News from Nepal

Villages in Jajarkot district have been facing major food crisis with the harvest season months away and old stock running out. Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) depots in the area have been shut for the past six months.

Despite a dozen villages in Jajarkot facing food shortage at the moment, it is unlikely that the problem will be resolved soon especially when the government agencies are not doing anything .According to NFC Jajarkot branch, 400 quintals of food grain is allotted to each depot and 5,500 quintals is allotted to the district headquarters.
He further informed that a tender has already been announced to transport the food grain to the shortage areas. The rice that normally costs Rs 50 per kg is sold at Rs 80 in the village. The contractors who transport the grains too sell the grains as they please, complain the locals.

Landslides in various places in the Chhinchu-Jajarkot road had obstructed the roads and transportation of the grains to the Salli Bazar in Khalanga section. Transportation has been obstructed for a month now e.g distributed as per requirement from the headquarters," said Aire, adding, "The shortage situation could remain till August but it will end when the maize season starts."

One of the main reasons for the shortage is the shutting down of a number of depots for more than six months. Another reason is the rice that was being distributed on a subsidized rate got over quickly.

Marriageable age for a man as per the existing law in the country is 20, but one Bam Bahadur Badi of Jhapra-1, Fumna has five wives at 18.

Bam Bahadur had his first taste of conjugal life at 13 after marrying Sangeeta Badi, now 18, when he was a seventh grader.

His second wife Bishna Badi is now 19, third Kalika 20, fourth Jantara also 20 and the latest Kalpana is 18. He gave up studies after the first marriage and subsequently married four women. Bam Bahadur has no regrets whatsoever about marrying five women but has started to feel the heat while raising the family.

“I didn"t pay attention to education and married early in life. Now I neither have qualification nor a job,” he said. “It is almost impossible for me to get a job now and neither can I resume my study,” he added.

His parents are fed up with the son who brought home one wife after another. “What will he do in life after bringing so many wives at such an early age,” mother Bija said and then vented her ire on her daughters-in-law. “What sort of girls are they to agree to marry him despite knowing he has wives at home.”

“His father had just a single wife in me but he has brought home the whole village,” she fumed.

The polygamous teenager has left even his neighbors baffled. “He doesn"t earn a penny and has already brought home five wives. He has ruined his life. I wonder what plans he has for his future,” said Bir Bahadur Nepali, a neighbor.

Women rights activist Rita Rawal opined that the case of Bam Bahadur is common in the village that has widespread practices of polygamy and child-marriage.

Jajarkot President of the NGO Federation Khim Bahadur Shahi said polygamy and child marriage thrive in dalit communities due to lack of awareness and education.

Local women of Arma Village Development Committee (VDC) of Rukum ruthlessly roughed up a nursing mother just after seven hours of giving birth to a child.

Local women of Nuwakot village thrashed Sita Biswokarma (19) of Arma VDC-1, Khaltakuri with nettle and water in an inhumane manner.

She has been residing at the home of Ram Bahadur Biswokarma (18) of Nuwakot-4 since last Asar (June-July) as per the decision of villagers gathering after physical relations between them came to public notice.

Sita was compelled to deliver a baby girl at cowshed at 5 AM on July 20 after she was neglected by family members.

‘I was beaten up ruthlessly with nettle and water for two hours from 3 pm to 5 pm in a bush nearby home. They thrashed me and a newborn and forcefully took us to maternal home’, she recounted her Paine added she never got enough food to eat though she has been residing at Ram Bahadur's home since last July.

Now Sita is knocking door of the District Administration Office by holding the newborn and has urged all to dispense justice to her.

Seven more cases of dengue have been found in the past three weeks in Chitwan district according to the District Public Health Office (DPHO).

Vector control inspector at the DPHO Ram KC said six of those cases were found in Chitwan Medical College while the other was detected at Bharatpur Hospital.


There were 23 deaths due to high fever in Chitwan in 2067 BS with four of them attributed to dengue after the government started dengue tests. A total of 735 dengue cases were confirmed in the district after tests. KC said the total number of dengue cases in the district has reached 17 after the new Nepali year.

Typhoid and leptospirosis had also killed one each in the district last year and KC revealed cases of typhoid and leptospirosis along with swine flu have also been found this year. Even doctors had contracted dengue last year and they are getting themselves tested even for minor fever.

Over 600 viral fever patients were found at Bharatpur Hospital, Chitwan Medical College, Narayani Community Hospital and National City Hospital in the past three days. Around 40 percent of the patients are at Bharatpur Hospital.

Bharatpur Hospital sees around 150 viral fever patients daily while Bharatpur Medical College and Chitwan Medical College see around 50 viral fever patients daily.

Senior physician at Chitwan Medical College Dr Shital Adhikari warned of dengue epidemic amidst increasing cases of viral fever.

We should wear full-sleeve clothes to prevent ourselves from mosquito bites," Dr Adhikari said and advised common people to take patients of high fever to hospital or treat them in isolation at home.

A newborn twins were found abandoned in a bush at Jorpati on August 8, Monday. A local, Tulasi Adhikari found them and rushed the twins, a boy and a girl, to nearby Shankarapur Hospital.

According to Dr Ramesh Dhakal, the hospital director, both the newborns are healthy except for a normal chest infection due to exposure to cold.

"Their health did not deteriorate much as locals happened to rescue in less than an hour after they were left abandoned," Dr Dhakal said. "We will keep treating them for a week until they are fully cured. We have informed the authorities about the finding of unattended babies."

The babies found unattended are generally handed over to persons, who would like to have a foster child, subject to approval of the district administration office.


Two local, Rabi Karki and Krishna Dahal, have agreed to take custody of the babies. Dahal will foster the girl child and Karki will take the boy.
Photo credit - Nagarik

The former Crown Prince Paras Shah has expressed his concern over the deteriorating condition of the country.

Shah went to worship Pancha Maha Laxmi in the temple located in Chhaling VDC of Bhaktapur district on Friday. While talking to the media people present at the location, he expressed his concern over the worsening political and financial condition of the country.

Paras said, "I am also the citizen of this country, as one of the citizens of the country I feel sad seeing the poor development of the country," he added, "I am looking at the condition of my country."

Paras complained about the lack of law and order. He also held religious talks with Swami Kamalnayanacharya Muktinath Baba for around an hour and worshipped the goddess at 12 noon.

Meanwhile, actress Manisha Koirala also arrived in the temple at around 10:30. Koirala told that she didn't know about the visit of the former prince and she was there just to worship the goddess Pancha Maha Laxmi.

A Hindu festival, Nag Panchami, is celebrated on the fifth day of the moonlit-fortnight in the month of Shrawan (between July and August).

This is the time when serpents come out of their holes that get inundated with rainwaters to seek shelters, posing a danger to man. Snakes are worshiped on this day.

This festival that falls in the rainy season is believed to counter the increased possibility of snakebites during this time.

Meanwhile, people also paste the portraits of snakes using cow dung on the either side of the entrance to their houses to mark Nag Panchami.

Tobacco Control and Regulation Act-2068 that will come in into effect from early next week will prohibits smoking in public places. A nationwide campaign for effective implementation of the much-awaited act was launched on Thursday, August 4, 2011.

The campaign was inaugurated by the Speaker Subas Nembang. According to Shanta Lal Mulmi, Executive Director of Resource Centre for Primary Health Care, that is coordinating the campaign, with 20,000 pamphlets were distributed in the core area of the Kathmandu valley on Thursday alone. This program will be extended to all the 75 districts.

President Dr Rambaran Yadav approved the act on April 29 after it was passed by the parliament. The act comes into effect in 90 days after the president's approval. The anti-tobacco act will come into effect on this August.

A study of the smokers in Nepal show that men start smoking at an average age of 19 while women do so at 23.