A autorickshaw rally kicked off in Kathmandu Durbar Square on Sunday, with the objective of publicizing tourism destinations of Nepal and raising fund for water projects in Nepal, India and Africa. The rally named Rickshaw-Run was organized by the UK-based international humanitarian aid and development charity organization and the League of Adventurists International Ltd in cooperation with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Shangrila Tours.

Avian Influenza Control Project has said six districts bordering India are at risk of bird flu. According to Dr Manas Kumar Banerjee, coordinator of Avian Influenza Control Project of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under Ministry of Health and Population, Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar, Taplejung, Sunsari and Morang districts are at risk of the flu. "There is embargo on the import of poultry items but despite the ban, items like white eggs which are found only in India are also found in the local market of the mentioned districts," said Dr Banerjee.

This is summer time. This is the season of diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid. But, hospitals in Kathmandu have been witnessing lesser number of dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid patients during the past few summers. The only water-borne disease whose number of cases still keeps going up is diarrhea.

A board meeting of the World Bank held yesterday approved a grant assistance of US$ 127 million (Rs 8.26 billion) to Nepal to support the ongoing peace process, expand primary health services in rural areas and improve rural water supply and sanitation.

Four Chinese companies have bid for construction of the 26.5 kilometer diversion tunnel of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. The companies vying for the project are China International Water and Electric Corp (CWE), China Overseas Engineering Company, Trans Tech Engineering China and China Railway 15 Bureau, said senior officials at the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board. "We expect that the bidding process will be completed by mid-July," said Purna Kadariya, Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works at a press meet held here Wednesday.

Increasing number of mountaineering expeditions is good news for the tourism industry. However, due to inefficient human waste management, such expeditions invariably end up contributing to a "waste dumping yard" at the highest peak of the world. Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) said the mountain environment is threatened by the problem of human waste due to lack of proper management. "When the snow melts at higher altitudes, the smell of human waste including that of urine becomes intolerable," he said.

Poor communities in the hills and mountains of far and mid-western Nepal face a serious threat to food security due to this year's poor winter harvest, says a UN body. Along with bad crops resulting in a 20-40 percent fall in production, rising food prices in these areas where poverty and malnutrition are very high has triggered this painful situation, states the latest crop situation update prepared by the World Food Program-Nepal.

A decade of armed-conflict wreaked havoc on government conservation efforts, especially in protected areas. However, with the end of insurgency, concerned stakeholders are strengthening conservation efforts, said officials. Laxmi Prasad Manandhar, chief education officer at Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), said that the National Planning Commission, through Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) and DNPWC, has released more than Rs 10 million for reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during the insurgency.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Sunday urged the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to stress on the poverty alleviation and infrastructure development. At a meeting with SAARC General Secretary Dr Shree Kanta Sharma, who reached the PM's official residence at Baluwatar this morning, PM Koirala discussed on the expansion of south Asian assistance. PM Koirala also expressed commitment to extend all kinds of support to the SAARC countries on behalf of Nepal, PM's advisor for foreign affairs Aditya Baral informed.

Local resdients obstructed Sailekh Bazaar stretch of Dashrath Chand Highway in Baitadi district on Sunday protesting the shortage of drinking water at local taps. The locals blocked the road at the bazaar near the district headquarters Gadi stating the taps ran dry for the last three days in around 20 taps of the locality. Thousands of passengers including those heading for hilly-district Dadeldhura have been left stranded due to the blockade. The locals insisted that they will continue the strike until they were ensured drinking water.