Four teachers arrested on charge of leaking grade XII question papers

Police have arrested four teachers from various places in Kathmandu on Sunday on charge of leaking question papers of the recently concluded grade XII exams Sunday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation at the police headquarters arrested Rudra Adhikari, vice principal of Gillete College in Kalimati, Narendra Subedi, teacher of Bright Land College in Balaju, Santosh Kuikel and Binod Basnet on charges of leaking the question papers.
Police have claimed, the question paper were photocopied before the exams and sold to students for Rs 5000 to 25000 at Adhikari’s plan. Police are investigating further on the case.

Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagashaki bag first Gautam Buddha International Peace Award

Nepal government has decided to award the 1st Gautam Buddha International Peace Award to incumbent Mayor of Japanese city Nagasaki and former Mayor of another Japanese city Hiroshima.
Tokihisa Tua, Mayor of Hiroshima, and Tadatoshi Akiba, former Mayor of Hiroshima are arriving in Kathmandu Monday to take the award.
The award will be presented amid a special function in Lumbini on Tuesday on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti.
The award carries a purse of USD 50,000 and a certificate. The government established the award in order to promote world peace and tourism in Nepal coinciding with Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

We are engaged in efforts to establish a national consensus govt: Bhattarai

Unified CPN (Maoist) vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai said his party is engaged in an effort to establish a national consensus government before May 28, the deadline for promulgation of the constitution.

Talking briefly to journalists at the Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, Dr Bhattarai said his party has started consultation with other political parties to turn the current government into a national consensus government by roping in Nepali Congress including other political parties currently in the opposition.
However, if our effort fails we will focus on building a new national consensus government, he said.

Mr Baburam Bhattarai

Stating that the Maoist party proposed one-year extension of the tenure of the Constituent Assembly to complete the ongoing processes of constitution drafting and peace, Dr Bhattarai dismissed rumours that the proposal for CA term extension was put forth to derail the constitution drafting and peace process.
Bhattarai also urged Nepali Congress and few Madhes-based parties in the opposition to stop taking a unilateral stance on issues of national importance including CA term extension which they oppose.
Unilateral stance on such issues will only invite serious political confrontation, he said.
Bhattarai further talked about party’s plan to ease the integration of Maoist combatants into Nepal Army by introducing a new National Security Plan.

NEPSE transaction up by 38.55 pc

Though the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index declined by 5.79 points to close at 346.44 on Thursday compared to the opening day on Sunday, the transaction amount of NEPSE has increased by 38.55 percent compared to the amount previous week.
Over the week, the NEPSE registered a turnover of Rs. 94.6 million through 5,786 transactions observing a total of 523,724 shares of 122 companies while it registered a total turnover of Rs. 68.3 million through 6,768 transactions observing a total of 311,340 shares of 102 companies.
The index market also managed to increase the transaction amount by 38.55 percent last week.
As per the indices of all the sub groups, commercial bank, other group, and hydropower groups witnessed positive growth of 10.62 points, 2.35 points and 2.32 points respectively over a week.
Similarly, hotel, insurance, finance, and development bank groups showed negative growth by 9.04 points, 3.33 points, 3 points, and 1 point respectively over a week.
According to the NEPSE index, People’s Finance, ICFC Finance, Chilime Hydropower Company, Bank of Kathmandu and Nabil Bank stood at the top five companies on the basis of highest transaction over a week.

National Census 2011 begins

National Census 2011 has begun Sunday. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has started the household listing by collecting details of the head of household, women, men and third gender people in each household from today.
Some 8500 surveyors have been deployed across the country to collect the details including name, surname, caste, age, education and profession of the head of the household, women and third genders.
In addition, they will also collect details about the cattle and birds the household owns, landholdings, and type of house, among other details. CBS has prepared a questionnaire with 50 questions for the census.
The household listing will conclude on June 1. The final round of the census will be conducted from June 17 to 27. The census will be conducted simultaneously about 39000 VDCs and about five dozen municipalities across the country.
The first census was conducted in Nepal in 1911. This year, the theme of the census is, lets not repeat, lets not miss out, lets give our details from the place we stay most.
CBS has estimated the population of the country has reached about 29 million. The population in the previous census in 2001 was 22.15 million.
This year, CBS will also collect data about people who have gone abroad for work or study.
The surveyors will also collect details of household work like cooking, babysitting, and laundry to include such work in the Gross Domestic Product.
A budget of over Rs 1 billion has been allocated for the census.

AI report: ‘Nepal’s progress on HR dismal’

The Amnesty International (AI), in its annual report for 2010, said progress made by Nepal in upholding human rights is dismal. Repeated cases of violence and impunity have hoisted the milieu of insecurity in Nepal, it was reported.

In the report launched here on Friday by the AI-Nepal, the rights watchdog states powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights.

Cases of torture in custody and other ill treatments have been reported in 98 countries. Two thirds of the world’s people lack access to justice.

“Although 147 countries have ratified the Convention, torture remains widespread and we continue to investigate reports of torture worldwide,” it reads. “In 2010, AI recorded and investigated rights abuses in 157 countries and territories worldwide. Our research shows the need for individuals to stand together to protect human rights is as great as ever.” The report that documented unlawful restrictions of freedom of expression in 89 countries claims the trend of rights violation and impunity has amplified globally.

In Nepal’s context, it says the promises made by the Comprehensive Peace Accord on human rights have not been addressed. It states that the political crisis and increasing number of armed groups have challenged the peace process. The dismal progress in the formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been attributed to political influence and inadequate witness protection.

“Officials actively obstructed accountability mechanisms, and commitments made by political leaders as part of the peace process were not fulfilled in practice,” reads report. “Torture and other ill-treatment in police custody remained widespread. Ethnic, religious and gender discrimination went largely unchallenged. Violence against women and girls persisted.”

PSC cancels exam after question paper leak

The Public Service Commission (PSC) cancelled the exams for non-gazetted first class clerks (Nayab Subba) scheduled to for Saturday afternoon after question papers were leaked before the exams.
The papers of the second paper exam to be held at 4 pm were 'mistakenly' distributed to examnees of the first sitting at 1 pm