Student shot at in Jhapa
A student was shot at in Damak, Jhapa on Friday.
Anika Gajmer (Nisha) of Udayapur and currently residing at a rented room in Damak was shot at this morning at around 11.
She was shot at near Jastha Nagarik Pratisthan at Damak-5 while she was returning home after attending the Grade 12 exam at Damak-based Himali Higher Secondary School.
She received a bullet in her stomach.
Gajmer is being treated at ICU.
SP Milan KC of the District Police Office, Jhapa said that a police team has already reached the site to investigate the incident.
Wildfires rage across the country
Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Thursday.
The country sees a spate of wildfires annually, usually beginning in March, but their number and intensity has worsened in recent years, with climate change leading to drier winters. Emergency crews worked through the night to fight the blaze which engulfed a forested area in Lalitpur, on the southern periphery of the Kathmandu valley.
More than 4,500 wildfires have been reported this year across the country, nearly double compared to last year according to government data but less than the worst fire season on record in 2021. "Wildfires have increased in an unimaginable ratio, and the season is expected to last for a month more," Sundar Prasad Sharma of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority told AFP.
"It is challenging to put out fires because of our difficult terrain," he added. Environment ministry spokesman Badri Raj Dhungana said the increase in the number of wildfires this year was because of a lengthy drought and heatwave conditions in southern plains.
"Generally, wildfires peak late April but this year they are still increasing because of rising temperatures," he said. Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. Large swathes of South and Southeast Asia have sweltered through a heatwave since last month, with the El Nino phenomenon also driving this year's exceptionally warm weather.
Temperatures have risen above 40 degrees Celsius in the Buddhist pilgrimage city of Lumbini and other parts of the south, with more hot weather forecast in the days ahead. More than a hundred schools in the southern city of Butwal were closed on Thursday for two days out of fears the heatwave would impact the health of students.
AFP
Duo held for duping foreign job aspirants
Police have arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in swindling foreign job aspirants.
Rajan Shrestha aka Narayan Bahadur Rai and Ishwori Pandey alias Parba Raj Pandey were arrested for allegedly swindling 219 persons of Rs 30 million with fake promises of sending them to Japan for lucrative jobs.
The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office made public the duo amidst a press conference on Friday.
Shrestha was detained from Anamnagar and Shrestha from Bista Gaun, Kageshwori-Manohara.
Police said that they have been sent to the Department of Foreign Employment for necessary action.
PM Dahal inaugurates 27th general convention of FNJ
The 27th general convention of the Federation of the Nepali Journalists (FNJ) kicked off today.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated the general convention.
National council members of different chapters of FNJ across the country are attending the general convention.
Earlier, a morning procession was organized at the initiative of FNJ today itself on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day and FNJ general convention.
The morning rally set out from Ratnapark Shantibatika and concluded after reaching the National City Hall, the venue of the 27th general convention.
FNJ President Bipul Pokharel, office-bearers, former presidents, and journalists associated with different media had participated in the morning rally. Office-bearers and members of Nepal Press Union, Press Chautari Nepal, Press Centre Nepal, Socialist Press Organization, had also participated in the morning rally.
