Bear captured

DAMAULI: The villagers of Basantapur village development committee on Friday captured a bear and handed it over to the Tanahun District Forest Office. The bear was later brought to the Chitwan National Park. The villagers trapped the bear after it killed three goats at Chitikhola in the VDC, on Friday. — RSS

Cough, cold menace

HUMLA: The number of people suffering from common cold and cough is on the rise in Humla. Patients from children up to 70 year-old people flocked District Hospital seeking treatment of cold related diseases including fever, cough and throat ailments, the hospital source said. Some 25 to 50 new patients visit the hospital every day, the source said. — RSS

Scribe felicitated

INARUWA: Arjun Sharma, the Rastriya Samachar Samiti reporter of Sunsari district was felicitated at a function organised by the Manokranti Bal Bikas Kendra, Nepal at Itahari, on Friday. Sharma was felicitated for his special contribution in the sector of children’s development. A short-term training on children’s mobilisation against drugs abuse was also conducted. — RSS

Lack of electricity

URLABARI: People of eight VDCs of Morang district are yet to have the facility of electricity. There is no electricity facility in Tandi, Patigau, Ramite, Jante, Yangshila, Bhogateni, Singhadevi and Barangi VDCs. Locals of these VDCs use kerosene lamps to light their houses, said Bhakta Bahadur Rai, former chairman of Tandi VDC. No initiative has been taken yet to electrify these VDCs. — RSS

RJP’s concern

KATHMANDU: The Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) has asked the government not to ignore the issue of Madhesi community. “The government should initiate immediate action with utmost sincerity to address the issues raised by the Madhesi community,” RJP Chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa stated on Saturday warning that the protests in the Terai cannot be ignored. Thapa cautioned that the country could even face disintegration if the issue was not addressed on time. — HNS

Maoist training starts

CHITWAN: Maoist leaders, including chairperson Prachanda, are busy training party cadres in Chitwan. The training for district secretaries, cadres higher in the rank to district secretaries and members of parliament started in Chitwan on Saturday. Maoist leaders, including chairperson Prachanda, Dr Baburam Bhattarai and Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal), conducted the training on the first day on Sunday. The training is being organised at the Holy Land Residential School in Parsa in eastern Chitwan, party’s district in-charge Pathik said. Over 1,000 Nepalese and non-resident Nepali party cadres are attending the training, Maoist sources said. Journalists were prevented from attending the training programme. Those who did not have entrance permit cards were not allowed to meet Prachanda. — HNS

UML for free press

TANAHUN: CPN-UML standing committee member Pradip Nepal on Saturday said the press should be completely independent. Inaugurating the Gandaki zonal gathering of the Press Chautari Nepal in Damauli, Nepal said, “As the state has been addressing the press as the fourth estate, the legislative should not make laws to curb media. Nepal stressed the need for going for a democratic republic through CA polls. He said, “Bandhs and blockades will do justice to nobody.” Chairperson of the Press Chautari Nepal Bal Krishna Chapagain said press freedom was impossible until the establishment of a republic in Nepal. — HNS

Transport strike

ITAHARI: The National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs has called an indefinite nationwide traffic strike from Sunday to protest vandalism and torching of public vehicles at Lahan of Siraha on Friday. Issuing a press statement on Saturday, Federation chairman Dinesh Bhandari announced the nationwide transport strike to press the government to meet its 10-point demands, including compensation for vehicle owners, security for transport workers, among others. He threatened to continue strike until their demands were met. Meanwhile, transport workers in Dharan have urged transport entrepreneurs not to ply any public vehicles from Sunday. — HNS

PLA verification on

NAWALPARASI: The UN team on Saturday continued verification of the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers at Jhyaldanda-based fourth division headquarters of the PLA. The PLA personnel living in different camps were taken to division headquarters in a bus. The UN team started verification process on Tuesday. After completing PLA soldiers’ verification in the division headquarters, work will be started at Paribartan memorial brigade based at the

Shiv Mandir VDC, the division sources said. Division commander Pratiksha refused to disclose actual number of verified PLA soldiers. “We will inform after completing the verification,” he said. — HNS

Girl trafficker held

HETAUDA: Locals of Hatiya VDC-8, Chisapani located in the eastern Makawanpur district arrested Madhu Yadav, a resident of Lucknow of India, for his alleged involvement in trafficking girls and handed her over to the police. The locals took Yadav under control when she came to Hatiya to return a girl who ran away from Lucknow of India four days ago. Police said she confessed that she was engaged in the trafficking of a girl from Chisapani of Hatiya. — RSS

Change stressed

DHADING: “We have not been able to change our ways of thinking in the new context,” said Member of Legislative-Parliament Ram Nath Adhikari. He also stressed on the need of solidarity among all in charting out new Nepal by forgetting differences. Adhikari, the Nepali Congress Dhading district president, said this at an interaction organised here by Campaign for Social Development-Nepal on ‘Constituent assembly concept, its challenges and success’. Nepal Students’ Union former general secretary Gagan Thapa said the dream of Nepali people would be materialised only after the CA elections. — RSS