Here are some of the stories from The Kathmandu Post (January 14, 2020)
Nepal’s passport is among the weakest in the world—weaker than North Korea’s
Nepal has one of the weakest passports in the world, according to numerous organisations that track passport strength. On the recently released Henley Passport Index, Nepal was ranked 101st out of 107 countries, a position it has occupied since 2018. This is on par with Palestine and below countries like North Korea, South Sudan and Kosovo.
The Henley Passport Index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association and research by the Henley and Partners Research Department.
Substandard medicines being distributed from state-run health facilities
Medicines from the list of essential drugs which were found to be substandard in laboratory tests a few months ago are still being distributed free of cost from the state-run health facilities across the country.
Nepal Health Research Council, which promotes national as well as international health research, had collected 285 essential medicines from the state-run health facilities—health posts, primary health care centres, and district hospitals— and sent them for testing to the laboratory of Department of Drug Administration in the last fiscal year [2018/019].
Five mountaineers to attempt extreme winter ascent of Everest
Five mountaineers are on a daring mission to make a rare and extreme winter ascent of Everest without oxygen for the first time in nearly three decades.
Krzysztof Wielicki of Poland first climbed the world’s tallest peak in the dead of winter on February 17, 1980. Ang Rita Sherpa, known by the epithet of Snow Leopard, has climbed Everest 10 times without using supplemental oxygen, and one of his ascents was in the winter of 1987-88.
Everest has never been climbed in winter since 1993.
Tourists come to Janakpur in droves, but stay only for a day
The number of tourists has increased considerably in Janakpudham in recent months, say tourism entrepreneurs. Hotels and Dharmashalas—rest houses for pilgrims— in the area are being fully occupied by tourists. According to hotel operators, the arrival of Indian tourists has increased four-fold in the last two months.
However, a lack of proper infrastructures, such as signages, toilets and street signs, to support tourism has put a limit on tourist movement.
Most tourists pay a visit to Janakpurdham after visiting popular destinations in Kathmandu and Pokhara, but they don’t spend more than a day in Janakpur, say tourism entrepreneurs.
Green Climate Fund to support Nepal for achieving climate resilience
In a major development towards accessing climate finance, the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre and the Green Climate Fund have reached an understanding, which will pave the way for Nepal, one of the most climate change vulnerable countries, to lay its claim for financial support.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), a global platform that helps countries fight climate change by investing in low-emission and climate-resilient development, and the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), the Nepal government entity responsible for promoting clean and renewable energy, signed the Accreditation Master Agreement last week.
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