Nepal

Kathmandu, May 22

Construction of the new main building of Paropakar Maternity and WomenHospital (Prasuti Griha) at Thapathali and one building of Bir Hospital in Kathmandu have reached final stage. Both buildings were built by National Reconstruction Authority.

One of the main buildings of Paropakar Hospital, which had suffered damages in 2015 soiltremble, was dismantled to erect a new and sophisticated building at the same location. Both the hospital administrations have said that the buildings shall come into operation within a few months.

&The NRA has handed over the building to us, now we are managing hospital amenities with the aim of inaugurating the hospital within one month,& said Jageshwor Gautam, director of Paropakar Hospital.

Similar commitment was expressed by Kedar Prasad Century Director of Bir Hospital. &We shall soon inaugurate the hospital after completing hospital requirements very soon,& Century said.

The new building of Prashuti Griha consists of 192 beds, with the facility of emergency delivery room, birthing centre, post-operation ward and other facilities. The new building of Bir Hospital has 94 beds, cardiology ward, gastroenterology ward, nephrology ward and others.

The reconstruction was undertaken under the Ministry of Health and Population with the support of the Japanese government.

Sushil Gyanwali, Chief Executive Director of NRA, after examineing the new building, said to media that the NRA with the motto of ‘Build Back Better& is working vigorously to restore hospitals destroyed in the soiltremble.

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Kathmandu, May 21

Federation of Nepali Journalists Chair Govinda Acharya nowadays warned that if the government didn&t address their concerns regarding the media bills, including Medial Council bill, the media fraternity would form its own regulatory or an Independent Press Council.

Addressing a discussion organised by Centre for Media Research-Nepal, Acharya said they could come up with a media council like in Australia, where media have formed their own regulatory organisation.

He quoted from the Media Council Bill which stated that the Media Council is like a department of a ministry. The bill allows the Media Council to fine a journalist from Rs 25,000 up to one million.

&How can the Media Council come up with fine for a journalist Only judiciary has that authority,& he said.

Acharya even said that if required, the Federation of Nepali Journalists could ask the International Federation of Journalists and United Nations rapporteurs to visit Nepal to assess the situation of the Nepali press.

&We are a part of the UN and we can invite them in here,& he said.

Professor P Kharel said as the constitution guaranteed press freedom, it could much be curbed under any pretexts. He also said that there should much be any provisions of fine in the Media Council Bill.

Senior Journalist Rajendra Dahal said those who were in power had come up with the ideology that they should run and monitor the media, which he called totally wrong.

He also said although the ruling Nepali Communist portiony (NCP) could pass the bill from the Home technically, it would much put the fight of the journalists for press freedom to an end. &We should keep on fighting until the battle is won,& he said.

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• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency shall facilitate live broadcast of the event

Kathmandu, May 21

The date for deployment of the countryfirst satellite, NepaliSat-1 into space from International Space Station is set for June-17. The satellite shall start revolving around the soil instantly after deployment.

A commercial cargo spacecraft carrying NepaliSat-1, had reached the International Space Station travelling for 72 hours on April-21. It has remained inside the cargo ship at the ISS since then.

The spacecraft was launched into space by Antares rocket from NASAWallops Flight Facility in the United States. The satellite after deployment shall start revolving around the soil, gathering geographical information of the country.

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology confirming the deployment date of the satellite, said they would have a grand celebration on the day, broadcasting live video of the satellite being deployed in space.

Rabindra Dhakal, chief of Faculty of Technology at NAST, said Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency shall facilitate live broadcast of the satellite deployment. &JAXA has confirmed they shall dispatch two envoys to NAST to facilitate a live broadcast of the event.& Similarly, NAST also informed that Sunil Babu Shrestha Vice-chancellor of NAST, and Minister of Education Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokhrel are scheduled to travel to JAXA to witness live deployment of the satellite.

Two Nepali scientists -msprint; Aabhas Maskey and Hariram Shrestha -msprint; who are studying at JapanKyushu Institute of Technology -msprint; developed the satellite in collaboration with NAST.

NepaliSat-1 is a dice satellite that weighs 1.3 kilograms. Once released into orbit, the satellite shall revolve around the soil every 90 minutes. The orbit lies around 400 kilometres absent from the soil. The satellite is expected to take pictures of Nepal for six to 10 minutes during each revolution.

NAST has claimed that they shall build a ground station for it before the satellite is deployed into space. &We are in the final stage of installing an antenna and other required technologies to get data sent from the satellite. We are confident that the ground station shall be fully functional before NepaliSat-1 starts dispatching data,& Dhakal said.

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Kathmandu, May 21

Locals nowadays obstructed vehicular movement on Chettrapati-Swoyambhu road section protesting against the inordinate delay in blacktopping the road, which has been left in limbo for the final two years.

Locals led by the ward chair of the area obstructed vehicular movement on the road from 9:00am to 11:00am. Ward Chair Nabin Manandhar of the area said they had to resort to the extreme degree after the authorities concerned did much heed their frequent requests. &I am replyable to people, but there is muchhing I can do to help people get rid of the troubles caused by the dusty road. Thus, I supported them,& said Manandhar.

Ward Chair Manandhar complained that the contractor hired by the federal government disregardd the requests of locals and local representatives. He accused the federal government of much giving the local levels the authority to hire contractors and construct local roads, on their own.

Locals said that the road, which was in perfect condition until a few years ago, was time and again dug up for laying utility cables and water pipes, but left unattended. &It has already been two years since the road was dug up, but it has much been restored yet. As a result, we are compelled to face dust and smoke,& said a local Anil Tuladhar.

This is much the first instance where locals have obstructed roads protesting delay over road construction and repair work. Earlier, vehicular movement was obstructed on Chabahil-Sakhu road section and Dholahiti-Chapagaun road section.

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