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Food Poison: Pesticide residues found in vegetables

 Nearly 14 percent of the vegetables that are currently supplied to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market have been found with a high level of pesticide s residue making them unfit for consumption, the Plant Protection Directorate said on Thursday. 
The Rapid Pesticides Residue Analysis found out that 26 of the 187 vegetable samples contained harmful chemicals responsible for slowing down the enzymatic activity inside human blood. These vegetables were supplied to the market between June 18 and July 15. Among the 36 different crops, including potato, cauliflower, chilli and capsicum, the ones grown in Kavre, Bhaktapur, Dhading and Kathmandu contained high organophosphate and carbamate pesticide s residue.
The samples considered unfit for consumption contained the enzyme inhibition rate above 45 percent, enough to slow down or stop secretion of Acetyl Chlorine Esterase which is essential for normal functioning of the nervous system, said Dilli Ram Sharma, programme director at the directorate. Six other samples contained inhibition rate between 35 and 45 percent, which experts said could be consumed after quarantining them for three to four days.  The remaining 155 samples had the inhibition rate below 35 percent thus fit for consumption. Samples of some vegetables imported form India also had traces of pesticide s.
“The situation, however, is not as serious as perceived by the public. But we still need to control the entry of vegetables and fruits from the farmers who use chemical fertilisers on a large scale,” Sharma said.
He added that the supply of vegetables with high pesticide content has decreased since the directorate started its monitoring on June 18. 
The directorate plans to launch a campaign to destroy the produces with high pesticide content from Friday. It is also preparing to take stringent actions against the farmers using harmful pesticide s. 
Of the 350 metric tons of pesticide s imported in the last fiscal year, around 80 percent were used in vegetables farming. Pesticides were first introduced in the country in 1950s for malaria eradication.

Photo Shoot

 

A motorbike rider negotiates his way through a muddy road at Balkumari in Lalitpur on Wednesday. - See more at: http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-07-09/1975/21970#sthash.DxV2Zv3d.dpuf

A motorbike rider negotiates his way through a muddy road at Balkumari in Lalitpur on Wednesday. - See more at: http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-07-09/1975/21970#sthash.DxV2Zv3d.dpuf

A motorbike rider negotiates his way through a muddy road at Lalitpur on Wednesday after the rain stopped falling.

Villagers ostracise rape victim widow

A widow of Dhola VDC-2 in the district, who was reportedly raped by her relative seven months ago, has allegedly been ostracised by local people for her refusal to withdraw the case from the district court.
The victim said local people have been pressing her to withdraw the case.
“Villagers do not talk to me and bar me from participating in any social functions and festivals ever since I filed the case,” she said, adding that villagers did not even attend the funeral of her mother-in-law on Wednesday as per alleged direction of local residents Balaram Simkhada and Man Bahadur Simkhada.
The woman, who was working as an office assistant at local Baljyoti Primary School for the past six years on contract basis, said she was fired from the job in a bid to force her to withdraw the case.
She said local Sandip Simkhada, 24, raped her. Sandip is absconding.
She said she was forced to enroll her children in another school due to the incident and that local priest also refused to perform after-death ritual of her mother-in-law. “Only a few villagers speak in my favour. Some local people are pressing me to settle the case in the local level,”
she said. A local resident said they cannot speak in favour of a single woman at a time when the entire village is against her. Women rights activist Radhika Sapkota said the society has mistreated the woman. She accused police of not taking action against the guilty.
VAW victim deprived of treatment

BANKE
A 25-year-old woman of Chisapani in the district, who was allegedly thrashed by her husband and admitted to a Nepalgunj-based hospital, has been deprived of treatment as she was taken away by her family members saying that she will be treated at home.
Binita Budha was admitted to Western Hospital on Friday evening as she
sustained serious injuries in her fingers and has bruises around her body after being thrashed by her husband Ganesh. Her family members, however, took her away from the hospital at night as the incident was reported to police.
Police said Ganesh is a Nepal Army soldier but it is still not clear where has been posted. “The victim’s fingers look as if they were crushed. She also said she wanted to go to her maternal house in Mugu,” said Head Constable Netra KC, who reached the hospital to inquire her about the incident. He said the family members took her away soon after he visited her at the hospital.
According to the hospital employees, the family members asked them to discharge her saying that they would provide her treatment at home.
A group of women rights activists reached the hospital on Saturday to visit the victim but she was not there. They claimed that the victim of domestic violence was deprived of treatment.
Police said they are searching for the accused.

71-year-old widow raped

A 71-year-old widow has allegedly been raped at Butwal-9 in the district. Police said the woman is under the care of the Women Rehabilitation Centre, an NGO, after undergoing
treatment at Lumbini Zonal Hospital.
According to the victim, 33-year-old Kul Bahadur Pariyar, a local rikshaw puller,
raped her under influence of alcohol. She said Pariyar, a permanent resident of
Palpa, came to her house on Tuesday morning and raped her after tying her both hands.
Police said they arrested Pariyar and filed a case against him in the court.
Meanwhile, in Sankhuwa-sabha, police arrested 51-year-old Dawa Sherpa on rape charge from Mamling-7 in the district. Sherpa allegedly raped a woman while she was working on her farmland on Tuesday.

‘Living martyr’ Mukesh will not walk again: Doc

Duncan Maru, a research faculty at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Teaching Hospital of Harvard University, said that Mukesh Kayastha would never walk again but was receiving the optimal rehabilitation in the form of parental care and love at his own home.
Kayastha was only 14 when a shot fired during the second Jana Andolan in 2006 left him immobile and speechless.
After talking to his parents and examining medical reports, Maru gently told the guardians on Sunday that the doctors in Nepal had done their best to contain the brain injury and that there was nothing medical science could do to fix the loss of the brain tissue.
The bullet destroyed around one-third of Kayastha’s brain in the left hemisphere. The remaining brain mass suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid collects in the brain cavities, impairing neurological functions. A metal shunt placed in Kayastha’s head drains the excess fluid to his stomach.   
“At this point there is no cure for the brain loss Mukesh has suffered. He will never walk and talk again,” said Maru, also a physician at Boston’s Children Hospital.
Kayastha’s lower limbs show muscle spasticity and clonus, a neurological condition characterised by stiffness and involuntary contractions. Kayastha’s foot when pushed upwards beats rapidly, suggesting an irreversible damage to motor neurons.
Addressing Kayastha family’s long-held wish of seeing their son examined abroad, Maru warned that a trip abroad could do more harm and create complications in the patient’s health. The main threats to Kayastha’s life right now are overwhelming complications resulting from chest and urinary infections.
“An arduous journey by plane, the low-pressured cabins, the new hospital environment and its own microorganisms and a lot of poking and probing for tests could easily exacerbate Mukesh’s condition,” said Maru.
As for rehabilitation, Maru was impressed by Mukesh’s present physical condition: no bed sores, well-nourished, and healthy skin.
“A patient like Mukesh does not receive as good of a care even in the US. Instead of flying him abroad for comprehensive rehabilitation, it is better for Mukesh to remain in his family environment. All this love and care is what is keeping him alive,” said Maru.
Mira Kayastha, Mukesh’s mother, although shattered by the prognosis that her son would never walk again, was relieved to know that the care she provided was optimal and that there was no need to take Mukesh abroad.
The American physician stressed that Mukesh be treated as someone normal with consciousness and if possible, the parents should take him out on his wheelchair for short trips. Maru also suggested weekly visit from a physiotherapist and regular follow-ups with a neurosurgeon. 
“We would love to take him outside for fresh air, but there are no open spaces here. We wish the government would build a small house with a park for Mukesh. We’ve already purchased land in his name with the fund the state gave him,” said Mira.

Rhino killed in Chitwan sanctuary

Barely a few weeks after Nepal marked the second consecutive ‘ Zero Poaching Year ’, a rare one-horned rhino has been found dead in the Chitwan National Park (CNP), apparently killed by wildlife smugglers.
The poachers killed the rhino in the proposed Dobhan Buffer Zone Community Forest in Jagatpur VDC in the district on Friday night. The CNP officials and Nepal Army  personnel found the dead rhino with its horns severed on Saturday morning.
According to Tikaram Poudel, the CNP spokesman  and assistant conservation officer, the rhino was an adult male, approximately aged 25. He said the park officials and the NA personnel at Dhurba Post had heard gunshots on Friday night. A team of park officials and the security personnel, who were mobilised to scour the area, found the dead rhino the next morning.
The smugglers used a sharp weapon to sever the horn, the CPN stated, adding that a .303 rifle bullet was found between the eyes and ears of the rhino during autopsy, confirming its killing. The CNP also stated that they had found five used .303 bullet shells 250 metres from the site.
The CNP said that they had stepped up the manhunt and deployed personnel from the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, NA personnel posted at the park, together with a team of park officials to arrest the poachers.
It is speculated that the smugglers exploited the security situation as the incident happened merely a week after the transfer of NA personnel from Nandabaks Battalion who were in charge of park security.
Even on previous occasions, smugglers would be found active during a change of guard or transfer of NA battalions at the park. Although armymen and park officials were deployed round the clock, the smugglers succeeded in their goal. A week ago, the park had bade farewell to Nandabaks Battalion Chief Chakra Bahadur Shah, who had played a crucial role in helping the CNP achieve two successive ‘ Zero Poaching Year ’. During the farewell programme Shah had asked the park officials to stay alert as the smugglers could take advantage of the situation.
The CNP had celebrated ‘ Zero Poaching Year ’ for the second consecutive year and nature conservationists were overwhelmed by the recent achievement.