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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 900 in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 92,600 per tola today.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 92,100 per tola.

The yellow metal was traded at Rs 93,500 and tejabi gold at Rs 93,000 on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1,265 per told today.

Ten Pakistani soldiers were killed after terrorists attacked a security forces' checkpost in Balochistan's Kech district, local media reported on Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the "fire raid" by terrorists occurred on the night of January 25-26, Dawn reported.
"During intense exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed and several injured. While repulsing terrorists' fire raid, 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom," the statement said.
The statement further stated that three terrorists had been apprehended in the follow-up clearance operation, which it said was still in progress to hunt down the perpetrators of the incident.
"The armed forces are determined to eliminate terrorists from our soil no matter what the cost," Dawn quoted the ISPR statement.
Earlier this month, a Pakistan Army soldier was killed after terrorists attacked a military post in Bannu's Janikhel.
On January 5, two soldiers were killed and as many terrorists killed in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) conducted by security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported.
It further reported that last month, four soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists during an IBO in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district. (ANI)

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba held a meeting with CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Party Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal. 

It has been learnt that  they discussed local level elections among other issues during the meeting.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Deuba held a meeting with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. 

During the meeting, she urged the Prime Minister to hold the elections on time.

The Election Commission has also been urging the government to fix the date of local level elections.

Though the Prime Minister has been holding discussions with leaders of various on the local level polls, he has not been able to fix the date yet.

The poll body has recommended the government to hold the elections on April 27.

The US has threatened to halt the opening of a key pipeline that would send Russian gas to Western Europe, if Russia invades Ukraine, BBC reported.

Nord Stream 2 would run from Russia to Germany, and on Thursday officials in Berlin said the project could face sanctions if Russia attacks.

Western allies say they will target Russia's economy if it invades, and the latest comments signal a hardening of their stance on the lucrative pipeline.

Russia denies it is planning an attack.

But the build-up of tens of thousands of Russian troops on Ukraine's borders in recent weeks has stoked tensions and escalated fears of an invasion.

"I want to be very clear: if Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," US state department spokesman Ned Price told NPR.

But he added that he was "not going to get into the specifics" of how it would be stopped, and questions remain over whether the US would have the power to cancel the project.

"We will work with Germany to ensure it does not move forward," Mr Price said.

While the US insisted that it would stop the opening of the pipeline completely, Germany only said it would not rule out imposing sanctions on the project.

The country's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, told parliament that Western allies were "working on a strong package of sanctions" covering aspects "including Nord Stream 2".

But she added that she would prefer to "continue the dialogue" with Moscow.

Her comments came after the German ambassador to the US Emily Haber tweeted that "nothing will be off the table, including Nord Stream 2" if Russia violated "Ukraine's sovereignty".

The 1,225km (760-mile) pipeline took five years to build and cost $11bn (£8bn). The energy project, which would run under the Baltic Sea, is designed to double Russia's gas exports to Germany.

But as yet it has not started operating, as regulators said in November it does not comply with German law and suspended its approval.

Major European businesses have invested heavily in Nord Stream 2, which is run by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. But many groups object to the plan.

Environmentalists question how it will fit in with German efforts to cut emissions and tackle man-made climate change, while politicians at home and abroad fear it could increase Europe's dependence on Russian energy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously described the pipeline as a "dangerous geopolitical weapon".

Kathmandu-  President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to hold the elections of local governments on time.

According to sources familiar with the development, President Bhandari reminded PM to hold the elections of local governments on time as per the spirit of the constitution. In response, PM Deuba informed that consultations are underway to hold the elections on time. PM Deuba called on President Bhandari on January 27.

Nepali Congress leader Ranjit Karna on Thursday filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Rautahat against Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport and Janata Samajbadi Party leader Renu Kumari Yadav.

He filed the complaint saying that the statement made by Minister Yadav in Rautahat has escalated communal violence.

Earlier on January 19, Minister Yadav, while addressing a programme, had threatened to kill Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut.

NC leader Karna has demanded stringent action against Minister Yadav.

He filed the complaint at the District Police Office, Rautahat after the District Police Office, Saptari refused to file the case. 

Meanwhile, leader Karna handed over a memorandum to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba through Chief District Officer of Saptari Janardan Gautam demanding action against Minister Yadav.

Bardiya National Park in Nepal and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in India have won this year's TX2 Award for doubling their population of wild tigers since 2010. A second award for Tiger Conservation Excellence will be presented to Khata Forest Conservation Area in Nepal which secures transboundary connectivity for tigers between Nepal and India.

The awards celebrate the upcoming launch of the 2022 Lunar Year of the Tiger. In September tiger range countries will convene at the second Global Tiger Summit in Vladivostok to assess progress towards the ambitious TX2 goal - to double the number of tigers in the wild - and to identify tiger conservation priorities for the next 12 years, according to a press statement issued by WWF.

The tiger population of award winner, Bardia National Park, increased almost five-fold from less than 20 tigers in 2009 to almost 90 in 2018 - an astounding achievement given it is situated in one of the most densely populated regions of the world.

Sathyamangalam, designated a Tiger Reserve in 2013, was home to only 25 tigers in 2011 but today there are an estimated 80 individuals in the area. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, located in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, connects with two other protected areas, supporting one of the most important and largest tiger populations in the world.

The associated award for Tiger Conservation Excellence is presented to the incredible transboundary Khata corridor where community based conservation efforts, including a network of 74 community forests covering 202 km2, have secured safe passage for tigers between Bardia National Park in Nepal and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in India. Over the last five years 46 individual tigers have been detected using the corridor together with other iconic and threatened mammal species including the Asian elephant, and the greater one-horned rhino.

The awards are presented by the Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), Global Tiger Forum (GTF), IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP), Panthera, UNDP, The Lion’s Share, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and WWF.

Stuart Chapman, Lead of WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative, said: “The commitments made in 2010 demonstrate what can be achieved through long term commitments to tiger conservation.

The dedication of field teams, conservation partners and communities living with tigers are behind these extraordinary results.”

Sugoto Roy, Coordinator of the Integrated Tiger Habitat Programme, IUCN, said “Successful tiger conservation involves continuous management and improvement of habitats at the landscape scale, rigorous monitoring of tigers and their prey, and working extensively with local communities. All of these criteria have been met with excellence, giving us these globally significant results.“

Dale Miquelle, Tiger Program Coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said, “The results demonstrated by these three sites demonstrate what tiger conservation success can look like when government agencies, non-governmental bodies, and local communities work together, using the best science-based practices, to create a better future for both tigers and people. WCS congratulates these sites, these countries and the local communities involved for their commitment to excellence.”

Midori Paxton, Head – Ecosystems and Biodiversity, UNDP, said: “The award-winning reserves serve as a beacon of hope that tiger conservation is possible in fast growing economies and that tigers can coexist even in densely populated countries. This is the inspiration we need as we move towards the next Global Tiger Summit and the setting of new tiger conservation targets.”

Nepal logged 8,017 new Covid-19 cases and 15 deaths on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 15,736 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 5,616 returned positive. Likewise, 6,072 people underwent antigen tests, of which 2,201 tested positive.

With this, the country's active caseload reached 1,062,105. Similarly, death toll climbed to 11,687.

According to the Ministry, 5,292 infected people recovered from the disease. Among them, 88,642 are in home isolation, 1,934 are in institutionalized isolation.

As many as 257 are in intensive care units and 49 on ventilators.

Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley recorded 3,134 new cases.

Of them, 2,402 are in Kathmandu, 521 in Lalitpur and 220 in Bhaktapur.