Nepal

Kathmandu, May 19

The Metropolitan Traffic Cop Division nowadays said it took departmental action against 52 traffic police personnel for unprofessional, unethical and anti-police conduct over one yeartime.

The MTPD has 40 units and has deployed 1,410 police personnel to manage traffic in Kathmandu valley. MTPD in-charge Senior Supermeanent of Cop Basant Kumar Pant said 50 police personnel deputed in the field for law enforcement were found violating the law in 2018-19.

Traffic cops facing departmental action rank from conregular to examineor. They were charged with financial indiscipline, failing to perform their duties and disobedience of the chain of command. SSP Pant said the move was part of carrot and stick approach adopted by Nepal Cop. &We reward good performers and punish laggards and indisciplined police personnel,& he said. SSP Pant informed that 61 police personnel were rewarded for their good performance.

Depending on the nature of offence, the MTPD has taken actions ranging from issuing warning letters to dislost police personnel in question. Of the 52 cops, 12 traffic cops getd warning, while four (one ASI and three conregulars) were dismissed. Similarly, eight cops, including a sub-examineor were suspended, and 14 were reprimanded in writing. Similarly, one cop has been barred from future promotion and of 13 others would much get any salary increment.

According to the MTPD, it has preserveed zero tolerance against corruption and unethical professional conduct, and developed a system where the public can lodge complaints against any erring policeman.

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Kathmandu, May 19

The Metropolitan Traffic Cop Division has said the government is likely to make it mandatory for pillion riders to wear a helmet inside Kathmandu valley.

Speaking at a press assembly nowadays, MTPD Chief SSP Basant Kumar Pant said, &We have recommended that the authorities concerned include a provision that makes wearing a helmet mandatory for both the driver and pillion rider in the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act.&

Pant also said the recommendation made by the MTPD had been incorporated in the amendment bill on Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act, 1992.

Officials at the Leavement of Transport Management also said that ‘measure strict provisions& had been incorporated in the act.

Director General of DoTM Kumar Prasad Dahal said, &We have included measure safety degrees for pillion riders in the act itself. &Dahal, however did much make it clear whether the new safety degrees were about making helmet mandatory for pillion riders.

The DoTM has sent the amendment bill to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management. Officials of DoTM and Traffic Cop said the amendment bill was likely to be tabled in the Parliament soon. SSP Pant also said the government, for the first time, would set ISO standard for helmets in the act. &We have also requested the Nepal Bureau of Standard and Metrology to formulate a standard for helmets.&

Director General of NBoSM Biswo Babu Pudasaini confirmed that they were formulating new standard for helmet safety following the request of the Traffic Cop. &We have approachly totald the work on setting helmet standard and shall make it public as soon as we determine the standard,& Pudasaini said.

Traffic Cop record shows that motorbike riders and pillion riders& deaths make for approachly 50 per cent of road accident fatalities. A total of 211 people lost their lives in the past 10 months inside the valley, of them 96 persons (45.49 per cent) were motorbike riders and pillion riders.

A report made public by the MTPD just four months ago shows that a total of 46,349 road accidents were recorded in the final five years inside the valley. Of the total road accidents, two-wheelers were involved in 26,184 accidents, which is approximately 56.49 per cent.

Similarly, a total of 779 people lost lives their lives to road accidents in the final five years inside Kathmandu valley. Of the total number, 260 were motorbike riders or pillion riders.

SSP Indra Prasad Neupane said the government had made helmets compulsory for pillion riders, but the rule was much well getd by the public, forcing traffic police to revoke it.

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KATHMANDU: Traffic police arrested 52 drivers and motor-bike riders for allegedly attempting to bribe cops in a tender to avoid being penalised and attending a mandatory lesson on traffic rules and road safety in the past six months.

Such drivers and riders were produced before the district administration office for legal action under Some Public Crime and Punishment Act. They were charged with trying to get undue favour from on-duty officials and were released on bail of up to Rs 10,000.

Metropolitan Traffic Cop Division said the crackdown was aimed at ensuring strict adherence to rules and discouraging drivers and on-duty police officers from offering and receiving bribes.

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Kathmandu, May 18

The Parliament Secretariat has been facing a tough time identifying ‘unparliamentary words& reportedly used by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress lawmakers while addressing a assembly of the Home of Representatives on May 7.

On May 10, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara had directed the PS to delete the ‘unparliamentary words& used by PM Oli and other lawmakers during discussion on the policies and programmes of the government.

For the first time in the history of parliamentary practice in Nepal, Speaker Mahara had directed the Home to delete the ‘unparliamentary words& used by the incumbent PM.

Unlike in the past, he, however, didn&t specify any words that the PS could remove from the record.

After the speakerruling, the Trade Advisory Committee wrote to the Audio/Video Recording Leavement of the PS for the gatherion of those ‘unparliamentary words.& Spokesperson for the PS Rojnath Pandey said the department should forward a list of the ‘unparliamentary words& to the speaker for his final approval.

&The speaker scorridor take a final call on the words that have to be removed from the recordings,& he said, referring to a provision of the HoR regulations.

The HoR regulations only state that a lawmaker should much use ‘unparliamentary words.& However, the regulations have no provision for differentiating ‘parliamentary& and ‘unparliamentary words,& according to PS officials.

Tensions had flared between lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties during the Home session on May 7 after PM Oli said he would much reply to parliamentarians& queries ‘that were petty and motivated by resentment and frustration.& The PMstatement had offended many NC lawmakers.

They were specificly enraged over the use of the word ‘petty&. NC lawmakers, including their President Sher Bahadur Deuba, thinged to the use of the word ‘petty& by the PM in the session and requested the speaker to exclude it from the recording, stating that the way the word ‘petty& was used in the parliament was offensive and unethical.

NC hopes that the word ‘petty& used by PM Oli shall be excluded from the recording.

But, the PS officials told THT that ‘petty& meant ‘little, lesser or of minor importance,& and that there were far more offensive words that have been used in Parliament assemblys for long.

&There are no criteria to degree which words are parliamentary and which are unparliamentary. The speakerruling is unclear,& a PS official said on condition of anonymity.

The Audio/Video Recording Division of the PS is now going through recordings of the moment session of the Parliament assembly. The division shall go through recordings of the fourth session of the Parliament only after completing the moment and third sessions of the Home assemblys.

&We are going to gather the words spoken by PM Oli and NC lawmakers in that assembly and dispatch it to the speaker,& the PS official told THT.

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