KATHMANDU/ A passenger was injured after a petrol bomb was hurled inside a passenger bus at Balaju, Kathmandu on Tuesday.

One Shiva Bajgain, 45, of Dhapakhel, was injured when two persons hurled a petrol bomb in the bus (Ba 2 Kha 9558) operating along the Ring-road.The bus was heading towards Airport from Balaju. According to the police, an alcohol bottle was used to prepare the petrol bomb .

Bajgain sustained injuries in his forehead. The police have arrested two as per their facial description and have started the investigation.

KATHMANDU/ As the country braces for the Constituent Assembly elections, the National Human Rights Commission  ( NHRC ) and Unicef Nepal have expressed concerns over potential misuse, manipulation and engagement of children by political parties in pre- and post- election campaign s.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the constitutional human rights body and the inter-governmental organisation mandated to promote and protect children's rights have reiterated and reminded all actors, particularly political parties and state structures in charge of elections, about general principles relating to child protection and children's involvement in political activities, as stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.

The convention, to which Nepal is a signatory, as well as the Election Code of Conduct specifically prohibits use of children in any procession, rally, mass meeting, election campaign or any election related activities.

"We would like to remind all stakeholders about their obligations not to use schools and school premises for any political purpose, to ensure that children are not misused for political purposes by any party, as well as to ensure that schools remain as zones of peace as jointly declared by the political parties," read the statement.

The NHRC and Unicef have urged all parties to respect the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, and other international norms and national standards including the Election Code of Conduct. They have also called on the parties to take all necessary measures to avoid exposing boys and girls under the age of 18 to political activities, including ongoing and planned bandas.
by : ekantipur

In this connection, general-secretary of Federation of Photo Journalists of Nepal and Editor at Setimadi Daily Tanahun Dambar Adhikari has reached the United Kingdom with a campaign 'Byas was born in Damauli' so as to bring Tanahun district headquarters Damauli to light across the world. 

The campaign is to highlight Bed Byas's birthplace Damauli, Madi Seti meeting point, Byas cave and the Panchayan temple and various sites related to Byas and their religious importance. 

Of late, journalist Adhikari shared before a wide gathering about the campaign organized in Queens Avenue Sports Ground in the UK. 

Earlier too, journalist Adhikari had exhibited photos on Bed Byas in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Damauli to bring into limelight the birthplace of Bed Byas. RSS

KATHMANDU : Chairman of the Interim Election Council, Khil Raj Regmi, and Chairman of the Unified CPN (Maoist), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, held talks at the Prime Minister's residence, Baluwatar, today.

During the meeting they held talks on different issues regarding the election process and latest political situation, said IEC Chairman Regmi's Press Advisor, Rajendra Pandey.

They discussed the efforts being made to forge consensus regarding the contents of the ordinance related to the election proposed by the Election Commission for the purpose of the Constituent Assembly (CA) election and fixing the date of the upcoming CA election at the earliest.

It is said they had an exchange of views also on the works the government and the political parties needed to do for ensuring an environment for the election.

Working as a newspaper reporter was a dream job for Rochelle Gilken, but that changed as the years passed and the industry shifted gears. "The pay left a lot to be desired, and the stress - oh boy! I have two kids, and I have to say that I couldn't balance home and work and be happy due to the stress," says Gilken, who spent six years as a crime reporter for the Palm Beach Post.

Of course, low pay and high stress are part of a reporter's job description, but other changes led to Gilken's decision to change industries. "I had aspirations to get bigger and better newspaper jobs, but the opportunity to climb the ladder disappeared as newspapers cut back, which was very discouraging," says Gilken. "I always wanted to travel to cover the big stories, like the Olympics, but the money to allow for that just wasn't there and wasn't coming back," she says.

Ever-shrinking newsrooms, dwindling budgets and competition from Internet businesses have created very difficult conditions for newspaper reporters, which has been ranked as this year's worst job, according to the CareerCast.com Jobs Rated report.

Consumers can access online news outlets almost anywhere thanks to technological advancements, which are threatening the existence of traditional print newspapers. As a result, the number of reporter jobs is projected to fall 6% by 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), while average pay is expected to continue its decline.

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And for those still employed as reporters, the job's demands are all-consuming.

"I covered crime, so when breaking news happened, I had to be there. And when editors called at night with questions, I had to take the calls," says Gilken. She adds that while many reporters feed off the stress, once they have families, the stress takes a toll. Gilken now works in media relations for the Florida Water Management District in West Palm Beach, and says the hours and stability are welcome. "They're very supportive of their employees to have a work/life balance, which reporters really never have."

Social media marketer Paul Gillin founded NewspaperDeathWatch.com in 2007 when the newspaper industry was at a peak. The website tracks newspaper closures and cutbacks around the U.S.

“We didn’t see newspapers respond [to consumer changes] at all,” says Gillin. “I saw that once [the decline] hit, it would hit very hard and very quickly.”

The Newspaper Association of America, via the Pew Research Center, estimates that the industry earned approximately $49.2 billion in 2006. By 2011, that total had dropped by well over half to $23.9 billion taking many jobs with it, including thousands of newspaper reporter positions.

Editor & Publisher reports a steady decline in the number of daily newspapers since 1985, when there were 1,730 in circulation. The industry held steady near 1,450 in the mid-2000s, but closures in the latter half of the decade left the nation with a low of 1,382 dailies.

Some prominent dailies migrated to online models, such as, The Ann Arbor (Mich.) News, which publishes twice weekly. The New Orleans Times-Picayune transitioned to a three-times-weekly newspaper in 2012. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer became online-exclusive in 2009.

Of course, newspaper reporters have fared poorly in the Jobs Rated report for years due to the job's high stress and tight deadlines, low pay and requirement to work in all conditions to get the story. But journalism is not a dying art, nor is reporting a profession without prospects. Rethinking the industry has made reporters adapt.

Gillin says online reporters – a different job from the newspaper reporter as ranked via Jobs Rated – have better prospects, but unfortunately that profession provides a lower wage and the requirement to produce more content at a much faster rate, which increases stress.

Door-to-Door Bad Jobs

Technological advancements negatively impacted other careers ranked as the worst jobs of 2013. Among them are meter reader and mail carrier. Meter reader is one of the most rapidly shrinking career fields, expected to decline by more than 10% in the next few years. In the utilities industry, power companies are increasingly implementing remote readers, which digitally transmit electrical usage from the consumer’s residence to the provider’s database.

Mail carriers are expected to fare even worse. With consumers relying heavily on email and text messaging, the traditional form of snail mail communication is dwindling. As such, the BLS reports that the number of mail carrier jobs will fall by 26% in the coming years. The government’s plan to cease post office operations on Saturdays isn't helping.

A much different career path ranks second overall in the worst jobs of 2013: lumberjack, one of the most dangerous professions in the entire labor market. Sixty-four lumberjacks reportedly died from work-related injuries in 2011. Having to work with heavy, dangerous machinery contributes to lumberjack fatalities, as does the typically isolated locations in which lumberjacks work.

Distance from hospitals also poses a major risk. The same is true for oil rig worker, another job ranked among the worst jobs of 2013, where physical danger and injury are constant threats.

The complete list of the 10 worst jobs this year:

KATHMANDU : The Kathmandu Valley Coordination Committee of the CPN-UML has started preparations for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) elections from today.

The committee is organizing an extensive cadres' meeting of Kathmandu Valley today under the campaign. The meeting was called to exert pressure to declare date for the CA election and to demonstrate unity among the party leaders and encourage the party cadres morally, said Secretary of the committee, Sanu Kumar Shrestha.

The UML would mobilize the party cadres raising the issues of public concern in the election campaign by learning lesson from the party's defeat in the previous CA election, said Secretary Shrestha.

UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary Ishwor Pokhrel, and Secretary Yubaraj Gyawali, among others, are scheduled to address the programme. RSS

LAHAN : The Sagarmatha Zonal Ambulance Drivers' Association has shutdown ambulance services in Siraha district today to protest the manhandling of ambulance driver, demanding action against the guilty.

Around two dozen ambulances have been stopped at the main gate of the Ward Police Office, Lahan, at the call of the Association. Chairman of the Association, Shrawan Mandal, said that the ambulances would be parked in front of the Office unless action against the guilty is taken.

Devnath Saha of Lahan-6 thrashed Ram Dayal Chaudhary, driver of the ambulance Sa 1 Cha 656 of Sukhipur sub-branch of Nepal Red Cross Society at Lahan-based Saptarishi Hospital Thursday night.

Chaudhary received injuries on his left hand in the incident.Chaudhary said that Saha thrashed him soon after reaching the hospital after bringing Nilam Saha of Tulsipur-1 to the hospital at 11:30 pm.

Ambulance drivers also halted traffic along the East-West Highway for around one hour from 6:00 am this morning demanding action against the guilty and compensation. Ambulance drivers have stopped ambulances in front of the Ward Police Office after police assured them to make public Saha in Lahan by 10:00 am this morning as they have already arrested him.

Patients have been hit hard due to the disruption of ambulance services, said Chief of the Saptarishi Hospital, Dr. Pashupati Chaudhary. News & Photo : RSS