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India has recorded 10,542 new Covid infections in 24 hours, while the active caseload has risen to 63,562, Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday stated, The Times of India reported. A Delhi government bulletin on Tuesday stated that the national capital recorded 1,537 new Covid cases. Medical experts have said Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16 could be driving the surge in cases.

A meeting of the Constitutional Council held in Singha Durbar ended inconclusively on Wednesday. Though the meeting discussed the issue of appointing the chief justice, it did not make a concrete decision, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina said. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had called the meeting for today to discuss the appointment of chief justice. Main opposition CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Speaker Indira Rana Magar and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka were present in the meeting presided over by Prime Minister Dahal.    

A 'Ride to Rara' motorcycle race is going to be held from Birendranagar, Surkhet to Mugu in Karnali Province. The 'Ride to Rara' competition to be held from April 23 to 25 is being organized by Triveni Adventures Pvt Ltd and Royal Enfield Bullet Bike Showroom. A total of 40 riders traveling on 20 bullet motorcycles will be taking part in the competition, according to Manaraj Simkhada, a member of the organizing team. The event is expected to help promote tourism in Karnali while the best riders will be selected to participate in a South Asian event, said Simkhada. The riders will be joined by a medical, technical and photography team and a documentary will also be produced. The event has been supported by Nepal Tourism Board and National Sports Council. According to the organizers, free registration has been arranged for those who wish to participate in the event that is expected to cost around Rs 800,000.

President Ram Chandra Paudel is being taken to New Delhi, India today for further treatment. President Paudel will be flown to India by an air ambulance of Shree Airlines this morning, said President Paudel's press advisor Kiran Paudel. Earlier on Tuesday evening, President Paudel was admitted to the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital after he complained of health problems. President Paudel will be treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. The President had returned home after receiving treatment of stomach-related ailments at the same hospital on April 1.  

After a year-long decline, the country's realty sector is slowly gaining momentum with real estate transactions surging by 20.66 percent last month. The statistics of the Department of Land Management and Archive show 49,150 realty transactions took place in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April), the highest monthly transaction in the current fiscal year. According to the department, 40,734 realty transactions were recorded in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). The revenue collection from the realty transaction also increased in Chaitra. The government collected a total of Rs 4.51 in revenue from land transactions in the last month, the highest in this fiscal year. With the economic downturn and restrictive measures of the government and the central bank, the real estate market hit a low in the current fiscal year. According to people in the real estate and housing business, property transactions have fallen by over 60 percent in the last one and a half years after prices peaked two years ago. The downturn in the realty sector was visible from the start of the fiscal year. 33,834 property transactions were recorded in Shrawan, the first month of FY 2022/23. The transactions remained subdued in every successive month till Falgun. With the market going through a recession, housing developers even resorted to schemes to attract buyers, offering cars and scooters. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the abundance of cheap money in the financial system fueled asset class investments boom causing massive growth in sectors such as real estate and the stock market. In addition, businesspersons invested the money they received as working capital loans from banks in real estate. "As the financial system was flooded with investment-grade liquidity, banks even asked to take working capital loans. The money went to the real estate market and fueled the demand for land and housing properties," said a real estate entrepreneur. As soon as the liquidity crunch hit the banking sector, the flow of cheap money stopped and the market eventually went into a deep recession. On the other hand, the central bank also tightened lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to the real estate sector, reducing the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio in the Kathmandu Valley to 30 percent and 40 percent outside the valley in the monetary policy for the Fiscal Year 2022/2023. The government restriction on land plotting due to the delay over the classification of lands also hit the realty market hard. The Land Use Regulation (2022), introduced by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation, includes the mandatory classification of lands for buying and selling purposes. The land has been classified into 10 zones including agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, mines and mineral zone, forest zone, public use and open space zone, cultural and archaeological zone, and others. However, the majority of local-level government are yet to classify the lands. As the realty sector went through a recession, the revenue collection from land transactions has been on a decline in every month of the current fiscal year. In Falgun, the revenue collection dropped to Rs 3.56 billion from Rs 6.26 billion a year ago, a decrease of 45.5 percent. In Mangsir, revenue collection dipped by 62.5 percent from Rs 7.06 billion a year ago to Rs 2.64 billion. The improvement in the land transactions in Chaitra, according to realty entrepreneurs, is due to an improvement in the banks' liquidity position and a gradual decline in interest rates in loans. As the majority of land and house transactions in the country are financed by the BFIs, the interest rates play a crucial role. Of late, the government also has assurances to the real estate businesspersons saying that restrictions on land plotting will be lifted soon. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that as a huge amount of money is stuck in real estate properties, it is important to make the sector vibrant again to end the sluggishness in the economic activities in the country.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden has condemned the police attack on loan shark victims. Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, he demanded that the government address the demands of the loan shark victims at the earliest. Lingden urged the government to address the demands raised by Haruwa-Charuwa in various districts of Tarai-Madhes. He warned that the RPP would launch a stern protest if the government did not address their demands. Similarly, lawmaker Prem Suwal said that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister should be informed about the attack on loan shark victims on Monday.

Nepal reported 171 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 980 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 105 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 312 people underwent antigen tests, of which 66 were tested positive. The Ministry said that 85 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 397 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 3. 07 points to close at 1,904.98 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index increased by 0. 17 points to close at 363. 04 points. A total of 2,975,920-unit shares of 266 companies were traded for Rs 870 billion. Meanwhile, Kalinchowk Darshan Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Khaptad Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 05 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 77 trillion.