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The world’s 10 wealthiest men doubled their fortunes during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic as poverty and inequality soared, a report said on Monday, AFP reported.

Oxfam said the men’s wealth jumped from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, at an average rate of $1.3 billion per day, in a briefing published before a virtual mini-summit of world leaders being held under the auspices of the World Economic Forum.

A confederation of charities that focus on alleviating global poverty, Oxfam said the billionaires’ wealth rose more during the pandemic more than it did the previous 14 years, when the world economy was suffering the worst recession since the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

It called this inequality “economic violence” and said inequality is contributing to the death of 21,000 people every day due to a lack of access to healthcare, gender-based violence, hunger and climate change.

The pandemic has plunged 160 million people into poverty, the charity added, with non-white ethnic minorities and women bearing the brunt of the impact as inequality soared, according to AFP.

The report follows a December 2021 study by the group which found that the share of global wealth of the world’s richest people soared at a record pace during the pandemic.

Oxfam urged tax reforms to fund worldwide vaccine production as well as healthcare, climate adaptation and gender-based violence reduction to help save lives.

The group said it based its wealth calculations on the most up-to-date and comprehensive data sources available, and used the 2021 Billionaires List compiled by the US business magazine Forbes.

Forbes listed the world’s 10 richest men as: Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, former Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, US investor Warren Buffet and the head of the French luxury group LVMH, Bernard Arnault.

China's economy posted stable growth in 2021 despite challenges including epidemic resurgences and a complicated external environment, official data showed Monday, Xinhua reported.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 8.1 percent year on year to 114.37 trillion yuan (about 18 trillion US dollars) last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The pace was well above the government target of "above 6 percent," and put the two-year average growth at 5.1 percent, the data showed.

In the fourth quarter, the country's GDP expanded 4 percent year on year.

China's economy has continued stable recovery in 2021, leading the world in both economic development and epidemic control, the NBS said, while warning of the triple pressure of demand contraction, supply shocks and weakening expectations amid an increasingly complicated external environment.

National Association of Rural Municipalities Nepal, Municipal Association of Nepal and District Coordination Committee Federation have demanded that the government fix the date of local level elections at the earliest.

Issuing a statement on Monday, all the three associations have urged the government to start the process of holding the local level elections promptly.

It will have a negative impact on democracy and the federal governing system if the elections are not held on time, the statement read.

The works at the local level will be hampered if the elections are not held within the time frame given by the Election Commission.  

The election body has urged the government to hold the elections within mid-May. But, the government has not fixed the date yet.

Though the Election Commission has said that the elections should be held within mid-May, National Association of Rural Municipalities Nepal, Municipal Association of Nepal and District Coordination Committee Federation have said that the elections should be held within mid-June.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Ale has been tested positive for Covid-19.

Minister Ale’s personal secretary Hemanta Regmi said that the minister went to a hospital for the swab test on Monday morning after he complained of health problems. Later, the result came positive.

It has been learnt that Regmi has also been tested positive for Covid-19.

North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles Monday, Seoul said, its fourth weapons test this month as Pyongyang flexes its military muscle while ignoring offers of talks from the United States, The Times of India reported.

Despite biting international sanctions, Pyongyang has conducted a string of weapons tests this year, including hypersonic missiles, as leader Kim Jong Un pursues his avowed goal of further strengthening the military.

Reeling economically from a self-imposed coronavirus blockade, impoverished North Korea has not responded to Washington's offers of talks, doubled down on weapons tests and vowed a "stronger and certain" response to any attempts to rein it in.

The launches come at a delicate time in the region, with North Korea's sole major ally China set to host the Winter Olympics next month and South Korea gearing up for a presidential election in March.

Two suspected "short-range ballistic missiles" were fired east from an airport in Pyongyang early Monday, the South Korean military's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, with Japan also confirming the launch.

Fired just before 9 am (0000 GMT), they flew 380 kilometres (around 240 miles) at an altitude of 42 km, the JCS added.

The frequent and varied tests this year indicate North Korea "is trying to improve its technology and operational capability in terms of covert actions", Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters.

Pyongyang said it successfully tested hypersonic gliding missiles on January 5 and January 11, with the second launch personally supervised by Kim.

In response, the United States last week imposed fresh sanctions on five North Koreans connected to the country's ballistic missile programmes, prompting an angry reaction from Pyongyang, according to the Times of India.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman described the move as a "provocation", according to state news agency KCNA.

If "the US adopts such a confrontational stance, the DPRK will be forced to take stronger and certain reaction to it," the spokesman said hours before Pyongyang fired off two train-launched missiles Friday.

Analysts said the Monday test also appeared to be an attempt to send the United States a message.

"It is signalling that it will forge ahead with tests despite criticism," Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul told AFP.

Needs a win

Hypersonic missiles are a top priority in Pyongyang's new five-year defence development plan, unveiled January 2021, which it has pursued while dialogue with the United States remained stalled.

With the country battling major economic hardship domestically after years of Covid-induced isolation, Pyongyang may be looking to offer citizens a military victory ahead of key domestic anniversaries.

"It needs to present something to North Koreans," said Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korea Studies at the Sejong Institute.

"It now has become clear that it will be difficult for the North to score on the economic side."

This weekend, a North Korean freight train crossed the Yalu River railroad bridge into China for the first time in over a year, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The move could signal the prospect of resumed China-North Korea land trade, which has been suspended since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.

"This timing suggests Beijing is more than complicit with Pyongyang's provocations," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

"China is supporting North Korea economically and coordinating with it militarily."

The government introduced the Covid-19 insurance scheme soon after the Covid-19 hit the country.

Many people signed up for the Covid-19 insurance. But, the insurance companies have not paid the insurance claim amount to a majority of policy holders.

Because of that, general people have started moving the court and other concerned agencies demanding that they be given their insurance amount at the earliest.

“We have filed complaints at the Tulsipur High Court demanding that they be given their insurance claim amount,” Bikas Acharya of Nepalgunj said.

Basundhara Gyawali said that the insurance company had promised her to give the insurance amount within mid-July 2021, but she has not got the money yet.

They had bought the coronavirus insurance plan from Shikhar Insurance, National Insurance Company and Siddhartha Insurance.

The victims have filed complaints against 20 non-life insurance companies.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had already said that the insurance companies should pay the insurance amount to the people at any cost.

The insurance companies have stopped taking applications of claimants since mid-July.

As many as 161,549 people had filed applications within that period. It has been learnt that over Rs 4 billion has already been paid.

In a period of one year, non-life insurance companies had sold 1,758,343 Covid-19 policies.

The government of Nepal provided humanitarian relief materials for the people of Afghanistan on Sunday.

Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal Sewa Lamsal handed over the humanitarian assistance containing medicines, garments, and household items to Dr Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan amid a program organized at the Kabul Airport today, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Earlier this morning, the Government of Nepal had sent a chartered aircraft with humanitarian relief materials for the people of Afghanistan from the people of Nepal.

Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka led the efforts in realizing the humanitarian assistance as a goodwill gesture of the people of Nepal. Economic hardship and harsh winter weather in Afghanistan necessitated humanitarian assistance and support from the international community to the people of Afghanistan, the statement read.

Private sector apex bodies, organizations, and individuals including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Nepal Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Honorary Consular Corps- Nepal, Agrawal Sewa Kendra, and Himalaya Airlines extended their generous hands in support of the mission.

The Nepal government has urged India to stop construction or extension of roads in Lipulekh of Nepal.

Speaking at a press conference organised at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, government spokesperson and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government is committed to resolve the border issue with India through diplomatic channels.

He said that the government of Nepal is clear on the fact that Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani are integral parts of Nepal.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a programme a few days ago had said that the Indian government has been constructing a road to Mansarovar of China through Lipulekh of Nepal.

Ruling coalition Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have already expressed their dissatisfaction over the remarks of Indian Prime Minister Modi.