Road to Muktinath being blacktopped

The Muktinath Temple located in Mustang is one of the popular destinations among domestic and foreign tourists.

PARBAT :

The blacktopping of Kagbeni-Muktinath road section in Mustang, the district across the Himalaya, has begun.

The seven-kilometre road section linking Kagbeni to the historic place of Muktinath would be the first blacktopped road in the district.

The district-based Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project is assisting to upgrade the route. The blacktopping is expected to complete by the mid of 2017, said District Technica

l Office’s Engineer Rabindra Tiwari.
The upgrading of the route is estimated to cost Rs 108 million.
Though the district has road sections stretching to 250 kilomtres, no section has been blacktopped so far.

Devotees coming to visit the famous Muktinath Temple here will be benefitted once the route is upgraded.

UDMF burns President Bhandari’s effigy, announces to obstruct her Janakpur visit

Janaki Temple, Janakpurdham

JANAKPURDHAM:

Cadres of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) burned an effigy of President Bidya Devi Bhandari here in Janakpurdham on Tuesday.

President Bhandari is scheduled to visit Janakpur to take part in the iconic Rama-Janaki Vivaha Utsav on Wednesday.

The agitating Madhesi parties and different groups staged a rally carrying the President’s effigy from Janak Chok and burned it at the funeral site in Shmashan Ghat after making a round of the ancient town of Janakpurdham.

Janaki, more popular with the name Seeta in legends, was born in Janakpurdham, and married to Rama, the prince of Ayoddhya, according to Ramayana. Their marriage anniversary is commemorated carrying out different rituals in Nepal and India on Vivaha Panchami – the fifth day of waxing moon in the month of Mansir (November-December).

President Bhandari is scheduled to arrive here in Janakpurdham boarding a helicopter and take part in different rituals, according to Kali Prasad Parajuli, the Chief District Officer.
All security arrangements have been made for the Head of the State’s visit, he informed.

It has been learned that the Chief of the Army Staff of Nepal Army, General Rabindra Chhetri, and the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae will accompany the President.

The local administration has urged the agitating parties not create any obstacle in the President’s visit.

A local leader, however, stated that the parties would protest, saying they told the government officials in the meeting of the local security committee to cancel her visit.

“We symbolically protested the intended visit by burning the President’s effigy,” Dharmendra Saha, the coordinator of United Youth Struggle Committee, said.

The UDMF Dhanusha district chapter decided to obstruct the President’s visit tomorrow, according to leader Shesh Narayan Yadav said. He that the agitating parties, however, would not obstruct CoAS Chhetri and Ambassador

Big Three likely to table both bills

Leaders taking part in tripartite meeting held at the OMPCM in Singha Darbar on Thursday, December 10.

Kathmandu, December 14

Leaders of the three major political parties today discussed four alternatives to clear the House obstruction and make way for tabling Constitution Amendment Bill and Reconstruction Authority Bill.

They are likely to table both the bills together, ignoring objections from the United Democratic Madhesi Front.

During a meeting of top leaders of three major parties called by Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar at her office in Singha Durbar, ruling CPN-UML and Unified CPN-Maoist today agreed to go for any of the alternatives that suited the Nepali Congress, which is the main opposition party, according to sources.

“NC leaders have said that the party would choose one of the four alternatives after discussing them tomorrow morning,” said sources.

The four alternatives are to include both the bills in the business schedule of the House and table them ignoring protests from UDMF;
to include both the bills in the business schedule initially but to remove the Constitution Amendment Bill from the schedule through the Speaker’s announcement and table only the reconstruction authority bill; to include the two bills in separate business schedules and table them in two separate meetings of the House held within 15-30 minutes of each other; or to table only the reconstruction authority bill, according to sources.
Although the UDMF has agreed to table the reconstruction authority bill, it is against tabling it along with the Constitution Amendment Bill.

On the other hand, the NC has been obstructing the House since last week demanding to table both the bills together. Both the bills were registered in the Parliament by previous NC-led government.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, on behalf of the ruling coalition, told NC leaders Ramchandra Paudel, Prakash Man Singh and Chinkaji Shrestha to choose any of the alternatives and assured them that the ruling parties would back NC’s decision, said the sources.

In response, Paudel said the party would choose one of the alternatives tomorrow. The NC has called a meeting of its office bearers’ tomorrow morning to decide which alternative suits it.

Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and former Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang were also present in the meeting, while NC President Sushil Koirala was absent, as he was unwell.

“The leaders have promised to zero in on one of the alternatives before tomorrow’s meeting slated for 1:00pm and help clear the House obstruction,” said the Speaker.

Both the bills are important and can be tabled together or separately at a short interval, she said.

Former Speaker Nembang said today’s meeting ended on a positive note and most probably the major parties would agree to clear the House obstruction tomorrow.

UDMF, however, will obstruct the House if the Constitution Amendment Bill was included in the business schedule without reaching consensus on the concerns of agitating Madhes-based parties, said Sadbhawana Party’s Co-Chair Laxman Lal Karna.

CAN holds elections amidst controversy

Kathmandu, December 14

The controversial elective General Assembly of Cricket Association of Nepal got underway after police intervened during the inaugural session here at the Raj Gharana Restaurant today.

A faction of CAN had called the fourth AGM for 11:00AM but the programme was postponed for 3:00PM after chief guest Youth and Sports Minister Satya Narayan Mandal did not turn up for the inauguration programme. Minister Mandal instead flew for Lukla with National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista. NSC has directed the CAN not to hold the AGM until further instructions.

The CAN officials were quick enough to arrange another chief guest, Sports Department Chief of Nepali Congress Dhanraj Gurung. At a time when CAN Vice-president Chatur Bahadur Chand was addressing the AGM, a group led by former vice-president Keshav Ghimire gheraoed the rostrum and started shouting slogans demanding the postponement of the elections.

President Tanka Angbuhang, vice-presidents Ghimire, Sunil Amatya, Ram Chandra Sharma, Deepak Koirala and Secretary Thakur Pahari were among the 11 officials from the executive committee who opposed the AGM saying the NSC and the International Cricket Council were not in favour of the elections. Vice President Amatya also read out the letter sent by the NSC. Most of them also did not attend the closed session.

After some scuffles among the representatives, police took control over the situation and the closed session was possible after security personnel allowed only the official representatives inside the hall. A total of 71 representatives out of 83 attended the opening session, while more than 60 were present in the closed session.

“More than 65 per cent were present in the closed session and all the representatives wanted to hold elections at any cost,” said General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakurel

Security personnel arrested 11 cadres of UDMF and Madhesi Alliance

The 11 arrested cadres of United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and Federal Inclusive Madhesi Alliance on Tuesday night in Birgunj of Parsa district, December 14, 2015. Photo: Ram Sarraf

BIEGUNJ:

The 11 cadres and leaders of United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and Federal Inclusive Madhesi Alliance are arrested by security personnel in Birgunj of Parsa district on Tuesday night.

The 11 arrestees are under police custody.

The detainees have been identified as Nepal Sadhabhawana Party’s Central Member Shiba Patel, Secretary Krishn Patel, Sadhabhawana Party’s Mentrel Member Nejmudin Samani, Tara Madhes Democratic Party’s Rmtulah Khan, Jtashankar Gupta, Dhani Patel, Ramspa Sakur Aalam, Bijay Patel Aand Chaturbedi Moti Sah and Binye Sarraf.

Nepal government’s joint-secretary held for fuel black marketing

KATHMANDU:

Police said they arrested a senior government official for his alleged involvement in black marketing of petroleum products.

Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment Ram Aadhar Sah was arrested from Gaushala of Kathmandu on Sunday evening.

A permanent resident of Sonigama-6 of Dhanusha district, Sah earlier had served as the Director General of Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology.

A team deployed from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division had nabbed the 47-year-old after some fuel station operators revealed that he was involved in black marketing, taking advantage of the ongoing crisis.

Nepal is currently reeling under fuel crisis due to blockade at Nepal-India border for over three months.

President summons top leaders of Big 3, UDMF for dinner

KATHMANDU:
President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Monday evening is holding a meeting with the top leaders of three major parties –Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist — and the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front at Sheetal Niwas.

The President’s personal secretary Bhesh Raj Adhikari, the leaders have been invited for a dinner meeting.
It has been learned that the Head of the State summoned the leaders to ask them to resolve the existing crisis in the wake of ongoing agitation in Tarai-Madhes region and border blockade through dialogue.

Agitating leaders likely to miss.

Meanwhile, leaders of the agitating Front are likely to miss the meeting.
While Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav is in Pokhara, Sadbhawana Party Chairman Rajendra Mahato is in Birgunj.

Sadbhawana Party Co-Chair Laxman Lal Karna said he did not receive any invitation from the President.

Tarai Madhes Democratic Party leader Sarvendra Nath Shukla, on the other hand, said he was unaware about the invite.

6 killed, over 60 injured as brick kiln chimney collapses in Itahari

ITAHARI:

At least six persons were killed while more than 60 others were injured when the chimney of the New Jaya Nepal Brick Kiln collapsed here this evening.

Three of the deceased have been identified as Sagdam Hussein, Salun Miyan and Rahul Miyan. Others are yet to be identified, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Chiranjibi Koirala.

The brick factory is located at Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City-16 of Sunsari district.

More than 60 others were injured while rescue works to pull out those trapped in the debris of the fallen chimney continues, police said.

The injured have been rushed to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan and Nobel Medical College in Biratnagar.

Speaker Gharti urges parties to find way-out through statute amendment

Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar addresses a function organised on the occasion of the Parliament Day, in Kathmandu, on Monday, December 14, 2015.

KATHMANDU:

Speaker of Legislature-Parliament Onsari Gharti has appealed to all political parties to find a way-out to current political deadlock in the country by amending the Constitution, while focusing on the country and the country people.

Addressing a function organised by the Legislature-Parliament here today on the occasion of the Parliament Day, Speaker Gharti reiterated, “I urged all the top leaders of the political parties to pay due attention towards resolving the current crisis in the country by considering amendment to the new Constitution so as to avert the unfavourable political consequences.”

Gharti stressed the need for mutual understanding among the political parties in and out of the government and collective effort for the resolution.
Stating that there were still more rooms for upgrading the Legislature-Parliament services, Speaker Gharti pointed out the need for a collective initiative to transform such services into an autonomous, professional, specialised and lucrative one.

Echoing with Speaker Gharti, Deputy Speaker of House Ganga Prasad Yadav said, “It is imperative we all work untied to render more professional and specialised services.”

Also speaking at the programme Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Agni Prasad Kharel apprised that as many as 193 new laws would be formulated within 20 days in the course of the implementation of the newly promulgated national charter.

Cooking gas explosion injures six people in Itahari

ITHARI:

A powerful explosion rocked the Hatkhola market area in Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City- 1, Sunsari district on Sunday night.

According to Area Police Office, Itahar, the blast injured six people and completely damaged the two-storey building.

DSP Om Adhikari said that they have started the investigation immediately after knowing the incident and suspect that the explosion was due to the leakage of many cooking gas cylinders at once.

Those critically injured in the incident are Pawan Chaudhary ( 30), his brothers Sanjaya (28) and Rahul (25), Pawan’s wife Puja (26), and Rahul’s wife Anu ( 23), informed police.

Similarly, Chaudhary’s helper Maila was also seriously injured in the incident.
Police further said that all the injured are undergoing treatment at Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. Among them, Anu is said to be very critical.

Locals informed that the explosion was so strong that even houses up to a periphery of 500 metres from the site shook.

It is learned the Chaudhary brothers had been operating cooking gas filling plant from their house since long. They used to fill up small cylinders from the place.

Nepal Oil Corporation official held on charge of irregularities, black marketing of fuel

KATHMANDU: Police on Sunday arrested the Nepal Oil Corporation’s Thankot depot chief, Rabin Kumar Sharma, in suspicion of his involvement in irregularities and black marketing of fuel.

A team deployed from Metropolitan Police Crime Division took Sharma in custody after people detained on charge of fuel black marketing and tampering of dispensers at different fuel stations took his name while recording their statements, said Senior Superintendent of Police Sarbendra Khanal.

Nepal is currently reeling under fuel crisis due to blockade at Nepal-India border for over three months.

Paragliding pilots protest against extra fees charged by CAAN

Tourists enjoying a paragliding flight over the Pokhara sky, in Kaski district. Photo: Rajesh Bomjan/File

POKHARA :

The paragliding pilots are protesting the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) decision to charge extra fees, in Pokhara of Kaski district on Sunday.

The pilots are protesting against the Authority’s decision for illegally taking Rs 9,000 as extra fees from Nepali paragliding pilots.

They have stopped the paragliding services from today to protest the extra fees imposed by CAAN, informed Rajesh Bomjan, a paragliding pilot.

However, Pokhara-based CAAN acting head, Yogendra Kunwar, informed that the provision of taking Rs 9,000 as extra charge is an old decision and the charge was for the flight permission.

Basant Raj Dawadi, General Secretary of Nepal Airsport Association, informed that after the obstruction in the service, tourists have been deprived of the enjoyment.

CIAA seizes Dabur Nepal products at Birgunj Dry Port

A Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority team seizing products of Dabur Nepal, in Birgunj, on Sunday, December 13, 2015. Photo: Ram Sarraf

BIRGUNJ:
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Sunday impounded as many as 77 container trucks set to leave for India, suspecting that the products were date-expired.

The containers had Real juice and Chyawanprash jam produced by Dabur Nepal Private Limited.

A CIAA team led by DSP Himalaya Shrestha had reached the Birgunj Dry Port to take the action.

“We have collected samples from the packaging,” Shrestha said, “The samples would be sent for examination.”
The CIAA had received complaints that the company was labelling wrong information on its products, he added.
The anti-corruption constitutional body, however, is yet to decide on whether to release the impounded containers, the official informed.

Meanwhile, the industry said there was not any defect.

The multinational company in early December had slipped over three per cent after the company provided weak guidance for the Q3 on continuing political unrest in Nepal.

Leaders hold tripartite talks at Singhadurbar, result still elusive

Leaders of the ruling coalition, the main opposition Nepali Congress and the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front, hold talks in a bid to end the ongoing political tension, in Kathmandu, on Saturday, December 5, 2015. Photo: Skanda Gautam

KATHMANDU:
The ruling coalition, opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) and agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) held talks at Singhadurbar on Sunday afternoon in a bid to find resolution of the ongoing unrest.
The meeting, however, could not make any concrete progress.

Top leaders of ruling parties including CPN-UML, UCPN-Maoist and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, main opposition Nepali Congress and leaders of the agitating UDMF were present in the meeting.

According to the leaders, the meeting could not produce any result as the UDMF leaders remained adamant on their stance not to let the House proceed with the Constitution Amendment Bill while the main opposition NC demanded that both the Constitution Amendment Bill and the Bill on National Reconstruction Authority be table simultaneously.

Emerging from the meeting, Sadbhawana Party Co-Chairman Laxman Lal Karna said the demands of UDMF were overlooked as the main opposition Nepali Congress and the government were at odds on resuming the House to table the bills..

He said the Madhesi Front could not accept the Constitution Amendment Bill, proposed by the earlier NC-led government.

After the failure of the meeting, it is likely that the Parliament meeting would get obstructed by today also.

Nepali belle wins titles in Miss Heritage Int’l

Miss Heritage International 2015, Victoria Pham of Vietnam, flanked by Ketisha Williams of Trinidad and Tobago and Chaw Yupar Tsets of Myanmar, Nisha Pathak of Nepal and Natasha Mogorosi of South Africa, waving to the audience after being crowned the winner in New Delhi, India, on December 12, 2015. Photo: Santosh Sapkota

KATHMANDU:
Miss Heritage International 2015, a beauty pageant initiated to preserve the UNESCO heritage and cultural sites of the world, has concluded successfully in New Delhi of India on Saturday.

Among the 17 participants, Vietnamese beauty Victoria Pham bagged the crown in the second season of the pageant followed by Ketisha Williams of Trinidad and Tobago and Chaw Yupar Tsets of Myanmar as first and second runners up respectively.

The show was organised by Eplanet Pvt. Ltd. jointly with WE FOR WE and Kalaimani cares as local partners.
Nepali representative Nisha Pathak secured the third runner up position in the same.

Pathak was also titled as Miss Heritage International Environmental Ambassador and Miss Heritage International Best Environmental Dress.

Apart from Nepal, countries including India, Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, Vietnam, Zambia, Denmark, Russia, Philippines, Myanmar, Tanzania, Central Russia, Botswana, Lesotho, Italy and Trinidad and Tobago had also participated in the contest.

The contest started from December 6 with photo shoots in national costumes, environmental dresses, cultural dresses and swim suits.

They had also visited heritage sites to understand their historical and archaeological values and tourism aspects.

Choreographers Rojin Shakya of Nepal and Simran Deenz Ahuja of India had jointly choreographed the event.

Nepali Congress obstructs House meeting again

Lawmakers of opposition party Nepali Congress and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) standing up in their seats seeking permission to speak shortly after the Legislature-Parliament meeting started at the Parliament house in New Baneshwor, Kathmandu on Thursday, November 26, 2015.

KATHMANDU:

The main opposition party, Nepali Congress, obstructed the Parliament meeting again, on Sunday, demanding that the government table the Constitution Amendment Bill and the Bill on National Reconstruction Authority together.

Following the obstruction, Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar ostponed the meeting for Tuesday.

The government, for last few weeks, has not been able to table the pending bills as the NC and protesting United Democratic Madhesi Front have been pressing for contrastive demands.
While the NC wants to get both bills tabled simultaneously, the UDMF has been saying that it can not accept tabling of the Constitution Amendment Bill as the proposed changes there do not address its demands.

Earlier today, the ruling parties, the opposition party and the UDMF had held talks about resolving the crisis and resuming the House. It, however, did not produce any concrete result as both NC and UDMF remained adamant on their demands.

HOW GOLD PRICE GETS CHANGES, Have a LOOK

US Dollar Strength, Weakness and the Price of Gold: A Primer
When the US Dollar gets stronger, it takes fewer dollars to buy any commodity that is priced in $USD.

When the US Dollar gets weaker it takes more dollars to purchase the same commodity.

The price of all US Dollar denominated commodities, like gold, will change to reflect the fact that it will take fewer or more dollars to buy that commodity. So it’s quite possible, in fact it’s almost always the case that a portion of the change in the price of gold is really just a reflection of a change in the value of the US Dollar. Sometimes that portion is insignificant. But often the opposite is true where the entire change in the gold price is simply a mathematical recalculation of an ever-changing US Dollar value.

When the dollar gets strong, gold appears to go down, and vice versa. That accounts for part of the fluctuations that we see in the value of gold.
The other part is an actual increase in the supply or demand for gold. If the price is higher when being measured not only in US Dollars, but also in Euros, Pounds Sterling, Japanese Yen, and every other major currency, then we know the gold demand is higher and it has actually increased in value.

Consequently, if gold is higher in US Dollars while at the same time cheaper in every other currency, then we can conclude that the US Dollar has weakened, and that gold has actually lost value in all other currencies. But the price, because it is being quoted in $USD will be higher and give the illusion of gold becoming more valuable. In such a case the devaluation of gold, due to increased supply on the market, is camouflaged by a weakened US Dollar.

Our feature on kitco.com breaks the change of the price of gold into 2 components. One part shows you how much of that change can be attributed to US Dollar strength, or lack of it. The other portion is indicative of how much the price changed as a result of normal trading. Interestingly whatever changes happen to the price of gold as a result of US Dollar strength/weakness also occurs to every other US Dollar denominated commodity by the exact same proportion.

About the Kitco Gold Index: What is it and why is it relevant?

The Kitco Gold Index has one purpose, that is to determine whether the value of gold is actual, a reflection of changes in the US Dollar value, or a combination of both.

The U.S. Dollar Index® represents the value of the US Dollar in terms of a basket of six major foreign currencies: Euro (57.6%), Japanese Yen (13.6%), UK Pound (11.9%), Canadian Dollar (9.1%), Swedish Krona (4.2%) and Swiss Franc (3.6%). It is an exchange traded (FINEX) index and has become a standard used worldwide.

The Kitco Gold Index is the price of gold measured not in terms of US Dollars, but rather in terms of the same weighted basket of currencies that determine the US Dollar Index®.

Since the Kitco Gold Index has no US Dollar component it needs to be compared to the actual US Dollar price to give it some perspective. In all of the historical and live charts that we are displaying here we’re showing both trend lines for the purposes of making this comparison. Here are a few possible situations that you may see and what the meaning could be:

Kitco gold index KGX chart
Real Time30 Day60 Day6 Month1 Year5 Year10 Year
The Kitco Gold Index is up and the USD price of gold is up even more:

This would definitely mean that gold has increased in value. It also means that the USD has weakened and so the degree of the gold value increase will be exaggerated when examined strictly in terms of the US Dollar. This is the exact scenario that we’ve witnessed over the span of the early years of the 21st century.

The Kitco Gold Index is down and the USD price of gold is down even more:
This would definitely mean that gold value has declined in value. But not by as much as it may appear in USD terms.
The Kitco Gold Index is up and the USD price of gold is down:

This would indicate that the USD has strengthened relative to the other major currencies, but that gold has gained in value.

The Kitco Gold Index is down and the USD price of gold is up:
This would indicate that the USD has weakened relative to the other major currencies, and that gold is really not up as it may appear.

3 dozen industries in Lumbini Corridor on verge of closure!

BHAIRAHAWA :

Around three dozen large and small scale industries in the Lumbini Industrial Corridor are on the verge of closure due to the ongoing Madhes agitation.

According to Rupandehi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), industries of cement, sack and noodle among other industries of the corridor are on the verge of closure.
Around Rs 50 billion has been invested in industries in the corridor.

The RCCI General Secretary Narayan Bhandari said that the corridor has been most hit hard due to the agitation launched by Madhes-based political parties and unannounced border blockade by India.

Chairman of Western Regional Cement Association, Rishikesh Agrawal, said that industry owners and employees have been facing problem to spend daily life due to this.

Around 10,000 employees and workers are working at three dozen industries in the corridor.

The industries located in the corridor have been facing losses of Rs 100 million everyday due to the agitation.

Problems could appear in SLC letter grading system !

KATHMANDU:

Stating that the letter grading system in the School Leaving Certificate Examinations (SLC) introduced by the Ministry of Education was ill-prepared, educationists have claimed that implementation part of the new system was challenging.

The Ministry on Thursday had decided to implement the letter grading system in the SLC examinations- a concept proposed by the World Bank meant for reforms in education.

Educationist Dr Bidyanath Koirala argued that the new step was taken in the name of improving education’s quality under the duress of the Word Bank without studying Nepal’s educational system.

He said that the grading system would be irrelevant if the students getting lower grades were not able to earn the higher studies in their desired subjects.
The Ministry has decided to categorise the students in nine grades including A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D, E and N under the letter grading system. N stands for ‘not graded’

“It would be acceptable only if students are allowed to sit for entrance exams in their desired subjects and the selection process was done based on merit list,” he added.

Likewise, Acting Examinations Controller of Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) Santosh Aryal said that some problems would obviously arise after implementing the new system. He said that students getting lower than grade ‘C’ would have hard times to get enrolled in science faculty.

Elderly dies of cold in Saptari !

SAPTARI: An elderly man died of cold at Malhaniya VDC of Saptari, following the sudden dip in mercury since the last few days on Saturday.

According to police, Ram Sundar Chaudhary (65) of Malhaniya VDC-5 died this morning while undergoing treatment at a nursing home in Lahan.

Daily life has been severely hit by the sudden dip in the temperature in the districts in the Tarai-Madhesh including Saptari for the past few days.