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Nepal Samajbadi Party Chairman Baburam Bhattarai has announced that he will not be a candidate in the upcoming November 20 polls. He has written a letter in the name of Gorkha people and announced that he will not be a candidate this time. "I express my gratitude from the bottom of my heart to all the Gorkhali parents, brothers and sisters for giving me the opportunity to serve you by making me win in the Constituent Assembly and the House of Representatives elections of 2008, 2013 and 2017," he wrote, "I would like to inform that I will not be a candidate in the coming House of Representatives elections on November 20.” Full text Dear Gorkha, I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the Gorkhali parents, sisters and brothers for giving me the opportunity to serve you by making me win in the Constituent Assembly and the House of Representatives elections in 2008, 2013 and 2017. I would like to politely inform you all that I will not be a candidate in the next House of Representatives election on November 20. During my tenure, basic physical and social infrastructures have been built for the far-reaching development and prosperity of Gorkha, while some of the started projects are yet to be completed. Even though I am not in the parliament, I will continue to actively contribute to make historical Gorkha a model development center of the country by bringing production and employment-oriented plans and programs on the foundation of those infrastructures to complete the remaining projects. From 2008 until now, I have been visiting Gorkhas every month. I have had the opportunity to learn a lot from you. I will continue to be at your service in the days to come. Not fighting the election does not mean leaving politics! Some people may unknowingly think/say that. Those who are involved in politics for power say so. But right and good politics is a means of all-round progressive transformation of the society and serving the people/society. I believe in it and will continue on that path all my life. I will continue to work in party and public service. I want to assure all the Gorkhali people that in my place you will find the leadership of more capable and responsible people and the speed of development of Gorkha will gain more speed. I will be there with you. Best wishes for the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and all other festivals!

At least 1,695 people were killed while 12,865 were injured so far (October 2) since mid-June due to the devastating floods and rains in Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Sunday.  Pakistan has endured severe monsoon weather since mid-June 2022, causing widespread flooding and landslides with severe repercussions on human lives, property, agriculture, and infrastructure. To date, 81 districts across five of Pakistan's six provinces have been declared 'calamity hit' by the Government of Pakistan—with Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces being the worst hit.  As of mid-September, 33m people had been affected, at least 1,481 persons have died, over 12,720 people have been injured and an estimated 7.6 million persons may be temporarily displaced. The floods have also caused the damage and destruction of 1.8 million houses, with 1.5 million houses in Sindh province alone. Meanwhile, the United Nations is set to launch another appeal this week for an additional $600m to Pakistan to help the country recover from the impact of the record-breaking floods. "2nd Follow-up meeting of Steering Committee for Coordination Regarding International Assistance for Flood Relief Activities, chaired by Mr Humair Karim, Acting Secretary EAD to discuss mapping of humanitarian assistance and relief efforts," Pakistan's Economic Affairs Division (EAD) said in a tweet.  "The UN is in process of launching a Revised Humanitarian Appeal on 4th of Oct in which additional USD 600 million will be asked for immediate relief assistance," it added. The Dawn newspaper reported that Pakistan EAD Secretary Humair Karim informed donors and relief agencies that the UN would launch the revised humanitarian appeal on October 4 for $600m additional aid.  Earlier, the UN launched a flash appeal in August for $160m assistance for flood relief support. Karim said the grant was not considered enough in the face of the unprecedented devastation. Since the start of the floods, the number of houses destroyed has doubled and the number of houses damaged has increased by an estimated 63 percent With no designated places to take shelter, a considerable part of the population has been displaced and an estimated 575,000 people live in relief camps.  Community infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools, and health facilities have also been destroyed by the floods. Damaged houses and infrastructure, crowded living space and sub-standard living conditions for those displaced have exposed a large population to water-borne diseases and hindered access to safe and clean water.  It is estimated that 20 percent of water systems are damaged in Khyber Pallitunkhwa, 30 percent in Balochistan, and up to 50 percent in the hardest hit areas of Sindh and Punjab provinces. With 3.5 million acres of crops devastated and over 936,000 livestock lost, people have also seen their livelihoods affected. (ANI)

Hilaree Nelson, an American ski mountaineer received Buddhist cremation at Swayambhunath Temple, a famous Buddhist site in Kathmandu, on Sunday afternoon. She had fallen into a crevasse while skiing down the peak of Mt. Manaslu with her partner, Jim Morrison, on Sept 26. The 49-year-old was hit by an avalanche on her way back to the base. Her body was brought to Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. "It should be a beautiful tribute which Hilaree's family and I feel this is how she would want things performed," her partner Morrison wrote on his Instagram. ‘It’s truly a necessity to have a passion as a compass in life’ was Nelson’s philosophy and she lived by it. Passionate about mountaineering, she had climbed many peaks all over the world. She was the first female to summit two 8000-meter peaks (Everest and Lhotse) in 24 hours. Nelson was named one of Men’s Journal’s ‘Top 25 Most Adventurous Women in the Last 25 Years’ as well as one of National Geographic’s ‘Adventurers of the Year in 2018’. In 2018, Nelson and her partner also performed the first ski descent of the Dream Line on Lhotse. It was one of the boldest runs of all time. “She was pretty attached to Nepal,” says Jiwan Ghimire, her best friend. “She was a mountaineering enthusiast, and the high peaks of Nepal always had her rushing back after her first visit in 2005,’’ he adds. Nelson started skiing when she was three years old. She was a mother of two and the current North Face Global Athletic Team Captain in Telluride, Colorado.

Manchester City routed Manchester United 6-3 in the highest-scoring Manchester derby ever as Erling Haaland and Phil Foden each scored an impressive hat-trick. City were all over United from the start, dominating possession and creating chance after chance. Foden opened the scoring in the eighth minute, before Haaland found the back of the net twice after the half-hour mark. Foden added another before the break as United trailed 4-0 at half-time for the second time this season. United fans were seen leaving the Etihad Stadium at this point. Antony pulled one back for United early in the second half, but there was no stopping for City today. Haaland finished off his hat-trick in the 64th minute, becoming the first City player to score three against United since Francis Lee in 1970. Foden matched his team-mate's hat-trick with his third goal in the 72nd minute. Anthony Martial scored two consolation goals for United in the dying minutes, the second from the penalty spot, but there was no way back for United. City earned their third straight Premier League win against their cross-town rivals for the first time since 2014. They're also the first team to win eight straight top-flight home games while scoring at least three goals in each match since 1965. Erik ten Hag falls to a crushing defeat in his first Manchester derby. He's the sixth United manager in a row to lose their first league match against City, with Alex Ferguson the last to win his derby debut all the way back in 1987. (All Football)

Nepal reported 33 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 850 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 30 returned positive. Likewise, 525 people underwent antigen tests, of which 3 were tested positive. The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours and 66 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 889 active cases in the country.

In the presence of President Bidya Devi Bhandari, a special event of Phulpati was held by the Nepal Army on Sunday at Tudikhel. During the ceremony, the army presented the helicopter show, parade, rifle wave and the gun and cannon salute.  Along with the president, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Acting Chief Justice Harikrishna Karki, Speaker of House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota, Speaker of the National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, ministers and other high-ranking government officials participated in the ceremony.

Almost twice as many passengers have left Kathmandu Valley this year compared to last year. From the beginning of this month till today, about 1.7m residents of the valley have traveled to their homes to celebrate Dashain. In the past two years, the number of people going out of Kathmandu Valley to celebrate Dashain was less due to the covid pandemic, but this year it has increased sharply. The National Transport Business Federation of Nepal, said that 200,000 more are expected to leave the valley by the day of Vijaya Dashami.  Like the previous years, this year too, passengers are facing problems such as charging more than the specified fare in the vehicle, buying tickets for two people for the same seat, keeping the passengers in different seats than mentioned in the tickets.  Not only from Kathmandu, but also from regional cities outside the valley and from district headquarters, many people are going to their respective homes. 

The parties have submitted a revised list on the closed list of candidates previously submitted to the Election Commission for the proportional representation system for the elections of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly to be held on November 20. The commission had provided seven days for the parties to submit the revised list.  The EC also informed that if any candidate listed in the revised closed list wants to withdraw his/her name, he/she will have to submit an application on October 3 from 10 am to 12 pm, and on the same day from 1 pm to 3 pm, the relevant party will be informed about the withdrawal of candidacy.