KATHMANDU: President Ram Baran Yadav on Friday today extended cordial felicitations to Belarusian President Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus. In a message, President Yadav wished for his Belarusian counterpart's personal health and happiness and for the progress and prosperity of the people of Belarus. Likewise, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala also extended sincere congratulations to Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Vladimirovich Kobyakov and through him to the people of Belarus on the same occasion. In a message delivered on behalf of the government and the people of Nepal and on his own, PM Koirala has wished his Belarusian counterpart good health and happiness as well as progress and prosperity of the people of Belarus. "I am confident that the friendly relations existing between the two countries will grow further in the years ahead," PM Koirala said in the message.

Two fall ill

KATHMANDU: Two persons were taken ill after they consumed poisonous mushroom in Budhanilkantha on Thursday, police said. Bimala Gurung, 47, and Nirmala Gurung, 30, of Liwang, Rolpa fell sick after eating curry of the toxic mushroom brought from a nearby jungle. They have been admitted to TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, for treatment.

Black marketers held

BHAKTAPUR: Police on Thursday arrested two persons for selling corrugated zinc sheets at higher than the market prices in Bhaktapur. According to officials, Tuntun Chaudhary, 45, operator of a store in Sallaghari, along with Surya Binayak and his helper Abadesh Kumar, 22, were held for overcharging the customers. A joint monitoring team of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and Metropolitan Police Range, Bhaktapur had caught the duo selling a bundle of corrugated zinc sheets for Rs 6,300 against its market price of Rs 5,900.