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Three school girls have gone missing in Pokhara since yesterday.

The girls in school dress had left home for school on Monday, but neither did they reach school nor returned home, the parents said, urging all concerned for cooperation to find them.

Manika Pariyar (14), Alisha Pariyar (13) and Radhika Pariyar (14) of Bindhyabasini, Pokhara Metropolitan City-2 went out of contact while going to school, according to the District Police Office, Kaski.

Radhika and Manika are the students of Rastriya Secondary School while Alisha is the student of Barpatan Secondary School.

Although the parents briefly talked to Radhika and Manika by phone, it was not clear where and how they were.

The parents lodged applications at the police office, seeking cooperation to search for the missing girls.

Information Officer and DSP at District Police Office Shravan Kumar BK said that police had intensified search for the school girls.

They had not gone to their relatives' home either, he added.

Four persons died when a jeep they were traveling in met with an accident in Sipkopahira of Mugu on Monday.

Two among the deceased have been identified as Ram Pariyar of Sharkegad Rural Municipality-2 and Prakash Bohara of Simkot Rural Municipality-2, Humla.

The identities of the two others are yet to be ascertained.

DSP Mahesh Basnet of the District Police Office, Mugu said that the jeep (Ga 1 Ja 7762) was heading towards Mugu from Shorukot when the tragedy occurred yesterday.

There were nine passengers including the driver in the jeep.

Two died on the spot while two others breathed their last during the course of treatment at the Tarapani Basic Health Post, police said.

Three persons including the jeep driver were injured seriously in the incident, DSP Basnet said.

The Gokarneshwor Municipality of Kathmandu district has closed schools for four days citing the rising cases of conjunctivitis.

Issuing a notice on Monday, the municipality said that all schools would remain closed from August 15 to August 18.

The municipality took this decision after the school teachers, employees and students began suffering from the eye disease, according to Municipality Mayor Dipak Kumar Risal.

The conjunctivitis has been spreading in many parts of the country of late, resulting in closure of schools to avoid its further spread.

More than 2,000 pilgrims at Pashupatinath temple have benefitted of the free healthcare camp organized by Buwa Care Pvt Ltd. This initiative, in partnership with Maharshi Deepak Prathistan, Pashupati Development Trust, and Kathmandu Metropolitan City, occurred every Monday during the month of Shrawan.

Dr Anam Pyakurel, Buwa Care’s chairperson, says that the camp extends first aid, free medication, and doctor consultations to those in need. “Approximately 300 individuals received cost-free health assessments each Shrawan Monday,” he says.

Sushma Rijal, CEO of Buwa Care, says that a dedicated team of three physicians, five nurses, and five lab technicians was mobilized to manage the camp’s operations.

Buwa Care, established in April 2023, self-funded this healthcare campaign. Its primary objective is to provide affordable healthcare services to the elderly. The senior citizens who become Buwa Care members by paying an annual fee of Rs 30,000 receive biannual whole body check-ups and doctor consultations.

Furthermore, Buwa Care extends round-the-clock telemedicine services, enabling senior citizens to consult doctors at any time. A specialized dietician devises a year-long meal plan for members, coupled with complimentary physiotherapy sessions.

Dr Pyakurel says it is important for leisure for senior citizens. “Buwa Care organizes motivational, yoga, and meditation classes, fostering social connections among members,” he says. Additionally, the organization arranges brief pilgrim excursions for the elderly too.

As one-third of the hydropower projects that have entered power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) are yet to complete their financial closure, the state-owned power utility is preparing to scrap their PPA agreements.

The NEA is taking such a decision based on the suggestions of the committee formed under the coordination of Sandeep Kumar Dev, joint secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.

The Dev committee has recommended that power purchase agreements (PPAs) for projects with a capacity of up to 100 MW be revoked if they do not achieve financial closure within two years after the PPA is signed. For projects exceeding 100 MW, the committee proposes canceling their PPAs if they do not achieve financial closure within three years of signing the PPA. The committee has recently submitted its report to Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet.

According to the report, the NEA has so far entered into PPAs with hydropower projects of 7757 MW capacity. However, 33.85 percent of the projects have not completed their financial closure, according to the report. Of the total PPAs, commercial production worth 2023 MW has been started while financial closure of 3102 MW has been completed.

Along with the cancellation of PPA, the committee has also recommended the cancellation of survey and generation licenses issued for such projects. The report even recommended that the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) can scrap the project license of the projects failing to complete financial closure.

Many hydropower promoters have not been able to raise investment for their projects even after signing the PPAs. Since the government has set a quota for PPA, the delay in financial closure, according to NEA officials, has stalled the hydropower projects' construction.

“The construction of the hydropower projects will not move ahead unless the promoters complete the financial closure. Since there is a quota system in place for the PPA, the new projects’ PPA has not been carried out,” said Pradeep Kumar Thike, one of the members of the committee. “Hence, the committee recommended the cancellation of the PPA.”

The committee has also recommended giving priority to the PPA of hydropower projects promoted by the government, subsidiaries of the NEA, and companies owned by the government.  In its report, the committee has said that PPA with the private sector projects should be done only after considering the internal demand and the possibility of export of electricity.

If this policy is implemented by the government, it will be difficult to get PPA for private sector projects, said IPPAAN chairman Ganesh Karki.

The committee has recommended increasing the PPA quota for run-of-river (RoR) projects and peaking run-of-river (PRoR) projects by 3937.5 MW. As the PPA of government projects having a capacity of more than 3,000 MW is yet to be done, the new policy will benefit the state-promoted projects. “Even if the quota of PPA is increased as recommended by the committee, the private sector will get less benefit,” said Prakash Dulal, deputy secretary general of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN).

The IPPAN has demanded to extend a special period of one year for projects that could not achieve financial closure after signing the PPAs. Organizing the press conference on Sunday, the IPPAN asked the government to provide one year time for the projects to complete their financial closure.

Floods triggered by incessant rainfall in Kagkhola on Sunday night have caused a huge loss in Kagbeni.

The floods have completely destroyed 29 houses and 12 vehicles.

DSP Rabindra Nath Paudel of the District Police Office, Mustang said that the floods also swept an excavator.

He said that the floods have caused partial damage to 13 houses of Kagbeni Village while nine cow sheds have been completely destroyed.

Similarly, three temporary bridges, a concrete bridge connecting Jomson-Korala and a suspension bridge linking Kagbeni-Tire Gaun have been washed away, DSP Paudel said.

Warjung Muktichhetra Rural Municipality Chairman Rinjin Namgel Gurung said that the floods swept away houses, shops, hotels, police station and ward office among other structures.

Likewise, the floods in the Kagbeni river also washed away religious shrines and temples.

Gurung said that it will take a few days to gather the details of the property damaged by the floods in Kagkhola apart from physical structures.

The administration, police and local level had moved the people living near the embankment of the river to safer places after the landslide blocked the Kagbeni river.

Police said that there was no human loss owing to the floods in Kagbeni because of the same.

Floods have also damaged electricity, telephone and internet poles.

Chief District Officer Anup KC along with the teams of all three security agencies from Jomsom had reached the floods-hit area in Kagbeni after the floods caused damage to the Kagbeni Dham.

CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal expressed his commitment that he would help in the investigation of Lalita Niwas land grab case.

Speaking to journalists upon landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday, the former prime minister said that the Lalita Niwas land grab case should be investigated and vowed to help in the investigation.

“Let there be an investigation in the Lalita Niwas land grab case. I will help in the inquest,” he said.

Leader Nepal claimed that he has no involvement in the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

He said that the Supreme Court had issued an order to proceed with the investigation process of Lalita Niwas scam a day before he left for Europe.

Nepal said it was just a coincidence that the apex court issued the order a day before he left for Europe.

Saying that various decisions pertaining to the land were made when he was the prime minister, the CPN (US) claimed that he had not committed corruption.

“The Supreme Court had issued an order to proceed with the investigation of Lalita Niwas scam. My Europe’s visit was also fixed at the same time. Various decisions pertaining to the land were made when I was the prime minister. Some tried to defame me by linking my name to this issue,” he said, adding, “It was also said that Madav Nepal fled the country. I did not flee when the then king ordered to arrest me. Why should I flee the country if I had not committed any crime. Instead, I shortened the visit.”

Vice-President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav is leaving on a six-day visit to China on Monday afternoon.

The Vice-President is set to attend the 7th China South Asia Exposition and 27th China Kunming Import and Export Fair, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Yadav will lead a Nepali delegation to the event to be held in Kunming on August 16-20.  He is scheduled to address the official opening of the 7th China-South Asia Expo on August 16.

The Vice-President will board the China Eastern Airlines regular flight to Kunming from Tribhuvan International Airport at 4:25 pm, said the MoFA.

Vice-President Yadav will be accompanied by his spouse Champadevi Yadav, Secretary at the Office of Vice President Madhusudan Burlakoti, his personal secretary Satrudhan Yadav, personal doctor Bikram Silwal and two security personnel, it is said.

He will return home on August 21.