Deaf & dumb Rashmi displays her talent on canvas

By Ranjana Pradhan

KATHMANDU, 29 – Rashmi with a sparkling face, lovely smile and twinkling eyes sat alongside Prithvi Shrestha, bringing her imaginations to life on the canvas in front of her.

Her brush runs smoothly on the canvas and after not much effort her inborn talent of a painter is presented on the paper. She is no ordinary girl and her paintings are no exceptions.

If, only her looks were to be viewed by people, they could be easily fooled by her innocent, pretty and lovely face and with her school uniform no one can distinguish her from any other child.

This is Rashmi Amatya, popularly known as Sashi, who was born in 1982 at Kopundole, Lalitpur. Her mother, Uma Amatya, runs a small shop and father Sahadev Amatya works for Nepal Electricity Authority. She has one brother to complete their happy and content family. Her family might be content with what they have but they are unhappy with what their daughter has been deprived of.

God has been a miser when it came to Rashmi’s turn when her parents gave birth to her. God gave her a lovely face and everything else that any normal person would be happy to have, but the God missed to give her the two very important senses. Rashmi was born deaf and dumb.

But, as people believe that God gives something to everyone, she too was born with an inborn talent of using the paint and brush. And till date, she has looked back. She has already received more than five dozen national and international awards for her talent.

Rashmi is presently a class 10 student at Nightingale International School. "But the school hasn’t helped her much in the academic field," says Prithvi Shrestha, Rashmi’s tutor and a student of Fine Arts College. "But she has excelled in art field."

Prithvi spends almost an hour with Rashmi everyday in her room, teaching and guiding her in their similar fields of interest.

"I feel good to participate from school and win a good and prestigious name for the school," says Rashmi. "I cannot hear anything that the teacher teaches except for the little lip reading I can do. My friends do assist me a little but otherwise I just sit in the class and draw the pictures of my teachers and friends," says Rashmi, with lots of difficulty in getting her words together.

Rashmi actually began to use the paint and brush when she was just three. "We always felt that she would do well later in life," her mother proudly says. "She has always been an amazing child except for that she was born deaf and dumb." But her parents never got frustrated with her. Instead they provided her the environment she was looking for. This has led to the proper development of Rashmi as an artist, that too a professional one.

Rashmi has already held a solo exhibition of her paintings in 1996 at the Srijana Contemporary Art Gallery, Kathmandu. After a gap of five years, she is preparing for yet another display of her talent as her second solo exhibition is being held soon.

Experts urge to address new crimes

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KATHMANDU, Sept 29 - Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya on Saturday said new crimes like transborder crimes are emerging in the society and the criminal justice system has to address them in the process of law reforms.

Chief Justice Upadhyaya made this remark at an interaction programme on Penal and Criminal Codification Draft Report organised by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

The interaction was organised with the objective of collecting opinions of the experts related to crime and criminal law. The report was submitted by the seven member Criminal Justice Study and Recommendation Task Force formed on 17 August, 2000 under the convenorship of Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki.

On the occasion, Justice Laxman Prasad Aryal said the criminal justice system of the country is in deplorable state and in need of reforms. While the law secretary Uday Nepali Shrestha said the government will present the report in the Parliament as a Bill.

Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki called for suggestions from various walks of life to make the new law more comprehensive and practical.

Another judge Annanda Mohan Bhattarai said new developments in criminal justice system are advancing towards a ‘global format of criminal justice system’ and we should also cope up with such developments to some extent.

Briefing on the report joint secretary of the Law Ministry Madhav Poudel said the new law intends to introduce some basic departures in the criminal justice system of Nepal.

On the same occasion, Dr. Henning Karcher, Resident Representative of UNDP said the report represents a milestone in strengthening the rule of law in Nepal.

After the report takes the form of law as expected, experts say, most of the provisions of the National Code (Muluki Ain) regarding crime, homicide, rape, theft, and other offences will be repealed, which in turn will be replaced by other more scientific and comprehensive laws.

Renewable energy technologies for rural areas discussed

KATHMANDU, Sept 29 (RSS)- Centre for Energy Studies (CES), Institute of Engineering (IOE/TU) organised a three-day awareness programme on Renewable Energy Technologies (RETS) for chairmen of the District Development Committees of 15 districts here yesterday.

This awareness programme was sponsored by Winrock International and USAID.

Addressing the participants, Prithvi Raj Ligal, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, said that there were many possibilities of using renewable energy technologies for income generating activities in the rural areas of Nepal.

Prof. Jagannath Shrestha, director of Centre for Energy Studies, said that the application of RETS could play a significant role not only in employment generation through productive appropriate energy use and improvement of quality of life in the rural areas but also in substitution of fuel wood.

Speaking at a closing ceremony, Prof. (Dr) Jib Raj Pokharel, Dean of IOE mentioned that appropriate utilisation of RETS could reduce the use of imported fossil fuel and contribute to saving foreign exchange, improving environment in Nepal and reducing global warming.

Ratna Sansar Shrestha, senior advisor at Winrock International urged that local resources should be utilised by involving the local people so that they can benefit directly.

The participants expressed the view that they had benefitted a lot from the awareness programme.

They said that such programmes should be organised for the officials of the National Planning Commission as well as the concerned ministries.

Talks on investigative journalism concludes

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KATHMANDU, Sept 29 - A two-day interaction programme on investigative journalism concluded Sunday focussing on difficulties and challenges of investigative journalism in Nepal.

The programme entitled What Hinders Investigative Journalism in Nepal was participated by 32 journalists from different media. The participants discussed at length on the topic.

Different media figures presented papers on different genre of investigative journalists in the programme organised by Martin Chautari, a forum in the field of social research. Mohan Mainali of Centre for Investigative Journalism, Kedar Sharma of Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists Association, Madhu Acharya, a freelance radio programme producer, and Usha Tiwari, freelance photographer presented papers on their respective field of investigative journalism.

Pratyush Onta of Martin Chautari, who is also a regular columnist of The Kathmandu Post, coordinated the programme. He also presented a paper on the present situation of Nepalese journalism.

Mayor launches Nepal Lipi

KATHMANDU, Sept 29 (PR) - Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City today launched a Newari weekly newspaper Nepal Lipi published in indigeneous Newari script.

Mayor Sthapit said that the metropolis has been providing assistance to projects that aim at developing the indigenous art and culture of Kathmandu. "We are proud of being the city-dwellers of this metropolis with rich art and cultural background."

Sharad Kasaa, the editor of the paper, said that computer facility has been very helpful to use ancient complicated Nepali script that was otherwise dying fast. Ramesh Man Sthapit, from the chair, said languages and scripts are the property of the nation and they need the protection of the state to keep them alive in the changing scenario of development.

Earlier, around 20 years ago, the Nepal Lipi Guthi published a hand-written weekly Sargaa which later discontinued, he remarked.

The computer font of Nepal script was developed by Rabindra Pachhai with the co-operation of the Nepal Lipi Guthi, the organisation doing research on ancient Nepal script and also creating awareness among the people on its use. Historians say the Nepal script has been in use since the 9th century,or before, in the Kathmandu Valley and it has about a dozen varieties. The use of this script became less frequent after King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s invasion of the Kathmandu Valley, they say.

Meanwhile, Hetauda Waapau, a Newari weekly from Hetauda was awarded with Sankhadhar Sirpaa by lawmaker Narayan Man Bijukchhe at a function organised here in Bhaktapur.

The award is given to newspapers devoted to usage of Nepal era, by a committee led by human rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar.

Sunsari police intensifies activities to curb crimes

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INARUWA, Sept 29 - Police Mobilisation Room has been set up in Sunsari District Police Office, as in Morang district, to control the increasing crimes in the district.

The Police Mobilisation Room has been set up after incidents of murder, looting, theft and dacoity increased in the district as in its neighbouring Morang district.

The Police Control Room has been set up in accordance with the government’s policy to provide prompt service to the people, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devendra Banstola said.

This arrangement has been made to address the local people’s grievances that police are always late to arrive at the site of crime.

The service of the police will henceforth be available immediately without any hassles, DSP Banstola said.

Two telephone lines, 60100 and 100 , have been installed to help people inform the police about the incidents without delay.

The control room is manned by a police officer and 13 policemen, with necessary weapons, vehicles and relief materials.

Although the incidents of attack have not occurred at the town area of Inaruwa, this police force will serve as the additional police force for different Area Police Offices, police posts and temporary police posts and will be sent at places where such incidents occur immediately after the information is received to provide prompt services to the people, Banstola informed.

In the VDCs bordering India, a large number of incidents of cattle-lifting, and looting used to take place in the past. However, such incidents are taking place even in the urban areas these days.

In the light of these new developments, community security committees have been constituted and people are keeping a watch by turn. An environment has been created in which these committees can also receive the services from the police as they may stand in need of such services, he informed.

Dacoits had shot dead a businessman of Ramnagar BhutahaVDC-6, Gauri Shankar Gupta, last week. They had also wounded a resident of Khanar VDC-4, Raj Kumar Saha, with a sharp weapon and looted Rs 40,000 and ten tolas of gold from his shop the same night.

On Sunday last, they entered the house of Idris Miya of Bhokraha VDC-2 and inflicted bullet injuries to him.

Various houses in Itahari, Hansposa, and Bhadgaon Sinawari VDCs were looted towards the middle of this month.

Sunsari and Morang districts have been well known as the areas with high rate of crimes, mainly because of the open border with India.

Consequently, the Police Ilaka offices, posts and temporary police posts which were vacated after the increase in Maoist activities have again been reactivated and police activities increased in these areas, according to police.

Woman murderer still at large

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MAHOTTARI, Sept 29 - Police have not been able to arrest the people involved in murdering an old woman on the charge that she was a witch, even four days after the incident.

Malechhiya Devi Yadav, 61, had died one day after she was fed human excreta and beaten up on Tuesday alleging that she was a witch and that she had killed a two-and-half-year old child who was one of her relatives.

Chief District Officer Laxmi Prasad Bhattarai said police were actively engaged in tracing the culprits.

Deputy Speaker Chitra Lekha Yadav has already given a strong ruling to the government at the Parliament to inform the Parliament about the incident in its next meeting.

A police team led by the CDO has reached Bela Ekdara, the site of the incident on Saturday. The CDO claimed that their security network had been activated and he hoped the culprits would be arrested soon.

Sixth convention of BDATA opened

NEPALGUNJ, Sept 29 (RSS) - Chief District Officer Balkrishna Prasain opened the Sixth District Convention of Banke District Anti-Tuberculosis Association (BDATA) of Nepal here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion CDO Prasain said that the cooperation of everyone is necessary to reduce tuberculosis in the country.

Director of International Nepal Fellowship (INF) Dr. Allison Craven said that the number of tuberculosis patients was increasing as a result of lack of awareness and poverty.

Chairman of Begeswori VDC Rudra Bahadur Srish, President of the Nepal Cancer Relief Society Kanaiyajal Tandon, Chairman of Bheri Zonal Hospital Development Committee Dr. Keshav Raj Sharma and vice-president of the district Anti-Tuberculosis Association Purnalal Chuke threw light on the activities of the association.

Joint Secretary of the District Association Rana Prasad Rana presented the annual report of the fiscal year 2057/58 and treasurer Shanti Shrestha presented the annual programme and budget for the fiscal year 2058/59.

Speaking from the chair Madhuri Ale, president of the District Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Nepal, said that the tuberculosis patients were being provided medical services with the cooperation of INF through seven DOTS centres and 32 sub-DOTS centres in Banke district.

On the occasion, the Chief District Officer also gave away life-membership certificates and logos of the association to nine life members.

Snail paced road construction worries locals

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TEHRATHUM (Myanglung), Sept 29 - Passengers as well as drivers have been experiencing a great difficulty to travel on the muddy Hile-Basantapur Tehrathum road.

They fear that accidents may occur any time and they are in constant fear of losing their lives on this muddy road during the rainy season. As the condition of the road is very bad, even light vehicles find it difficult to pass through this muddy road between Hile and Tehrathum.

Hile-Basantpur section of the road was built 22 years ago but it has not been black-topped as yet. The same question has been vexing the mind of all the passengers from Tehrathum, Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung and Dhankuta districts who travel on this road, "When will the miserable plight of this road be over?"

The Division Office of Roads carries out the construction works of the road hurriedly at the start of the rainy season with the annual budget ranging from 10 to 30 million rupees. They have to finish the budget at the end of the fiscal year and the result is that the work thus carried out is of poor quality, employees of the division admit.

An employee of the Roads Division said on condition of anonymity that the budget is received late after fulfilling necessary formalities.

The contract to build the road is received by powerful people patronised by the political parties and leaders and the works carried out by them in a haphazard manner should be approved under pressure. That is the reason why this road has proved very costly and slow. It may still take a long time to complete the road.

According to the detailed estimates of 26 kilometre long Basantpur- Myanglung sector of the road, the total cost needed to construct this sector was Rs 180 million, but Rs 150 million has already been spent on the road and yet even light vehicles cannot move easily along the road.

A journalist Bhagawan Man Shrestha said there had been no improvement in the road although Rs 30 million was spent to repair it in the last fiscal year. In all, Rs 20 million has been earmarked for the current fiscal year, but it is hard to expect that the road will be fit for vehicle at the end of the current fiscal year, he added.

Hile-Basantpur sector of the road is also very risky to drive vehicles on it. Vehicles take three hours to cover the 32 kilometre long road although it should not take more than an hour for vehicles on normal roads. Vehicles take five hours to cover the 26-kilometre-long Basantpur-Myanglung section which even pedestrians complete in four hours.

Myanglung road has become a means for earning money. All contractors should be removed and youths should be employed to construct the road if it is to be completed soon. Otherwise, the dream of people of Tehrathum to travel by bus will not be realised even after 50 years, a resident of Athrai, Mohan Ghimire, said.

Transportation stalled in Biratnagar

BIRATNAGAR, Sept 29 (RSS) - Transportation has not been operated from September 26 until Friday, as angry groups obstructed the road after two students were killed in a road accident at Khorsanechok at Indrapur VDC in Morang district along the East-West Highway.

Even ambulances and motorcycles have been obstructed and vehicles bound for east are queuing from Belbari to Laxmimarg and west bound buses from Salakpur to Biratchok. Some vehicles go to Laxmimarg via a canal south of Biratchok and some returned from midway.

As thousands of passengers have been stranded, the road was opened from 6:00 evening on September 27 to 28 morning 7:00 and is again closed, Indrapur VDC chairman Chandra Kumar Gurung said.

A 41-member struggle committee has been formed with representatives from 12 schools and local residents of the VDCs including Dulari, Belbari, Sundarpur and Mirgouliya VDCs with VDC chairman Gurung as convenor for proper compensation to the family of the deceased and action to the drivers. The talks to find a solution could not be held after no transport sector representatives were present in the meeting with the CDO, the SP and was postponed until today.