9 june, myagdi- The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has started the President Women Uplift Programme in 30 districts, including Myagdi, from current fiscal year 2018/29.
The programme has been launched with the goal of economic empowerment of the women in the rural areas by improving their income.

Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Thama Maya Thapa said grants have been provided to the cooperatives, groups and organizations run by women so as to assist them in operating agriculture, tourism, livestock and skilled –based enterprises.

She said grant amounting to Rs 305.5 million has been provided to 47 groups and organizations run by women in order to assist them to implement the programme this year. The subsidy is provided at the rate of Rs 650,000 per group/organisation.

The Minister also informed that the programme would be expanded to 55 districts in the fiscal year 2019/20.
The women-run groups/organizations receiving grants in Myagdi district include the Sirjansheel Mothers’ Group, Sajhapani of Raghuganga rural municipality-2, the Naari Jagriti of Beni and the Janaadarsha Women’s Cooperatives Ltd at Babiyachaur. (RSS)

9 june, palpa- A girl has died at Sarkidanda of Jhiruwas in Nisdi rural municipality after eating curry made of mushroom collected from forest. The victim is nine-year-old Nirmala Singh Thakuri. She died while undergoing treatment at the Purano Medical College in Chitwan.

Chief of Palpa district police, Senior Superintendent Bishwamani Pokharel, said the girl died and nine more people have fallen ill after eating curry made of the wild mushroom.

Those who have fallen ill include four-year-old Bishnu Singh Thakuri; 45-year-old Puran Khamcha; his wife Chandri Khamcha, 40; their daughter Nirmala Khamcha, 15; Prem Bahadur Singh Thakuri, 81; Daan Kumari Singh, 30; seven-year-old Suman Singh; Dhan Kumari Singh and Niruta Singh Thakuri. They are members of four separate families and are undergoing treatment at Madhyabindu Hospital in Nawalpur.

They had consumed the wild mushroom curry on Friday evening and were taken ill on Saturday. Police said some of the sick are in serious condition. (RSS)

9 june, kaski- The Kaski police have arrested 18 leaders and cadres of the Netra Bikram Chand Biplav Group from Annapurna rural municipality of the district.

They were held from Uri at Annapurna rural municipality-11 on Saturday night, the Kaski District Police Office said. Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki said those arrested include Bibek Bhandari alias Aakrosh, the Group’s Kaski district secretary; Kaji Gurung, the district president of the Group’s student organization; and central member Milan Rai, among other district level leaders and the student organization leaders and cadres.

The police had launched a special operation a day before their arrest based on information that the Biplav Group was intensifying its activities in that area since some days. The Group’s leaders and cadres were taken under control from the building used by the local Mothers Group when they were holding a meeting. It is said police surrounded the Mothers Group’s house and arrested them. The arrestees were all brought to the District Police Office Kaski on Saturday night itself and further investigations are on, police said.

The government has outlawed Netra Bikram Chand Biplav’s Communist Party of Nepal for involving in violence and extortion activities. (RSS)

9 june, kathmandu- Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has reached Doha, the capital of Qatar, on the way to Geneva of Switzerland. The PM is going to Geneva in connection with his visit to European countries.

Upon arrival at the Hamad International Airport in Doha, PM Oli and his entourage was welcomed by officials at the Embassy of Nepal in Doha, including the Charge d’ Affaires Laxman Khanal.

PM Oli is accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya. The Prime Minister will leave for Geneva from Doha this morning in connection with participating in the centennial celebration function of International Labour Organization (ILO) taking place in Geneva.

The PM is scheduled to pay official visit to Britain and France after attending the ILO centenary function in Geneva.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali; Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Gokarna Bista; the chief advisor to the Prime Minister, Bishnu Prasad Rimal; PM’s foreign affairs advisor Dr Rajan Bhattarai and press advisor Dr Kundan Aryal as well as lawmakers Bimal Prasad Sribastav and Binda Pandey are also in the PM’s entourage. (RSS)

9 june, kathmandu- Rabindra Khadka has been elected the president of Film Artistes Association of Nepal (FAAN).
Khadka secured 218 votes as against 161 votes bagged by his contender Sarita Lamichhane in the election held on the occasion of the 17th general convention of FAAN here on Saturday.

Similarly, Rajita Uprety and Sanu Kumar Tamrakar have been elected to the post of vice-president, Chet Bahadur Singh to the post of general secretary, Panah Adhikari to the post of secretary and Pabitra Acharya to the post of co-treasurer. Sunil Katawal was elected the treasurer unopposed before this. (RSS)

8 june, Galkot- Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizen, Thamamaya Thapa, has spoken of the need of providing education attractive to the children.

Minister Thapa said that arrangement of technology, snacks, sports, entertainment as well as other infrastructures should be made to attract students to school.

Speaking at a programme after inspecting the Balmandir Basic School run by the government of Nepal and protected by Nepal Children’s Organisation at Baglung today, she said that local levels should be the most responsible as rights of children have been given to the local levels.

She said, “All bodies are serious over the issue of children”, stressing on the need of providing quality education to them. The federal, state and local governments would take possible initiative to play coordinative role to create environment attracting the students, added the Minister.

Similarly, School Principal Mithu Poudel Chhetri drew the attention of Minister Thapa to provide possible support for quality education, though the school is well-equipped. The school has 114 students from ECD level to class eight. (RSS)

8 june, japan- France is ready to consider cutting its stake in Renault in the interests of consolidating the automaker’s alliance with Nissan, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Saturday.

He was speaking in Japan after Italian-US carmaker Fiat Chrysler pulled the plug on its proposed merger with Renault, saying negotiations had become “unreasonable” due to political resistance in Paris.

In an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers meeting in Japan, Le Maire said Paris might consider reducing the state’s 15-percent stake in Renault if it led to a “more solid” alliance between the Japanese and French firms.

“We can reduce the state’s stake in Renault’s capital. This is not a problem as long as, at the end of the process, we have a more solid auto sector and a more solid alliance between the two great car manufacturers Nissan and Renault,” he told AFP.

Last week, FCA stunned the auto world with a proposed “merger of equals” with Renault that would — together with Renault’s Japanese partners Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors — create a car giant spanning the globe.
The combined group would have been by far the world’s biggest, with total sales of some 15 million vehicles, compared to both Volkswagen and Toyota, which sell around 10.6 million apiece.

But the deal collapsed suddenly on Thursday, with FCA laying the blame at the door of Paris. “It has become clear that the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully,” FCA said in a statement.

Le Maire said Renault should concentrate on forging closer ties with its Japanese partner Nissan before seeking other alliances.

Things need to be done “in the right order…. First the alliance (between Nissan and Renault) should be consolidated and then consolidation (more generally) and not one before the other.” “Otherwise, everything risks collapsing like a house of cards,” he warned.

The minister said it would be up to the bosses of Renault and Nissan to decide how to push the alliance forward as ties between the two firms have been strained after the shock arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn.
Renault is pushing for a full merger between the pair but there is deep scepticism of the plan at Nissan. (RSS)

8 june, Lamki- Number of birds has increased at Ghodaghodi lake here. The lake which is a Ramsar site is also habitat of the endangered birds.

Vice-Chairperson of the Ghodaghodi Tourism Board, Dayaram Chaudhary, said that birds of 299 species were found at the pond this year. Census of birds is carried out across the world in the first week of January, every year.
He said, “51 more birds of different species have been found at the lake this year. Birds of 248 species were found here last year.”

Birds of 13 species, which are on the verge of extinction, have also been found in the lake area.
Chaudhary said that 28 birds, which are on the verge of disappearance from Nepal, 41 enlisted in the list of protected birds and two endangered species of birds have been found in the area.

Endangered and rare birds in the world are also found hatching chicks at the pond area. Out of 11,126 species of birds in the world, birds of 1,067 species are found in Nepal.

Bird conservationist Hirulal Dagaura said that the birds which are not found in other places have also been found at Ghodaghodi lake.

As per the statistics water birds of 56 species are also found in Ghodaghodi wetland area. Birds of 44 species have been enlisted in the list of rare birds, birds of 36 species are endangered, birds of nine species are on the verge of disappearance and birds of eight species have been disappeared from the world.

The lake has been enlisted in the list of Ramsar sites. Out of 2,563 hectares of land covered by the wetland area, the lake is spread over 352 hectares. (RSS)

8 june, kathmandu- The Newar community is observing the Sithi Nakha festival today as per time-honoured tradition.

This festival falls on the sixth day of the waxing moon in the Nepali month Jeth as perthe lunar calendar. The Newar community takes this festival as the last of their cultural festivals marked before the start of the monsoon season.

The day also marks the birth of Kumar, one of the Hindu deities. Kumar is worshipped on the occasion and people cook ‘bara’, a special pancake made of the paste of lentils and peas. Farmers also cook and partake ‘mhuchhyamadhi’, a special kind of bread made out of the flour of the newly-harvested wheat crop.
Also on this day, the Newar people clean the water sources, wells, water springs, ponds and water spouts in their locality.

The act of cleaning the water sources, community ponds, wells and water spouts on the day of Sithi Nakha has special significance in the Newar culture. This cultural ritual ensures that the water sources are kept clean and the drainage around them is cleared so as to avoid the pollution of the water sources by the runoff during the rainy season.

Sithi Nakha festival also heralds the coming of the monsoon (rainy) season and the rice planting time.
Culture expert Prof (Dr) Purushottam Lochan Shrestha said Sithi Nakha is important in the Newar community for two reasons: first, it is the birthday of Kumar, the older son of Hindu god Mahadev and goddess Parbati and second, it heralds the coming of the paddy planting season as well as teaches the need of cleaning the water sources.
According to legend, Kumar is considered the commander of the deities.(RSS)

8 june, Baitadi- A Nepali citizen has been murdered in India. The deceased has been identified as Lokendra Chand, 48, of Tallosworad of Baitadi district, according to Police Inspector at the District Police Office, Baitadi, Deepak Patali.
Chand was murdered at Pithauragadh district of India. Although he was murdered on May 20 and local women informed the police on Friday after they saw the buried body in Udiyari jungle.

Indian police have arrested Niraj Kumar of Pithauragadh on the charge of murdering Chand and started investigation into the case. Chand had been doing labour in India. Niraj Kumar is assistance to a jeep driver, it is learnt.

Kumar hit Chand on his head with an iron rod in a dispute surfaced after consuming alcohol. Kumar confessed his crime and said that he took critically injured Chand in a jungle carrying in a jeep and buried him there.

Quoting the Indian Police, the District Police Office, Baitadi, said that Chand’s body has been kept at a government hospital at Pithauragadh for post mortem. The body is in rotten condition. The incident site lies 18 kilometres away from Jhulaghat of Baitadi, Nepal and Indian bordering area. Further investigation into the incident was underway. (RSS)