BANKE, Sept 13: Police held three persons among the guilty for their involvement in assaulting Nepali Congress Banke President Kiran Koirala. Police Inspector Poshan Thapaliya, chief of Dhanauni Area Police, shared that police are searching for other three involved in the incident of assaulting NC district leader.

A group of cadres of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had reached the programme venue and launched attack on NC Banke President Koirala and other cadres, claimed Sushamshu Koirala, a NC cadre. However, NCP Banke Chair IP Kharel has refuted his allegation. “We do have no policy to disrupt NC’s programme.

It is an unpleasant incident occurred due to personal vengeance between a NC cadre and our youth supporters”. An unruly group of youths had attacked on NC Banke President and other cadres while participating in the second edition of NC’s nationwide awareness drive at Red Cross meeting hall in Sitapur of Banke on Thursday. President Koirala had her hand fractured in the incident. Her treatment was undertaken at Western Hospital in Nepalgunj.

According to Dr Binod Thapa of the Hospital, plaster was performed on the hand of President Koirala as the bone nearby wrist was broken. (RSS)

BANKE, Sept 17: ‘Singha Durbar comes closer to people’s doorsteps’ was so far the most saleable slogan during the last local elections. The general citizens were optimistic enough with their belief that the people’s power would truly devolve into villages from Singha Durbar – the country’s central administrative hub of governance. However, it does not take long time for them to get disappointed from sluggish performance at local level.

The new laws are being formulated at local level across the country. But, the two local governments of Banke could not so far publish gazette which resulted in disruption of public service delivery.

Baijanath and Raptisonari rural municipalities of Banke district have failed to come up with gazette. Though all the rural municipalities of Banke had appointed legal advisors as part of their preparation to expedite delivery of public service, the formulation of necessary laws for local government operation has hit the snag.
Baijanath rural municipality Chairperson Man Bahadur Ruchal said, “We are in the final stage of publishing gazette”. The service delivery of local government has been affected much in lack of laws.

Likewise, Chief Administrative Officer of Raptisonari rural municipality Top Bahadur KC said, “The village assembly has endorsed the laws and preparations are on to publish them”.

The local governments are required to formulate around five dozen laws to execute 22 single rights of the local level as specified in Annex 8 of the Constitution within the ambit of Local Government Operation Act-2074.

“The rights will be brought down to local level by formulating laws. So, it needs publication of decisions in gazette”, said advocate Basudev Gyawali, adding that, “It may have room for illegitimacy if works are executed without publishing in the gazette”. RSS

BANKE, Sept 13: Many health institutions including Bheri Zonal Hospital and Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital in the district are in short of tetanus vaccines for the past one month, but authorities concerned are least concerned.

Spokesperson for the Bheri Zonal Section of the Nepal Chemists and Druggists Association Jiban Sharma confirmed the short supply of the medicine.

Sudip Poudel, a health worker at the Bheri Zonal Hospital, said patients have reported of lack of the medicine. Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr Prakash Bahadur Thapa however expressed ignorance about the matter. “We do not know about the matter as the hospital does not provide the vaccines itself. There are other expensive alternatives to the drug,” he said.

The vaccines were being supplied by an Indian company to a Birgunj-based Super Store before being supplied to other pharmacies. RSS

KATHMANDU: One passenger lost his life and other 24 were injured when two passenger buses collided in Banke district on Saturday.
A bus (Na 4 Kha 1048) heading West from East collided with another coming from opposite directions at Mahadevpur-7 in the district along the East-West Highway.

Of the injureds, condition of five passengers is reported to be critical by the National News Service agency. Police identified the deceased as Ram Krishna Tharu, 24, of Bhimmapur VDC-8 of Bardiya district.

The injured are receiving treatment at Kohalpur teaching hospital.

The Teli people are finding it hard to earn their livelihood from this traditional vocation alone due to the advent of modern technology. The Teli people are feeling the heat to abandon their ancestral vocation because it is no longer sustainable and financially viable as the market is flooded with factory-manufactured cooking oil.

People of the Teli community who are known by the surname Sahu are compelled to look for alternative sources of income as their ancestral vocation of extracting oil and selling it no longer sustainable.

The Teli people used to extract oil by using the traditional Kol or a wooden grinder pulled by oxen for extracting oil.

Ninety per cent of the Teli people have abandoned their ancestral vocation, said Hansaram Sahu who is the president of the Sahu Samaj, a community association.

Their population in Banke district is more than 4,000. The Sahus are listed as the Madhesi community. RSS