न्यूज अभियान
हरेक खबर विशेष खबर

Kathmandu, Oct 31: Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha returned home today after participating in an international conference held in Bangkok, Thailand.
He went to Bangkok on October 27 to participate in the 'Fifth Ministerial Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Sustainable Development' organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP).
At the conference, Minister Shrestha drew the attention of the international community to the recent series of climate-related disasters Nepal has faced, the irreparable damage caused by them, and the international cooperation needed for the resilience of the Himalayan region.
He had emphasized that the use of satellites, geospatial analysis, and artificial intelligence should be increased for regular monitoring of glaciers, glacial lakes, unstable mountain terrains, and river systems.
Minister Shrestha had also mentioned in a statement he made in the conference that technical cooperation, joint research, and building national capacity are needed to develop a multi-level early warning system to forecast disasters and deliver information to the community on time.
Similarly, at the high-level regional dialogue on 'From Everest to the Sea: Lessons from Nepal’s Bhotekoshi–Trishuli Disasters to Strengthen Resilience Against Cascading Disasters in Asia and the Pacific,' he pointed out that timely, predictable, easily accessible, and grant-based financial support is needed for disaster monitoring, preparedness, adaptation, and addressing losses and damages.
Participating as the keynote speaker at the seminar on 'Enhancing Disaster Resilience in Asia through Research, Innovation, and Partnership,' jointly organized by the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, the Nepali Embassy, and the Government of Nepal, Minister Shrestha mentioned that Nepal envisions advancing the reconstruction of the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli area as a model of Himalayan development with safe settlements, resilient infrastructure, secure hydropower projects, and sustainable livelihoods.
While in Bangkok, Minister Shrestha had separate meetings with UN Under-Secretary-General and UN-ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Yodchanan Wongsawat, Bhutan’s Foreign Minister Dina Nath Dhungyal, and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.
The ministry said that the meeting discussed climate resilience and technology transfer.
Minister Shrestha's entourage included Archana Shrestha, the Director General of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Dharma Upreti, the Executive Head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, Devchandra Gadtoula, a section officer from the ministry, and Ankita Shah, a climate, disaster resilience, and international development expert as well as a board member of the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre.