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Scientists have for the first time found microplastics in freshly fallen Antarctic snow, BBC reported.

Researchers from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand collected samples from 19 sites in Antarctica and each contained tiny plastic fragments.

Microplastics stem from the erosion of plastic materials and are smaller than a grain of rice - sometimes even invisible to the naked eye.

The researchers found an average of 29 particles per litre of melted snow, according to BBC.

They identified 13 different types of plastics and the most common was polyethylene terephthalate (PET), mostly used in soft-drink bottles and clothing. This was found in 79% of the samples.

Workers pulled scores of bodies from smashed buildings in an “endless caravan of death” inside the devastated city of Mariupol, authorities said Wednesday, while fears of a global food crisis escalated over Ukraine’s inability to export millions of tons of grain through its blockaded ports, Associated Press reported.

At the same time, Ukrainian and Russian forces battled fiercely for control of Sievierodonestk, a city that has emerged as central to Moscow’s grinding campaign to capture Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.

As the fighting dragged on, the human cost of the war continued to mount. In many of Mariupol’s buildings, workers are finding 50 to 100 bodies each, according to a mayoral aide in the Russian-held port city in the south.

Petro Andryushchenko said on the Telegram app that the bodies are being taken in an “endless caravan of death” to a morgue, landfills and other places. At least 21,000 Mariupol civilians were killed during the weeks-long Russian siege, Ukrainian authorities have estimated.

The consequences of the war are being felt far beyond Eastern Europe because shipments of Ukrainian grain are bottled up inside the country, driving up the price of food.

Ukraine, long known as the “bread basket of Europe,” is one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but much of that flow has been halted by the war and a Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. An estimated 22 million tons of grain remains in Ukraine. The failure to ship it out is endangering the food supply in many developing countries, especially in Africa, according to Associated Press.

Russia expressed support Wednesday for a UN plan to create a safe corridor at sea that would allow Ukraine to resume grain shipments. The plan, among other things, calls for Ukraine to remove mines from the waters near the Black Sea port of Odesa.

But Russia is insisting that it be allowed to check incoming vessels for weapons. And Ukraine has expressed fear that clearing the mines could enable Russia to attack the coast. Ukrainian officials said the Kremlin’s assurances that it wouldn’t do that cannot be trusted.

European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday accused the Kremlin of “weaponizing food supplies and surrounding their actions with a web of lies, Soviet-style.”

While Russia, which is also a major supplier of grain to the rest of the world, has blamed the looming food crisis on Western sanctions against Moscow, the European Union heatedly denied that and said the blame rests with Russia itself for waging war against Ukraine.

“These are Russian ships and Russian missiles that are blocking the export of crops and grain,” Michel said. “Russian tanks, bombs and mines are preventing Ukraine from planting and harvesting.”

The West has exempted grain and other food from its sanctions against Russia, but the U.S. and the EU have imposed sweeping punitive measures against Russian ships. Moscow argues that those restrictions make it impossible to use its ships to export grain, and also make other shipping companies reluctant to carry its product, Associated Press reported.

Turkey has sought to play a role in negotiating an end to the war and in brokering the resumption of grain shipments. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Ukraine was not invited to the talks.

Much of the recent controversy over the proposed Nijgadh International Airport in Bara district could have been avoided. Successive governments pushed the ‘national pride project’ without a clear understanding of the trade-offs of building an airport smack-dab in the middle of a dense biodiversity-rich forest. Nor was there much of a plan on the resettlement of the villages that would be uprooted during its construction. As a part of a highly ambitious plan, 80 sq. km of land was cordoned off. It was three to four times the area covered by even the biggest airports in the world. Besides an international airport, the plan was also to build a smart city from the ground-up–with the whole enterprise expected to cost around an eye-watering $6.5bn.  

Most aviation experts reckon a fourth of the area being proposed is enough to build a world-class airport. This would not only dramatically lower project cost but also pose less of an environmental challenge. On the other hand, if the airport and surrounding structures were to sprawl over 80 sq. km, a whopping 2.4m trees would have to be felled. The idea of the smart city was also rather daft: there are plenty of nearby cities that can be easily upgraded to service the new airport. No wonder the Supreme Court had to intervene and ask the government to stop building the proposed airport that didn’t seem to be making any rhyme or reason.  

But there is also no alternative to Nijgadh. After a decade and half, the three airports purpose-built for international air-traffic–TIA, Pokhara and Bhairahawa–between them won’t be able to handle half the volume of expected air-traffic. Of all the proposed sites for an alternative international airport, Nijgadh is also the only place where international flights will be able to start their descent in Nepali airspace–a huge consideration given India’s reluctance to allow third-country carriers in its airspace.       

As many aviation experts have pointed out, a top-notch international airport can be built at Nijgadh for around $3bn, and with minimal environmental damage and disturbance to the lives and livelihoods of those living in the vicinity. Time then to go back to the drawing board.  

India’s Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar has said that India’s neighborhood first policy is clearly associated with a generous and non-reciprocal approach to our immediate proximity.

Addressing an event organized to mark 8 years of Modi government in New Delhi, he said: “If you consider Neighborhood First, for example, it is now clearly associated with a generous and non-reciprocal approach to our immediate proximity.”

“We envisage India as a larger lifting tide for the entire region. Our investments in connectivity, expansion of contacts, and promotion of cooperation have also been noteworthy. Whether it was during Covid or the current economic challenges, India has gone the extra mile for its neighbors and will continue to do so,” he said.

The Indian Minister said the support that we received from Ukraine’s neighbors during neighbors Ganga was also very valuable. On our part, it is by now established tradition that any rescue and relief effort also covers citizens of other countries, he said.

I hope that you also share my belief that Indian foreign policy thinking is displaying greater conceptual and operational clarity, he said.

The US government’s international religious freedom report 2021 has stated that police surveillance of Tibetan refugees in Nepal remained high throughout the year. 

In some cases, the number of security personnel monitoring Tibetans and the scrutiny of Tibetan cultural and religious celebrations, particularly those involving the Dalai Lama, increased, says the report.  

The report further states that Tibetan community leaders again said government authorities generally permitted them to celebrate most Buddhist holidays in private ceremonies but prohibited the public celebration of the Dalai Lama’s birthday and continued to curtail their ability to hold other public celebration

The Ambassador and visiting U.S. government representatives met with government officials to express concern regarding restrictions on the country’s Tibetan community, says the report.   Embassy officials met with civil society groups and government officials to discuss the challenges of registering and reregistering religiously affiliated NGOs and other NGOs, the report further reads.  Read the Nepal report here : https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/nepal/

The Embassy of Nepal in India (EoNI) and India-Nepal Centre (INC), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) on Tuesday organized India-Nepal Partnership Summit 2022 to celebrate India’s 75th year of independence and further deepening India-Nepal bilateral ties.

 “Civilizational links and geographical links are the key elements which can help to energize and reinvent the bilateral relations between India and Nepal,” said K V Rajan, Chairman of India-Nepal Centre, PHDCCI and India’s Former Ambassador to Nepal in his opening remarks, read a statement issued by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Tourism is the mainstay of the Nepal economy and religious tourism is one of the key contributors to the Nepalis tourism industry. The relationship between two countries is very strong but this is the time when we have to think on accommodating the aspirations with changing times and further strengthen it. Our relationship should be nurtured,” said the chief guest and keynote speaker Dr Shankar Prasad Sharma, Nepal’s Ambassador to India. Dr Sharma said that trade deficit between two countries remains a matter of concern, energy and agriculture sectors.

“In April 2022, Nepal's PM Sher Bahadur Deuba visited India which generated various opportunities for both the countries and built mutual interests including for infrastructure development and economic partnership, trade, health and power. For post-pandemic economic rebounding in both countries, a positive environment that is created with the Prime Minister's visits from both sides in recent times will be utmost crucial,” said Ram Prasad Subedi, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Nepal in India. 

 “Nepal has already begun exporting 177 MW of energy to India via the power exchange market. The tourism sector of India plays a significant role in the economic multiplier and becomes critical since India has to grow at rapid rates and create employment opportunities for its fellow citizens,” he added.

“The objective of today’s conference is to foster relationships and deepen the links, boosting the growth and prosperity of both sides. India is Nepal's largest trade partner and the largest source of FDI, besides majorly providing transit for third-country trade of Nepal. There are three key areas where both nations are working right now are Trade Facilitation, Deepening Energy Cooperation and Cross Border Connectivity,” said Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary (North), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. 

He added, “Nepal becomes the 4th Country to use the RUPAY card after UAE, Bhutan and Singapore and the ways are being explored to further support financial connectivity. Also, it is vital to note the progress with the projects like railways (Jayanagar-Bardibas), Terai roads, Integrated Check Posts (ICPs), post-earthquake reconstructions.”

“India has been putting best efforts for fostering bilateral ties with Nepal and with a view that we have aligned objectives. We should prioritise three areas of cooperation: Energy Trade; Bio-agri and connectivity. Also we have to cooperate on climate change front,” said Jayant Prasad, India’s Former Ambassador to Nepal.

“Nepal is facing the challenges with financial liquidity and balance of payment, SBI (through NSBL) is doing its best to support the industry to overcome them. On the other hand, it is also true that SBI's most profitable business outside India is in Nepal and that broadly reflects on the bright possibilities Nepal’s market offers,” Anukool Bhatnagar, Chief General Manager and Head-Nepal Desk, SBI. 

 “SBI is deeply committed to backward-forward linkages, smooth financial transactions, banking safety, financial inclusion and sustainable development goals. With the Arun-III power project and many others, SBI has been contributing to Nepal’s development and India-Nepal relations at large,” he added.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 60. 22 points to close at 2, 080. 44 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 11. 25 points to close at 400. 37 points.

Meanwhile, a total of 5, 005, 815 unit shares of 231 companies were traded for Rs 1. 64 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green. Life Insurance topped the chart with 293. 13 points.

At the end of the day, total market capitalisation stood at Rs 2. 96 trillion.

Nepal reported 16 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 121 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 10 returned positive. Likewise, 928 people underwent antigen tests, of which six were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that eight infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 109 active cases in the country.