Submit your Article

A six-year-old girl, who was critically injured in a school bus hit at Rangeni in Morang on Tuesday, died during the course of treatment on Friday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Sunam Kumari Mandal.

Police said that she was hit by the bus of Mount Makalu Boarding School in Rangeli Municipality-6. Mandal was a student of the same school.

Incapacitated in the incident, she was rushed to the Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar for treatment.

Police said that four-year-old Ritik Mandal of Rangel-7, who sustained critical injuries in the incident, died on the same day.

The school bus hit Sunam and Ritik while they were heading towards their home after school.

NATO leaders concluded their three-day meeting in Madrid Thursday with the Western security alliance strengthening its defense against Russian aggression, warning of global challenges posed by China and inviting neutral countries Finland and Sweden into the group, Voanews.com reported.

US President Joe Biden described the summit as “historic.”

“The last time NATO drafted a new mission statement was 12 years ago,” Biden said, referring to a document also known as the alliance’s Strategic Concept.

“At that time, it characterized Russia as a partner, and it didn't mention China. The world has changed, changed a great deal since then, and NATO is changing as well. At this summit, we rallied our alliances to meet both the direct threats that Russia poses to Europe and the systemic challenges that China poses to a rules-based world order. And we've invited two new members to join NATO,” Biden said.

Biden reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has only strengthened NATO.

“He tried to weaken us, expected our resolve to fracture but he's getting exactly what he did not want,” Biden said. “He wanted the ‘Finland-ization’ of NATO. He got the ‘NATO-ization’ of Finland.”

On Wednesday Putin dismissed the imminent expansion of the Western alliance.

“With Sweden and Finland, we don't have the problems that we have with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead," Putin told Russian state television.

“But they must understand there was no threat before, while now, if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in kind and create the same threats for the territories from which threats towards us are created,” he warned.

As it sets to expand, NATO leaders agreed on a massive increase in troop deployments across Europe. A total of 300,000 soldiers will be placed at high readiness across the continent starting next year to defend against potential military attacks by Moscow on any member of the alliance – what Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg characterized as “the most serious security crisis” since the Second World War.

To bolster NATO’s defense, the United States is also set to establish a permanent headquarters for the U.S. 5th Army Corps in Poland, add a rotational brigade of 3,000 troops and 2,000 other personnel to be headquartered in Romania, and send two additional squadrons of F-35 fighter jets to Britain.

Reaffirming commitments made by other Western leaders, Biden said the U.S. will stand firm against Russia’s aggression. He offered little indication the conflict would conclude anytime soon, suggesting that Americans would have to bear high gas prices longer.

“As long as it takes, so Russia cannot in fact defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine," he said.

The main opposition CPN-UML boycotted the clause-wise discussion on the Finance Bill 2079 in the National Assembly.

The UML lawmakers obstructed the meeting soon after it started.

As soon as National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Timilsina gave time to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to present a proposal asking to start clause-wise discussion on the Finance Bill 2079 endorsed by the House of Representatives with a message, UML lawmakers stood from their seats in a gesture of protest.

Later, Timilsina gave time to UML lawmaker Bhairab Sundar Shrestha to speak.

He said that they would not take part in the discussion until Finance Minister Sharma resigns from his post.

The lawmakers walked out of the hall after lawmaker Shrestha said that the party had decided not to take part in the discussion on the proposal presented by Minister Sharma.

The UML had been demanding resignation of Sharma saying that it is not morally appropriate for him to remain in the post after questions have been raised pertaining to changing tax rates on the eve of the budget presentation.

The World Bank today approved $1.03 billion of financing to help improve regional trade in Bangladesh and Nepal by reducing trade and transport costs and transit time along the regional corridors.

The Accelerating Transport and Trade Connectivity in Eastern South Asia (ACCESS) Program Phase 1 will help the respective governments address the key barriers to regional trade ─ manual and paper-based trade processes, inadequate transport and trade infrastructure, and restrictive trade and transport regulations and processes.

The Phase 1 program will help replace lengthy manual and paper-based trade processes with digitized automated solutions in Bangladesh and Nepal. The automation will enable faster border crossing times and install electronic tracking of truck entry and exit, electronic queuing, smart parking. The program will also help improve selected road corridors and upgrade key land ports and custom infrastructure, while ensuring green and climate-resilient construction. This will help the integration of landlocked Bhutan and Nepal with the gateway countries of Bangladesh and India.

"Regional trade offers enormous untapped potential for the countries of South Asia. Today, regional trade accounts for only 5 percent of South Asia’s total trade, while in East Asia it accounts for 50 percent,” said Hartwig Schafer, World Bank Vice President for South Asia. “South Asia can boost economic growth significantly and create opportunities for millions of people by increasing regional trade and connectivity.”

The $753.45 million ACCESS Project in Bangladesh will upgrade the 43 Km two-lane Sylhet-Charkai-Sheola road to a climate-resilient four-lane road, connecting the Sheola Land Port with the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway. This will cut down travel time by 30 percent. The project will support digital systems, infrastructure, and more streamlined processes at Benapole, Bhomra, and Burimari land ports, the three largest land ports in Bangladesh handling approximately 80 percent of land-based trade. It will also support the modernization of the Chattogram customs house which handles 90 percent of all import/export declarations in Bangladesh.

“While the trade between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal grew six times from 2015 to 2019, the unexploited potential for regional trade is estimated at 93 percent for Bangladesh,” said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “The project will help Bangladesh improve regional trade and transport and automation of processes will build resilience to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The $275 million ACCESS Project in Nepal will upgrade 69 km two-lane Butwal—Gorusinghe—Chanauta road along the East-West Highway to a climate-resilient four-lane highway. This is expected to reduce travel time by 30 percent, thus providing better access to India’s western seaports. The project will construct market areas along the highway with dedicated spaces for women entrepreneurs and traders to ensure that women can benefit from the enhanced economic opportunities. It will also support capacity building and digital system to enhance trade and customs processes at Birgunj and Bhairahawa border points in particular. The program will also help advance Nepal’s preparedness and subsequent implementation of the Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA). 

“Nepal has large untapped potential for regional trade and exports. Low regional trade is often a result of the high cost of connectivity,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “The project will help unlock Nepal’s economic potential through better connectivity and trade, both between the provinces as well as regionally among Nepal and other countries to support a green, resilient, and inclusive development.”

“It is highly critical to ensure trade growth, long-term sustainability and resilience of investments, while minimizing actual degradations on ecosystems along the Nepal’s road network, which carries 90 percent of passengers and goods movement,” said Oceane Keou, World Bank Task Team Leader of the Nepal Project and co-Task Team Leader of the Program. “The project will implement an innovative green and resilient highway corridor concept in Nepal, based on a landscape-level development approach.”

In the second phase, the program will include Bhutan.

“A key focus of the ACCESS program is to support solutions that can most effectively reduce dwell times at trade gateways, which is vital to lowering trade costs. This entails greater border cooperation and coordination within and between countries, cutting down the physical inspection of goods, and simplifying regulations and processes,” said Erik Nora, World Bank Task Team Leader of the program. “

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has prohibited begging in public places.

Issuing a notice on Friday, the metropolis said that begging will not be allowed in the streets, alleys, public places, parks, around government offices, public vehicles among others.

The City, however, said that the saints can ask for alms only by visiting the houses as per sanatan tradition.

The decision was taken on the basis of policies endorsed by the 11th session of the Municipal Council.

The decision will be implemented within 10 days, the metropolis said.

Those who violated the rule will be punished in accordance with Article 126 of the National Criminal Code 2074 BS, Local Government Operation Act 2074 BS and prevailing law, the notice said.

A person died and six other sustained injuries in a tractor accident in Bajhang on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as Naresh Bohara (27).

The tractor (Su.Pa.Pra. 02001 Ta 1308) was heading towards home after completing the work at Ratopadma in Surma Rural Municipality-2 when the incident occurred last night.

DSP Gyan Bahadur Bista, Chief at the District Police Office, Bajhang, said that the tractor fell some 20 metres down the road.

He said that the injured have already returned home after receiving primary treatment at the District Hospital.

An unstable world could get even more dangerous if NATO does not remain strong and united, the head of the alliance said Thursday at the end of a summit where Western leaders labeled Russia “a direct threat” to the security of their nations, Associated Press reported.

During their three-day meeting in Madrid, NATO members confronted a geopolitical landscape marked by big-power competition and myriad threats, from cyberattacks to climate change. The leaders cast their sights around the world —- drawing a rebuke after accusing China of posing “serious challenges ” to global stability. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the summit. 

“We live in a more dangerous world and we live in a more unpredictable world, and we live in a world where we have a hot war going on in Europe,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “At the same time, we also know that this can get worse.”

That is why the Western military alliance has a “core responsibility” to keep the war in Ukraine from spilling into other countries while making clear to Moscow that it would “protect every inch of NATO territory,” Stoltenberg said.

That territory is set to grow. At the summit, NATO leaders formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, after striking an agreement to end opposition from Turkey. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could still block the Nordic countries’ membership, if the Nordic pair do not keep their promises.

If the accession is approved by all 30 member nations, it will give NATO a new 800-mile (1,300 kilometer) border with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned he would respond in kind if Sweden or Finland agreed to host NATO troops and military infrastructure. He said Russia would have to “create the same threats for the territory from which threats against us are created.”

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Putin’s threats were “nothing new.”

“Of course, we have to expect some kind of surprises from Putin, but I doubt that he is attacking Sweden or Finland directly,” Kallas said, according to Associated Press.

NATO leaders turned their gaze south for a final summit session Thursday focused on Africa’s Sahel region and the Middle East, where political instability — aggravated by climate change and food insecurity sparked by the war in Ukraine — is driving large numbers of migrants toward Europe.

The U.S. and other Western nations also are seeking to counterbalance the growing influence of China and Russia in the developing world. Stoltenberg said “Moscow and Beijing are using economic leverage, coercion and hybrid approaches to advance their interests in the region.”

The Beijing government called the alliance a “Cold War remnant” and accused it of “maliciously attacking and smearing” China by including it on NATO’s list of global challenges.

But Stoltenberg said it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that had brought “the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.” In response, NATO has poured troops and weapons into Eastern Europe on a scale unseen in decades. 

The NATO leaders agreed at the Madrid summit to dramatically scale up military force along the alliance’s eastern flank, where countries from Romania to the Baltic states worry about Russia’s future plans.

NATO announced plans to increase almost eightfold the size of the alliance’s rapid reaction force, from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, by next year — though details of specific troop commitments remained vague. 

Most of the troops would be based in their home nations but dedicated to specific countries in the east, where the alliance plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition.

Member nations have given Ukraine billions in military and civilian aid to strengthen its resistance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who addressed the summit by video link, asked for more, Associated Press reported.

He urged NATO to send modern artillery systems and other weapons — or “face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.”

“The question is, who’s next? Moldova? Or the Baltics? Or Poland? The answer is: all of them,” he said. 

US President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO’s firepower, announced a hefty boost in America’s military presence in Europe, including a permanent US base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Spain, and two more F35 squadrons in the UK.

Yair Lapid has become Israel's interim prime minister, taking over from PM Naftali Bennett after just one year, BBC reported.

Mr Lapid, head of a centrist party, will lead the country as it heads towards elections on 1 November.

It follows the collapse last week of the coalition which he formed with Mr Bennett. The upcoming elections will be Israel's fifth in less than four years.

Mr Lapid faces a tough challenge from former PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to return to power.

Although the new prime minister has previously said he is committed to a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, he is unlikely to begin any bold new initiatives as an interim leader.

Naftali Bennett handed over to Mr Lapid on Thursday in accordance with an existing agreement to rotate the premiership. Mr Bennett will occupy the post of alternate prime minister until the November election, which he has said he will not take part in.

Israel has seen a record-setting cycle of elections since April 2019 as parties time and again failed to secure enough seats to form a governing coalition with a majority. The Lapid-Bennett coalition temporarily broke the stalemate.

Mr Lapid, a 58-year-old former TV news anchor, ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving leader, last June, according to BBC.

The outgoing government was the most diverse in Israel's history, comprising eight parties from across the political spectrum - including those with ideologically opposing views. It also contained an independent Arab party for the first time since the state was established in 1948.

Despite Mr Bennett's attempts to focus only on issues where parties could work together, it started to fray towards the end of its first year, becoming a minority government when a member of his right-wing Yamina party quit earlier this month.

In an emotional TV address last week, Mr Bennett said he and Mr Lapid had "turned over every single rock" to try to keep the coalition going, but that they had run out of options. 

Mr Netanyahu welcomed the announcement as "great news for millions of Israeli citizens". 

Polls currently indicate that his party will take most seats in a new election but will still struggle to form a governing majority with its religious and nationalist allies. 

The prospect of a further period of political uncertainty comes at a sensitive time, as Israel faces the challenges of rising living costs, an upsurge in violence in its conflict with the Palestinians, and renewed international efforts to revive a nuclear deal with Iran - something which alarms Israel, BBC reported.