National
ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Tuesday, June 18
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (June 18, 2019).Post Report
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (June 18, 2019).
Kobold’s deadline to bring fire trucks has expired but Nepal Tourism Board says it has yet to decide on a legal response
After threatening to sue German watchmaker Michael Kobold for breach of contract if he failed to deliver fire trucks to Nepal by March, the Nepal Tourism Board now says it has yet to decide on a legal recourse.
“We had a preliminary discussion with our lawyer but have not proceeded further,” the board’s CEO, Deepak Raj Joshi, told the Post via email, after multiple attempts to reach him for an update. “I and most of the officials at NTB were highly engaged for other important programmes of Nepal Tourism Board and Visit Nepal 2020 campaign. So we could not concentrate on this particular project.”
The tourism board had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kobold to pay $200,000 for his project the ‘Nepal Fire Truck Expedition’ in 2017. As per the agreement, Kobold had pledged to bring up to 10 fire trucks, driven by international celebrities, and hand them over to Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The board had paid Kobold $100,000 as an advance.
Penstock installation completed at Upper Tamakoshi hydro project
The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project achieved a major breakthrough on Sunday night with the successful installation of first penstock pipe which is critical part of the project, bringing cheer to a country that has long been grappling with power shortages.
The 456 MW project located in Dolakha district in north central Nepal will be its largest hydropower plant when it opens in February next year. The plant will put Nepal in the position of a power surplus country and allow energy export.
Mushe Ram Bista obtains citizenship certificate
Seventy-five-year-old Mushe Ram Bista, a native of Belharabesi, Dhankuta, has finally obtained his Nepali citizenship certificate on Friday. Bista, who is hard of hearing and physically weak, hadn’t been able to receive his ‘old age allowance’ and enjoy other facilities provided by the government because he didn’t have his citizenship certificate.
After receiving his certificate, an ecstatic Mushe Ram said, “I was getting tired of having to run around.” A few days ago, Kantipur daily and The Kathmandu Post had published news about Mushe Ram’s situation.
Family confines 14-year-old disabled boy at home
Madan Bhujel, a 14-year-old boy from Dhodeni, Nawalparasi, was one and a half years old when he had bouts of fever; the fever derailed his life, giving way to mental illness. The next decade of his life took away both his mental and physical agencies.
His mother, Bishnu Maya, for lack of an alternative confined Madan to their home. But as Madan reached adolescence, it became increasingly difficult for his family to take care of him.
Village declared ‘open-defecation free’ notes alarming number of dysentery patients
Matena village has around 45 households, but none of them had proper latrines until three years back. But when the villagers finally built one in each house, they were compelled to build it close—less than five metres—to the springwell. Due to lack of enough land, they were compelled to construct latrines close to the water pumps.
Villagers assume that this proximity of the two water bodies has brought about the rapid spread of dysentery in the village.