The government is struggling to appoint the executive director at the Institute of Foreign Affairs, country’s premier foreign policy think tank under the aegis of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has remained without a chief for over a year.
In the absence of the executive director, the institution has largely remained inactive.
The institute is the only state-owned foreign policy think tank which provides support, as necessary and appropriate, to the government, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by imparting professional training to Nepali foreign service officials and personnel.
The weather forecasting authority failed to keep track of the weather phenomenon that late on Sunday evening swept across two Tarai districts—Bara and Parsa—of Province 2, killing at least 27, injuring more than 400 and causing massive damage.
Officials at the forecasting division said that they are unable to predict windstorms because they lack technology.
Losses to the agricultural, industrial and energy sectors from Sunday night’s killer rainstorm are expected to total millions of rupees, officials said. Heavy rain and strong winds lashed two districts in the central Tarai region killing at least 31 people. More than 600 people sustained injuries.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said its estimated losses could be around Rs150 million due to the damage to the electricity distribution system in Bara and Parsa districts.
Tej Bahadur Subedi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said the ministry was yet to determine the amount of losses in the agriculture sector.
Air service to Lukla in the Himalaya will be operated from Manthali Airport in Ramechhap from Tuesday as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport will be partially closed for renovation.
The runway at Tribhuvan International Airport will remain open for only 14 hours daily while repairs are done to the pavement. It stays open for 21 hours daily during normal times.
The shift to Manthali will take off a lot of pressure from Tribhuvan International Airport as at least 90 takeoffs and landings will be transferred.
Manthali, located 132 km northeast of Kathmandu, is a 5-hour drive. The airport is situated at an elevation of 474 metres above sea level and has a 518-metre runway.
Tucked away in a courtyard not far from Patan Durbar Square, three food enthusiasts are doing their best to preserve Nepal’s diverse culinary heritage. At Raithaane, the menu is ever evolving, as the partners look to the country’s heritage to take its cuisine forward.
Raithaane, the restaurant Prashanta Khanal opened with two friends just over six months ago, aims to conserve Nepal’s wide-range of ethnic cuisines by feeding them to people and in the process, rediscovering and cultivating a taste for food that a majority of Kathmandu might have lost touch with.
Almost every item on Raithaane’s menu is linked to a particular community and has its own history, illustrating how truly diverse Nepali cuisine is.
9.7°C Kathmandu
