Nepal currently ranks 72nd out of 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) which scores countries based on an assessment of the progress and setbacks they have incurred in combating hunger.
A report by Amnesty International made public on Thursday presents a detailed analysis of the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act, enacted last September in order to implement the rights relating to food guaranteed under the Constitution.
The report presents recommendations under 16 different topics, covering a range of issues such as increasing scope of legal protection to ensure that the right to food is extended to non-citizens; amending the Act to require an inquiry into any deaths resulting from starvation; and guaranteeing accountability against breach of duty to prevent starvation.
The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police on Thursday made public the names of six people, including two police personnel deployed to guard the question papers, who were allegedly involved in leaking the Secondary Education Examination question papers, forcing the authorities to cancel the national test.
Brahma Dev Sunrait and Deependra Kumar Mandal from Saptari, who were deployed at Kalyanpur Area Police Office in Siraha district, have been accused of unsealing the question paper parcels stored at the police office and sending them to their relatives for sale, consequently bringing the questions into the public domain through social media.
This year’s harvest is expected to record a 7 percent growth largely due to ‘good winter’ rainfall across the country. The losses of crops due to gale-force winds of 90 km per hour that smashed into Bara and Parsa districts may force the government to revise the preliminary estimate.
Farmer Jakir Miya Thakurai of Bara had planted wheat on 8 katthas of land, the winter rains were good, and he was all set to reap a bumper harvest. Then last Sunday, a big wind came out of nowhere and blew away his dreams of making a tidy income this year.
“The ripened wheat has been swept away from the farm, and the food stock has been buried. There is nothing to eat now,” said Thakurai.
Silver service dining, an elaborate form of dining with several courses and cutlery for each, is the norm for diplomatic dinners. But to Nepalis who might never have been introduced to a fine dining course that comes with a plethora of spoons, forks, plates and bowls, it can be a puzzling concept.
To avoid embarrassment at the highest levels, Uddab Thapa, who runs the Kathmandu catering business 5 Spice, has been enlisted to impart his decades of knowledge to budding government officials at Nepal Administrative Staff College so they look as good as possible while overseas.
Nearly 1,500 government employees have so far been through Thapa’s three-session course on etiquette. This year alone, Thapa has 360 students divided into 12 classes.
People regularly make short trips to revel in Kakani’s peace, quiet and sights, as well as to savour locally-farmed fish.
Sitting at about 2,000m, one can have uninterrupted views of both Nuwakot and Deurali from any one of the handful of hotels in the area. And, in any one of those hotels, one can find trout. Grilled, fried, or in a curry, the local trout is sold by the kilogram and advertised with pride.
There is also a small stupa and more somberly, the Thai Memorial Park commemorating the 1992 Thai Airways crash that killed 113 people. Aside from these landmarks, the main attraction of the area is its serenity and all-consuming trails.
24.12°C Kathmandu
