Next Saff Championship to be held in Bangladesh

Jan 3, 2016- The upcoming edition of Saff Championship will be held in Bangladesh, decided a meeting of South Asian Football Federation held at Kerala on Saturday.

India and Afghanistan are contesting in the finale of this year’s Saff Championship at Kerala on Sunday. Afghanistan Football Federation has already decided to pull out of the next Saff Championship.

As per the terms with Suzuki, the sponsor of Saff Championship, India will again host the tournament in 2019.

Nepal choked out from the group stages of the tournament this year after a narrow loss against Sri Lanka and a humiliating trouncing at the hands of hosts India.

Source: Ekantipur

Chris Gayle fined in Big Bash League reporter 'sexism' row

Jan 5, 2016-
West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle has been fined A$10,000 ($7,200; £4,900) by his club for "inappropriate conduct" after he asked a TV reporter for a date in a live interview. Gayle was speaking to journalist Mel McLaughlin during a Big Bash League T20 match in Hobart on Monday.

"To see your eyes for the first time is nice. Hopefully we can have a drink afterwards. Don't blush baby," he said. Gayle has said he is sorry, but that the reaction was "out of proportion".

Apparently making light of the episode, the cricketer later tweeted a photo of an empty bed, saying he was tired. He then said his teammate Dwayne Bravo was buying him a meal because his "pockets were empty".

He also retweeted a comment from broadcaster and cricket fan Piers Morgan, who said he was "outraged at the outrage" at Gayle being "a bit cheeky to a female TV reporter".

West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle has been fined A$10,000 ($7,200; £4,900) by his club for "inappropriate conduct" after he asked a TV reporter for a date in a live interview. Gayle was speaking to journalist Mel McLaughlin during a Big Bash League T20 match in Hobart on Monday.

"To see your eyes for the first time is nice. Hopefully we can have a drink afterwards. Don't blush baby," he said. Gayle has said he is sorry, but that the reaction was "out of proportion".

Apparently making light of the episode, the cricketer later tweeted a photo of an empty bed, saying he was tired. He then said his teammate Dwayne Bravo was buying him a meal because his "pockets were empty".

He also retweeted a comment from broadcaster and cricket fan Piers Morgan, who said he was "outraged at the outrage" at Gayle being "a bit cheeky to a female TV reporter".

Source: Ekantipur

Boost for electric transport: China donating 20 electric buses

Kathmandu, December 15. The Chinese government is donating 20 electric buses to Nepal for use in the Kathmandu Valley, at a time when the country has been reeling under a shortage of petroleum products resulting from the Indian blockade. Sajha Yatayat will use the modern buses for mass transport.

Spokesperson for Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Gyanendra Karki, told Onlinekhabar: The Chinese government is giving 20 electric buses to Nepal through the Local Development Ministry.

These vehicles are meant for the KMC, which will use them for mass transport in the Kathmandu Valley through Sajha.

These buses can be operated by recharging batteries. A team from the KMC is heading to China for signing an agreement to this effect.

Meanwhile, the KMC is also making preparations to buy 10 more electric buses from China. In all, Nepal will bring in 30 electric buses from the northern neighbour.

According to Karki, the metropolis will operate these buses through Sajha Yatayat.

Karki said: We will not operate these buses. Sajha has the relevant experience, so these vehicles will operate under Sajha.

The buses will operate on trial basis at a time when there are talks about giving priority to electric vehicles amid a shortage of fuel resulting from the Indian blockade.

For promoting the use of electric vehicles, China has been imposing up to 67 per cent tax on petroleum products.

China has already given 1300 KL of petrol and is also donating induction stoves to Nepal.

Source: Sabkura

Nepal received Rs 59 for post-quake work, but not a paisa spent

Kathmandu, December 15. The government has received Rs 59 billion out of the Rs 440 billion pledged by donors during the international donors’ conference on post-quake reconstruction few months ago. But not even a single paisa has been utilised so far.

Madhu Kumar Marasini, joint-secretary at Ministry of Finance, said that as of December 14, 2015, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, China, International Monteray Fund (IMF) and Germany have signed agreements to back their pre-announced pledges.

According to Marasini, who heads the Foreign Aid division, the Japanese government will soon sign an agreement with the Nepali government to provide Rs 22.9 billion in assistance.

However, not a single paisa of the money has been spent, says the Ministry of Finance. The reason: the hi-level reconstruction authority which is supposed to carry out reconstruction work has not been formed yet.

Government figures show that Nepal needs Rs 700 billion to carry out reconstruction of structures affected by the April quakes. On June 25, 2015, the government hosted an international seminar in Kathmandu where donors pledged to provide Rs 440 billion to Nepal for reconstruction.

Source: Sabkura

One million diabetics in Nepal

14 Dec, Kathmandu: The number of eye patients has been increasing with the corresponding increase in the number of diabetics due to the change in lifestyle and food habits in the country, according to doctors.

It is said the number of people losing eyesight due to the various eye problems related to diabetes is also on the rise. There is high chance of eye problem developing in people with diabetes. There are around one million diabetics in the country at present.

Doctors say that people with diabetes have two times more probability of developing eye problem and 25 times greater risk of blindness. Likewise, there is more risk of a child born of a diabetic woman having diabetes.

“Diabetes has been seen even in people at a younger age due to the habit of spending luxurious lifestyle among the people and the change in food culture in the country, which is a matter of concern,” said senior ophthalmologist Dr OK Malla. He advised diabetics to have regular eye check-ups.

As per the data provided by the International Diabetes Association, nearly five per cent blindness among people globally results from diabetes. Thirteen per cent of the blindness in Nepal is due to diabetes.

In this backdrop, Vice President of Nepal Diabetes Association, Dr Madhur Dev Bhattarai, underlines the need of undertaking a country-wide programme for prevention of blindness due to diabetes. He also pointed out to the dearth of technology and human resources to cope with the increasing number of diabetic eye patients in the country. RSS

Source: Sabkura

Problems could appear in SLC letter grading system

KATHMANDU: Stating that the letter grading system in the School Leaving Certificate Examinations (SLC) introduced by the Ministry of Education was ill-prepared, educationists have claimed that implementation part of the new system was challenging.

The Ministry on Thursday had decided to implement the letter grading system in the SLC examinations- a concept proposed by the World Bank meant for reforms in education.

Educationist Dr Bidyanath Koirala argued that the new step was taken in the name of improving education’s quality under the duress of the Word Bank without studying Nepal’s educational system.

He said that the grading system would be irrelevant if the students getting lower grades were not able to earn the higher studies in their desired subjects.

The Ministry has decided to categorise the students in nine grades including A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D, E and N under the letter grading system. N stands for ‘not graded’.

“It would be acceptable only if students are allowed to sit for entrance exams in their desired subjects and the selection process was done based on merit list,” he added.

Likewise, Acting Examinations Controller of Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) Santosh Aryal said that some problems would obviously arise after implementing the new system. He said that students getting lower than grade ‘C’ would have hard times to get enrolled in science faculty.

Source: sabkura

Quake survivors hit hard with increasing cold

Melamchi, Nov 16: People in the northern part of Sindhupalchowk district, whose houses suffered complete damage during the Gorkha earthquake, are facing problems with the increasing cold.
The quake-hit folks in uphill VDCs in the districts such as Helambu, Gunsa, Bhotang and Selang are worried for a warm shelter as the increasing cold starts taking toll on them.
Furthermore, the porous roof has added to the worries of those residing in temporary shelters, including under the tarpaulin sheets, following the quake.
Elderly persons and children have been most affected due to the fall in temperature as they are prone to pneumonia and common cold among others.
Moreover, the schools in these VDCs have started receiving fewer students and market have seen seemingly less movement due to the cold, according to Kumar Baset, Assistant Secretary at Thangpalkote VDC.
Poshan Prasad Dahal, a quake survivor, said that lately the leaking roof above worries him how to live through winter as the autumn has already set in. RSS

source:sabkura