KATHMANDU:  Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali has urged the Nepali diasporas to contribute for Nepal’s development. In an interaction program with the members of the Non-Resident Nepali Association and Overseas Nepalese Forum as well as Nepali community residing in Switzerland, he sought support from the Nepalis for the prosperity of the country.

On the occasion, the Foreign Minister discussed the long-term development vision of Nepal in physical infrastructure development, economic development and social development along with an inclusive agenda.

The Foreign Minister highlighted a number of measures taken by the government for creating investment-friendly environment in Nepal, including legislative reforms, one-stop service, projects bank and special economic zones, and called upon the Nepali professionals to contribute to Nepal’s development with their knowledge, technological know-how, and managerial skills for the the second Nepal Investment Summit to be held in Kathmandu on March 29-30, 2019.

He is scheduled to address the Council on the 26th of February. Minister Gyawali is currently in Geneva to participate in the 40th meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

DHADING: Two women died and another injured when a Bolero jeep knocked them down at Galchhi Rural Municipality of Dhading today, police said.

The vehicle ran over the three women when they were sitting nearby a local shop.

According to DSP Prakash Bista, the jeep bearing registration number Ba 20 Cha 6221 knocked down Jamuna Bhujel, 35, of Galchhi Rural Municipality-4 and Kanchhi Tamang, 46, of ward 5.

Bhujel died on the spot while Tamang died during the treatment.

Likewise, injured Dhan Kumari Tamang of Galchhi has been admitted to Patan Hospital for treatment. The driver is absconding, police said.

KATHMANDU: Nepal is taking on China in its fifth match under the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier being held at the Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok on Monday. The tournament will take place at 12:45 pm according to the Nepali time.

Given the performance in the ongoing matches, China is considered a strong team. China is in the third position in the points table with six points from three wins out of five matches while Nepal is in the fourth position with six points from three wins out of four matches. Host Thailand is atop the points table followed by UAE.

Earlier, Nepal had defeated Malaysia by 34 runs in its first match. Nepal faced a 47-run defeat from host Thailand in the second match. Similarly, it had beaten UAE by seven wickets in the third match and Hong Kong by four wickets in the fourth match.

A total of seven countries – Thailand, Nepal, China, Hong Kong, UAE, Malaysia, and Kuwait – are taking part in the Qualifier. Each team will play six matches.

The team which is atop the score table after playing with each other in the qualifier will be selected for the Global Qualifier.

This qualifier would determine the raking of participating countries.

Nepal will take on Kuwait on February 27 in the final match.

KATHMANDU: The Independent Transport Workers Association of Nepal (ITWAN) is mulling over to provide training to 48,000 drivers and their helpers of public vehicles with an objective of reducing the number of road accidents.

ITWAN is going to launch the campaign with the help of some trained drivers and their helpers.

Bhim Jwala Rai, ITWAN chairman said that it is important to provide training to the drivers as number of people dying in road accidents is on the rise.  “We will impart training to the drivers and assistant drivers of all provinces on road discipline and traffic rules which will help reduce road accidents,” he said.

The ITWAN has mobilized it’s all organizations across the nation for the campaign. The organization would paste stickers reading ‘I’m a responsible transport worker,’ ‘I do not use mobile phone while driving’ and ‘I follow traffic rules’ in all public vehicles under the campaign. Similarly, the ITWAN would organize health camp for transport workers, where they could undergo tests for blood pressure, diabetes, eyes and kidney, free of cost.

Basanta Panta, Chief of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division informed that around 2,500 to 3,000 people lose their lives in road accidents every year. Panta seems hopeful that the campaign would be fruitful to reduce the road accidents.

According to the Department of Transport Management records,  3.2 million vehicles are now in operation across the country while 900,000 operate in Kathmandu valley alone.

RUKUM: Over three dozen students from Janagagrit Basic School of Pritha Uttarnagan rural municipality-6, here have fallen sick. According to the principal, Chet Kumar Sen, the students felt headache, dizziness and nausea all of sudden during morning assembly. While some students had faced such problems on Thursday, total 37 students had the problems today, he added.

The school located in the remote part of the district has no health facility in the distance nearby. There are total 279 students at the school. A team of health worker from Hukam has left for the school for the treatment, said Tope Sen Thakuri, Chairman of Ward No 6 at Pritha Uttarnagan rural municipality.

KATHMANDU:  Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has developed a plan for underground electric cables in Kathmandu Valley in a bid to minimize the risk of electric shocks and maintain the urban beauty. In the first phase, NEA has chosen the areas covered by the Maharajgunj Distribution Centre and Ratnapark Distribution Centre  for the cable under grounding project.

NEA has selected Indian company KP Industries Ltd to undertake the project. Overhead cables of electricity, telecommunications and others have spoiled the urban beauty, increasing the risk of accidents. The new project aims to address these problems, according to NEA central and north (Maharajgunj) project chief Abhishek Adhikari. The total cost of the project is over Rs 6.60 billion.

The works need to be completed within the 30 months of project initiation. During the first phase, the project will be implemented at Bagbazar, Asan, and Durbar Marg area. Once the first phase of the project gets completed, around 9,000 clients of both centres will get smart meters which will replace meter readers. Customers themselves will determine the quantity of power they need .

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court today issued an ordinance to the government whether Charles Sobhraj, a notorious killer should be entitled to reduction in his sentence as a senior citizen.

The ordinance requires the government to reach a decision in regards to the ‘bikini killer’ within three months.

The ordinance was issued by the joint bench of justices: Ishwor Khatiwada and Bam Kumar Shrestha. The court had acted on a writ petition filed by advocate Shakuntala Thapa.

She is the mother of Nihita Bishwas, Charles’ beloved. Advocate Thapa in her petition had made the demand citing the age factor of Charles who is now 75. Charles is in for life imprisonment at the Central Jail, at Sundhara in the capital city.

KATHMANDU: U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South & Southeast Asia, Dr. Joe Felter has arrived in Nepal. He is the senior most defense policy visitor to Nepal in the past eight years.

Dr. Felter serves as the principal adviser to the Senior Department Leadership for all policy matters pertaining to the development and implementation of defense strategies and plans for the region. He is responsible for managing the bilateral security relationships with nations of the region and for guiding the Department of Defense engagement with multilateral institutions.

KATHMANDU: Nepal Communist Party (NCP led by Netram Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’ has taken the responsibility for the serious of bomb attacks carried out targeting Ncell towers including Bainsepati in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday evening.

“The NCP detonated a series of bomb explosions targeting Ncell for dillydallying in paying the tax as per the Supreme Court’s order,” said a statement issued by the party today, adding, “We had, however, no intention to cause human casualties.”

A man died while two others sustained critical injuries in the bomb explosion that went off in front of Bhainsepati-based Ncell office.

The deceased is Singha Prasad Gurung of Lamjung while the injured are Pratikshya Khadka, 26, of Bagdol, Lalitpur and Usha Manandhar, 25, a nurse at the Medicity Hospital, Lalitpur.

A series of bombs had been detonated in various districts including Baglung, Kaski, Bainsepati of Lalitpur,  and Kanchanpur.

Earlier, the Biplav-led NCP had issued warnings to Ncell over charges of not paying tax to the government, not following the Supreme Court order, and deceiving its clients.

LALITPUR: The Lalitpur metropolis is making preparations to install ‘smart’ lights in the major streets of the metropolis. The metropolis is fixing smart lights  in collaboration with the Nepal Electricity Authority.