FIRE DESTROYS HOUSE OF CHABAHIL Kathmandu, 13 Nov.; A fire caused by a lighted candle started a fire from a rented room and destroyed a house at Chhuepate Tuesday evening . Locals, firefighters and police put out the fire. Nnnn SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGE IN PYUTHAN Kathmandu, 13 Nov.: Data has been made public that there is shortage of around 17,000 metric tonnes of food in Pyuthan district, RSS reports from Pyuthan.. According to the District Agricultural Development Office, Pyuthan, food shortage in the district has increased every year due to less food production as compared to the district population. Now, the district needs 47,268 metric tonnes of food annually.Horticulture Development Officer at the Office, Ishwori Prasad Pandit, said that around 41,477 metric tonnes of food is produced in the district every year but only 29,021 metric tonnes of food is consumed. Shortage of food grains is increased every year due to lack of encouragement for food crops at a time when agricultural cooperatives established in the villages have lured farmers towards cash crops and vegetable cultivation, said Pandit. The Office said that food production has decreased as farmers have been doing cultivation in traditional ways without using modern technology. According to Social Development Officer at the District Development Office, Pyuthan, food shortage has been surfaced in the district as fertile land was converted into house plots. The problem will take a severe form if action plan of settlement development was not prepared immediately by protecting fertile land. Pyuthan Chairman of NGO Federation, Arjun Kumar Kakshyapati, said that concerned bodies should give attention on time to remove food crisis to be seen in the near future.Mainly, maize, rice, millet and wheat are being produced in the district. Nnnn QUAKE HITS AREAS NEAR MYANMAR CAPITAL Kathmandu, 13 Nov.: An earthquake struck near Myanmar's new capital of Naypyitaw on Tuesday, state television reported, but there were no immediate reports of damage, while the death toll from a weekend quake to its north rose to 26, according to an aid organization, Reuters reports from Yangon.. MRTV television said the new quake of 4.8 magnitude hit at 8:23 a.m. (0153 GMT). Its epicentre was about 35 miles (56 km) south of the capital. "We in Naypyitaw are no strangers to tremors, but we rushed out of our hostel in panic this morning," a Commerce Ministry official said, asking not to be named. She had not heard of any damage in or around the city. Official news on Sunday's far larger earthquake near the central city of Mandalay was still sparse. According to the International Federation of Red Cross Societies (IFRC), 26 people died as a result of that 6.8 magnitude quake and its aftershocks. Another 231 were injured and hundreds of buildings were damaged. Initial reports from officials speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity had put the death toll at 11. "It's difficult to be precise, with possible double-counting," said Denis de Poerck, director of programme operations for the Save the Children aid agency in Myanmar. "It's not a major catastrophe, contrary to expectations on the first day," he told Reuters. Katherine Roux, spokeswoman for the IFRC in Southeast Asia, broadly shared that view. "The Myanmar Red Cross has determined at this stage, at least as of last night, that there is no need for external support or funding right now," she said. "It's under control, but there is ongoing assessment." A quasi-civilian government has opened up Myanmar, one of Asia's poorest countries, since taking over in March 2011 from the military, which had ruled for nearly 50 years. The military regime was condemned by humanitarian agencies in 2008 for initially refusing international help to cope with Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 130,000 people. President Barack Obama will become the first U.S. leader to visit Myanmar this month during a November 17-20 tour of Southeast Asia that will also take in Thailand and Cambodia, his first international trip since he won re-election last week. nnnn