Mosquito menace continues to frustrate people in the Rajshahi city in the absence of any drive during the past three months. The Rajshahi City Corporation has not yet taken any initiative to protect the dwellers from mosquito hazards because of fund constraints.

Around 75 percent of total population of Nepal run risk of catching malaria. According to Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, people living in Terai districts, particularly around border region, are in higher risk of malaria. The Division states that while 65 out of total 75 districts of Nepal are in risk of catching malaria; 12 of them run particularly higher risk. They include Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Mahottari, Dhankuta, Sindhuli, Kavre, Nawalparasi, Bardiya, Dadeldhura, Kanchanpur and Kailali districts.

Leaders of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) yesterday submitted a memorandum to the food adviser urging introduction of countrywide rationing system, extending OMS programme and establishing a state buffer stock of essential items to rein in price spiral. Terming the food situation a very alarming, the LDF said a syndicate of crooked hoarders and businessmen hiked the prices of food grains when the government stock was very inadequate and, thus, bagged a huge benefit.

Berries of a common weed found in India may be effective in fighting mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, a study has found. Synthetic insecticides are increasingly useless in fighting diseasespreading mosquitoes, such as the Stegomyia aegypti that can spread dengue and yellow fever viruses. In the online open-access journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Indian scientists described how they used juice and extracts from the Solanum villosum weed and found it was particularly effective in eliminating Stegomyia aegypti larvae.

Bob Crebas still introduces himself as "an old hippy.' But these days it is not recycled washing machines and bric-a-brac that the Dutchman trades in. He has swapped all this for fashion collections made from stinging nettles, designed and produced by his fast-growing business Brennels.nl. Four years ago, Crebas and his business partner were selling second-hand wares through a trading website called Marktplaats.nl when they were approached by eBay, the hugely successful auction website, and made the kind of offer you can't refuse. The American firm bought out Marktplaats.nl for