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Nepal reported 22 new Covid-19 cases on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 516 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 16 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 319 people underwent antigen tests, of which six were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 75 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1, 022 active cases in the country.

In 2003, the Human Genome Project made history when it sequenced 92% of the human genome. But for nearly two decades since, scientists have struggled to decipher the remaining 8%. Now, a team of nearly 100 scientists from the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium has unveiled the complete human genome — the first time it’s been sequenced in its entirety, the researchers say, CNN reported.

“Having this complete information will allow us to better understand how we form as an individual organism and how we vary not just between other humans but other species,” Evan Eichler, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of Washington and the research leader, said Thursday.

The new research introduces 400 million letters to the previously sequenced DNA — an entire chromosome’s worth. The full genome will allow scientists to analyze how DNA differs between people and whether these genetic variations play a role in disease.

The research, published in the journal Science on Thursday, was previously in preprint, allowing other teams to use the sequence in their own studies, according to CNN.

Until now, it was unclear what these unknown genes coded.

“It turns out that these genes are incredibly important for adaptation,” Eichler said. “They contain immune response genes that help us to adapt and survive infections and plagues and viruses. They contain genes that are … very important in terms of predicting drug response.”

Eichler also said that some of the recently uncovered genes are even responsible for making human brains larger than those of other primates, providing insight into what makes humans unique, according to CNN.

This remaining 8% of the human genome had stumped scientists for years because of its complexities. For one thing, it contained DNA regions with several repetitions, which made it challenging to string the DNA together in the correct order using previous sequencing methods, CNN reported.

The researchers relied on two DNA sequencing technologies that emerged over the past decade to bring this project to fruition: the Oxford Nanopore DNA sequencing method, which can sequence up to 1 million DNA letters at once but with some mistakes, and the PacBio HiFi DNA sequencing method, which can read 20,000 letters with 99.9% accuracy.

Sequencing DNA is like solving a jigsaw puzzle, Eichler said. Scientists must first break the DNA into smaller parts and then use sequencing machines to piece it together in the correct order. Previous sequencing tools could sequence only small sections of DNA at once.

With a 10,000-piece puzzle, it’s hard to correctly arrange small puzzle pieces when they look alike, much like it is to sequence small sections of repetitive DNA. But with a 500-piece puzzle, it’s much easier to arrange larger pieces — or, in this case, longer segments of DNA.

A second challenge was finding cells that contained only one genome.

Standard human cells contain two sets of DNA, a maternal copy and a paternal copy, but this team used DNA from a group of cells called a complete hydatidiform mole, which contains a duplicate of the paternal set of DNA. A complete hydatidiform mole is a rare complication of a pregnancy caused by the abnormal growth of cells that originate from the placenta. This approach simplifies the genome so that scientists need sequence only one set rather than two sets of DNA.

Because the research team used a duplicate set of DNA, the scientists were unable to sequence the Y chromosome originally. According to lead study author Adam Phillippy, the team has managed to sequence the Y chromosome using a different set of cells, according to CNN.

A complete set of 24 sequenced chromosomes is available on the University of Santa Cruz genome browser.

Decoding this gapless sequence has a high price. Phillippy, who is also head of the gene informatics section at the National Human Genome Research Institute, said that altogether, the project cost a few million dollars or more. But that’s a fraction of the almost $450 million that it cost the Human Genome Project to achieve its final sequence in 2003. And with new technology, sequencing is only getting cheaper.

For now, it’s still too costly and time-consuming for everyone to sequence their own genome. But research is underway that uses this genome to identify whether certain genetic differences are linked with specific cancers. Knowing the genetic variations could also allow doctors to better tailor treatments, said Michael Schatz, another researcher on the team and a professor of computer science and biology at Johns Hopkins University, CNN reported.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has left for New Delhi, India on a three-day official visit on Friday.

PM Deuba is accompanied by his wife Arzu Deuba.

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Parshuram Sharma other high-ranking officials bade farewell to the prime minister at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka, Health Minister Birodh Khadka, Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal and Agriculture Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav are also accompanying PM Deuba.

PM Deuba, who is also the President of ruling Nepali Congress, is scheduled to meet Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at 4 pm today.

During the visit, the head of the government is scheduled to hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House on Saturday.

He will pay a courtesy call on Indian Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu at 4 pm tomorrow.

On the third day of the visit, the delegation including the prime minister will leave for Banaras.

He will return home on the same day.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has approved price adjustment on long-route public vehicles plying inter-province.  

The approval responded to the proposal of the Department of Transport Management to adjust transport fares in view of price hike in petroleum products lately.

Following this, transport fares could see 11 to 14 percent increment, said Namraj Ghimire, Director General of the Department. Price adjustment will be carried out scientifically and technically and its decision would be taken on coming Sunday. 

The Department was at work to make arrangements for an auto price adjustment when there is a five percent fluctuation in prices of petroleum products, he said. 

The last time when the government adjusted fares of public vehicles was on July 12, 2021. Since then, the price of diesel increased 34 percent, according to the Department. There are 13 indicators for price adjustments on public vehicles scientifically, of which changes in prices of petroleum products make up 35 percent. 

As per the constitution, the federal government takes a decision on price adjustment on long-route transport.RSS

The annual traditional festival of Ghode Jatra, which is also known as Horse Racing Day, is being celebrated in the country's cultural hub of Kathmandu Valley on Friday.

The festival is being celebrated annually as per mythology which relates the genesis of the festival after the death of a demon named Tundi.

Public belief has it that the demon who lived on a meadow, which is now at Tundikhel, used to unleash terror among the Kathmandu denizens, particularly children. After his death people rejoiced by dancing on his body by riding horses. There is also a belief that the parade of horses at Tundikhel keeps the demon’s spirit away.

The faster the horses run, the better Tundi’s spirit is dispelled. As per another legend, the Ghode Jatra is held to mark the start of New Year. The festival is celebrated on the day of Krishna Aunsi, as per the lunar calendar, which is a day before the Chaitra Shukla Pratipada and this day is taken as the start of the New Year.

The horse parade, known religiously known as Aswa Yatra, is organized to welcome the New Year. The day before Ghode Jatra is also known as Pichas Chaturdarshi, as per lunar calendar. On the day, the Nepali Army cavalry team performs different artistic stunts riding on their horses. The Jatra is also being marked in Lalitpur today.

The government has declared public holiday to celebrate the festival. RSS

Sri Lankan police imposed curfew and fired tear gas after a demonstration outside the president's house to protest dire food, fuel and power shortages turned violent, BBC reported.

Agitated protesters stormed through barricades, and were accused of setting fire to a bus on Thursday night. 

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa blamed the events on "extremist elements".

Sri Lanka is in the midst of a foreign exchange crisis that has crippled its economy.

Faced with 13-hour power cuts, a lack of fuel, essential food items and medicines, public anger has reached a new high. 

The protest outside the President's house began peacefully, but participants say police fired tear gas, water cannons and also beat people present. A number have also been detained. 

Protesters retaliated against the police by pelting them with rocks, according to BBC.

The demonstrations mark a massive turnaround in popularity for Mr Rajapaksa who swept into power with a majority win in 2019, promising stability and a "strong hand" to rule the country.

Critics have been pointing to rank corruption and nepotism - his brothers and nephews occupy several key ministerial portfolios - as one of the main reasons for the situation the country has found itself in.

News reports that the president and his ministers are exempt from the power cuts, along with opulent displays of wealth by family members, have only increased anger. 

The government has been blaming the crisis on the pandemic's impact on tourism - one of the island nation's main sources of foreign revenue - along with a series of attacks on churches on Easter Sunday 2019 which led to a marked drop in tourists. 

But experts say that this crisis has been a long time in the making. 

"This is an implosion, an accumulated outcome of what has been building up for a couple of decades and as usual there is no one to take responsibility for it. Of course, the present government is directly responsible for its wilful mismanagement of the crisis since they came into power in 2019 by sheer incompetency, arrogance and of course corruption," Jayadeva Uyangoda, a political scientist and commentator, told the BBC. 

Sri Lanka's former deputy central bank governor WA Wijewardena told the BBC that Sri Lanka made a fundamental mistake in not integrating with the global economy after the end of a civil war in 2009 which saw its economy grow at rates of almost 9%, BBC reported.

"Exports which accounted for 33% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2000 have now fallen to 12% and remain at that level," he said.

In the more immediate term, a government refusal to let the Sri Lankan rupee depreciate also took a massive toll on its foreign reserves.

Accordingly, foreign reserves which stood at $7.6bn (£5.8bn) at the end of 2019 have now fallen to a level of $2.3 bn; of those reserves, usable reserves have fallen to some $300mn. 

Mr Wijewardena feels things will get a lot worse before they get better, as there is no sustainable flow of foreign exchange for the heavily import-reliant country.

Sri Lanka no longer has enough dollars to buy essential items like fuel to power vehicles or even generate power.

As a result, the country's electricity board has been imposing power cuts that have grown longer and longer in duration. On Thursday, power was switched off for 13 hours, with 16-hour cuts expected in the coming days, BBC reported.

The Lucknow Super Giants made a terrific comeback on Thursday to defeat defending champions Chennai Super Kings in a high-scoring thriller at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, Hindustan Times reported.

Chasing a target of 211, LSG batters Evin Lewis and Ayush Badoni scored 25 runs in Shivam Dube's 19th over of the game to take the game away from CSK, as the tournament debutants registered a six-wicket victory.

CSK rode on contributions from Robin Uthappa (50), Moeen Ali (35), and Dube (49), as the Super Kings reached 210/7 with former captain MS Dhoni making a strong cameo (16* off 6 balls).

In reply, Lucknow got off to a fantastic start with De Kock and Lokesh Rahul (40) putting on 99 runs for the first wicket. The CSK did grab quick wickets in the middle overs but Evin Lewis continued to score at a brisk rate to keep LSG within the target distance.

Lewis smacked six fours and three sixes to help Lucknow close the gap as Shivam Dube’s penultimate over went for 25 runs. Young Ayush Badoni once again stole the show with two sixes in the final over, taking Lucknow across the finish line with three balls to spare, according to Hindustan Times.

The LSG are mentored by former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir and following a close finish, he was seen interacting with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, under whose captaincy Gambhir has played a large part of his international career.

He also posted a heartwarming picture with Dhoni after the game that went viral on social media.

“It was nice catching up skipper!” Gambhir wrote, as he was seen talking to Dhoni in the picture, Hindustan Times reported.

Russian forces in Ukraine are regrouping to double down on their attacks in the east of the country, according to Nato's Secretary General, BBC reported.

"Russia is trying to regroup, resupply and reinforce," Jens Stoltenberg said.

The UK said Russia was bringing in between 1,200 and 2,000 troops from Georgia as reinforcements.

Moscow said on Tuesday that it would reduce military activity in northern Ukraine and focus on "liberating" the Donbas region in the south-east.

Mr Stoltenberg said Russia's aim of pursuing a military outcome had not changed.

"We see continued shelling of cities and we see that Russia is re-positioning some of the troops, moving some of them around, most likely to reinforce their efforts in the Donbas region," he said, according to BBC.

"At the same time, Russia maintains pressure on Kyiv and other cities. So we can expect additional offensive actions, bringing even more suffering."

Echoing Mr Stoltenberg's remarks, the UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned that Russia's change in tactics was "not a retreat".

The UK also said bringing in troops from Georgia had not been part of Moscow's original plan.

"It is highly unlikely that Russia planned to generate reinforcements in this manner and it is indicative of the unexpected losses it has sustained during the invasion," the defence ministry tweeted.

Around 20% of Russian troops around Kyiv have started to reposition, according to a US senior defence official.

The official added that the Russians had largely abandoned Hostomel airport, outside of Kyiv, and are also moving away from the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

But they said Russia was keeping the pressure on in the air, with air strikes continuing to fall on the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv in the north.

Bombs are also falling on towns and cities in the south, which is becoming the key battlefront, according to Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko, cited by Reuters news agency.

On Thursday evening Ukraine's air force appealed for more support from Western countries, saying it was operating outdated equipment that was no match for Russia's more advanced systems, had sustained losses and urgently needed modern fighter jets and air defence systems.

The air force urged provision of F-15 or F-16 fighter jets, which it said had the same advanced technology as the latest Russian fighter jets. Previous discussions had centred around Poland providing Russian-made Mig-29s but the plan was eventually dropped, BBC reported.

It also called for the US Patriot or Norwegian Nasams missile systems.

"Truth: Air superiority is the deciding factor in this war. Air superiority has played a key role in all wars since WWII," Ukraine's air force tweeted.

Though US intelligence reports say Russian troops have not made much progress in the east since the invasion began, Russia has said it will now concentrate its efforts on "liberating" the region.

The region is home to the self-declared and Russian-backed people's republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, which are part of Ukraine but which Russia recognised as independent three days before invading.

But Ukrainian troops have "stymied" and "frustrated" Russia's progress in the region, said the US defence intelligence official, according to BBC.

They added it remains to be seen whether the refitting and repositioning of troops will make a difference. But that this could mean the conflict is lengthy and more drawn out.