The meeting of the National Assembly scheduled for today has been postponed for tomorrow.

The meeting scheduled for 11.01 am today has been postponed for Thursday due to a special reason, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

The next meeting has been scheduled for 11.01 am on Thursday, Secretariat Deputy Spokesperson Dasharath Dhamala said.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s wife Sita Dahal passed away on Wednesday.

She breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Norvic Hospital at 8: 33 am today, the hospital said.

Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Dr Yuva Raj Sharma said that she died at the age of 69.

Dahal was taken to the hospital this morning after her condition became serious.

She was suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, an uncommon brain disorder that causes serious problems with walking, Diabetes Mellitus-II and Hypertension for a long time.

Though she was taken to the US, India and Singapore for treatment earlier, there was no significant improvement in her health.

Dahal’s last rites will be performed at Pashupati Aryaghat at 2 pm today, PM Dahal’s Secretariat said.

Her body will be kept at the party central office Parisdanda, Koteshwar from 11 am to 1 pm to pay the final tributes, the Secretariat said.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 4. 73 points to close at 2,072.24 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0. 25 points to close at 388. 86 points.

 A total of 7,988,986-unit shares of 283 companies were traded for Rs 2. 85 billion.

Meanwhile, Himalayan Power Partner Ltd and NIBL Samriddhi Fund -2 were the top gainers today with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Singati Hydro Energy Limited was the top loser as its price dropped by 5. 96 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 04 trillion.

Four persons died of snake bite in two days in Kapilvastu.

Two persons of Buddhabhumi Municipality-1 died this morning when a poisonous snake bit both of them when they were sleeping at the house on Monday night.

The deceased have been identified as Deepak Bhusal (12) and Pradeep Bhusal (9), said police Inspector at the Gorusinge Area Police Office Naresh Bahadur Shahi. Both the brothers had slept with their grandmother on the floor of their one-storey house. They were taken to a local hospital after they were found unconscious in the morning.

One of the brothers died on the way to Butwal-based Lumbini Provincial Hospital and the next one in course of treatment, added Shahi.

The 60-year-old grandmother Basanta Bhusal has also been sent to the same hospital thinking the snake might have bitten her, said manager at the Snakebite Treatment Center Nabin Bhandari.

Similarly, Mamata Raidas (16) of Buddhabhumi Municipality-10 died of snakebite on Monday morning. She died in the course of treatment at Taulihawa District Hospital.

Likewise, Anita Yadav (30) of Maharajgunj Municipality died when a snake bit her while she was collecting hay near the house on Monday afternoon.

She died on the way to Butwal for treatment, Shahi said.

The Government of Nepal and the Embassy of Republic of Korea in Nepal have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for building a 100-bed well-equipped hospital in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality of Bhaktapur.

The MoU is signed under the project, "Capacity Building of Medical Service to Achieve Universal Health Coverage for the Poor in Vulnerable Areas in Bhaktapur, Nepal."

The MoU was signed by Finance Secretary Arjun Prasad Pokhrel and Ambassador of Republic of Korea to Nepal Park Tae-Young at the Ministry of Finance in Singha Durbar today.

As per the MoU, the Korean Government through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will spend USD 9.5 million (equivalent to Rs 1.25 billion) for this project for five years. The project aims to enhance the capacity of medical infrastructure and professionals for quality hospital management, infection control, and improved coverage of public health insurance to attain the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Bhaktapur, the Finance Ministry said in a press release.

This project shall be implemented by KOICA and the Madhyapur Thimi Municipality and Nepal Korea Friendship Municipality Hospital (NKFMH) in close collaboration and coordination with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) of Nepal.

KOICA shall construct a 100-bed hospital in the adjoining land of NKFMH, provide necessary medical equipment and develop the capacity of medical and administrative staff of the hospital. The old and new hospital buildings shall be interconnected for effective service delivery, it is stated.

During the signing ceremony, Shreekrishna Nepal, Joint Secretary of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance, acknowledged the support of the Korean Government.

He said that Korea is a trusted development partner of Nepal and its support is being upscaled over the years. Further, he appreciated people to people relations between the two countries.

On the occasion, Kong, Country Director of KOICA said that KOICA has implemented various health projects in Nepal and every project has its own unique achievement.

He added phase 2 of NKFMH shall be instrumental in providing quality health care to the general public and poor and vulnerable people of Bhaktapur and nearby districts shall have easy access to specialized health care services.

During the signing ceremony, Finance Secretary Pokhrel expressed his gratitude to the Government of RoK for the partnership which shall enhance the friendly relation between the two countries. He further assured to fully cooperate for the successful implementation of this project.

Korean Ambassador Tae-Young on the occasion expressed that the new hospital will be very much useful for the general public and he expected full cooperation from the government side to successfully implement this project. He also said that he is looking forward to marking the 50-year bilateral diplomatic relations between Korea and Nepal.

Madhyapur Thimi Municipality Mayor Surendra Shrestha and representatives of MoFAGA, KOICA and NKFMH were also present at the ceremony.

The gold is being traded at Rs 111, 300 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 750 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,395 per tola today.

All six people on board the ill-fated Manang Air chopper that crashed in Lamjura of Solukhumbu on Tuesday morning were killed.

Jeevan BK said that all the six bodies have been retrieved from the incident site.

“Six bodies have been recovered from the crashed site. Discussions are underway to decide where to send the bodies,” he said.

The chopper with call sign 9N-AMV that took off for Kathmandu from Surke at 10: 05 am today was found crashed at Chyandanda in Lamjura of Bhakanje, Likhupike Rural Municipality-5, Rural Municipality Chairperson Mina Karki Basnet said.

Apart from Captain Chet Gurung, there were five Mexican nationals.  

The helicopter en route to Kathmandu from Solukhumbu had gone missing since this morning.

Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

According to Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, the then Nayab Subba of Land Revenue Office Yog Raj Paudel and Kharidar Narayan Das Mishra were apprehended from Kathmandu on Tuesday.

A source at the CIB said that police have found evidence that some former secretaries, incumbent secretaries and former ministers are also involved in this case.

With the issuance of arrest warrants against 406 people involved in the Lalita Niwas land grab case, police have started detaining high-ranking officials.

So far, police have nabbed 15 people in the Lalita Niwas case. Among them, 12 are in custody and three have already been released.

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The arrestees have been identified as Bhatbhateni Supermarket Chairman Min Bahadur Gurung, former officer at the Summer Jung Company Ramesh Kumar Pokharel, Dev Narayan Maharjan, Babu Raj Maharjan, Ghaman Kumar Karki, Shivaji Bhattarai, former election office Sudhir Kumar Shah, Dharma Prasad Gautam and Gopal Karki.

Communications Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, Dhruba Prasad Aryal and Lokhari Ghimire were arrested on Sunday.

Nine persons including former election commissioner Shah and Bhatbhateni Supermarket Chairman Gurung are being investigated by keeping them in custody.

Land Revenue Officer Surendra Man Kapali, then then chief at the Land Revenue Office, Dillibazaar Kaladhar Deuja and Hupendra Mani KC involved in the case were released earlier.