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The Shree Swasthani Brata Katha, a popular ritual observed by the Hindus since Push Shuklapurnima (full moon day), is beginning from today. The festival ends a month after in Magh Shuklapurnima.

Nepalis, especially the Hindu women, observe the month-long festival worshiping four-handed deity Swasthani with Chakra, Trishul, Sword and Lotus in each hand at the center while Astha Matrika or eight deities of power Mahakali, Baishnavi, Brahmi Maheshwori, Kaumeshwari, Barahi, Indraayani, and Chamunda painted around her and reciting Swasthani Brat Katha (story) every day.

The month-long telling ritual is dedicated to the goddess and the stories that are mainly narrated are those of Swasthani Devi, God Shiva and other gods.

It is believed that goddess Swasthani helped goddess Sati overcome her troubles after she burnt herself at Dakhsya Prajapati’s Yagya, after hearing her husband, lord Shiva, being insulted.

As per this, goddess Swasthani helped Sati Devi overcome the troubles and then to reincarnate and win over Lord Shiva as her husband again.

During the Swasthani katha, Hindu married women observe Brata or fasting for the wellbeing of their husbands and unmarried women observe the Brata in order to get a good husband. Women wear red-colored clothes and bangles during the one-month period as it is believed that red is a sign of good luck.

The rituals associated with the Swasthani Katha take place on the bank of rivers in various Hindu shrines across the country.

In Kathmandu, the festival takes place at Shalinadi, a river associated with the Swasthani Brata Katha, situated in Sankhu. Devotees visit Salinadi bank near Sankhu, worship goddess Shree Swasthani, Navaraj Brahman, Goma Brahmani, Chandrawati by visiting different shrines.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority arrested Sunil Paudel, former managing director at Nepal Telecom and Bikal Paudel, former executive director at Security Printing Center, on embezzlement charges on Wednesday. 

A CIAA team raided their homes, seized documents and took the two under control after they allegedly did not heed to the summons to record their statements vis-a-vis a corruption case filed at the Special Court against nine individuals on the charge of embezzling funds totaling Rs 232.75m during the procurement of software for National Payment Gateway in 2018 for $1.98m to digitize all financial transactions.

Those chargesheeted include government secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chair of the National Information Technology Center Sanjay Sharma, then executive director at the center Pranita Upadhyay, Paudel and others.  

The two are to be produced before the Special Court on Thursday.

In April last year, CIAA had moved the Special Court against Bikal Paudel and eight others, accusing them of embezzling around Rs 690.88m while procuring equipment for the printing press.

They were allegedly involved in preparation and approval of an unnatural cost estimate, accepting the supply of substandard electric transformers by going against the contract and making payment for a generator produced in a country other than that specified in the contract.

The equipment was procured for operating the security printing press that the government had planned to set up. The Office of the Auditor General had raised questions about the procurement process.

Even after filing the case, the two were dragged further into investigation on the suspicion of misappropriating the office’s resources and sending the property abroad.

Annually hundreds of people have been untimely losing their lives in the Kathmandu Valley due to road accidents.

According to the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, as many as 88 people have lost their lives in 5,865 road accidents in the first six months of the current fiscal year. Likewise, 148 people were critically injured and 4,438 persons sustained minor injuries.

Most of the deceased in the accidents are motorcyclists and pedestrians.

Senior vice-president of the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs Punya Prasad (Saroj) Sitaula said that two-wheelers in the Kathmandu Valley are more prone to accidents.

"High speed of motorcycles and scooters and pedestrians rampantly crossing the road have caused the highest number of fatalities in Kathmandu", he said.

Spokesperson of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta, said that the traffic police have been conducting various awareness programs to reduce the number of vehicle accidents in the Valley.

"We have been tightening the checking of alcohol consumption to reduce accidents, rules prohibiting vehicles from plying at a speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour to control speeding, checking the status of vehicles and whether there are two drivers in long-distance vehicles," he said.

The Department of Immigration, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has recently issued a 13-point travel advisory along with a six-point procedure for individuals traveling abroad on visit and tourist visas. The issuance of the travel advisory was prompted by increasing reports of Nepali citizens falling prey to fraudulent activities while traveling on visit visas.

According to the Director and Information Officer of the Department, Prem Prasad Dahal, the newly introduced advisory and procedures are effective from today. The advisory explicitly states that seeking employment abroad while holding a visit or tourist visa is illegal. Engaging in such activities may lead to legal repercussions in the host country and cause various complications.

The advisory also clarifies that individuals are personally accountable for any consequences resulting from the submission of forged documents, providing false information, visiting a country not permitted by the visa, entering conflict zones, or joining foreign armed or military forces while abroad on a tourist or visit visa.

Likewise, the department has issued a cautionary note regarding the susceptibility of women to be tempted by intermediaries into traveling to labor destination countries such as Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain on visit visa, persuading them to convert their visas into working ones, charging exorbitant fees and coercing them into precarious and indent labor conditions in collaboration with employers.

The Department has urged one and all to not pursue a foreign travel on the visit visa with the aim of working as it may push once into unorganized and precarious jobs, depriving social security. It has encouraged citizens to seek a foreign job on just a working visa after obtaining a labor permit from the government.

Those Nepalis going to various countries on these visas have been urged to return to their home country within the visa expiry date in other circumstances except for unusual conditions, as some Nepali travelers going to several countries on visit and tourist visas are found not returning on the stipulated date.

They have been asked to depart for foreign countries by making a self-declaration that they will return home on the stipulated date since the person concerned would be responsible for any situation resulting from overstaying the visa.  They have also been urged to set out on the visit after keeping general information regarding the language, culture and laws of the destination country.

"You might land in trouble if you work illegally in a foreign country after enrolling in a university listed with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, but not studying in the university. Adopt additional precaution if you are visiting with the intention of enrolling in foreign university and working there through various middle persons even when carrying a study visa in recent days, as study and work are separate matters," reads the travel advisory.

Those carrying visit and tourist visas have been requested to travel only via Nepal's airports, to do so only by taking the NOC Letter and, in the case of women, to adopt additional precaution and alert while travelling to third countries through airports in India.

People have been urged to ask for the authentic papers of the licensed institution before making the payment if any institution has sought money with the assurance of sending them to foreign country by taking a labour permit. Similarly, people are advised to not give money if any education consultancy, travel agency or any person has asked for money with the assurance of sending on foreign employment.

People have been urged to inform the Department of Foreign Employment or the nearest police station or dial Nepal Police at 100, if they suspect that they are being conned.

People have been urged to only pay the minimum amount fixed by the government to the licensed institution sending them on foreign employment and take the receipt of the same, and not to believe in false assurances as there is no provision for agents.

The travel advisory states that getting recruited in the army or armed groups of any country is completely illegal and against the national interest, except in the case of the Indian Army and the British Army by taking approval from the Government of Nepal. People have been urged to not be involved in such activities under any circumstances as it is difficult to also rescue the people carrying out such acts.