Kathmandu, Jun 27: Sale of Pani Puri has been banned in Kathmandu Valley's Lalitpur Metropolitan City as cholera cases have spiked in the Valley with 12 people testing positive.

The Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) on Saturday decided to stop the sale and distribution of Pani Puri in the metropolis, claiming that cholera bacteria were found in the water used in Pani Puri.

The metropolis has made internal preparations to stop the sale of Panipuri in the crowded areas and in the corridor area, stating that there is an increased risk of spreading cholera in the Valley, according to Municipal Police Chief Sitaram Hachethu.

With seven more people tested positive for Cholera in the Kathmandu Valley, the total number of cholera patients has reached 12 in the Valley, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

According to Chumanlal Dash, director at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Health Ministry, five cases of Cholera have been identified in Kathmandu Metropolis, and one each in Chandragiri Municipality and Budhanilkantha Municipality.

The infected are currently undergoing treatment at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Diseases Hospital at Teku. Earlier, five cases of Cholera were found in different parts of the capital city. The two of the infected people have already been treated and discharged.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Population has urged the people to visit their nearest health facility immediately if they experience any symptoms of cholera.

The ministry has requested everyone to be alert and vigilant as diarrhea, cholera and other water-borne diseases are spreading especially during summer and rainy season.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.

On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.

That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.

Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.

He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.

He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.

After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.

Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.

On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.

On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."

He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.

In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."