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The government has decided to administer booster shots against Covid-19 to all the people above 18 years of age from February 13.

He said so while speaking at a press conference organized in the Health Ministry on Thursday.

“All the people above the age of 18 years, who have completed six months after receiving the second dose, will be given the booster doses,” he said, adding, “All the citizens will be administered booster doses from Sunday.”

He said that the frontline workers will be given high priority.

CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will not be supported in the existing form.

Speaking at a press conference organized by Socialist Press Organization, Parsa in Birgunj on Friday, the former Prime Minister said, “MCC will not be supported in the current form. This is our clear opinion.”

Responding to a question that the coalition might break down if the MCC is not endorsed from the Parliament at the earliest, he said that they are ready to face all the challenges.

“We are holding discussions among the leaders on which points need to be corrected, but the United States is not in favor of amendments. We are holding discussions with the United States on the same as well,” he said.

Saying that the parties have differing views on the MCC and people are staging demonstrations against the compact, Chairman Nepal stressed that the people be made clear about the agreement.

CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will not be supported in the existing form.

Speaking at a press conference organized by Socialist Press Organization, Parsa in Birgunj on Friday, the former Prime Minister said, “MCC will not be supported in the current form. This is our clear opinion.”

Responding to a question that the coalition might break down if the MCC is not endorsed from the Parliament at the earliest, he said that they are ready to face all the challenges.

“We are holding discussions among the leaders on which points need to be corrected, but the United States is not in favor of amendments. We are holding discussions with the United States on the same as well,” he said.

Saying that the parties have differing views on the MCC and people are staging demonstrations against the compact, Chairman Nepal stressed that the people be made clear about the agreement.

Medical colleges under the Kathmandu University have urged the students to pay the hostel fees.

The medical colleges have asked the students to pay the hostel fees by going against the directive of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Kathmandu University and Nepal Medical Education Council.

Earlier, the council had issued a notice stating that the hostel was optional.

But, some medical colleges have been collecting hostel fees from the students while some have been urging the students to pay the fees.

The medical colleges have been saying that they would not allow the students to attend the classes if they do not pay the hostel fees.

Medical Education Struggle Committee Coordinator Manish Bhattarai said that Kathmandu Medical College and Biratnagar-based Nobel Medical College have been asking the students to pay the hostel fees.

“The medical colleges have been asking the students to pay hostel fees even though it is not mandatory. We had drawn the attention of the concerned authorities time and again,” he said.

The students have been staging demonstrations for the past few months accusing the medical colleges of charging more fees than the amount fixed by the government.

India’s top medical education regulator on Tuesday warned students against enrolling in Chinese universities as the country continues to ban the entry of foreign students in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hindustan Times reported.

The warning by the National Medical Commission (NMC) was issued after India’s external affairs ministry was alerted that a some Chinese medical universities were inviting applications for admission to MBBS programmes for the current and upcoming academic years – despite a ban on foreign students from entering China.

It means students who enrol in these Chinese universities this academic year would likely have to take classes online for the near future, and, as a law, only online medical degrees are not recognised in India, the NMC said.

The NMC notice pointed out that thousands of Indian medical students studying in China are stranded in India because of the travel restrictions for more than two years, jeopardising their careers.

In the context of admission notices from Chinese universities, the NMC said, “any prospective student needs to be aware that the Government of People’s Republic of China has imposed strict travel restrictions in the wake of Covid-19 and suspended all visas since November 2020”.

“A large number of international students including Indian students have not been able to return to China to continue their studies due to these restrictions. Thus far, there has been no relaxation in the restrictions,” the notice added.

It said Chinese authorities had conveyed earlier that the courses will be conducted online until the restrictions are lifted.

“As per the extant (existing) rules, National Medical Commission does not recognise or approve medical courses done only by online mode,” the notice said.

Before applying to Chinese or any foreign institution, students have been advised by the NMC to carefully go through the “FMGE (foreign medical graduates) Regulations”, which are mandatory requirements for an Indian studying medicine abroad.

“In view of the above, students are advised to exercise due diligence in choosing where to pursue medical education from,” the NMC said.

The NMC notice was issued on Tuesday, the same day when the Chinese foreign ministry declined to commit on the issue of allowing stranded Indian students back in China, days after offering to arrange for Pakistani students to return to resume on-campus learning.

The foreign ministry said it was considering the return of thousands of international students stranded abroad to China in a “coordinated manner” but declined to elaborate when it was planning to do so.

More than 23,000 Indian students study in China, the majority enrolled in medical universities.

All but a handful had returned to India in a staggered manner in 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak in China but are now stranded in their home country because Beijing has banned foreign students from returning to universities.

US President Joe Biden has called on all American citizens remaining in Ukraine to leave the country immediately, citing increased threats of Russian military action, BBC reported.

Mr Biden said he would not send troops to rescue Americans if Moscow invades Ukraine.

He warned that "things could go crazy quickly" in the region.

Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine despite massing more than 100,000 troops at the border.

But it has just begun massive military drills with neighbouring Belarus, and Ukraine has accused Russia of blocking its access to the sea.

The Kremlin says it wants to enforce "red lines" to make sure that its former Soviet neighbour does not join Nato.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that Europe faced its biggest security crisis in decades amid the tensions.

The US State Department urged Americans in Ukraine to leave immediately.

"American citizens should leave now," Mr Biden told NBC News.

"We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It's a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly."

Asked whether there was a scenario that could prompt him to send troops to rescue fleeing Americans, Mr Biden replied: "There's not. That's a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another. We're in a very different world than we've ever been."

World leaders, meanwhile, continued their frenzied diplomacy to defuse the current crisis over Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine announced late on Thursday that they had failed to reach any breakthrough in a day of talks with French and German officials aimed at ending the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The current tensions come eight years after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula. Since then, Ukraine's military has been locked in a war with Russian-backed rebels in eastern areas near Russia's borders.

Earlier, the UK prime minister said he hoped "strong deterrence" and "patient diplomacy" could find a way through the crisis but the stakes were "very high".

In a joint news conference in Brussels with Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, Mr Johnson said he did not believe Russia had yet taken a decision on whether to invade Ukraine but the UK's intelligence "remains grim".

Asked whether the UK would consider going further in its support for Ukraine, including military support for an insurgency if Russia invades, Mr Johnson said he would "consider what more we can conceivably offer".

"It's possible, I don't want to rule this out, but at the moment we think the package is the right one," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a frosty news conference with his British counterpart Liz Truss that the talks had been "disappointing".

He said relations between the UK and Russia "leave much to be desired" and are at the "lowest point over the past few years".

Ms Truss accused Russia of "Cold War rhetoric".

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Friday. 

Before the trip, Mr Wallace confirmed that the UK was providing more defensive equipment - including body armour, helmets and combat boots - to the Ukrainian government. He also said it was important to show that Nato countries "won't let threats push us around". 

Meanwhile, Ukraine accused Russia of blocking its access to the sea as Russia prepares for naval exercises.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Sea of Azov was completely blocked and the Black Sea almost fully cut off by Russian forces.

Russia's naval exercises will take place next week in the two seas to the south of Ukraine, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Russia has issued coastal warnings citing missile and gunnery firing exercises.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the "unprecedentedly vast area where the manoeuvres will be conducted makes navigation in both seas practically impossible", and Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted that the international waters of the two seas had been blocked by Russia.

The naval exercises off Ukraine's southern flank are in addition to the 10 days of military exercises currently under way in Belarus, to the north of Ukraine.

There are fears that if Russia tries to invade Ukraine, the exercises put the Russian military close to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, making an attack on the city easier. Russia says its troops will return to their permanent bases after the drills end.

Ukraine has launched its own 10-day military exercises, though officials have given few details.

Moscow says it cannot accept that Ukraine - a former Soviet republic with deep social and cultural ties with Russia - could one day join the Western defence alliance Nato and has demanded that this be ruled out.

Russia has been backing a bloody armed rebellion in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region since 2014. Some 14,000 people - including many civilians - have died in fighting since then.

There is some suggestion that a renewed focus on the so-called Minsk agreements - which sought to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine - could be used as a basis to defuse the current crisis.

Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany backed the accords in 2014-2015.

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Krishna Kumar Shrestha has said that the government was committed to making the foreign employment safe and more beneficial. 

He said this while addressing the meeting of the Development Problems Resolution Committee at the Ministry on Thursday.

On the occasion, Minister Shrestha stressed on exploring the labour market in the developed countries and on increasing the secure and beneficial foreign employment opportunities. 

He said the remittance inflow could be increased by two-folds if we could enhance the skills of Nepali workers in line with the demand and requirements of the major destination countries.

Reiterating the need of systematic reforms for boosting remittance which is highly valuable for the country's economy and people's livelihood, the Labour Minister called for reforms in the labour supply process.

He also directed the Ministry employees to work seriously for improving the physical and financial progress of the projects under the Ministry.

National Planning Commission (NPC) member Ram Kumar Phuyal stressed on bringing in remittance through formal means and encouraging its investment in productive sectors.

Ministry's secretary Ek Narayan Aryal said the regular monitoring, complaints hearing and rescue have been made more effective. 

It was shared on the occasion that 97.8 per cent of the complaints and grievances received at the Call Centre, Hello Government and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) have been cleared in that connection. It is said 2.2 per cent of these complaints and grievances were in the process of being cleared.

India is to close the transit points on the border with Nepal for four days in view of the State Legislative election taking place in its Uttarakhand state.

India is closing the border checkpoints bordering Baitadi and Darchula districts of Nepal for four days from today.

Information Officer at the District Administration Office, Baitadi, Khagendra Bharati said the Jhulaghat transit point in Baitadi and Lali, Joljibi, Dattu, Khalanga, Tigram and Sitapul transit points in Darchula would be closed in this connection.

The Indian administration has written to the Baitadi and Darchula districts administrations to that effect, it is said.

The border transit points have been closed based on the agreement between the two countries in view of election security sensitivity. RSS