KATHMANDU: Coliform bacteria has been found in bottled drinking water sold under various brands, Gorkhapatra daily reported. Coliform is the bacteria found in excreta.
The Department of food, technology and quality control found such bacteria in the sample testing of 33 different brands of bottled drinking water.
Of the total sample tested, coliform was fond in nine different companies, 18 companies found selling water of low quality while six companies found supplying water without complying with the set standards.
CHITWAN: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Upendra Yadav on Sunday said government and private hospitals should collaborate with each other.
Inaugurating the ‘Test Tube Baby Centre’ established by Chitwan Medical College here, Minister Yadav said both private and government hospitals should provide quality health service.
He maintained that the health policy to be introduced by the government has made efforts to take government and private hospitals together.
He also stated that the government has been endeavoring to provide free basic health service to the people.
DHARAN: President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday inaugurated the newly constructed Shri Krishna Pranami Temple Muktidham at Itahari, Sunsari.
She said that the temple constructed has increased religious importance of the region and the country.
President Bhandari also instructed the state government to carry out activities by making a special plan for religious and cultural development of the region.
The temple has been constructed at a cost of around Rs 70 million.
KATHMANDU: Meteorological Forecasting Division has said the weather across the country, including Kathmandu, will gradually improve from Monday.
The weather throughout the country had remained affected for the past few days due to what the Division said ‘impact of the Westerly and local winds’.
The Division said it is likely to a couple of days for the central and eastern regions to see the improvement
The country saw a cumulative impact of the Westerly winds in the past few days, also due to the creation of a low-pressure line in the eastern region.
According to the Division, brief thundershowers are likely to occur in a few places of the western part tonight.
Likewise, there is a possibility of wind and storm in some places of the eastern Terai in the next 24 hours.
Election fever has gripped the world’s largest democracy, ending the first inning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even as Modi has pitched to get re-elected, observers opine that the battle is likely to be tough for him because he will be battling the main opposition Congress and a horde of regional parties.
Despite Modi’s resilient nationalism, he seems not very confident this time as in 2014. And, the general impression is that India’s votes are not easy to predict. Or perhaps, it could be a mug’s game. This means that Modi’s party faces immense pressure this time. The BJP is still India’s favorite but questions remain.
Consider this: The unexpected defeats faced by the BJP in the key state-level elections and the opposition Congress getting majorities in several states have given been a setback for Modi.
However, India retaliatory attack on Pakistan has helped Modi bolster his strongman and nationalistic image though opposition parties, especially the Congress, has alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of failing to deliver as promised. Opposition parties of every hue say inflation has risen steeply, corruption has been unbridled, joblessness has risen, poverty level has gone up, and some state banks drowning in bad loans, among others.
Consider this: The unexpected defeats faced by the BJP in the key state-level elections and the opposition Congress getting majorities in several states have given been a setback for Modi.
Other factors that could possibly spell trouble for him is the declining confidence in the country’s economy, and the ‘aggressive approach’ of the Congress teaming up with other opposition parties to take on Modi’s party – the BJP, although alliances in India are considered ‘messy’. The AAP-Congress alliance in New Delhi can be a snag for BJP in New Delhi.
Even as polls suggest that Gandhi with his voluble speech has been successful to narrow the gap, Modi still remains popular though he failed to deliver on his promises to create over 10 million jobs annually – a Herculean task, among others.
This, however, is not the dipstick since polls have suggested that BJP’s coalition, albeit with a shrunken majority, is likely to retain power. Modi, 68, who is still considered as a diligent and dedicated leader in wide swathes of India, came to power in 2014 with an absolute majority after crushing the 48-year-old Rahul Gandhi, whom a significant number of Indians call him a young, visionary and energetic leader – the Gandhi scion.
Rahul is the son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of former PM Indira Gandhi and the great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister while Modi comes from a common family.
Even as polls suggest that Gandhi with his voluble speech has been successful to narrow the gap, Modi still remains popular though he failed to deliver on his promises to create over 10 million jobs annually – a Herculean task, among others.
Three states in India– Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar — are considered crucial this time.
Despite this, Modi’s party still controls 17 out of 29 states, including Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. However, the Congress and other opposition parties have alleged him of turning a blind eye on instances of attacks on religious minorities.
One aspect that Indian voters could consider is the BJP government’s — what has been dubbed as “tactful and befitting” — response to the terrorist attack in Kashmir on February 14 for which Modi received a boost for his rigid stance on Pakistan.
Around 900 million voters, above 18, will be queuing up at more than a million polling stations beginning April 11 to May 19 to elect 543 representatives to the Lok Sabha, the country’s lower house of the parliament. Around 2,300 parties will be in the fray across India’s 543 constituencies in 29 states and 7 union territories in the elections to be held in seven stages.
Whatever the analysis might be, all eyes are on May 23 when the votes would be counted.
Some facts:
In India, (from 1951), no party has won 50 percent vote share in the elections.
Till 1984, Congress has more than 40 percent vote share.
In 1984, Congress got 48 percent vote share when Rajiv Gandhi was elected the Prime Minister after his mother and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
Congress vote share declined below 20 percent in 2014.
BJP’s vote share reached over 30 percent in 2014.
KATHMANDU: HIV-infected Gopal Shrestha, 56, is set to scale the Mt. Everest with an aim to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, and to set a record to be the first Nepali living with the disease to conquer the top of the world.
“In fact, I also want to give the message that a HIV-infected person is equally strong enough to reach atop the Everest,” he said.
Shrestha, who hails from Pokhara-7, will leave for the Everest on April 12 along with Guinness Record-holder mountaineer Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, who is leading the team.
“I want to conquer the world’s highest peak with the determination that people living with HIV too are physically and mentally strong enough for any difficult tasks,” Shrestha told Khabarhub.
Shrestha, who contracted the disease through syringe injection some 25 years ago, said he lost all his hopes when the doctor told him that he would survive only for a couple of months.
“Look at me, I am still active and kicking after 25 years,” he quipped.
This is Shrestha’s second attempt to climb Mt. Everest. Earlier in 2015, he made a failed attempt after an avalanche on the Everest due to the devastating earthquake. He was injured then.
This season, he is climbing the Mt. Everest as a Step-up Campaign 2. The campaign has raised Rs 3 million rupees so far while he hopes of raising the rest of the amount in the next few days. According to him, he needs Rs. 4.35 million altogether.
Shrestha, in fact, has successfully climbed Thorong La Pass (5417m) in 2013, Island Peak (6189m) in 2014, and Virgin Peak /Khang Karpo (6646m) in 2016.
Shrestha, who is one among the 31,020 HIV-infected persons in the country, said though he took a ‘bold step forward’ to expose himself as HIV-infected, he could not change the people’s mindset and behavior. “People still hesitate to come close to the HIV-infected persons.”
He said he wanted to convey a clear and loud message that people living with HIV/AIDS are never physically weak. “It’s the determination and will-power all we need,” he told Khabarhub.
In fact, initially, his family did not permit him to take the risk. “My family members treated me like a sick person, which is a wrong notion.”
According to the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control, some 31020 people are infected from the HIV virus in Nepal whereas, some 16, 428 are taking regular treatment.
He expressed the optimism that he would be able to set a record in the Nepali New Year 2076 as “New Year, New landmark and New Record”.
POKHARA: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa defended his ministry’s move of providing citizenship by descent saying that it was in line with the court verdict and the constitution.
Speaking at a program in Pokhara today, Home Minister Thapa said the government made the decision as scores of children of those people with citizenship by birth were deprived of citizenship.
He said the constitution has guaranteed citizenship to such children adding that the circular was issued by his ministry as an effort to address such problems immediately since there was no parliament session though the bill to amend the citizenship act was under the parliamentary discussion.
He urged one and all not to doubt on the government’s move. He further went on to add that the State Police Bill was under the discussion and the Parliament’s next session would probably pass it.
KATHMANDU: Bhikkhu Ashwaghosh, Sanghanayaka of Theravada Buddhism Bhikkhu Federation will be cremated with special national honors.
A meeting of Cabinet on Sunday decided to cremate the deceased with national honors.
Ashwaghosh passed away at the age of 94 years on Friday. He was suffering from kidney, heart and liver problems and from pneumonia and high blood pressure. He breathed his last while receiving treatment at the Dhapasi-based Grande International Hospital.
KATHMANDU: The Red Cross Society of China provided USD 50,000 to the storm-affected families in Bara and Parsa districts.
Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi handed over the amount to Prime Minister K P Oli on behalf of Red Cross Society of China on Saturday, a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu said today.
During the meeting with PM Oli, Chinese Ambassador Hou said China has paid close attention to the disaster.
She also said that Ambassador Hou extended condolences to the deceased, and expressed sympathies to families of those injured.
According to the statement, she said the Chinese people will stand by the Nepali people, and would also like to provide assistance to the post-disaster reconstruction within capacity, and cooperate in disaster prevention, and reduction with the Nepali side.
LONDON: Sleep disorder is related to genetics, new research has found. A new study has found several parts of our genetic code that could be responsible for poor sleep, IANS reported.
There as many as 47 links between our genetic code and the quality and the quantity of sleep, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University of Exeter found.