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Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday.

During the meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar, Prime Minister Deuba said that that Nepal has been organizing various programs to make the country's health service more effective.

He also thanked the World Health Organization for providing humanitarian aid to Nepal to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the occasion, Tedros praised Prime Minister Deuba for vaccinating almost all the people against the Covid-19.

He was of the opinion that the Nepal government's strategy was effective in controlling the Covid-19.

Tedros also thanked the government for starting to campaign to vaccinate children against typhoid.

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus paid a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday.

During the meeting held at the Office of the President in Shital Niwas today morning, President Bhandari extended thankfulness to the visiting WHO Director-General for evenly distributing vaccines against COVID-19 to all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization’s leader and his delegation arrived in Nepal on Thursday on a three-day official visit to Nepal at the invitation of Minister for Health and Population Birodh Khatiwada.

According to President Bhandari’s press advisor Tika Dhakal, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros briefed Bhandari about their contribution to the health sector and commended Nepal’s success in vaccinating as many as people against COVID-19.

Expressing his interest in the health policy of Nepal, the visiting top leader of the United Nations’ Health Agency appraised the President of WHO’s assistance to Nepal, informed Dhakal.

The WHO high official has already held meetings with the National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timalsina, Health Minister Khatiwada and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka on Thursday.

His delegation includes Dr Poonam Khetrapal, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, and other high-ranking officials of the WHO.

Britain and India agreed on Friday to step up defence and business cooperation during a visit to New Delhi by Boris Johnson, who said a bilateral free-trade deal could be wrapped up by October, Reuters reported.

On his first visit to the Indian capital as UK prime minister, Johnson discussed with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi ways to boost security ties with India, which buys more than half of its military hardware from Russia.

Britain hopes its offer of closer security ties with the West will encourage India to cut its defence reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation"

"We had wonderful talks that have strengthened our relationship in every way," Johnson told a joint news briefing with Modi on the final day of his two-day trip.

"We have agreed a new and expanded defence and security partnership, a decades-long commitment that will not only forge tighter bonds between us, but support your goal of Make in India," he said, referring to Modi's domestic manufacturing push, according to Reuters.

Johnson said negotiators from the two countries were expected to complete a free-trade deal by the end of this year.

"We're telling our negotiators to get it done by Diwali in October. This could double our trade and investments by the end of the decade," he said.

Britain's efforts to bolster security ties follow an attempt last month by the United States to move India away from Russia, with its own offer of more defence and energy sales, after President Joe Biden called India "somewhat shaky" in acting against Russia.

India abstained from a United Nations vote condemning the invasion and has not imposed sanctions on Moscow, taking a stance that sparked off a recent flurry of diplomatic activity, such as visits by the foreign ministers of Russia and China.

Johnson said Britain would also support India’s goal of building its own fighter jets, to reduce expensive imports of military equipment. India now has a mix of Russian, British and French fighter jets, Reuters reported.

The Indian government last year gave a 480-billion-rupee ($6.28 billion) contract to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for 83 light-combat aircraft, Tejas, for delivery starting around 2023.

Johnson said Britain was also creating an India-specific open general export license to slash delivery times for defence items. Only the European Union and the United States currently have such licences, according to Reuters.

Birgunj Metropolitan City Mayor Bijay Kumar Sarawagi tendered his resignation on Friday.

Sarawagi, who is filing his candidacy again for the post of mayor from the CPN-UML in the upcoming local level elections, resigned from his post this afternoon.

The  Metropolitan Committee and the Province Committee of the party have already recommended the name of Sarawagi to the Central Committee as the mayoral candidate of the Birgunj Metropolitan City.

Sarawagi said that he resigned from the post as there is a provision in the election code of conduct that the local representatives must resign if they want to contest the local level elections.