LOAD-SHEDDING INCREASED BY TWO HOURS Kathmandu, 19 Jan. Load-shedding was increased two hours a day to 14 hours outage from Saturday. Nepal Electricity Authority said water level in rivers has fallen and India cur power exports. Nepal imported power from India which is power starved. Nnnn PM’S LETTER HANDED OVER TO BRITISH COUNTERPART Kathmandu, 19 Jan.: Nepali Ambassador to United Kingdom Suresh Chalise today handed over Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s letter addressed to his British counterpart David Cameron on Colonel Kumar Lama’s arrest, The hImalayan Times reports. Confirming this to THT, MoFA Assistant Spokesperson Durga Bahadur Subedi said, “Ambassador Chalise handed over the letter on behalf of PM Bhattarai to the officials at the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.” Yesterday, the Cabinet took a formal position on the arrest of Col Lama in UK, and authorised the PM to send a letter against the arrest. Bhattarai, in his letter, maintained the arrest of Col Lama was against international law and it has undermined Nepal’s sovereignty, long standing diplomatic ties between the two countries and entire achievement of Nepal’s peace process. The letter has drawn Prime Minister Cameron’s attention and support to release Colonel Lama from custody. A separate letter was also handed over to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later in New York. On behalf of Nepal government, Deputy Permanent Representative of Nepal to UN in New York, Sewa Lamsal Adhikari handed over the letter to the staff of UNSG’s office, informed a source. In the letter, the Government has sought the UNSG’s support to ensure Colonel Lama’s deputation as UN Peace Observer in South Sudan, releasing him from the case and custody in London. Nnnn HEAVY SHOWFALL IN FAR-WEST Kathmandu, 19 Jan.:: Incessant rainfall coupled with snowfall since yesterday evening has hit normal life hard in the hilly districts of far-western region, The Himalayan TIemes reports from Accham. . Temperature has dipped further in Achham‚ Mugu‚ Bajura‚ Bajhang‚ Baitadi‚ Darchula‚ Dadeldhura and Doti due to the snowfall. Increasing cold wave due to rainfall and avalanche has forced people to stay indoors. Schools have been shut in the districts and shop owners pulled down their shutters. Achham’s high land areas including Rishidah‚ Thati‚ Ramaroshan‚ Bhatakatiya‚ Sodash have been blanketed with snow with people finding it difficult to brave the excessive cold. The snowfall has hit our daily routine‚ said Lal Bahadur Chadar of Thati. Government offices wore a deserted look in the absence of service seekers. The rainfall‚ however‚ has elated the local farmers. Snowfall also affected normal life in Mugu’s 24 VDCs and obstructed air service and vehicular movement along Nagm- Gamgadhi road section. Five VDCs of Karan area‚ Soru area’s seven VDCs‚ seven VDCs and five VDCs of Khatyad and Shreenagar remain the worst hit. The snowfall has obstructed flights plying to and from Surkeht to Nepalgunj and heavy trucks has been stranded on the road. Satla Singh Mijar of Rowa VDC in Mugu said snowfall had hit the normal life at Dolfu‚ Kimri‚ Pulu‚ Rowa‚ Rukha‚ Rara‚ Khatyad‚ Pina‚ Seri‚ Kotdanda VDCs‚ among others. Mijar went on to say that biting cold has shut the government offices. Acting chairman Kamal Budha of Mugu chapter of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the supply of essential items may be hit as trucks ferrying the commodities have been stranded midway due to heavy snowfall. Nepal Food Corporations Mugu chief Hira Bahadur Singh said corporations was likely to face hassle to provide food material to people due to heavy downpour accompanied by snowfall in the region. The snowfall has obstructed Nepal Telecom’s Namaste‚ Sky‚ ADSL internet services at government offices and Rastriya Banijya Bank‚ affecting their works in Mugu. Employees of governmental and non-governmental offices were seen huddling around a fire to counter the cold. Bajhang‚ Daulichaur‚ Kanda‚ Syadi‚ Matela‚ Dhota are receiving snowfall following the downpour. The snowfall has disrupted transport services along Khodape- Shreebhawar road section in the district. The headquarters wore a deserted look while schools and offices remained closed due to snowfall and intense cold throwing normal life out of gear. font-family:"Calibri"‚"sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Westerly winds bring heavy rain KATHMANDU: Westerly winds brought heavy rainfall in the far western districts and likely to sweep over the country tonight resulting in some more rainfall in the Capital and towards east‚ weather experts said today. Dhadheldhura received 95 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours. Likewise‚ Dhangadhi received 47 mm rainfall‚ Dipayal 45 mm and Jumla received 82 mm snowfall. The similar westerly had brought rainfall in those districts earlier on December 10‚ however this is the first time the Capital received rainfall this season. Capital city received light rainfall of 0.2 mm today afternoon. Senior meteorologist Rajendra Prasad Shrestha said there will be light rainfall tonight in the Valley and it will remain partly cloudy tomorrow. Shreshta said upper high hills have received snowfall in the far west and mid west region. He said the westerly will pass through hilly region of Nepal towards the east by tomorrow evening. It will be sunny again from day after tomorrow‚ according to him. The past statistics show that there are chances of westerly carrying precipitation in the days to come. nnnn