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A crowd apparently scared by gunfire and an electrical explosion ran in panic at an event to hand out money during Ramadan in Yemen’s capital late on Wednesday, with the resulting crush killing at least 78 people and injuring at least 73 others, according to witnesses and Houthi rebel officials, The Guardian reported.

The tragedy was Yemen’s deadliest in years that was not related to its long-running war, and came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan this week.

Armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing an explosion, according to two witnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen. That sparked a panic, and people including many women and children, began running, they said.

The crush took place in the Old City in the center of Sana’a, where hundreds of poor people had gathered for a charity event organised by merchants, according to the Houthi-run interior ministry, according to The Guardian.

People had gathered to receive about $10 each from a charity funded by local businesses, witnesses said. Wealthy people and businesses often hand out cash and food, especially to the poor, during Ramadan.

Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri from the interior ministry blamed the crush on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities.

Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official, said 78 people were killed, according to the rebels’ al-Masirah satellite TV channel. At least 73 others were injured and taken to the al-Thowra Hospital in Sana’a, according to hospital deputy director Hamdan Bagheri.

The rebels quickly sealed off a school where the event was being held and barred people, including journalists, from approaching.

The interior ministry said it had detained two organisers and an investigation was under way.

The Houthis said they would pay about $2,000 in compensation to each family who lost a relative while the injured would get about $400, The Guardian reported.

Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognised government.

That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the government.

The conflict has turned in recent years into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, killing more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country’s population, need help and protection, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable.

In February the UN said it had raised only $1.2bn out of a target of $4.3bn at a conference aimed at generating funds to ease the humanitarian crisis.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 109, 800 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 110, 300 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109, 300 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 750 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,445 per tola today.

As public enterprises (PEs) continue to bleed money, with no returns on the money invested from the state coffer, the government has formed yet another task force to reform such institutions. A cabinet meeting on Tuesday formed a committee under the leadership of former finance secretary Shankar Adhikari for reforming PEs. This is the third committee formed in the last four years to revive the ailing PEs. The last committee was formed in November 2021 according to the announcement in the federal budget presented by the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. The committee led by Joint Secretary Chandrakala Paudel was tasked to study the issue of either reforming PEs or transforming them into a company model. The Adhikari-led committee has been asked to suggest that it be taken by the government for the reform of public enterprises. The committee has Bhupal Baral, Head of the Financial Sector Management & Corporation Coordination Division of the Finance Ministry, and Chandrakala Paudel, Head of the Industrial and Investment Promotion Division of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies as members. The committee has been given three months to submit its suggestions to the government. The new committee was formed as per the government's commitment to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The government has recently sought $200m from ADB in the form of budgetary support to finance the resources gap amid failing revenue collection in the current fiscal year. One of the conditions put forth by ADB to sanction the fund has been the implementation of public enterprise reform measures. The latest report of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) sheds light on the need for the reform of the PEs. According to OAG's 60th annual report, the return on the loan and share investments in PEs have been dismal. "The government till last fiscal year has invested Rs 374bn in loans and Rs 357bn in share investment in PEs," reads the report, "However, the returns have been negligible." Since most of the PEs are in losses, they have not even paid interest to the government. OAG has suggested that the goals and current needs of PEs having low returns should be analyzed and a necessary policy review should be carried out. Even though government investments in PEs have grown, the returns from such investments have been below par. A recent report by the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) shows the dividend paid by the PEs to the government in the last fiscal year was the lowest in 13 years. As per the 'Initial Annual Report on Share and Loan Investment of the Government 2021/22', the government received only Rs 4.24bn in dividends from the PEs.   The PEs' dividends to the government had reached a 13-year high of Rs 23.64bn FY 2019/20. Since then, the dividend amount has been in a downward spiral, shrinking to Rs 12.75bn in FY 2020/21 and declining further in FY 2021/22. Among the PEs, only nine have distributed dividends to their shareholders in the last fiscal year, according to the PDMO report. PDMO says that Nepal Telecom, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Agriculture Development Bank, Butwal Power Company, Nepal Stock Exchange, Salt Trading Corporation, Citizen Investment Trust, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Sajha Sewa have distributed dividends from their profits. Nepal Telecom was the largest dividend payer with Rs 2.74bn in the last fiscal year. While the government has been forming committees for reforming PEs, their recommendations have rarely been implemented. The earlier Poudel-led task force in its report recommended to re-open 7 PEs that were either closed or running in losses. The report suggested bringing back the operation of Janakpur Cigarette Factory, Gorakhkali Rubber Industry, Nepal Orind Magnesite Pvt Ltd, Biratnagar Jute Mill, Hetauda Textile Industry, and Butwal Spinning Mills. The Finance Ministry report shows 42 out of 44 PEs are in operation in the country. But there is no uniformity in the law, procedures, and ownership of public institutions. The report says 33 PEs are being operated under the Companies Act while others are under various acts. Budget announcement on PEs

• The federal budget 2022/23 stated that "a policy of making the potential public enterprises under the government self-reliant and enhancing their capability to mobilize additional sources of investment would be adopted by transforming them into fully government-owned company models as per the need and listing them in the capital market."
• The federal budget of FY 2020/21 announced that the sick and closed industries would be revived with the participation of the private sector through additional investment, using new technology, and professional management.
• The federal budget of FY 2019/20 said that arrangements would be made to operate closed and sick industries in partnership with cooperatives and the private sector based on feasibility
• The federal budget of FY 2018/19 stated that arrangements would be made to operate closed and sick industries in partnership with cooperatives and the private sector based on feasibility.

Remember the self-styled civil society’s movement over the decades after the establishment of multiparty democracy with constitutional monarchy in 1990? The movement used to create waves, on the streets of the Kathmandu Valley in particular, after each instance of attack from the powers of the yore on cherished ideals like democracy and human rights. Vignettes from the ‘show of strength’ on the streets may still be fresh in the minds of many of those who were growing up, graying or in their prime in the late 1990s or the mid-2000s. Campaigners representing the movement hitting the streets and excesses of the state during those demonstrations used to fuel further the movement for those ideals. In the initial phase of such protests, political parties used to be conspicuously absent. Why? Because of their own doing, mostly. Because they had, after winning over the forces of the yore after a tough fight, with widespread support from the public, had themselves become the figures they used to detest. Like the faces of the old regime, they too had become, more or less, tyrants donning the garb of democracy and grown corrupt, bothered only about petty interests of their kith and kin at the expense of the larger public. Naturally, they would prefer to wait and watch. Apparently, they would want to join the movement only after finding that the movement of the ‘civic society’, a motley group of liberal-minded people representing various walks of life, had gained significant strength. After Nepal’s switch to a federal secular, republican order, those campaigners from the civic movement appeared to have lost steam. Perhaps the campaigners thought their mission was accomplished. Or they thought that milk and honey had started flowing in the country. But a rude awakening seems to have come to them after police excesses against the victims of loan sharks, who were demanding justice from the state. On Tuesday, a group under the Wider Citizens’ Movement hit the streets, staging a march pass from Shanti Vatika to the Parliament Building in Baneshwar. Issuing a press release, the movement has drawn the attention of the government toward the plight of the victims and the atrocities committed against them. Is this pointing toward the revival of the civic movement? It will be too early to tell.

Khagraj Adhikari is the chief minister of Gandaki Province. He was appointed to the post from the CPN-UML, but with the CPN (Maoist Center) and the Nepali Congress forming the government in Kathmandu, his job is now at risk. Adhikari must win a vote of confidence in order to secure his position. In this context, Smita Adhikari of ApEx talked to him about a wide range of issues related to his works and the future of his government. What are the notable things that you have done after becoming the chief minister? First of all, I reduced the number of ministries by half. Previously, the Gandaki government had 14 ministries. I downsized it to seven in order to limit public expenditures. Likewise, I played a role in the passage of some important Bills that had been pending for months. During the four-month-long chief ministership, 15 legislations and policies have been passed from the Gandaki Province Assembly. Apart from these works, have you done anything that directly changed people’s lives? We have started several programs. For instance, this government has started an agricultural development program, where access roads are being built in some rural areas of the province to provide market access to local farmers and their products. The construction of Triveni-Dumkibas road connecting Chitwan National Park with Korala (along the border with China) has also started. Besides, preparations are underway to acquire public land in Pokhara for the construction of provincial government office buildings. To date, none of the government offices in Pokhara, the provincial headquarters, have their buildings. We still lack many laws and policies to function as an independent province, be it for managing our resources and finances, setting up our own industrial zone, or recruiting employees. So, I have requested the federal government to revise some of the laws and provisions such as the Federal Public Service Act, the topic of 'Mutual Rights' enlisted in the Constitution, and the Financial Act. You listed many achievements and works in progress under your government. But how do you defend the allegation that rather than doing your job, you are busy attending events and functions most of the time? These are baseless allegations. In these past four months, I have hardly attended half a dozen programs during office hours. Some programs I did participate in, but during my off hours. If anything, I have been trying to lead by example by utilizing my office time being productive and trying to run the government efficiently. Do you have any special vision for Pokhara? We all know that Pokhara is endowed with immense natural resources. Preserving and taking advantage of these resources at the same time is a major priority for me. For this, I have come up with ‘Lake Authority Procedures’ that covers a lot of areas including lake conservation. Another task is to connect international flights with Pokhara and bolster the city’s tourism. The other important jobs pertains to managing the regional bus park, developing and improving the road network, running well-managed industrial areas, and establishing a university. You are set to go seek a trust vote from the Provincial Assembly this month, are you confident about securing your job as the chief minister? I had assumed office with the intent of completing a full term. But, I am also willing to go through the procedures that are required of me to lead the government of Gandaki province. If my works so far are to be considered, I will get the required vote of trust to continue this job. But one must also factor in the political equation, things like how the parties will align. If I win the vote of confidence, I will serve this province selflessly. Even if I don’t win, my party and I will support the government in a constructive way.

The death toll from a fire at a Beijing hospital rose to 29, including 26 patients, authorities said Wednesday, and a dozen people had been detained including the hospital’s head and her deputy, Associated Press reported.

The fire broke out at the private Changfeng Hospital on Tuesday afternoon and forced dozens of people to evacuate. Some who were trapped had to escape from windows using bedsheets tied together.

A nurse, a medical assistant and a family member also died in the incident, said Li Zongrong, deputy head of Fengtai district.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but officials say they believe it originated from welding sparks from work being done in the hospital’s inpatient wing. Among the 12 people who were detained was the head of the construction crew, according to Associated Press.

A total of 39 people are being treated for injuries, three of them in critical condition, officials said. Rescue crews and medical staff from around the city were mobilized, with squads plucking some of the 142 people who were evacuated from air conditioning units on the building’s exterior.

Safety rules are frequently ignored in China, but accidents on the level of the Changfeng fire are treated with a much higher level of scrutiny. Construction accidents sometimes result from corners being cut on work hours and safety conditions, while local officials are bribed to ignore violations.

Three members of a family died when a motorbike and a bus collided with each other in Gaushala Municipality-1 of Mahottari district on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Amrit Mandal, his wife Anju Mandal (24) and niece Anshu Mandal (6). Inspector Manoj Kumar Yadav of the Area Police Office Gaushala, the bus (Ba 2 Kha 2396) heading towards Bardibas from Samsi collided head-on with the bike (Madhesh Pradesh 01-004 Pa 6819) today. Critically injured in the incident, they breathed their last during the course of treatment at various hospitals, he said. The bus driver fled the scene after the incident.    

Nepal reported 108 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 778 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 55 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 672 people underwent antigen tests, of which 53 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 386 active cases in the country.