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AT LEAST 24 PEOPLE, 16 of them in western Nepal, have been killed in landslides last week. According to Kantipur daily, at least 10 people, five from the same family, died after a landslide swept away three houses at Simalgauda village of Anglung VDC in Gulmi district Saturday night. Two rescue teams were dispatched from the district headquarters but the rescue works were delayed by lack of transportation, reports said. Six people were killed when a landslide swept the house of Sukadev Baral at Sanyasidada of Arba Bijaya VDC in Kaski district Friday. The landslide was triggered by heavy downpour earlier in day. In separate incidents, eight people died in landslides that swept through villages close to the Nepal-Tibet border, reports said. According to police, family members of Lal Bahadur Tamang and Panmati Bhandari died in the incident. Four families have been left homeless and 80 other households have been affected by the landslides triggered by torrential rains. THE EMBASSY OF JAPAN in Kathmandu has decided to extend a grant assistance of nearly Rs 5 million for the improvement and beautification of Kathmandu Durbar Square and its vicinity under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Project (GGP) scheme of the government of Japan. Kathmandu metropolis and the local community will raise an additional Rs 6.616 million to implement the project. The project activities include solid waste management, infrastructure development and public awareness promotion. THE NON-PERFORMING ASSETS (NPAs), also known as bad loans, of financial institutions in the country have gone up to 17 per cent of total investment, officials said. According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Dr Tilak Rawal, the NPAs of the state-owned Nepal Bank Limited and Rastriya Banijya Bank, have risen to 26 per cent. He said the NPAs in India are around 13 per cent. "Financial sector reform has become inevitable as the condition of state-run banks is worrisome," said Rawal on Friday. A Loan Recovery Bill has been tabled in parliament to reform the financial sector and a team of Malaysian experts has arrived in Kathmandu to advise the government on setting up the Asset Reconstruction Committee, he said. THE UNITED NATIONS’ World Food Program (WFP) is to expand food assistance to primary schools in five more districts, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Makwanpur, Ramechhap, and Udayapur, from this academic year. These districts are in addition to the 16 where the WFP is implementing school-feeding program since 1996 in collaboration with the Primary School Nutritious Food Project (PSNFP) of the Ministry of Education and Sports. The program aims at providing opportunities for primary education to children of poor, socially deprived and food-deficit families in rural Nepal. The WFP is to provide US$ 5.8 million worth of food this academic year for the expanded program in the new districts. Under the program, students of public primary and lower secondary schools will receive a daily ration of mid-day meal made of fortified blended food NEPAL HAS FORMALLY requested India to withdraw its decision to impose anti-dumping duty on zinc oxide imported from Nepal. According to Gorkhapatra daily, the Nepalese government made the request saying that the recent provision of the Indian government would be against the Nepal-India trade treaty 1996 that allows duty-free access to Nepali manufactured products into Indian market, except those in the negative list. "We have already sent a letter to the Indian government in this regard," Purushottam Ojha, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said. The export of zinc oxide, which is not in the negative list, had grown by nearly 17 percent over the first 11 months in the last fiscal year. Zinc oxide is one of the five items being cited by India for the ‘export surge’ from Nepal. Other items include polyester yarn, vegetable ghee, copper wire and GI pipes. India has already notified Nepal that it wants review in certain provisions of the 1996 treaty. THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES in Nepal has been increasing enormously over the last few years. During the last fiscal year, 41,899 new vehicles were imported in Nepal, which led to a 16 percent growth in the total number of vehicles. This volume of vehicles is the biggest ever registered in Nepal in a single year. Only 28,280 vehicles were registered in fiscal year 2056-57. According to the Department of Transport Management, the total number of vehicles registered in Nepal is more than 300,000. Of all the vehicles registered all over the country, nearly 60 percent vehicles (171,678) are registered in Kathmandu valley alone. Narayani Zonal office has the second largest share of the total vehicles registered (52,856). Two zones — Karnali and Dhaulagiri — do not have any vehicles registered. Of the total vehicles that are registered in Nepal, two wheelers contribute 58 percent share. Car/jeep/van comes second with around 20 percent share. In Bagmati alone 112,000 two-wheelers are registered. Last year, nearly 30,000 two-wheelers were imported in the country. THE UNDERGROUND Maoist party has said it has decided to assign representatives to talk with other left parties in order to unite and form a "new party" strong enough to fight the reactionary forces. A statement issued by Maoist leader, Comrade Prachanda, said the reason for all left parties either getting united or getting polarized is that now the time has come for them to decide whether to follow the path shown by the Maoists or not. "And in today’s world, it is impossible to be a communist without the realization of Maoism. Once a communist party accepts Maoism along with Marxism and Leninism it will be easy to sort out minor differences that remain among the left parties," the statement adds. LINGUIST BASANTA KUMAR SHARMA WAS FELICITATED ON THE OCCASION OF anniversary of Brilliant Educational Higher Secondary School last week. Senior poet Madhav Prasad Ghimire felicitated Sharma for his contribution to the development of Nepalese language. Poet Ghimire and lyricist Kali Prasad Rijal presented awards to the industrious students as well as winners of various sports disciplines. A cultural program was also organized on the occasion. |
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