KATHMANDU: Visiting German parliamentary delegation paid a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari today at the President’s Office, Shital Niwas.
During the meeting, the two sides held talks on relations between Nepal and Germany, and matters of mutual interest.
High-level government officials, and German Ambassador to Nepal, Roland Schafer were present on the occasion, according to the Office of the President.
India’s Gurgaon city is the world’s most polluted city, according to a data released by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace. The non-profit organization report says India has 15 out of the 20 cities with worst pollution.
Likewise, Nepal’s capital Kathmandu is at number 99 on the pollution chart, according to the report.
The report says out of the 10 cities with highest pollution, seven are in India. Similarly, one city is in China and two are in Pakistan.
The Indian cities include Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, Bhiwadi, Lucknow and Patna. The other three most polluted cities are Hotan in China and Lahore and Faislabad in Pakistan. Likewise, India’s capital Delhi is at number 11 on the chart.
According to experts, exposure to PM2.5 pollution increases the risk of stroke, lung cancer, heart attack or respiratory diseases.
According to the report, based on a study of 3000 cities, 64 percent of the cities exceeded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual exposure guideline for PM2.5. (Agencies)
KATHMANDU: The House of Representatives (HoR) on Tuesday endorsed a condolence proposal on the demise of former minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari.
Late Adhikari was elected to the parliament three times through the first-past-the-post election system.
The parliament unanimously passed the condolence proposal presented by Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara today.
Adhikari, who also served as a Deputy Prime Minister and finance minister, was the member of the Constituent Assembly from the then CPN-UML party under the proportional representation quota.
He passed away while undergoing treatment at Dhumbarahi-based HAMS hospital in Kathmandu on March 2 at the age of 83.
The HoR will next meet at 1 pm on March 6.
TANAHUN: Two persons died when a jeep skidded off the road and fell some 30 meters down at Ghansikuwa of Byas municipality along the Prithivi Highway on Tuesday.
Police said 11 others have been injured in the accident. The jeep — Ga 1 Ja 2907 — was heading towards Damauli from Bandipur when it met with the accident.
Eyewitnesses said the accident occurred when one of the jeep’s tires burst thus causing imbalance. The deceased have been identified as jeep driver Nar Bahadur Gharti and Buddhi Bahadur Thapa, 65, of Bandipur.
Thapa died while undergoing treatment at the Damauli hospital, while Gharti at Pokhara-based Medical College, police informed.
KATHMANDU: Presidents of 56 districts on Tuesday morning warned of stringent protests if the Nepali Congress leadership did not comply with the Mahasamiti decisions in its letter and spirit.
The district presidents have accused the party leadership of violating the decisions taken by the Mahasamiti meeting.
The Mahasamiti meeting, the highest policy making body of the Nepali Congress, held from January 3 to January 23 in Kathmandu, had decided that a member of House of Representatives (HoR) should be elected from the lower level and that the lawmaker through proportional representation (PR) should not be elected twice.
The disgruntled presidents accused the Central Working Committee of violating the decisions taken by the Mahasamiti meeting.
Following are the district presidents from 56 districts taking part in protest:
Province 1
Province 2
Province 3
Province 4
Province 5
Province 6
Province 7
KATHMANDU: The Parliamentary Hearing Committee (PHC) on Tuesday approved the names of the proposed chairpersons of four commissions.
A meeting of the PHC unanimously approved names for the Chairpersons of four commissions, including the National Inclusive Commission, National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, Madhesi Commission, and the Tharu Commission, PHC Chairperson Laxman Lal Karna informed.
It should be noted that the Constitutional Council (CC) had earlier recommended Shantaraj Subedi, former Secretary, as chair of National Inclusive Commission; Balananda Poudel as the chair of National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, Dr Bijay Kumar Dutta as chair of the Madhesi Commission and Bishnu Prasad Chaudhary as chair of Tharu Commission.
However, lawmakers of Nepali Congress, the main opposition in the PHC, abstained from today’s meeting expressing dissatisfaction over the CC’s decision of recommending the names.
POKHARA: In yet another paragliding accident in the past one week, a Russian national died after falling down from a paraglide in Pokhara today.
The name of the deceased is yet to be ascertained, police said.
The Russian tourist fell on the ground moments after he took off from Sarankot in Pokhara. He died in the course of treatment at the Metro City Hospital in Pokhara, according to police.
On Sunday, a Romanian national was killed in a similar accident.
KATHMANDU: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is to construct toilets at 69 places in Kathmandu.
According to the KMC Public-Private Partnership Unit chief, Dhruba Kafle, the public toilets would be constructed at crowded places.
Kafle said the KMC has so far identified places, near the Thapathali bus stop, Nepal Art Council at Babarmahal, Kalanki Metro Hall, Baneshwor temple, Koteshwar Chowk, National Trading Limited at Teku, Sitapaila bus stop, Balaju, and Machhapokhari areas.
Likewise, the toilets will also be constructed at Tinkune, Gaushala, Tripureshwor, Sundhara, NAC, Jamal, Hanumandhoka, Sohrakhutte, Lainchaur, Balkhu and Kuleshwar in the first phase.
These areas have been identified by a task force formed on January 20.
KMC said, around fifty-eight public toilets are in operation in Kathmandu, out of which, only 28 are usable.
MYANGLUNG: A teenage girl has died after a fire broke out in a house at Hamarjung of Chhathar Rural Municipality-2 in the district on Tuesday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Samjhana, daughter of Rammya, a local, who was charred to death in the house when it caught fire, said Narayan Gautam, spokesperson of District Police Office, Tehrathum.
Seriously injured Rammaya has been rushed to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan after preliminary treatment at a local health post.
The cause of fire is yet to be investigated. The fire destroyed property worth Rs 1 million, police said.
KATHMANDU: Nepal ranks 45th in the mobile data pricing among 230 countries across the globe. According to a survey recently carried out by price comparison site cable.co.uk, Nepal has cheaper mobile data pricing compared to US, UK including other European nations.
The cheapest mobile data is available in India with US $0.26 per GB followed by Nepal with US $2.25 per GB. The cheapest price of mobile data in Nepal is US $0.32 (Rs 37.03) per GB while the dearest price is US $6.43 (Rs 734.50).
The survey of average mobile data price in Nepal was based on 27 different data package schemes provided by telecom companies. The sample data had been collected on November 15, 2018.
Similarly, south Asian countries Sri Lanka and Bhutan have cheaper data price than Nepal. Sri Lanka stands in 7th position with US $0.78 per GB while the cost of average mobile data is US $1.25 per GB in Bhutan (18th).
Likewise, the UK ranks 136th in the list with an average data price per GB $8.53. The USA ranks 182nd with an average data price $12.37 per GB.
Asian nations make up a half of the top 20 cheapest countries, with only Taiwan, China and South Korea charging more than the global average. The research looked at SIM-only deals and included a range of packages from all the providers in each country.
Top five nations (average global price per GB):
Last five nations ( average global price per GB):