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The Black-breasted Thrush has been recorded for the second time in Nepal.

A team comprising Manashanta Ghimire, President of Pokhara Bird Society, and ornithologists Hathan Chaudhary and Gopi Shrestha sighted the bird in Dharan forest in the course of carrying out a monitoring.

Ghimire said that this is the second sighting of this species of bird for Nepal. Its first recording was made three years back in Danabari of Ilam district.

Ornithologists Sanjeev Acharya, Carol Inscip and Tikaram Giri recorded the Black-breasted Thrush on March 9, 2022 for the first time.

According to Acharya, this species of bird is found in north-east India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in the east and from China to South Korea in the north. It migrates to the lower coastal areas during winter and in the hilly regions of China during the summer.

According to ornithologist Ghimire, Dharan forest, spread over an area of about 50,000 hectares and at an altitude from 100 to 1,300 meters above the sea level in Morang and Sunsari of Koshi Province, is an important area for birds.

This forest is considered as an important forest among the 42 areas of Nepal identified by Bird Life International.

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the tripartite power trade deal signed by Nepal with India and Bangladesh has become a milestone.

Chair Dahal expressed such a view during the meeting with office-bearers of Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN) today.

The CPN (Maoist Center)-led government had signed a tripartite power trade agreement with the Indian Prime Minister in the course of India visit during his premiership.

He shared, "I put in a lot of effort to sign power trade deals with India and Bangladesh. It is a milestone for the country's prosperity. We can fulfill the dream of prosperity by selling power to countries including India, China and Bangladesh."

Stating that there was no alternative to moving ahead by implementing the agreement of exporting power to Bangladesh via India, selling 10,000 megawatts electricity to India in 10 years and also exporting electricity to China, Chair Dahal mentioned that it was necessary to pay attention in power production for the same.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 400 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 170, 200 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 169, 800 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1, 970 per tola today.

The first group of 1,000 Nepali auxiliary workers in the caregiver sector in Israel is set to depart for Israel. The visa process for the first 100 workers has already been completed, with the remaining candidates progressing accordingly.

A total of 2,112 candidates (1,156 females and 956 males), were selected through a transparent live lottery process conducted in Aug 2024 at the Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA) office in Jerusalem, Israel. The remaining 1,112 will proceed around the time the first batch has completed their process, said the Israel Embassy in a press statement. 

These workers will be employed in long-term care facilities such as geriatric homes and elderly care centers in Israel, in accordance with the government-to-government (G2G) agreement between Nepal and Israel, signed in 2020. We believe that the care, effort and friendship that they will extend to care-receivers in Israel along with Israel’s affinity and cooperation, will add layers to the foundation of already existing Nepal-Israel friendship, the Embassy of Israel in Nepal said.
It extended its appreciation to the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security and Department of Foreign Employment of Nepal for their continued cooperation.
The government of Nepal and the government of Israel signed a Framework Agreement on “Temporary Employment of Nepali Workers in Specific Labor Market Sectors in the State of Israel—Auxiliary Workers in Long-Term Care Facilities” on 30 Sept 2020, and an implementation protocol on 21 Jan 2021. The first phase of 1345 Nepali auxiliary workers are already actively working in Israel. 

The Department of Roads (DoR) has finalized the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the reconstruction of the BP highway section between Bhakunde Bensi and Nepalthok, which suffered extensive damage from floods and landslides last September

As per the DPR, the reconstruction of the 28-km stretch is estimated to cost Rs 9.66bn and is expected to take three years to complete. Meanwhile, the DoR plans to build necessary infrastructure on the damaged section so that the road is operable even during monsoon rains. 

The road section from Chowkidanada in Namo Buddha to Kaladhunga in Roshi Rural Municipality is among the worst damaged. With roads completely wiped away in different sections, the DoR has constructed diversions through the river to allow movement of vehicles. Since these diversions will be of no use during monsoon, the DoR is planning to build necessary infrastructure to make the road operable throughout the year.

The DPR prepared by the Division Road Office in Bhaktapur under the DoR states that three types of walls—RCC retaining, plum and gabion—will have to be built along the road section. Additionally, the 32-km road will be expanded to two lanes. DoR has also incorporated flood damage mitigation methods into the design.

The highway constructed with assistance from the government of Japan spans 160 km and connects Kathmandu to the central Tarai and Koshi Province. Since the highway had a width of more than one lane but less than two lanes, it was creating difficulty for two-way traffic. The DoR has now proposed widening the road to two lanes (nine meters wide) to facilitate smooth flow of traffic in both directions.

Since the highway runs alongside riverbanks, the reconstruction plan also includes scour depth protection measures to prevent river erosion beneath the road surface. This, however, is not the first time that the government considered upgrading the highway into two lanes. The government earlier conducted a study to upgrade the highway into two lanes and even sought the opinion of the Japanese government for the same. However,  the plan failed to take off due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The highway project, which began in 1996 and was completed in 2015 with Japanese assistance totaling nearly Rs 20bn, is one of Nepal's most expensive infrastructure projects. The highway links Dhulikhel on the Araniko highway with Bardibas on the East-West highway.

Nepal and India have agreed to develop a high-quality transmission line for cross border power trade.

This agreement would be a crucial deal as the Government of Nepal has set an ambitious goal to generate 28,500 megawatts of electricity by 2035.

Spokesperson and Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Sandip Kumar Dev, the two new transmission lines will be completed by 2034/35, and the capacity of an existing transmission line will be upgraded.

A meeting of Joint Steering Committee and  JSC Secretary-Level Committee of Nepal and India, have agreed to construct the Nijgadh-Harnaiya Motihari and Kohalpur-Lucknow transmission lines of 400 KV. 

Likewise, the existing Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line of 400 KV will be replaced with a high-capacity conductor. Currently, 800 megawatts of power are being imported through this transmission line.

During the meeting, a consensus was reached to import and export up to 1,000 megawatts of power. 

The 29th meeting of the Secretary-Level Joint Steering Committee held in India on February 11 was attended by Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Suresh Acharya and Secretary of the Ministry of Electricity, India, Pankaj Agrawal.  

The two countries have already agreed to construct the Inaruwa-Purniya and Dodhara-Bareli cross border transmission lines of 400 KV. 

What is corruption? In Nepal, it is so intertwined with our polity that it has become quite hard to differentiate which is which.

In fact, corruption is in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the sun we soak in and the food we cherish. In short, corruption is omnipresent in our lives.

Still, at least for the sake of academics, what does corruption mean? Transparency International (TI) knows better. It defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

A people reeling under corruption for decades need no report to show how corrupt their polity is. A silent majority, who has seen a clique with modest means become filthy rich within a couple of years or decades as if by magic, knows the extent of high-level corruption in our society.

Still, the recent Corruption Perceptions Index of the TI (CPI 2024) shows how corruption is thriving in our dear country

CPI 2024 reminds the conscious citizenry that Nepal has slid further in the CPI compared to the year 2023.

With a CPI score of 34 out of 100 in 2024, Nepal has clinched a lowly 107th position among 180 countries, slipping further from the 106th position and a score of 35 in 2023 and a slight improvement of one point compared to 2022. Overall, CPI 2024 points at Nepal’s consistently poor performance in the global corruption barometer where South Sudan figures as the most corrupt country with a score of eight points and Denmark as the least corrupt country with a score of 90.  

In South Asia, Bhutan leads with an impressive 72 points, followed by India and the Maldives (38), Nepal (34), Sri Lanka (32), Pakistan (27), Bangladesh (23) and Afghanistan (17).

A question arises, naturally: What is fueling corruption in our country? 

A quote from Delia Ferreira, chair of TI, offers an answer, at least in part: People’s indifference is the best breeding ground for corruption to grow.

This daily has been drawing the attention of the public to this scourge by bringing to the fore some of the major scandals resulting from policy level corruption.

For those, who have taken corruption as a fact of life, here’s a quote from Kurt Cobain: The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.

Summing up, a concerted, result-oriented campaign against corruption is long overdue. Let this youthful nation wake up and undertake a tough fight against this scourge, by uniting one and all.

Kamal Magar of Narayanatar, Kathmandu has become the third weekly winner of  the annual subscription campaign, “Jasle Padchha, Awasya Parchha” launched by Annapurna Media Network across the country.

In the weekly lucky draw held at the Tinkune-based headquarters of Annapurna Media Network on Thursday, Kamal Magar of Narayantar with receipt number 1468-81 became the winner.

Dr Manisha Ghimire, who is working at the OakMed Hospital in America, had picked Magar’s name from the lucky draw.

After being the winner, he won a Oppo mobile phone along with a voucher worth Rs 5, 000 for Tranquility Spa.

Readers renewing their subscription or becoming new annual subscribers to Annapurna Post and The Annapurna Express will receive guaranteed gifts upon subscribing.

The annual subscription fee for both newspapers is set at Rs 3,400 each.

Annual subscribers will receive a voucher worth Rs 1,500 for Wonderland, where they can enjoy thrilling games, as well as a movie voucher from INI Cinemas.

Alternatively, subscribers can opt for scratch cards offering cash discounts ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 3,400, along with INI Cinemas movie vouchers and tickets for Annapurna Cable Car.

The campaign also offers exciting weekly and monthly prizes. Weekly lucky draw winners will receive OPPO mobile phones and Rs 5,000 vouchers for Tranquility Spa.

Monthly winners will be rewarded with washing machines and Rs 5,000 Tranquility Spa vouchers. The campaign, which is valid nationwide, will run for four months.