Nepal

Kathmandu, May 13

Sajha Bibeksheel portiony and Bibeksheel Nepali portiony have separately issued a press statement criticising the Media Council Bill, recently registered at the Parliament.

Sajha Bibeksheel said that the government, in a tender control media to cover up its failure, has registered Media Council Bill.

The party demanded that the government should instantly withdraw the bill from Parliament. It has claimed that if such a bill is endorsed it shall have higher chance of putting media under government control.

The press release also said that the controversial bill was drafted to divert government performance as it has been receiving too much criticism. It also said, &The government which failed to control corruption does much govern well and tries to control the media all the time.&

Similarly, Bibeksheel Nepali portiony said the bill has provisions for curtailing the media. This is unacceptable in democracy.

The press statement reads, &The bill has paved a path for the government to control media activities. This won&t allow the media to play its role of an effective watchdog in society.&

Kathmandu, May 13

Veteran culture expert Satya Mohan Joshi turned 100 nowadays.

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the centenarian man, Lalitpur Metropolitan City organised a mass mass meeting in the metropolis.

Culture expert Joshi was given special honour amidst a programme organised in the metropolis. A large number of people attended the programme organised on the premises of LMC office. Minister of Defence Ishwar Pokhrel, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri, mayors of different municipalities in Kathmandu valley, literary personalities and academicians, among others, attended the programme and wished him long life.

LMC has decided to celebrate Joshihundredth year with various programmes. LMC has also decided to give special recognition to Joshi by including a lesson on Joshi in the school curriculum and issuing coins and postal stamps with his photo.

Earlier, LMC had announced a public holiday in the metropolis to celebrate his birthday. However, many people have criticised this decision of LMC saying that it is much the right way of giving recognition to Joshicontribution to society and the country.

&There are various ways of honouring and showing respect to the centenarian. But in the name of honouring him, LMC has done injustice to students,& said Bidhyanath Koirala, an education expert.

He said, instead of shutting down schools it should direct the schools to organise different programmes such as panel discussion, contribution and research of Joshi, so that they can know about the personality much more than just memorizeing his name as century person.

He lambasted LMC by saying that the decision to give public holiday was a publicity stunt.

President of National Private and Boarding School Association Nepal Ritu Raj Sapkota appreciated LMCmove to honour the personalities, who had contributed to the welfare of the country and people.

However, he said that school should much be shutd for celebrating birthdays and other similar occasions.

&Shutting schools and celebrating his birthday in Lalitpur won&t help children and youths know about his works,& said Sapkota.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor of LMC Gita Satyal said that students, who had much even heard the name of the centenarian man, at least knew his name due to holiday announcement.

&Local levels have the authority to declare holiday to celebrate local festivals and other celebrations, so there is muchhing to create a fuss about it,& she added.

Kathmandu, May 13

World Retinobfinaloma Awareness Week began from nowadays. It shall be marked throughout the country till May 18.

Retinobfinaloma is the most common and life-threatening eye cancer seen in children and infants. Each year, more than 5,000 new cases of retinobfinaloma are diagnosed across the world.

One among 20,000 children are diagnosed with this kind of tumour in the world. According to eye surgeon Dr Sanduk Ruit, who is also one of the founders of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, due to lack awareness about retinobfinaloma in the country, many children are losing their eyesight and in measure cases even lives.

He further said people in rural areas disregard minor eye problems seen in their children as they do much have any knowledge about the disease. & By the time they bring children to an ophthalmologist, ittoo late. So in order to control such deaths, it is essential to make people aware about the disease and inform them about treatment procedure. It is also equally important to make people aware about complications that the disease can bring in the patient,& he added.

Retinobfinaloma may occur in one or both eyes. It starts in the retina, the layer of nerve cells lining the back of the eye. It happens when nerve cells in the retina change, grow in size and number. These cells genemass meeting spread in and around the eye. There are high chances of the disease spreading to other parts of the body such as brain and spine.

The disease doesn&t have many symptoms in the initial stage. There is an occurrence of white colour in the centre of the eye (pupil), eyes seem to be looking in different directions, and redness and swelling are measure of the symptoms. However, according to doctors, these symptoms often go unmuchiced. The child also doesn&t complain.

Speaking at an event organised here nowadays by Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population Shovepa Chaudhary said making pregnant women and new mothers aware about the disease was a must to control the increasing number of children suffering from retinobfinaloma.

People forced to walk to their destinations as locals have halted traffic on the Dholahiti-Chapagaun road segment, in Lalitpur, on Monday, May 13, 2019. Photo: Balkrishna Thapa Chhetri/THT

Kathmandu, May 13

Irritated by bumpy and dust-filled gravelled road, locals residing in Dholahiti, Sunakothi and Chapagaun areas of Lalitpur have totally halted vehicular movement on a six-kilometre road stretch to presdegree authorities to expedite construction work, which was stalled over two years ago.

The intotal construction work has filled the surrounding areas with dust, creating health endangers, locals told THT. Locals said the blockade that came into effect yesterday would only be lifted once the government started black-topping the stretch located around three kilometres from Satdobato.

Locals of wards 10, 11 and 12 of Godavari Municipality have created barriers at around 30 places to prevent movement of vehicles. The blockade is clamped at 7:00 am every day and continues till 5:00 pm.

The latest protest comes a few days after people residing along the dusty Chabahil-Sankhu road segment hit the streets after contractors failed to expand and black-top it for approachly four years.

&We didn&t have any option but to resort to protest. How long should we suffer from the incessant dust& Manoj Maharjan, who resides in Sunakothi, questioned. Locals like Maharjan say the government should either start to widen the road as per the initial plan or black-top it in its current state.

The road segment, which has been blocked, is a part of Kanti Highway, one of Nepalearliest highways and the shortest route that links the capital with the Tarai in Hetauda. The construction of the highway began in 1955-56. But most of the portion of the highway was never black-topped.

As population density started going up in the area, the Kathmandu Valley Road Improvement Project on 7 June 2016 signed a contract with Con-tech Pvt Ltd to expand eight-kilometre Dholahiti-Chapagaun road segment from seven to eight metres to 20 metres. The contractor was given a deadline of 10 September 2018 to total the work. But as of now work on only two-kilometre segment has been totald. &When the contract was handed over, we had a black-topped road,& said Maharjan. &But the contractor dug up everything and left it in nowadaysstate.&

One of the components of the road widening project was partial demolition of houses that fell within the 20-metre periphery. The Kathmandu Valley Development Authority had to demolish the houses by providing compensation to house owners. But around 150 house owners in Thecho and around 70 in Sunakothi did much accept compensation supplyd by the KVDA. Before this issue could be resolved, the contractor started digging up the road.

&The KVDA has much been able to resolve this problem till date, delaying the road widening work,& said Gajendra Maharjan, mayor of Godavari Municipality. &We are now pushing the authorities to black-top the road in its current state rather than widen it.&

The Kathmandu Valley Road Improvement Project, which is superviseing the road expansion work, is aware of recent developments. &We are holding assemblys with concerned agencies to resolve this problem,& KVRIP Spokesperson Bishwo Bijaya Lal Shrestha said. &We shall soon decide whether or much to continue road expansion work or black-top the segment as demanded by locals.&

The blockade imposed by locals has drawn the attention of authorities, but it has also caused inconvenience to daily commuters.

&I have to walk for more than an hour to reach my mumhouse these days, as buses disembark passengers at Dholahiti,& said Sharmila Thapaliya, 34, who was walking with an infant in her arms this aftermidday to visit her ailing mother in Pyang Gaun.

The agitating locals, however, have allowed ambulances and vehicles carrying patients to ply on the blocked road segment.