T emperature: Max: 21.5°c Min: 7.0°c Coldest: Jumla: -1.5°c Hottest: Biratnagar: 29.0°c the kathmandupost.ekantipur.com kaCAPITAL EDITION l PRINTED SIMULTANEOUthSLY IN KATHMANDU, BIRATNAGAR, BHARATmaPUR AND NEPALGUNJ nduposSTANDt PRICE RS 5.00 Vol XXVI No 275 | 12+4 Pages NEPAL’S LARGEST SELLING ENGLISH DAILY MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2018 (10-O8-2075) Flouting rules, Nirmala’s father brought to Kathmandu, doctors say no signs of mental illness officials spend NAYAK PAUDEL KATHMANDU, NOV 25 Yagya Raj Pant’s hands were shivering as he clasped them together, his eyes red with grief, as he was rushed to the on foreign trips Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu after a 20-hour journey ANIL GIRI nature of the visits differs,” said PMO from Dhangadhi. KATHMANDU, NOV 25 Under-secretary Bishnu Ghimire. Pant, who had been staging an indefi- Officials said several countries hosted nite sit-in demanding an investigation Cutting foreign junkets was one of Prime officials in various trips under sponsored into the rape and murder of his 13-year Minister KP Sharma Oli’s first mandates visits and later deducted the expenses in old daughter, Nirmala, appeared flustered after he took office earlier this year, but their aid or loan pledged to Nepal. and showed erratic signs in public. Hours since then, more than 5,000 government In the last two months, the Defence after he was brought to the emergency employees and officials from various Ministry topped the foreign junket list room at the hospital on Sunday, doctors ministries have taken foreign trips on with 209 officials including Nepal Army said early reports showed no signs of taxpayers’ money and the trend contin- members, followed by 122 officials from mental illness. ues despite tightened procedures. the Ministry of Home that included “The CT scan report didn’t show any Some 824 officials spent 1,703 days Nepal Police and Armed Police Force problems in his brain,” said Tirtha Man in the months of June and July on officials, 91 officials from the Ministry of Shrestha, emergency faculty chief at the sponsored visits, amassing millions of Federal Affairs, 77 officials from the hospital. “But as he has gone through a taxpayers’ money and affecting service Ministry of Forest and Environment, and difficult time, he might be transferred to delivery back home, according to the data 48 officials from the Ministry of Health the Intensive Coronary Care Unit for a prepared by the Prime Minister’s Office and Population. psychiatric consultation.” that excludes trips made by ministers and “We asked officials to make important Shrestha said Pant was suffering heads and members of constitutional trips only and we are monitoring the situ- from viral fever and he had an infection in bodies. ation,” said PMO Spokesperson Binod his liver. Two of his toes had received a According to the document obtained by Kunwar, who admits that foreign trips minor fracture, which doctors suspect the Post, the Finance Ministry, in October, made by officials have not declined was the result of Pant’s violent response released Rs5.3 million in reimbursement despite repeated written instructions and after he was barred from boarding a for trips taken by ministers and govern- stern warning from the prime minister Buddha Air flight to Kathmandu on ment employees despite exceeding its and his office. Saturday citing his erratic behaviour. allocated budget for foreign trips. The government had earlier tightened When Pant was asked to sit in a vehicle at n Yagya Raj Pant, who had been staging an indefinite sit-in demanding justice for the rape and murder of his 13-year-old daughter Nirmala, Rs3.5 million was paid to Finance the procedures to obtain diplomatic and the airport, he broke the vehicle’s window arrives at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for treatment on Sunday. POST PHOTO: ANISH REGMI Ministry officials alone while Rs1.3 mil- official approval for lawmakers, chiefs with his leg. lion was spent on deputy PM and Defence and deputy chiefs of local bodies but “This was the first time Yagya Raj bers close to the Pants told the Post that there he was brought to Kathmandu on a to control him.” Minister Ishwar Pokhrel’s visit to China. none of the warnings and procedures seemed to lose control of himself,” said the father has not been able to tackle the private vehicle. Durga Devi Pant, the Activists and supporters of the cam- The rest of the expenditure is listed seem to have worked. Sharada Chand, an activist with stress as the perpetrators of the crime mother of Nirmala, two close relatives, a paign expressed shock when videos of under the Ministry of Law and In April, the PMO also issued regula- Collective Campaign for Peace, who has are still free after four months since the health worker and three police officers Pant that showed him angry and erratic Parliamentary Affairs secretary’s visit to tions to manage foreign visits and junkets been campaigning along with Nirmala’s incident. accompanied Pant from Dhangadhi. started going viral on social platforms France. so that it can be transparent, more useful parents. “It’s a difficult incident for a father to According to activists who have been last week. As the PM’s Office continues to collect and result-oriented and lessen its impact From the day their daughter’s body was recover from,” said Sudip Kharel, the participating in the sit-in, Pant’s behav- “Yagya Raj was not so tensed about a data for the period between August and on the state coffers. The regulations found on July 27, both of Nirmala’s par- chief medical officer at Mahakali Zonal iour started changing last week. week ago when we met the family,” said November, preliminary data already indi- required all government offices to follow ents have been involved in a series of Hospital. “When I talked to Yagya Raj in “When he sees small children, he starts Amrita Lamsal, an activist who visited cate an upward surge in foreign visits by strict rules such as barring visits on state protests, dozens of meetings with govern- course of his check-up a couple of days calling them Nirmala. Sometimes he the Pant family in Kanchanpur early ministers and officials, which officials expenses, maintaining a mandatory ment authorities and political leaders, ago, he said he had been taking anti-de- also wanders aimlessly, talks to himself last week. “A father has faced serious say, will be released soon. reporting system and the process of nom- and an indefinite sit-in before the pressants for a few years.” and scolds the government, demanding health issues and the government has “It is complicated to get the data relat- ination and criteria for foreign trips. Kanchanpur District Administration When Pant was denied the flight, he justice for his daughter,” said Chand. “At still not been able to respond by arresting ed to expenditures by officials as the >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Office. Local officials and family mem- was driven to Seti Zonal Hospital. From times, it has taken more than a few people the murderer.” n A woman jaywalks in Gwarko, Lalitpur. The country’s first eight-lane road from Kalanki to Koteshwor has just three overhead crossings and lacks urban road safety measures such as traffic signals and zebra crossings, resulting in frequent accidents. POST PHOTO: KESHAV THAPA Lord Buddha’s bird under threat in his birthplace Officials plan to declare Sarus Crane as ‘Bird of Lumbini’ CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL habitat,” said Archibald. nearly 300 Sarus cranes live. KATHMANDU, NOV 25 Cranes are the longest sur- Slow breeding rate and viving bird species. Among hatching of only two eggs Endangered Sarus Crane, all the cranes, Sarus (Grus every year are other reasons also known as Lord Buddha’s Antigone) is the tallest of all, for cranes’ limited number. bird, has been facing further and tallest bird to fly. Lumbini Development threat in areas around Trust Vice Chairman PAGES 6 & 7 Lumbini, the birthplace of Sarus Crane has a special Metteyya Sakyaputta said A special coverage Lord Buddha. Sarus crane has a special sta- on entrepreneurs Fragmentation of their status in Lumbini and tus in the ancient tradition and careers habitat, use of pesticides in Buddhism of Lumbini and Buddhism. agricultural lands, collision Legend says Lord Buddha with high-tension electricity treated a Sarus crane, lines, hunting, pollution and Nepal is home to injured by his cousin other human activities have Deomiselle crane, Common Devdutta, and later released posed threats to the non-mi- crane and Sarus crane, but it in Lumbini jungle. gratory bird, believed to have Common and Demoiselle “While we protect the leg- lived in Nepal for centuries. migrate from north Asian acy of the Lumbini and According to George W countries to Nepal whereas teaching of Lord Buddha, we Archibald, co-founder of the Sarus crane is a non-migra- should also conserve Sarus International Crane tory species that permanent- that can be a symbol of har- Foundation and a leading ly resides here. mony between nature and crane conservationist in the In Nepal, cranes thrive in humanity. Loss of habitat to world, the impact of human the western districts from due to expanding brick activities threaten the exist- Chitwan to Kanchanpur. Of industries and shrinking of ence of cranes. “The crane the estimated less than 500 available wetlands are chal- species has become rare population in the country, lenges to the conservation of because we are doing selfish their concentration is heavy Sarus,” said Sakyputta. activities to destroy their around Lumbini, where >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 C M Y K Monday, November 26, 2018 news the kathmandu post 02 Traffic obstruction for better road Federation retracts its statement on Asia Pacific meet ANIL GIRI of Parliamentarians for Peace KATHMANDU, NOV 25 and the International Conference of Asian Political Universal Peace Federation, a Parties.