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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 93, 600 per tola today.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 93, 100 per tola.

The yellow metal was traded at Rs 93, 800 per tola and tejabi gold at Rs 93, 300 per tola on Friday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,160 per tola today.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is on a three-day visit to India, held a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda at the BJP's central office in New Delhi on Sunday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed bilateral ties between Nepal and India.

Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar was also present in the meeting.

Earlier on Friday, Dahal met Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar and Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.

He left for India at the invitation of Nadda on Friday.

Dahal is scheduled to return home today.

The government has given continuity to the ban on various 10 items.

The government, which had imposed a ban on these items till mid-July, has extended the ban till August 30.

Publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply imposed a ban on Kurkure, Kurmure, cigarettes, diamonds, color televisions, smart phones worth more than USD 300, jeep, car and van among others.

The government had imposed a ban on different items till the end of the current fiscal year by publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette on April 26.

Earlier, the government had restricted people from bringing phones worth more than USD 600.

Similarly, the government had imposed a ban on motorbikes and scooters with a capacity more than 250 CC.

As many as 54 inmates tested positive for Covid-19 in Morang Prison.

Chief District Officer of Morang Kashi Raj Dahal said that 35 were tested positive on Saturday.

He said that 48 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 35 returned positive.

According to Dahal, those who were tested negative also have symptoms similar to Covid-19.

Earlier on Friday, 19 jailbirds were tested positive for Covid-19.

Dahal said that the number of people suffering from the Covid-19 has reached 54 after 35 more people tested positive on Saturday.

The latest report showed that the Covid-19 is spreading at an alarming rate in the prison, he said.

CDO Dahal said that preparations are being made to admit those who tested positive for Covid-19 to the Koshi Covid Hospital for further treatment.

“The health condition of those tested positive for Covid-19 is normal. There is a high risk of spreading the virus to other prisoners if they are kept inside the prison,” he said, adding, “Preparations are being made to take them to the hospital to reduce risk inside the prison. For that we are trying to understand the situation of the hospital.”

Despite its capacity to accommodate only 300 prisoners, more than 1, 012 inmates are kept in the prison, Dahal said.

The Executive Committee members of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) led by President Shreejana Rana paid a courtesy call on newly appointed Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Friday.

During the meeting, Rana discussed NICCI’s contribution to development of Nepal-India bilateral trade, transit, investment, energy and tourism in the last 30 years.

She emphasized that NICCI will remain pro-active for bilateral developments in these areas.

The delegation also informed the ambassador  on the activities  done by the Chamber and also discussed the planed programs of the Chamber like Partnership Summit and Energy Summit among others for the ongoing and upcoming years and requested the embassy for the active support.

President Rana also touched upon the importance of bilateral tourism.

She briefed the Indian Ambassador about the Nepal-India Bilateral Tourism Promotion Joint Working Group that has taken place in the last few years which was facilitated by NICCI.

In response, Ambassador Srivastava appreciated the works done by NICCI and thanked NICCI team for the visit.

He said that India has always been supporting in the development of Nepal and so continues to support in overall development of Nepal today as well.

He expressed his assurance to support NICCI’s activities for enhancing Nepal-India bilateral trade, transit, investment and overall economic relation in the days ahead and eager to work together.

Ambassador Srivastava along with First Secretary (Commerce) Abhishek Upadhyay were present in the meeting from the embassy while the delegates of NICCI led by President Rana was accompanied by the Executive Committee members.

Russia is preparing for the next stage of its offensive in Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said, after Moscow said its forces would step up military operations in "all operational areas," Reuters reported.

Russian rockets and missiles have pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days.

"It is not only missile strikes from the air and sea," Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said on Saturday. "We can see shelling along the entire line of contact, along the entire front line. There is an active use of tactical aviation and attack helicopters.

"There is indeed a certain activation of the enemy along the entire front line... Clearly preparations are now underway for the next stage of the offensive.”

The Ukrainian military said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an offensive towards Sloviansk, a symbolically important city held by Ukraine in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Ukraine says at least 40 people have been killed in Russian shelling of urban areas in the last three days, as the war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24 intensifies.

Rockets hit the northeastern town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region on Friday night, killing three people including a 70-year-old woman and wounding three others, said regional Governor Oleh Synehubov.

"Three people lost their lives, why? What for? Because Putin went mad?" said Raisa Shapoval, 83, a distraught resident sitting in the ruins of her home, according to Reuters.

To the south, more than 50 Russian Grad rockets pounded the city of Nikopol on the Dnipro River, killing two people who were found in the rubble, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko.

Moscow, which calls the invasion a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour, says it uses high-precision weapons to degrade Ukraine's military infrastructure and protect its own security. It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Kyiv and the West say the conflict is an unprovoked attempt to reconquer a country that broke free of Moscow's rule with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered military units to intensify operations to prevent Ukrainian strikes on eastern Ukraine and other areas held by Russia, where he said Kyiv could hit civilian infrastructure or residents, according to a statement from the ministry.

His remarks appeared to be a direct response to what Kyiv says is a string of successful strikes carried out on 30 Russian logistics and ammunitions hubs, using several multiple launch rocket systems recently supplied by the West.

The strikes are causing havoc with Russian supply lines and have significantly reduced Russia's offensive capability, Ukraine's defence ministry spokesperson said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Barcelona have reached an "agreement in principle" with Bayern Munich to sign Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, BBC reported.

The 33-year-old, who has one year left on his Bayern contract, told the German champions last month that he wishes to leave.

Lewandowski scored 50 goals in 46 games last season as he helped Bayern win a 10th straight Bundesliga title.

Barca say the deal is "dependent on the player passing a medical and contracts being signed". 

"It's good to have clarity for all parties," said Bayern president Herbert Hainer, who first announced the agreement on Saturday.

"We have come to a verbal agreement with Barcelona.

"Robert is an incredible player and he won everything with us. We are incredibly grateful to him."

Lewandowski joined Bayern on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund in 2014 and has scored 344 times in 374 games for the club, making him their second-highest scorer of all time behind Gerd Muller, according to BBC.

The Pole has won the league in all eight of his seasons at Bayern and also helped the Bavarians win the Champions League in 2019-20.

Bayern have also announced that Germany winger Serge Gnabry, 27, has signed a contract extension until 2026.

Barcelona completed the signing of Raphinhafrom Leeds on Friday in a deal worth up to £55m having already signed Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on free transfers earlier this month, BBC reported.

A cargo plane has crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece, local officials say, BBC reported.

The Antonov-12 operated by a Ukraine-based company was flying from Serbia to Jordan when it went down on Saturday.

It was not immediately known how many people were on board and whether there were any survivors.

Greece's ERT state broadcaster reported that the aircraft had been carrying a 12-tonne cargo, describing it as potentially dangerous.

The pilot reportedly requested an emergency landing at Kavala airport due to an engine problem but was unable to reach the runway.

Some reports say eight people may have been on board the aircraft. 

Footage has emerged purportedly showing the plane already on fire as it descended followed by a large explosion after it hits the ground.

"At 22:45 (19:45 GMT) I was surprised by the sound of the engine of the aircraft," local resident Giorgos Archontopoulos told the ERT. "I went outside and saw the engine on fire." 

Eyewitnesses also heard blasts according to several media reports, according to BBC.

Local officials said seven fire engines had been deployed but they could not approach the crash site because of continuing explosions.

"We are treating the cargo as dangerous material," Reuters quoted a fire brigade official as saying.

Greece's special disaster response unit was also investigating the scene, Reuters reported.

So far there has been no public comment from Ukraine, Serbia or Jordan, BBC reported.