Kathmandu: The second-largest diamond ever found - a rough 2,492-carat stone - has been unearthed in Botswana at a mine owned by Canadian firm Lucara Diamond. It is the biggest find since the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, found in South Africa in 1905 and cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels.



The diamond was found at Karowe mine, about 500km (300 miles) north of Botswana's capital, Gaborone. Botswana's government said it was the largest diamond ever discovered in the southern African state.



The previous biggest discovery in Botswana was a 1,758-carat stone found at the same mine in 2019. Botswana is one of the world's biggest producer of diamonds, accounting for about 20% of global production.



In a statement, Lucara said the stone was "one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed". "We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492 carat diamond," said Lucara head William Lamb.



The diamond was detected with the use of Lucara's Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology, said Mr Lamb. It has been used since 2017 to identify and preserve high-value diamonds so that they do not break during ore-crushing processes.



The firm did not give details of the stone's gem quality or its value. The 1,758-carat stone found in 2019 was bought by French fashion brand Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed sum. A 1,109 carat diamond, unearthed at the same mine in 2016, was bought for $53m (£39.5m) by London jeweller Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds, in 2017.



Lucara has 100% ownership of the mine in Karowe. Botswana's government has proposed a law that will ask companies, once granted a license to mine, to sell a 24% stake to local firms if the government does not exercise its option of becoming a shareholder, Reuters news agency reported last month.

World's second-largest diamond found in Botswana

Kathmandu: The Ministry of Health and Population has said Nepal falls under the risk of infection of monkey pox (Mpox). According to Ministry Spokesperson Dr Prakash Budhathoki, the infection is spreading rapidly in neighboring India and in this context Nepal too is vulnerable to it.Last year, one 60-year-old foreigner (female) was diagnosed with the Mpox virus in Nepal.



The Ministry has already consulted with the experts concerned regarding preparations required for its prevention.As Budhathoki said, health desks based along the air and border transits and the federal, provincial and local levels have been instructed to remain vigilant to the infection risk and take measures accordingly.



The Ministry has designated hospitals and doctors in all seven provinces for the prevention and management of the infection. Since the past few days, the African country Congo is battling with Clade 1b. This variant of Mpox is considered to be deadly. Since January this year, it has killed 548 people.



The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a health emergency over the spread of the virus.Mpox spreads through direct contact with the infected person or animal, skin-to-skin contact with Mpox rash or scabs from an infected, contact with fluid and saliva from the body of an infected, clothing, towels, beddings or objects used by the infected.



Fever, skin rash and bumps in between one and three days of the infection which appears in face, palm and feet as well, headache, muscle ache, bone ache, chills, and swollen lymph nodes are the symptoms of Mpox.



It may lead to the loss of eyesight, pneumonia, brain fever, miscarriage (among pregnants) and even death.The Ministry has hoped for a high level of cooperation from the civic- level in terms of adopting health protocols to prevent the risk which is, as the Ministry said, possible, if the civic are ready for that.



Source: Rashtriya Samachar Samiti

Nepal on high alert for Mpox risk as infection rates surge in India

Kathmandu: A total of 211 people died from monsoon-triggered disasters and other incidents in the past months in the country while 48 have gone missing.



According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the deaths from the monsoon-induced disasters were 170 while the remaining fatalities were due to fire, snakebites, high altitude sickness, animal assaults, and so on.



The data is since June 10, the day that marked the arrival of monsoon this year.NDRRMA Spokesperson Dr Dijan Bhattarai said this year Bagmati and Gandaki suffered the highest losses with 58 casualties each and it has been followed by 39 in Lumbini, 26 in Koshi, 14 in Sudurpaschim, nine in Karnali and seven in the Madhes.



In the given period, the number of affected families is 3,647 from 1,333 incidents.The highest number of affected families has been reported in Koshi as they numbered 1,212. A total of 405 incidents took place in the province.



Similarly, 513 families have been affected in Madhes, 471 in Bagmati, 437 in Gandaki, 326 in Lumbini, 240 in Karnali and 448 in Sudurpashim.Two have gone missing in Koshi, 40 in Bagmati, three in Gandaki, two in Lumbini and one in Karnali.



This year, human casualties have surpassed those of the previous year, which had a total of 72 casualties by this time. Authority CEO Anil Pokhrel said that preparedness, rescue, search, and information flow systems for disaster management are being undertaken in a coordinated way.



Rainfall this year is exceeding the average levels as per the forecast.



Source: Rashtriya Samachar Samiti

Monsoon disasters claim 211 lives in Nepal so far

Kathmandu: Something remarkable has happened to A23a, the world's biggest iceberg. For months now it has been spinning on the spot just north of Antarctica when really it should be racing along with Earth's most powerful ocean current.



Scientists say the frozen block, which is more than twice the size of Greater London, has been captured on top of a huge rotating cylinder of water. It's a phenomenon oceanographers call a Taylor Column - and it's possible A23a might not escape its jailer for years.



The berg's longevity is well documented. It broke free from the Antarctic coastline way back in 1986, but then almost immediately got stuck in the bottom-muds of the Weddell Sea.



For three decades it was a static "ice island". It didn't budge. It wasn't until 2020 that it re-floated and started to drift again, slowly at first, before then charging north towards warmer air and waters.



In early April this year, A23a stepped into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) - a juggernaut that moves a hundred times as much water around the globe as all Earth's rivers combined. This was meant to put boosters on the near-trillion-tonne berg, rifling it up into the South Atlantic and certain oblivion.



Instead, A23a went precisely nowhere. It remains in place just north of South Orkney Islands, turning in an anti-clockwise direction by about 15 degrees a day. And as long as it does this, its decay and eventual demise will be delayed.



Source: BBC

World's biggest iceberg spins in ocean trap

Kathmandu: Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.



Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing’s new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer.



NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers are not ready to announce a return date. The goal is to bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard Starliner, he added.



“We’ll come home when we’re ready,” Stich said.



Stich acknowledged that backup options are under review. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule is another means of getting NASA astronauts to and from the space station.



“NASA always has contingency options,” he said.



Engineers last week completed testing on a spare thruster in the New Mexico desert and will rip it apart to try to understand what went wrong ahead of the Starliner’s docking. Five thrusters failed as the capsule approached the space station on June 6, a day after liftoff. Four have since been reactivated.



Source: AP

NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and troubled Boeing capsule at space station

Kathmandu: Over 45,000 species are now threatened with extinction — 1,000 more than last year — according to an international conservation organization that blames pressures from climate change, invasive species and human activity such as illicit trade and infrastructural expansion.



The International Union for Conservation of Nature released its latest Red List of Threatened Species on Thursday. Now in its 60th year, the list sounds the alarm about animals and plants at risk of extinction, but it also highlights conservation success stories such as the Iberian lynx.



The list now includes 163,040 species, an increase of about 6,000 from last year. Copiapoa cacti, native to Chile’s Atacama coastal desert, the Bornean elephant and the Gran Canaria giant lizard are among the threatened species, IUCN revealed.



Source: AP

List of threatened species grows by 1,000

Kathmandu: A Florida family whose home was hit by space debris earlier this year is seeking compensation from US space agency Nasa for property damage and mental anguish. The 1.6lb (0.7kg) metal object punched a hole in the roof through two layers of ceiling in Alejandro Otero's home in Naples, this past March.



Nasa had said the object was part of some 5,800lbs of hardware that was dumped by the International Space Station after it had new lithium-ion batteries installed. Otero said his son was nearly injured by the impact.



A press release from the law firm Cranfill Summer lists damages including non-insured property damage loss, business interruption, emotional/mental anguish and the costs for assistance from third parties.



The debris was determined to be part of a stanchion used to mount batteries on a cargo pallet. The ISS will "perform a detailed investigation" on how the debris survived burn-up, according to Nasa.



The agency has six months to respond to the Otero's claims. Space junk has been a growing a problem. In April, sky watchers in California spotted mysterious golden streaks moving through the space. US officials later determined that the light show was caused by burning debris from a Chinese rocket re-entering earth's orbit.



In February, a Chinese satellite known as "Object K" burned up as it re-entered the atmosphere over Hawaii. Last year, a barnacle-covered giant metal dome found on a Western Australian beach was identified as a component of an Indian rocket. There are plans to display it alongside chunks of Nasa's Skylab, which crashed in Australia in 1979.



Source: BBC

US family seeks damages from Nasa after space debris hits home

Kathmandu: The onset of the monsoon in the Kathmandu Valley is expected to be delayed by a few days, according to meteorological reports. Currently, the eastern part of the country experiences monsoonal influence, while local and western winds prevail along with a low-pressure system forming around Bihar, affecting the rest of the nation.



The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, suggests minimal chances of rainfall in the Kathmandu Valley today. The maximum temperature is anticipated to range between 32 and 34 degrees Celsius.



The weather outlook indicates partly to generally cloudy conditions in hilly regions including Sudurpaschim, Karnali, and Koshi provinces, while the rest of the country expects fair weather. Light rain showers are forecasted in isolated areas of Koshi Province, with similar cloudy conditions in Bagmati and Gandaki provinces, but fair weather elsewhere this afternoon.



Moreover, light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning is probable in some hilly areas of Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki provinces.

Weather update: monsoon yet to reach Kathmandu Valley

Kathmandu: Nepali Army has concluded its Mountain Clean-Up campaign-2024, removing a staggering 11,000 kilograms of waste from the pristine peaks of Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse. The initiative, bearing the slogan "An Endeavour to Save the Himalayas," not only tackled environmental degradation but also addressed the solemn duty of retrieving the remains of fallen climbers.



During a poignant flag-in ceremony held in Kathmandu on Wednesday, coinciding with World Environment Day, the Nepali Army commemorated the success of the campaign under the banner of the Safa Himal Campaign-2024.



Addressing the gathering at the closing ceremony, Chief of the Army Staff Prabhu Ram Sharma underscored the significance of the endeavor, emphasizing that its impact transcends mere statistics of waste collected. He lauded the campaign's broader achievements, both preceding and succeeding the 55-day operation, highlighting the nation's unwavering commitment to global environmental conservation.



"While approximately 11 tons of garbage, four abandoned human bodies, and one skeleton were collected during this campaign, its significance extends far beyond mere numbers. This initiative serves as a testament to our collective dedication towards safeguarding our natural heritage," remarked Sharma.



The deployment of over 10,000 troops for environmental protection purposes in a country boasting nearly a lakh troops reflects a pioneering example of proactive engagement in conservation efforts, noted Sharma. Such endeavors, he stressed, are a rarity for the military but underscore the institution's adaptability and versatility in confronting contemporary challenges.



Moreover, Sharma emphasized that the Safa Himal campaign not only served as a clean-up drive but also equipped the Nepali Army with vital skills for managing calamities and other exigencies in the treacherous Himalayan terrain. Given the mounting threats posed by climate change, the campaign assumed added complexity, as melting glaciers exacerbate environmental hazards.



The Nepali Army's unwavering commitment to environmental conservation, epitomized by the Mountain Clean-Up campaign, stands as a testament to the nation's resolve in protecting its natural heritage for future generations.

Nepali Army's 'Mountain Clean-Up Campaign' yields significant results

Kathmandu: The Embassy of India in Nepal in collaboration with the Metropolitan Municipality of Lalitpur organized a tree plantation ceremony on 5th June 2024 to celebrate World Environment Day.



Nawal Kishor Sah Sudi Minister of Forest and Environment, Government of Nepal, ShriChribabuMaharjan, Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City and the Ambassador of India to Nepal participated in this special plantation drive near Chardham Temple Parisar, Sankata Bridge, Ward No. 1, Lalitpur, Nepal. 



Several political representatives, government officials, social workers and environment enthusiasts participated in the event, highlighting the shared commitment for the protection and preservation of the environment.



The Ambassador of India to Nepal, in his address, highlighted that the special event had been organized especially on the occasion of the World Environment Day to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment and to encourage individual and collective efforts to safeguard it for future generations.



The Minister of Forest and Environment, Government of Nepal, and the Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, in their remarks, emphasized the importance of cooperation and partnerships in protecting the planet for future generations. 150 trees were planted by the participants during the event.

Embassy of India in Nepal celebrates the World Environment Day

Kathmandu: A Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon Sunday to collect soil and rock samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side. The landing module touched down at 6:23 a.m.



Beijing time in a huge crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the China National Space Administration said.The mission is the sixth in the Chang'e moon exploration program, which is named after a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second designed to bring back samples, following the Chang'e 5, which did so from the near side in 2020.



The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. - still the leader in space exploration - and others, including Japan and India. China has put its own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.



The emerging global power aims to put a person on the moon before 2030, which would make it the second nation after the United States to do so. America is planning to land astronauts on the moon again - for the first time in more than 50 years - though NASA pushed the target date back to 2026 earlier this year.U.S. efforts to use private sector rockets to launch spacecraft have been repeatedly delayed.



Last-minute computer trouble nixed the planned launch of Boeing's first astronaut flight Saturday.Earlier Saturday, a Japanese billionaire called off his plan to orbit the moon because of uncertainty over the development of a mega rocket by SpaceX.



NASA is planning to use the rocket to send its astronauts to the moon.In China's current mission, the lander is to use a mechanical arm and a drill to gather up to 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of surface and underground material for about two days.



An ascender atop the lander will then take the samples in a metal vacuum container back to another module that is orbiting the moon. The container will be transferred to a re-entry capsule that is due to return to Earth in the deserts of China's Inner Mongolia region about June 25.



Missions to the moon's far side are more difficult because it doesn't face the Earth, requiring a relay satellite to maintain communications. The terrain is also more rugged, with fewer flat areas to land.



Source: AP

A Chinese spacecraft lands on moon's far side to collect rocks in growing space rivalry with US

Kathmandu: According to IQAir's latest report, Kathmandu continues to hold its place on the list of the world’s top 10 most polluted cities.



As of 1 PM on Friday, the air pollution level in Kathmandu was measured at 107, earning it the 10th spot on the global pollution ranking. This level indicates that the air quality in Kathmandu is deemed unhealthy.



Recent rain and storms in Kathmandu have led to a temporary decrease in air pollution. However, experts suggest that significant time will be needed for the pollution to be completely eradicated.



In other parts of the world, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo takes the lead as the most polluted city, with an air quality index (AQI) of 187. Jakarta, Indonesia follows closely behind in second place, with an AQI of 162.



Pakistan’s Lahore ranks third globally, with an AQI of 159, while Wuhan, China, secures the fourth position with an AQI of 156. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, stands as the fifth most polluted city, with an AQI of 152.



India’s capital, Delhi, holds the sixth position with an AQI of 151. Kampala in Uganda ranks seventh, with an AQI of 143, followed by Baghdad, Iraq, in eighth place with an AQI of 117. Kolkata, India, rounds up the top nine with an AQI of 114.

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