Plastic littering takes toll in agricultural sector in Kanchanpur

Plastic littering takes toll in agricultural sector in Kanchanpur

2017-01-29 14:19:35.0

Kanchanpur, Jan 29: Rampant use and disposal of plastic bags has taken its toll on agricultural sector in the district.

This practice is against the Plastic Bag Directive, 2071 BS that has restricted production, sales, and distribution of plastic bags below 30 microns. 

Chemicals from plastic bags that cannot be disposed for long will contaminate the soil and water, thus contributing to the decrease in crop production in the long run, said Yagya Raj Joshi, senior agriculture development officer of the Agricultural Development Office, Kanchanpur.

"Although there is not exact data on the effect of plastic bags on agriculture, 90 percent of the plastic bags is estimated to be thrown rampantly on the farmland and this is a major challenge in the area," he said, adding that this will cause 10 percent decrease in crop production.  

A farmer Jaya Prakash Rana of Bedkot Municipality said they were finding difficulties to manage rampant throwing away of plastic bags, a major cause of decreasing agricultural production in the area. "Neither the government nor the concerned authority has taken initiatives to this effect so far," he said.

Besides, discarded plastic bags pollute the environment and have affected human health. "People in the area use plastic bags as a means to burn fire and smoke from burning plastic bags will severely affect human health," said Hemraj Joshi, information officer of the District Public Health Office.

Harmful gas emanating from burning plastic bags may cause various diseases in humans like cancer and skin diseases, he added. RSS

--------

Japan says foreign workers top record 1 million

Japan says foreign workers top record 1 million

2017-01-28 17:24:20.0

TOKYO, Jan 28, 2017 (AFP) - The number of foreign workers in Japan topped 1 million for the first time last year, the government has said, as the country looks overseas to offset labour shortages. Tokyo has moved little on loosening strict rules for foreign workers despite years of calls to crack open Japan's borders to more immigrants. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unveiled a plan to review the rules, saying foreign labour will increasingly be needed, particularly in the booming construction industry ahead of the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

     A record 1,083,769 foreigners were working in the country at the end of October, up 19.4 percent from a year earlier, the labour and welfare ministry said on Friday. The number of Chinese workers, topping the foreign labour list, gained 6.9 percent to some 345,000, accounting for nearly one third of the total, it said. Vietnamese ranked second, jumping 56.4 percent to some 172,000, followed by Filipinos at 128,000, up 19.7 percent. The ministry said the jump largely reflected an increase in the number of foreign students and highly skilled workers.

     Rapidly-ageing Japan is desperately short of workers to pay the taxes to fund pensions and healthcare for its growing grey population, but it is almost constitutionally allergic to immigration, allowing only a small number of unskilled workers into the country.

     The government has now decided to expand the country's industrial training programmes to allow foreign workers to stay five years instead of three. Japan has also revised immigration law to accept more nurses and caregivers to work in the healthcare sector.

Syrian forces reach main water spring feeding Damascus

Syrian forces reach main water spring feeding Damascus

2017-01-28 17:24:49.0

DAMASCUS, Jan. 28: (Xinhua) The Syrian army reached the Ain Fijeh spring northwest of the capital Damascus on Saturday, hoisting the Syrian flag over that area following a month of battles with rebels there to capture that area and restore drinking water to Damascus, a military source told Xinhua.

     The Syrian army entered Ain Fijeh, after reaching an "initial" agreement with the rebels there for their evacuation from that area, possibly toward the northwestern province of Idlib, the source said, on condition of anonymity.

     He added that maintenance workers are bracing to enter the village to fix the Ain Fijeh spring, the main water source feeding the capital's over five million inhabitants.

     The recent development comes as battles have raged since Dec. 22, when the water was cut off from the capital, with the government accusing the rebels of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front of severing the flow of water to Damascus.

     The battles were penetrated with a few pauses, in which efforts were being exerted to reach a deal with the rebels. However, all previous efforts had failed without achieving its intended goals, as the rebels of Nusra were reluctant to leave the area, insisting on rendering flat all efforts to defuse the tension in that area.

     It's worth mentioning that several rebel groups were stationing in Barada Valley, with most of them establishing reconciliation with the government, except Nusra, which is designated as a terror group by the UN and excluded from a currently-underway cease-fire that began on Dec. 30.

     Ain Fijeh is one of ten towns in the Barada Valley region northwest of Damascus. The army captured all of the towns, before finally reaching Ain Fijeh.

     Now, the army seems in control of the spring, and the workers will start fixing the damage, as a prelude to resuming the water flow to Damascus, whose residents have been struggling with the scarcity of water since Dec. 22.

     The water authorities have implemented emergency plans to meet around 30 percent of the daily needs of Damascus city residents on a rotational basis until water infrastructure is restored to its previous capacity.

PM directs government officials to start preparations for elections

PM directs government officials to start preparations for elections

2017-01-27 11:00:48.0

Phalebash (Parbat), Jan 27: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday issued instructions to the heads of Parbat's government offices to start preparations for holding the three-tier elections by Magh 7, 2074 BS.

PM Dahal instructed the government officials after inaugurating the Parbat Festival being held at Kushma Bazaar, the district headquarters of Parbat.

He shared that the government was taking steps to hold local level elections by the last week of the Nepali month of Baisakh, provincial elections in Kartik and the Legislature – Parliament election by the first week of Magh.   

The PM also spoke of announcing the date of the local level elections soon, Parbat's Chief District Officer, Sambhu Prasad Marasini said.

Dahal noted that the people could experience democracy and feel the state's presence through the service of the government employees and instructed them to make their services efficient, quick and effective.

On the occasion, CDO Marasini apprised the PM of the overall scenario of the district and expressed commitment to comply with his directive.

PM directs party cadres to prepare for elections

PM Dahal, who heads the CPN (Maoist Centre), directed the party cadres in Parbat to start preparations for the local level elections.

Stating that the government would announce the election date soon, PM instructed the party cadres to work to make Maoist Centre as the first party in the country. RSS

Absence of flight announcement facility at Lukla airport creating hassle for passengers

Absence of flight announcement facility at Lukla airport creating hassle for passengers

2017-01-22 09:35:54.0

Solukhumbu, Jan 22: The absence of flight announcement facility at the busy Tenzin – Hillary Airport in Lukla has become somewhat of a problem for the passengers boarding the aircrafts.

During peak tourist season, the airport witnesses 80 to 90 inbound and outbound flights per day and at a single given time three to four flights are getting boarded simultaneously. The passengers waiting for flights at the terminal are facing difficulties in identifying their aircraft and the time of departure.

A tourist guide Lakpa Niru Sherpa said, "There are two to four aircrafts on standby, we have to run around to inquire which one is ours." "From the time we enter the terminal we have to keep on asking the staff, we are under constant anxiety when we go to the rest rooms if our flights will be missed," Sherpa shared.

The Tenzin – Hillary Airport, where morning hours are the only time most suitable for operating flights, usually operates all of the flights within this short span of time. During these rush hours, the terminal building is jam-packed and passengers are compelled to wait before the ticket counter due to the absence of flight announcement facility.

Many tourists are tired of waiting and many even leave their belongings in the uncalled for rush, the tour guide added.

 The airlines are too not aloof of this problem. TARA Airlines Lukla In-charge, Phinuru Sherpa says, "This has also created problems for us, we are tired of searching for passengers during takeoff time; there are many instances when we have been forced to search and wait for passengers even after the aircraft has been started."

The airport was not born without an announcement facility. A few years ago, the airport did have such facility, but after a technical glitch the Civil Aviation Authority Office, Lukla decided to just take it out of service.

Meanwhile, the Authority said it is making efforts to solve the problem, but for years passengers and airlines have been forced to undertake search operations of their own during the rush hours. RSS