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Nepal should develop friendly relations with India and China for prosperity: Prakash Man Singh

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Kathmandu — Prakash Man Singh, a senior leader of the ruling Nepali Congress, has said that the new government in Nepal should develop cordial and friendly relationships with both India and China and seek support from all friendly countries for the landlocked Himalayan nation’s prosperity.

Mr. Singh, a former Deputy Prime Minister, won the House of Representatives election with a margin of just 127 votes against former BBC Nepali Service journalist Ravindra Mishra, a candidate fielded by the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) in the November 20 general elections.

“If an appropriate opportunity comes, I will contest the election to the Parliamentary Party leader to head the new government,” Mr. Singh told PTI while responding to a question at his residence in Kathmandu shortly after winning the election.

He said that “the new government needs to develop cordial and friendly relationships with both the neighbours, India and China and seek the support, assistance from all the friendly countries for attaining economic prosperity and development of the country.”
The bilateral ties between New Delhi and Kathmandu had come under strain under then Nepalese Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli’s government, which came out with a new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as Nepal’s territories in 2020.

There were frequent reports about China encroaching on Nepalese territory in the Humla district as well as in the international media, which have often been denied by the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.

Responding to another question, the 66-year-old senior leader admitted that as political parties failed to deliver service and fulfil the aspiration of the people, the voters have expressed their dissatisfaction by choosing candidates from new parties and independents in the general elections.

“The new government needs to work towards formulating necessary laws to effectively implement the federal Constitution besides addressing the issues such as good governance, checking corruption and generating youth employment,” he said.
This is the second time that Mr. Singh defeated Mishra, who had contested the election in the same constituency five years ago under the banner of the Biveksheel Sajha Party. Mr. Singh secured 7,140 votes and Mishra secured 7,011 votes.

Elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and seven provincial assemblies were held on November 20. The counting of votes started on November 21.(PTI)

ADB helps world’s football manufacturing capital in Pakistan improve public service

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MANILA  — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping to enhance the infrastructure and services in Pakistan’s Sialkot City, known as the world’s football manufacturing capital that supplied footballs to the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The Manila-based ADB said in a video released on Friday that it was helping to enhance “infrastructure and services” in several cities in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, including Sialkot where over 70 percent of the world’s footballs are fabricated.

“If you ever played football, chances are the ball was made in Sialkot,” the ADB stated, adding it was “helping deliver reliable water supply, improve sanitation systems, and develop accessible, green public spaces” in the city.

“We have international customers,” said Sialkot Airport chairman Khwaja Masood Akhtar. “It is very important that the city’s infrastructure, like roads, railways, airports, and dry ports, should be up to mark. (Xinhua)

South Korea in demographic crisis as many stop having babies

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Seoul, South Korea: Yoo Young Yi’s grandmother gave birth to six children. Her mother birthed two. Yoo doesn’t want any.

“My husband and I like babies so much … but there are things that we’d have to sacrifice if we raised kids,” said Yoo, a 30-year-old Seoul financial company employee. “So it’s become a matter of choice between two things, and we’ve agreed to focus more on ourselves.”

There are many like Yoo in South Korea who have chosen either not to have children or not to marry. Other advanced countries have similar trends, but South Korea’s demographic crisis is much worse.

South Korea’s statistics agency announced in September that the total fertility rate — the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years — was 0.81 last year. That’s the world’s lowest for the third consecutive year.

The population shrank for the first time in 2021, stoking worry that a declining population could severely damage the economy — the world’s 10th largest — because of labor shortages and greater welfare spending as the number of older people increases and the number of taxpayers shrinks. President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered policymakers to find more effective steps to deal with the problem. The fertility rate, he said, is plunging even though South Korea spent 280 trillion won ($210 billion) over the past 16 years to try to turn the tide.

Many young South Koreans say that, unlike their parents and grandparents, they don’t feel an obligation to have a family. They cite the uncertainty of a bleak job market, expensive housing, gender and social inequality, low levels of social mobility and the huge expense of raising children in a brutally competitive society. Women also complain of a persistent patriarchal culture that forces them to do much of the childcare while enduring discrimination at work.

“In a nutshell, people think our country isn’t an easy place to live,” said Lee So-Young, a population policy expert at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. “They believe their children can’t have better lives than them, and so question why they should bother to have babies.”

Many people who fail to enter good schools and land decent jobs feel they’ve become “dropouts” who “cannot be happy” even if they marry and have kids because South Korea lacks advanced social safety nets, said Choi Yoon Kyung, an expert at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. She said South Korea failed to establish such welfare programs during its explosive economic growth in the 1960 to ’80s.

Yoo, the Seoul financial worker, said that until she went to college, she strongly wanted a baby. But she changed her mind when she saw female office colleagues calling their kids from the company toilet to check on them or leaving early when their children were sick. She said her male coworkers didn’t have to do this.

“After seeing this, I realized my concentration at work would be greatly diminished if I had babies,” Yoo said.

Her 34-year-old husband, Jo Jun Hwi, said he doesn’t think having kids is necessary. An interpreter at an information technology company, Jo said he wants to enjoy his life after years of exhaustive job-hunting that made him “feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff.”

There are no official figures on how many South Koreans have chosen not to marry or have kids. But records from the national statistics agency show there were about 193,000 marriages in South Korea last year, down from a peak of 430,000 in 1996.  (AP)

Study suggests how a child sleeps is linked to their behavioural development

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Washington : On examining parental methods to help toddlers sleep across 14 cultures, a group of international researchers found that these methods are related to the development of a child’s temperament.
The researchers suggested focusing on better sleep-related parenting practices to support positive behavioral development across cultures.
The importance of good sleep during childhood development has been extensively researched. Bad sleep quality and behaviors are detrimental to neurobehavioral functioning, emotional reactivity and regulation, and can pose a risk for future psychopathology.
“Parental sleeping techniques are correlated with children’s sleep quality, and the importance of cultural context in child development has been long recognized,” said corresponding author Ms Christie Pham, of Washington State University.
“We wanted to examine whether cross-cultural differences in parental sleep-supporting strategies account for differences in toddler temperament.”
In a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, Pham and her colleagues studied the effect of different parental sleep-supporting techniques on child temperament across 14 cultures. They hypothesized that passive ways of helping a child fall asleep (eg, cuddling, singing, and reading), but not active methods (eg, walking, car rides, and playing), would be positively related to a child’s temperament.
Child temperament
Child temperament is defined as the way children regulate their behavior and handle their emotions. Different child temperaments can have effects on a child’s mental and physical well-being and can pose a risk for future disorders. Researchers previously defined temperament by three overarching factors:
– Surgency (SUR) reflects positive affect such as smiling and laughter, approach tendencies, activity, and enthusiasm.
– Negative Emotionality (NE), which captures overall distress proneness, including in situations eliciting fear, anger, sadness, and discomfort.
– Effortful Control (EC), involving attention-based regulatory skills and enjoyment of calm activities.

Each of the factors independently contributes to predicting behavioral, achievement, and interpersonal outcomes, such as behavior problems, social competence, and academic performance.
The international group of researchers asked 841 caregivers across 14 cultures (Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Turkey, and the US) to fill in the early childhood behaviour questionnaire and a daily activities questionnaire. They were asked to report on their toddler’s (between 17 and 40 months of age, 52 per cent male) temperament and sleep-supporting parenting techniques, respectively.
“Utilizing linear multilevel regression models and group-mean centring procedures, we assessed the role of between- and within-cultural variance in sleep-supporting practices in relation to temperament,” explained Pham.
Active vs passive sleep support
They found that differences in sleep-supporting methods between cultures and within the same culture were associated with different temperament characteristics. The difference was larger between cultures, meaning that sleeping methods independently contribute to differences in child temperament across cultures.
“Our study shows that a parent’s sleep-supporting techniques are substantially associated with their child’s temperament traits across cultures, potentially impacting their development,” said Pham.
“For example, countries with greater reliance on passive strategies had toddlers with higher sociability scores (higher SUR),” Pham continued.
On the other hand, fussy or difficult temperament (higher NE) was significantly correlated with active sleep techniques.
Overall, passive sleep-supporting techniques were associated with lower NE and higher SUR at the culture level and higher EC at the individual level. Active sleep-supporting techniques were associated with higher NE at an individual level only.
Rank-ordering the extent to which a culture’s sample endorsed using passive techniques, the results show that the US, Finland, and Netherlands top the list and South Korea, Turkey, and China are at the bottom of this distribution. In contrast, rank-ordering for active techniques, the researchers find that Romania, Spain, and Chile top the list while Turkey, Italy, and Belgium are at the bottom of the distribution.
“Our results demonstrate the importance of sleep promotion and suggest that parental sleep practices could be potential targets for interventions to mitigate risk posed by challenging temperament profiles across cultures,” concluded Pham. (ANI)

France takes first step to add abortion right to constitution

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PARIS: Lawmakers in France’s lower house of parliament on Thursday adopted a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution, the first step in a lengthy and uncertain legislative battle prompted by the rollback of abortion rights in the United States.

The vote was 337-32 in the 557-member National Assembly.

To be added into the constitution, any measure must be first approved by majorities in the National Assembly and the upper house, the Senate, and then in a nationwide referendum.

Authors of the proposal, from a left-wing coalition, argued the measure was aimed at “protecting and guaranteeing the fundamental right to voluntary termination of pregnancy.”

Abortion in France was decriminalized under a key 1975 law, but there is nothing in the constitution that would guarantee abortion rights.

Mathilde Panot, head of the hard-left France Unbowed group at the National Assembly and co-signatory of the proposal, said that “our intent is clear: we want not to leave any chance to people opposed to the right to abortion.”

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said the centrist government supports the initiative.

He referred to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion and left the decision to the states.

“The right to abortion we thought was acquired for 50 years [in the U.S.] was in reality not at all acquired,” he said.

A recent poll showed that more than 80% of the French population supported the right to abortion. The results were consistent with those in previous surveys. The same poll also showed that a solid majority of people were in favor of enshrining it in the constitution.

Centrists’ proposal dropped

French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, Renaissance, on Thursday decided to withdraw a similar proposal that was meant to be debated Monday also in the National Assembly. Centrist and leftist lawmakers agreed instead on supporting a single bill saying that “the law guarantees the effectiveness and equal access to the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy.”

Success isn’t guaranteed for supporters of the bill. The Senate, where the conservative party, the Republicans, has a majority, rejected a similar bill in September. The Republican senators argued the measure was not needed since the right to abortion was not under threat in France.

Dupond-Moretti said he was “hopeful” that some senators could change their minds and form a majority in favor.

He and other proponents of constitutional change argue that French lawmakers should not take any chances on fundamental rights, since it is easier to change the law than the constitution.

The right to abortion enjoys broad support across the French political spectrum, including from Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally. Yet Le Pen in recent days said she was opposed to the leftist proposal because she thought it could lead to extending or abolishing the time limit at which a pregnancy can be terminated.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June, Macron had tweeted that “abortion is a fundamental right for all women. It must be protected.”

VOA

FIFA WC 2022 kicks off in Qatar , 32 teams set to fight for the prize

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DOHA: The highly-anticipated FIFA World Cup 2022 will start in Qatar from Sunday.

32 teams are  eyeing glory in this once-in-every-four-years football extravaganza.

The teams are hosts Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, the Netherlands, England, Iran, USA, Wales, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland, France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia, Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea.

France is the defending champion, having won their second title in 2018 after defeating Croatia in the final. They will be aiming to defend their crown against a world-class competition offered by these aforementioned teams.

It will be the final World Cup tournament for Lionel Messi, the Argentina striker considered one of the greatest ever footballers of all time.

It is also highly likely that 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo will don the Portuguese colours for one final time.

This marks the first time the Middle East is hosting the event.

It is also the first time the World Cup is being held outside the typical June-July window, in order to avoid the desert heat during the summers in Qatar.

Eight stadiums across Qatar will be hosting the 64 matches of this tournament.

Qatar and Ecuador will lock horns in the campaign opener from 9:45 pm Nepal time onwards.

The Round of 16 from December 3 onwards will mark the beginning of the knockout stage of the tournament.

The quarterfinals will start from December 9 onwards, followed by the semifinals from December 14 onwards.

The title clash will take place on December 18 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail.

COP27 concludes setting up the Loss and Damage Response Fund, LDCs welcome the decision

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London – The United Nation’s Climate Change Conference (COP27) has concluded in the Egyptian resort city, Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, after agreeing to set up a Loss and Damage response fund.

The Conference of Parties, also known as annual jamboree, brought together nearly 30,000 delegates, representatives of non-governmental organisations and activists from around the world.

Pakistan’s climate minister, Sherry Rehman, told reporters that she was very happy with the agreement.

“I am confident we have turned a corner in how we work together to achieve climate goals,” she said.

Environment minister Molwyn Joseph, and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said the deal was a “win for the entire world” and “restored global faith in this critical process dedicated to ensuring no one is left behind”.

But nations like UK were not happy.

“A clear commitment to phase-out all fossil fuels? Not in this text,” said the UK’s Alok Sharma, who was president of the COP26 summit in Glasgow held last year.

Poor nations had been demanding that such a fund be set up to compensate for the historic carbon emissions emitted by rich, industrialised nations in the past.

LDCs appreciate the Loss and Damage Fund

Meanwhile, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have appreciated the COP27 decision to create a fund to respond to loss and damage and to set up a transition committee to operationalize it.

 

Regarding loss and damage, LDCs would like to appreciate the efforts made by all Parties to devise an effective institutional structure for the Santiago Network for loss and damage. We urge developed country Parties to provide the necessary financial support to catalyze technical assistance to address loss and damage through this network, the LDC Group said in a statement.

“The signal that this decision sends to the world and to ourselves as Parties strengthens our confidence in this multilateral process and its results on which our common future rests,” said Madeleine Diouf SARR (Republic of Senegal) – Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group at UN Climate Change negotiations.

“The fund should be an operational entity within the framework of the financial mechanism of the Convention and the Paris Agreement with new, additional and predictable public funding,” said Ms Diouf SARR speaking on behalf of the 46 least developed countries.

“With regard to mitigation, we acknowledge the agreement reached in adoption of the “work programme for urgently scaling up mitigation ambition and implementation”.The work programme must lead us towards raising ambition in NDCs in line with 1.5°C pathways, with provision of support for developing countries, particularly LDCs,” she said.

 

“As far as adaptation is concerned, we would like to stress the need to help LDCs to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). With regard to the global goal on adaptation, we are pleased to see the framework initiated at COP 27 to achieve the global goal on adaptation and to assess progress towards achieving it,” the Group said. 

“As far as finances are concerned, we would like to reiterate the importance of continuing work on the definition of climate finance in order to support the implementation of the new goal with strong transparency provisions that allow clear monitoring of progress and achievements,” Ms Diouf SARR said adding, “We expect to see next year the achievement of the USD 100 billion target, lagging behind since 2020, as well as clear progress in achieving the commitment to double funding for adaptation by 2025.”

Nepal Election 2022 : 60 per cent turnout, report says

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Kathmandu :  The general election of Nepal has been commenced today. The voting period as set by the Election Commission- from 7 am to 5 pm today- has been over.

The voters’ turnout remained around 60 per cent as per the preliminary report of the Election Commission (EC).

Shaligram Sharma, EC spokesperson, said that voters who entered the polling stations as fixed by the election officer by 5 pm can allow the voters to cast vote even after 5 pm. There were 22, 227 polling centers in 10,893 polling stations across the country.

A total of 17,988,570 voters were eligible to vote in the election, for which 22,227 polling booths in 10,892 polling centres were  been established.

There are 2,412 candidates in the House of Representatives election race under the first-past-the-post election system contesting 165 seats. There are  2,199 candidates contesting under the PR election system for 110 HoR seats.

There are 3,224 candidates who were contesting Provincial Assembly elections under the FPTP system. As many as 3,708 candidates are trying their luck under the PR election system. According to the EC Nepal,  counting will begin soon after the ballot boxes will reach to the counting spot.

Nepal exports power worth Rs. 10.38 bn with permit for additional 23.5 MW

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Kathmandu —  Electricity worth Rs. 10.38 billion has been exported to India during the first five-and-a-half months after Nepal started exporting power to India in June this year.

According to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), upwards of 1.26 billion units of surplus electricity were exported, earning Rs. 10.389 billion in revenue by mid-November, 2022.

The Authority started selling the surplus electricity in the monsoon period through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX) from June 2, 2022.

Since the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees, during this period, around IRs. 6.49 billion has been brought into Nepal from the sale of electricity.

This is contributing to improve Nepal’s foreign exchange reserves and reduce trade deficit between the two countries.

In the beginning, 39 megawatts of electricity generated by two power plants was considered as a source and was sold to IEX on a daily basis. After that, 364 megawatts produced by six hydropower plants were being sold daily in the Indian market at a competitive rate from June 10, 2022.

With the start of electricity export from Chilime and Solukhola from November 4 and 5 respectively, the approved capacity of electricity exported to India has reached 409 megawatts.

Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising said that as the flow of water in the rivers is decreasing, the export of electricity is also gradually decreasing along with the reduction of power generation from the hydroelectric power stations based on river flow.

“Industries are currently not taking electricity according to the approved load, due to which the demand for electricity in the industrial corridors in the country is not increasing. At present, it is likely that the excess electricity will be exported by the third week of December,” he said.

In IEX, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market.

Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by the Authority till mid-November is Rs. 8.23 per unit

The NEA has also received permission for electricity export from the Solukhola Hydropower plant with an additional 23.5 MW installed capacity of the rainy season.

On November 11, the Central Electricity Authority under the Ministry of Power of the government of India gave permission for the sale of electricity generated by Solukhola in the day-ahead market of IEX through competition.

The Authority has now received permission for the sale of 409 MW of electricity generated by 8 hydropower plants in the market.  ( From the Rising Nepal )

Pakistanis continue to suffer from aftermath of devastating floods: UN

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UNITED NATIONS — More than three months since the devastating floods began in Pakistan, the catastrophe is far from over, said a UN spokesman on Friday.

Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene remains challenging, with the flooding and standing water having led to a rise in water- and vector-borne diseases, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Millions of people face increased food insecurity as families are returning home to destroyed houses, ruined crops, and dead livestock, he told a daily press briefing.

As winter begins to set in, with snow already affecting some areas, people affected by the floods are even more vulnerable and many need adequate shelter, food and winterization support, he said.

More than 5 million people remain displaced as the floods have affected 33 million people and caused destruction across the agricultural, health and education sectors, said Haq.

Food and livelihoods assistance has reached 4.1 million people, while 1.5 million people have received emergency shelter kits, blankets, bedding and kitchen sets. UN humanitarians and partners have provided health assistance to 1.5 million people, while more than 1.7 million people have received clean water, he said.

“We are calling for additional funding to maintain the life-saving response. The 816-million-U.S. dollar humanitarian appeal launched by the United Nations and the government of Pakistan is currently just 21 percent funded,” said the spokesman. (Xinhua)

Bangladesh’s central bank creates 500-mln-USD refinance scheme for food security

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DHAKA — Bangladesh Bank (BB) has worked out a 50 billion taka (about 500 million U.S. dollars) refinance scheme to ensure food security in the country as the banking regulator anticipates a possible global food crisis in the near future, said a BB circular issued here on Thursday.

The prices of several food items have gone up in the global market, which is why the central bank has created the fund for farmers to get low-cost loans.

Under the scheme, the farmers will be able to take loans at an interest rate of 4 percent.

Banks will be allowed to take loans at an interest rate of 0.5 percent from the fund, meaning that they will enjoy an interest margin of 3.5 percent after disbursing the fund to the farmers.

Small marginal farmers can take a single collateral-free loan up to a maximum of 2 lakh taka (about 25,548 dollars) for the cultivation of crops including rice, vegetables and fruits. (Xinhua)

Nepal Election 2022: The country observes ‘Silence Period’, EC urges all not to violate laws

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Kathmandu —Nepal has been observing a silence period since midnight on Thursday, the 48 hours before the voting day on Sunday.

Nepal’s election management body’s silence period is an important component of the electoral laws to ensure that political parties do not violate the set conduct.

The Election Commission has said the violation of the Silence Period that has been enforced since midnight in view of the elections for the House of Representatives and Province Assembly is punishable by laws.

The ‘Silence Period’ is a provision of a ban imposed by the Election Commission Nepal that prevents political parties and their supporters from engaging in election campaigning and other activities to influence the voters.

The EC has directed the entire returning and monitoring officers to promptly respond to any cases of the violation of the Silence Period in accordance with the Election (Offense and Punishment) Act (2017) and inform it to the EC.

The clause 24 (5) of the Act bans any election publicity campaigns before 48 hours of the voting day, and the EC and returning and monitoring officers have the authority to impose a fine up to Rs 25,000 in case of the breaching of the Provision, according to EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel.

The EC has written to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Nepal Press Council, reminding them of the Provision to be followed 48 hours before the voting day until the completion of voting procedures. The Ministry and Council have been asked not to disseminate or broadcast any content relating to the activities of political parties or the candidates or the election publicity campaign.

The EC has urged all people not to, and cause not to, carry out any activities related to election publicity such as gatherings, interactions, assemblies, workshops, and seminars until the vote count is complete.

Similarly, they have been asked not to, and cause not to, upload, comment, tag, like, and counter-comment on anything election related on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Any political campaigns and publicity through social sites, and news websites have also been prohibited. The Advertisement Board has been asked to do the monitoring.

Wearing the clothing, logos, badges, T-shirts, jackets, shawls, caps, vests, facemasks, bags and stickers that symbolically identify candidates and any political parties around polling centers has been banned. Security personnel deployed for the polls have been directed to take action against such activities. (Nepal live today )

Qatar World-cup 2022: dress code guidelines and alcohol ban at the stadium

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Doha : In a decision that has garnered criticism from across the world, the Qatar government issued attire guidelines for fans visiting the Middle-Eastern country for FIFA World Cup 2022.
In a statement issued by Qatar Tourism, the authority has asked the fans flocking to the country to wear appropriate clothes, keeping in mind the local culture.
“Attitudes towards dressing in Qatar are relaxed, but visitors (men as well as women) are expected to show respect for the local culture by avoiding excessively revealing clothes in public. It is generally recommended for men and women to ensure their shoulders and knees are covered,” read a statement issued by Qatar Tourism on their website.

Spectators have been urged to respect Qatar‘s legal and cultural norms, including its restrictions on drinking, drugs, sexual activity, and attire.
Touching especially on clothing, travellers may want to reconsider their choices in light of the restrictions that Qatar has put in place.
The football extravaganza will begin on November 20 and will go on till December 18. In the first match, the Ecuadorian team will clash with the host team, Qatar.

Similarly , the sale of alcohol to fans at World Cup stadiums in Qatar has been banned with just two days to go until the tournament kicks off. Fans will no longer be able to buy Budweiser, which would have been the only alcoholic beverage available to fans inside the stadium perimeter due to its sponsorship of FIFA.

However, no one attending matches will now be able to consume alcohol in any part of the stadia, with the exception of corporate spectators in hospitality areas.

FIFA released a statement on Friday confirming the removal of sales points of beer from the stadium perimeters “following discussions between the host country authorities and FIFA”.


The 32 countries qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup are Qatar (Hosts), Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, Uruguay, Croatia, Denmark, Mexico, the United States, Senegal, Wales, Poland, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Switzerland, Ghana, Korea Republic, Cameroon, Serbia, Canada, Costa Rica, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Ecuador.
The World Cup in 2022 will be held in 8 different stadiums across the middle-eastern nation of Qatar: Lusail Iconic Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Stadium 974, Al Thumama Stadium, Education City Stadium, Al Wakrah Sports Complex. (ANI/ Agencies)

Bollywood movie “Uunchai” to be honoured for promoting Nepali tourism

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Kathmandu — Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is planning to honour the director and artistes of Bollywood film Uunchai for helping promote Nepal’s tourism.

Directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya, the film was shot at Swayambhu and Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and Manang, Lukla, Namche and Everest Base Camp.

The team of Uunchai spent about a month in Nepal. Nepali food and landscapes are featured in the movie.

Uunchai is the story of friendship between four senior citizens. After one of them dies of a heart attack, the other three decide to go on a trek to the Everest Base Camp to fulfil their deceased buddy’s wishes.

Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta and Sarika among others have done the film. At a meeting held at the Nepal Film Development Board on Wednesday, NTB’s Chief Executive Officer Dhananjay Regmi expressed his desire to honour the Uunchai film unit.

According to the Tourism Board, the director and actors involved in the movie would be invited to Nepal and feted by the President or the Prime Minister. If they are not able to come to Nepal, then arrangements will be made to honour them in Mumbai, India, the Rising Nepal reports.

Film Development Board Chairman Bhuwan KC, who participated in the meeting, said that the Board would also cooperate with the Tourism Board for it.

Uunchai is believed to have grossed over Rs. 10 million from Nepal.

World Bank, Rural Reconstruction Nepal sign USD 4.5 million pact to Strengthen Role of Forest-Dependent Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Climate Action

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Kathmandu: The World Bank and Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) signed a USD 4.5 million grant agreement to strengthen the capacity of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in Nepal’s forest sector.

The five-year Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Nepal project will help enhance the capacity of IPLCs to participate in Nepal’s REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) processes at the local, national, and global levels for the sustainable management of forests, the World Bank said. “This will help create livelihood opportunities and increase the income of forest-dependent communities in the Madhesh and Lumbini Provinces.”

The Rural Reconstruction Nepal is the national executing agency for the project.

The agreement was signed by Lada Strelkova, World Bank Operations Manager for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and Dr Arjun Karki, President of Rural Reconstruction Nepal.

“This project supports Nepal’s Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities through a dedicated funding mechanism that will promote and protect their customary institutions that are crucial for the sustainable management of natural resources and climate resilience,” said Lada Strelkova, World Bank Operations Manager for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

“The project contributes significantly to Nepal’s transition to Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) for sustainable recovery, growth, and jobs.”

The DGM Nepal project aims to provide long‐term benefits to IPLCs from the sustainable use of forests, including adding value to products and more active involvement in Nepal’s policy-making process.

“The project provides much-needed support to forest-dependent indigenous peoples and local communities to enhance their resilience and build livelihoods through small-scale forest and non-forest-based business and employment opportunities,” said Dr Arjun K. Karki, President of Rural Reconstruction Nepal. IPLCs are both beneficiaries and active proponents and participants in the project.

During implementation, they will preside over the use of the grant resources in Nepal through a National Steering Committee (NSC) to provide strategic and leadership guidance to the RRN as executing agency.

The NSC is a 14-member team of representative NGOs identified through a self-selection process with an equal representation of IPLC representatives as decision-making members.

“This project is an excellent example of the innovation and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Nepal,” said Meerim Shakirova, Natural Resources Management Specialist at the World Bank. “Notably, it demonstrates that they can lead the design and implementation of development projects, meeting the expectations of the communities they represent as well as the requirements of the World Bank, donors, and partners.”

The DGM Nepal project is funded by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Forest Investment Program (FIP) implemented by the World Bank to enhance the role of IPLCs in protecting the forests they depend on. “Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Nepal are a critical pillar for climate action. I believe that the project will improve their capacity and skills to have a greater role in forest-related decisions at the country and international levels,” said Ms. Bharati Pathak, Co-chair of the National Steering Committee.

“If forest-dependent indigenous peoples and local communities from Madhesh and Lumbini Provinces can generate income from forest-related activities and foster innovation through this project’s capacity building and competitive grants mechanism, it will encourage IPLCs to ensure that their traditional knowledge, norms, and values are recognized alongside with the customary law,” said Mr. Jagat Baram, Co-chair of the National Steering Committee. (Nepal Live Today)

Nepal election : government to grant a four-day holiday during 20th November

Posted on by SAT News Desk

Kathmandu —  The government of Nepal has decided to grant a four-day holiday during the November 20 elections of House of Representatives (HoR) and Provincial Assembly (PA) members.

Holidays from November 18 to 21 have been granted to Schools where polling centres are fixed and two days’ holiday on November 20 and 21 granted for government offices and public agencies.

It has been mentioned in the press release issued by Fanindra Mani Pokharel, Spokesperson at the Ministry for Home Affairs on Tuesday.

Approximately 18 million voters will get an opportunity on November 20 to elect 275-strong House of Representatives as well as 550 members to the provincial assemblies in Nepal.

the polls to elect 275 members to the House of Representatives and 550 members to Nepal’s 7 provincial assemblies. Of them, 165 Members of Parliament will be voted in directly, while the remaining will be selected from the list of Proportional Representation (PR) candidates.

Similarly, 330 provincial seats will be filled through direct voting while the remaining seats will go to PR candidates.

There are 2,412 candidates, of whom only 225 are women contesting the parliamentary election under the first past the post (FPTP) election system, and 867 of them have registered independently. Similarly 3,224 FPTP candidates, of which 280 are women, will contest provincial elections.

Of the total registered voters, 50.8% are male, while 49.2% are female. A little more than a third of voters are between 26-40, making up the largest age group in the electorate. Nearly 20% of all voters are concentrated in Bagmati Province, while Karnali has the fewest voters at 5.6%.