Energy from garbage

KATHMANDU: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has formed a working group for a preliminary study on recycling the garbage of Kathmandu valley to produce alternative energy and electricity under the concept of public private partnership. An FNCCI press note said 450 metric tonnes of wastes are collected in Kathmandu valley daily and eight megawatts of electricity can be produced from the garbage. Kishor Kumar Pradhan was elected president while Sanjaya Giri was named coordinator of the group which consists of representative of the valley’s chambers of commerce and industries, Kathmandu Metropolitan City including Sub-Metropolitan and Municipalities and Ashok Shahi from the Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre. — HNS

Iodine month

KATHMANDU: The government has declared February as ‘Iodine Month’ as in the past to create awareness and promote iodized salt. As a member country of Universal Salt Iodization, Nepali is celebrating Iodine Month by organising different awareness programmes. According to survey in 2007, conducted by Salt Trading Corporation Limited (STCL), 52.9 per cent households use the salt that have the logo of two children and 77 per cent households use salt that contains iodine. An STCL statement said it has a target of providing iodized salt to 90 per cent consumers by 2010 as per the policy of the Ministry of Health and Population. — HNS

Obama, Hu parley

WASHINGTON: US president Barack Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao agreed during a telephone conversation on Friday to closely work together to fight off the global financial crisis, the White House said. Obama also stressed the need to correct global trade imbalances and take steps to get credit markets moving again. Credit freeze is seen as the main culprit in the economic crisis. Obama and the Democrats traditionally take stronger stands than Republicans over trade deficits suspected of hurting workers in the US. — DPA

US meltdown

WASHINGTON: The US economy suffered its biggest slowdown in 26 years in the last three months of 2008 as consumer spending recorded the worst slide in post-war era — a trend that is likely to continue in the coming months. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation’s economic activity, fell at an annual rate of 3.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, adjusted for inflation. That’s the largest drop in GDP since the first quarter of 1982, when the economy saw a 6.4 per cent decline. — HNS