Sensitivity training didn’t take with Bronx city councilman Andy King, who was accused by fellow council members Monday of sex harassment and nepotism-related rule violations.
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The commander in charge of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay was fired Saturday, officials announced.
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WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party would be wise to get inside Mitch McConnell’s head. It is a dark place, to be sure, full of furious resentments, but it is amazingly disciplined and organized so that nothing matters but certain cherished goals. One of them is to make President Trump think he’s...
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Kathmandu, April 29
Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba tore into the government for its alleged misrule, including its attempt to centralise powers in the Prime Minister’s Office and curtail press freedom.
While addressing the first meeting of the budget session today, Deuba criticised the KP Sharma Oli-led government ‘for not doing any single work that could strike a chord with the public.’ The government drew flak not only from the main opposition party but also its coalition partner Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal.
Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, which withdrew support to the government a few weeks ago, threatened to launch street protest against the government if the constitution was not amended and other demands of the party were not met.
Reading out a written statement from the rostrum of the Parliament, Deuba said the government did not do enough to rehabilitate tornado-hit people in Bara and Parsa districts and to maintain law and order.
“The government failed to spend capital allocated for development work and it handed over Budi Gandaki Hydro project to a company without calling a tender,” he said and added that the government was trying to protect land mafia involved in the Baluwatar land-grab case. He also criticised the government for taking decisions through the Constitutional Council even in the absence of the leader of opposition.
Member of RJP-N presidium Anil Kumar Jha said if the government continued to ignore his party’s demands, then his party would launch street protest against the government.
“The government is neither positive about amending the constitution, nor is it willing to make the Girish Chandra Lal Commission’s report public,” he said. Jha said many party leaders, including lawmaker Resham Chaudhary were victims of false indictment.
Rajendra Shrestha, co-chair of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal and deputy parliamentary party leader, said if the government didn’t amend the constitution as per the two-point agreement, the party would quit the coalition government.
Former prime minister and Coordinator of Naya Shakti Party Baburam Bhattarai asked the government to investigate the Baluwatar land-grab cases and wide-body aircraft purchase deal. Bhattarai said the government should withdraw the newly registered National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Bill that proposed to put the rights body under the purview of the Attorney General.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Rajendra Lingden, Rastriya Janamorcha Party lawmaker Durga Paudel and Nepal Workers and Presents Party leader Prem Suwal also criticised the government for not living up to people’s expectation.
However, NCP deputy parliamentary party leader Subas Chandra Nembang defended the government, saying the government was doing all it could to control corruption. He said the government also wanted to investigate the land-grab cases.
Cadres of political parties clashing with security personnel during a protest in Baneshwor, on Monday, April 29, 2019. Photo: Naresh Krishna Shrestha/THT
Kathmandu, April 29
Dozens of cadres of various fringe parties and organisations today demonstrated at Baneshwor against the recent circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affair’s to district administration offices ordering them to issue citizenship by descent to children of those who had acquired citizenship by birth.
The protest turned violent as the agitating participants tried to breach the prohibited zone at Baneshwor towards the federal Parliament hall.
Leaders of Rastriya Janamorcha, Communist Party of Nepal (Masal), CPN (ML), Jana Samajbadi Party and members of organisations such as Save Upper Karnali Campaign participated in the protest programme.
They had marched to Baneshwor from Maitighar. The agitating group also burned a copy of the circular that asked the authorities to issue citizenship of descent to children of citizenship by birth.
The Home Ministry had issued the circular on April 2.
The circular was then vacated by a single bench of Justice Purushottam Bhandari on April 8, acting on a writ petition filed by Senior Advocate Bal Krishna Neupane of the Supreme Court.
The interim order issued by Justice Bhandari, however, was again vacated on April 16 by a division bench of Justice Hari Krishna Karki and Bam Kumar Shrestha.
It is estimated that there are around 170,042 citizens by birth.
Kathmandu, April 29
Acting General Secretary of Nepal Student Union Kundan Raj Kafle today filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding that education up to Grade XII should be fully free as per the spirit of the constitution.
The petitioner argued that as per Article 31 of the constitution, students had the right to attain education up to Grade XII free of cost but local levels across the country were imposing fees on students in violation of the constitutional provision. “At least 50 local levels, including metropolis and sub-metropolis have passed laws and regulations fixing fee structures for different levels,” Kafle told THT.
He said that Kathmandu metropolis also recently imposing fee structures for private schools which was also a violation of the constitutional provision.
“Education Rules state that private schools can run classes, but that does not mean private
schools should collect fees from pupils,” Kafle said.
Kathmandu, April 29
A secretariat meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) held here today discussed the land grab allegation levelled against the party’s General Secretary Bishnu Paudel.
Former prime minister Jhalanath Khanal told THT that party leaders discussed the issue and agreed that the party should study the case before clarifying its stance on the issue.
Media reports had stated that Paudel illegally purchased eight ana land in his son’s name in Baluwatar area. Paudel has, however, said that he and his family had done nothing wrong in the land purchase deal.
Khanal also said party leaders suggested that the government bring its policies and programmes in a way that would win people’s hearts and minds and support the cause of socialism as envisioned by the constitution.
NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said party leaders discussed Paudel’s issue in an informal meeting and told Paudel to present his side of the story with data to back his arguments.
Shrestha said party leaders also decided to the tell the government to bring the government’s policies and programmes in line with the party’s manifesto and also incorporate new policies that could give people the feel of an epochal political change.
Party leaders also told Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to include policies that could help the government effectively check corruption and increase the government’s efficiency in spending the capital allocated for development work.
“We want the government’s policies to match the spirit of the constitution that envisions socialism,” he said.
Kathmandu, April 29
Conflict victims and civil society members today staged a demonstration at Maitighar Mandala, demanding amendment to the Transitional Justice Act.
The agitating conflict victims have demanded that the act be amended in line with the verdicts issued by the Supreme Court at different times. They have also urged the government to equip the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons with necessary resources — human and financial.
The Supreme Court has ruled that there should not be amnesty for grave human rights violations such as extra-judicial killing, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence; the statute of limitations for grave offences must be removed; cases recommended by the TRC and the CIEDP must be prosecuted; torture and enforced disappearance must be criminalised through enactment of laws; cases before the court cannot be transferred to the TRC or the CIEDP; dignified and respectable reparation for victims; and no reconciliation without the consent of victims.
The conflict victims also demanded that the members and chairpersons of both transitional justice bodies be appointed only after amending the act.
The government has formed a five-member committee led by former chief justice Om Prakash Mishra to recommend members and chairpersons of both the transitional justice body.
Moreover, the victims have demanded their meaningful representation in both the transitional justice bodies.
Lamenting the prolonged transitional justice process in Nepal, civil society members and other participants said this would promote impunity in the country. The conflict victims further informed that they would continue the protest until their demands were met.
Kathmandu, April 29
Jaycees Secondary School, Bhaktapur, which was destroyed in the 2015 earthquakes, has been retrofitted with the help of German citizen Yog Bar.
Bar, a former colonel of Germany, had provided Rs 2.44 million to retrofit the four-storey school building.
Speaking at an inauguration programme on the premises of the school, Principal Jay Ram Gorkhali informed that the school building had been constructed with financial support from Bar and he again provided the monetary help to retrofit the quake-hit building.
“We were having difficulty running classes for the last few years, but with the retrofitting of the building, classes are being conducted smoothly, and students are also very happy to get new classrooms,” added Principal Gorkhali.
The building was built in 2006.
Inaugurating the building, Bar said he had felt very bad when he heard that the building built with his support had been damaged in the earthquakes. “But, I did not lose hope. I decided to provide support to reconstruct the building and starting collecting fund in Germany,” he added. At present, 362 students are studying in the school.
Kathmandu, April 29
Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana said mediation should be encouraged as it helps create a just and peaceful society.
Addressing the inaugural programme of second national conference of mediators here today, CJ Rana said mediation should be encouraged as it facilitates resolution of disputes in a short time without requiring the parties to spend much resources to get justice.
“If people are sensitised about the mediation process before they file their cases in the court, that would help increase people’s access to justice, besides ensuring their ownership of the process,” he added.
Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Bhanubhakta Dhakal said mediation, which was an alternative way of settling disputes, could be more effective mainly because the verdicts delivered through regular court procedures were not being executed in time. Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration Lalbabu Pandit said if cases were settled through mediation that would help courts reduce their workload.
Chair of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bhawani Rana said there was need of collaboration between the judiciary and the corporate sector to promote mediation for settling corporate cases.
Chairperson of Mediation Council Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada said mediation could be more effective if people were sensitised about its significance before they filed cases in the court. He added that there was a need to enhance ability and skills of mediators in order to make their role effective in settling cases through mediation.
A total of 153 participants, including coordinators of local judicial committees, community mediators and court appointed mediators, are participating in the programme.
KATHMANDU: In an effort to lessen traffic congestion, ‘pick and drop’ system has been put in place in Koteshwar – one of the busiest areas of Kathmandu Valley.
The system — that prevents public vehicles to wait at stops for a longer time — has been put into effect from Sunday as per the agreement reached among the Traffic Police, Kathmandu Metropolitan City and transport entrepreneurs.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basanta Kumar Pant, chief of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, said the new measure was mooted to reduce traffic pressure at Koteshwar.
It would be easier for vehicles entering Kathmandu from Kavre via Jagati with the enforcement of the system at the main thoroughfare of the city, he added.
Koteshwar has witnessed terrible traffic congestion which often happens when public vehicles wait for passengers for a long time. Saroj Sitaula, general-secretary of Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs, expressed his belief that the system would be effective in lessening traffic at Koteshwar Chok and easing public movement.
Earlier, the system was put in place at Jamal, Old Bus Park, Shahid Gate and Lainchaur in the federal capital city. According to the Traffic Division, the system would be gradually enforced in other parts of the Valley as well to keep traffic management smooth.
Despite of an ensemble star-cast, grand sets and chart bursting music, the film failed to impress the audience. Following which, reports were rife that KJo is apparently upset with Abhishek owing to the film’s debacle.
It is almost seven months since Bollywood star Rishi Kapoor flew to New York with his wife Neetu Singh for an undisclosed illness. Rishi is an avid social media user and often shares pictures on his Twitter handle. The star shared few photos from New York's Cherry Blossom and it went viral on the Internet in no time. Recently, filmmaker Rahul Rawail’s latest post on Facebook dropped hint about his ailment.
Priyanka Chopra is currently in town and her pictures with her family and friends are doing the rounds on the Internet. The actress was snapped at the polling booth to cast her vote and even posed for the paparazzi with the ink on her finger. Later, a few pictures of PeeCee and her mother Madhu Chopra surfaced on the Internet and we are sure it is something you shouldn't miss!
Punit Malhotra's 'Student of the Year 2' stars Bollywood newbies Ananya Panday, Tara Sutaria and Tiger Shroff in pivotal roles. The makers are all set to drop the next track title 'Hook up' song featuring Tiger and Alia Bhatt. In a recent interview, the director opened up about the track and this is what he has to say.
This year's Met Gala is less than a week away and recently, the list of celebs who will be making up the host committee was revealed. Global sensation Priyanka Chopra took to her Instagram profile to share that she is honoured to be a part of the Met Gala Host Committee along with hubby Nick Jonas. Apart from them, the list also includes stars like Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lopez, Lupita Nyong’o, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, etc. PeeCee and Nick made their first appearance together on the Met Gala red carpet.
Spilling some beans on her character in the Ashutosh Gowariker film, Kriti reportedly said that hailing from North India, she found it challenging to play a Marathi character.
Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover have checked into London to celebrate their 3rd wedding anniversary. The couple took to their Instagram account to share pictures from their holidays.
Punit Malhotra's 'Student of the year 2' has been the talk of the town as it marks the debut with Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria. The film will see Tiger Shroff as the male lead.
Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker came under radar of trolls on the voting day who targeted the actress for her masturbation scene from a film.
Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan along with his wife Gauri Khan stepped out together to exercise their vote in the election that is being held today in Mumbai.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Deepika Padukone found herself surrounded by rumours regarding her citizenship.
Sara Ali Khan who is currently gearing up for her Valentine's Day release in 2020, 'Love Aaj Kal 2' opposite Kartik Aaryan. The actress was out of Mumbai for the shoot and is back in the bay.
Amitabh Bachchan, along with his family including wife Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya Rai stepped out together to vote.
Bollywood star Sanya Malhotra who was last seen in Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer 'Photograph' is all set for her Anurag Basu's next along with Aditya Roy Kapur. The actress is fond of dancing and often shares videos on her social media profile and now she has become extremely popular among the dance lovers. Today on the occasion of International Dance day, the star opened up about her passion for dance and how it has changed her life.
Earlier today, while Rishi expressed his disappointment with regard to him being not able to vote this election, Ranbir Kapoor, on the other hand, made it a point to exercise his right to vote as he stepped out to vote sans his parents in Mumbai.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has also taken to his social media profiles to share a picture showing his inked finger and requesting people to cast their vote.
In a recent interview, Alia Bhatt opened about how Ranbir Kapoor makes her feel and what she thinks of him as an actor.
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut was also spotted after exercising her right to vote in Mumbai. Kangana was snapped outside a polling booth in Mumbai.LONDON: Scientists in the United States say they have taken a step towards developing a possible diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition characterised by exhaustion and other debilitating symptoms.
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine said a pilot study of 40 people, half of whom were healthy and half of whom had the syndrome, showed their potential biomarker test correctly identified those who were ill.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, is estimated to affect some 2.5 million people in the United States and as many as 17 million worldwide.
Symptoms include overwhelming fatigue, joint pain, headaches and sleep problems. No cause or diagnosis has yet been established and the condition can render patients bed- or house-bound for years.
The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, analysed blood samples from trial volunteers using a “nanoelectronic assay” – a test that measures changes in tiny amounts of energy as a proxy for the health of immune cells and blood plasma.
The scientists “stressed” the blood samples using salt, and then compared the responses. The results, they said, showed that all the CFS patients’ blood samples creating a clear spike, while those from healthy controls remained relatively stable.
“We don’t know exactly why the cells and plasma are acting this way, or even what they’re doing,” said Ron Davis, a professor of biochemistry and of genetics who co-led the study.
“(But) we clearly see a difference in the way healthy and chronic fatigue syndrome immune cells process stress.”
Other experts not directly involved in this work cautioned, however, that its findings showed there is still a long way to go before a biomarker is found that can establish CFS diagnosis and distinguish it from other conditions with similar symptoms.
Simon Wessely, chair of psychiatry at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, who has worked with CFS patients for many years, said the study was the latest of many attempts to find a biomarker for CFS but had not been able to solve two key issues:
“The (first) issue is, can any biomarker distinguish CFS patients from those with other fatiguing illnesses? And second, is it measuring the cause, and not the consequence, of illness?” he said in an emailed comment. “This study does not provide any evidence that either has finally been achieved.”
LAHAN: Bijay Yadav has been elected the chair of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N) Province 2.
In a vote for its Province 2 working committee, FSF-N central treasurer and State Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Bijay Yadav defeated former minister and FSFN vice-chair Renu Yadav by 37 votes.
According to the vote count results disclosed last night, Bijay Yadav mustered 184 votes against his arch-rival Renu Yadav’s 147. There were total 405 voters in the state committee.
WASHINGTON: Erik Prince – the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater and a prominent supporter of US President Donald Trump – has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicholas Maduro, four sources with knowledge of the effort told Reuters.
Over the last several months, the sources said, Prince has sought investment and political support for such an operation from influential Trump supporters and wealthy Venezuelan exiles. In private meetings in the United States and Europe, Prince sketched out a plan to field up to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch.
One source said Prince has conducted meetings about the issue as recently as mid-April.
White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis declined to comment when asked whether Prince had proposed his plan to the government and whether it would be considered. A person familiar with the administration’s thinking said the White House would not support such a plan.
Venezuela opposition officials have not discussed security operations with Prince, said Guaido spokesman Edward Rodriguez, who did not answer additional questions from Reuters. The Maduro government did not respond to a request for comment.
Some US and Venezuelan security experts, told of the plan by Reuters, called it politically far-fetched and potentially dangerous because it could set off a civil war. A Venezuelan exile close to the opposition agreed but said private contractors might prove useful, in the event Maduro’s government collapses, by providing security for a new administration in the aftermath.
A spokesman for Prince, Marc Cohen, said this month that Prince “has no plans to operate or implement an operation in Venezuela” and declined to answer further questions.
Lital Leshem – the director of investor relations at Prince’s private equity firm, Frontier Resource Group – earlier confirmed Prince’s interest in Venezuela security operations.
“He does have a solution for Venezuela, just as he has a solution for many other places,” she said, declining to elaborate on his proposal.
The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch said it calls for starting with intelligence operations and later deploying 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire from Colombia and other Latin American nations to conduct combat and stabilization operations.
For Prince, the unlikely gambit represents the latest effort in a long campaign to privatize warfare. The wealthy son of an auto-parts tycoon has fielded private security contractors in conflict zones from Central Asia to Africa to the Middle East.
One of Prince’s key arguments, one source said, is that Venezuela needs what Prince calls a “dynamic event” to break the stalemate that has existed since January, when Guaido – the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly – declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election illegitimate and invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency.
Maduro has denounced Guaido, who has been backed by most western nations, as a US puppet who is seeking to foment a coup. Key government institutions – including the military – have not shifted their loyalty to Guaido despite increasing international pressure from sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.
Guaido has stressed that he wants a peaceful resolution, and Latin American governments recognizing his authority have urged against outside military action. Senior US officials, without ruling out armed intervention, have also emphasized economic and diplomatic measures to pressure Maduro.
Prince was a pioneer in private military contracting during the Iraq war, when the US government hired Blackwater primarily to provide security for State Department operations there.
In 2007, Blackwater employees shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square in Baghdad, sparking international outrage. One of the Blackwater employees involved was convicted of murder in December and three others have been convicted of manslaughter.
Prince renamed the Blackwater security company and sold it in 2010, but he recently opened a company called Blackwater USA, which sells ammunition, silencers and knives. Over the past two years, he has led an unsuccessful campaign to convince the Trump administration to replace US soldiers in Afghanistan with security contractors.
Since 2014, Prince has run the Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group, which has close ties to the state-owned Chinese investment company CITIC and helps Chinese firms operating in Africa with security, aviation and logistics services.
Prince donated $100,000 to a political action committee that supported Trump’s election. His sister, Betsy DeVos, is the administration’s education secretary.
Prince’s role in Trump’s campaign was highlighted in the report by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, released this month, on alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The report outlined how Prince financed an effort to authenticate purported Hillary Clinton emails and how in 2016 he met in the Seychelles islands, off east Africa, with a wealthy Russian financial official on behalf of Trump’s presidential transition team.
Prince spokesman Cohen declined to comment on the Mueller report.
The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s Venezuela plan said he is seeking $40 million from private investors. He also aims to get funding from the billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets that have been seized by governments around the world imposing sanctions on the OPEC nation, a major oil exporter.
It’s unclear, however, how the Venezuelan opposition could legally access those assets. Prince told people in pitch meetings, the sources said, that he believes that Guaido has the authority to form his own military force because he has been recognized internationally as Venezuela’s rightful leader.
Prince envisions a force made up of “Peruvians, Ecuadoreans, Colombians, Spanish speakers,” one of the sources said, adding that Prince argued that such soldiers would be more politically palatable than American contractors.
The Central Bureau of Statistics recently published the National Labour Force Survey and Regional (Provincial) National Accounts 2019. In contrast with the government’s target of achieving eight per cent economic growth in this fiscal, the recent data have revealed that growth of only 6.8 per cent can be achieved. National accounts are considered to be the indicators of the country’s economic status. Umesh Poudel and Arpana Ale Magar of The Himalayan Times caught up with Suman Raj Aryal, director general of CBS, to learn about the current economic status of the country based on the national accounts. Excerpts:
As per your experience, what is the country’s current economic status based on the national accounts report?
National accounts are indicators that reflect the economic status of the country. Currently, Nepal’s economy is in a growing phase and the journey towards growth is satisfying. The country has been achieving economic growth rate of above six per cent for the last three years. And this growth has created a kind of hope among people for economic prosperity. Moreover, national accounts count the production level of the country. Based on the recent Regional (Provincial) National Accounts 2019 it has been gradually rising. Now, the government has to be focused on giving continuity to this growth to make it sustainable.
You mentioned that data shows good growth of economy, however, the unemployment rate is still high in the country. Even the Labour Force Survey 2019 shows that. What is your take on this?
The definition of unemployment is crucial while collecting data. According to the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) held in October, 2013, two major things are needed for a person to be defined as employed. First, if a person is getting paid for what she or he is doing, then the person is considered employed. Secondly, anyone who is involved in a business that generates jobs for others is also considered as employed. Thus, those people who are working or producing goods for their own use and only for their survival or involved only in their household works should be counted as unemployed. Hence, following the concept of ICLS, we have counted people who are getting paid for their jobs and people who have their own business as employed while others have been taken as unemployed. This situation has also showed high rate of unemployment in our report.
Does this imply that the unemployment rate is actually low in the country?
No, I don’t mean to say that. Since we are following ICLS, we have to abide by its concept. What we have to look at is the type of unemployment we have in our country. Sixty per cent of the population in our country is engaged in the agricultural sector only for their survival. Meanwhile, many people are dependent on seasonal agriculture and most of them find it difficult to make ends meet. Even though they possess their own land and are involved in farming, we have to consider them as unemployed if they are not earning any profit or creating jobs for others. Hence, all those marginalised farmers have been counted as unemployed in the report. Moreover, even those who are searching for jobs were counted as unemployed. However, I am optimistic that the unemployment rate will go down in the future. The government’s target to bring down the number of people dependent on agriculture to 20 per cent in the next 25 years by utilising modern technologies and equipment will also help improve the lives of marginalised farmers. Likewise, the government’s recent policies and programmes to create jobs may also help in reducing the jobless rate next year.
The government has a target to achieve eight per cent economic growth in the current fiscal, but the national accounts report shows that only 6.8 per cent growth can be achieved. What do you have to say on this contradiction?
It is not necessary that we always achieve the target that we set. It is more important to have a target. In whatever we do, we must first set a goal and strive for it. Even if we fail to achieve it today, we may be able to so in the long run. The government’s economic growth target was a genuine goal, but somehow we will not be able to achieve it in this fiscal. There are less than three months left for the fiscal year to end, so the current target will be missed.
Many times the data maintained on the same subject by different authorities contradict. Doesn’t this raise a question over the credibility of data in the country?
To be honest, this has become a major problem in the country and it is happening as specific areas have not been segregated for different authorities. As per the international practice of maintaining data, there should not be more than one body working on a similar issue. If there are multiple bodies involved in the same subject, there is high possibility that respondents may give different feedback to different organisations for the same query. Also, the government will be investing resources for the same work in various bodies. Moreover, the research methodology also plays a significant role. So, to avoid all these discrepancies, we are currently revising the guidelines through which statistics are collected and also some laws related to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The new act will separate the working area for every individual body, so that such conflicting data on the same subject can be curtailed.
Is CBS utilising the tools offered by information and communication technology to systematise the data collection method and keep the data safe?
Today, we are in a digital age and the use of ICT in any sector is imperative. We are making use of ICT tools in every aspect of life. At CBS too we have started using ICT, otherwise we will face difficulties in keeping such a huge amount of data updated. Earlier, we did not have access to ICT, so we used to maintain data in paper files. But now with the access to ICT, our work has become easier and secure too. For instance, we have now started collecting data on tablets to avoid paper work. Besides, we are now thinking of making public all the data we have and we are working on a data warehouse. With this data warehouse, the public can easily access data they require online. To provide this service, we are close to completing the data profile.
Can you please explain what data profile is?
Data profile is a data warehouse that will give 80 per cent of the reports and data that CBS has prepared till date. By logging on to our website, the public can go through the data free of cost and the data will also be secure. From mid-July, people can get any data they want from the data profile.
Are there any new projects that the CBS is working on at present?
At present, our major focus is on census. We are preparing questionnaires and other required documents along with technical aspects of the census. Besides that, we will soon begin Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey that will present the report of the current situation of women and children in the country. It will study various aspects of child health, reproductive health, child development, education and literacy, child protection, HIV and AIDS, attitude towards domestic violence, use of ICT and life satisfaction. This survey will be conducted in cooperation with UNICEF–Nepal. Likewise, we will be conducting the Nepal Lifestyle Survey in association with the World Bank. This survey will help us study the lifestyle of Nepalis. Basically it will focus on the people living in abject poverty.
Kathmandu, April 29
Less than 24 hours after the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) suspended senior captain and spokesperson for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Vijay Lama from his post, barring him from conducting any international flights, the authority has lifted the ban on Lama.
Clarifying the decision to repeal the suspension order that barred Lama from conducting international flights, Sanjeev Gautam, director general of CAAN, said that Lama was under stress and suffering from anxiety and sleeplessness, as he was handling two jobs simultaneously.
“We had sought a clarification from him regarding the statements that he had made in the recent past in the media,” he said, adding that he had replied stating that he was under stress.
Gautam further informed that CAAN has asked Captain Lama not to conduct any flights at the moment, as aviation rules prohibits pilots from flying when in stress.
“Since he was delivering controversial statements to the media as spokesperson for NAC, we’d asked the airline to suspend him from the post, which the national flag carrier did,” he said. “As Captain Lama was also under stress while handling two jobs, we had asked NAC to remove him from the post.”
According to Gautam, Captain Lama will not be reinstated as spokesperson for NAC.
CAAN had taken the decision to suspend Lama on Sunday.
On April 17 too, the flight safety department of CAAN had sought a clarification from Lama as he had made controversial remarks related to flight safety and decided to ground him today.
A few days ago, Lama had given an interview where he had challenged CAAN to revoke his flying licence.
“As per law, pilots are prohibited from flying when there are under any stress or anxiety and Captain Lama will have to take classes on the flying rules once again,” Gautam added.
Captain Lama refused to comment on the matter.
CAMBRIDGE: Student pranksters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have struck again, drawing inspiration from America’s hottest movie.
MIT students over the weekend draped the university’s signature Great Dome with a giant cloth version of Captain America’s red, white and blue shield.
Their efforts drew a Twitter “Very cool!” from actor Chris Evans, the Massachusetts native who plays Captain America in “Avengers: Endgame.”
The shield went up Saturday night and was taken down Monday morning.
MIT students have for generations centered similar pranks, which they call “hacks,” on the dome.
A realistic police cruiser was placed on the dome in 1994. In 1999, it was decked out to look like R2D2, the robot from “Star Wars.”
Raymond Huffman, a 20-year-old from New York’s Long Island, says he didn’t have anything to do with this year’s prank, but posted on YouTube aerial video he shot from his drone of the final product that’s since generated tens of thousands of views.
Huffman said a friend involved in the prank told him the group had spent about six months planning the effort.
The prank tradition isn’t an annual event at MIT and tends to happen spontaneously by groups of students that, for the most part, want to remain anonymous, he added.
“It’s kind of cool to see the hacking culture has been maintained,” Huffman said. “These are things you hear about when you first come to MIT.”
Kathmandu, April 29
Under pressure from sugar mill operators, the government has extended the quantitative restriction on sugar import by three months to the end of this fiscal year.
In a bid to limit excessive supply of cheaper foreign sugar in the domestic market, which had lowered the demand of comparatively costly Nepali sugar, the government had fixed a quota on sugar import in September last year till mid- April this year. Under the restriction, traders were allowed to import only around 100,000 tonnes of sugar during this fiscal year till mid-April.
However, a recent meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to continue the quantitative restriction on the sweetener till mid-July.
Meanwhile, the decision to continue quantitative import restriction on sugar has come at a time when Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been saying that sugar mill operators had deceived the government and compelled it to impose such restriction earlier.
“We thought mill operators were sincere when they asked us to impose import restriction citing that a huge chunk of domestic sugar remained unsold due to excessive flow of cheaper sugar. However, mill operators started hoarding sugar and its price sky-rocketed as soon as the limitation on import was imposed,”
Oli had said at a public programme a few weeks ago.
Hence, the government’s decision to extend import restriction on sugar has reflected contradiction within the government towards sugar import issues.
Meanwhile, consumer rights activists have condemned the decision of the government to extend import restriction on sugar and cited that decisions made without proper study will only affect consumers.
“Statistics of the government show that the domestic market demands around 280,000 tonnes of sugar every year while domestic production of the product stands at around 120,000 tonnes. As statistics clearly show that sugar import is crucial to ensure uninterrupted supply-demand, the government should lift the import restriction on sugar,” said Prem Lal Maharjan, president of Consumers’ Right Forum.
As per him, import restriction on sugar will only promote sugar hoarding and encourage its black marketing.
Moreover, sugar mill operators are yet to clear millions of dues to sugarcane farmers though they had convinced the government that the import restriction on sugar would give space to domestic sugar in the market and help sugar mill operators clear farmers’ dues.
Sugar mill operators were reluctant to comment on this issue.
Kathmandu, April 29
Nepali women footballers Sabitra Bhandari and Anita Basnet today left for India to play in Indian Women’s League from Sethu Football Club.
Nepal national team striker Bhandari and midfielder Basnet became the first women footballer from the Himalayan nation to get contracted in professional league. The duo impressed the Indian team officials with their performance in the Hero Gold Cup held in Guwahati and Women’s SAFF Championship played in Biratnagar. Nepal had defeated heavyweights India and Iran in the league round on their way to making it to the final of the Hero Gold Cup in February before losing to Myanmar in the championship match. In the SAFF Championship final in March, Nepal faced a 3-1 defeat at the hands of India.
Bhandari has been the key member of the Nepal national team since making her debut in 2014. She has scored 28 goals in 30 matches and is regarded as one of the best strikers of the South Asian region. Likewise, midfielder Basnet also put up impressive performances in both the tournaments. She scored her first international goal against Sri Lanka during the semi-final match against Sri Lanka in Biratnagar. Basnet, who made her national team debut in 2018, has earned 10 caps so far.
The Indian Women’s League is scheduled to kick off on May 5 at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab.
The tournament features 14 teams and they are divided into two groups. After the round robin league, top two sides from both the groups will make it to the semi-finals.
Rising Student’s Club, Gokulam Kerala FC, FC Alakhpura, Hans Women’s FC, Central SSB Women’s Football Team, Panjim Footballers and Tripura Sports School are in Group A, while Sethu FC are in Group B along with Manipur Police Sports Club, Bangalore United FC, CRPF Women’s Football Team, SAI-STC Cuttack, FC Kolhapur City and Baroda Football Academy.
KATHMANDU: The seventh edition of the Citizens Bank Open Tennis Tournament began here on Monday.
A total of 142 players, including five foreigners, are taking part in the tournament that features 10 events and is being played at the Army Officers’ Club and Dasharath Stadium courts.
The annual tournament, sponsored by Citizens Bank International Limited, carries a total cash purse of Rs 498,500. Earlier, CEO of Citizens Bank Ganesh Raj Pokharel inaugurated the six-day tournament.
Kathmandu, April 29
Though it has already been a month since Nepal and Japan signed an agreement to employ Nepali workers in Japan, the technical teams of both the countries will only be meeting next week for further negotiations on the agreement.
Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) have said that the discussion will be related to the method of language test, skill test and fixing the date of the exam. According to them, Nepali job aspirants looking for employment in Japan will probably have to wait for some more time before everything is sorted out.
As per the bilateral labour agreement, the first step of the recruitment process will be a Japanese language test that will be conducted by the Japanese government.
However, the Japanese government is yet to finalise the modality of the test and other hiring procedures.
According to MoLESS, both governments will form a joint technical team that will finalise the number of workers to be recruited and the process of their recruitment.
It will also finalise the benefits to be granted to workers. However, the cost a worker needs to bear to go to Japan is still under discussion. As per ministry officials, the government has requested Japan to allow Nepali workers to enter its job market at zero cost.
“We will finalise the method in which the language and skill tests will be conducted and the tests will be prepared by the joint technical team,” said an official from the ministry, adding that the Japanese authorities have informed that they will finalise the remaining works before the meeting.
The Japanese government has informed Nepali authorities that they want to first conduct the language test in two other countries — the Philippines and Indonesia — before conducting it in Nepal.
In December, the Japanese government had approved a law whereby Japanese firms will be allowed to employ blue-collar workers from eight countries, including Nepal. Japan plans to employ 345,000 foreign workers in five years.
KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan Army Club defeated Nepal Police Club 89-80 for their second straight victory in the Kwik’s Nepal Basketball League here on Monday.
TAC took the first quarter 30-22 and extended the lead to 10 points going into the half time. TAC netted 19 points each in the next two quarters, while NPC scored 20 apiece.
Robin Khatri of TAC top scored in the match with 29 points and he also made four assists and three steals. In another match, Times International Club beat BMC South Siders Basketball Club 78-47.
Times opened up with 22-11 lead and never looked back. Times netted 16, 12 and 28 points respectively in the next three quarters, while SSBC managed 14 each in second and fourth quarters and eight in third. Mabindra Bhandari of Times starred in the match with 15 points, three assists, 10 rebounds and seven turnovers.
SURKHET: Karnali-XI advanced to the semi-finals of the third Wai Wai Karnali Premier League here on Monday.
Karnali defeated Tribhuvan Army Club by 11 runs for their third straight victory in Group A. Batting first, Karnali posted 156-7 in their allotted 20 overs before restricting TAC to 145-8.
Karnali skipper Rabindra Jung Shahi, who scored 23 runs and took three wickets, was named the man of the match. In another match, Mahendranagar Cricket Academy beat Himalayan Cricket Academy by five runs. Mahendranagar posted 151-5 in 20 overs, while Himalayan reached 146-7.
Kiran Thagunna of Mahendranagar was named the man of the match for his unbeaten 41 runs.
Players of Nepal APF Club and NIBL Friends Club (left) in action during their second Roj Bahini Chandragiri Gold Cup match in Kathmandu on Monday. Photo: THT
Kathmandu, April 29
Nepal APF Club defeated NIBL Friends Club 2-1 in extra time and advanced to the semi-finals of the second Roj Bahini Chandragiri Gold Cup Football Tournament here at the Naikap grounds today.
Ashish Lama scored the winning goal for APF in the injury time of the extra period.
At a time when the match was heading towards the penalty shootout, Lama found the back of the nets to seal the victory for the departmental side. The match was decided in extra time after both the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 in regulation period of 80 minutes.
Earlier, Prabin Syangtan put APF ahead in the 30th minute of the match when he scored from the edge of the penalty box. Ashish Lama levelled the scores for Friends three minutes later capitalizing on defensive error from Santosh Katuwal.
Friends were unlucky as Ram Kumar and Dhiraj Shrestha struck against the post in the second half.
Ashish Lama of APF was named the man of the match and he earned Rs 5,000. On Tuesday, hosts Deepshikha Youth Group will take on Saraswoti Youth Club. A total of eight teams are taking part in the tournament and the top two sides will receive Rs 600,000 and Rs 300,000 respectively.
A woman holds her baby as she leaves after casting her vote at a polling station at Sirohi district in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan, India April 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters
MUMBAI/KOLKATA: West Bengal state, crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hopes of retaining power, took centre stage in India’s staggered general election on Monday after clashes broke out between supporters of his party and a regional bloc.
Security forces chased away people wielding sticks after workers from Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took on those from regional Trinamool Congress in the city of Asansol, police said.
Modi is hoping to gain seats in West Bengal, a populous state in eastern India, to offset likely losses in the north of the country.
An Election Commission of India official said paramilitary forces fired a blank round inside a polling station in another constituency in the state after a scuffle between voters and troops, who were demanding that mobile phones be kept aside while voting, as rules state.
There were no immediate reports of any poll-related injuries in West Bengal, where at least one person was killed and three injured during the third phase of voting last week.
Monday’s was the fourth round in the country’s phased election, which involves some 900 million voters and which started on April 11 with Modi in the lead amid heightened tension with long-time rival Pakistan. The last phase is on May 19 and the results are expected four days later.
There are a total of 545 seats in parliament’s lower house.
The BJP is in a direct, and sometimes bloody, fight in West Bengal with Trinamool, whose chief, Mamata Banerjee, is one of Modi’s biggest critics and who is a possible candidate for prime minister.
The BJP currently holds only two of West Bengal’s 42 parliamentary seats.
“We have asked for central forces at all polling booths so that free and fair elections can be held in the state,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a minister in Modi’s cabinet, referring to federal paramilitary police.
Trinamool accused Modi of attempting to horse-trade, telling him: “Nobody will go with you”.
The party also alleged that federal security forces were trying to influence voters to back the BJP wherever they were deployed.
Maidul Islam, a professor of political science at Kolkata’s Center for Studies in Social Sciences, said the stakes were high for both parties, with Trinamool hoping to be part of a federal government coalition.
In disputed Jammu and Kashmir state’s Anantnag constituency, which is voting in three phases due to security concerns, paramilitary forces fired teargas and pellets to disperse youth throwing stones at them, a police officer said.
Four persons suffered pellet injuries, of which two had been hospitalized in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, the officer said, declining to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media.
More than 128 million people were eligible to vote in this round of the seven-phase election, held across 72 seats in nine states.
About 62.56 per cent of those eligible had voted by 8 p.m. (1430 GMT), according to interim figures from the election commission.
Modi’s coalition won more than 75 per cent of the seats in the nine states in the previous election, in 2014.
Many of the constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh state in the north and Maharashtra – where the financial capital Mumbai is located – in the west, both of which are ruled by the BJP and its allies. Uttar Pradesh elects the most lawmakers, with Maharashtra next and West Bengal third.
Political analysts say the BJP may struggle to repeat its strong showing this time due mainly to a jobs shortage and weak farm prices, issues that the main opposition Congress party has seized on.
First-time voter Ankita Bhavke, a college student in Mumbai, said she voted for economic development.
“I want the country to be at par with the best in the world,” she said. “There’s been some progress in the last five years.”
India’s financial markets were closed on Monday for the election.
Modi has played up his record on national security after he sent warplanes into Pakistan in late February in response to a suicide bomb attack by an Islamist militant group based there that killed 40 Indian police in the disputed Kashmir region.
In recent days, he has evoked the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in neighbouring Sri Lanka to remind voters of the dangers India faces.
PORTLAND: Fishing managers on the East Coast began the daunting process Monday of implementing new restrictions on lobster fishing that are designed to protect a vanishing species of whale.
A team organized by the federal government recommended last week that the number of vertical trap lines in the water be reduced by about half. The lines have entrapped and drowned the North Atlantic right whale, which number a little more than 400 and have declined by dozens this decade.
The interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met Monday outside Washington to discuss the implementation of the new rules, which are designed to reduce serious injuries and deaths among whales by 60 percent.
The rules will be developed in the coming months and could have a huge effect on the lucrative fishery. Some individual lobstermen place several miles of trap lines in the water, meaning hundreds of miles will have to be removed in total to meet the goal.
“States are committed to taking on the reductions,” said Toni Kerns, interstate fisheries management program director for the commission, after the meeting. “This is a very complex issue, and it will be challenging, but they will find a way to make it work.”
Exactly how long it will take to implement the new rules is unclear at the moment, Kerns said. It also remains to be seen whether the commission or states will take the lead in implementing the rules, she said.
Colleen Coogan, who coordinates the federal government team designed to protect the whales, said during the meeting that cooperating with Canadian authorities is also going to be very important. Canadian fishermen harvest the same species of lobster, and the endangered whales also swim in Canadian waters.
“We’ve set a pretty high bar,” Coogan said. “They’re going to have to show that their measures provide similar protections to right whales.”
The Atlantic States commission voted Monday in favor of letting lobster fishermen off Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire know that rule changes are on the way.
The effects of the rule changes are likely to be felt most heavily in Maine, which typically accounts for four-fifths of the total US lobster catch. The Maine fishery brought nearly 120 million pounds of lobsters to shore last year, and lobsters are an important part of the state’s tourism and economy.
Kathmandu, April 29
Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal APF Club advanced to the final of the fifth KNP National Women’s Volleyball Tournament here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex today.
TAC stunned Nepal Police Club 3-1 in the day’s second semi-final match to make it to their first final in national level tournaments. TAC lost the first set 21-25 before staging a comeback and levelled the scores at 1-1 by winning the second set 25-18. TAC then took the hard-fought third set 28-26 before sealing the famous victory with a 25-13 win in the fourth set.
TAC, coached by Kapil Shrestha for the last 16 months, has improved a lot in the recent tournaments and they also won two sets against women volleyball powerhouse, APF in the league round before going down in the fifth set despite having a 13-10 lead. TAC, however, had failed to make it to the knock out round in the fifth National Games in Nepalgunj earlier this month.
TAC will now face defending champions APF in Tuesday’s final.
APF registered a 3-0 victory over Hongwanji New Diamond Club in the first semi-final match. APF recorded a regular 25-16, 25-20, 25- 16 victory to make it to the final.
A total of six teams, divided into two pools, took part in the tournament organised by Sher Bahadur Khadka Memorial Foundation under the sponsorship of KNP Japan.
The winners will be richer by Rs 200,000, while the runners-up will receive Rs 100,000 and third-place team will get Rs 50,000.
Likewise, the best player of the tournament and Sher Bahadur Khadka Special Award winners will receive Rs 15,000 and Tissot watch worth Rs 30,000 each from Sulux Centre, while player-of-thematch will get Rs 5,000. Also, the best server, libero, quicker, defender, spiker and coach will earn Rs 7,000 apiece.
Apart from cash prizes, the organisers will also host a dinner party at Hotel Annapurna for the top three sides along with skippers and managers of other teams.
Also, the 15 members of the winning team will get a suit each from The Regal Inc, while the rising player and special award winners will receive mountain flight tickets from Buddha Air.
Alphabet Inc’s Google on Monday saw its slowest revenue growth in three years from increased competition in advertising, stumbles in its smartphone business and disruptive changes at YouTube that left the leading internet ad company lagging rivals.
Shares of Alphabet dropped 7.5 percent after hours, setting them up for the biggest one-day drop since falling 8 percent in October 2012. They had closed Monday at a record-high of $1,296.20.
Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat attributed slower revenue growth to currency fluctuations, competition and unspecified product changes.
The company is facing continued pressure from advertisers to tighten controls on its fast-growing YouTube video service so that they not appear to be sponsoring adult or offensive content.
Google also is struggling to find the right mix of ad formats to use on mobile devices, voice assistant-enabled home speakers and in emerging markets.
Eight of the 11 analysts who questioned executives on a call on Monday asked about the revenue issues, an unusual level of shared interest. But the executives offered limited new details, prompting Barclays’ analyst Ross Sandler near the end to preface a question by saying he was just beating a dead horse.
Reflecting on the sales growth slowdown, Porat said unspecified changes at YouTube had boosted first-quarter revenue a year ago, with nothing delivering a comparable bump this year.
About 85 percent of Alphabet’s revenue comes from Google’s ad business, which sells links, banners and commercials across its own websites and apps and those of partners.
Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said revenue slowdowns should be expected as the company focuses on the long term.
“You are going to have quarter-to-quarter variations once in a while, but we remain confident about the opportunities we see,” he said on a conference call.
Major competitors for ad spending such as Facebook Inc, Snap Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Twitter Inc all reported last week quarterly revenue above or in line with analysts’ expectations.
Alphabet said its quarterly revenue rose 17 percent from a year ago to $36.3 billion, about $1 billion short of Wall Street’s average estimate, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The company said it would have met expectations, adjusting for currency fluctuations.
The growth was the slowest since 17 percent in the first quarter of 2016 and compared with 26 percent for the same quarter in 2018.
Facebook, the Number 2 internet ad company, posted 26 percent growth to $15.1 billion in quarterly results last week.
“Google ad revenue growth has been slowing amid downward pressure on ad prices, especially for revenues coming from international markets,” Monica Peart, senior forecasting director for ad research firm eMarketer said in a statement.
RISING COSTS
Alphabet’s quarterly costs rose about the same as revenue, up 16.5 percent from last year to $29.7 billion.
Expenses have surged faster than revenue for much of the past two years as it adds data centres, offices and YouTube content licenses, concerning some investors amid increased scrutiny on the company’s privacy practices and the advertising restrictions at YouTube.
More advertising controls are coming to YouTube in the coming weeks that could affect sales, Pichai said.
In the first quarter, sales of Google’s Pixel phones also struggled from intense competition in the premium smartphone market, Porat said. The company is expected to introduce lower-priced Pixel devices next month.
Alphabet has yet to tout significant revenue from its spending on ventures such as self-driving cars and its AI helper Google Assistant.
Newer units that are producing noticeable revenue have lagged in market share, including Google’s consolidated hardware unit and Google Cloud, which sells computing and data storage services to businesses.
And Google’s costs could jump further if governments globally follow through on threats to rein in the ability of apps to track users for advertising purposes. Other regulators have discussed forcing companies to step up monitoring of user content. Cost will rise in the current quarter as Google resumes some marketing efforts, Porat said.
Shares of Alphabet have gained 23 percent this year as positive macroeconomic signals had given investors reason to bet on it. But it is the least growth among the so-called FAANG group, with Facebook at 48 percent, Netflix at 39 percent, Apple at 30 percent and Amazon at 29 percent.
EUROPEAN FINE
Alphabet’s expenses included a $1.7 billion fine from the European Commission for having placed anticompetitive advertising restrictions on websites using its searches.
Google’s 3 billion users help make it the world’s largest seller of internet ads, capturing nearly a third of all revenue, according to research firm eMarketer. Facebook is at about 20 percent.
Including the European fine, net income was $6.7 billion, or $9.50 per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $7.3 billion, or $10.48 per share. Earnings excluding the fine were $8.3 billion, or $11.90 per share, beating analysts’ estimates $10.61 per share for adjusted earnings.
Operating margin excluding the fine was 23 percent, up from 22 percent in the year-ago period.
