SUPREME COURT REJECTS KHUM BHADUR KHADKA REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF HIS COVICTION FOR CORRUPTION Kathmandu, 3 Dec.: A special bench of the supreme court Monday there was no need to review a verdict that convicted and jailed top NC leader and former home minister Khum Bahadur Khadka for corruption. Khadka asked for a review of the decision. The bench was headed by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. Nnnn . AIR POLLUTION AFFECTING CHILD HEALTH Kathmandu, 3 Dec. : Air pollution in Kathmandu valley is found to have led to the growth of respiratory complications in children, RSS reports. Children in the capital were found suffering of throat infection, asthma, cough and cold, as problems relating to heart and lungs in the long-term, all attributed to increasing air pollution in the valley, according to a study by the Nepal Health Research Council. The study was carried out among students of 10 to 15 years of age studying in seven different schools in the valley. Of the 801 children, who were studied as part of the research that lasted for a year, 30 per cent of them were found carrying respiratory problems owing to air pollution, it is stated in the study report released by the Council in the capital on Monday. The students as well as their guardians and teachers were also part of the research, who answered a questionnaire and underwent medical examination. Releasing the report, Lead Researcher of the Council, Dr Krishna Aryal said the direct impact of pollution was seen in the respiratory system of children. Smoke emitted by vehicles was found to be the main catalyst in the high rate of air pollution in the valley. Chairman of the Council Dr Chop Lal Bhusal said the study would help develop policy to minimize air pollution and to know the state of child health Nnnn INDIA UNHAPPY WITH MALDIVES ATER QUIT NOTICE ON AIRPORT DEAL Kathmandu, 3 Dec.: India warned its neighbour the Maldives on Monday that it might freeze annual aid worth $25 million amid anger over an attempt to kick out the Indian firm managing the main airport in the country, AFP reports from New Delhi. Last week, the new Maldives government gave five days to Indian infrastructure company GMR to leave after prematurely ending a 25-year management lease signed for the archipelago´s international airport in the capital Male. In a further blow over the decision, the Maldives government lost a case in the Singapore High Court on Monday where GMR won an injunction that stays the cancellation of the contract, the company said. The move over the airport angered New Delhi and raised concerns about the investor climate at a time when the Maldives is seeking foreign financing for tourism projects after a year of political turmoil. "We are not happy with the way Maldives cancelled the GMR airport deal. This has surely left an impact on our bilateral ties," an Indian foreign ministry official told AFP, asking for anonymity. A second official in the ministry said next year´s financial aid of $25 million would be provided only "after every aspect of the airline deal is reviewed". "A decision whether the money should be given or not will be taken soon," he said, also on condition of anonymity. Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure had signed the deal to manage the airport in 2010 under former President Mohamed Nasheed, the country´s first democratically elected leader who was ousted after violent protests in February this year. Nasheed´s deputy, Mohamed Waheed, assumed the presidency in what the former government initially described as a "coup" but which has since been judged a legal transfer of power. Waheed´s government, which has aligned more closely with a hardline Islamist party, objected to the privatisation of the airport carried out by Nasheed and said the deal was corrupt. GMR, which won a contract to upgrade and operate the international airport in Male and build a new terminal, said in a statement that it had won "injunctive relief" against the applicability of the cancellation order. The Singapore High Court, where arbitration was ongoing "was pleased to grant this stay in favour of GMIAL", GMR said in a statement referring to the consortium running the aiport which includes Malaysia Airports Holdings. Officials at GMR termed the Singapore court verdict a "victory of light over darkness". "The government of Maldives had made a unilateral move and completely irrational move and the court recognised it," a senior GMR official told AFP. Earlier this month, senior Indian officials in New Delhi welcomed an injured opposition Maldivian politician who claimed he was beaten up by police in what was viewed by some as a sign of concern in India about political violence in its neighbour. Nnnn