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Udhauli, the second most important festival of the Kirant community, is being celebrated across the country with joy and fervor today. Udhauli festival is celebrated every year on the full moon day of month of Mangsir in the Lunar calendar. During the festival, the Kiranti folks gather together to celebrate the festival in an organised manner and exchange good wishes. According to the religious book Mundhum of the Kirants, time is divided into two parts, Udhauli and Ubhauli. The Kirant community believe that these two periods are divided on the basis of farming. The Ubhauli festival is celebrated on full moon day during the month of Baisakh. Ubhauli is a festival celebrated during plantation while Udhauli festival is celebrated at the time of harvesting of the crops.

'Pani Pandhero' (Water ATM) has become popular and its use has increased lately in the Kathmandu Valley. One can get 200 ml drinking water in a paper cup by inserting a two-rupee coin in the machine. It requires Rs 10 to fill a liter of bottle. The project was launched by the Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) in cooperation with the respective metropolis with the aim of providing people an easy access to safe drinking water. There are a total of 20 Water ATMs in the Valley (12 in Kathmandu, seven in Lalitpur and one in Bhaktapur). In Kathmandu, the water booths have been installed at Teku, Kalanki, Swayambhu, Baisdhara, Shankha Park, Shankhadhar Park, New Baneshwor, CIT Building, and at Shahid Gangalal, Teaching Hospital, Bir Hospital and Civil Service Hospital. Likewise, Lalitpur has them installed at the Nepal Engineers Association, Bangalamukhi Temple, Kusunti, Patan Hospital, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Pulchok Engineering Campus and Mental Hospital. In Bhaktapur, it has been installed at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. Posters giving instructions for use have been pasted on the machine. The users and others have lauded the initiative as a good move to provide the people easy access to safe drinking water. A microbus driver Laj Shrestha, who frequented the water booth at Shankhadhar Park (Ratnapark) for water, praised the initiative. "I used to pay Rs 20 or Rs 25 to buy a bottle of water to drink. Nowadays, it has become easier and cheaper to get water from the machine," he said.  Bhawani Karki, who has frequented the machine at Shankapark for water, also lauded the move, but has a take. Some problems like the machine failing to toss paper cups and coins being stuck should be addressed, she suggested. In the first phase, the KVWSMB, in coordination with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, installed the machines at five places in Kathmandu, said KVWSMB's information officer Santosh Baral, adding that they have been installed in the populated areas.

Hira Devi Dhanuk (71) of Hattithana, Bedkot Municipality-1 died in a tusker attack in Kanchanpur on Tuesday. According to Bharat Giri, Information Officer at District Police Office Kanchanpur, the elephant attacked Dhanuk while she was on her way to collect firewood in the Baijanath Buffer Community Forest.

Experts said that it was a mounting challenge to supply adequate pure drinking water, energy and food to the growing population of the country. At a two-day workshop on water, energy and food nexus that kicked off in Kathmandu on Tuesday, speakers and presenters made the proposition. Inaugurating the workshop, Secretary at the Ministry of Drinking Water Maniram Gelal said demand for drinking water, energy and food was increasing across the globe with expansion of urbanization and population. On the occasion, former minister Ganesh Saha suggested that the challenges surfaced in the sector could be averted by protecting sources of water, utilizing rain water and developing technology on water efficiency for higher yields of crops and placing renewable energy measures. Likewise, former secretary Suman Prasad Sharma demanded serious interventions from the concerned side to reach out to the growing population with pure drinking water, adequate clean energy and nutrient-rich food. Chairperson of Smart WASH Solutions Ramdeep Saha shared that the workshop was organized to draw learning of the advanced countries in addressing the issues of drinking water, clean energy and nourishing food in light of rising population. J W Lee of Asian Water Council and K-Water had delivered a presentation on how the Korea Water (K-Water) was working to address challenges emerging in the sector. Expert Dr Unahar Shin shed light on the inter-relationship between water, energy and food, urban water management, water leakage control and management style in congruent with sustainable development. Prof Dr Bim Shrestha of the Kathmandu University presented a paper on nexus between water, energy and food while Executive Director of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) Dr Madhusudan Adhikari presented a working paper on the contributions to drinking water, energy and food security through renewable energy technology in Nepal.