The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
There was and still is a lot India can learn from Nepal. Nepal's success in increasing power availability in remote areas through community participation and micro-hydel schemes is laudable. Therefore it doesn't make sense that Nepal is putting an end to an enlightened Community Forest Management Programme and trying to …
the Nepalese government's decision to ban vehicles older than 20 years has been met with stiff opposition. On February 2, traffic came to a standstill in various parts of Kathmandu after transporters took to the streets. Again on February 9, the National Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs organised a protest rally. …
Sherpa climbers will be paid to collect garbage dumped on Mount Everest by the Nepal Mountaineering Association. The sherpas usually act as guides and carry supplies for people climbing the Everest, the world's highest mountain. "We are considering paying US $13.50 for each kilogramme of garbage they collect,' said Bhumi …
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Nepal, has launched a 100-year programme for the conservation of the western Terai and Chure hills, one of the best habitats for Royal Bengal tiger, one horned Asiatic rhino and elephant. The WWF has identified 236 out of 800 animal habitats as endangered …
the Supreme Court of Nepal has once again come to the rescue of people campaigning for clean air. It has asked the government to explain its decision to allow Indian polluting vehicles into the country that violates Nepal's emission standards. The petition, filed by Pro-Public, a Kathmandu-based non-governmental organisation, questioned …
Due to a tremendous increase in the number of ecofriendly vehicles running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Kathmandu, Nepal, there has been a severe shortage of cooking gas. Some 700 three-wheelers and 300 micro-buses running on LPG were imported to solve the air pollution problem in the capital. However, …
The villages of Thulo Pokhara and Raje Danda of Nepal's Kavrepalanchok district have become the "world's first villages to be entirely lit by White Light Emitting Diode (WLED) lightning system'. This has been possible by the efforts of Irvine-Halliday of Calgary University, Alberta, Canada. Irvine-Halliday was fascinated by the natural …
Rajya Sabha members have recently demanded that the Union government should speed up its efforts to sign a treaty with Nepal, that will allow the government to channelise the waters flowing into Bihar. This will help in preventing floods. Nagendra Nath Ojha, a Communist Party of India member from Bihar, …
Sahashradhara, Dehradun, India. A soft drink shop greets thousands of tourists at this confluence of a thousand streams. So what's the big deal? Well, its just that the shop is located right inside a microhydel powerhouse that supplied electricity to three nearby villages for over four years. Two year ago, …
As the world wakes up to a depleting finite sources of power like coal and the growing opposition to big dams, countries all over the world with water resources and difficult areas to electrify are opting for the community mode of electricity generation and distribution. "Today, a confluence of technological, …
In India, the Central Electricity Act, 1948, does not allow individuals, communities or cooperatives to take up electricity generation and distribution. Only a private company bound to sell power to the government can do so. Of course the company has to sell power at rates the government fixes. Since such …
Three years ago, when Chija Maya, a resident of Piughar, spoke about a run-of-the-river microhydel power station in her village, many people thought that she was whistling in the dark. Though hydro-electricity first came to Nepal in 1911 to light the King’s palaces, it still remains a dream for 85 …
There are at least 26 "potentially dangerous' glacial lakes in the Nepalese side of Himalayas, according to the Inventory of Glaciers. The risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood ( glof ) still poses a great threat for Nepal and the draining of excess water from the Tsho Rolpa glacial lake …
The Phewa lake of Pokhra, Nepal, is on the verge of becoming extinct, according to environmentalists. The lake is one of the main tourist attractions of the country. Washing clothes on the banks of the lake at different places, besides direct discharge of sewerage from houses, hotels and restaurants has …
" before 1996, European tourists would often complain about the poor visibility of the snow-capped mountains from Kathmandu,' says Ishwar Chettri, who runs a travel agency in the Nepalese capital. But the ban on the sale of new diesel vehicles in 1996 and the subsequent blanket ban on diesel-run three-wheelers …
Encouraged by the success of rehabilitation programme of one-horned rhinos wildlife officials of Nepal are planning a similar project for arnas (water buffaloes). The project is expected to be implemented next year, after the completion of a detail study. Wildlife activists had recently raised concerns over the dramatic rise in …
the floods have once again ravaged Bihar. Claims made by the government that all precautionary measures were taken, embankment and anti-erosion work completed in time and that the floods would not be allowed to occur
The Narayani river of Nepal is being polluted by factories located near its banks. This has endangered dolphins, fish, crocodiles and other flora and fauna of the river. According to the fisherfolk, the most polluting factories in this region are Bhrikuti Paper and Pulp Industries, Gorkha Brewery Limited and Sumi …