ONCE-OVER

Crown Prince’s speech

VIENNA: Crown Prince Paras said on Wednesday that King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation is committed to realizing the goal of conserving biodiversity through people’s participation. In an address to the Rhino Presentation Ceremony held at the Vienna Zoo , he said poverty and inadequate health care, education opportunities and access to basic public services has had adverse socio-economic impact. — RSS

SC moved on SLC row

Kathmandu: A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking its order to the SLC Examination Board, District Examination Coordination Committee, Siraha, and District Education Committee to provide a chance to sit for the SLC examinations. The chairman of the board of directors of the Himalaya English Boarding School in Mirhaiya, Siraha, Ram Bilas Yadav, filed the petition, claiming that the authorities prevented 12 students from sitting for the test. — HNS

Birgunj bazaar bandh

Birgunj: Protesting the action taken by the officers of the Internal Revenue Office, Birgunj, against retailers of Birgunj for not handing bills to customers for every purchase, shopkeepers on Wednesday effected a Birgunj bazaar bandh. There was a significant decline in economic activities in the bazaar as 7,000 shopkeepers staged a rally. — HNS

Call for discipline

KATHMANDU: Youths affiliated to the Nepali Congress should be strong enough to take the leadership of the party in their hands, vice-president of the Nepali Congress (NC) Sushil Koirala said at the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected members of the Nepal Tarun Dal in the capital on Wednesday. — HNS

Driver gets jail term

BARA: The Bara District Court sentenced a 30-year-old truck driver, Rajesh, a resident of Jaiswar, Uttar Pradesh, to four months in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on Wednesday for knocking a 22-year-old Deepak Shrestha of Sunsari-7 to death on November 20. — HNS

Maoists kill one

RAJBIRAJ: Accusing him of involvement in the killing of their cadres, the Maoists shot Surya Narayan Shah, a resident of Malhaniya VDC, Saptari, near his home on Wednesday. Owning up the responsibility for the killing, secretary of the Saptari branch of the CPN (Maoist) Dinkar said Shah was killed for his role in the killing of Dambar Yadav, a Maoist cadre. Meanwhile, the Maoists have announced a Saptari bandh on March 23 and 24 in protest of the killing of detained Maoist cadres Guptananda Chaudhary and Rameshwor Chaudhary in Mahottari on March 10. — HNS

Envoy calls on King

POKHARA: The King granted audience to Juan Carretero Ibanez, Special envoy of president of Cuba Fidel Castro Ruz, at the Ratna Mandir in Pokhara on Wednesday. Envoy Ibanez presented to the King the letter sent by the Cuban president inviting the King to participate in the 14th Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned nations to be organised in Havana, the capital of Cuba. — RSS

Truck-hit claims child

TANAHU: A seven-year-old boy, Raju Pariyar, died on the spot when a truck headed to Pokhara from Hetaunda hit him near the Mugling bridge along the Prithvi highway on Wednesday, the Tanahu District Police Office stated. — HNS