Health institutes shutdown services in Baitadi

- by Republica

The health workers at the District Health Office, Baitadi are intensifying and expanding the scope of their protest.

Health institutes shutdown services in Baitadi

BAITADI, June 7: The health workers at the District Health Office, Baitadi are intensifying and expanding the scope of their protest.  The health workers on Monday shutdown health service demanding action against some miscreants that misbehaved with District Health Office, Baitadi Chief, Dr Gunraj Awasthi.

President Deuba extends tribute to late Gurung

- by Republica

KATHMANDU, June 7: Nepali Congress (NC) President, Sher Bahadur Deuba, today paid tribute to late senior singer and musician, Amber Gurung, mentioning him as the 'bright star' of Nepali music sector.  Issuing a condolence letter, Deuba praised the singer for his 'crucial contribution' in enhancing the music sector of Nepal.

PM Oli calls for national unity govt

- by Republica

NEPALGUNJ (BANKE), June 6: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today said that a national consensus government is a must for the welfare of the country.  Talking to media persons at Nepalgunj Airport, he claimed that preparations were afoot to form a national consensus government instead of dissolving the incumbent government.

Three dead in tipper accident

DANG, June 7: Three people were killed when a tipper met with an accident at Peda of Saigha VDC of Dang last night.  Of the deceased, two have been identified while the identity of the third is yet to be ascertained. Driver Tilak Bahadur Gharti, 27, of Malta-9, Salyan, his helper and Ajay Nepali, 18, of Saigha-2 are those killed in the accident.

PM condoles Gurung’s death

- by Republica

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has expressed sadness over the demise of senior musician Ambar Gurung.

Senior musician Gurung no more

- by Republica

KATHMANDU, June 7: Senior musician and composer of the national anthem, Amber Gurung, passed away early this morning at Grande International Hospital.  "Gurung, suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and Parkinson's disease since long, was undergoing treatment at ICU and had been put on ventilator, and breathed his last at 2:37 am', said Public Relations Officer at Grande Hospital quoting Dr Chakraraj Pandey, involved in Gurung's treatment, as saying.

5 dead in apartment fire near French national stadium

PARIS June 7:  A fire in an apartment building near France's national stadium left at least five people dead and 11 injured.

Combating hypertension

- by Ann Aerts

Hypertension affects a staggering one billion people worldwide and causes 10 million deaths annually

Five-day development journalism training concludes in Solukhumbu

SOLUKHUMBU, June 7: Development journalism training that started on June 1 in the district concluded on Monday.  The five-day training provided the basic of journalism and discussed the ways to explore potential of development through media, said Bishnu Sharma, director of the organising National Communication Development Centre.

TURKISH OFFICIAL SAYS BOMB IN ISTANBUL KILLS 11

ISTANBUL, June 7: A top official says a car bomb attack targeted a police vehicle in Istanbul has killed 11 people. Governor Vasip Sahin says at least 36 people were hurt in Tuesday's attack in Istanbul's Vezneciler district.

Telephone service in Biratnagar disconnected

BIRATNAGAR, June 7: Telephone service in various areas of Biratnagar in Morang has been cut off since last night after its underground cables got snapped in the course of the road widening near the Shani Temple.  Repair section chief of the Biratnagar branch of Nepal Telecom Shambhu Prasad Chaudhary said though bodies concerned were informed about the locations where the underground telephone wires were installed, the road widening task being carried out with the help of an excavator caused damages to the cables.

Gurung's last rites in Hindu and Buddhist rituals

- by Republica

KATHMANDU, June 7: The last rites of senior musician, Amber Gurung, will take place as per the Hindu and Buddhist rituals.  Gurung died early this morning while undergoing treatment at Grande International Hospital.

Dangerous Duet

- by Rohit Karki

The Doval-Rae doctrine wants assurance that naturalized citizenship holders in Nepal will get to become president and prime minister

Do it yourself

- by Hari Prasad Shrestha

The government must look to build medium and large power projects to meet internal demand on its own

OFF THE BLOCKS

- by Republica

Universal health coverage of all Nepalis is a brilliant idea. It appears realistic too. Since 2012, the government has been piloting the scheme in three districts—Ilam, Kailali and Baglung—to great success. The success of the pilot program is the reason it is being expanded to 25 districts this year, with the goal of covering all 75 districts within three years, as announced by Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel in his recent budget speech. As per the model, each family will have to pay a monthly premium of Rs 2,500 in return for which it will be eligible for treatment worth Rs 50,000 should one of the family members fall sick. Since the state has already heavily subsidized treatments of nine major health aliments—heart disease, kidney-related disease and cancer among them—it means that no Nepali will be deprived of healthcare. This will be the case since the government will also pay the premiums of the families living below the absolute poverty line, the elderly, the disabled and even those who were displaced by last year's earthquakes. This is terrific news. It, however, does not mean that the road to universal healthcare for all Nepalis will be free of challenges.

Justify it

Whether or not there was a 'gentleman's agreement' (and we suspect there was one) between CPN-UML and now CPN (Maoist Center) on government change, we don't see any rationale for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli passing the baton to Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal if Dahal, too, will head a coalition government. A change of government only makes sense if Dahal, or some other political leader, enjoys the support of the three major parties as well as the protesting Federal Alliance and can hence form a government of national unity. For it won't be possible to amend the new constitution to address the concerns of the protesting alliance without the support of either Congress (the largest party in parliament) or UML (the second largest). Which is why rather than getting into an argy-bargy over the gentleman's agreement, the major political forces must urgently work towards a government of national unity. The question of who gets to lead such a government—Oli, Dahal or Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba—will in that case be of academic interest.

Chaos, united

Trade unionism in Nepal The history of trade unions can be traced back to the heydays of the Industrial Revolution at the fag-end of the 18th century. As more and more people came to be employed in machine-driven organized industries—as compared to the earlier times when subsistence farming and small hand-driven cottage industries were the norm—they felt they needed an organization to collectively bargain on their behalf. Indeed, the trade unions thus formed were extremely effective in securing the rights of menial laborers from the unscrupulous robber barons who owned these factories at the time. In the over two-century-long evolution of trade unions since, their basic role—to collectively bargain for the rights of workers—has remained unchanged. But in third world countries like Nepal characterized by continued political instability, the trade unions, rather than speak up for the rights of workers, have come to be handmaidens of political parties. Acing as their proxies, trade unions in Nepal have become notorious for pushing competing political agendas.

Man arrested for pedophilia

- by Republica

RATNANAGAR (CHITWAN), June 6: The police here has arrested a man on the charge of pedophilia.  Police arrested 53-year-old Himlal Sunar of Narayani Municipality-10 in west Chitwan for his involvement in sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy from the locality.

All services except emergency closed at District Hospital, Baitadi, for indefinite period

- by Republica

BAITADI, June 6: All services except emergency have been closed at District Hospital, Baitadi, from today for an indefinite period.  Health workers closed all services except emergency for the indefinite period protesting against the smearing soot on the face of Chief at the District Health Office, Baitadi, Dr Gunraj Awasthi, misbehaving to him on Sunday.