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Members of the former royal family have knocked the doors of the parliamentary committee, contending that their land and property have been unjustly frozen by the Land Revenue Office.

Dilasha, Shitashma, and Puja, the three daughters of the late Dhirendra Shah, the younger brother of former king Gyanendra Shah, filed a complaint with the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives on Dec 24.

The committee hasn’t initiated discussion on the complaint yet as some members of the committee contend that the issue doesn’t fall under the committee’s scope of work. The three have argued in the complaint that the state has unfairly discriminated against them by freezing their property, citing land holding ceiling. They are seeking the parliamentary committee's intervention to uphold their constitutional right to own property.

The Land Revenue Office, Kathmandu, has frozen the land and property owned by Dhirendra’s late wife, Preksha, stating that the landholding exceeds the ceiling set by the government. Fifteen years ago, the Land Revenue Office, Kathmandu, issued a directive to freeze 35 ropanis of land in Kathmandu Metropolitan City-3.

The Land Reforms Act, 1964 had set a land holding ceiling in Kathmandu for individuals at 58 ropanis. The amendment to the act made in 2001 reduced the ceiling to 30 ropanis. They have also contended that the 35 ropanis cannot be considered the landholding of a single family, as family members above the age of 16 must be treated as separate individuals according to the revised definition of 'family' in the 2006 amendment to the Land Reforms Act.

In their complaint, the three claimed that the property was divided and registered under their respective names on April 1, 2008, while the decision to freeze the property was made on May 10, 2008. They also claimed that the ownership of the land and property belonging to their mother Preksha was rightfully transferred to their names and they also own land ownership certificates issued by the Land Revenue Office, Dillibazaar.

Dhirendra Shah was killed in the Royal Palace Massacre on June 1, 2001, while his wife Preksha died in a helicopter accident in Mugu district five months later. They have said in the complaint that they submitted applications to the National Vigilance Center, Department of Land Reforms and Management, and Land Revenue Office, Kathmandu, four years ago for the release of the land, but to no avail.

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is arriving in Nepal on January 4 to take part in the meeting of the Nepal-India joint commission.

The Foreign Ministry said that a team of Jaishankar will arrive in Kathmandu by a special plane of the Indian Air Force.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra and Anurag Srivastava, head of the Northern Division at the Ministry of External Affairs among others are in the team.

A meeting of the Nepal-India joint commission will be held on January 4.

Matters of mutual cooperation and bilateral relations will be discussed in the meeting, it has been said.

The Foreign Ministry said that an agreement will also be signed on the small development project of the Indian Embassy in the meeting.

Under this project, the Indian Embassy can directly invest up to Rs 200 million in Nepal.

A Cabinet meeting held recently had decided to allow the Indian Embassy to invest up to Rs 200 million in Nepal.

The power trade agreement will also be signed in the meeting.

During Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s India visit, India had signed an agreement to purchase 10, 000 megawatt of electricity in 10 years.

While staying in Nepal, the Jaishankar’a team will call on President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The Indian leaders are also scheduled to meet Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli among others.

They will return to India on January 5.

Two persons died when police opened fire on protesters at Balkumari in Lalitpur on Friday.

Nepal Police spokesperson Kuber Kadayat said that the deceased have been identified as Sujan Raut of Dailekh and Birendra Shah of Doti.

Raut died while undergoing treatment at the Kist Hospital while Shah breathed his last in the course of treatment at the Patan Hospital.

Kadayat said that half-a-dozen protesters were injured in the incident.

Police said that they lobbed teargas shells and also fired warning shots into the air to disperse the mob after they set the vehicle of Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala on fire.

The vehicle (Ba 2 Jha 5861) was completely destroyed in the fire.

A group of youths took to the street over the issue of the Korean language test.

Police said that they have around two dozen protesters under control.

Resident doctors working in Central Institutes in India have requested the government of Nepal to take steps to make sure that they get stipend from the medical colleges they are studying in.

Nepali resident doctors working in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi lament that they have to perform usual clinical/hospital duties as part of their courses without remuneration, while their Indian counterparts get more than InRs 100,000 for the same job.

At least 60 Nepali students enrolled in MD, MS, MDS, DM and MCH courses are working as resident doctors in one of India’s top medical colleges. They log 12 hours on a normal shift and have to put in 48 hours extra during emergencies, without getting paid.

As their long-pressed demand for stipend has gone unheard, resident doctors at AIIMS have requested the government of Nepal to take up the matter with India, once again.

Notably, earlier government effort in a similar case has paid off. 

Nepali students in Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh and Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry have been getting the stipend. 

These institutions started paying the Nepali students too after the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli raised the issue during his visit to India in 2020. 

However, AIIMs students in New Delhi and Rishikesh continue to struggle for the same, even after repeatedly requesting Indian and Nepali government authorities to address their concern.

“This comes as a huge economic burden for us, for our families and for our nation. Seats are allocated for Nepali medical students, but stipends are not provided. This needs to stop,” said Dr Laxman Bhagat, one of the representatives of the Nepalese Resident Doctors in AIIMS Delhi.

Despite repeated efforts from the doctors, including meetings with relevant officials and written communication with Indian government authorities, this issue remains unaddressed, said Dr Bhagat.

Notably, this is an instance of non-reciprocal treatment on the part of Indian authorities.  

Nepal has been providing stipend to post-graduate Indian students studying in Nepali medical colleges. The Indian students studying in the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University and BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan under self-financing schemes get a monthly stipend of Rs 33,000 and Rs 32,000 each.

It may be noted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, had written to AIIMS to inform the latter about amendments required in the act/rules/regulations to facilitate payment of stipend to students from Nepal enrolled in PG courses in AIIMS, New Delhi, to no avail. 

AIIMS offers postgraduate degrees in about 55 different specialties/super specialties.

A vehicle belonging to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala was torched in Balkumari, Lalitpur on Friday.

The youths, who took to the street over the issue of the Korean language test, set the vehicle on fire this afternoon, Lalitpur police said.

The vehicle (Ba 2 Jha 5861) was completely destroyed in the fire.

Vehicular movement along the Koreshwor-Kalanki road section has been disrupted following the incident.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1, 300 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 120, 700 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 122, 000 per tola on Thursday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 120, 100 per tola. It was traded at Rs 121, 400 per tola.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 35 and is being traded at Rs 1,455 per tola today.

A man died after being attacked by a wild elephant in Shivasatakshi Municipality, Jhapa on Thursday.

The District Police Office, Jhapa said that 45-year-old Megh Raj Rai of Dhudhe in the municipality died on the spot after he was attacked by the wild elephant last night.

The incident occurred while they were chasing the tusker who destroyed the houses in the settlement.

With this, four people lost their lives in wild elephant attacks in the past five months in Jhapa district.

According to spokesperson of District Police Office Jhapa, Khagendra Rijal, property worth around Rs 150,000 was destroyed in the incident.

The people's representatives from all the local levels in Gulmi district have committed to working to end child marriage in the district. 

The representatives of the local governments made such a commitment during an interaction program organized here on "10-year strategy of Lumbini Province, its challenges in implementation and potentials, and role of local level'.

On the occasion, the speakers said that stakeholders and the society should work collectively to discourage the child marriage as it is happening in the society without public notice due to social traditions and other reasons.

The interaction was organized to collect recommendations for the drafting of the strategy to end child marriage.

However, the speakers also complained of limited budget allocation to carry out interventions against such mal-practices at the local levels.

On the occasion, Chief of District Coordination Committee Drona Bahadur Khatri stressed for running awareness raising programmes from the ward level and at schools too to end child marriage.

Likewise, Vice Chairperson of Satyawati Rural Municipality Nirmaya Taramu said that such issues including child marriage have been shadowed as public attention has shifted to construction of physical works.

The Social Development Ministry of Lumbini Province is working for such events with support from UNICEF.