Panel given more time

Kathmandu: The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the tenure of the task force, which has been probing the whereabouts of four people disappeared by the security forces, by 15 days. A division bench of justices Kil Raj Regmi and Kalyan Shrestha extended the tenure of the task force headed by an appellate court judge, Lokendra Mallik. It said one of the disappeared, Chakra Bahdur Katuwal, was killed by security forces. It could not determine the status of three others, Bipin Bhandari, Dil Bahadur Rai and Rajendra Dhakal. — HNS

Japan’s arms monitors

KATHMANDU: The government of Japan has decided to dispatch six arms monitors to the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) on the basis of the International Peace and Cooperation Law, the Japanese embassy in Kathmandu said in a press release on Wednesday. The six personnel are unarmed arms monitors of the Self-Defence Forces. — HNS

Infant falls to death

CHARIKOT: A six-month-old son of Krishna Bahadur Khatri of Laduk VDC in Dolakha died after falling from a bridge into the Tama Koshi river on Wednesday. The infant fell into the river from the arms of Devi Khatri, sister of Krishna. Devi and Krishna were headed for the Tatopani Kunda, a hot spring, for a bath. — HNS

Attack suspects held

BIRGUNJ: Police have nabbed two persons on the suspicion of their involvement in firing at the Chandani Food Industry in Alau VDC, Parsa, on Tuesday . The police identified the arrested as Mohammad Hussain and Dasai Shah of Bihar in India. — HNS

Boy killed in accident

NAWALPARASI: Eight-year-old Raj Kumar Chaudhari of Tilakpur died when a bus bound for Bhairahawa from Kathmandu knocked down him at Tilakpur on the Mahendra highway on Wednesday, police said. Irate locals obstructed traffic on the highway after the incident. — HNS

Nepali dead in Saudi

DANG: Thamman Bahadur Basnet, an employee at the Alhet Carpet Factory in Saudi Arabia, was found dead a week ago. “Basnet, who hailed from Gadhawa in Dang, was in good health when he went to bed in the evening. He was found dead in the morning,” an official at the Nepali Ekata Samaj said over phone on Wednesday. — HNS

Indian aid

Kathmandu: India is providing a grant of Rs 23.6 million for the construction of new buildings for schools and colleges in Palpa and Gulmi. Counsellor Pranay Verma, on behalf of the Ambassador, laid the foundation stones for the new buildings of Tansen Campus and Shree Resunga school in Gulmi at different functions on Wednesday, said an Indian Embassy press release. — HNS