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Nepal logged 2, 401new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths on Wednesday. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 10,368 swab samples were tested today, of which 2,401 tested positive. 

The Ministry said that 7,777 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley reported 1, 017 new cases today.

According to the Ministry, 890 cases are reported in Kathmandu, 102 in Lalitpur and 25 in Bhaktapur.

The Milan Pandey faction filed a case at the Supreme Court against Bibeksheel Party Coordinator Rabindra Mishra and the Election Commission on Wednesday. 

The Pandey faction filed the case at the apex court against Mishra and the poll body saying that the party took action against them for no reasons. 

Former party coordinator Pandey said that they moved the court alleging that the party took action against them at the direction of Mishra.

The party had expelled Pandey on December 21.

Earlier, Pandey had announced a 201-member Central Committee in the name of strengthening the party. The establishment faction, however, expelled Pandey taking this as an attempt to split the party.

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and Finance Minister Janardan Sharma today held a meeting to discuss the budget in view of the upcoming elections. 

During the meeting that took place at the Ministry of Home Affairs, the two primarily discussed the budget for transport and logistics management for security bodies (Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force) in the election, according to Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division chief, joint-secretary Dr Bhisma Kumar Bhusal. As said by Bhusal, the Home Ministry is expected to estimate the budget towards current expenditures also till Thursday and send it to the Finance Ministry.  

Home Secretary Teknarayan Pandey, Finance Secretary Madhu Marasini and Chief of Security and Coordination Division, Ministry of Home, Joint Secretary Mukunda Niraula were present in the discussions.  

On the occasion, the Finance Minister apprised the Home Minister about pressure on the Ministry with the announcement of the local-level poll for upcoming May 13.  In response, the Home Minister said the Ministry was aware of the work pressure on the Finance Minister before the election and it would appraise it of essential issues in the days ahead.

The meeting followed the Nepal Police and the APF’s demands for vehicles and required election logistics from the government in view of the election. RSS

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the sole secondary market of the country, plunged by 22.06 points to close at 2,813.52 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index fell 3.51 points to reach 528.99 points.

A total of 6,520,628 units of shares of 223 companies were traded for Rs 3.47 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw red except with Non Life Insurance leading the table with 198.75 points. 

Meanwhile, Liberty Energy Company Limited was the top gainer for today, with its price surging by 3.08 percent. Buddha Bhumi Nepal Hydropower Company Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 6.64 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3.97 trillion.

The Democratic Socialist Party has demanded that the government hold the local level elections in Madhesh in September.

The government has decided to hold the local level elections in all the 753 federal units in a single phase on May 13.

Democratic Socialist Party Madhesh Pradhesh Chairman Jitendra Sonal said that the representatives of Madhesh will be deprived of their rights if the elections are held in May.

“I would like to draw the attention of the Nepal government, Election Commission and concerned stakeholders that the elections should be held in September as the five-year term of the elected representatives will expire only in September,” read a statement issued on Wednesday.

The European Union is pushing for a global deal aimed at preventing new pandemics that could include a ban on wildlife markets and incentives for countries to report new viruses or variants, an EU official told Reuters, Reuters reported.

International negotiators will meet for the first time on Wednesday to prepare talks for a potential treaty, said the official, who is not authorised to speak to media and so declined to be named.

The aim is to reach a preliminary agreement by August.

However, Brussels has so far struggled to get full backing for a new treaty from the United States and other major countries, some of which want any agreement to be non-binding.

A spokesperson for Charles Michel, the president of the European Council who in November 2020 proposed a new treaty on pandemics, said he had no fresh comment on the matter.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the most widely accepted theory, the COVID-19 pandemic began with the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from an animal to humans in a wildlife market in China.

Although Beijing was initially praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) for notifying it quickly of the new virus, the United States in particular has accused China of holding back information about the likely origins of the outbreak.

Among measures the EU wants to be included in the treaty is a gradual shutdown of wildlife markets, the EU official said.

Incentives for countries to report new viruses are also seen as crucial to help with speedy detection and avoid cover-ups.

Last year, southern African nations were hit with punishing flight restrictions after they identified the Omicron coronavirus variant, which some fear could deter reporting of future outbreaks if incentives are not attractive enough.

VACCINES FOR VIRUS ALERTS

The official said incentives could include guaranteed access to medicines and vaccines developed against new viruses, which poorer nations have struggled to obtain quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic as wealthier states rushed to secure supplies.

States that detect and report a new virus could also receive immediate support, which might involve shipments of medical equipment from a global stockpile.

Talks will involve delegates from six countries, representing the world’s main regions – Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt and Thailand, officials said.

Brazil, which will represent northern and southern American countries, favours a non-binding treaty.

The EU, which will be represented by the Netherlands, wants to introduce legally-binding obligations to prevent and report new virus outbreaks, an EU document seen by Reuters says.

If an agreement is reached, the treaty is expected to be signed in May 2024.

As part of an overhaul of global health rules, countries are also negotiating tweaks to the International Health Regulations, a set of global rules to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

The United States wants to strengthen rules to boost transparency and grant the WHO quick access to outbreak sites, two sources following the discussions told Reuters.

As many as 16 cameras installed for the tiger census have reportedly been stolen from the Banke and Bardiya National Parks.

Similarly, six have been damaged by elephants, according to the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Bardiya Chief Rabin Kadariya.

This has affected the census. Nine cameras were stolen from Block ‘1’ followed by four each from Block 2' and ‘3’, he said. The cost of cameras is Rs 40,000 each.

The first and second blocks entirely stretch through the Bardiya National Park while the third block covers parts of both national parks and the fourth block totally lies in the Banke National Park.  Tentatively, the cameras were installed for around 15 months at certain locations to track the possible movement of wild animals.

Kadariya said those visiting the park areas to collect fodder and poachers might have taken away the census gadgets.

So far, the census has been over at the first and second blocks and it is underway at the third and fourth blocks, Banke National Park Chief Conservation Officer Shyam Kumar Shah said. 

The census based on camera trapping methods began some two months ago (December 15, 2021). “While assessing the recorded movements of tigers, we expect a rise in its population this time,” Shah added.  RSS

Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba extended his tributes on the 7th memorial day of former Prime Minister and former NC President Sushil Koirala.

Paying homage to the late Koirala through Facebook, PM said that the immense contribution of Koirala to NC and his leadership role in the promulgation of the constitution would be always inspiring to us.

Former NC President Koirala, who was leading the government while promulgating the constitution in 2015, died on this day in 2016. RSS