SEATTLE: A man in London has become the second person to be free of the AIDS virus after a stem cell transplant, Associated Press reported doctors as saying.

Until now, Timothy Ray Brown from the US was the only person believed to have been cured of HIV after undergoing a transplant in Berlin 12 years ago.

The latest case “shows the cure of Timothy Brown was not a fluke and can be recreated,” said Dr Keith Jerome of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle.

The transplant changed the London patient’s immune system, giving him the donor’s mutation and HIV resistance. The patient voluntarily stopped taking HIV drugs to see if the virus would come back. There is no trace of the virus after 18 months off the drugs, says the report.

(Agencies)

KATHMANDU: Nepal ranks  45th in the mobile data pricing among 230 countries across the globe. According to a survey  recently carried out by price comparison site cable.co.uk, Nepal has cheaper mobile data pricing compared to US, UK including other European nations.

The cheapest mobile data is available in India with  US $0.26 per GB followed by Nepal with US $2.25 per GB. The cheapest price of mobile data in Nepal is US $0.32 (Rs 37.03) per GB while the dearest price is US $6.43 (Rs 734.50).

The survey of average mobile data price in Nepal was based on 27 different data package schemes provided by telecom companies.  The sample data had been collected on November 15, 2018.

Similarly, south Asian countries Sri Lanka and Bhutan have cheaper data price than Nepal. Sri Lanka stands in 7th position with US $0.78 per GB while the cost of average mobile data is US $1.25 per GB in Bhutan (18th).

Likewise, the UK ranks 136th in the list with an average data price per GB $8.53. The USA ranks 182nd with an average data price $12.37 per GB.

Asian nations make up a half of the top 20 cheapest countries, with only Taiwan, China and South Korea charging more than the global average. The research looked at SIM-only deals and included a range of packages from all the providers in each country.

Top five nations (average global price per GB):

• India – $0.26
• Kyrgyzstan – $0.27
• Kazakstan – $0.49
• Ukraine – $0.51
• Rwanda – $0.56

Last five nations ( average global price per GB):

• Zimbabwe – $75.20
• Equatorial Guinea – $65.83
• Saint Helena – $55.47
• Falkland Islands – $47.39
• Djibouti – $37.92

LALITPUR: Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) is going to launch a satellite in the space on the 17th April. “Preparations are underway to launch Nepalisat-1, the first satellite of Nepal in the space which shall orbit the earth at the height of 400 km from its surface,” said Sano Babu Shrestha, NAST vice chancellor. Having a satellite of its own shall save the cost for Nepal in obtaining various data.

POKHARA: CAN Info-Tech fair is coinciding with the 7th City Rewan Food Festival being held in Pokhara – the touristic city replete with diverse natural landscapes.

SAN FRANCISCO:  Facebook Inc  is planning to launch a new tool “clear history”, allowing users to clear their browsing history.

David Wehner, Chief Financial Officer at Facebook Inc said that the tool will affect the company’s ability to target advertisements and that it will be launched at the end of this year.

Facebook had announced plans for a “Clear History” product last year, but technical challenges have delayed its implementation.

It is incredible! Have you imagined that you will be able to fold a phone like a book? Here comes the foldable Samsung phone. Last Sunday, Samsung launched a foldable phone called ‘Galaxy Fold’ on Galaxy World Congress trade show in Barcelona. However, the wait is not over. You will have to wait until April 26 to grab the phone.

The phone, which has a narrow 4.6-inch display on the cover and a 7.3-inch tablet-size foldable screen on the inside, has six cameras — three on the back, two inside and one on the cover. The cameras are said to have a similar spec to ones found on the new Galaxy S10.

GALAXY FOLD SPECS

Source: Agencies

KATHMANDU: Lawmakers have urged the government to ensure infrastructure of information technology before bringing the bill relating to the national identity card and registration. It would be a waste if the government did not focus on the groundwork and other necessary work. Speaking at the meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee today, lawmakers said that without preparing required technology, the allocated budget of Rs 7.52 billion would be wasted.

The Defend Assange Campaign, a legal campaign to defend Assange, said Julian has been nominated for a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Defend Assange Campaign tweeted a photo of Assange next to a Nobel coin on Monday.

Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has been apparently nominated by 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire.

Maguire, who won for her work promoting peace in Northern Ireland during that country’s religious clashes, wrote in the Irish Examiner of her decision to nominate Assange saying that he met all criteria for the Nobel peace prize.

This year, there are a total of 304 candidates nominated for the prize.

Assange has been living at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012.

KATHMANDU: The government is mulling to install a national security printing plant at the Information Technology Park.

Gokul Prasad Baskota, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, informed that the IT Park, being a national pride project, will have a security press.

Baskota informed that currency notes, passport, postage stamps, and digital cards would also be printed in the IT Park.

In the first phase, security print will be based on paper and later equipped with technology and plastic card based printing, he said at a press conference in Banepa.

Baskota informed that currency notes, passport, postage stamps, and digital cards would also be printed in the IT Park.

On the occasion, he claimed that development activities have accelerated across the country. “Be sure, development pace won’t be slowed now at any cost,” he assured the people asserting that roads, schools, universities, hospital, and technology would contribute to the prosperity of the country.

For the holistic development of Banepa municipality, Rs 60 million has been allocated and additional Rs 40 million would be provided later, according to him.

LONDON: Instagram has agreed to ban graphic images of self-harm after objections were raised in Britain following the suicide of a teen whose father said the photo-sharing platform had contributed to her decision to take her own life.

The call for changes was backed by the British government after the family of 14-year-old Molly Russell found material related to depression and suicide on her Instagram account after her death in 2017.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said Thursday evening the platform is making a series of changes to its content rules.

He said: “We are not where we need to be on self-harm and suicide, and we need to do more to protect the most vulnerable in our community.” Mosseri said further changes will be made.

“I have a responsibility to get this right,” he said. “We will get better and we are committed to finding and removing this content at scale, and working with experts and the wider industry to find ways to support people when they’re most in need.”

The call for changes was backed by the British government after the family of 14-year-old Molly Russell found material related to depression and suicide on her Instagram account after her death in 2017.

Her father, Ian Russell, said he believes the content Molly viewed on Instagram played a contributing role in her death, a charge that received wide attention in the British press.

The changes were announced after Instagram and other tech firms, including Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter, met with British Health Secretary Matt Hancock and representatives from the Samaritans, a mental health charity that works to prevent suicide. Instagram is also removing non-graphic images of self-harm from searches.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement that independent experts advise that Facebook should “allow people to share admissions of self-harm and suicidal thoughts but should not allow people to share content promoting it.” (Associated Press)