Submit your Article

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has pledged to promote the Singha Durbar Vaidyakhana Vikas Samiti as a project of national pride. Inaugurating then 7th International Ayurveda Congress here today, the Prime Minister assured that the 300-year-old institute would be made vibrant and upgraded as the national pride project. The Prime Minister said that the ayurvedic medicine in Nepal would be further promoted and policy-level decisions be taken to systematize the imports and exports of most essential medicinal herbs. "Policy decisions will be taken bearing in mind the need to operate the National Ayurveda Research and Training Centre in full fledge and intensify research on indigenous herbs," the Prime Minister said. He went on to say that the government was working on a policy of establishing a center for manufacturing ayurvedic medicines and collecting and processing herbs at each province, while promising some policy decisions to remove hurdles in the imports and exports of most essential medicinal herbs so as to facilitate the manufacturing of ayurvedic medicines. The Prime Minister took time to promise that an atmosphere would be enabled for exporting medicinal herbs, assuring government grants for herbs farming. Describing Nepal as a suitable zone for ayurvedic herbs, he stressed the need for dealing with issues in the sector caused by climate change. As he said, further exploration and research are needed on medicinal plants such as Yarshagumba, gooseberry, Rudraksha and basil plants available in Nepal. Hospitals, wellness clinics, and yoga and meditation centers will be established to promote health tourism, he said, adding that for this, a policy decision has been already taken. A 100-bed Ayurveda hospital will be established in all seven provinces, he said. There will be a cooperation with the Ministry of Ayush of India for Nepal to continue the research on Ayurveda that the Government of India has put in high priority, said the PM. The conference was organized in collaboration with Ayurveda related national and international organizations including the Nepal Maharishi Vedic Foundation (NMVF), and the International Maharishi Foundation, said Dr Kopila Adhikari, General Secretary of the Ayurveda Doctors Association of Nepal. Slogan for the conference is 'Ayurveda for all health'. More than 500 Ayurveda experts, researchers, industrialists and doctors from over 50 countries have participated in the conference that aimed to help with the publicity of Ayurveda and promote health tourism, she said. Besides, students, professors, producers and businesspersons have also taken part. The NMVF President Dipak Prakash Banskota expressed the hope that the seminar would help provide information about Nepal's traditional ayurvedic system and ayurvedic medicines to the world and its contribution to global health. On the occasion, Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava said the Indian government led by Narendra Modi has prioritized and promoted Ayurveda by establishing the Ministry of Ayush. Some efforts have been taken for cooperation between the two countries in Ayurveda and naturopathy and medicinal herbs, and this would yield results in the days to come, he said. The conference will run until Sunday.  

At least 14 children died and 19 others injured in leopard attacks in a span of five years in Tanahun district, said the district forest office. The deceased (10 boys and four girls) were in the age group of 1.5-11 years old, said assistant forest officer Raj Kumar Shrestha. In the current fiscal year, 2022/23, two children died and three others were injured in four leopard attacks, he said. Similarly, 77 domestic animals (69 goats, six pigs, one cow, and a calf) were killed in the 42 cases of the animal attack. Four barking deer and one python have been rescued, and three leopards and an Asian palm civet were found dead, said Komal Prasad Kafle, chief of the Division Forest Office. Human encroachment on the habitats of wild animals has threatened them. However, the forest office has taken some initiatives to minimize human losses from wild animal attacks. Human losses from wild animal attacks have decreased to some extent after ponds have been built for wild animals at each local level, he said.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal pointed out the need of encouraging youth to seek entrepreneurship and to become self-employed. In a message of best wishes on the occasion of 8th anniversary of National Youth Council here today, PM Dahal said that economic prosperity could be attained if youth are made self-sufficient, arguing that youth were catalysts for change. Council was formed on this day in 2072 BS for promoting leadership among the youth and to advance the agenda of the youth in the country. The Council has spread its tentacles all over the country and is functioning at all local levels. Stating that it was imperative for the Council to move ahead formulating youth-oriented policies and programs ensuring its implementation to mobilize youth force positively, Dahal commended the Council for positively leading in the areas of youth awareness, empowerment and leadership development among others in spite of resources and budget constraints in a short span of time. Lauding the Council's positive initiatives for greater development of the youth, the Head of the Government expressed his confidence that the Council would move ahead effectively shouldering the responsibility of nation-building and ensuring welfare of youths associated with parent government organizations. Meanwhile, Council's Chairperson Surendra Basnet in a separate congratulatory message, spoke of the need to make youth, the backbone in the nation-building, self-employed and self-reliant. Basnet underscored the need to link education with labor, labor with skills, skills with production, employment and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, he opined that it was important to form a socialist system of the state by making youth force an integral part of development and prosperity.  

Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh has said a broader consensus government would be formed after the presidential election. Talking to journalists in Dhanusha on Thursday, leader Singh, who arrived here to attend a program, said that a broader consensus government would be formed after the presidential election slated for March 9 as per the agreement signed among the eight political parties. He said that the politics which had lost direction has come to the right track. Singh claimed that Nepali Congress senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel’s victory is certain in the presidential election. He said that the onus rests on the shoulders of all the political parties to take the country towards the path of prosperity by creating a conducive political environment.