- Friday, 29 August 2025
Kathmandu, Aug 10: Police on Sunday arrested two persons for stealing remains of a human body while being cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat.
They were accused of ‘stealing pieces of bone from the dead body’ as it was being burnt as part of the last rites at Pashupati Aryaghat on Friday.
Those arrested are Ganesh Dhakal and his aide, according to Superintendent of Police Kuldip Chand at the District Police Range, Kathmandu.
“They were held after the police received a complaint from the relatives of the deceased, Ram Shahi, from Banepa municipality-9 of Kavre. The relatives accused that Dhakal and his aide extracted a piece of bone from the dead body and handed it over to a tantric while the dead body was burning in pyre,” Chand explained. The incident occurred on Friday.
Police have forwarded investigation into the case. The arrested ones are kept in Gaushala Police Office now.
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Locals protest govt indifference to road upgrading
Bhaktapur, Aug 10: The locals here have protested sheer indifference of concerned sectors, including the government, towards construction of an alternative route to the Araniko Highway- the Chyamasing-Tathali-Nala road.
They staged a demonstration by planting banana trees on the road on Sunday. They had a symbolic protest with banana plantation, demanding immediate repair and upgrading of the road, which is now full of defects.
Even the concretizing of road at the Ramsita Temple area of Changunarayan municipality-9 was left incomplete, the locals shared. The Dakshinkali Youth Club led the protest with a signature drive to create pressure on the concerned sides.
Club Chairman Suresh Raj Giri said they staged the demonstration by signing in a banner on the road and drew the attention of people’s representatives. He expressed worry why the local government was not paying heed to urgency, while the road is a reliable alternative route to the Araniko Highway to reach Banepa from the Kathmandu Valley.
Thousands of vehicles ply on this route daily also because the Araniko Highway is being widened in the Jagate-Sanga-Dhulikhel section at present. Locally, the route is named the Ganesh Man Road as then Minister for Transport Ganesh Man Singh had laid a foundation stone for it in 2016BS.
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MPs given two more days to review revised draft of Bill Related to Land
Kathmandu, Aug 10: The Member of Parliaments (MPs) have been provided two more days to review the revised draft of the Bill Designed to Manage Land, citing lack of clarity in some of its clauses.
The lawmakers had requested for more time to study certain amended clauses in today’s meeting of the Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Sources Committee under the House of Representatives, said Kusum Devi Thapa, Chairperson of the Committee. The Committee would meet again on August 13 to deliberate on this issue, according to her.
In its previous meeting, the Committee had entrusted the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs with the responsibility of revising the Clause 12 (g) of the Bill.
These Ministries, however, delivered the revised version of the Clause to the Committee on Sunday morning. Since the amended version of the Clause arrived just ahead of the today’s meeting, the Committee members demanded more time to examine it thoroughly citing lack of clarity.
The meeting thus decided to take forward the Bill after minute review. During meeting on Sunday, Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Balaram Adhikari, called for legislation that ensures land allocation to those displaced from national parks and reserve areas.
He informed that the legislation had a provision to allocate land to those who own a land within the national park and reserve areas but have not been compensated so far.
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Two girls go missing in Mahakali River
Dodhara Chandani (Kanchanpur), Aug 10: Two girls have gone missing in the Mahakali River on Sunday. They disappeared in the river from Bhimduttanagar municipality-12 of Kanchanpur district.
It is reported that the young girls vanished away while they were taking bath in the river. According to the District Police Office (DPO), Kanchanpur, those missing girls were 6-year-old girl Sanvi Panta and 7-year-old Jibika Panta of Bhimduttanagar municipality-11 in the district.
DSP Sagar Bohora, also the Spokesperson at DPO, said search operation for the missing minors was underway. A joint team of the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and the Nepali Army has been undertaking search operation.
Local residents reported that there were other young girls who were bathing on the river bank. Among them, the two went missing.
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Truck hits two persons to death
Nawalpur, Aug 10: Two persons died after they were hit by a truck at Sisnepul of Gaidakot-10 in Nawalparasi Purba on Sunday.
The truck (Na 4 Kha 8417) heading to Narayanghat from Kawasoti hit a scooter (Lu 55 Pa 3134), taking lives of both the scooter rider and pillion rider, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Madhu Nepal, from District Police Office.
The identity of those killed in the accident is yet to be established. The lifeless bodies are kept at Bharatpur Hospital, Chitwan.
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Joining government not a priority, says Prachanda
Chitwan, Aug 10: The CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said that his party has not prioritized the issue of joining the government.
Talking to the media in Chitwan today, the Maoist Centre Chairman argued that some people were making interpretations as if the Maoist Centre was expecting to join the government while the party was criticizing the wrongdoings of the government.
“This government is not performing well. We should not interpret as if we are willing to join the government while raising issues about the government’s performance. We are not expecting to join the government. We are not concerned about this,” the Maoist Centre Chairman elaborated.
On the occasion, he said that his party would resume the party strengthening campaign along the Mid-Hill Highway after a month adding that the party would push for new agendas after holding its central committee meeting.
“So, we have oriented our party to listen to the people’s voices now instead of the government. The campaign is being resumed to address the people’s concerns,” Prachanda stated.
Likewise, the Maoist Centre Chairman shared that his party was intact after the recently concluded standing committee meeting and the meeting’s decisions would be firmly implemented.
On a separate context, he voiced for expediting the construction works of the Gautam Buddha International Cricket Stadium in Bharatpur.
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AFC Women’s U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers: Nepal defeated to North Korea
Kathmandu, Aug 10: The Nepali women football team lost to defending champion North Korea in the final match of the Group ‘A’ held at Thimpu in Bhutan on Sunday. The North Korean team made 11 goals against Nepal while the Nepali team members could not contribute even a single goal in today’s game of the AFC Women’s U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
With this, Nepal was ousted from the selection round of the AFC Women’s U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers. After the victory, North Korea gathered nine points from three matches played so far.
The North Korean players made five goals in the first half and remaining goals in the second half of the game. Prior to this, North Korea defeated Saudi Arabia 15-0 in the first match and Bhutan 10-0 in the second match.
Following Nepal’s defeat on Sunday, it lost the chance for getting qualified into the AFC Asian Cup to be held in Thailand next year.
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Situation returning to normal in Kailali Prison
Kailali, Aug 10: Situation is returning to normalcy gradually in the Kailali Prison, thanks to the efforts from the government agencies, security bodies and other stakeholders.
A large number of police personnel have been deployed on Sunday to maintain law and order to normalize the situation arising from a clash between inmates in Kailali Prison in Dhangadhi, the District Administration Office, Kailali, shared.
Member Secretary of a probe committee and Administrative Officer of District Administration Office, Shivaraj Joshi, said that the situation is being normal gradually and needed security provisions have been ensured. The District Administration Office on Saturday formed a probe committee under the leadership of the Assistant Chief District Officer, Kiran Joshi, giving the committee a term of 10 days.
On Sunday, the officials and police team took stock of the situation of inmates there and confirmed the total number with the facilitation of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) officials. A team of the NHRC had made a field visit to the Kailali Prison on Saturday to inquire about the incident taken place in the prison. Officials including the Chief of the NHRC Sudurpaschim Province Office, Prakash Dutta Bhatta, visited the prison.
The NHRC Province Office is expected to submit a report to its Central Office about the reason behind the incident. During the visit to the prison, Bhatta said that the local administration should pay attention towards further management of the prison.
Bhatta stated that there are some complaints about the shift of the inmates without prior notice to their families, and an overcrowded jail, management of machines for examining the technical appliances in the jail, and a call for sufficient human resources are the other concerns in the prison.
An inmate, Bharat Chaudhary from Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City-4, died on Saturday during his treatment following a clash between prisoners in the jail on Friday night. It is said that 44 prisoners were injured in the incident. The clash erupted between inmates residing in Block ‘A’ and Block ‘B’ of the jail. Currently, there are altogether 680 inmates in Kailali Prison despite its capacity to house just 100.
So far, the family and relatives of the deceased man have denied accepting the dead body of Chaudhary. They have demanded that the culprits be booked after a fair investigation of the incident.
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Workshop on Tharu artwork urges revival of indigenous mural
Kathmandu, Aug 10: A daylong workshop on Tharu Astimki Artwork, jointly conducted by the Agrasan Tharu Mahila Samaj, Kathmandu and the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) displayed the indigenous painting skills of the Tharu community and pointed out the urgency of reviving mural.
The workshop was organized on the occasion of the International Day of the Indigenous People with an objective to highlight the importance of Astimki artwork as well as to pass on this ritual painting tradition to the younger generation.
Inaugurating the workshop, Chancellor of NAFA, Naradmani Hartamchhali, expressed his view that tribal art forms like Astimki as well as other Nepali cultural identity have potential to gain international recognition. He said, “Such initiative fosters unity and goodwill as well as raises awareness. The question of ‘who are we’ could be addressed through the understanding of our cultures.”
The Astimki is the unique identity of the Tharu community and its preservation and promotion significantly contributes to national unity, he argued.
Similarly, Samaj’s Vice-Chairperson Kiran Chaudhary mentioned that the workshop was organized to emphasize the importance of Astimki artwork and impart the knowledge on it to the new generation.
Presenting a working paper during the workshop, Satrughan Chaudhary, a researcher of Tharu culture, described Astimki artwork not just as a visual art but something that also involved an element of performance. He explained that drawings made in the Astimki art and songs sung by the Tharu community express the Tharu community’s philosophy of life.
He, however, expressed concern that this culturally significant artwork was gradually fading due to the influence of modernization and information technology in the recent times.
The ritualistic painting is drawn on the walls during the Astimki festival observed on Shree Krishna Janmastami, the birthday of Lord Krishna.
There were over 50 participants in the workshop. Painters Bishnu Chaudhary and Balaram Chaudhary trained the participants on the Astimki artwork.
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Govt prioritizes fertilizer supply to prevent shortage: PM Oli
Kathmandu, Aug 10: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the government has paid special attention to avoid a shortage of fertilizer during the farming season this year.
Taking to his social media account on Sunday, PM Oli urged the farmers to report fertilizer shortage to the concerned authority if any. “We currently have 28,824 metric tonnes of chemical fertilizers in stock, while 140,504 metric tonnes of fertilizers are on the way,” wrote the PM as quoting the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.
Furthermore, he shared that the Krishi Samagri Company at present holds 29,111 metric tonnes of fertilizers out of which 16,539 metric tonnes is urea, 7,653 metric tonnes is DPA fertilizer and 4,915 metric tonnes is potash.
Likewise, the PM informed that the Salt Trading Company has 13,712 metric tonnes of fertilizers out of which 10,984 metric tonnes is urea, 942 metric tonnes is DPA fertilizer and 1,785 metric tonnes is potash.
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Regional collaboration stressed to eradicate terrorism
Kathmandu, Aug 10: Speakers at a programme have underscored the need of wiping out terrorism from South Asia to ensure regional prosperity. However, only collaborative efforts can eradicate the terrorism, a common problem in the region, they added.
The political leaders and experts were speaking at a programme relating to terrorism in South Asia organized by the Nepal-India Development Forum in Kathmandu on Sunday.
On the occasion, former Deputy Prime Minister Upendra Yadav said abject poverty and unemployment were some of the factors to fuel terrorism. Until the power and resources are equally distributed, society lacks peace and law and order, he said.
“It is time to find the root causes of terrorism and organized crime. India, as the largest country in the South Asia, can take a lead to curb terrorism and crimes, to which others can extend support,” he argued.
Former Minister for Defense Dr Minendra Rijal said the Nepal-India relations are subsisting since time immemorial. Both countries should be serious to curb border crimes because we have open border. He made it clear that all political parties in Nepal have the stand that they would not let Nepali territory be used against India.
Former Home Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet viewed poverty, lack of education and inequality were some of the major causes behind terrorism in South Asia. Terrorism needs to be eradicated with the guarantee of education, health, inclusion and diversity management, according to him.
Moreover, former Deputy Prime Minister Rajendra Mahato viewed terrorism is unacceptable in the world, so none can endorse it. Forum’s Chairman Ram Kishor Singh said terrorism is the most challenging obstructions to the development and prosperity in South Asia. It requires collaborative efforts to wipe out it.
Other experts as Dr Indra Adhikari, Madhu Raman Acharya and Dr Dinesh Tripathi made presentations in the programme.
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