Day: May 2, 2024

Kathmandu: The meeting of the Council of Ministers held Thursday decided to recommend the President to summon joint session of the federal parliament for coming May 10. Minister for Communications and Information Technology and government Spokesperson, Rekha Sharma, shared that the Cabinet meeting decided to recommend President Ram Chandra Paudel to call the budget session of the parliament from May 10. Meanwhile, former judge at High Court, Shreeman Kumar Gautam, has been appointed chairperson of the management committee on sick cooperatives and association. Similarly, the government has decided to form a Nepali delegation to hold bilateral talks during the visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yokoko on Sunday. The next meeting of the Council of Ministers will endorse the schedule for bilateral talks. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Maximum temperature in the country started falling on average one or two degrees Celsius from today, the Met Office said predicting temperature may dip more from May 5 as almost all parts of the country may witness much awaited rainfall. "Maximum temperature has started one or degree Celsius . . . it is an indicator that rainfall is likely to occur from May 5 in most areas in the country," Md Omar Faruq, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) told BSS today. Analyzing the mathematical model of rainfall index, he said, Bangladesh may witness heavy to very heavy downpour from the next three or four days meaning intense of heat will decrease significantly providing some relief as the entire country braced for more extreme heat since April 1. Large swaths of Khulna and Rajshahi division are sweltering through a heatwave as the Met office logged highest temperature above 40 degree Celsius in most stations located in the two divisions since April 1, Omar said predicting rains a re likely to occur in different areas of the two division. "Northeastern, central parts including Sylhet division and some parts of Mymensingh and Dhaka division are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall from May 2 ," Dr Abul Kalam Mallik, BMD meteorologist said. The meteorologist attributed uncomfortable feelings of unbearable hot-weather to high humidity persisting in the air during the afternoon and evening period suggesting avoiding movement between 12 noon to 4pm as the sunlight is getting too hot as it (the Sun) provides sunlight vertically with intense heat. "Normally we record temperature from the air," Mallik said the highest temperature was found between 12 noon and 4pm because of vertical position of the Sun. Analyzing humidity indexes, Mallik continued, "There is a close relation of temperature and humidity . . . discomfort feelings will increase, if high humidity persists in the air with high temperature. "Although temperature decreases after 4pm, but we feel very hot w eather due to high humidity," he added. The Met Office today recorded 41.7 degree Celsius at Chuadanga, the highest temperature of the current year while the temperature in Dhaka was recorded at 37.9 degrees Celsius but the high humidity has exposed the residents to massive discomfort. The BMD official said the country witnessed the longest duration of the heatwave for the past 30 days since April 1 and the met office warned the phenomenon would continue throughout the next month. "But unlike the previous heatwaves, this year it spread all over the country," commented meteorologist Abul Kalam Mollik, who was supported by Zebunnesa as well. Visibly for the first time the meteorologists acknowledged that the climate change phenomenon caused the erratic weather pattern with gradually expanding areas of heatwave, joining the voice with the climate experts and activists. According to the weather bulletin of BMD issued here today, very severe heat wave is sweeping over the districts of Jashore, Khul na, Chuadanga, Pabna and Rajshahi and severe heat wave is sweeping over the districts of Tangail, Faridpur, Gopalgonj and rest parts of Khulna division. Mild to moderate heat wave is sweeping elsewhere over the country and it may abate from some places over eastern part of the country, the bulletin said adding day temperature may fall slightly over western part and it may fall by (1-2)oC elsewhere over the country April is typically hot in Bangladesh as it is in other South and Southeast Asian countries, but according to meteorologists, temperatures this month have been unusually high which was highlighted by international media outlets as well. According to the New York Times, hundreds of millions of people in South and Southeast Asia were suffering from a grueling heatwave that has forced schools to close, disrupted agriculture, and raised the risk of heat strokes and other health complications. The recent report also specially acknowledged the Bangladesh scenario saying temperature in some areas soared above 42 degrees Celsius but the "numbers don't quite capture how extreme humidity makes the heat feel even worse". The schools across the country were closed due to the extreme weather but students are struggling to or doing anything at home as well. The heatwave has forced the healthcare facilities to take emergency measures to provide medical services with higher number of patients reporting to hospitals with heat-related ailments since the beginning of April while the children and elderly people appeared as the most vulnerable during this prolonged hot weather. "Large numbers of people are becoming ill with heatstroke, dehydration, exhaustion and breathing problems and they are suffering from other heat- related diseases as well," Director of Mugda Medical College and Hospital Dr Md Niatuzzaman told BSS. The other hospitals and healthcare facilities including Shishu Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Ba ngladesh (ICDDR,B) reported identical scenarios. "Nearly, 500 diarrhoea patients have been admitted to the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). A significant number of patients are getting admission to ICDDRB daily," ICDDR'B spokesman AKM Tariful Islam Khan said. The health ministry issued a directive to take extra measures to face the crisis in hospitals across the country. Doctors suggested people to stay indoors as much as possible and wear weather-suitable clothes during exposure to sun to protect themselves from heatstroke and take rest after one or two hours during working period alongside consuming more liquid food beside water to avoid dehydration during the heatwave. "Our brains can tolerate certain level of temperature, if it exceeds people may faint, suffer heatstroke besides suffering from dehydration causing electrolyte imbalance and other complications including kidney dysfunction," former Suhrawardy Hospital director Professor Dr Khalilur Ra hman said. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

More than 65 houses have been gutted in an incident of fire that took place at Baraudhoran village located in Bishnu rural municipality-1 of Sarlahi. Ward president Bikau Thakur said that more than 65 houses of the village were burnt when a gas cylinder exploded after a fire broke out in the house of local Shatrughan Raut this afternoon. The fire which started around 1:00 pm was extinguished after around four hours with the help of local residents, Nepal Police and Armed Police, supported by fire tenders. Mayor Jawaharlal Yadav said that more than 100 houses were damaged after the fire in Baraudhoran village. He said food stock, clothes and many livestock were burnt, though the details of the damage are yet to be collected. Chief of Police of Sarlahi Superintendent of Police Hariharnath Yogi shared that the fire has been brought under control and the work of collecting details of the damage is currently underway. Source: National News Agency Nepal

All secondary-level educational institutions will resume academic activities on May 4, said a press release of the education ministry today. Earlier on April 20, the education ministry in consultation with the health ministry and meteorological department decided to keep secondary schools closed due to the ongoing heatwave. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dilliraj Bista working at Crime Control and Investigation Division of Sudurpaschim Province Police Office has been honored for his excellent performance. Bista was honored by the Nepal Police for fiscal year 2080/81BS. In the previous fiscal year as well, he was honoured with cash prize by the Karnali Police Office. The Sudurpaschim Province Police Office said SSP Bista fulfilled his responsibilities in a disciplined and dutiful manner and adherence to the departmental orders, and policy guidelines of the organization. Bista, who joined Nepal Police on in Chaitra 2051 BS, was promoted to Superintendent of Police (SP) in 2072 BS and SSP in 2079 BS. Even the police inspector Saroj Kumar Thakurathi, police assistant inspector Ramesh Raj Bhatt and police senior constable Dhawal Singh Mahara were honoured for their best performance. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Foreign minister Jeremiah Manele was elected as the Solomon Islands' new prime minister by members of parliament on Thursday, Governor General of the Solomon Islands David Vunagi announced. Manele defeated opposition leader Matthew Wale in a 31-to-18 vote in the newly elected 50-seat parliament, Vunagi said following a secret ballot on Thursday morning. One member of parliament did not participate in the vote because she could not arrive in Honiara in time due to a long distance to the capital, a source from the governing Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party (OUR Party) told Xinhua. Manele will take over the office from Manasseh Sogavare, who announced on Monday his withdrawal from running for a new term. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Chief Minister of Koshi Province Kedar Karki has said that the province government is trying to exercise a different pattern of development. At programme in Shivasatakshi Municipality-6 in Jhapa on Thursday, the Chief Minister argued that the Koshi Province Government was focused on development works. He viewed that mere understanding of development to the physical infrastructural works has created challenges in society adding that we are lagging behind in the development of humanitarian and social values. "The province government is serious about this issue," according to Karki. Chief Minister Karki shared about the free health care services to the children, grants in technical subjects to produce skilled human resources, agriculture insurance and other programmes that the province government is working on. He also promised to end corruption taking place through proper documentation in government activities. On the occasion, the Chief Minister feted Suraj Rajbansi, Durga Prasad Guragain, Chandraman Poud el and Dev Narayan Bhandari for providing land plots to build the ward building of Shivasatakshi Municipality-6, Jhapa. Source: National News Agency Nepal

A court here today set June 2 for holding hearing on charge framing in a case against Grameen Telecom Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and 13 others for allegedly embezzling Taka 25 crore from the company and laundering abroad. Today was fixed for holding indictment hearing. But, Judge Syed Arafat Hossain of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 rescheduled the hearing date, allowing a time plea of the defence. Meanwhile, the court also extended the tenure of the bail of the accused on earlier conditions. The 14 accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Telecom Managing Director (MD) Nazmul Islam, Directors Ashraful Hasan, Naznin Sultana, Parvin Mahmud, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum and Professor SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee, President of 'Grameen Telecom Sramik-Karmachari Union Md Kamruzzaman and its General Secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan, lawyers Zafrul Hasan Sharif and Yusuf Ali, Union's representative Md Mainul Islam and Jatiya Workers Federation's Off ice Secretary Kamrul Hasan. Investigation officer in the case and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar on February 1 filed the charge-sheet against the total 14 accused. Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court on April 2, 2024, took into cognizance the charge-sheet filed in the case and sent the case to Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 for further proceedings. According to the case documents, a decision was made at the company's 108th board meeting, presided over by Dr Yunus on May 9, 2022, to open a bank account at Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank Limited. But it was found that the account was opened a day before the decision was even made. More than Taka 26 crore was transferred to the account on different occasions, as per 'fake settlement agreements' and decision of the board. But before even distributing the share of the company's profit to the workers, and letting them know, the accused embezzled around Taka 25 crore from the fund. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said that the Vice Chancellor of the universities have been appointed based on merit. Prime Minister Dahal said during a meeting with the recently appointed Vice Chancellors of the Purbanchal, the Mid-West and the Far Western universities at Singh Darbar today that he has made the process of appointing vice chancellors transparent and competitive. The newly appointed Chancellor of the Purbanchal University, Prof Dr Biju Kumar Thapaliya, the newly appointed Chancellor of the Mid-West University, Prof Dr Dhruva Kumar Gautam and the newly appointed Chancellor of the Far Western University, Prof Dr Hemraj Pant met the Prime Minister and Chancellor Dahal today after receiving their appointment letter. On that occasion, Prime Minister Dahal directed the Vice Chancellors to operate the universities in a competitive and transparent manner. "Sharing of posts among the parties has been ended and the competition has been started in the appointment of the v ice-chancellor of the university," Prime Minister Dahal said, adding, "The appointment of the vice-chancellors here has also been done accordingly, please fulfill your responsibilities in a fair manner." Prime Minister Dahal directed the vice chancellors to focus on producing manpower to compete in the global market by providing quality education from universities. 'Resunga has high tourism potential' Meanwhile, addressing to a programme 'Let Us Go to Resunga' here today, PM Dahal said Resunga is an area carrying high potentials for spiritual and nature tourism. He said Resunga has historical, spiritual, Puranic, cultural and tourism heritages. "This is a religious pilgrimage site - a tranquil, scenic, holy place of spiritualism because of the presence of religious shrines and sites here," he said. Emphasizing that all three levels of government should be more active in the development of the tourism sector, Prime Minister Dahal said that the tourism sector can be developed and expanded in cooperation wi th the non-governmental and community sectors. He assured of necessary support from the federal government for the overall development of Resunga area. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Kathmandu: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma has said the government was moving ahead with determination to develop necessary policies, laws and infrastructures to boost up investment in the information technology sector. In her message of best wishes on the occasion of the 7th National Information and Communication Technology Day- 2081 BS today, she said the National Cyber Security Policy-2080 has been issued for the first time with the objective of securing and managing cyber space. The National Cyber Security Centre has been established, Minister Sharma said, adding, "The task of reviewing the Information and Communications Technology Policy-2072, Telecommunications Policy-2060 and Broadband Policy-2071 BS and formulating an integrated policy is underway". The government is confident that good governance and prosperity can be achieved in the country only through ICT use. the message reads, adding it would help in fulfilling the aspiration of building a prosperous Nepal by developing and implementing relevant projects. "The government has a clear goal to achieve prosperity through digital transformation by digitizing every sector and revisiting the 'Digital Nepal Framework-2076'. It was put in place with the belief of transforming the economic and social sectors by using more and more information technology for rapid development and high economic growth", the message noted. Minister Sharma also appealed to all to make concrete contributions in establishing good governance and prosperity through the use of safe information technology. According to the Minister, ICT use is expanding at a rapid pace and the services provided by the State to the citizens are becoming information technology-friendly. "The use of electronic system in various public services has increased in today's time", Minister Sharma said, adding that the government has laid emphasis on expanding the reach of telecommunication services across the country as a basic digital infrastructure to make the develop ment and use of digital payment system more rapid and effective. With the theme 'Information Technology and Communications, A Base for Prosperous Nepal', the 7th National Information and Communication Technology is being observed today. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Kathmandu: West Indies 'A' has won the title of T20 series before playing one remaining match. West Indies 'A' defeated Nepal by 28 runs in today's fourth match leading 3-1 in the five-match series. Elected to bat first after winning the toss at Kirtipur-based TU Cricket Ground, West Indies 'A' scored 209 runs in 20 overs losing three wickets. Chasing the target posted by West Indies 'A', Nepal gathered 181 runs in 20 overs losing all wickets. Andre Fletcher of West Indies 'A', made the highest 84 runs in 54 balls. Similarly, Johnson Charles scored 58 runs and Fabian Allen 33 runs (not out). Towards bowling, Kushal Bhurtel took two wickets while Pratish GC one wicket for Nepal. Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel gathered the highest 82 runs in 47 balls for Nepal. Hayden Walsh and Matthew Forde of West Indies 'A' took three wickets each while Fabian Allen and Gudakesh Motie two wickets each. The final match between Nepal and West Indies 'A' of the ongoing series will be played on Saturday. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Agriculture Minister Mohammed Abdus Shahid today said despite surplus production of onions in the country, the government has to import onions due to lack of its adequate storage facilities only. "Currently the country produces about 3.5 million tonnes of onion annually, which is more than the demand . . . But as onions are highly perishable and due to lack of storage, the demand has to meet by importing," the minister said while opening onion storage and processing center built by the Netherlands government at Bharadoba in Bhaluka upazila here. The warehouse was built in collaboration with the country's giant Agro Processing Netherlands having the capacity of 400 metric tonnes of products. He said almost every year the authorities concerned have to face problems with onions and therefore action plans are being implemented to achieve self-sufficiency in onion. The agriculture minister, however, said the onion production has increased by one million tonnes in the last two years which is more enough than th at of existing demand in Bangladesh. Abdus Shahid said the government is providing necessary support to farmers, including free and subsidized seeds with fertilizers to increase production while special emphasis is being put on reducing wastage or post-harvest losses as 20-30% of the crop is lost or wasted after harvesting. Highly appreciating the Netherland government for this initiative, the minister said such onion storage will be very beneficial for both the farmers and consumers of Bangladesh. He called upon the private entrepreneurs of both the Netherlands and Bangladesh to invest in the construction of more onion storehouses so that farmers can store onions in the days to come. Ambassador of the Netherlands in Dhaka Irma van Duren, Additional Secretary Malay Chowdhury, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Sheikh Md Bakhtiar and Managing Director of Giant Agro Processing Feroz Hasan, among others, also spoke. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha