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Nepal Police celebrated Kukur Tihar, second day of the five-day Tihar festival, amidst a program on Monday. They celebrated the day by worshiping, garlanding and feeding dogs. Dogs are worshiped as protectors of the house. A dog is the most loyal friend to human beings, and according to Hindu myth, dogs are regarded as the guards of Yama, the god of death.

The APF Club and the Lumbini Province were playing the quarter-final match of the volleyball under the Ninth National Games on October 18. Three players sustained injuries during the second set of the third quarter-final. Rupendra Gaire and Tek Raj Awasti of the APF and Bijay Pariyar of Lumbini were sent to the hospital for treatment. Later, the quarter-final match was called off. They were playing on the old mats because of which they slipped and fell down. Prior to that, three players had also sustained injuries. Prem Kumar of Gandaki got one of his legs fractured while playing with Bagmati. Chiranjibi Khadka of Gandaki and Hemanta Malla of APF also got injured. Later, the organizer removed the mats amidst the protest from ordinances and players. The medical center of the Health Sub-Committee near the main gate of the Pokhara stadium saw a large number of players every day. Some came with their legs fractured. Almost all the players come there with some kind of health problems. Most of the players, who came to the medical center, had soft tissue injuries, fractures and were infected with dengue, Dr Ham Nath Acharya of the Sub-Committee Secretariat. He said that 650 players sustained injuries during the tournament. Among them, 130 were referred to different hospitals. Four had to undergo surgery. At least 6, 127 players had taken part in the national games this year. That means, 10 percent were injured in the games. Dr Acharya said that the number of players who suffered injuries has increased due to lack of training, unmanaged ground, dress and discipline among others. Sports expert Diwakar Lal Amatya said that many players got injured owing to lack of fitness and junk food. Another sports expert Sushil Nursingh Rana said that the problem was seen due to lack of regular training and fitness. He said that the players should have special training for at least six months in the big tournaments like national games. Health Sub-Committee Coordinator Dr Bulanda Thapa said that among 6, 000 plus players of 36 games, only four had to undergo surgery which can be considered quite good. He, however, said that paragliding player Nimesh Thapa died due to a technical problem.

NUWAKOT: Property worth around Rs 22 million was reduced to ashes when a fire broke out in Shivapuri Rural Municipality-8 of Nuwakot district on Sunday. Rupak Khadka, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Nuwakot, said that three houses and shops were destroyed in the fire that started from the fancy shop of Bijaya Thapa. The grocery shop of Hari Thapa and the hardware shop of Bijaya were also engulfed in the fire. The fire that started at around 8:30 pm was brought under control after five hours. The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained.

A new sub-variant of Corona Virus XBB has been detected for the first time in Nepal. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, the variant was detected in a Nepali recently. The sub-variant was detected during genome sequencing conducted at the National Public Health Laboratory. The Ministry said that the new sub-variant of Omicron was detected during genome sequencing of some samples collected from the people of various age groups from August 6 to September 30. According to the World Health Organization, this variant has already been detected in 26 countries of the world. It has been said that this variant is more contagious than other variants detected in the past. Assistant spokesperson at the Ministry Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari said, “This variant has been spreading in other countries and the new Covid-19 cases have also been increasing in recent times.” He urged all the people to take precautions while celebrating the upcoming festivals.

Laxmi Puja and Kukur Tihar are being observed today by worshipping, garlanding and feeding cows and dogs. Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth, is being worshipped in every household today to mark the second day of the five-day Tihar festival –also known as the festival of lights – by lighting butter lamps and candles inside and outside of the households to light up the path of Goddess Laxmi in order to welcome her. Nepali Hindus worship Goddess Laxmi in the evening today wishing for prosperity. All the nooks and corners of the house are illuminated with colourful and decorative lights this evening in the belief that Goddess Laxmi does not visit places that are not properly illuminated, and so to please Goddess Laxmi, people light lamps and spend the whole night in vigil. The night of Laxmi Puja is also a start to the cultural prog rams like ‘Deusi’ and ‘Bhailo’, where people, said to be sent by the king Bali, visit different homes singing and dancing for the prosperity. In Kukur Tihar, dogs are worshipped as protectors of the house. A dog is the most loyal friend to human beings, and according to Hindu myth, dogs are regarded as the guards of Yama, the god of death.

Nepal reported 41 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 445 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 39 returned positive. Likewise, 805 people underwent antigen tests, of which two were tested positive. The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 59 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 696 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 14. 35 points to close at 1,858.49 points on Sunday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2. 88 points to close at 365. 93 points. A total of 1,538,042 unit shares of 221 companies were traded for Rs 51 billion. In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green except for Hotel and Tourism and Mutual Fund. Meanwhile, RuRu Jalbidhyut Pariyojana Limited and Sayapatri Hydropower Limitedwere the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. Citizens Mutual Fund was the top loser as its price fell by 9. 55 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 67 trillion.

The Kathmandu District Court on Sunday extended the remand of former Nepal national cricket team captain Sandeep Lamichhane, who was arrested on the rape charge, by two more days for investigation. Earlier on October, the Court had ordered the police to keep Lamichhane in custody for five more days. This is the fourth time that the court extended the remand of Lamichhane. A 17-year-old girl had filed a rape complaint against Lamichhane at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala when he was abroad to play Caribbean Premier League (CPL) from Jamaica Tallawahs. According to the complaint, Lamichhane had allegedly taken the girl to various places in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur on August 21 and raped her in a hotel room the same night.