Kathmandu, Jan 22 : India''s proposal regarding the South Asian service trade has been approved by the other countries in the region.

According to Kantipur, the special committee meeting on the agreement was chaired by Bidra Pokhrel, General Secretary of the Nepal Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.

"All the countries in the region have given the green signal to the proposal. Although it will take some time for Bangladesh to make its constitution, the agreement has been approved by others," Pokhral said.

He also requested other neighbouring countries to invest in sectors besides what they had pledged in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). There are around 11 sectors and around 160 sub-sectors in the WTO.

Kathmandu, Jan 21 : The rapid response team formed to slaughter birds and bird related items in Kakkarvitta in Jhapa district near Kathmandu, where the bird flu virus was detected, completed its first phase of operation.

According to Kantipur, around 13000 birds were destroyed during the three-day campaign.

Kathmandu, Jan 21: Nepal Prime Minister and Maoist Chairman Prachanda has tabled a proposal related to distribution of party responsibilities at the central and local levels as well as at the party organisational departments in the Central Committee (CC) meeting.

According to Kantipur, Prachanda has proposed formation of a five-member headquarter committee under his convenorship. He also proposed the names of senior leaders, Baburam Bhattarai, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Mohan Baidya to take up responsibilities for the government, the parliament, army and the street respectively as members of the HQ Committee.

Kathmandu - Nepal on Friday announced its first case of H5N1 strain of bird flu virus in poultry in the eastern region and ordered immediate measures to contain it.

The virus was detected in the border town of Kakarbhitta in Jhapa district, about 450 kilometres east of Kathmandu.

The area is a major border transit point for goods and animals from neighbouring Indian states of West Bengal and Assam.

The Nepalese cabinet met Friday in emergency and declared a 10-kilometre area around Kakarbhitta for Quarantine and ordered immediate culling.

Kathmandu - Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Thursday said he was postponing his tour of Norway and Finland because of political and other problems at home.

Dahal's week-long tour had been scheduled to begin on Saturday.

"With the country facing many problems, it did not seem proper to undertake a foreign visit at this juncture," Dahal told reporters in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu - Thousands of people demonstrated in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu Thursday, protesting crippling power cuts that have badly affected industries and businesses.

On Sunday, the government announced 16-hour power cuts across the country, saying electricity production and supply was just a third of the total demand.

About 5,000 people representing small-scale industrialists and operators of three wheeler electric vehicles known locally as Safa Tempos or "Clean Vehicles," locked up the main office of the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority that distributes power.