Private company to operate Tatopani Dry Port from now onwards
A private company has been entrusted with the operation and management of Tatopani Dry Port. The dry port, which was constructed with the financial and technical assistance of the Chinese government, will be operated by the private company from Monday. The Chinese side had handed over the dry port to the Nepal Intermodel Transport Development Committee by completing construction on June 28, 2019. The Committee managed the dry port for some time. The state-owned Nepal Warehousing Company Limited had been operating and managing the dry port since January 1, 2020. Executive Director of the Committee Ashish Gajurel said that the Trans Silk Terminal Pvt. Ltd has been given the management responsibility for five years. The Committee has entrusted the company to manage the dry port for Rs 11. 7 million. The Committee and the company signed the agreement on September 14, 2022. Gajurel said that the company will operate and manage the dry port while the Committee will monitor and regulate it.
One trying to break ATM machine held with khukuri
Police have arrested a man while he was breaking the ATM machine of the NMB bank at Barahi Chowk in lake side, Pokhara Metropolitan City-6. The suspect has been identified as Manoj Kumal (25) of Salyantar, Tripura Sundari Rural Municipality-5, Dhading. Acting on a tip-off that a man has been trying to break the ATM machine, a police team deployed from the Ward Police Office, Baidam caught him in the act. Police said that they have recovered a khukuri from his possession. Further investigation into the incident is underway, police said.
Gold price increases by Rs 400 per tola on Tuesday
The price of gold has increased by Rs 400 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 91, 800 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 91, 400 on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 91, 300 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver is being traded at Rs 1, 180 per tola today.
One killed in Makwanpur lightning
A person died after being struck by a lightning in Makwanpur on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Aitasingh Bhlon (55) of Bakaiya Rural Municipality-11. DSP Tek Bahadur Karki, who is also the spokesperson of the District Police Office, Makwanpur, said that incident occurred while he was staying in the home yesterday evening.
Deadly earthquake rocks Mexico on ‘cursed’ anniversary
A powerful, 7.6 magnitude earthquake has struck western Mexico, killing at least one person and causing panic in the country’s capital on the anniversary of two previous quakes, Aljazeera reported. The earthquake hit shortly after 1pm local time (16:00 GMT) on Monday and was centred in the border area between the states of Michoacan and Colima at a depth of about 15km (9 miles), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The Mexican government said one person was killed in the Pacific port of Manzanillo when a department store roof collapsed on them, while regional officials reported damage to several hospitals in Michoacan. One person was injured by falling glass at one of the hospitals, they said. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of damage in the capital after the earthquake, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day that major quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017. “It’s this date, there’s something about the 19th,” said Ernesto Lanzetta, a business owner in the Cuauhtemoc borough of the city. “The 19th is a day to be feared.” The earthquake on September 19, 2017, killed more than 350 people, while the other on the same date in 1985 killed thousands. “It seems like a curse,” Isa Montes, a 34-year-old graphic designer, said of the quake’s timing as helicopters flew overhead, surveying the city. Al Jazeera’s John Holman, reporting from Mexico City, said many in Mexico viewed the timing of Monday’s quake as “really bizarre”. “It’s happened exactly on the anniversary – the 19th of September – as two other major earthquakes in Mexico,” Holman said. “Those last two earthquakes really wreaked havoc, especially here in the capital.” Many Mexicans reacted to the latest quake by posting an array of memes online venting their amazement. There was one of a bird reading a book titled “how to skip from September 18 to September 20,” while another, mimicking an announcement by the Mexican government, invites outsiders to “Visit Mexico” and “on every September 19, come live the experience of a real temblor”. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of the country’s most prestigious seats of higher learning, said there was no scientific explanation for three major quakes on the same day and attributed it to pure coincidence, according to Aljazeera.
Elderly woman killed in Morang bike hit
An elderly woman died after being hit by a motorbike in Dhanpalthan Rural Municipality-7 of Morang district on Monday. According to Morang Traffic Police Chief Inspector Raj Kumar Karki, the deceased has been identified as Kalawati Mandal (65) of Dhanpalthan-7. The two-wheeler (Province 1-04-001 Pa 8894) heading towards south from north hit her at around 6:30 pm yesterday. Critically injured in the incident, she was rushed to the Golden Hospital in Biratnagar but doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. Police said that they have arrested bike rider Bikash Yadav (17) of Dhanpalthan-7 for investigation.
Ukraine warns of ‘nuclear terrorism’ after strike near plant
A Russian missile blasted a crater close to a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Monday, damaging nearby industrial equipment but not hitting its three reactors. Ukrainian authorities denounced the move as an act of “nuclear terrorism.”
The missile struck within 300 meters (328 yards) of the reactors at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk in Mykolaiv province, leaving a hole 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) deep and 4 meters (13 feet) wide, according to Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom, Associated Press reported.
The reactors were operating normally and no employees were injured, it said. But the proximity of the strike renewed fears that Russia’s nearly 7-month-long war in Ukraine might produce a radiation disaster.
This nuclear power station is Ukraine’s second-largest after the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has repeatedly come under fire.
Following recent battlefield setbacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened last week to step up Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Throughout the war, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s electricity generation and transmission equipment, causing blackouts and endangering the safety systems of the country’s nuclear power plants.
The industrial complex that includes the South Ukraine plant sits along the Southern Bug River about 300 kilometers (190 miles) south of the capital, Kyiv. The attack caused the temporary shutdown of a nearby hydroelectric power plant and shattered more than 100 windows at the complex, Ukrainian authorities said. The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency said three power lines were knocked offline but later reconnected.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry released a black-and-white video showing two large fireballs erupting one after the other in the dark, followed by incandescent showers of sparks, at 19 minutes after midnight. The ministry and Energoatom called the strike “nuclear terrorism.”
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately comment on the attack, according to Associated Press.
Russian forces have occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, since early after the invasion. Shelling has cut off the plant’s transmission lines, forcing operators to shut down its six reactors to avoid a radiation disaster. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for the strikes.
The IAEA, which has stationed monitors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, said a main transmission line was reconnected Friday, providing the electricity it needs to cool its reactors.
But the mayor of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia plant is located, reported more Russian shelling Monday in the city’s industrial zone.
While warning Friday of a possible ramp-up of strikes, Putin claimed his forces had so far acted with restraint but warned “if the situation develops this way, our response will be more serious.”
“Just recently, the Russian armed forces have delivered a couple of impactful strikes,” he said. ”Let’s consider those as warning strikes.”
The latest Russian shelling killed at least eight civilians and wounded 22, Ukraine’s presidential office said Monday. The governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region, now largely back in Ukrainian hands, said Russian shelling killed four medical workers trying to evacuate patients from a psychiatric hospital and wounded two patients.
The mayor of the Russian-occupied eastern city of Donetsk, meanwhile, said Ukrainian shelling had killed 13 civilians and wounded eight there, Associated Press reported.
Patricia Lewis, the international security research director at the Chatham House think-tank in London, said attacks at the Zaporizhzhia plant and Monday’s strike on the South Ukraine plant indicated that the Russian military was attempting to knock Ukrainian nuclear plants offline before winter.
Nanmadol: Mudslides and flooding as typhoon batters Japan
Rescue workers in Japan have warned of mudslides and flooding as one of the biggest storms in recent decades batters the country, BBC reported.
Typhoon Nanmadol has killed at least two people and injured 90 others since it made landfall on the southernmost island of Kyushu on Sunday morning.
Nine million people have been told to evacuate, and more than 350,000 homes are without power.
Forecasts predict up to 400mm (16 inches) of rain over the next 24 hours.
State broadcaster NHK said one man was killed when his car was submerged in flooding, and another died after being buried in a landslide. One more person remains missing, and reports say 87 others have been injured.
The super typhoon brought gusts of up to 234km/h (145mph), destroying homes, and disrupting transport and businesses. It's equivalent to a category four or five hurricane.
The capital, Tokyo, experienced heavy rain, with the Tozai underground line suspended because of flooding. Bullet train services, ferries, and hundreds of flights have been cancelled; shops and businesses have shut. Local video footage showed roofs ripped off of buildings and billboards toppled over.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed a visit to New York, where he is due to give speech at the UN General Assembly, until Tuesday, to monitor the storm's impact, according to BBC.
The storm is forecast to turn east and pass over Japan's main island of Honshu before moving out to sea by Wednesday.
Scientists have predicted an active hurricane season this year, influenced by a natural phenomenon known as La Niña.
Warmer sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and Caribbean as a result of climate change may also impact the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, BBC reported.
