ONCE-OVER

Student leader quits

BARA: Secretary of the Nepal Madhesh Students’ Front (Bara), Anuj Shreewastav, issuing a press release said he resigned from his post on Sunday. Shreewastav has resigned from the general membership of the Front as well, said the release. — HNS

Goods gutted

CHAUTARA: Goods worth Rs 350,000 was gutted when a fire broke out in the house of Gore Shrestha of Tauthali-8, Sindhupalchok. The fire broke out after combustible things caught the flames of the lamps lit on the occasion of Deepawali festival. Eight goats were also burnt to death. The fire was brought under control after two hours with help of locals. — RSS

Locals monitor traffic

GAJURI: Local youths have begun serving like traffic police to monitor the vehicular movement here after a bus crushed a child to death at Adamghat of Pida VDC along the highway. The local youths started monitoring traffic after Dashain festival. They whistle, give signals to the drivers, teach pedestrians to cross the road, avoid traffic jams and thus deter road accidents. Social worker Rajendra Basnet said the people from the villages have been made aware about traffic rules. — RSS

Tihar fair held

URLABARI: The local Urlabari Youth Club has organised a Tihar fair here for the first time to mark the Deepawali festival. Vice-chairman of the club Ghanashyam Bhandari said the money generated from the fair would be utilised for social works. — RSS

Tika materials

TANAHUN: There are large crowds of people in the markets here to sell and buy materials used for the Bhai Tika ceremony in the Tihar festival. Markets including Damauli, Dumre, Abukhaireni, Khairenitar, Dulegauda, Bandipur, Turture, Tharpu and Sisghat are full of buyers and sellers. Customers said the tika materials are quite expensive this year. A shopkeeper, Kedar Nath Jaiswal in Damauli said he has been selling tika materials for the past 30 years at reasonable prices. He said he has been making in around Rs 400 daily by selling tika materials. — HNS

Literary programme

SYANGJA: On the occasion of the 98th anniversary of the Mahakabi Laxmi Prasad Devkota, a literary programme was held in Syangja on Sunday. Different speakers addressed the programme that was jointly organised by the Laxmi Memorial Community Library and the Syangja Literary Academy. The programme was presided over by the chairman of the library, Hem Raj Aryal. — HNS

Motorcycle rally held

SYANGJA: On the joint occasion of Nepal Sambat 1127 and Dipawali 2063, the Newa Khala of Syangja on Sunday organised a motorbike rally in Putali Bazaar. Praying for enduring peace, the rally commenced from Bhimsenstan of Putali bazaar and returned after a round circuit to the same spot. Devendra Prasad Shrestha, chairman of the Newa Khala, urged the government to use Nepal Sambat calender, saying it applied to all Nepalis. — HNS

Koirala plea to cadres

Kapilvastu : Nepali Congress Vice President Sushil Koirala has directed the party workers to exercise patience and unity in the present stage of transformation of the nation. Giving directives to NC workers at the district headquarters, Taulihawa here on Sunday, Koirala said that the NC and NC-D would soon be united for a forward-looking way out to the country. He also directed the workers to learn from the mistakes of the past and move ahead in a new way. NC, Kapilvastu President Sudhakar Pandey presided the programme. — RSS

Farmers’ school

PANAUTI: The Farmers’ School, a programme for farmers organised here with a slogan “pesticides are not medicines but poisons, use caution in the use of pesticides and conserve environment” concluded here on Saturday. The programme was organised with the financial assistance of WHO and with the technical support of the Crop Conservation Directorate, the Office of the District Agriculture Development Office, Kavre. Speaking at the concluding function, member of the CPN-UML standing committee, Keshab Badal, said the number of people suffering from cancer has increased due to use of pesticides. — RSS

Discount in bus fares

DHANKUTA: Buses plying in Dharan, Dhankuta and Terathum under Koshi highway have started offering discount to the passengers on the occasion of Tihar festival. Starting from the Laxmi Puja day, the special discount on the bus fares have been offered by the joint decision of the Eastern Regional Motor Syndicate, Koshi Entrepreneurs’ Association and United Bus Entrepreneurs’ Association. Twenty-five per cent discount on the bus fares has been offered for the period of three months also keeping in mind the deteriorating road condition of the highway, stated Dhankuta in-charge of the syndicate. — RSS