5 june, Nepalgunj- Minister for Forest and Environment Shakti Bahadur Basnet today stressed the need for each individual to play a constructive role in helping keep world’s environment balanced.

“The government has devised a plan to collaborate with the stakeholders to make this year’s World Environment Day a success, and make its slogan ‘clean wind, healthy life’ relevant,” he said while addressing a morning procession organised here on the occasion of the World Environment Day.

Emphasising the placement of environmental security at the centre, he said the tendency of depending upon only the government should be renounced to achieve a goal of any sort.

The morning procession organised prior to this was attended by Minister Basnet, the ministry secretary Bishwonath Oli and stakeholders among others. The participants took out a rally going through Nepalgunj bazaar with placards in their hands and chanted slogans. (RSS)

5 june, kathmandu- Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun has hoped the Eid Ul Fitre, the festival being celebrated by the Muslim community today, would strengthen social amity and religious and cultural harmony in the country.

Extending a message of best wishes on the occasion of the Eid, Vice President Pun wished the festival inspired all to devote to the campaign of ‘prosperous Nepal: happy Nepali.’

He also wished peace and prosperity to the Muslim community and Nepalis living in the country and abroad.

Festival fosters tolerance: Speaker Mahara

On the same occasion, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara extended best wishes to the Muslim community and hoped the festival would enhance fraternity, socio-cultural tolerance and national unity. (RSS)

5 june, Chitwan- Nepali Congress Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma has said the party’s awareness campaign has prompted the culture of dialogue among the party cadres. Talking to journalists here today, he said the campaign aims to further reform the party and it had been helpful to determine the party’s future course of action.
“The awareness campaign serves as a medicine for the transformation of the party. And with this, the NC has now found its starting point for speeding up its goals ahead. Overall, the campaign of the first phase has been successful,” he said.

Pointing out some frustrations among the people he noticed during interactions with the people in course of the campaign, he claimed that only the NC could protect democracy and change people’s frustration into hope. Most programmes under the first phase of the awareness campaign were centered on rural areas, and the second phase events have been scheduled from September 10 to 24 and the third phase will start from December 23 and conclude on January 2, 2020.

On a different note, he said the Media Council Bill should be withdrawn and the Press Council should be allowed to set a code of conduct for journalists with their participation. (RSS)

5 june, Surkhet- Karnali state chief minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi has said the Kakre Bihar in Surkhet, the major touristic destination of the state, would be further developed through the open ‘zoo’ concept.

Talking to media persons following the sanitation and tree transplantation programme organised at Kakhre Bihar on the occasion of World Environment Day today, he sought the contribution from all quarters to protect and promote Kakre Bihar, the site with archeological and historic importance.

“The existing picnic spot at the site will be removed, and a systematic park will be built by taking further measures required to develop it into a tourist destination of the entire state,” the chief minister announced.

Clean and pure environment was needed to protect the existence of human life, he asserted. In his view, environment conservation is the prime need of the hour and combined efforts were essential to address this need.
The programme was held under the leadership of chief minister, and officials from several ministries at the state level, Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel and local clubs were present on the occasion.

At the call of the United Nations, the World Environment Day that falls on June 5 every year has been celebrated since 1974 with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging action to protect the environment. Nepal observed the Day this year with the theme of “Our wildlife, our environment and forest; let’s conserve forest wholeheartedly”. (RSS)

5 june, Lamki- Local representatives of Kailali, the district in Far West State, have expressed their commitments to taking measures against child marriage. They vowed to take action against anyone found involved in conducting child marriage. As per the prevailing law of Nepal, marriage before the completion of 20 years is unlawful. But the child marriage continues to happen as thirty-seven percent of girls in Nepal marry before age 18, and 10 percent are married by age 15, UNICEF data shows. The local governments in Kailali are preparing to come up with a drive against child marriage and a dowry system, which are main causes of violence against girls and women.

Tikapur municipality mayor Tapendra Bahadur Rawal declared that those involved in arranging child marriage would be deprived of facilities delivered by the municipality. We have planned to conduct public awareness programmes, public discourse and discussions to discourage child marriage, a barrier to the empowerment of girls and women. Everyone has been requested to inform the local government if they came to know that any incident of child marriage is being planned or will be happening or is taking place in their locality.

Health institutions data shows that 17 percent mothers in Kailai is below 20 which depicts the reality of the status of child marriage in this Terai plain. The figure is sufficient to predict that child marriage is challenging here. But it does not mean that it is not preventable. Local representatives and political parties have joined hands to combat this practice.

In view of Janaki rural municipality chair Pradeep Kumar Chaudhary, it is the responsibility of all to express solidarity against child marriage, and stand together and act against it. “First of all, parents should be well aware of bad consequences of child marriage and schools should also teach students that child marriage is legally prohibited and punishable,” he asserted.

Lamki Chuha municipality chief Mahadev Bajgain said the cases of self-initiated marriage make up a significant portion of the figure of child marriage. “Awareness of negative implications of child marriage on the part of parents is necessary to stop this social taboo. We are committed to ending it, but our sole efforts will not be sufficient to meet the goal.”

Child marriage is harmful for both bride and groom as it affects their education, career, increases the socio-economic and family responsibilities and so on. In a relative term, girls face more consequences (than boys) including health issues due to early pregnancy, birth complications and so on. Early pregnancy may lead to miscarriage, premature birth, death of mother, child and mental health problem of the mother.

Tikapur municipality deputy mayor Keshari Bista stressed that untimely marriage must be prevented.
Janaki rural municipality vice chair Uma Mahato concluded that child marriage and a dowry system, remaining as ill-practices in the society would eventually push women towards a greater risk of domestic violence. These unwanted practices deprive women of their basic rights to health, reproductive health, education and job opportunities.
The law has the provision of a three-year jail sentence and a fine up to Rs 30,000 each for arranging or helping arrange child marriage. In some particular society, it is entrenched on the back support of customary laws. (RSS)

4 june, Rasuwa- Three persons died and three others have been disappearing after a jeep accident occurred at Ama Chhodingmo rural municipality in the district last night.

Police Inspector at District Police Office, Ishwori Prasad Bhandari, informed that those losing lives in the accident were Norbu Tamang, 32, Saili Ghale, 32, and Mindo Ghale, 35, from Ama Chhodingmo rural municipality of the district.

A jeep (Ba 1 Cha 5820) heading to Goljung of Rasuwa from Pokhara fell into the Trishuli River some 100 down the road at the border of Kalika and Gosaikunda rural municipalities. It is along the Mailung-Syaphrubensi road section.
Five others were injured seriously and three went missing after the accident. Two passengers died on the spot while one during treatment at Trishuli Hospital.

Those receiving serious injury are Nima Tamang, 32; Jaurani Ghale, 35; Yongjung Tamang, 29; five-year old Phurba Yangjen Tamang and three-year-old Nim Chewang Tamang. They have been taken to Kathmandu for further treatment, said the Trishuli Hospital.

All of the passengers in the jeep are the residents of northern belt of Rasuwa district.Moreover, three passengers missing since the accident are Pasangde Ghale, 48; Kami Yonjan Ghale, 19; and Letang Ghale, 20, according to the police. A police team led by sub inspector of police has been sent to the accident site for searching the mission ones. (RSS)

4 june, Ranjha- A mother and son both suffering from fatal diseases are finding it very hard to seek medical care due to financial issues.

Tulasha Shahi, 60, of Lalpur, Rapti Sonari rural municipality-7 in Banke; was diagnosed with lung cancer some nine months ago following prolonged illness, and her son Hirendra Shahi, 24, is a kidney patient. The family has already spent all their savings to pursue the treatment of the ailing members. Tulasa’s daughter-in-law Bimala Shahi shared that they had been already in debt of Rs 500 thousand in course of seeking medical treatment for the two.

As she said, Hirendra is undergoing regular dialysis at the Kohalpur-based Medical College Teaching Hospital on a charity. But the mother who earlier received chemotherapy twice has been compelled to discontinue chemotherapy as the family has been left with no financial resources to manage further treatment expenditure for her. The ailing mother has appealed to the public for economic assistance so that she could continue their treatment. (RSS)

4 june, Portugal- A person hailing from Musikot municipality-6 of Gulmi district died in a road accident here. The 36-year-old Ramesh Kumar Sharma Rijal bicycling in a place 380-km away from Lisbon was hit by a motorcycle on Friday night.

Rijal, injured seriously in the accident breathed his last during the treatment, while motorcyclist- a Portuguese national- has been receiving treatment for injury.

Sharma, arrived in Portugal a year back, was living in Lison, said the victim’s elder brother, Amrit Sharma. His last rites would be performed in Portugal, according to the family sources.

“Necessary legal process was initiated for the cremation,” said Kuber Karki, Chairman of Non-Resident Nepalis Association in Portugal, adding that office of the honorary Nepali consulate would make legal facilitation.
In the recent five months alone, four Nepalis have lost lives in Portugal.(RSS)

4 june, Kathmandu- Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli took stock of health condition of Chief Minister of State-3, Dormani Poudel.

Prime Minister Oli reached the Bansbari-based Sahid Gangala National Heart Centre this morning and inquired about health condition of Chief Minister Poudel.

Chief Minister Poudel has undergone a successful heart surgery at Gangalal National Heart on Monday.
A team led by cardiologist Dr Chandramani Adhikari has been carrying out treatment of CM Poudel. The health condition of the Chief Minister is improving, said CM Poudel’s Personal Secretary, Anup Poudel. (RSS)

4 june, Chitwan- Of the total deaths from road accidents in Chitwan district, over fifty percent are attributed to motorcycle accidents, police data shows.

Narrow roads and increasing traffic flow day by day have further fueled the risk of road casualties. According to the District Traffic Police Office, Chitwan, till the 11 months of the current fiscal year, among 129 killed from road injuries, 65 were related to motorcycle accidents. Among them, 53 were motorcyclists. Nine people were killed after they were hit by motorcycles and three cyclists died after being hit by motorcycles.

This shows that only motorcyclists are not vulnerable to accidents, but they pose a threat to others as well. During the period, a total of 253 road accidents involving 392 motor vehicles including 178 motorcycles had happened. The data puts the number of trucks /tankers at 65.

Similarly, bus, jeep, car, three-wheeler, tanker, tipper and micro bus experienced accidents in the period, office chief Police Inspector Chandra Kumar Giri said. In his opinion, two-wheelers at high risk of getting imbalanced, thus becoming vulnerable to accidents. Congested roadways, high traffic flow and over speed remains as major challenges to road safety. A majority group suffering motorcycle accidents is the 20-40 age group. Traffic checking at several locations and, public awareness and orientation programmes are going on to promote road safety. Besides, the office conducts awareness programmes targeting school-college students. (RSS)