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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 100 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 112, 400 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 112, 500 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 850 per tola. It was traded at Rs 111, 950 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,455 per tola today.

As many as 1.25 million people are likely to be affected by the monsoon in the country this year, it has been predicted. A study carried out by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) based on different scientific analysis has predicted that 1.25 million people belonging to a total of 286,098 households are likely to be affected by rain-induced disasters this year. The study has predicted that the incidents of natural disaster will mostly affect Madhes Province followed by Koshi Province. The incidents would affect around 400,000 people in the Madhes and 300, 000 people in the Koshi province this year, the report stated. According to the Authority, the disaster would affect 200,000 people in the Lumbini Province, 100,000 in the Bagmati Province, 147,000 in the Sudurpaschim Province, 69,000 in the Gandaki Province and 35,000 in Karnali Province. Last year around two million people were predicted to be affected by the incidents of disasters. In view of this, the government has intensified early preparedness and response efforts before the monsoon set in the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs has stepped up its preparation to put in place mechanisms to tackle devastating disasters this year.  

An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale struck Bicchiya of Bajura district on Monday. According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, Lainchaur, the earthquake occurred at 7.38 am. Lately, earthquakes have been recurrently taking place in the eastern and western areas of Nepal. Nepal's hilly and mountainous areas are considered the vulnerable zone for earthquakes.  

The Supreme Court on Sunday registered a writ petition demanding the prosecution of then supremo of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his second-in-command Baburam Bhattarai for forced conscription of child soldiers during the decade-long insurgency. In his third stint as Prime Minister, Dahal, chair of the CPN (Maoist Center), heads a coalition government that has come under fire from the opposition parties in the Parliament for what they consider a ‘poor showing’ during his four-day visit to India (May 31-June 03). The minor soldiers’ move does not come as a good tiding for Dahal. Bhattarai is a former prime minister and the chair of Socialist Party of Nepal. Nine former child combatants, including Lenin Bista, founding chairperson of the Discharged People’s Liberation Army, had moved the apex court accusing the former rebels of committing war crimes by forcing minors to join military activities in contravention of international human rights laws. On May 30, the apex court administration had refused to entertain the former child soldiers’ petition, pointing out that transitional justice mechanisms overseeing war-era cases are supposed to look into this case also. But a single bench of Justice Anand Mohan Bhattarai ordered the court staff to register the petition against Dahal and Bhattarai. A preliminary hearing on the petition is scheduled for Tuesday. The verification of former PLA combatants, which the United Nations Mission in Nepal had conducted in 2007 for integrating former rebel soldiers into the Nepali Army, had disqualified thousands of Maoist combatants, including Bista, for being minors. Of the 4,008 disqualified combatants, 2,973 turned out to be minors while the remaining 1,035 were found to have joined the Maoist ‘People’s Liberation Army’ after the first ceasefire of 26 May 2006—six months before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 2006. The government had provided Rs 500,000-Rs 800,000 each to combatants opting for voluntary retirement, whereas the child soldiers had received token assistance from the United Nations.

Traffic rules are one of the most important things in roads and highways. There are many things to follow in the street such as zebra crossing, lights, speed control and other things. If we minimize the traffic jam if all things are duly followed. And, traffic police are always there in the street. We should implement their command and instructions to make all of us disciplined.  First, people should cross the roads from zebra crossing because it helps to control accidents. When people cross the road, vehicles should provide them time. All of us know, there are certain lights such as red, green and yellow and they have different messages to them. Red means we should stop, yellow means either we have to prepare to go or we can go carefully.  Similarly, there is the issue of speed control. We should fix speed limitations  and we have to control them. On highways, there are speed rules that should be followed. As a student, we should create awareness about the traffic rules. If need be, you should voluntarily help the traffic in the street. If we make a habit of rules from childhood, it will be good in the future.  We have seen a lot of traffic accidents and the only way to correct them is to implement the traffic rules strictly.  Prabesh Bhattarai Class: 6 Global Pathshala, Kausaltar 

Four Nepali nationals died in a road accident at Chakkarpur in Uttarakhand, India on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Nem Bahadur Chand (60) of Bhimdatta Municipality-2, his spouse Saraswati (56), daughter-in-law Narmada (27) and sister-in-law Kalpana (42). The accident took place when a car and two scooters collided with each other yesterday, according to Indian news media. All the deceased were traveling on the scooters. They were declared dead upon reaching the hospital, it has been said. The district police office, Kanchanpur has, however, said they were yet to be informed about the accident. "Although we have been informed about the accident through Indian media, we have not been officially notified," said Inspector Harsha Bahadur Chand.  

Police opened fire while trying to arrest a drug smuggler at Sambhu Marg near the golden gate of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Sunday. Drug smuggler Bikash Bhagat was injured in the police firing. Police said that he is undergoing treatment at a hospital. After receiving information that Bhagat was dealing drugs, police tried to nab him. Bhagat allegedly tried to beat up police personnel and snatch the weapon when the latter were trying to detain him. Police spokesperson Kuber Kadayat said that Bhagat was taken under control by opening fire after he tried to snatch the weapon of security personnel. Police have confiscated a certain amount of drugs from this possession. Further investigation into the case is underway, police said.  

eSewa Money Transfer has organized a formal celebration program for the bumper prize winner, Purna Bahadur Shrestha, who won a 2.5-storied house as a part of Mero Digital Desh campaign. The program was conducted at the Lulu branch in Sharjah. UAE-based Relationship Manager, eSewa Money Transfer, Ishor Adhikari, Congratulated Shrestha and officially invited him to receive the bumper prize amid a program. Shrestha, residing in UAE from the past eight years and working as a driver, was selected as the bumper prize winner on 26 May 2023 during a live telecasted event in Kathmandu. He had sent money from UAE via Lulu exchange through eSewa Money Transfer to the bank account of his sister in Nepal. The Mero Digital Desh campaign was initiated by eSewa Money Transfer eight months ago on 23 Sept 2022, with a motive to promote formal remittances backed by the seamless digital medium.