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Students of Nobel Medical College in Biratnagar, which has been accused of charging more fees than the amount fixed by the government, have reached Kathmandu to pile pressure on the government.

The students led by Manish Bhattarai, coordinator of the Medical Education Struggle Committee, came to Kathmandu saying that the Nobel Medical College has not refund the students who have been charged additional fees yet.

Saying that the Nobel Medical College has been cheating the students, Bhattarai said that they would continue their protest until the college refunds the extra fees collected from the students.

It has been learnt that the Kathmandu Medical College has also been charging extra Rs 600,000 from the students.

The government has been urging the medical colleges to refund the additional fees of the students but to no avail.

Amid growing tensions with Russia, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken is travelling to Ukraine and Germany this week.

In Kyiv, Blinken will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba "to reinforce the United States' commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Ned Price, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

In Berlin, Blinken will "discuss recent diplomatic engagements with Russia and joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine, including Allies' and partners' readiness to impose massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia."

Blinken will meet with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, followed by a meeting with the Transatlantic Quad, which also includes the UK and France, according to Price. Last week, there was a diplomatic talk between American and Russian officials which did not yield any results. 

Nepal condemned terrorist attacks in various places of Abu Dhabi, UAE on Monday that killed three persons and wounded six.

Police identified the deceased as two Indian nationals and a Pakistani.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs took to the Twitter to condemn the terrorist attacks in different places of Abu Dhabi and to wish for speedy recovery of the injured.

"Nepal condemns the terrorist attacks in different places of Abu Dhabi, UAE yesterday. We also express deep condolences to the families of the deceased and wish for speedy recovery of the injured," the tweet read.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen claimed they were behind an attack targeting the UAE.

Nepal recorded 10, 258 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Tuesday.

As per the latest data provided by the Health Ministry, a total of 22, 828 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours.

The ministry said that 562 infected people have recovered from the disease.

The three districts of the Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, on Tuesday issued another directive to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

All the three District Administration Offices of the Valley issued the directive after the cases of the infection continue to rise at an alarming rate.

The order, which will come into effect from today midnight, has banned protests, rallies and gatherings till mid-February.

KATHMANDU: Actress Shweta Khadka has tested positive for Covid-19.

Khadka had taken to social media to announce that she had tested positive and urged all those who had come in close contact with her to take precautions.

“I have tested positive. I will come back as soon as I recover,” she said.

The Covid-19 has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent days.

A total of 6,734 new cases were reported on Monday. Out of which, 4,000 cases were recorded in the Kathmandu Valley alone.

The construction of a concrete bridge connecting Makwanpur and Sindhuli districts has not been completed yet even though the construction company signed the agreement 10 years ago.

The Swachhand Bhairav Construction Company had signed the agreement with the Dharan-Chatara-Sindhuli-Hetauda road project to erect the bridge by July 13, 2021. Now, the construction has reached the final stage after the extension of deadline for five times.

The bridge—413 meters long and 7.70 meters wide—is being constructed at the cost of Rs 230 million.

Jayaram Lamichhane, Director of the construction company, expressed his commitment to complete all the works by mid-April and hand it over to the government by April 28.

The deadline was extended for the first time till mid-September 2018 after the company could not complete the construction within the given timeframe. The deadline was extended for the second time till mid-May 2020.

The Madan Bhandari Road Project said that the deadline was extended twice after the company failed to hand over the bridge to the government by mid-May 2020. The deadline has been extended till mid-April 2022 for now.

After receiving the contract, the construction company entrusted the Cannon Gautam JV to complete the works .

Lamichhane said that the Swachhand Bhairav Construction Company has been constructing the bridge on its own for the past three years after the owner of the Gautam JV went out of contact.

Saying that the company was negligent in the construction work, the road project had agreed to pay 35 percent in the first phase, 15 percent in the second phase and the remaining 50 percent after the completion of the construction. So far, 80 percent of the amount has been paid to the construction company.

Covid cases across the country crossed 258,000 on Monday, even as the two big metros - Mumbai and Delhi - reported a dip in reported cases. The national daily positivity rate increased to more than 19 per cent, signaling the need to step up testing, Business Standard reported.

As the third wave persists, the health ministry has issued new clinical guidelines for adult Covid patients. The government may also consider starting vaccination for those in the 12-14 age group from March, PTI has reported.

Mumbai reported 5,956 cases - 24 per cent lower than Sunday. Delhi had over 12,000 cases - a decline of 31 per cent, compared to Sunday. While on a day-to-day basis, there was a slight drop in countrywide cases, compared with 271,000 infections reported on Sunday, this could also be because of low levels of testing during the weekend. The fewer reported cases could also be due to a large number of people opting for home antigen tests, instead of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (or RT-PCR) test.

The health ministry on Monday also issued new clinical guidelines for adult Covid patients. For severe cases described as having peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (or SpO2) below 90 per cent in room air and respiration at less than 30 per cent, admission to an intensive care unit or high-dependency unit is to be followed.

While most protocols remain the same as in the previous waves, the government, while suggesting the use of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab in severe patients under very specific circumstances, has not included Molnupiravir in its advisory.

“Consider Remdesivir for five days to treat hospitalised patients,” the guidelines stated, stressing there was no evidence of benefit beyond that period. The drug is not to be used on patients who are not on oxygen support or in a home setting.

If a cough persists for more than two or three weeks, the health ministry has suggested that the patient be investigated for tuberculosis and other conditions.

The guidelines have been framed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences' joint monitoring group and the national task force.

In the current wave being spurred by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, the government has said that patients with upper respiratory tract symptoms, with or without fever and with no shortness of breath, are mild cases.

For those with moderate disease, the government has said there is no evidence of benefit for injectable steroids in those not requiring oxygen supplementation, or on continuation after discharge.

Learning from past experience, the guidelines also state that anti-inflammatory or immunomodulatory therapy, such as steroids, can have a risk of secondary infection, such as invasive mucormycosis, when used too early at a higher dose or for a longer-than-required period.

Meanwhile, a PTI report said India may begin inoculating children in the 12-14 age group against Covid in March as the 15-18 population is likely to get fully vaccinated by then, said N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India.

"Adolescents in this age group have been actively participating in the inoculation process, and going by this pace of vaccination, the rest of the beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group are likely to be covered with the first dose by January-end and subsequently their second dose is expected to be done by February-end," said Arora.