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The Narcotics Control Bureau of Nepal Police apprehended seven foreign foreigners in possession of 51 kg heroin.

Organizing a press conference in Kathmandu on Thursday, the bureau said that seven South African women were nabbed from the airport and Thamel areas.

It has been revealed that they came to Kathmandu from Fly Dubai and Qatar Airways on different dates.

Police said they recovered 49 kg white heroin and two kg brown heroin from their possession.

SP Jeevan Kumar Shrestha, Chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau, said that the market value of the confiscated drugs is Rs 1.22 billion.

Police said that they are further investigating the case.

Nepal reported 16 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 038 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 12 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 230 people underwent antigen tests, of which four were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 14 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 95 active cases in the country.

Nepal has documented the first suspected case of monkeypox.

A 24-year-old man, who had come to Nepal via Dubai, has been admitted to the Teku-based Shukraraj Tropical Infectious Disease Hospital after he was found suffering from the symptoms of monekypox.

During a test at the health desk of the Tribhuvan International Airport, he was found suffering the symptoms like that of monekypox and sent to the Teku Hospital.

According to an official at the hospital, he has been suffering from a fever for the past few days.

UK interest rates have risen further as the Bank of England attempts to stem the pace of rising prices, BBC reported.

Rates have increased from 1% to 1.25%, the fifth consecutive rise, pushing them to the highest level in 13 years.

It comes as finances are being squeezed by the rising cost of living, driven by record fuel and energy prices.

Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is currently at a 40-year high of 9%, and Bank warned it could surpass 11% later this year.

The Bank said rising energy prices are expected to drive living costs even higher in October, but it said it would "act forcefully" if necessary should inflation pressures persist.

Six of the nine members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise rates to 1.25%, but three backed a bigger increase to 1.5%, according to BBC.

Minutes from the Bank's meeting also reveal that it expects the UK economy will shrink by 0.3% in the April-to-June period.

The Bank did not update its outlook for the third quarter but has previously said it expects GDP to grow between July and September. This would mean that the UK would avoid a recession this year - with a recession defined as the economy shrinking for two consecutive quarters. 

However, the Bank has previously said it expects the economy to shrink in the final three months of this year, during which the price cap on household energy bills is set to be increased. 

The rise in domestic gas and electricity bills will lift the increase in the cost of living to "slightly above" 11% in October, the Bank said. 

It means the rate of inflation will be more than five times the Bank's inflation target of 2%, BBC reported.

In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the Bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, said inflation was largely due to global issues such as rising prices for energy and agricultural goods, which have worsened as a result of Russia's war with Ukraine.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 12. 57 points to close at 1, 978. 94 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2. 93 points to close at 381. 83 points.

Meanwhile, a total of 3, 594, 594 unit shares of 221 companies were traded for Rs 1. 18 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green except for Investment.

At the end of the day, total market capitalisation stood at Rs 2. 82 trillion.

The main opposition CPN-UML boycotted the Parliament demanding resignation of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma.

UML Chief Whip Bishal Bhattarai said that the party demanded his resignation as the questions have been raised on the budget formulation process.

He said they would boycott the Parliament until Sharma resigned from this post.

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand said that the government has no plans to join the State Partnership Program (SPP).

Responding to queries on budget in the Parliament on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, Minister Khand said that the government has not made any decision to join the SPP.

He expressed his commitment not to allow Nepali land to be used against the neighbouring countries.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma’s open involvement of vested interests in the budget-making process—as first reported in Annapurna Post, our sister publication—is inexcusable. Late in the night before the budget-presentation, Sharma, as reported, invited a pair of outsiders into his chambers in the ministry. He then asked finance ministry officials present there to “lock the door”. The minister said the two guests were “tax experts” who were authorized to tweak tax rates “on my behalf”. While the identity of one guest has been disclosed (he was a former finance minister official himself), the identity of the second guest remains unknown.

This behavior of Finance Minister Sharma is wrong on multiple fronts. One, when the budget is being finalized, no third person is allowed any access to it in order to prevent vested interests from influencing (and profiting from) the country’s economic blueprint. Two, it is not for the minister or his proxies to dictate tax rates, which should rather be set by senior ministry officials–all experts in the field–after widespread deliberations and careful cost-benefit analysis. But Sharma effectively ‘outsourced’ budget-making.

Following the Annapurna Post report, the ministry’s spokesperson put out a lame statement that does not in any way absolve Minister Sharma of his financial crimes. There cannot be two ways about it: Either Sharma has to credibly refute the allegations against him or he must resign. His highly irresponsible actions that directly affect the lives and livelihoods of 30m Nepalis merits no less. This is not the first time Sharma has been in controversy in recent times. A few months ago Sharma (successfully) lobbied with the government to sack Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari when the latter tried to stop a business group from illegally sending money abroad. (The Supreme Court later overturned the sacking.)  

His shambolic 11 months in office make it clear that Minister Sharma has little knowledge about running the country’s economy and even less compunction about abusing his office for personal gains. About time he was replaced by someone more qualified for the job on both these counts.