Submit your Article

International Liaison Department head of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao, who is on a four-day visit to Nepal, called on Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka on Sunday.

During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the duo discussed further strengthening bilateral ties between Nepal and China, read a statement issued by the Ministry today.

International Liaison Department head of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao, who is on a four-day visit to Nepal, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on  Sunday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed bilateral ties between Nepal and China and the message of Chinese President Xi Jinping, it has been learnt.

Leading an eight-member delegation, Liu arrived in Kathmandu this morning.

Nepal reported 121 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 007 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 104 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 345 people underwent antigen tests, of which 17 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 31 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 678 active cases in the country.

A mass shooting at a tavern in Johannesburg’s Soweto township has killed 14 people and left three others in critical condition, according to police, Associated Press reported.

Police say they are investigating reports that a group of men arrived in a minibus taxi and opened fire at the bar late on Saturday night. Police on Sunday morning launched an investigation into what had led to the mass shooting.

The three critically injured and one other wounded person were taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Johannesburg.

The number of cartridges found on the scene indicated it was a group of people who shot at the patrons, said the Gauteng province police commissioner, Lt Gen Elias Mawela.

“The primary investigation suggests that these people were enjoying themselves here, in a licensed tavern operating within the right hours,” Mawela told the Associated Press.

“All of a sudden they heard some gunshots, that is when people tried to run out of the tavern. We don’t have the full details at the moment of what is the motive, and why they were targeting these people,” he said.

“You can see that a high-calibre firearm was used and it was shooting randomly. You can see that every one of those people were struggling to get out of the tavern,” Mawela added.

Intense floods have killed dozens of people and left hundreds homeless in Pakistan as heavy monsoon rains battered the country, officials said, Aljazeera reported.

In the southern province of Balochistan, 57 people, including women and children, were killed after being swept away in rising flood waters, Ziaullah Langove, the disaster and home affairs adviser to the province’s chief minister, said on Saturday.

Eight dams had burst due to the heavy rains, Langove said.

Hundreds more people were left homeless after their homes collapsed under the rain and flood waters, he said, adding that the torrential monsoon rains were continuing.

In Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province two people, including a six-year-old, died and four were injured when their house collapsed, according to a district official statement.

Heavy rains have lashed Pakistan in recent days, leaving large swathes of the largest city, Karachi, inundated with water.

Pakistan’s Navy said it was joining efforts to evacuate citizens and deliver rations and fresh water in Balochistan, according to Aljazeera.

In 2010, the worst floods in memory affected 20 million people in Pakistan, with damage to infrastructure running into billions of dollars and huge swaths of crops destroyed as one-fifth of the country was inundated.

Seasonal monsoon rains, a lifeline for farmers across South Asia, also typically cause deaths and property damage every year.

Pakistan has received 87 percent more rain this monsoon season so far compared with past years, according to the Environment and Climate Change Ministry.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, 24 people have been killed by floods in the east and south of the country, a disaster management agency spokesman said on Friday.

Monsoon rains last month also caused widespread flooding in northeastern Bangladesh and India, stranding some six million people and killing dozens. The flooding in Bangladesh was described by a government expert as potentially the country’s worst since 2004.

India and Bangladesh have also experienced more frequent extreme weather events in recent years, causing large-scale damage.

Environmentalists warn climate change could lead to more disasters, especially in low-lying and densely populated Bangladesh, Aljazeera reported.

A person died in a motorbike accident at Captanbarichok in Arjundhara Municipality-6 of Jhapa on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Kumar Khanal (25) of Phidim Municipality-5, Panchthar.

Police said that the incident occurred after Khanal lost control of the bike (Ba 42 Pa 128) and fell some seven feet down the road.

Further investigation into the incident is underway, police said.

India has logged 18,257 new coronavirus infections in a day taking the tally of cases to 4,36,22,651. The active cases increased to 1,28,690, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am stated. With 42 new fatalities, the toll climbed to 5,25,428, The Economic Times reported.

The active cases comprise 0.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.50 per cent, the ministry said. 

An increase of 3,662 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.22 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.08 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,29,68,533, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent. 

According to the ministry, 198.76 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, according to the Economic Times.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. 

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

The price of gold has risen by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, gold is currently trading at Rs 94, 800 per tola. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 94, 600 per tola on Friday. 

Similarly, the Tejabi gold is now trading for Rs 94, 300 per tola in the market.

Similarly, the price of silver decreased by Rs 10 per tola and is now trading at Rs 1, 185 per tola.