Some 20 people walked for 25 days from the southern province of Madhesh to the capital, carrying empty buckets on their heads. In the Chure region, which is home to a mountain range and several streams, natural springs have dried up due to decades of overuse. The government, however, is ignoring the issue.
Today's news: Over 1400 academics sign a petition to the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza; In Beijing, the Minister of Agriculture is also under investigation; Nepalese Sherpa climbs Mount Everest for the 30th time, an all-time record; Vietnamese police arrested a prominent trade unionist; Concern in Moscow over attack on foreign tourists in Afghanistan.
In the Sagarmata area alone, the Nepali name for the world's highest mountain, the accumulation of waste amounts to about five tonnes per day. Environmental conditions complicate regular collection efforts and the increasing number of hikers does not help, but mountaineering alone earns Nepal 10 per cent of its GDP.
Nepal has decided to print on its 100 rupee banknotes a map of the country that includes disputed territories with India. The Indian Foreign Minister immediately expressed his disapproval. A working group had been set up in 2024 to resolve the border dispute, but the meetings were suspended from 2019.
Today's news: Imran Khan appeals to the International Monetary Fund demanding independent verification of the vote before negotiations; Taiwan's TSMC opened its first microchip factory in Japan; Egyptian economy collapses as tourism, gas and Suez Canal hit by war in Gaza; In Russia more victims of the repression of crimes of opinion under Putin than in the thirty years from Kruschev to Andropov.
Hundreds of Nepali doctors saw their US medical licensing scores invalidated on suspicion of cheating. They slam examination administrators for linking national origin to possible cheating, saying it discriminates against them and unfairly casts doubt on their training. This also casts a shadow over 1,500 Nepali doctors already working in the United States.
