Child mortality for Nepal high in region: Study

Rajbiraj, July 29 (RSS): Every year, 83 thousand children below the age of five years die for various reasons, it is learnt from a study.

As per the study, 55 per cent of the children die of malnutrition in Nepal where the child mortality rate is the highest even among the South Asian countries. Only one child out of every ten children survives from the scourge of malnutrition that has been retarding their physical and mental growth, Somraj Acharya of the UNICEF said.

Complications such as respiratory ailment, diarrhoea, dysentery and malnourishment have been claiming the lives of 235 children each day and 1 in every 6 minutes.

The child mortality rate in Nepal is 118 in every thousand, it is learnt from the UNICEF.

The findings of a survey of UNICEF show that 50 percent of the women between the age of 15 to 19 become pregnant and only ten out of 100 pregnant women consume iron tablets in the country.

In the Terai region, 40 to 49 per cent of the women in the age group of 40-49 become pregnant and 80 to 90 percent among them suffer from anaemia, according to the UNICEF.

Five held with 25 kg of cannabis

Kapilbastu, July 29 (RSS): Police have arrested five persons, two of them women currently living in rented flats at Ward No. 2 Imiliya Bazaar of local Barkalpur VDC, with 25.10 kilograms of cannabis in their possession yesterday, the Gorusinghe ilaka police office said.

Those arrested are Dhan Bahadur Budhamagar, Himal Budhamagar, Kumari Budhamagar and Rupsari Budhamagar of Mahatgaon, Rukum district, and Rajendra Pun, a resident of Thawang, Rolpa district.

A team of policemen under the command of inspector Abhinarayan Kafle from the Gorusinghe ilaka police office seized the narcotic substance from the accused during a search conducted at their rented flat.

In course of searching, police found 10 grams of the cannabis hidden among their belongings, and upon interrogation, seized another 25 kilograms of cannabis packed in plastic containers buried in the nearby field.

Further investigation is underway in this connection, according to police.

Tips for nation building: Book launched

Kathmandu, July 29 (RSS): A book entitled "Some major tips for nation building" written by Sudarshan Acharya was launched at an interaction programme here today.

Commenting on the book, secretary at Nepal Sachetak Sangh Dr Durga Prasad Acharya said the author has very clearly presented useful tips for controlling corruption, reducing government expenditures and checking dilly-dallying. The book, he added, will serve as an important input for policy makers.

In his book, the author has floated such ideas as making the existing bicameral Parliament unicameral, reducing the number of MPs, limiting the employees’ salary to a level that is within the state’s capacity and quite enough for them to live in dignity, bringing the number of district from the existing 75 to 25 and limit the number of villages and municipalities to 1000.