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The CK Raut-led Janamat Party has postponed its highway centric protests.

Issuing a statement on Friday, Chandan Kumar Singh, General Secretary of the Janamat Party, said that they decided to postpone the protests due to adverse weather.

The party has directed the leaders and cadres to stage protests in rural municipalities and municipalities instead of highways.

General Secretary Singh said that the party will bring the new protest programmes from February 13.

Human traffickers have started searching for new routes after the government banned the Nepalis from going to Malaysia and Gulf countries on visit visa.

Claiming that the police officials deployed at the Tribhuvan International Airport, airlines staffers and high-ranking officials of the Department of Immigration have been helping in human trafficking, the Ministry of Home Affairs banned the people from going to Malaysia and Gulf countries on visit visa.

The government has decided to tighten the visit visa so as to break the chain of human traffickers and to save the people from getting into trouble after landing in the destination countries.

It has been found that the human traffickers have started using the routes of India after the Nepal government banned the people from going to Malaysia and Gulf countries on visit visa.

Some manpower agencies have been sending people to Malaysia and Gulf countries on visit visas in collusion with the high-ranking officials of the Department of Immigration by charging a huge amount.

The Department of Immigration on Thursday sent two women back home who were going to Dubai via India on a visit visa by changing the routes.

The Department of Immigration at the Tribhuvan International Airport had refused to grant permission to Sange Dolma Lama and Phul Maya Tamang of Sindhupalchok who were going to India.

The main reason was that the Immigration officials found the visa of Dubai in their passports.

During the interrogation, the duo had said that they were going to India. But they could give a specific reason about going to India.

An official at the Department of Immigration said that the manpower agencies have been sending people to Malaysia and Gulf countries via Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India after the government banned the people from going to the Gulf countries on visit visa from the Tribhuvan International Airport.

A woman, who was going to Dubai via Pakistan, was also sent back home a week ago.

The leader of the Islamic State (IS) is dead following a US raid in northern Syria that also killed a senior deputy of the terror group, US officials say, BBC reported.

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi set off a blast killing himself and his family as special forces rounded on his hideout after a gunfight.

US President Joe Biden disclosed the overnight raid on Thursday. 

Qurayshi's death "removed a major terrorist threat to the world", Mr Biden said.

US officials did not name the IS deputy also killed, but provided dramatic details of the operation that had been months in the planning.

IS has so far made no public comments on the issue.

Several US experts told the BBC that Qurayshi's death would be a blow to IS, but the group would ultimately regroup.

The raid targeted a three-storey residential building on the outskirts of the opposition-held town of Atmeh, which is in northern Idlib province and close to the border with Turkey.

The region is a stronghold of jihadist groups that are fierce rivals of IS, as well as Turkish-backed rebel factions fighting the Syrian government.

Intelligence reports had established that Qurayshi was living with his family on the second floor of the residential building in Atmeh from which he ran IS using couriers to despatch his orders in Syria and elsewhere. 

A notorious militant known as "the Destroyer", Qurayshi - who also went by the noms de guerre Hajji Abdullah, Amir Mohammed Said Abdul Rahman al-Mawla and Abdullah Qardash - became IS leader in 2019, following the death of his predecessor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Though the terror group announced his rise to the leadership four days after Baghdadi's death in October, Qurayshi is believed to have long been groomed for the role and kept away from the battlefield in anticipation of assuming the mantle. 

US authorities had offered a $10m ($7.3m) reward for information about the veteran jihadist, who was born in Mosul, Iraq, in 1976.

How was the raid carried out?

While in Atmeh, he never went outside except to bathe on the rooftop, but an airstrike would have come with high risks of civilian casualties - another family not believed to be connected to IS or aware of Qurayshi's presence lived on the ground floor. 

A possible ground raid was studied in detail, with a dozen scenarios practised and risk assessments taken of the situation on the ground, senior administration officials said. Models were built of the residential compound and engineers studied the likelihood of the building crumbling in a blast.

Mr Biden was briefed on the details of a possible operation in December. 

He gave a final go-ahead for the special forces raid on Tuesday, monitoring it in real time from the White House situation room as multiple helicopters arrived in Atmeh around midnight on Thursday (22:00 GMT on Wednesday).

Local sources said the US special forces faced stiff resistance on the ground, and that they came under fire from anti-aircraft guns mounted on vehicles. Gunfire and shelling were heard for two hours before the helicopters left. 

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said US forces were able to evacuate 10 people from the house, including eight children. 

Those killed in the raid included one of Qurayshi's deputies and his wife, both of whom had fired on US forces. Additionally, Mr Kirby said that US forces engaged a small group of people who approached the area during the two-hour mission and were "deemed hostile", resulting in two of them being killed. 

"That resulted in the end of hostile activity," he said, adding that "it appears as if a child was also killed" nearby. Mr Kirby added, however, that the US doesn't "have perfect knowledge of every single person who was killed". 

As the raid unfolded, Qurayshi detonated an explosive device on the third floor of the house, killing himself, his wife and two children. President Biden described it as "a final act of cowardice".

Qurashi was later identified "through fingerprints and DNA analysis", said Mr Kirby. 

There were no US casualties. One American helicopter malfunctioned during the raid and had to be destroyed.

Qurashi's blowing up tactic was also used by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when he encountered US forces in 2019.

Baghdadi killed himself and three children by detonating an explosive vest during a US special forces raid on a hideout that was only 16km (10 miles) away from Atmeh.

The White Helmets rescue service, also known as the Syria Civil Defence, said it had found the bodies of six children and four women at the house targeted in the raid.

All Americans involved in the operation returned safely, Mr Biden said.

IS no longer controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria as it did at the height of its power. Nor is it the draw for jihadists that it used to be, back when its command of social media drew in recruits and incited others to carry out attacks where they lived. And it has not been able to launch the kind of external operations in Europe like the Paris attacks of 2015.

Last year, its offshoot in Afghanistan, IS-K, drew far more attention, particularly for the deadly attack in Kabul as the US and allies were pulling out.

But there have been concerns in recent months from counter-terrorism officials that the group was trying to reconstitute in Iraq and Syria and build greater capacity. That was seen in ambushes and attacks, particularly in a significant attempt at a massive prison break in north-east Syria last month, as well as renewed propaganda.

Washington will hope the killing of Qurayshi will halt any resurgence in its tracks.

"Hajji Abdullah oversaw the spread of [IS]-affiliated terrorist groups around the world after savaging communities and murdering innocents," Mr Biden said, calling him "the driving force behind the genocide of the Yazidi people in north-western Iraq in 2014".

"We all remember the gut-wrenching stories of mass slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used as a weapon of war.

"Thanks to the bravery of our troops this horrible terrorist leader is no more," he said.

US foreign policy think tank specialists told the BBC that IS would be damaged by the death of Qurayshi.

Jon Alterman, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "Losing a leader makes them even [IS] more paranoid. 

"We want them to be paranoid and want them to be searching for traitors in their midst. It's totally destructive and it's wonderful."

Jomana Qaddour, of the Atlantic Council, said: "It's always a good thing when the head of ISIS is taken out. But this certainly won't be the last we see of ISIS."

Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) organized an interaction program at the Secretariat of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry on January 30. 

Director of General of Department of Industry Ram Chandra Tiwari, office bearer, and executive members of NICCI were present in the program. 

The Interaction was focused on how to bring the Indian/Foreign Investments into Nepal in the coming days as in the present context FDI is slowing down which need to be boosted. In the program, Deputy Chair of NICCI Sunil KC said that the department should facilitate big, medium, and small investments that Indian businessmen are willing to bring in Nepal. 

Expressing commitment to facilitate the investment, Tiwari said that Nepal is eager to welcome foreign investments. He briefed about the measures taken by the government to attract FDI.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron has been found in five African countries, a World Health Organization scientist said on Thursday, adding she was concerned about the development because samples of BA.2 may not be spotted as a form of Omicron, Reuters reported.

The BA.2 sub-variant has begun to replace Omicron’s more common “original” BA.1 variant in countries such as Denmark. Data from there suggests no difference in disease severity, according to another WHO official.

“BA.2 … has been reported in five countries, that is Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal as well as South Africa,” Dr Nicksy Gumede-Moeletsi told an online media briefing.

“We are very concerned,” she said, adding that BA.2 was proving hard to identify because it was not always picked up by the S-Gene Target Failure criterion, which is used to distinguish the original Omicron from other variants.

Gumede-Moeletsi said the WHO was working very closely with laboratories, asking them to forward samples that had come back without being flagged as Omicron for further analysis, in order to gain a more precise picture of the spread of BA.2.

The BA.1 version of Omicron has been somewhat easier to track than prior variants. That is because BA.1 is missing one of three target genes used in a common PCR test. Cases showing this pattern were assumed by default to be caused by BA.1.

BA.2, sometimes known as a “stealth” sub-variant, does not have the same missing target gene as the original Omicron variant.

Instead, scientists are monitoring it the same way they have prior variants, including Delta, by tracking the number of virus genomes submitted to public databases such as GISAID.

As with other variants, an infection with BA.2 can be detected by coronavirus home tests kits, though they cannot indicate which variant is responsible, experts said.

Query

“I am a 27-year-old woman working at one of Nepal’s leading construction companies. I am an engineer by profession. I work hard at my job. But my good work is hardly appreciated. In comparison, my male colleagues get all the praise and credit for their inferior work. Lack of recognition means my promotion has been halted. I have been wrestling with this problem for many years. I can’t quit as I need this job, nor can I put up with this misogynistic work culture. What should I do?” - SS

Answer by Shreeya Giri, Mental health advocate and Founder of Happy Minds

First, I want to acknowledge you for knowing your hard work and the ability that you have contributed to your work ethic. Being self-aware helps you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Second, the construction and engineering sectors are still by and large male-dominated. Your feelings are thus valid. 

When you’re doing your job well, it is natural to expect appreciation from your coworkers. Since you haven’t been getting the appreciation, it is necessary to clearly communicate your feelings and experience to your seniors. Express your pain points, your effort at work, and the results that have benefitted the team and the company, a clear and direct conversation without being aggressive or passive. Ensure to be assertive and voice your experience, expectations, and needs while staying calm, respectful, and direct. 

On a personal level, you can start by sitting with yourself and putting the problem into words. Be clear and reasonable about what you’re experiencing. You can also ask yourself what is holding you back from communicating your feelings. This will help you see your situation more clearly. A one-on-one conversation with a counselor can also help you become more expressive. 

While taking this to your senior, be sure to keep your emotions in check and present your argument with details of what you’ve experienced. State the fact that it is unfair of the company to push back a responsible, hard-working employee. You could also explore the job market to see what is the expected pay scale for experience and education similar to your profile so you’re confident that it's reasonable.

It is only through assertive communication that your workplace will come to know of gender inequality and take necessary actions. Bring your opinion to the attention which might open ways for other female workers in the company.

The government has appointed Krishna Bahadur Karki as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nepal Stock Exchange Limited (NEPSE).

A Cabinet meeting held on January 31 had decided to appoint Karki as the CEO of the NEPSE.

Earlier, the selection committee had sent the names of three persons for the post.

At least 11 persons had applied for the post. Of them, five persons were shortlisted.

Among the five persons, the committee had sent the names of Karki, Ramesh Bhandari and Keshav Shrestha.

Nepal logged 3, 175 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths on Thursday. 

With this, the country's active caseload mounted to 1,095,063. Similarly, the death toll has climbed to 11,778. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 10,026 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 2,742 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 579 people underwent antigen tests, of which 422 tested positive.

The Ministry said that 8,723 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

As of today, there are 63,296 active cases in the country. 

The Ministry said that 887,443 infected people have recovered from the disease so far.

The Ministry said that 61,862 people are staying in home isolation while 1, 434 are in institutionalized isolation.

Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley reported 1,509 new cases today.

According to the Ministry, 1,249 cases are reported in Kathmandu, 183 in Lalitpur and 77 in Bhaktapur.