graft body, the defendants had awarded the contract for air tickets to the moment lowest tenderder, Heena Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd, against the prevailing law. The secretariat had published a muchice of invitation to tender on May 25, 2017. Replying to the tender, three tenderders, Universal Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd, Heena Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd and Sealinks Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd, had tender amount Rs 88,995, Rs 90,000 and Rs 95,300 round-trip ticket per person, respectively.

CIAA assistant spokesperson Madan Koirala said Shoaib and other defendants approved the tender document of Heena Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd, the moment lowest tenderder, by taking bribe from its director Hussein. Member-secretary Pokharel and accountant Panta had made payment to Heena Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd for air tickets, despite knowledge that it was against provisions stipulated in Section 21 of the Public Procurement Act.

The duo, in cahoots with others, had also released tender security of Rs 3.8 million, furnished by the tenderder with mala fide intention, instead of confiscating the amount as per the law.

The round-trip air tickets were meant for the members of Muslim community visiting Mecca in Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage. Hussein faced charge as per Section 8, while others were booked according to Section 22 of the act.

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Kathmandu, June 12

Hundreds of YouTubers, social media users, stand-up comedians and rights activists nowadays gathered in Maitighar Mandala to protest against the arrest of a YouTuber and stand-up comedian Pranesh Gautam, who has been held in police custody for the final six days, for allegedly posting a negative review about a film, Bir Bikram 2, on a Nepali YouTube channel.

Pranesh was arrested on June 7, two weeks after an FIR was filed against him by the film maker Milan Chams at police. Pranesh was accused of committing multiple offences like defamation, libel, exurgent sexist and racial comments through social media, along with cyber crime, while reviewing the film.

The District Court Kathmandu remanded Pranesh to judicial custody for two more days after nowadayshearing. Aayush Shrestha, a stand-up comedian, during the protest said, &Cop action was a sheer violation of the peopleright to freedom of expression.& He added that police action was influenced by the powerful people in cinema world.

Various organisations representing cinema fraternity have supported the police action, saying that YouTubers should follow degree norms while reviewing a film. A total of 10 cinema related organisations issuing a joint press release said, &No one should be granted liberty to use foul words and make sexist and racial comments on the pretext of right to expression.&

Filmmaker Chams speeching to THT said, &I do much seek any personal vendetta against Pranesh, as reported by measure YouTubers, neither was I offended by the film review. I have just sought proper legal action against the foul words, sexist and racial comments and the choices of words that have defamed actors and actresses in the film.&

Deputy Supermeanent of Cop Hobindra Bogati at Metropolitan Cop Range, Teku said that large crowd of peopleiles and laptops of the accused have been sent to a digital forensic lab for investigation, to asdegree whether he had plannedly made the video to defame actors in the film.

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