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At least 32 people have been killed and 85 injured after two trains collided near the town of Tempe in central Greece, the fire brigade said, The Guardian reported.

The two trains – a passenger train travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, and a cargo train from Thessaloniki to Larissa, collided head-on outside the central Greek city, Konstantinos Agorastos, the governor of the Thessaly region, told local media.

“The collision was very strong,” he said, adding that the first four carriages had derailed, while the first two were “almost completely destroyed”.

Agorastos said about 194 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki on buses.

Police and fire and rescue workers were still working at the scene, the Fire Brigade said in a statement shortly before 5.30 am.

Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flame after the collision about 380 kilometers north of Athens. Hospital officials in the nearby city of Larissa said at least 25 people had serious injuries.

Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki had about 350 passengers on board when the collision occurred, The Guardian reported.

Broadcaster SKAI showed footage of derailed carriages, badly damaged with broken windows amid thick plumes of smoke, as well as debris strewn across the road. Rescue workers were seen carrying torches in carriages looking for trapped passengers.

Survivors said several passengers were thrown through the windows of the train cars due to the impact. They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field next to the tracks.

“There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming,” a young man who was evacuated to a nearby bridge told SKAI TV.

“We just heard a bang… the (train) car started spinning, before ending up sideways when we managed to exit,” another passenger told ERT, Greece’s public broadcaster.

“It was 10 nightmarish seconds with fire, you couldn’t see much from the smoke,” another passenger said.

A passenger interviewed by Protothema newspaper said, “I wasn’t hurt but I was stained with blood from other people who were hurt near me.”

Speaking to Greek media, a teenager said that the first car caught fire and that he used a bag to break the window of his car, the fourth, and escape, according to The Guardian.

Relatives of passengers had gathered in Thessaloniki hoping to see their loved ones disembark from the buses, local media reported.

The passenger train departed Athens around 19.30 local time (17.30 GMT). The fire brigade said it was informed of the accident shortly before midnight on Tuesday.

The passenger train is operated by the Italian group Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, which according to its website is the main provider of rail transport for passengers and freight in Greece and runs 342 passenger and commercial routes a day.

Two persons died after being hit by a car in Jhapa on Tuesday. The deceased have been identified as Santosh Gurung (32) and Khagendra Bayalkoti (37) of Kankai Municipality-8, DSP Khagendra Rijal of the District Police Office, Jhapa said. The car (Na 4 Cha 4525) heading towards east from west hit the duo while they were crossing the road at Laxmipur Chowk in Kankai-8 last night. Both of them died on the spot, police said. The Area Police Office, Ghailadubba has impounded the car and arrested its driver for investigation.  

The preparations for implementing Central Digital KYC (Centralized Electronic Know Your Customer) in the Nepali capital market have reached the final stage. The CDS & Clearing Limited (CDSC), the company responsible for providing centralized depository, clearing, and settlement services, has reached the final stage of preparations for implementing Central Digital KYC. In October 2020, the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon), the capital market regulatory body, issued a guideline related to Centralized KYC and instructed the CDSC to implement Central Digital KYC. "Following the instruction, CDSC had begun the process of implementing Central Digital KYC, which has now reached the final stage," said Suresh Neupane, Spokesperson of CDSC. At present, brokerage companies, merchant bankers, and other capital market service providers have collected customer details digitally and in paper form, but it is not centralized. Customers are required to submit their personal details to every organization related to the capital market. After opening a Demat account, the customer has to fill out KYC even when opening a share account, broker ID, and other accounts. Given the current situation, CDSC has said Centralized KYC is being introduced whereby if customers fill out personal details in one entity, they do not have to again fill KYC to other entities. Currently, central digital KYC is also being tested in some broker companies and merchant bankers. "Now we are testing central digital KYC in some of the entities related to the capital market. And, the result is also very good," said Neupane, adding, "After completing the rest of the preparations, we will implement the Centralized KYC within the next 2 months." Once the Centralized KYC comes into implementation, the customers do not have to go through a troublesome process. According to CDSC, the system (software) of Centralized KYC should be approved by the Department of Information Technology of the Nepal government. With the process for getting approval already initiated, CDSC believes it will get the approval in the next 15 days. However, the agency is yet to determine the service fee to be charged to the customer regarding centralized KYC. According to the company's officials, discussions are ongoing with the Sebon, brokerage companies, merchant bankers, investors, and other stakeholders. "Once we get approval from the Information Technology Department and fix the service fee, it won't take long for us to implement the centralized KYC," said Neupane.

The meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) scheduled for today has been postponed till March 19. The meeting scheduled to take place at 1 pm today has been put off till March 19, according to the Parliament Secretariat. Issuing a notice on Wednesday, Parliament Secretariat Secretary General Dr Bharat Raj Gautam said, “The meeting of the House of Representatives scheduled for 1 pm on March 1 has been postponed owing to special reasons and has been rescheduled for 1 pm on March 19." The meeting will take place after the presidential and vice-presidential election. The presidential election has been scheduled for March 9 and the vice-presidential election for March 17.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will seek a confidence motion only after the presidential and vice-presidential election. Prime Minister Dahal will seek a vote of confidence after the election as the Parliament meeting has been scheduled for March 19 and the code of conduct for the election to the post of President and Vice-President has also come into effect. CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Madhav Sapkota said that the Prime Minister will take a vote of confidence after the presidential and vice-presidential election. “The election code of conduct has already come into effect. It has been said that Prime Minister Dahal will seek a vote of confidence after the election as the Parliament meeting has been called for March 19,” he said. The presidential election has been scheduled for March 9 and the vice-presidential election for March 17. The CPN-UML, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and the Rastriya Swatantra Party have already pulled out of the Dahal-led government. Prime Minister Dahal is seeking a vote of confidence again as the parties who gave him a vote of confidence have already left the government. The UML and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party have also withdrawn the support extended to the government while the Rastriya Swatantra Party has continued its support. A new eight-party alliance has been formed prior to the presidential election. Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajbadi Party, Democratic Socialist Party, Nepal Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and Rastriya Janamorcha Party are in the coalition.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 102, 300 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 101, 800 per tola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 101, 800 per tola. It was traded at Rs 101, 300 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,270 per tola today.

Insurance companies are now required to allocate one percent of their net profit to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Amending the Corporate Governance Directives 2075, Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) on Tuesday instructed the life insurance, non-life insurance, and reinsurance companies to allocate one percent of profits by creating a CSR fund. Till now, insurers have been spending funds for CSR in their own way. Now the NIA has made the creation of CSR funds mandatory and also specified the areas where the companies should spend the CSR money. According to Raju Raman Paudel, Executive Director of NIA, insurance companies have now been instructed to allocate money for CSR funds. "Earlier, insurers used to spend money in the CSR activities on their own," said Paudel, adding, "Now onwards, they have to create a fund from one percent of their net profit." According to the NIA, insurance companies have been mandated to use CSR funds for social projects. The directive states that CSR funds should be spent on education, health, natural disaster management, increasing the income-generating capacity of socially disadvantaged groups, insurance literacy, customer protection programs, and programs related to insurance for marginalized groups. Similarly, insurance companies can set up child daycare centers in their offices for the children of their employees through CSR funds. However, insurers have been barred from using CSR funds for the company's brand promotion activities. Insurance companies will have to spend expenses related to CSR proportionally to geographical areas and sectors. Such CSR spending should not be concentrated in one specific geographic region or sector. The directives have also barred the board of directors of insurance companies from spending CSR money for personal or political gain. The boards of the companies have been instructed to create and implement a separate procedure covering the areas identified for corporate social responsibility, the process of evaluating the proposal received for spending in that area, the operation, and management of the fund, etc.

Nepal thrashed Malaysia by 10 wickets in a match played today under the ICC U-19 Men's World Cup Asia Qualifiers tournament underway in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With this victory, Nepal registered the fourth consecutive win in this tournament. Before this, Nepal defeated Singapore, Kuwait and Hong Kong. In the match played at the Maleka Cricket Stadium in UAE today, Nepal achieved the 73-run target in nine overs without losing any wickets. Nepal's both openers were not out. Deepak Bohara scored 38 runs while Arjun Kumal made 21 runs. Malaysia, who won the toss and elected to bat first, scored 72 runs in 35.3 overs, losing all wickets. Akram Malek made 26 runs while Mohammad Harrison and Mohammad Syahir Syamil scored 12 runs each. Deepesh Kadel of Nepal took four wickets while Akash Chand claimed Malaysian Similarly, Milan Bohara and Subash Bhandari took two and one wickets respectively. Nepal will play their last match against the UAE on March 2. Along with Nepal, Singapore, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the hosts UAE are taking part in the tournament. The winner of this tournament being held on the Round-Robin basis will qualify for the U-19 World Cup Championship to be held in Sri Lanka in 2024.