Nepal to face Sri Lanka for gold medal

Kathmandu, April 1: Nepal is going to face Sri Lanka for the gold medal in the First South Asian Women's Basketball Tournament at covered hall of National Sports Council at Tripureshwor on Saturday.

Nepal that played three matches in the tournament has won all the matches. Nepal had defeated Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan.

This is the second time Nepal's participation in the International Women's Basketball Championship. Before this, Nepal had participated in the 17th South Asian Games held in South Korea in 2014.
Five countries-Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan participated in the tournament. RSS

Volleyball tournament with highest prize from April 14

Bhadrapur, March 30: The 'Third National League Men's Volleyball Tournament-2073' is taking place from April 14 at Duwagadhi-6 in Jhapa district.  The tournament with the highest prize is going to be held for the first time outside Kathmandu.

A total of eight teams would participate in the tournament.

Three teams from five development regions, and a team each from the Nepalese Army, the Armed Police Force, Nepal Police and Jawalakhel Volleyball Club would participate in the tournament, said central member of Nepal Volleyball Association, Lekhnath Parajuli.

Former Prime Minister and UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to inaugurate the tournament.

The winner team will bag Rs 315,000 and a trophy while the first runner-up and second runner-up teams will get Rs 175,000 and Rs 110,000 and trophy respectively.

Chairman of the Tournament Management Committee, Bal Krishna Rijal, said that the best player will be awarded with Rs 25,000 and a certificate. RSS

First South Asian women's basketball tournament begins Sri Lanka starts off with a win

Kathmandu, March 29: The first South Asian Women's Basketball tournament began at the National Sports Council covered hall in Tripureswar Tuesday.

In the inaugural match, Sri Lanka defeated Maldives by 106-37 points. Likewise, in the second match, hosts Nepal defeated Bangladesh by 92-26 points.

A total of five south Asian countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and host Nepal are taking part in the competition.

Earlier, inaugurating the tournament, President of Nepal Olympic Committee Jeevan Ram Shrestha expressed the confidence that the sports could be medium to further consolidate relations between the South Asian countries.

President of South Asian Basketball Association Ahmed Hafeez said the tournament, a first of its kind at the South Asian level, was a historical opportunity for Nepal.RSS

International Night cricket from April 8

Nawalparasi, March 29: An International Night Cricket Tournament is to be organised in Nawalparasi district from April 8.The Sunsari Youth Brigade Cricketer Club is organising the tournament, said Club Chairman Kyamuddhin Ansari.

Some 20 teams from Uttar Pradesh of India and Nawalparasi and Rupandehi from Nepal would participate in the tournament. RSS

NITF gets Dhamala as its new chairman

Kathmandu, March 20: The sixth general convention of the Nepal International Taekwondo Federation (NITF), organised here on Sunday, unanimously elected a 17-member working committee under chairmanship of Anjan Dhamala.

Similarly, Anjunath Shrestha and Chetanraj Giri are vice-chairpersons of the Committee while Anju Rawat, Raju Khadka and Basudev Bhatta have been elected as General Secretary, Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

Bishwo Shrestha, Umesh Rajthala, Nir Bahadur Saru, Tham Bahadur Bahik, Nirmala Gurung, Prabhu Narayan Siwakoti, Yogita Sahani, Rupsingh Moktan, Basanta Gurung, Hom Bahadur Sunar and Phattema BB are the members of the committee.

Ghartimagar as Nepal Gojuriyo Karate Association Chairman
Meanwhile, the fourth annual general meeting of the Nepal Gojuriyo Karate Do Association has elected Chandra Prakash Ghartimagar as its Chairman.

The AGM organised here on Sunday elected Ghartimagar to the post.

Similarly, BR Mitra and Sanukaji Nagarkoti have been unanimously elected as General Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

According to the National Sports Council, Prakash Rai, Jeevan Kumar Malla, Pushpa Kumati Chhetri, Birendra Bahadur Shahi and Deepak Lama are the members of the committee. RSS

SPO-TEN-WTA-2016-BNP-PARIBAS-OPEN---DAY-9

INDIAN WELLS, CA - MARCH 15: Serena Williams serves during her straight set victory over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 15, 2016 in Indian Wells, California. Harry How/Getty Images/AFP

Indian club wins International Invitational Volleyball Championship

Ratnanagar (Chitwan), March 10: The BMW Club of India has won the title of first international invitational men's volleyball championship held in Patihani of Chitwan.

In the tough competition of final match on Wednesday, BMW Club clinched the title edging the Nepal Police Club 3-1.

With the win of the title, BMW has bagged a cash prize of Rs 150,000. The first runner up, Nepal Police Club, received Rs 100,000 in cash, shared Rmhari Sedai, Chairperson of Padmodaya Youth Club, the host.

BMW outshined Nepal Police Club team in first, third and fifth sets in the final match that was conducted on best of five basis.

Earlier, the Armed Police Force of Nepal clinched third position defeating Water Development Board of Bangladesh on 3-1 set in another match played on Wednesday. RSS

ANFA women committee meets PM Oli

Kathmandu, Dec 15: The women’s committee of All Nepal Football Association met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the latter's official residence, Baluwatar, on Tuesday.

The committee led by its President Kalpana Piya Shrestha held discussions with the Prime Minister about women’s football in Nepal and how it could be promoted.

On the occasion, PM Oli assured of every kind of assistance for the development of the game in the country and also gave words to meet other officials of the ANFA in days to come.

The delegation comprised President Shrestha, General Secretary Bimala Paudel, Vice President Anju Bhattarai, Treasurer Shivani Thapa, players and coaches. RSS

APF team defeats Dhading artists' team

Kathmandu, Dec 13: The team of the Armed Police Force (APF) defeated Dhading artists' team in today's match of the Dhorpatan National Women's League Volleyball Tournament.

The APF team defeated Dhading team in three sets in the match held at New Bus Park.

Similarly, Tribhuvan Army Club won the second match of the day by defeating Chandeshwori Youth Club by 3-0 while Chitwan-based Janaki Bidya Mandir defeated Bindabasini Youth Club in the third match held at the same ground.

A total of 13 teams are taking part in the tournament organised by the Dhorpatan Sports
Club.

The winner team would walk home with a cash prize of Rs 260,000 while runner-up team bags Rs 130,000. RSS

China imports and exports fall again in November: govt

BEIJING, Dec 8,(AFP) - Chinese imports and exports both fell in November, official data showed Tuesday, the latest poor figures from the world's second-largest economy.

The country is a key driver of global growth and its shipments of finished goods, along with its demand for the resources to manufacture them, affect nations across the world.

China's exports sank 6.8 percent to $197.2 billion in November, Customs said -- a marginal improvement on the previous month, but worse than the five percent drop forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists.

Overseas shipments have been declining every month this year except for February, when the figures were skewed by the Chinese New Year.

Imports tumbled 8.7 percent to $143.1 billion -- the 13th straight month of declines, but narrowing significantly from an 18.8 percent slump in OctoberThe figure was better than the 11.9 percent drop estimated in the Bloomberg survey.

Analysts attributed the slower fall to Beijing's monetary easing policies and the slump in global commodity prices late last year, which lowered the basis for comparison.

"Although disappointing exports data suggest that foreign demand remains subdued, a recovery in imports hints at a policy-driven pick-up in domestic demand," wrote Julian Evans-Pritchard with research firm Capital Economics in a note.

The government has turned to monetary loosening to stimulate growth, cutting interest rates six times since November last year.ANZ economists expected import figures to continue to strengthen next year.

"Looking ahead, the headline growth rate of imports could start to improve in 2016 as the price effect diminishes," they said in a report.Concerns have been mounting among investors worldwide over China's economy, which expanded 6.9 percent in the July-September period according to official figures -- its slowest rate since the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

But those statistics are widely doubted and many analysts believe the real rate of growth could be several percentage points lower.

Annual growth weakened to 7.3 percent last year, the slowest pace since 1990, as traditional growth drivers such as exports and investment increasingly run out of steam.Analysts and Chinese politicians say the country needs to rebalance away from reliance on exports and fixed asset investment towards a consumer-driven economy.

But state intervention struggled to halt a stock market rout this summer, increasing doubts over policymakers' ability to transition to a more market-based economy.
The trade surplus stood at $54.1 billion in November, down from $61.6 billion recorded in October, according to official figures.

Death toll from toxic dog meat dish in Cambodia rises to 5

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Two more Cambodian villagers died after consuming a toxic dog meat delicacy in eastern Kratie province, bringing the number of the dead to five, a local official confirmed on Tuesday.

"Two more men were pronounced dead at the provincial referral hospital Monday night, bringing the death toll from eating poisoned dog meat dish to five," Kong Kimny, governor of Snuol district, where the incident took place, told Xinhua.

    A 76-year-old man, his daughter-in-law and their female neighbor died Sunday morning, hours after they ate the toxic dog meat delicacy, said Kimny, adding that the old man bought the contaminated carcass from the market to cook for food.
  A total of 36 other villagers fell ill after they attended the funeral of the three deceased and ate the leftover dog meat delicacy."They did not know that the trio died of eating the contaminated dog meat, so they also ate the meat and subsequently fell ill hours later," he said.

"As of Tuesday morning, all, but eight, of the sick people have recovered and left the hospital.The victims had the symptoms of fatigue, dizziness, and nausea.

New suspected US-led Syria raids kill dozens of civilians

BEIRUT, Dec 8, (AFP) - Suspected US-led coalition air strikes killed at least 26 civilians in a Syrian village Monday, piling pressure on the alliance after allegations another bombing raid left regime soldiers dead.

The coalition has been bombarding the Islamic State group for more than a year in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where the jihadists have declared a self-styled caliphate.

But according to a monitoring group, strikes on Monday on the village of Al-Khan in northeastern Syria only left civilians dead.Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS is in control of Al-Khan but is only on its outskirts, "which is why all of the deaths were civilians".

The death toll included at least seven children and four women, he said, adding that it was likely to rise as more than a dozen civilians were still missing under rubble.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition said he had no details yet about the raid, but that a "credibility assessment" would review claims of civilian deaths.
Last month, the US said four civilians were "likely" to have been killed in strikes against IS in Iraq. And in November 2014, it admitted accidentally killing two children in a strike in Syria.

The Al-Khan strike came with the coalition already under pressure over allegations it carried out a raid the previous day that killed Syrian soldiers, in the first such case.- 'Flagrant aggression' -In a letter to the UN Security Council and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Syria accused the coalition of targeting an army camp in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Sunday, killing three soldiers and wounding 13.

The foreign ministry letter condemned the attack as "a flagrant aggression".The Observatory said four soldiers died in the first incident of US-led strikes killing Syrian troops.A Syrian military source gave the same toll, and said the attack late Sunday hit several buildings used as weapons depots and an army training camp, damaging two tanks.

But a coalition spokesman said its only strikes in the area on Sunday were on an oil wellhead some 55 kilometres (35 miles) southeast of the army base, and a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed Russian strikes for the deaths.
Much of Deir Ezzor is under IS control, but the regime still has a presence in small areas, including in the provincial capital.The province's oil has been a major source of IS funding, but on Monday analysis firm IHS said the group was suffering financially due to air strikes on its oil infrastructure.

IHS estimated IS's overall monthly income to be about $80 million (75 million euros) as of late 2015, around half of it from levies and confiscations.But it noted the group also had significant costs because it administers large swathes of territory.

- 'Lacks seriousness and credibility' -The Syrian government has regularly criticised the US-led strikes as ineffective and illegal because they are not coordinated with regime forces."The US coalition lacks the seriousness and credibility to effectively combat terrorism," the foreign ministry said.

Staunch regime ally Moscow began its own aerial campaign in Syria on September 30 and coordinates its strikes with Damascus.On Sunday, US President Barack Obama vowed to destroy IS and hunt down its followers at home and abroad.

It followed a shooting rampage in California last week that saw an apparently radicalised couple kill 14 people.While pledging to "hunt down terrorist plotters in any country", Obama also said he would not be "drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq and Syria".

"They know they can't defeat us on the battlefield... but they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits," he said.

Elsewhere, Syrian media said four people were killed in rebel rocket fire near the now-closed Russian consulate in Aleppo city.Also on Monday, the powerful Jaish al-Islam group announced it will attend a major meeting of Syrian opposition forces in Riyadh this week, the first rebel group to confirm participation.

The group is the most prominent armed opposition faction near Damascus and controls most of the Eastern Ghouta suburb, which is regularly bombarded by government forces.

7.2-magnitude quake strikes Tajikistan, at least one dead

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, Dec 7,  (AFP) - A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Tajikistan on Monday, US experts said, and state television said one person was killed ten were injured.

The tremor hit at 7:50 GMT in the Central Asian country, some 109 kilometres (67 miles) west of the town of Murghob at a depth of 28 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The driver of a truck travelling along a road some 460 kilometres east of the capital Dushanbe died as the result of a landslide triggered by the quake, state television said.

The earthquake was located some 345 kilometres east of Dushanbe in mountainous terrain, according to the US Geological Survey.The Tajik seismological service noted that the quake's epicentre was just 22 kilometres from the high altitude Lake Sarez.

Sarez, formed following an earthquake in 1911 and containing some 17 cubic kilometres of water, is considered a major threat to the region if its dams break as a result of seismic activity.

Shakarbek, a 50-year-old resident of the region's biggest city, Khorog, told AFP that the quake jolted residents but there was "no major panic and no visible damage."

The quake was also felt in the capital of neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty to the north, as well as northern parts of Afghanistan to the south, Pakistan and India.

"I felt the windows moving and that only happens when there's an earthquake. The room was swinging," said Sara Seerat, a lawyer in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, where workers voluntarily evacuated office buildings.

Indian television showed residents in Delhi and Srinagar rushing into the streets, although no damage was reported.

Asian markets fall on oil price plunge, China trade data

 HONG KONG, Dec 8,  (AFP) - Oil prices struggled at seven-year lows Tuesday, sending Asian energy firms plunging in line with their US and European counterparts after OPEC's decision to maintain output dimmed hopes for a recovery in the black gold.

Another tumble in Chinese imports and exports exacerbated the decline on regional markets, reinforcing worries about the state of the world economy as Washington considers raising US interest rates.

A global supply glut, weak demand and the growth slowdown in China have combined with soaring production to send crude slumping more than 60 percent over the past 18 months.

Investors had been hoping that with the market increasingly tight, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could find a way to ease output and release some pressure on prices.

However, the cartel's six-monthly meeting Friday ended without agreement between bickering members to make any cuts, which in turn battered global markets.

On Monday US benchmark West Texas Intermediate sank 5.8 percent and Brent crude shed 5.3 percent -- hitting levels not seen since February 2009. WTI had tumbled 2.7 percent and Brent lost 1.9 percent Friday.

US giant ExxonMobil, France's Total and Italy's Eni all fell between two and three percent, with many smaller producers and oil-services companies suffering even bigger drops.

And Asian firms continued those losses as crude failed to recover.Hong Kong-listed Chinese giant CNOOC ended down 3.5 percent, while PetroChina closed off two percent in Shanghai.- Weak demand -Mining giant BHP Billiton dived more than five percent in Sydney, while Rio Tinto was off 4.3 percent.

Woodside lost four percent and Oil Search plunged more than 16 percent after Woodside dropped a multi-billion-dollar bid for the latter without explanation.Santos, which has a joint venture with Oil Search in a massive PNG gas project, saw its shares crash 13.1 percent.

Japan's Inpex was off five percent while JX Holdings lost 3.7 percent.Among Asian stock markets, Tokyo and Sydney lost around one percent, Shanghai fell 1.9 percent and Hong Kong ended off 1.3 percent.

"Market focus at the moment is the potential deflationary effects of lower oil prices, and the signalling that aggregate demand is weak," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.Commodity-linked currencies took a hit from the falls, with Malaysia's ringgit down 1.2 percent and the Australian dollar losing 0.4 percent.

In China, investors were hit by another round of weak trade data indicating the world's number two economy and key driver of global growth is heading for its worst year in a quarter-century.

"Fading exports remain a main drag on the slowing economy, adding downward pressure on the yuan and increasing the likelihood of further easing," Bloomberg economists Fielding Chen and Tom Orlik wrote in a note."The hope is that the recovery in the global economy in 2016 may extend some help to China's exports."

The plunge in oil prices and news from China overshadowed data out of Tokyo showing Japan's economy grew 0.3 percent in July-September.The revised figures came just weeks after initial estimates for the quarter indicated the country had fallen into recession.

However, Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said: "While severe pessimism is receding, consumption -- a key driver for the economy -- is still weak. Without more spending and higher wages, the engine of the economy won't be ignited."In early European trade London fell 0.2 percent, Frankfurt dipped 0.1 percent and Paris lost 0.1 percent.

Tokyo shares close down as oil-linked stocks tumble

TOKYO, Dec 8, (AFP) - Tokyo stocks fell Tuesday as oil-linked firms took a beating after the price of crude tumbled to near a seven-year low.

The precipitous drop was in reaction to a decision last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not to cut output despite a global supply glut.

"The full implications of OPEC's failure to cut production have been coming to bear on the oil price and energy stocks," IG Ltd. market analyst Angus Nicholson wrote in a client note.

"The dramatic selloff in the energy sector seen in the S&P 500 overnight seems to have crystallised concern over the future of the energy market," he added.Tokyo's fall came after a drop on Wall Street where energy shares took a beating, with the Dow and S&P 500 both losing 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq down 0.8 percent.
In Tuesday trading, Japanese energy explorer Inpex plunged 5.01 percent to 1,164.5 yen, while JX Holdings, one of the country's biggest oil refiners, closed down 3.74 percent at 498.2 yen.

The Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 1.04 percent, or 205.55 points, to finish at 19,492.60, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares finished down 1.04 percent, or 16.48 points, at 1,568.73.

Better-than-expected Japanese economic growth data, published shortly before markets opened, appeared to have little impact on investors.

The world's number three economy grew 0.3 percent in the July-September quarter, according to revised figures, just weeks after initial estimates showed that it had fallen into recession, denting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth blitz.

However, economists were cautious as consumer spending remained weak with little in the way of big wage hikes to put more money in people's pockets."The data confirmed that the Japanese economy is growing gradually," said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

"And while severe pessimism is receding, consumption -- a key driver for the economy -- is still weak. Without more spending and higher wages, the engine of the economy won't be ignited."

Toyota shares fell 1.33 percent to 7,601 yen, banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ finished down 0.94 percent at 796 yen and mobile carrier SoftBank slipped 0.73 percent to 6,322 yen.Sony dropped 1.62 percent to 3,078 yen, as a pickup in the Japanese currency hit exporters.

The dollar weakened to 123.10 yen from 123.36 yen Monday in New York, while the euro slipped to 133.63 yen from 133.67 yen.The common currency fetched $1.0856, up from $1.0835 in US trade.

ADB to provide 15 million US dollar grant assistance

Kathmandu, Dec 8:  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide 15 million US dollars grant assistance from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) to the Government of Nepal for the Disaster Risk Reduction and Livelihood Restoration for Earthquake affected communities.

The JFPR is a fund set up by the government of Japan and managed by ADB. The grant agreement in this connection was signed today by Lok Darshan Regmi, secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Kenichi Yogoyama, Country Director of Nepal Residence Mission, ADB, in the Ministry on the behalf of Government of Nepal and ADB respectively.

The objectives of the project are to help restore the disrupted livelihoods and schooling in the poor and severely earthquake-affected communities, and strengthen their resilience against future disaster.

The project will be implemented in 14 districts- Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kavrepalanchowk, Dolakha, Solukhumbu,  Okhaldhunga, Sindhuli and Makawanpur.  RSS

Revolving fund sets up in memory of late lawmaker Khadka

Baglung, Dec 8:  A revolving fund of Rs 2.5 million has been set up in the memory of late lawmaker Hari Bahadur Khadka. Families of late Khadka set up the fund aimed at spending in social and educational activities, said his wife and lawmaker Champa Devi Khadka.

  The Hari Khadka Foundation was established to manage the fund as the late Khadka was interested in social works, according to Dr Sudip Khadka, son of the late Khadka..

 Lawmaker Khadka was killed in a jeep accident at Bhakunde VDC in Baglung district last year. RSS

New laws to come into effect soon - Law minister Kharel

Chitwan, Dec 8: Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Agni Prasad Kharel today said that 193 different laws have been submitted to the legislation committee after making amendments to them for its approval which would be tabled at the parliament soon.

According to the Ministry, a total of 110 new laws relating to federalism should be made, 22 with regards to provinces and six relating to local bodies.

Speaking at an event on 'Constitution and Inclusive Rights, Legal Remedy and Media's Role' organised by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, in Bharatpur, Chitwan, Minister Kharel said that the process to make new laws relating to various issues including federalism would proceed soon after making a priority list.

The parliament has remaining two years to expire its tenure, within which time, some legal provisions would be amended or new laws would be made for full implementation of the constitution, he said.

On the issue of demands put forth by the agitating groups, Kharel, also member of the government talk team formed to hold dialogue with agitating Madhes-based political parties, said that review of the delineation of the boundaries would not be possible at this point of time.

He also added that the incumbent government does not have any right to reach any types of agreement that is detrimental to the nation under any pretext.

At the event, joint secretary at the ministry Dilli Raj Ghimire also presented a working paper on the concept of legal remedy, while judge Achyut Kuikel presented a working paper on the provision of legal remedy.


Likewise, Janak Aryal, former president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Chitwan, presented a working paper on media's role for the rights of women and backward community in the Constitution of Nepal, 2072 and its implementation. RSS

Orientation to journalists regarding education and child rights

Kathmandu, Dec 8: A three-day workshop has begun at Matatirtha, Kathmandu, for the capacity building of journalists in the sector of education and child rights. The workshop is organised by National Coalition for Children as Zone of Peace and Child Protection (CZOPP) with the support of Save the Children.

Discussion would be held regarding the role of journalists, code of conducts to be adopted by them in this connection and skill for the promotion of child rights and education.

Inaugurating the programme, chief trainer of the workshop Kundan Aryal said that journalists could present issues related to children as in-depth news by using their interview skills for identifying the factual information regarding children and their condition.

Study and skills should be regularly updated to make journalism dignified and professional, he said.

CZOPP Coordinator Deepak Prasad Basyal said that review would be carried out after carrying out onsite visit of different schools and interview with children in course of workshop. Orientation would be given to some 24 journalists. RSS

Tuskers destroy two houses

Lahan, Dec. 8: Two wild elephants destroyed two houses and ate up five quintals of paddy from a house after entering the human settlement at Dhangadhimai Municipality-13 in Siraha district last night.

The elephants destroyed the houses of Dhanmaya Thapamagar and Kedar Gelal at Bhorleni village.

Thapamagar said that the elephants ate up five quintals of paddy stored in her house by destroying the wall of the house. Thapamagar said that she and her two kids, however, managed to escape the attack of the tuskers by hiding under a bed.

The locals chased away the tuskers to the east of the village by igniting fire after they inflicted loss in the village. RSS