Author: Gence Hasni

Toxic levels of air pollution are disrupting the lives of millions of people in South Asia forcing closure of schools, impacting sporting events and leaving governments urging people to stay in doors to avoid health problems. The worsening air pollution is an annual problem for South Asian nations as winter approaches and cold, heavy air traps pollution in a thick layer of smog. South Asia has become the global hotspot for air pollution, with studies finding four of the world’s most polluted countries and nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the region. Why is pollution in South Asia…

Over the past five years, the battery-swapping technology sector has raised an impressive $16,17,61,883 in funding underscoring the significant demand and potential within this sector. It also positions India as a potential global leader in successfully implementing this technology on a large scale, states industry experts. Notable startups Some of the notable startups in the space include Battery Smart, SUN Mobility, RACEnergy, Echargeup, Esmito, Batterypool, Mooving, and more. In fact, recent years have witnessed increased investor interest in this space, with approximately $135 million raised since 2021 across 17 funding rounds, according to data from Tracxn. Although battery-swapping technology is…

Amid the call to shun legacy media, Elon Musk’s X Corp has stopped showing headlines to news articles shared on the platform, allowing only the main image and the web domain name the image is linked to. The change has been spotted by iOS users who, when tried to post a link, saw only an image and the domain name, reports The Verge. The change, however, left X users annoyed as they cannot figure out what the image and domain name is all about without the headline. Musk has recently been encouraging users to post more content to X directly.…

Pakistan’s plan to evict hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and migrants is “unacceptable”, says the Taliban, denying Islamabad’s allegations that Afghanistan’s citizens were responsible for Pakistan’s security problems. “The behaviour of Pakistan towards Afghan refugees is unacceptable,” Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul, said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday. “Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them,” he said. Around one million Afghans are registered as refugees in Pakistan and 880,000 more have legal status…

KATHMANDU – In the golden hours of twilight, as a tiger tries to hide its long shadows, a herd of spotted deer graze in tranquil oblivion. Every rustle in the bushes nearby prompts members of the herd to quickly raise their head, look for signs of danger and then continue grazing. Yet they are unable to discern the lurking danger. With a sudden burst of raw energy, the big cat comes out of hiding and attacks one of the deer in one seamless motion. The animal, the “most favorite” prey species of tigers in Nepal, doesn’t stand a chance. Scenes…

SpaceX launched 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit early this morning (Oct. 5), on the company’s 70th orbital mission of the year. The Starlink spacecraft lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight at 1:36 a.m. EDT (0536 GMT). The rocket had originally been targeted to launch on Wednesday at 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT on Oct. 5), but was delayed several hours by poor weather conditions. As to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth for a vertical landing at sea on the SpaceX drone ship Just Read the Instructions about 8.5 minutes after launch. It was the eighth…

On September 26, China and Nepal issued a joint statement during Nepali Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s visit to China, agreeing to pursue high-quality BRI cooperation. Both countries expressed a readiness to deepen practical cooperation in such fields as infrastructure connectivity, trade, tourism, production capacity and investment, and further deepen and solidify Belt and Road cooperation to deliver greater benefits to their peoples. Following the visit of Nepali PM to China, the Global Times reporter Chu Daye (GT) interviewed Chen Song (Chen), Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, discussing the recovery of bilateral trade and economic tie in the post-pandemic…

The much-awaited Nepal-India digital payment system is expected to begin by November as the technical work has been completed, say payment service providers. “All technical preparations have been done. We are set to launch the Nepal-India cross-border person-to-person fund transfer system by November,” said Munni Rajbhandari, chief operating officer of Nepal Clearing House, a payment system operator. “This will be the first phase of the cross-border digital payment system,” she said. Despite being next-door neighbours, financial transactions are complicated. The digital payment system is expected to ease digital transactions between Nepal and India for business people, students and tourists. The…

When it opened in 1997, the K@mandu Cybermatha Tea House was a vision of modernity. Visitors were greeted with an air-conditioned breeze and a friendly smile from the receptionist, who directed customers to their stations. The cafe employed “cyberguides” who shared tips and tricks on how to surf the net. The main room was divided into small sections by varnished wooden partitions, creating a grid of cubicles. It was abuzz with activity as tourists and locals went in and out of the adjacent art gallery, bookshop, and restaurant. One of the first internet cafes in Nepal, K@mandu was the brainchild of then 37-year-old Sanjib Raj…

The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) identified 16 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Pakistan in 2022, an increase from seven in 2021. Nearly 90% of these incidents involved threats and violence against polio vaccination workers, undermining health care providers’ ability to meet vaccination targets. This factsheet is based on the dataset 2022 SHCC Health Care Pakistan Data, which is available for download on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). The number of recorded incidents is likely lower than the actual number that occurred. There are indications that health workers participating in vaccination campaigns often experience…