Office vandalised

Pokhara: An unidentified gang broke into the branch office of the controller of examinations on Prithvi Narayan Campus in Pokhara and vandalised the office on Sunday night. The gang entered the office by breaking the office door and scattered answersheets all over the floor, police inspector Binod Sharma said. Some shelves inside the office were vandalised but there was no damage to the answersheets of different levels, joint controller of examinations Umakant Sharma said. — HNS

Anti-torture law

Kathmandu: Lawyers and human rights defenders on Monday emphasised the need for enforcing a strong law against torture. Most of the participants at an interaction organised by Human Rights and Democracy Forum today focussed on providing compensation to the torture victims and putting an end to impunity. — HNS

Govt, INJSC hold talks

KATHMANDU: The government’s talk team and the representatives of the Indigenous Nationalities Joint Struggle Committee led by K B Gurung on Monday held the first round of official talks on the premises of Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction. The INJSC submitted a nine-point written proposal to the government talks team led by Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel. INJSC talks coordinator Gurung said the official talks have begun and detailed talks would be fixed later, after mutual understanding. “We just presented our demands today,” he said. — HNS

Lhotse scaled

KATHMANDU: Three Koreans and two Sherpas successfully scaled the world’s fourth tallest peak, Mt Lhotse, from normal route on May 4. According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, five mountaineers of For Hope 2007 Korea Expressway Corporation Lhotse Expedition scaled 8,516m high peak on Friday at 8.23 am. Of the successful climbers, three Koreans are team leader Yeon Ryong Kang, 35, Migon Kim, 35 and Junghyun Yuon, 37. Two Sherpas are Mingma Tenzi, 24, of Yaphu-9, Solukhumbhu and Dorjee Sherpa, 38, of Tapting of Solukhumbhu district. — HNS

Child run over

KAPILVASTU: Eight-year-old Raj Kumar Giri was killed when a tractor carrying a marriage procession ran over him at Maharajgunj VDC in Kapilvastu district on Sunday night. Giri, a resident of the same VDC, died on the spot, said the Chandrata area police office (APO). The driver absconded but the tractor was seized, the police said. — HNS

Blockade called off

Dhangadhi: The 10-day blockade called in Patan, the former headquarters of Baitadi district in the Far West, has been lifted. Various organisations, including the Women’s Development Office (WDO), Agriculture Development Bank and Nepal Family Planning Association, demanding to reinstate the WDO office in Patan had called the blockade on April 28. The blockade was called off after an agreement to reinstate the WDO in Patan. — HNS