IN BRIEF

Agitating teachers held

KATHMANDU: Riot police arrested more than 100 schoolteachers who were staging a sit-in in front of the southern gate of Singhadurbar on Monday. The sit-in was organised at the call of the Nepal Teachers’ Union to pressure the government to implement the past agreements reached between the NTU and the Ministry of Education. The agitating teachers were arrested, as they tried to enter the prohibited area in Singhadurbar. They were released after being briefly detained. The teachers had also staged a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Education on Monday. The teachers are demanding timely promotions, permanent posts for teachers in schools and increment in salary. The teachers’ union had also called to shut all the public schools across the nation on Monday. —HNS


CIAA fiat on fake certificates

KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority issued letters to authorities concerned to control the use of fake educational certificates and ensure that they are issued by legitimate educational institutions. Issuing a press statement in the capital on Monday, the CIAA stated that it had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs to check the menace. It also urged the Office of the Controller of Examinations and the police for the establishment of a special mechanism to verify the authenticity of the certificates. The CIAA has also issued a letter to the Ministry of Education in this regard. — HNS


Local bodies to go tech-savvy

Kathmandu: In a bid to maintain transparency in the local bodies, the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) has planned to launch web sites of the District Development Committees and municipalities across the nation by October 1. “All the information, publications, data and records will be posted on the websites and updated on a monthly basis. Half of the local bodies did not have their web sites. While, those which had were not updated regularly,” said Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, spokesperson, MoLD. “The local bodies will use official email address. A working plan will be developed to consolidate information and records from the municipalities and districts, which will be submitted to the ministry,” he added. SMS Gateway of Nepal Telecom will be installed at the MoLD and its affiliate branches and departments. — HNS