Migrant workers in Gulf being charged exorbitant fares for air tickets

Government’s liberal step to allow airlines to operate scheduled commercial flights instead of chartered ones is costing the passengers almost double of the regular fare. Meanwhile, migrant workers in the Gulf countries are being forced to buy the air tickets back to their country in the black market. Nepali migrants in Dubai said that it was hard to get tickets as the seats were limited while the number of people wanting to return to the home country was astonishingly high. Nepali workers who...

KMC intensifies market monitoring

At a time when the Kathmandu Valley is in the grip of COVID-19 and the prices of vegetables, fruits and essential food items have skyrocketed, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has intensified market monitoring.

48 dists currently under DAO prohibitory order

Prohibitory orders clamped by the respective District Administration Offices (DAOs) exercising the Local Administration Act continue in 48 districts across the country as of Sunday, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Govt postpones vaccine testing

The government has decided to postpone the testing of vaccines against the COVID-19, which are under trial, for now. Decision to this effect was taken on the basis of consultations with the experts. However, research and study regarding the reliability of the vaccines will continue.

Bhaktapur local govts working hard to contain virus

Local representatives are quite worried as the COVID-19 cases have continued to rise in Bhaktapur district in the past one month. At least 15 per cent of the cases involve local people without any travel history hinting at the surge of local transmission in the district. So far, 456 people have been infected in the district. Eighty-five per cent diagnosed with the virus are from outside the district. Madhyapur Thimi Municipality has the largest number of infections at 200 as per the infection record...

Govt to ink air transport deals with 3 countries

The government is planning to sign air transport agreements with three countries. A high-level management group meeting at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Sunday decided to push ahead the agreement process with Indonesia, Finland and Russia.

A record 1,221 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in a single day, tally hits 38,561

In 12,717 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the last 24 hours, as many as persons, 348 females and 873  males, were found with the virus infection, informed Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of the ministry in the daily press briefing today.

NRNA urges for further alertness, patience   

The health committee of Non-Resident Nepalis' Association (NRNA) has appealed to the Nepali community to maintain further alertness and patience in the wake of rising case of coronavirus. 

CCMC office-bearers test negative  

Office-bearers of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Committee (CCMC) have tested negative to Corona Virus. This includes Deputy Prime Minister Iswar Pokharel, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, Health Minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal and Chief of Army Staff Purna Chandra Thapa, among others.  

Closure caused by COVID-19 severely hampers students’ learning

Aarati Thapa Magar, 16, of Chitwan wakes up every morning to support her parents in household chores. She has been spending her days for five months in cookery, cleaning and supporting parents in their farm. In the midst of COVID-19 scare, Thapa, a 10th grader in a local community school, is worried about her education as she cannot engage herself in remote learning via alternative modes because her parents are not aware of it. She does not have an access to mobile, television, radio or any other...

Rhinos in Chitwan fighting each other to death

The number of rhinoceros deaths caused by fighting has increased in recent times at Chitwan National Park. Of the three rhino deaths recorded at the park since July, two were caused by fighting, according to Ashok Ram, national park’s information officer.

Int'l Day of the Disappeared ‘Time does not heal, answers do’

While the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of people disappeared during the decade-long armed conflict has been established, 1,326 people in Nepal are still unaccounted for, almost fourteen years after the end of the war.

Illegal VOIP business declines significantly

On July 27, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) arrested Hari Shankar Shrestha, 33, for his involvement in illegal call bypass from Ward 22 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. When a team from the CIB raided a building over a tip-off regarding Shrestha’s involvement in illegal Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), he was arrested along with an eight-port openvox gateway device and eight Ncell SIM cards.

COVID-19 Update: Tally stands at 37,340 with 884 new cases

In 11,516 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the last 24 hours, as many as 884 persons, 242 females and 642 males, were found with the virus infection, informed Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of the ministry in the daily press briefing today.

Nepal records a coronavirus related death in every two hours   

Nepal has not only reported widespread transmission of coronavirus infection but also abrupt death incidents related to the contagious virus.    

Parliamentary hearing begins   

The process of parliamentary hearing of the Nepali ambassadors proposed to be appointed for Germany, Belgium and Pakistan has begun. The Federal Parliamentary Hearing Committee has initiated the process along with a notice inviting complaints, if any, against the proposed candidates.    

Reconstruction of Ranipokhari in final stage

The Ranipokhari Reconstruction Users’ Committee (RRUC) said on Friday that the reconstruction of the historic pond was at the final stage. Briefing the Minister of State of the Ministry of Urban Development Rambir Manandhar and Mayor of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Bidya Sundar Shakya, chairperson of the RRUC Ajay Sthapit said that about 85 per cent reconstruction work on the pond had completed.

Rosy SEE results raise question about teachers’ integrity

This year’s Secondary Education Examination (SEE) results were far better than those of the past years as the government granted the schools themselves to evaluate their students after it failed to conduct the board examinations owing to the COVID-19 fears.

Govt. decides to add 6,201 beds in public hospitals

According to Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), about a thousand beds will be added in hospitals under the federal government, 1,957 beds in the hospital under provincial governments and 3,245 beds in the hospitals under the local levels.

Valley records highest single-day tally with 415 new COVID-19 cases

Of the 415 new cases, 350 were detected in Kathmandu, 54 were found in Bhaktapur and 11 were traced in Lalitpur, said Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of the ministry in the daily press briefing today.