Aug 31, 2016- Amid criticisms that students unions have politicised the academic sector, Nepali Congress (NC) sister wing Nepal Students' Union has announced that it will never enforce shutdown of academic institutions as a protest tool.<br /> <img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Tn0XfIqDnLhOLkvgrceBGk0-ZkQmV3oYVmIyUjFINwow7DFmMmbK60Nhv0gO8nxNc2mk2Zb-khyuhp8YKQGLlHR9S_rGJym2pxnIPZKJyHyj22H6KiGOkRnq3Nze-rT7TTsY2fYwi7b0/s320/23291_117409674966817_573_n.jpg" width="305" /><br /> The student wing of the largest party of the country has said that it will fully adhere to government's declaration of academic sector as a zone of peace.<br /> At a press meet organised to make public the decisions made by the first Central Working Committee meeting of the newly elected leadership in the Capital on Wednesday, the NSU has also announced that it would not give membership to the students below 16 years of age.<br /> Currently, the student unions including NSU have their organisation in a number of schools across the country. Though the government with written commitment from over a dozen of political parties announced schools as a zone of peace in 2011, the student unions continue to target the schools to put pressure on the authority to get their demands addressed.<br /> Two weeks ago, All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary affiliated to Netra Bikram Chand led CPN Maoist enforced shutdown of all the academic institutions of the country, barring around eight millions students from their study.<br /> Announcing the union decisions, newly elected NSU President Nain Singh Mahar said that his union will completely abide by the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959 that bans from engaging children below 16 years of age in the political activities.

Anonymous 0 11:02:00 AM

Aug 31, 2016- Amid criticisms that students unions have politicised the academic sector, Nepali Congress (NC) sister wing Nepal Students' Union has announced that it will never enforce shutdown of academic institutions as a protest tool. The student … Read more »

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Apple should repay Ireland 13bn euros, European Commission rules

<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">Aug 30, 2016- Ireland should recover up to €13bn (£11bn) from Apple in back taxes, the European Commission has ruled.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">After a three-year investigation, it has concluded that the US firm's Irish tax benefits are illegal.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">The Commission said Ireland enabled the company to pay substantially less than other businesses, in effect paying a corporate tax rate of no more than 1%.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <img height="224" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/third-party/miscellaneous/30082016062156_90963446_apple.logo.lit.g-1000x0.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">Ireland and Apple both said they disagreed with the record penalty and would appeal against it.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">"Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies - this is illegal under EU state aid rules," said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">"The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years," she added.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">The standard rate of Irish corporate tax is 12.5%. The Commissions's investigation concluded that Apple had effectively paid 1% tax on its European profits in 2003 and about 0.005% in 2014.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">Ms Vestager said that the tax agreement reached between Ireland and Apple meant that the company's taxable profits "did not correspond to economic reality".</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">Apple said the decision would be harmful for jobs.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">"The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple's history in Europe, ignore Ireland's tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process," the company said in a statement.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">"The Commission's case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it's about which government collects the money. It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">"Apple follows the law and pays all of the taxes we owe wherever we operate. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned."</span></span></div>

Apple should repay Ireland 13bn euros, European Commission rules

Anonymous 0 10:56:00 AM

Aug 30, 2016- Ireland should recover up to €13bn (£11bn) from Apple in back taxes, the European Commission has ruled. After a three-year investigation, it has concluded that the US firm's Irish tax benefits are illegal. The Commission said Ireland e… Read more »

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Wrong baby cremated after Sydney hospital mix-up

<blockquote class="tr_bq"> A deceased baby was cremated in Australia despite the parents wanting a burial after being incorrectly identified by a hospital staff.<br />Two babies — one stillborn and one miscarried — were mixed-up at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital last year because a blanket obscured an ID tag.<br /><img alt="A file photo of a parent holding the hand of a newborn baby" height="224" src="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/103A3/production/_90976466_gettyimages-3426831.jpg" width="400" /><br />The incident follows a deadly newborn "laughing gas" mix-up at another Sydney hospital.<br />New South Wales Health Minister Jillian Skinner apologised for the incident.<br />"I'm devastated for them and I'm really sorry that such an incident occurred," she told a budget estimates committee.<br />A spokesman from the opposition Labor Party said Ms Skinner should be sacked to restore public confidence in the healthcare system.<br />However, Premier Mike Baird has stood by the embattled health minister in the wake of the hospital incidents.<br />"Jillian Skinner continues to do a good job in very difficult circumstances," Mr Baird said.</blockquote>

Wrong baby cremated after Sydney hospital mix-up

Anonymous 0 10:51:00 AM

A deceased baby was cremated in Australia despite the parents wanting a burial after being incorrectly identified by a hospital staff.Two babies — one stillborn and one miscarried — were mixed-up at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital last year beca… Read more »

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Crystal Bride Gown Transformed by Dead Sea Salt

<div class="tr_bq"> <br /></div> <blockquote> <span style="background-color: white; color: #5b5b5b; font-family: FreeSans, Arimo, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">After several weeks submerged the garment is covered with many salt crystals.</span><img height="266" src="http://www.livescience.com/images/i/000/085/721/original/sigalit-landa-salt-dress.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&downsize=*:1400" width="400" /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #5b5b5b; font-family: FreeSans, Arimo, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #5b5b5b; font-family: FreeSans, Arimo, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">After two months, Studio Landau lifted 'Small Salt Bride' from the waters of the Dead Sea.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #5b5b5b; font-family: FreeSans, Arimo, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #5b5b5b; font-family: FreeSans, Arimo, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">Resurrected from its shallow resting place, the Crystal Bride Gown represents a sort of rebirth. The gown, which originally represented madness, is transformed into the wedding gown it was meant to be.</span></blockquote>

Crystal Bride Gown Transformed by Dead Sea Salt

Anonymous 0 9:26:00 AM

After several weeks submerged the garment is covered with many salt crystals.After two months, Studio Landau lifted 'Small Salt Bride' from the waters of the Dead Sea.Resurrected from its shallow resting place, the Crystal Bride Gown represents a so… Read more »

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A bodily pigment may have industrial uses

<div style="text-align: justify;"> SINCE their invention two centuries ago, batteries have been made from many things. The first were of copper and zinc. Today, lithium is preferred for a lot of applications. Lead, nickel, silver and a host of other materials have also been used. Until recently though, no one had tried melanin, the pigment that darkens skin and protects it against ultraviolet light. But, as he reported this week at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Christopher Bettinger of Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, has now done just that. His purpose is to create a battery safe for use in the human body.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <img height="225" src="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2016/08/articles/main/20160827_stp502.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Melanin is not, at first sight, an obvious battery ingredient. It is a complicated molecule composed of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. To synthesise it on an industrial scale would surely require biotechnology rather than conventional chemistry. But it does have the ability to capture and release positively charged ions, known as cations. Batteries depend on the movement of ions, so this property is a good start. On top of that, being a normal ingredient of bodies, melanin is not toxic. This is in contrast to many conventional battery ingredients, including most of those listed above. If melanin were to leak out of an implanted medical device, it would simply be mopped up by enzymes.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The battery Dr Bettinger has come up with has a melanin cathode, an anode of sodium titanium phosphate, which is also non-toxic, and an aqueous electrolyte that can be charged with any soluble cation desired. He has experimented with ions of sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, magnesium, aluminium and iron. Most of the resulting batteries had modest voltages (between 0.5 and 0.7 volts) but stored enough energy to power one-shot ingestible devices such as capsule endoscopes (pill-shaped machines which can look at parts of the alimentary canal that conventional endoscopy cannot reach) or drug-delivery systems designed to release their payloads at a particular place in the gut.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Intriguingly, though the uses Dr Bettinger has in mind do not need a rechargeable battery, one of the experimental models his team produced—that containing magnesium—could be recharged. This goes against conventional wisdom, for previous attempts to make a rechargeable magnesium battery have failed. Given the abundance and cheapness of magnesium, that may be useful information for battery engineers seeking to outdo modern lithium-ion batteries. If so, then melanin or something like it might find itself in very heavy demand indeed.</div>

A bodily pigment may have industrial uses

Anonymous 0 9:18:00 AM

SINCE their invention two centuries ago, batteries have been made from many things. The first were of copper and zinc. Today, lithium is preferred for a lot of applications. Lead, nickel, silver and a host of other materials have also been used. Unt… Read more »

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Death toll in Trishuli River bus crash climbs to 22

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Chitwan, Aug 26: The death toll in the bus accident at Kalikhola of Chandibhanjyang along Narayangadh – Mugling road has reached 22. Twenty one were killed on the spot while another one injured died in the course of treatment at Chitwan Medical College, police said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2cUKd5p2Mm3H0bc_aNqlCAoOrpADQIeji0ucTebbZpj7P3dNG-ir5VNX4MgydWQnRHCMDYvZWvhfgRQ7UBVI_s2GhcboUkzqKnG9HE4FTkMXsNOzekwjkbOFx0UirRWbt1BvKqevZrs/s400/Cqv5qtrUMAA0L2s.jpg" /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Police, however, continue the rescue operation, in suspicion that other four passengers might be still missing.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Pokhara-bound bus (Ga 1 Kha 3709) skidded off the road and plunged into the Trishuli River today morning. The ill-fated bus had left Gaur for Pokhara with the total 30 passengers on board.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Of the total 16 injured, undergoing treatment at Chitwan Medical College and College of Medical Sciences at Chandranigahapur, six are reported to be in serious condition.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The deceased who have been identified include Chitarandan Yadav of Mudalawa-3, Rakesh Yadav of Laukaha, Brij Kishor Kushahawa of Katahariya-9, Pramod Ram of Mahamadpur-8, Ganesh Kumar Sah of Basantapur-1, Rajesh Prasad Yadav of Mudalawa-6, Jokhu Sah of Gaur Municipality-12 and Jogendra Giri of Inaruwa-7.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Other deceased have been identified as Indian nationals Thekan Thakur and Shankar Thakur. All the deceased are aged between 30 and 60 years old. The identity of some more deceased is yet to be known, police said. RSS</div>

Death toll in Trishuli River bus crash climbs to 22

Anonymous 0 8:10:00 AM

Chitwan, Aug 26: The death toll in the bus accident at Kalikhola of Chandibhanjyang along Narayangadh – Mugling road has reached 22. Twenty one were killed on the spot while another one injured died in the course of treatment at Chitwan Medical Coll… Read more »

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Direct bus service from Bhalubang, Dang, to New Delhi

<br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 26px;">Dang, Aug 24: The Rapti Zonal Public Bus Entrepreneurs Committee is to operate bus service from Bhalubang of Dang to New Delhi, India.</span>Committee Chairman Suresh Hamal said that the Committee is going to operate direct bus service from Bhalubang to New Delhi for the first time from August 29.</span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq">  <img height="224" src="http://tulsipuronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ac-bus.jpg" width="400" /></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The bus would leave for New Delhi from Bhalubang on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and from New Delhi to Bhalubang on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, according to the Committee. Two thousand rupees has been determined as transport fare from Bhalubang to New Delhi.<br />The Rapti Zonal Public Bus Entrepreneurs Committee, which had started its service with four buses in 2041 BS, has now been providing service to Kakadvitta, Biratnagar, Pokhara, Palpa and Mahendranagar.<br />Prakash Bhatta of the Committee said that around 700 buses of the Committee have been providing their service in the long and short route. RSS</span></blockquote>

Direct bus service from Bhalubang, Dang, to New Delhi

Anonymous 0 7:27:00 AM

Dang, Aug 24: The Rapti Zonal Public Bus Entrepreneurs Committee is to operate bus service from Bhalubang of Dang to New Delhi, India.Committee Chairman Suresh Hamal said that the Committee is going to operate direct bus service from Bhalubang to Ne… Read more »

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Iran releases images of new missile defence system

<br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;">TEHRAN, Aug. 21:(AFP) – Iran released images of its first domestically built long-range missile defence system on Sunday, a project started when the country was under international sanctions.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <img height="300" src="http://media.breitbart.com/media/2016/08/missilee-640x480.jpg" width="400" /></div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> Images released on multiple state news agencies showed President Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Defence Hossein Dehghan standing in front of the new Bavar 373 missile defence system.The system was designed to intercept cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles, according to earlier statements by Dehghan.</div> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> It was intended to match the Russian S-300 system, the delivery of which was suspended in 2010 due to sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear programme.”We did not intend to make an Iranian version of the S-300 — we wanted to build an Iranian system, and we built it,” Dehghan told the IRNA news agency on Saturday.</div> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> Rouhani said in a televised speech that Iran’s military budget had more than doubled compared with last year.”If we are able to discuss with world powers around the negotiating table, it is because of our national strength, because of our national unity,” he said.</div> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> In 2015, shortly before the conclusion of an international agreement on the nuclear programme, Moscow re-authorised the delivery of the S-300 system in a move criticised by the United States and Israel.</div> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> Iran’s army said in May that it was now equipped with the S-300 system, though further parts are due over the coming months.</div> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> Rouhani also unveiled the first Iranian-made fighter jet engine on Sunday, saying it was capable of flight at 50,000 feet.”The Islamic republic is one of eight countries in the world who have mastered the technology to build these engines,” the president said.RSS</div> </span>

Iran releases images of new missile defence system

Anonymous 0 7:02:00 AM

TEHRAN, Aug. 21:(AFP) – Iran released images of its first domestically built long-range missile defence system on Sunday, a project started when the country was under international sanctions. Images released on multiple state news agencies showed Pr… Read more »

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Image of injured Syria boy draws outrage

<img height="220" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/third-party/miscellaneous/180820160415152016-08-18T092849Z_74169973-1000x0.jpg" width="400" /><br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> Aug 18, 2016- Syrian activists have released striking pictures of a young boy rescued from a destroyed building after an air strike in the divided second city of Aleppo.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> Video and photos of the boy sitting dazed and bloodied in an ambulance were shared widely on social media, with many expressing shock and outrage.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> A doctor identified him as Omran Daqneesh, 5, who they said was treated for head wounds on Wednesday night.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> It was not immediately clear what happened to the rest of his family.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> Fighting between Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, and rebels has escalated in Aleppo in recent weeks, reportedly leaving hundreds of people dead.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> The pro-opposition Aleppo Media Centre said the pictures of the boy were taken in the rebel-held Qaterji district of Aleppo on Wednesday, after air strikes that left three people dead and 12 injured.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> <span style="font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px;">The video shows the boy being carried out of a damaged building by a medic and then placed on a seat in the back of an ambulance, covered in dust and with a blood-covered face.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> The medic then leaves the vehicle and the boy is left sitting quietly, appearing stunned by the ordeal. He runs his hand over his face and looks at the blood before wiping it on the seat.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> He is later joined by two other young children and a man injured in the air strike.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> A doctor in Aleppo, Osama Abu al-Ezz, told the Associated Press that the boy in the ambulance was brought to a hospital known as M10 following the attack on Qaterji with head wounds, but no brain injury, and was later discharged.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> Raf Sanchez of the Daily Telegraph also tweeted a photo showing the boy lying down on a stretcher with a bandage covering his left eye.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> "The stunned, bloodied face of a child survivor sums up the horror of Aleppo," wrote Adib Shishakly, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist network, also said three people were killed in the air strike and reported that Russian warplanes had fired a "vacuum missile", an apparent reference to fuel-air explosive munitions.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> Source: BBC</div>

Image of injured Syria boy draws outrage

Anonymous 0 7:23:00 PM

Aug 18, 2016- Syrian activists have released striking pictures of a young boy rescued from a destroyed building after an air strike in the divided second city of Aleppo. Video and photos of the boy sitting dazed and bloodied in an ambulance were sha… Read more »

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Janai Purnima festival today

<img height="300" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/third-party/health/1808201610443120140811janai-purnima-festival-observed-600x0-1000x0.jpg" width="400" /><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;">Aug 18, 2016- The tagadharis or those who wear the 'Janai' (the sacred thread) around their bodies from the left shoulder change the sacred thread on Tuesday after having a haircut and a bath on the occasion of 'Janai Purnima', also known as 'Rishi Tarpani'.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> This festival observed by the Hindus, especially of the Shaiva sect, on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Saun is also popularly known as 'Gunhu Punhi' in the Newar community.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> According to the time-honoured tradition, the people receive the 'Rakshya Bandhan' thread, which is tied around the wrist as an amulet. The yellow thread is purified through the chanting of mantras by Brahmin priests as a symbol of protection from fear and disease. They also observe the occasion as 'Kwanti Purnima'.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Kwanti, a soup prepared from nine different beans, is a special delicacy added to the Nepali menu today. The 'Kulabarna Tantra', a Tantrik scripture, says that the soup is highly nutritious and keeps diseases away.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> In the Terai region, there is a tradition in which sisters tie an attractive 'Rakhi' around the wrist of their brothers wishing them long life and prosperity.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Today, thousands of devotees worship lord Shiva at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu and at Kumbheswor in Lalitpur and take holy dips in ponds and lakes.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Religious fairs are held at Gosaikunda, an alpine area in Rasuwa District, and at Dansanghu, Triveni in Jumla district to observe the festival with offerings of worship to Lord Shiva. A big religious fair takes place at the Gosaikunda Lake and pilgrims come from faraway places to take a holy dip in this lake and other lakes nearby.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Religious fairs take place today at Pashupati and Manichud of Kathmandu; Gosaikunda of Rasuwa; Kumbheshwar of Lalitpur; Panchpokhari of Sindhupalchowk; Janakpurdham, Dhanush Sagar and Ganga Sagar of Dhanusha; Dansanghu of Jumla and Trivenidham of Nawalparasi.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> The Buddhists observe this day in commemoration of the day the Lord Gautama Buddha defeated the evil power of lust. This episode is well-described in the Buddhist scripture 'Lalitbistar'. A special fair takes place at Swayambhunath of Kathmandu today for this reason. RSS</div> <br />

Janai Purnima festival today

Anonymous 0 8:39:00 AM

Aug 18, 2016- The tagadharis or those who wear the 'Janai' (the sacred thread) around their bodies from the left shoulder change the sacred thread on Tuesday after having a haircut and a bath on the occasion of 'Janai Purnima', also known as 'Rishi … Read more »

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NSU voting to continue till midnight, results likely by Thursday morning

<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Aug 17, 2016- Representatives of Nepali Congress (NC) student wing Nepal Students’ Union (NSU) were busy casting their votes at the party headquarters in Sanepa, Lalitpur on Wednesday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <img height="266" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/the-kathmandu-post/politics/17082016083625NSU_ELECTION-(8).JPG" width="400" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Even though polls were scheduled to begin from 7am, the voting process began around 1pm.  Electronic voting machines are being used to cast and count the ballots.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Of the expected over 3000 votes, about 1,000 votes were cast by 6:30pm. According to the party election committee, voting is expected to continue until midnight and results should be available by Thursday morning. There are seven president, five general secretary and six treasurer aspirants. Among others, Nain Singh Mahar and Manoj Acharya are two main contenders battling for leadership.</div> <br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;"><br /></span></div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;"></span><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;">This is the first NSU convention since the 2007 unification of the NC faction led by incumbent President Sher Bahadur Deuba with the mother party, then headed by late Girija Prasad Koirala. After a gap of nearly 10 years, the 11th general convention of the NSU kicked off on August 4.</span></span></div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px;"> </span><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Source: <a href="http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-08-17/nsu-voting-to-continue-till-midnight-results-likely-by-thursday-morning-with-photos.html" target="_blank">ekantipur.com</a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div>

NSU voting to continue till midnight, results likely by Thursday morning

Anonymous 0 8:11:00 AM

Aug 17, 2016- Representatives of Nepali Congress (NC) student wing Nepal Students’ Union (NSU) were busy casting their votes at the party headquarters in Sanepa, Lalitpur on Wednesday. Even though polls were scheduled to begin from 7am, the voting p… Read more »

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Tripper knocks down youth to death

<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;">Pokhara, Aug 12: A person riding a scooter was killed when a tripper hit it at Budhi Bazaar of Lekhnath Municipality at 10 am today. The tripper (Ga 1 Ka 2402) was heading towards the Prithvi Highway from Kharaniphant of Lekhnath Municipality.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px;">The deceased is Bijaya Gurung of Lekhnath Municipality-13. The accident happened as the tripper was trying to overtake the scooter, police said. Gurung, who was fatally injured in the mishap, died while undergoing treatment at West Regional Hospital. Police have apprehended the tripper driver Prem Kumasr Sunar for necessary action. RSS</span>

Tripper knocks down youth to death

Anonymous 0 7:17:00 AM

Pokhara, Aug 12: A person riding a scooter was killed when a tripper hit it at Budhi Bazaar of Lekhnath Municipality at 10 am today. The tripper (Ga 1 Ka 2402) was heading towards the Prithvi Highway from Kharaniphant of Lekhnath Municipality. The de… Read more »

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Facebook to suppress clickbait stories

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <img height="224" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/third-party/miscellaneous/07082016022838_90689961_031355516-1-1000x0.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Aug 7, 2016- <span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6;">Facebook has intensified its crackdown on so-called clickbait news that appears on the social network.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Clickbait articles tend to carry intriguing headlines which suggest there is more to the story than there actually is.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> They are famous for employing alluring phrases such as "you'll never guess what happened next" in order to drive web traffic.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Facebook says it can now automatically suppress these stories.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> It says it has built a technology that scans for tell-tale signs of clickbait headlines on its news feed section - phrases such as "you'll never guess why" and "his response was priceless".</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> This scanning technology was created by a team at Facebook who manually reviewed "thousands of headlines" to put together a list of commonly identifiable clickbait traits.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px;">Headlines which are flagged for using such phrasing will be automatically diminished in prominence on Facebook's news feed, the company said.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> "We're making an update to News Feed ranking to further reduce clickbait headlines in the coming weeks," read a post on Facebook's newswire.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> "With this update, people will see fewer clickbait stories and more of the stories they want to see higher up in their feeds."</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14.95px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 23.92px;">'Dumbing down'</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px;">The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has welcomed the decision.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px;">Martin Shipton, chairman of the NUJ's Trinity Mirror group chapel, previously claimed that the culture of clickbait and setting traffic targets "could encourage reporters to sensationalise stories, to trivialise the news and make news out of trivia and to give up on more challenging, public interest journalism that takes time to research and deliver".</span></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> In January, the journalists' website Press Gazette revealed in a survey of about 700 journalists that nearly a third expressed concerns over the quality of online journalism.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Facebook previously attempted to diminish clickbait though another means - by timing how long users remained on an external website after clicking on a headline. But it said that this process wasn't accurate enough.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> It said it now categorises headlines as clickbait if they withhold information required to understand what the content of the article is and also if they exaggerate the article to create misleading expectations.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> "People have told us they like seeing authentic stories the most," the company added.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Source: <a href="http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-08-07/facebook-to-suppress-clickbait-stories.html" target="_blank">ekantipur.com</a></div>

Facebook to suppress clickbait stories

Anonymous 0 2:16:00 AM

Aug 7, 2016- Facebook has intensified its crackdown on so-called clickbait news that appears on the social network. Clickbait articles tend to carry intriguing headlines which suggest there is more to the story than there actually is. They are famou… Read more »

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Ghantakarna: Lord of Bells

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <img alt="Ghantakarna. Photo: Balkrishna Thapa Chhetri/THT" height="265" src="http://thehimalayantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ghantakarna-01.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">If you are from the Newar community, or have grown up with Newar friends, you know the value of iron rings. On the day of Gathemangal (celebrated every year on</span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> Shrawan Krishna Chaturdashi)</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, Newars wear iron rings on their fingers with a belief of protecting themselves from the demons and evil spirits.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Wearing those rings is just a part of the festival; Gathemangal is a lot more than that. This year it was celebrated on August 1, and various rituals were seen in different parts of the City on the day.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> A group of sturdy looking men of four were tying a bundle of green reeds with straw ropes at Naradevi. Some elderly men were helping them by making ropes out of the straw. All these men, who belonged to the Swetakali Guthi of Naradevi, were making the effigy of Ghantakarna (a mythical being) to celebrate the Gathemangal.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Communities that are members of their respective local<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> guthi </em>erected such effigies in their localities — Kilagal, Chikanmugal, Teku, and more. They even pasted a painted picture similar to that of Akash Bhairab, but with huge bells as his earrings on the effigy.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> It is a must for people to work together with other<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> guthi </em>members, as per 73-year-old Rameshwor Maharjan, a member of Kilagal Guthi and a resident of Khusibun. “If we don’t do so, we are fined by the<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> guthi</em>.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> However, that does not mean, they are unhappy to be a part of this festival. “We work together and even celebrate eating<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Samaybaji </em>(a food platter of beaten rice, black soybean, garlic, ginger, chhoila, black eyed pea, and potato), prepared during the festival,” shared Maharjan.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Houses are cleaned and different rituals are performed on the occasion of Gathemangal.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Like every other celebration, this festival also brought together a number of vendors selling rings, nails and henna on August 1. People buying iron rings and nails from these vendors, touching those items to the effigy of Ghantakarna (to increase power and get rid of ghosts and spirits) were a common scene.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Also, there were some offering money, clothes, salt, handmade dolls,<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> et cetera</em> to the effigy of Ghantakarna. Baal Khadgi from Swayambhu was at Naradevi offering clothes, salt and money to the effigy for his wife. “It is believed that if you offer those things to Ghantakarna, you won’t be disturbed by evil spirit or ghosts. My wife is not so well, and we hope to get rid of the bad omen with these offerings.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> After all the aforementioned rituals, the effigy is set on fire and pulled towards rivers — on August 1, an effigy was pulled from Naradevi to Bishnumati River with people chanting “Om shanti Jay Nepal, Aaju Dyo Ha”. A male, representation of the demon, also sat on the effigy as it was being pulled. During the day, the locals gave him money — it signifies people getting rid of impurities and evil beings, as per cultural laureate Hari Ram Joshi.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> This year’s celebration has ended, yet the festival is of much importance to those who celebrate it every year. And it has different myths associated with it.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Joshi explained, “According to the etymology of Gathemangal in Newari language, it can also be pronounced as ‘Gaanthaamo’ or ‘Gathaanmo’. Here<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> gaan</em> means bell and<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> mo</em> means head where Gaanthaamo refers to one who walks ringing the bell. This implies to Ghantakarna.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> According to 66-year-old Paanaman Bajracharya from Naradevi there was once a demon who wore bells in his ears. “As he walked, the bells rang. So, people named him Ghantakarna  —<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> ghanta</em> means bell and<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> karna</em> means ears. That demon troubled people by stealing their children. Then frogs came to the rescue — they helped kill the demon by drowning him in the river water. The festival is the celebration of the same, victory of people,” shared Bajracharya.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> But Sangeeta Amatya from Kilagal has a different story to share. “People work hard during the time of rice plantation. That is why it is also called<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Shinajya (</em>working very hard even though body gives up, in Newari language),” shared Amatya.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Connecting people’s hard work to the celebration of Gathemangal, she explained, “It is believed that once people took help from ghosts to complete rice plantation. But these creatures ate a lot and it was impossible to feed them for a year. To get rid of those ghosts, people started celebrating Gathemangal. They chased ghosts away from their houses to the rivers.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> However, Joshi interpreted the essence of Ghantakarna a bit differently. He argued, “Ghantakarna is known as Aaju Dyo. Lord Bhairab is also called Aaju Dyo. That is why Ghantakarna is regarded as one of the incarnations of  Lord Bhairab. Ghantakarna could also be the incarnation of Lord Kumar, son of Lord Shiva where there are evidences of Kumar wearing bells in his ears and such idols can be found in the temples of Ganeshsthan of Kamaladi and at Kumbheshwor of Patan.” Therefore, “it is wrong to say that Ghantakarna is a demon” opined Joshi.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “In ancient times, there used to be less tolerance between people of different religious beliefs,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “Lord Krishna’s son was about to marry Usha, the daughter of demon king Baanaashur. Baanaashur was against this decision. So, he fought with Lord Krishna with the support of Shiva and Kumar. But Baanaashur’s team was defeated and Kumar ran away. Burning the effigy of Ghantakarna symbolised the defeat of Kumar,” Joshi said as example. “Kumar belongs to Shaivism, while Krishna belongs to Vaishnavism sect of Hindu religion. And calling Kumar’s incarnation Ghantakarna, a demon, indicates the conflict between Vaishnavism and Shaivism.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> There is one more story related to Gathemangal celebration to which Joshi divulged, “In Newari language,<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">gaa</em> means house,<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> thaan</em> means pillars on which the houses are made and<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> mo</em> means tying up. So, Gathaanmo also means binding the pillars of a house. When the chariot of Rato Macchendranath is made, there is the tradition of tying wooden poles together to erect the chariot, and this tradition is also called<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Gathaanmo Chigu.</em>”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> A similar process is used to make the effigy of Ghantakarna<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </em>reeds are tied together with straw ropes to erect the effigy. That is why if Bhoto Jatra festival of Rato Machhendranath has not been conducted till<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Shrawan Krishna Chaturdashi, </em>people in Patan do not erect the effigy of Ghantakarna for the Gathemangal as the process <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Gathaanmo Chigu</em> is already done while constructing the Rato Macchendranath chariot.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> In this context, Gathaanmo also signifies strong pillars of temples, chariots, houses and the nation, and the festival is celebrated for the welfare of the entire nation, as per Joshi.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Source: <a href="http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/ghantakarna-lord-bells/" target="_blank">thehimalayantimes.com</a></span></span></div>

Ghantakarna: Lord of Bells

Anonymous 0 2:08:00 AM

If you are from the Newar community, or have grown up with Newar friends, you know the value of iron rings. On the day of Gathemangal (celebrated every year on Shrawan Krishna Chaturdashi), Newars wear iron rings on their fingers with a belief of pr… Read more »

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One injured in Thamel fire

<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">KATHMANDU:</strong> A man was injured when a fire broke out at a five-storey house in Chi Bahal Marga of Thamel on Sunday morning.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Inspector Umesh Lamsal of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Sorhakhutte, informed that the incident occurred at around 10 am.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> The reason behind the fire that broke out at the house of Suraj Shrestha was electric short circuit.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> The fire started from a clothing store at the ground floor and destroyed three floors.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Lamsal said that the injured has been identified as Shrestha’s son, Salin (22). He added that Salin sustained injuries while trying to douse the fire.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Salin has been rushed to the Kathmandu Model Hospital for treatment.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> The fire was brought under control with the help of police personnel backed by seven fire brigades after 45 minutes.</div>

One injured in Thamel fire

Anonymous 0 2:04:00 AM

KATHMANDU: A man was injured when a fire broke out at a five-storey house in Chi Bahal Marga of Thamel on Sunday morning. Inspector Umesh Lamsal of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Sorhakhutte, informed that the incident occurred at around 10 am. The… Read more »

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FNCCI calls on PM Dahal

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <img alt="Pashupati Murarka, President, FNCCI" src="http://thehimalayantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Pashupati-Murarka1-300x196.jpg" /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> A delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) — the largest private sector umbrella body — led by its President Pashupati Murarka paid a courtesy to newly elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> During the meeting, the FNCCI delegation requested the prime minister to take necessary steps to improve the flagging investment environment in the country, according to the FNCCI statement.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> FNCCI President Murarka highlighted some of the key issues, like policy inconsistency, weak rule of law, erratic power supply, among others that are hampering the efforts to attract investment in the country. He emphasised the need for early endorsement of some crucial economic bills —Industrial Enterprise Bill, Special Economic Zone Bill, Electricity Bill — from the parliament.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “Private sector has been facing raft of hassles to run the business across the country due to strikes, bandhs, donation drive by the political forces,” the statement has quoted Murarka as informing the prime minister.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> The FNCCI delegation further urged the leadership of new government to provide support to the private sector to resurrect the economy, which has been hit hard by the earthquakes of last year and disruptions in southern trade routes during protest in Madhes, as per the statement.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “FNCCI delegation also stressed that the private sector is ready to collaborate with the government to expedite the country’s post-earthquake reconstruction drive as well as other development activities.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Talking to the private sector representatives, PM Dahal sought private sector’s support to lead the country towards higher growth trajectory in the coming years. “People need to be economically empowered so they are able to enjoy the rights for which they have fought for since long,” the statement had quoted the prime minister as saying. “As the new constitutions has envisioned moving towards economic development, the government and private sector need to work together to achieve this target.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> He expressed government’s commitment to extend needful support to the private sector. PM Dahal said he is always committed for the expansion of industries and business sector for employment generation and expansion of revenue base.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “The government will soon organise an intensive interaction with private sector representatives on the areas of collaboration and what the government can do to enhance environment to foster economic activities in the country,” FNCCI statement has quoted Dahal as saying.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Vice Presidents of the FNCCI Kishore Kumar Pradhan, Shekhar Golchha and Members Chandra Prasad Dhakal, Ashok Kumar Todi, Jyotsna Shrestha, Ashok Kumar Temani, Bijay Singh Vaidhya, as well as Pradeep Kumar Kediya from Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries were part of the delegation.<br /> <br /> Source: <a href="http://thehimalayantimes.com/business/fncci-calls-on-prime-minister-pushpa-kamal-dahal/" target="_blank">thehimalayantimes.com</a></div>

FNCCI calls on PM Dahal

Anonymous 0 1:59:00 AM

A delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) — the largest private sector umbrella body — led by its President Pashupati Murarka paid a courtesy to newly elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today. During… Read more »

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Creating experiences, connecting with people • BRANDFEST NEPAL 2016

<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> In April, a group of kids in Washington DC boarded an ordinary glossy-yellow school bus.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> As the bus drove through the city, the kids started chatting and giggling. Then suddenly they started staring at the window of the bus with a look of astonishment. Outside, the city was turning dusty, and big red rocks were emerging.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> <img alt="(From left) Anand Tilak, Global Brand Partner, Facebook-Singapore; Alvin Teoh, executive creative director, Naga DDB-Malaysia; Carla Enslin, national academic head, Vega School of Brand Leadership, South Africa; Babita Baruah, senior VP and chief, J Walter Thompson, India; Sridhar Sunkad MD, EON Reality Singapore; Sumit Roy, founder director of Univbrands India; Vino Sookloll, CEO and executive creative director, CREAD+FCB, Mauritius; and Bharat Avalani, Connecting the Dots-Malaysia; participating in a panel discussion at the 3rd Brand-fest Nepal 2016 in Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza, Kathmandu, on Saturday, August 6, 2016. Photo: Naresh Shrestha/THT" height="272" src="https://thehimalayantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Brand-fest-Nepal-2016.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> These kids, in fact, had just entered Mars.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Nobody has landed on the red planet till date. But these children made it, thanks to Lockheed Martin, a US-based global security and aerospace company, which has launched an educational programme called Generation Beyond that includes Mars Experience Bus.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> The Mars Experience Bus was built with software used in today’s most advanced video games. Inside the bus, the windows turn into screens, and immersive virtual reality technology blends with the replica of 200 square miles of the Martian surface created by Lockheed, making riders feel they are travelling on Mars for real.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> No wonder, children were smiling, pointing at things outside the window and enjoying the moment as the bus rolled.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “This is called branding — creating experiences and connecting with people in a meaningful way,” Carla Enslin, national academic head of South Africa-based Vega School of Brand Leadership, told the second and last day of 3rd BrandFest Nepal 2016 today.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> The compliment may be job done for Lockheed, which designed the project — a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) educational programme — to ‘encourage young people to explore STEM fields in a hands-on way that will stay with them for a lifetime’.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Generally, brands are constrained to commercial contexts, which, according to Enslin, should not be the case.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “If a person wishes, he or she can exist as a brand. Even cities, countries, social movements and political parties can emerge brands,” Enslin said. But many do not grasp this concept. Perhaps, this is because they lack understanding of the notion called branding.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> In Enslin’s words, brand is ‘literally a construct, or an idea, that wishes to convey a very specific and unique meaning to build relationships and generate awareness’.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> But again this is not an easy job. “This is because the brand embraces the entire value chain…. from how the organisation goes about sourcing raw materials to production processes, logistics, distribution mechanism and communications strategies. So, one can’t manage a radar screen that is sliced into segments and be concerned with only communications dimension of the brand,” Enslin said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> Yet she acknowledged ‘communications dimension certainly promises and presents a particular identity’. “But truth ultimately lies in the experience of the brand,” Enslin said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> “And (to create that experience) a brand strategist gets only two seconds.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: justify;"> It is said the attention span of human beings, in this digital age, lasts only eight seconds. “I can get the remaining six seconds if I can connect with you in a meaningful way in the first two seconds,” she said. “So, every touchpoint will either reinforce or cause erosion to promises made by a brand.” Sumit Roy, founder director of Univbrands-India, thus, called on brand strategists to focus on brand purpose rather than product sales. “You do not always need a big budget to do this,” he said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div>

Creating experiences, connecting with people • BRANDFEST NEPAL 2016

Anonymous 0 1:54:00 AM

In April, a group of kids in Washington DC boarded an ordinary glossy-yellow school bus. As the bus drove through the city, the kids started chatting and giggling. Then suddenly they started staring at the window of the bus with a look of astonishme… Read more »

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Riverside settlers in Tulsipur participate in preparedness training against flood

<br /> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Aug 7, 2016- <span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6;">Tulsipur Municipality in Dang has partnered with various organisations in the district to train people living in flood-prone areas on risk management and preparedness.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> As part of the training a flood preparedness drill was organised for the people living on the banks of Patu River on Friday.  </div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> The drill was focused on pre-disaster information sharing, rescue techniques and relief work, among others.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Nearly 400 families living close to the Patu river banks have been dealing with flood problem almost every year during rainy season.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/the-kathmandu-post/miscellaneous/07082016090359Badhi-Practice-Dang-1-(2)-c-1000x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/the-kathmandu-post/miscellaneous/07082016090359Badhi-Practice-Dang-1-(2)-c-1000x0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="line-height: 20.7px;">Jharendra Kharel, the information officer of Tulsipur Municipality, said the training was designed to provide the people with concepts and methods for integrated approach to flood risk management. </span></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Fifteen-year-old Sushma Pariyar, of Tulsipur-9, said with the training knowledge she has, she now knows how to conduct herself and what to do in times of flood.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Local female community health volunteers and health workers also received training on emergency treatment.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Community health volunteer Radha Devi Neupane said the instructions given in the training would be helpful for her and other volunteers to treat persons injured in the events of flood.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Mukti Prasad Neupane, the chairman of municipal natural disaster management <span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6;">committee, said the training was successful in teaching people about preparedness against flood and risk</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> mitigation.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Meanwhile, the District Emergency Operation Centre has set up a water level measurement system in Patu River to relay information about possible flood to the people living by the riverside.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Bridge swept away</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> DOLAKHA: A flashflood triggered by heavy rains swept away a bridge over the Dholikhola stream along the Pushpalal Highway in Dolakha on Saturday. Transportation has been disrupted following the incident. The bridge connected Dolakha with Ramechhap.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 11.5px; line-height: 20.7px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> Source: <a href="http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-08-07/riverside-settlers-in-tulsipur-participate-in-preparedness-training-against-flood.html" target="_blank">ekantipur.com</a></div>

Riverside settlers in Tulsipur participate in preparedness training against flood

Anonymous 0 8:41:00 PM

Aug 7, 2016- Tulsipur Municipality in Dang has partnered with various organisations in the district to train people living in flood-prone areas on risk management and preparedness. As part of the training a flood preparedness drill was organised for… Read more »

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World’s first human head transplant date is set – as terminally ill patient says ‘I understand the risks

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #232327; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Valery Spiridonov, 30, suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> Italian surgeon Dr Sergio Canavero, who will carry out the £14 million experimental transplant, is likely to take 36-hours and will involve over 150 doctors and nurses.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> <img alt="Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero hopes to operate on Valery Spiridonov in December 2017" height="290" src="https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/nintchdbpict000256458891.jpg?w=960" width="400" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> The controversial operation will involve cooling his head to around 12 degrees Celsius, cutting it from his body and connecting it to the donated body of a brain-dead person.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> After the surgery, Valery will be kept in a medically-induced coma for three to four weeks while doctors stimulate his spinal cord nerves to reconnect and start functioning.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> Valery said the doctor dubbed Dr Frankenstein, will reveal more details about the op next month.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> He told MailOnline: “If you want something to be done, you need to participate in it. I do understand the risks. There are many.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> “We can’t even imagine what exactly can go wrong. I’m afraid that I wouldn’t live long enough to see it happen to someone else.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> But surgeons believe the opinion-dividing procedure could cause Valery to go insane or die.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> “I would not wish this on anyone,” said Dr Hunt Batjer, president elect of the American Association for Neurological Surgeons.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> “I would not allow anyone to do it to me as there are a lot of things worse than death.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at New York University’s Langone Medical Centre described Dr Canavero as “nuts”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> He believes that the bodies of head transplant patients “would end up being overwhelmed with different pathways and chemistry than they are used to and they’d go crazy”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> But Dr Canavero hit back at the criticism saying Valery will not only live with his new body, but will be able to walk within a year of the operation.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He told New Scientist last year: “I would say we have plenty of data to go on.</div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> “It’s important that people stop thinking this is impossible. This is absolutely possible and we’re working towards it.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> The potentially ground-breaking treatment was performed on a monkey in 1970.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232327; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> The animal only lived for eight days after the body rejected the new head, leaving the monkey unable to breath and move.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 13px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #232327; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Source: <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1552583/worlds-first-human-head-transplant-date-is-set-as-terminally-ill-patient-says-i-understand-the-risks/" target="_blank">thesun.co.uk</a></span></span></div>

World’s first human head transplant date is set – as terminally ill patient says ‘I understand the risks

Anonymous 0 5:42:00 AM

Valery Spiridonov, 30, suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy. Italian surgeon Dr Sergio Canavero, who will carry out the £14 million experimental transplant, is likely to take 36-hours and will involve over 15… Read more »

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'In a tainted era, the Olympics matter'

<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Aug 6, 2016- So there was no Pele, volleying a fireball into the Olympic cauldron. There was none of the shock and awe that defined Beijing's opening ceremony eight years ago, and less of the humour and history that made London 2012's first night so special.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> But there were dancing microbes, and super-cities, and Gisele Bundchen as the Girl From Ipanema. There were giant yellow butterflies, and passinho dancing from the favelas. There was drumming - there's always drumming - and there was carnival, of course.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> And if nothing could ever top the Queen skydiving out of a helicopter with James Bond alongside, then no-one should ever try. This is Rio's party, and at last it has begun.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> <img height="165" src="http://assets-cdn.ekantipur.com/images/third-party/sports/06082016114325_90693323_olympicstorchlitbyvanderleidelima-1000x0.jpg" width="400" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Opening ceremonies aren't meant to make much sense. Did the rest of the world really understand the collective glow of happiness across Britain when London's first three minutes featured Radio Four's shipping forecast, the Wind in the Willows' Mole and Ratty and the EastEnders drum intro?</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px;">These have been difficult years and months leading to this moment. And so the mood was one of relief that it was actually here, that the scandals and scares that have blighted the build-up at last have something more life-affirming to crash up against.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> The Brazil now hosting these Olympics is not the same one that won the sometimes nuanced honour of hosting them. The economy is mired in deep recession, with GDP shrunken by a tenth and protests both in the streets and from those paid to police them.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> The president who secured Rio's bid is about to stand trial on charges of disrupting a corruption investigation. His successor is suspended from office and currently being impeached; the stand-in stand-in, Michel Temer, may at least have made the Maracana but currently has an approval rating of just 14%, and was booed loudly as he declared the Games open.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Austerity is not a new facet of the summer Olympics. London's own bid came before a recession that would have rendered it unviable; Athens' Games in 2004 helped trigger Greece's own slide into financial chaos.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Yet these Olympics have more to cope with still. Revelations of state-sponsored doping on an eye-watering scale have not stopped the International Olympic Committee (IOC) admitting 271 Russian athletes from an original entry list of 389, even as the World Anti-Doping Agency it helps fund had called for a total ban.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> More than 100 athletes from other nations competing here have previously served doping bans, while just last month further retests of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics brought the number of athletes to retrospectively test positive from those Games to 98.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Even as those Russian athletes walked into the Maracana, even as spectators around the world wonder as never before whether they can genuinely trust the superhuman performances they will see over the next fortnight, the IOC continues to underfund and obfuscate; while it receives $1.23bn from American broadcaster NBC alone, it contributes only $15m a year to Wada's fight to keep sport clean.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> None of that is Brazil's fault. And while some venues have been finished with athletes long ago landed at Galeao airport - and more than a million tickets yet unsold, and transport between the disparate venues still creaking - to expect perfection in an imperfect city, at a Games run by a flawed governing body, is to be both unfair and unrealistic.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> "You managed this at a very difficult time in Brazilian history," IOC president Thomas Bach told the cheering crowd on Friday. "We always believed in you."</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> He should keep his fingers crossed. No-one yet knows whether the long-term benefits of these Olympics will touch the lives outside of the tourist beaches at Copacabana and Ipanema or the middle-class enclaves out west in Barra da Tijuca, or whether those disenfranchised in the favelas will be able to get near the fancy new yet fenced-off stadiums.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> This is an Olympics where the torch parade was stoned and a late poll indicated that only 16% of Brazilians were enthusiastic about the Games.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> And yet it can all still work, all magically come together, if only for one glorious party before an equally gargantuan hangover to follow.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> And if it does, it will be because of two things: the remarkable geographical swagger of this city of surf and mountains and sunshine, and the warmth and passion of the Cariocas who live here.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> One of the three key themes of Fernando Meirelles' ceremony on Friday, with a budget a tenth of that used by Danny Boyle four years ago - was gambiarra, which means to make do. If these turn out to be the Make-Do Olympics, that is just fine.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Because even in a tainted era, the Olympics still matter. No global sporting event brings together so many nations; at few other moments are the eyes of the world focused on such a small segment of the planet's surface.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Over the next 16 days returning heroes like Usain Bolt, Serena Williams and Michael Phelps will try to hold that gold standard once more. Young pretenders yet unknown will rise to become fresh stars. We will scream and shout and care about sports we ignore across the intervening years.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> There will be disappointments and denigration. There will be cheats we only find out about later, and others we never find out about at all.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Even in Vanderlei de Lima's triumphal finale there was disenchantment. In keeping with a ceremony that featured a section on record-breaking global temperatures, melting ice-caps and rising sea levels, Meirelles had wanted the cauldron lit by an environmental activist.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> You could point out the incongruity of such a statement in a city whose abundant waters remain horrendously polluted despite all the years of promises, at a non-sustainable event that brings the youth of the world together by jet plane.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> Yet there was symbolism in the moment the Olympic rings grew from the floor of the Maracana as lush fresh vegetation grown from seeds planted by local volunteers.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> These Olympics must be about a fresh start from contaminated soil, about replenishment rather than rampant chicanery and commercialism. It is asking an awful lot for two weeks of sport to make up for all that has taken us to this point. But it may just happen.</div> <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.95px; line-height: 23.92px;">Source: <a href="http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-08-06/in-a-tainted-era-the-olympics-matter.html" target="_blank">ekantipur.com</a></span></span></div>

'In a tainted era, the Olympics matter'

Anonymous 0 4:04:00 AM

Aug 6, 2016- So there was no Pele, volleying a fireball into the Olympic cauldron. There was none of the shock and awe that defined Beijing's opening ceremony eight years ago, and less of the humour and history that made London 2012's first night so… Read more »

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DoMG begins drilling at iron ore deposit in Nawalparasi

<br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"> <a href="http://sabkura.sabkuranewspvtlt.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1469871876mines-218x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://sabkura.sabkuranewspvtlt.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1469871876mines-218x150.jpg" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></blockquote> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kathmandu, Aug 4: The Department of Mines and Geology has started drilling to assess the quality and quantity of iron in the iron ore deposit at Dhauwadi in Nawalparasi.</span>The works to extract the deposit would start after the completion of the drilling, said spokesperson for the Department, Krishna Dev Jha.<br /> Surveyed two times earlier, the mine has 40 to 60 percent of iron ore contents.<br /> The iron mine at Ramechhap has been handed over to the cement factory after it was not fit for production. There is deposit of 10 million tonnes iron ore in Ramechhap.<br /> The Department has given the responsibility of extracting iron from the mine at Phulchoki to a company as it was found the deposit had less than 40 percent iron ore.<br /> Senior metallurgical engineer Jha said that it would be easy for drilling the iron mine at Dhaubadi of Nawalparasi as it was above ground. The iron deposit at Dhauwadi is said to spread in an area of 10 kilometres. Preliminary study shows that there is 50 million tonnes of iron content in the deposit. RSS</blockquote> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 26px;"></span></span><br />

DoMG begins drilling at iron ore deposit in Nawalparasi

Anonymous 0 10:44:00 AM

Kathmandu, Aug 4: The Department of Mines and Geology has started drilling to assess the quality and quantity of iron in the iron ore deposit at Dhauwadi in Nawalparasi.The works to extract the deposit would start after the completion of the drillin… Read more »

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New Zika vaccine to be tested in humans

<blockquote class="tr_bq">  <img height="265" src="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/09/patient-receiving-vaccine.jpg" width="400" /></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 26px; text-align: justify;"> Washington, Aug 4 (PTI) A new needle-free DNA vaccine against the Zika virus is being tested in people, US health officials have announced – moving forward in the fight against the virus that has been linked to serious birth defects.<br /> As a part of an early study run by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), about 80 volunteers in the US aged 18 to 35 will receive the NIAID Zika virus investigational DNA vaccine.<br /> If the vaccine appears safe and produces a good immune response against the virus, researchers plan to start a Phase 2 trial in 2017 in countries where Zika outbreaks are occurring, said Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID.<br /> The vaccine contains a small, circular piece of DNA called a plasmid. Within that plasmid are genes that code for certain Zika virus proteins, ‘Live Science’ reported.<br /> These will cause an immune response against the virus, thus protecting from infection, the researchers said.<br /> This type of vaccine is known as a DNA vaccine, and researchers have used it in the past for diseases such as West Nile virus.<br /> All the volunteers will get at least one dose of the vaccine, and some will get two or three doses that are spaced out over a number of weeks.<br /> The vaccine will be given with a needle-free “jet injector,” which uses a high-pressure stream of fluid to inject the vaccine into the muscle.<br /> Researchers will continue to follow the participants for two years to measure how long their immune response lasts, Fauci said.</blockquote>

New Zika vaccine to be tested in humans

Anonymous 0 1:04:00 AM

  Washington, Aug 4 (PTI) A new needle-free DNA vaccine against the Zika virus is being tested in people, US health officials have announced – moving forward in the fight against the virus that has been linked to serious birth defects. As a part of … Read more »

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Implantable Sensors Improve Control for Prosthetic Limbs

<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #5b5b5b; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="The main components of the prosthesis control system. (Source: Richard Weir, U. Colorado)" height="246" src="http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/sites/biosciencetechnology.com/files/bt1407nibib1.png" width="400" /></div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> <span style="line-height: 1.538em;">When a muscles contracts it generates electricity. This electrical activity remains in the muscles of an amputated limb. It has long been a goal to use these natural muscle signals to enhance the control of hand and arm prosthetics. Previously, researchers did this by attaching two external sensors to the surface of the skin of the residual limb. The sensors were connected to a prosthesis controller by wires.</span></div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> Detecting muscle signals on the surface of the skin limited the number of control sites available and only gave users the ability to open and close the prosthesis. Now, researchers are developing novel sensors that can be implanted directly into the muscles of the residual limb to create more control sites. These sensors wirelessly transmit intramuscular electrical signals from within the body to external electronics that command a prosthesis to move in a more natural way.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> Richard Weir, Ph.D. and his team at the University of Colorado are refining this technology, with the goal of enabling individual finger control of a prosthetic hand. The key technology is known as an implantable myoelectric sensor (IMES) system, which enables an increased number of control sites to be used, providing enhanced, intuitive, simultaneous control of the many joints in the prosthetic hand. Because they are placed directly into the muscle, IMES sensors are more specific than the sensors currently placed on the skin.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> The potential exists to implant each of the human forearm’s 18 muscles with a sensor that wirelessly transforms all those impulses into signals that can be used to control hand and individual finger movements. Current prosthetics have only two sensors, which send two signals: one to open and one to close the hand.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> <span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Participants were able to activate multiple muscles to simultaneously generate multiple signals. This was a significant result because it demonstrated that forearm muscles retained the independent activity necessary for multiple prosthetic finger control. Additional research on the interactions between finger, thumb and wrist muscles was critical for designing and controlling an artificial hand with similar capabilities to that of the human hand.</span>An important aspect of the work was determining the control potential and limitations of individual muscles. Using intramuscular electromyographic (EMG) electrodes, the group examined the ability of study participants to send signals from specific forearm muscles to specific fingers of the prosthetic hand.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> The original IMES (IMES1) was developed in the first five-year portion of an NIBIB Bioengineering Research Partnership (BRP) that was awarded to the Weir laboratory, then at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Weir's group has since moved to the University of Colorado, Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus. Additional partnership collaborators include the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago; Sigenics, Inc,. in Chicago; and the Alfred Mann Foundation in Valencia, CA.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> The Mann Foundation licensed the technology developed under this first BRP, and with additional funding and resources of their own, further developed the IMES1 for use in a first clinical trial that was conducted at Walter Reed Medical Center. Staff Sergeant James Sides, who lost his forearm in Afghanistan, was implanted with eight myoelectric sensors that enable him to control the first prosthetic hand tested in a human subject using the IMES system. The novel prosthesis moves similarly to a human hand, allowing Sides to lift small items such as a drinking glass; he can also perform other daily tasks such as use an ATM—which involves taking out his wallet, inserting and removing money and credit cards, and returning the wallet to his pocket—all with the prosthetic right forearm and hand.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> The collaborators are further refining the technology, under the second five year portion of the NIBIB partnership, to allow the IMES to transfer more data at a higher data transfer rate, with fewer mistakes and using far less power. All of this is necessary to make the device more robust and clinically viable. The ultimate goal of the collaborators is to make the device commercially available to benefit people with arm amputations.</div> <div style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 21.6px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; text-align: justify;"> Source: <a href="http://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/implantable-sensors-improve-control-prosthetic-limbs" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(184, 41, 47); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NIBIB/NIH</a></div>

Implantable Sensors Improve Control for Prosthetic Limbs

Anonymous 0 6:30:00 AM

When a muscles contracts it generates electricity. This electrical activity remains in the muscles of an amputated limb. It has long been a goal to use these natural muscle signals to enhance the control of hand and arm prosthetics. Previously, rese… Read more »

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