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A person died after a landslide buried a house in Pokhara Metropolitan City-27 on Wednesday.

The deceased has been identified as Bhim Bahadur Thapa (22) of Sahelapata. However, 50-year-old Kamala Thapa was rescued alive in the disaster.

After knowing about the landslide burying a house, a police team from the Area Police Office, Sishuwa and locals carried out rescue works, according to DSP Basant Kumar Sharma.

Even a team of the Armed Police Force joined the rescue operations, Sharma added.

It has been raining in the Pokhara Valley since Tuesday evening.

An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale struck Taplejung district at 10:46 pm on Tuesday.

The epicenter of the quake was at Tapethok of the district, according to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, Lainchaur.

Earlier on June 28, an earthquake had occurred with its epicenter at Helambu, Sindhupalchowk.

Four people lost their lives in the monsoon-induced disasters in Jhapa district during the period of last one month, according to the District Police Office, Jhapa.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Krishna Kumar Chand said that two people were swept away by the rivers and two others died in lightning strikes.

Police said that a minor is missing in the river while three women have sustained injuries in the lightning incidents.

Police have estimated that property worth around Rs 11 million was damaged from the monsoon-induced disasters in Jhapa.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has sent a letter to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to sign an agreement for the sale and purchase of 40 MW electricity produced in Nepal.

The BPDP sent the letter for the agreement, sharing that the tender submitted by the NEA for the sale of 40 MW power for six months during the rainy season was approved by the concerned body, according to the NEA.

In accordance with the provision in the law, a trilateral agreement was signed between Bangladesh, India and Nepal on January 1, 2024 for the sale of 40 MW electricity produced in Nepal. 

The NEA had called for tender for the purchase of power for five years as per this.  Sharing that the tender was approved by the concerned body by evaluating the documents related to tender, the BPDP informed the NEA about the approval of the tender. 

The NEA has to send written notice about the approval of the tender within seven working days after that the BPDP would provide a draft of the agreement regarding sale of the power to the NEA. 

An agreement should be signed within 28 days after receiving the draft. An agreement would be signed between NEA, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (VVN), India and BPDP.

NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said works have been started to export power to Bangladesh from this monsoon season by completing all the remaining processes.

"Since all the three agencies agreed on the draft of the trilateral power trading agreement, the pact would be signed soon. After this, we will send a list of the projects to the Central Power Authority of India for its approval for exporting power to Bangladesh," NEA Executive Director Ghising said.

According to Ghising, they are sending to the concerned authorities of India proposals for exporting electricity to Bangladesh for which approval has already been taken, as it would take time to get approval when proposals for power export from new projects are sent.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed the NEA leadership before this to finalize the process required for selling power to Bangladesh. Minister Basnet is also the Chairman of the NEA Board of Directors.

NEA has made preparations for exporting to Bangladesh the power produced from the projects constructed with Indian grant, and the electricity generated from the 25-Megawatt Trishuli and the 22-Megawatts Chilime hydropower project constructed by its subsidiary company.

NEA will sell 40 megawatts of power to Bangladesh in the six months (June 15 to November 15) every year at the rate of 6.40 US dollars per unit.

The NEA will receive the price of the electricity to be exported to Bangladesh via the inter-country Dhalkebar-Muzafarpur 400 kV transmission line at the Muzaffarpur point, India. This transmission line is the first inter-country transmission line between Nepal and India. This means, the electricity meter of the power exported to Bangladesh would be installed at Muzaffarpur. It is stated that NEA will itself bear the cost of the technical leakage occurring on the transmission line from Dhalkebar to Muzaffarpur.

The electricity exported from Nepal will reach Bangladesh from Muzaffarpur via the Baharampur (India)-Bhermara (Bangladesh) 400 kV transmission line of India.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has removed party General Secretary Mukul Dhakal from his post.

A meeting of the party's Central Committee today decided to remove Dhakal from the party central member, spokesperson and general secretary post on the recommendation of the party's Disciplinary Committee.

Acting spokesperson of the party Manish Jha said that the Central Committee unanimously dismissed Dhakal from his party post.  With this, Dhakal's general membership of the party has been retained.

The meeting chaired by party President and Deputy Prime Minister Rabi Lamichhane has decided that Dhakal can appeal the Central Committee's decision if he disagrees with it.

The RSP has constituted the party's review committee under the convenorship of party Joint General Secretary Bipin Acharya.

To the question whether it could be considered normal that the party's General Secretary has to face action just for expressing his critical views within the party, party spokesperson Jha said, "Action has been taken against him (Dhakal) as he failed to show politically proper behavior."

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 15.79 points to close at 2,152.14 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 3.50 points to close at 380. 96 points.

A total of 11,661,208-unit shares of 316 companies were traded for Rs 5. 53 billion.

Meanwhile, Ganapati Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (GMFBS) and Aatmanirbhar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ANLB) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Siddhartha Investment Growth Scheme - 2 (SIGS2) was the top loser as its price fell by 5.47 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 41 trillion.

We know we must exercise to stay fit. And we like how we feel when we exercise—the endorphins high is something to relish. But work and chores keep us busy. We seldom have the time for a full-fledged workout. What this means is we often go days on end without getting a walk in or running on the treadmill. The proverbial tomorrow becomes the day we will get back on the fitness bandwagon.

However, you don’t have to dedicate a fixed chunk of time to do a workout and still manage to get your heart rate up and burn some calories. Turns out, accumulated exercise over the course of the day is as effective as one continuous session. Studies show you don’t have to get all your exercise at once for it to make a big difference in your life. Moving throughout the day is just as effective. A short, fast high-intensity workout in as little as seven minutes can offer the same benefits as a long run or an hour lifting weights. Also, bite-size workouts throughout the day can make it easier to adhere to an exercise program.

 Here, we are sharing some simple ideas to help you incorporate some cardio into your daily life no matter how busy you are.

 Take the stairs

Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is one of the most common yet overlooked fitness advice. It’s the easiest way to get your heart rate and step count up. Whenever you have some free time, consider going up and down a flight of stairs. Repeat whenever you can. Run up a flight of stairs during your regular 10-minute coffee break at work. Do it when you are bored sitting at your desk and need to stretch your legs a little.

Do a YouTube workout

As soon as you get out of bed, after you have gone to the bathroom, do a quick YouTube workout. There are many trainers who offer 10-minute workouts on their channels. There are also free apps that guide you through short sessions. The good thing about YouTube workouts is that it will never get boring. You can choose a different one, targeting different areas of your body, every other day.

 Squats and lunges

Perhaps one of the easiest but effective exercises, squats and lunges get your heart rate pumping while strengthening your core and quadriceps. Do a few at a time, say a set of 20 to 25. You can do this when you are at work or going about your chores. All it takes is a few minutes. Aim to get in at least a 100 squats and lunges to start with. You can do this when you wake up, followed by before you head to work, at lunch break, and after you come back home.

Try Tabata

Tabata is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. It involves performing an exercise at maximum intensity for 20 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest period. This is repeated for a total of eight rounds, resulting in a four-minute workout. The key to Tabata is to push yourself to the maximum effort during the 20-second work periods, aiming to perform as many reps as possible before resting. You will find lots of information and exercise routines online.

Use your waiting time

We spend a large part of our day waiting for little things, like for the kettle to boil, for someone to answer the phone, for the microwave to ding, or for the dog to finish his business so that you can clean up after him. Use these little spurts of time to get some crunches in, jog on spot, or skip. It’s a great way of staying active without committing any time especially for it. 

Walk and talk

Whenever you have to talk to someone on the phone, make it a point to do it standing up, or while walking. Don’t sit and talk. Instead, get up from your seat, walk in the garden or the porch or even the corridor of the building you are in. You can easily clock a few thousand steps every day this way.

To provide the poor and genuine students access to technical education after their SEE, Pokhara Metropolitan City Office has run an educational academy as Gandaki Polytechnic Institute. It has been expanding access to higher education through a dozen of long- and short-term technical courses including civil engineering, forestry, pharmacy, geo-metrics engineering, industrial training, building construction, automobile and so on. To run this academy, Pokhara Metropolitan City Office annually invests money, labor and attention by providing its inputs in overall development of students. It aims to serve the students, communities, and the region through a quality, market-oriented and demand-based education system. The institute currently has almost 400 students from all over Nepal.

As informed by the Pokhara Metropolitan City Office, the ratio of admission has been increasing in every new educational year since the last couple of years. Smita Adhikari of ApEx talked to Director of Gandaki Polytechnic Institute Laxman Timilsina on the issues of the real value of technical education at the local level.

What do you think is the value of setting up separate educational academies at the local level?

Education is a major base of development. It is that element that supports the creation of the pillars of overall development by shaping the concept of people and making them concerned in their liability in development. So, the Schedule 8 of 2015 Constitution has ensured the local bodies have the right to set the education system in their area. While the right to shape the educational environment goes to the local leaders and stakeholders, it will add value to make the education more productive. It is because local stakeholders are quite familiar with the problems of their area and can identify what type of teaching and learning the people of the area need. Similarly, only the local stakeholders are familiar with the demand of the job market. 

Why the focus on technical education?

While we are not against non-technical education, we should understand that local development needs a large number of skilled manpower to accomplish various technical tasks. Local governments are compelled to hire people from outside countries and districts, as manpower or consultant for the works in their areas. So, Pokhara Metropolitan City aims to fulfill its need of skilled manpower in an easy and economical way. We also want to support other districts too. So, Gandaki Polytechnic Institutes takes students from all over the nation who want to take technical education at a reasonable cost.

What has been the output of the institute so far?

A batch has already passed out in all courses. Eighty percent of the students have joined the job market. The most positive aspect is that those who have not joined the  job market are self-employed. We encourage students to explore new things and identify their working areas. We manage to send them in paid or non-paid internships for jobs as part of their academic curriculum. In some courses we have got the highest score in all over the country too. The admission rate has been growing in every new academic calendar. Every year we have added new technical courses to address the numbers of students willing to work with Pokhara Metropolitan City.

How do you convince the community that an educational academy under the local government is fruitful?

We know that 60 percent of school education in Nepal is occupied by private organizations. Institutions like ours offer a high discount when it comes to the education fees. In comparison to other private institutions, we provide education at a reasonable cost. Likewise, we involve our students in extracurricular activities and inspire them to be confident to face the situations in their life. This year we are giving free education to girls who are talented and sat for their SEE from community schools.

Do you think there are any problems running a local government owned academic institution?

We feel local stakeholders and people representatives including the bureaucracy are very supportive to this endeavor. Nevertheless, the big stakeholders are more biased toward private organizations than the local government-run institutions. So, the lack of encouragement, monitoring and attention from related authorities are the problems that we have been facing.