Second Pinkathon Kathmandu held (With photos)

Feb 24, 2018-The second Pinkathon Kathmandu, a running competition for women to raise awareness about their health related issues, was held in Kathmandu on Saturday.

The event established by Indian model and actor Milind Soman saw races for women in four different categories—3km, 5km, 10km and 21km. The event was orgainsed by Leisure Port, the franchise holder for Pinkathon in Nepal.
Soman, who is also film producer and fitness promoter, had initiated the event since 2012 in India along with Reema Sanghavi, the managing director of Maximus Mice and Media Solution. According to Soman, the objective of the Pinkathon was to encourage women to adopt health and fitness in their daily lifestyles by means of running.




source:kathmandupost.ekantipur.com

All ministers will be sworn in on Monday: Dahal

Feb 24, 2018-CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that all the ministers will be sworn in on Monday.

Speaking to journalists at the Bharatpur Airport on Saturday morning, the Maoist supremo said that preparations are underway to administer the oath of office and secrecy to all the ministers at 3 pm on Monday.

“I held a discussion with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli regarding the issue this morning. It has almost been fixed that all the ministers will be administered the oath of office and secrecy at 3 pm on Monday,” he said.

He said that the names of the ministers will be finalised by Sunday evening.

Saying that there is no dispute among the leaders in the party over picking ministers, the former Prime Minister accused the media of covering baseless news.

“There is no dispute at all,” he said, adding, “The media should be urged to cover only official statements.”


Published: 24-02-2018 13:05


source:kathmandupost.ekantipur.com

Seventh EPG meeting begins

Feb 24, 2018-The seventh meeting of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India Relations has started here on Saturday. The meeting will run until tomorrow.

Officials of Nepal and India will hold deliberations on the 1950 treaty, trade and transit, border dispute and ways to resolve them in the meeting, said a Nepali EPG member.

Work has started to prepare a preliminary draft of a report on security sensitive, water resources, trade and cultural ties between the two countries, he said.

EPG members from the Nepali side include former Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, foreign affairs expert Dr Rajan Bhattarai, constitutional law expert Nilambar Acharya and legal expert Surya Nath Upadhyay.

Likewise, EPG member from the Indian side are Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former Indian ambassador Jayanta Prasad, former vice chancellor of Sikkim University Mahendra Lama and VIF senior fellow Bhuvan Chandra Upreti. RSS





source:kathmandupost.ekantipur.com

Missed this week's entertainment and arts news?

It's been a busy week in the world of film, music and entertainment.

Here's a round-up of some of the biggest stories from the last seven days, just in case they passed you by.

Image copyrightPA
Guests at last Sunday's Bafta Film Awards showed their support for the Time's Up and Me Too campaigns by wearing black and sending messages from the stage.

Virtually all the stars at the London ceremony were in black and some were accompanied by rights campaigners.

One of the few in a colourful dress was best actress winner Frances McDormand - but she told the ceremony: "I stand in full solidarity with my sisters."

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source:www.bbc.com

Florida shooting: NRA-linked firms hit by consumer boycott

More than half a dozen US companies have cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA) as consumers urge a boycott of businesses linked to the politically powerful gun lobby.

The firms included car rental giants Hertz and Enterprise, which offered discounts for NRA members.

The moves follow NRA leader Wayne LaPierre's speech defending gun rights.

They were the NRA's first public comments since a deadly school shooting in Florida.

Mr LaPierre said "opportunists" were using the 14 February tragedy, in which 17 people were killed, to expand gun control and abolish US gun rights.

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Activists have tried to put pressure on the NRA since the shooting by targeting firms that offer discounts and other benefits to its members.

They have flooded its corporate partners with comments on social media under the hashtag #BoycottNRA. Firms under pressure include delivery company FedEx and tech giants such as Amazon, which distributes NRA television programmes.

On Thursday, the family-owned First National Bank of Omaha said it would not renew NRA-branded credit cards, citing "customer feedback".

source:www.bbc.com

UK weather: Spring 'postponed' as cold snap hits UK

Britain is set for the coldest February week in five years as freezing air arrives from Russia.

The cold snap will affect the whole of the UK from Sunday night with temperatures expected to drop to -8C in some areas.

The Met Office has issued an amber cold weather alert which warns of increased health risks to vulnerable and elderly people.

It has also issued two yellow severe weather warnings for snow.

The snow warnings for Monday and Tuesday cover London and the south east, parts of the Midlands and most of eastern Britain.

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They warn that snow could cause travel delays and cancellations, power cuts and problems with mobile phone services.

BBC weather forecaster Gemma Plumb said snow showers will arrive in the east of the UK on Sunday night before pushing through to western areas by Tuesday. Showers could continue later into the week.

source:www.bbc.com

Donald Tusk: UK Brexit plans 'pure illusion'

The UK's approach to the next stage of Brexit negotiations seems to be based on "pure illusion", Donald Tusk says.

The European Council president told a news conference in Brussels that the UK was still trying to "cherry pick" its future relationship with the EU.

Mr Tusk said he could only go on media reports of Brexit talks at the PM's country retreat Chequers on Thursday.

Theresa May is set to deliver a key speech setting out British ambitions on Friday.

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Mr Tusk, who is due to meet the PM the day before, said media reports suggested the "cake philosophy is still alive" in the UK.

He added: "If the media reports are correct I am afraid that the UK position today is based on pure illusion."

He went on to reject - as he has done before - any notion of the UK "cherry picking" aspects of its future relationship with the EU or being able to join a "single market a la carte".

The BBC understands that the 11 senior ministers at Chequers made a breakthrough on so-called "managed divergence", where the UK could select EU rules to stick to post-Brexit.

source:www.bbc.com