18 june, Rupandehi- Investigative journalism training for promotion of responsible local government has begun at Butwal from today.

Sharecast Initiative Nepal and American Embassy have jointly organised the three-day journalism workshop at coordination of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Rupandehi. A total of 40 journalists of Rupandehi have been participating in the workshop.

Shiva Gaunle of Investigative Journalism Centre, good government expert Binod Upadhyay and executive director of Sharecast, Madhu Acharya, among others would impart training.

Inaugurating the workshop, Acharya expressed the view that it was necessary to exert pressure and make aware through investigative journalism in order to make activities of local levels effective.

Representative of US Embassy Prerana Marasini said that the investigative journalism workshop has been organised in all states to make activities of local government effective.

Similarly, Vice-President of FNJ, Rupandehi, Dinesh Pandey, said that the training would be significant to make local governments responsible and accountable. (RSS)

18 june, kathmandu- Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has put in place promotional campaign in different countries to establish Nepal as entry point of Buddhist religious tourism.

In collaboration with the Society of Travel and Tour Operators Nepal (SITTO), NTB has promoted Nepal as tourism destination in emerging countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

To make publicity of Nepal as an entry point to Buddhist religious tourism and a beautiful tourism destination, NTB had conducted Nepal Sales Mission-2019 programme on June 10, 12 and 14. The representatives made presentations on Nepal Tourism Year-2020 and Nepal as potential prime destination of Buddhist tourism.

On the occasion, a documentary developed by NTB on Lumbini and promotional documentary about Nepal prepared by SITTO were screened.

Ghanashyam Upadhyay, joint-secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation urged NTB to further expand the base of professional rapport with domestic and foreign tourism entrepreneurs in view of the Nepal Tourism Year-2020.

Madhusudan Upadhyay, chair of SITTO Nepal urged the representatives attending the event to promote Nepal visit package as the Buddhist religious tourism entry point. On the occasion, separate interactions were made in major cities of all three countries, reads a press release issued by NTB.

In collaboration and coordination of the Nepali Embassy in Bangkok, an event ‘Nepal Evening 2019’ was organized in which Nepal Ambassador to Thailand Ganesh Prasad Dhakal recalled 60 years old and cordial friendship between the two countries. (RSS)

18 june, Solukhumbu- Passengers have been stranded for no flight operations at Tenzing Hilari Airport Lukla for the past four days.

Praveen Shrestha, acting chief of Lukla Airport shared that no take-off and landing has been made at the airport for the past four days because of unfavourable weather.

No aircraft has boarded passengers since last Friday as thick fog and brief shower occurring almost every day has worsened the weather condition.

There were seven scheduled flights on Monday but even a single flight was not made due to bad weather.
With the disruption of flights, as many as 200 domestic and foreign passengers have been compelled to stay in Lukla.

Passengers have faced trouble due to no alternative route to airport in Khumbu region. Some passengers have trekked to Salleri from Lukla and taken bus for Kathmandu while some are still waiting the weather to improve. (RSS)

18 june, Taplejung- Passengers are facing trouble following disruption of road caused by landslide at Sinam of Sirijunga rural municipality, Taplejung.

The rain-triggered landslide has obstructed the road for the past three days. Passengers are troubling to move after landslide occurred nearby Nebu rivulet took away the road section on Saturday.

The landslide has swept away around 20-metre road, said Bhim Thebe, a local. With the sweeping away of the road section, the vehicles heading to Ambegudin and Tellok from Jhapa have been stranded in Sinam.

Passengers have to walk hours of distance to get vehicle when it was trouble for means of transportation to reach to Happukhola of Ambegudin and centre of Sirijunga rural municipality Tellok. It generally takes three hours for people to reach Sinam from Tellok and one-and-a-half hours from Happu rivulet. (RSS)

18 june, Khotang- As many as 84 households have been benefitted from a drinking water project implemented at Ratamata in Diprung Chuichumma rural municipality-1, Yamkha.

The project was constructed at the cost of Rs 4.03 million which includes Rs 3.25 million appropriated from the rural municipality in the fiscal year 2075/76 BS and mobilization of people’s kind labour worth amounting to Rs 778,486.
Drinking water is being supplied to the houses through meter-installed taps.

Bhupendra Rai, chief of the rural municipality, said meters have been installed to the taps to check misuse of drinking water and make the project effective.

Diprung Chuichumma rural municipality is the first among 10 local governments of the district to introduce meter for proper use of water.

“Water sources are drying up in villages”, he said, adding innovative ideas are therefore explored to preserve the water sources. (RSS)

18 june, Kawaswoti- A person died and another sustained injury when a bus hit a motorbike in Gaindakot, Nawalparasi along the East West Highway.

Pillion rider Birendra Nanda Sanyasi, 52, of Bulingtar-3 died when the motorbike (Na 33 Pa 8763) was hit by the bus (Lu 1 Kha 8326) at Gaindakot-10, Sisne last night.

He breathed his last while receiving treatment at Chitwan Medical College, police said. The injured in the accident was motorbike rider Bishnu Nirmal Giri, 37, of Bulingtar-3. He is also said to be in critical condition.
Injured Giri is being treated at Chitwan Medical College. (RSS)

18 june, Kavrepalanchowk- A road with wall leading to Kashyapeswor Mahadev Temple via Dedithumka Campus based in Mandaldeupur municipality-7 was dismantled in protest.

The road was built to use as an alternative route from Kuntabasi when there was huge pressure of vehicles on Helambu Highway and to reach to the temple.

Leaders and cadres of Nepali Congress (NC) fell apart the new structure in protest of defying the agreement made earlier.

NC Deupur President Ramhari Sapkota said they dismantled the structures arguing that the alternative road was not appropriate there.

“We had been obstructing the road as it has put in mess a water pond and the route used for the movement of Kiriyaputri”, Sapkota said.

“They had promised to build road and steps but there is no any action to that end”, he clarified.
Sapkota however claimed that the new structure was dismantled on the presence of ward chair Narayan Lamsal. (RSS)

17 june, Caracas- At least 18 people were killed Sunday in a bus accident in a rural area of western Venezuela, police said. “Fourteen deaths were reported at the scene of the accident, 33 injured were transferred to the hospital in Villa del Rosario, where four of them died,” police said in a report seen by AFP.

The accident occurred in a rural area of Zulia state which borders Colombia. According to a preliminary investigation, a tire burst while the bus was traveling “at an excessive speed.” The bus was carrying 58 passengers, according to witnesses interviewed by the local Panorama newspaper.

Venezuelan roads are often in a deplorable state due to lack of maintenance, and passenger vehicles are frequently very dilapidated. Around 10,600 people died in road accidents in Venezuela in 2016, according to World Health Organization estimates in its 2018 global road safety report. Its road fatality rate of 33.7 per 100,000 inhabitants is among the worst in the world. (RSS)

17 june, New delhi- Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath as a member of the new Lok Sabha on Monday after being re-elected from Varanasi parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha elections, amid chants and thunderous applause.

Protem Speaker Virendra Kumar, who was sworn in earlier today, administered the oath in the first day of the maiden session of the 17th Lok Sabha.

As per rules, Modi as leader of the house was the first member to take oath while ministers and other MPs will be invited to take oath in the new Lok Sabha later. The swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected MPs will be spread over two days.

Among other Lok Sabha members to take oath were Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The election for Speaker of the Lok Sabha will take place on June 19, and President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint session of Parliament on June 20.The Union Budget will be presented by the new government on July 5. (RSS)

17 june, india- At least 100 children have lost their lives due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) here, officials said on Monday.

Sunil Kumar Shahi, Superintendent at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), said, “Death toll due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Muzaffarpur has risen to 100.”

According to official data, 83 children have died in Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), while 17 have lost their lives in Kejriwal hospital in the city.

In the wake of fatalities due to AES, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to families of the deceased.

He had also given directions to the Health Department, district administration and doctors to take necessary measures to fight the disease. AES is a viral disease, which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions, and headaches.

Last week, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey had said a team that was formed to ascertain the cause of this disease concluded that sleeping empty stomach at night, dehydration due to humidity and eating lychee on empty stomach were some of the causes of encephalitis. (RSS)