- Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Nayak Paudel
Experts stress education on disasters
Data on major disaster incidents across the country by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) show that 505 people died, 76 went missing and 1,777 individuals got injured in a total of 3,904 incidents across the country from April 14, 2021, to April 13, 2022.
Health insurance scheme needs timely treatment
Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) started providing services under the government’s health insurance scheme since 2020. It was before the scheme had been implemented in Kathmandu.
Seven South African women held with 51 kg heroin in capital
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested seven South African women from Kathmandu with 51 kg of heroin in two days under Operation White Dust. “It is the biggest seizure of heroin in the history of NCB. The 51 kg of seized heroin is worth Rs. 1.02 billion,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Jeevan Kumar Shrestha. Making the arrested individuals public amid a press conference organised at the NCB on Thursday, the bureau informed that the seven individuals had arrived in Nepal from South Africa via Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
Turtle trafficking rife despite ban
Turtles do not feature in protected species list under National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act but officials state that the reptile’s sale is illegal. Authorities regularly confiscate a number of trafficked turtles but the illegal trade is still rampant. Moreover, turtles are even sold online as officials remain unaware. On Sunday evening, a team from Metropolitan Police Sector, Koteshwor, arrested two individuals from Koteshwor-based Portobello Café House with 10 live baby turtles. The duo, identified as 25-year-old Raj Deula and 20-year-old Rahul Deula, residents of Kirtipur Municipality, had planned to sell the turtles to the families seeking the reptile to keep it in aquariums.
Chemical drug abuse a burning problem
Nepalis have been involved in marijuana cultivation and consumption for a long time. However, the trends have changed as people are getting attracted towards opiates and chemical drugs. A report of Central Bureau of Statistics states that types and mode of drugs intake have changed in the last few decades as people started to take drugs like heroin, cocaine, buprenorphine, diazepam and phenergan, among others.
Gutka consumption rampant among youths, adults
Small red-coloured packets are something that are visible almost everywhere in Nepal nowadays. Opened and empty red packets are seen in the streets while the unopened ones can be seen hanging in almost all grocery shops, be they big or small. The red packets are of gutka and go by the names Bhola and Current. Gutka is a smokeless tobacco made by a mixture of tobacco, crushed areca nut (also called betel nut), spices, and other ingredients.
Review of statute of limitation on rape sought
Statute of limitation for rape has been one of the most talked-about topics across the country after a woman in her early 20s, through social media, revealed of being drugged and raped while she was 16 and faced several such abuses thereafter.
