Submit your Article

The Lumbini Provincial Hospital in Butwal has been declared the best among the government hospitals in the country. The result was based on evaluation of minimum service standards.

Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Sudarshan Thapa, shared that Lumbini Provincial Hospital has succeeded in being the first for the third time in the evaluation of the minimum service standards of secondary B level hospitals.

According to the Directorate of Health Minimum Service Standards Evaluation Committee, Lumbini Provincial Hospital has scored 89 points this year in the minimum standards evaluation.

Subjects like good governance and management of the hospital, clinical management and support services of the hospital are the main criteria in the evaluation. The evaluation committee consists of the Federal Ministry of Health and Population, Lumbini Province Health Directorate Dang and Nick Simmons Institute Kathmandu.

Patients from Palpa, Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, Kapilvastu, Nawalparasi, Pyuthan, Syangja, Rukum, Rolpa and other districts of Lumbini Province come to Lumbini Provincial Hospital for treatment.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 400 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 118, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 118, 400 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 117, 450 per tola. It was traded at Rs 117, 850 per tola.

Meanwhile, the price of silver, however, has decreased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,400 per tola today.

All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), the student wing of CPN-UML, took out a torch rally demanding resignation of Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala.

The student leaders took out a torch rally outside the Tri Chandra College saying that Minister Jwala is the main culprit in the Balkumari incident that saw two dead.

Police intervened while they were staging the protest.

Birendra Shah of Achham and Sujan Raut of Dailekh, who were aspiring to go to South Korea for employment, were killed during the demonstration in Balkumari of Lalitpur on December 29.

They lost their lives during the protest over the filling of EPS exam forms.

During the demonstration, the protestors also torched the vehicle of Minister Jwala.

Following the incident, the government formed a three-member probe commission under the headship of former judge Shekhar Prasad Paudel.

The commission has recently submitted a report to Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha.

The report concluded that the incident occurred due to the weakness of Minister Jwala.

Loan shark and microfinance victims staged a protest outside the Baluwatar-based Nepal Rastra Bank on Wednesday.

They, who arrived in Kathmandu from various places of the country, marched from Siphal to Baluwatar putting forth various demands this afternoon.

During the protest, they demanded that cooperatives and microfinance institutions be scrapped.

The struggle committee put forth nine-point demands that include exempting loans, developing socialist economy, removing them from blacklist and releasing their collaterals and providing free loans to poor farmers among others.

The microfinance victims said that the state should address their demands and would not return home until the issue is resolved.

The victims complained that their demands have not been addressed yet despite the government’s repeated assurances.  

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called the cooperatives and microfinance victims to Baluwatar and said that the government has been taking initiatives to resolve the problems.

While the government has been claiming that there will be no political interference in the selection of the Vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University, stakeholders have expressed doubts about the selection process.

Addressing a session at the Nepal Literature Festival in Pokhara on Monday, they emphasized the need to eliminate political interference to enhance the quality of higher education in the country. Professor Dr Sanjeev Upreti said that appointing a capable academic as the head of TU alone wouldn’t be sufficient to enhance the quality of higher education. “We need to introspect on TU’s purpose and for whom the university is. It is imperative to assess whether it has fulfilled its objectives,” Dr Upreti said. “If TU is falling short of its objectives, we must identify the causes and find solutions to them.”

Dr Upreti said curbing political power plays, localizing the curriculum, initiating life skills education, and ensuring fair remuneration for teaching faculty are essential for TU’s improvement. “Despite spending 25 years teaching at TU after obtaining my PhD, I have realized that I have got more real life lessons from the streets than the university,” he said. “Our society harbors significant discrimination. But we don’t know about it in the university.”

He lamented that the prevalent practice of students, staff, and faculty being affiliated with political parties are undermining academic independence and fostering a decline in university standards. “Students don’t see teachers but as party cadres and vice versa. How can we expect academic independence in situations like these?” he asked.

Similarly, Dr Kusum Shakya, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, said TU should be transformed into a board of trustees model to bring about reforms. “I anticipated that the applicant presenting the most comprehensive reform agenda would secure the position of Vice-chancellor. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case,” she remarked. “In other countries, candidates openly articulate their plans, and the most promising proposals are endorsed.”

Shakya was one of the 14 applicants who vied for the position. The recruitment committee has recommended three candidates—Prof Dr Chitra Bahadur Budhathoki, Prof Dr Tanka Nath Dhamala, and Prof Dr Keshar Jung Baral—for the Vice-chancellor position.

Tribhuvan University has provided affiliations to over 1,000 colleges nationwide. It has constituent campuses in 75 out of 77 districts—except in Manang and Mustang. 

Dr Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional law expert, called for curriculum revisions to address contemporary issues. “Outdated curriculum is impeding our ability to educate students on current challenges. Teaching faculty must be experts on the subject matter that they are teaching. Otherwise, the objectives of the curriculum cannot be realized,” he added. 

Adhikari underscored the need to make universities truly autonomous. He stressed the need for disciplinary measures among staff and faculty. “Initiatives like electronic attendance systems in the university were met with resistance. We cannot drive reform initiatives this way,” he added.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 6. 46 points to close at 2,026.59 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 1. 24 points to close at 363. 07 points.

A total of 6,341,174-unit shares of 313 companies were traded for Rs 2. 24 billion.

Meanwhile, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited (BNL), Himalaya Urja Bikas Company Limited (HURJA) and Samaj Laghubittya Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SAMAJ) were the top gainers today with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Peoples Hydropower Company Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 7. 84 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 18 trillion.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has pledged to take initiative to address issues pestering microfinance and cooperatives.

During his meeting with representatives of victims of muddled microfinance and cooperatives at Singha Durbar today, the Prime Minister assured addressing the problems.

Acknowledging the contribution of cooperatives and microfinances in connecting the rural people and the people from the indigent community with financial services, the Prime Minister said lately, the sectors were gripped with significant problems. "Some complications were contextual, while some were the consequences of professional dishonesty of members on the board of directors. The problems will be addressed gradually," he added.

He also insisted on collective efforts to sort out the situation.

During the discussions, the representatives thanked the government for its initiation so far to alleviate the situation.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has urged individuals, companies and organizations occupying areas inside the Lalita Niwas at Baluwatar of Kathmandu Metropolis-4 to vacate the space within a week.

The edict followed the verdict of the Special Court which recently illegalized the occupancy of people, companies and organizations in the area, reviving the government's ownership to the land, according to Metropolis assistant spokesperson, Deepak Adhikari.

The local government warranted all the bodies concerned to cooperate in its efforts to protect the public land as per Local Government Operation Act -2074 BS.

Issuing a public notice today, the local government said that it would remove structures in the area as per the existing laws for its protection and management of land if the edict was not responded to.