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Foul Play Suspected in Private Firm's Deal to Supply Russian Vaccine To WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 219 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 35.5 C 11.5 C Thursday, October 01, 2020 | 15-06-2077 Nepalgunj Jomsom Nepal to join India’s Foul play suspected ‘air bubble’ to bring citizens home as in private firm’s deal Dashain nears to supply Russian Under the scheme, fares will be fixed and passengers need to book tickets through embassies. vaccine to Nepal SANGAM PRASAIN Experts and officials wonder how a little-known company KATHMANDU, SEPT 30 reached an agreement to import the Covid-19 vaccine Nepal has decided to join India’s “air bubble” scheme in order to bring hundreds of Nepalis when the government should have been taking the lead. stranded in different parts of India, more than a month after the southern neighbour’s ARJUN POUDEL proposal to that effect. KATHMANDU, SEPT 30 As India has still restricted regular interna- tional passenger flights, “air bubbles” or Public health experts and some gov- “travel corridors” are systems established ernment officials have suspected between two countries that perceive each foul play in the purported deal other to be safe and allow carriers of both the between Russian Direct Investment countries to fly passengers either way without Fund and a private Nepali firm to sup- any restrictions. ply the Russian vaccine for the corona- Under these arrangements, the fares will be virus to Nepal. fixed and passengers need to book tickets Reports on Tuesday suggested that through the embassies. The passengers have Russian Direct Investment Fund, to go through quarantine as specified by the Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, would respective governments. supply 25 million doses of its potential In mid-August, India’s civil aviation minis- Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal through REUTERS ter Hardeep Singh Puri had proposed Nepal Trinity Pharmaceuticals. Reports suggest a Nepali private firm has join the air bubble scheme. “We had received RSS “It looks like some government offi- reached a deal with Russia to supply 25 the proposal formally from the Indian govern- A fisherman casts a net in a pond at Kamere in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-2, Sindhuli. cials’ ploy to help a private company million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. ment three weeks ago,” said Rajan Pokhrel, benefit,” an official at the Department director general of the Civil Aviation of Health Services told the Post imported by the government itself requesting anonymity because he rather than allowing any private firm feared retribution. “It reminds of an to do so, as the lives of many people Indian court acquits Hindu nationalist earlier deal in which the government are at stake. had asked Omni Business Corporate “Britain has secured 190 million International Pvt Ltd to import medi- doses of the potential coronavirus cal equipment to fight the pandemic.” vaccine for its citizens. Our govern- leaders in Babri mosque demolition case Government officials, from the ment too can reach out to vaccine-de- health and foreign ministries to the veloping countries if it is serious Department of Drug Administration about saving its citizens’ lives,” said The court ruled that there was no criminal conspiracy to attack the mosque and Nepal Health Research Council, professor Prakash Ghimire, chairper- however, had told the Post on Tuesday son of the National Ethical Review POST FILE PHOTO 28 years ago and that there was no conclusive evidence to prove it. that they were unaware of any deal Board under the Nepal Health Passenger cabin of a Nepal Airlines A320 jet. between Russia and the Nepali private Research Council. ASSOCIATED PRESS firm to import the vaccine for Covid-19. “Instead, a private company is tak- Authority of Nepal. India has established LUCKNOW, SEPT 30 Not much is known about the ing initiatives to import the vaccine travel bubbles with 13 countries, including the Russian vaccine, which was approved and government officials are feigning United States, the United Kingdom, France, An Indian court on Wednesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin ignorance.” Germany, Canada, the Maldives, the United acquitted all 32 people accused of last month, amid reports that global What is even more concerning is Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Nigeria, Iraq, crimes in a 1992 attack and demoli- health authorities suspected that it that the Russian vaccine’s status is Afghanistan and Japan. After necessary dis- tion of a 16th century mosque that could have missed several stages. not known yet. The international sci- cussions, Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai sparked Hindu-Muslim violence Even if the Russian or any other entific community has said Russian will table the agenda on joining the air bubble leaving some 2,000 people dead. vaccine, which has passed all stages scientists are yet to conduct a large scheme at the Covid-19 Crisis Management Four senior leaders of the ruling of testing, is to be brought to Nepal, trial involving tens of thousands of Centre meeting this week, which will then Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata public health experts say, it should people, a mandatory procedure to seek an in-principle approval from the Party, or BJP, were among the be directly imported by the govern- demonstrate that the vaccine works. Cabinet, according to Pokhrel. defendants in a trial that lan- ment, just like it does in cases of other The Lancet journal on September 4 “This will, in fact, help us create an air cor- guished in India’s sluggish legal vaccines that are administered reported that there were no adverse ridor to the southern neighbour on a recipro- system for almost 28 years. through the regular immunisation effects on those who were given the cal basis, which has still restricted regular Seventeen of the 49 accused died of programme. Russian vaccine, which has completed passenger flights,” said Pokhrel. natural causes during the trial. The Oli administration, which has Phase I and Phase II trials, but experts >> Continued on page 2 The four BJP leaders were been facing criticism for its poor han- say no one will know if the vaccine is accused of making inflammatory dling of the pandemic, has also been safe and effective until large-scale tri- speeches that incited tens of thou- AFP/RSS censured for its involvement in cor- als are run. sands of their followers who had A Hindu mob destroyed the 16th century mosque in 1992 sparking Hindu-Muslim ruption in the name of its fight against Of over 200 vaccines being devel- camped out in the city of Ayodhya violence that left some 2,000 people dead. the coronavirus. At least two of Oli oped throughout the world, nine vac- ahead of the attack on the mosque. Cabinet’s ministers—Bhanubhakta cines are in the Phase III trial stage. Last year, India’s Supreme Court Masjid was illegal and ordered that attorney Rishab Tripathi, who rep- Dhakal and Ishwar Pokhrel—face alle- “None of the vaccines has complet- ruled in favour of building a Hindu the separate trial in the mosque resented one of the defendants. gations of corruption and supporting ed the Phase III trial so far,” said Dr temple on the disputed site. Hindus demolition case be completed expe- “The incident was not pre- private firms like Omni to import Shyam Raj Upreti, coordinator of believe their god Ram was born ditiously. planned,” Yadav said in his ruling health equipment for their personal Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee, there and say the Muslim Emperor Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar benefits. which was recently formed by the Babur built a mosque on top of a ruled there was no criminal con- Pradesh state. “The leaders present Many suspect there could be similar Health Ministry to recommend effec- temple at the site. spiracy to attack the mosque by there actually tried to control and cloak-and-dagger dealings to allow a tive vaccines and ways to introduce The Supreme Court also ruled hard-line Hindu activists and no pacify the mob.” private firm to import the vaccine. them in the country. that the demolition of the Babri conclusive evidence to prove it, said >> Continued on page 6 Experts say such vaccines should be >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K THURSDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Suspect in Bajhang girl rape, murder case confesses to crime The suspect says he raped the 12-year-old and murdered her with a trident and hammer. BASANTA PRATAP SINGH another 13-year-old girl in the village body on the eighth day of the crime BAJHANG, SEPT 30 two months ago. and performed her last rites in the “The victim of that incident had Seti river near Chainpur, the district Rajendra Bohara, the suspect arrested disclosed what had happened to her. headquarters of Bajhang. The funeral in connection with the rape and subse- So to avoid being caught this time, he was attended by political activists, quent murder of a 12-year-old girl in killed the 12-year-old,” the investiga- human rights activists, Dalit rights Bajhang, has admitted his involve- tion officer said. activists and the locals. ment in the heinous crime. Though police were sure of Bikash Kami, the victim’s father During police interrogation on Bohara’s involvement in the crime, who had returned home from India on Wednesday, the accused confessed to the locals had begun questioning the Sunday, could not attend the final rites murdering the 12-year-old after raping investigation since he had denied the of his daughter, as he tested positive her. He told the investigation officers allegations.
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