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Nepal logged 570 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths on Thursday. 

With this, the country's active caseload mounted to 1,112,537. Similarly, the death toll has climbed to 11,905. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 7, 028 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 364 returned positive. Likewise, 2,761 people underwent antigen tests, of which 206 tested positive.

The Ministry said that 1,993 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

As of today, there are 16,616 active cases in the country. 

The Ministry said that 17,580 people are staying in home isolation while 671 are in institutionalized isolation.

Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley reported 199 new cases today.

According to the Ministry, 162 cases are reported in Kathmandu, 25 in Lalitpur and 12 in Bhaktapur.

The Election Commission (EC) has called for the registration of political parties giving 11-day time so that they could take part in the coming May 13 local level elections. 

The EC slated the party registration time for two weeks from today. A notice has been issued to this regard. The political parties are asked to submit the formal applications along with the sample of signatures of the office-bearers. The political management section at EC is looking after the registration process. 

As per the Constitution of Nepal and Act on Political Parties, any political party willing to take part in the election must be registered at EC.

Along with the formal application, the parties should present party statute, manifesto, regulation, flag, sample of election symbol, arrangement of at least 21 central members in the central committee, and auditing reports of the previous fiscal year. 

Similarly, the political parties must have reflected the country’s diversity in their executive committee. The statute and regulation must be democratic and each office bearers of the party at federal and provincial levels elected once in five year.

Currently, there are 119 political parties registered at EC. Among the political parties which took part in the 2074 BS election, 18 parties had representation in the local level.

Although formation of the party was initiated before 2007BS, the Interim Statute formulated after 2007BS democratic movement provided legitimacy to the party registration in Nepal.

It was Praja Parishad to be formed as the first political party in Nepal on Jesth 20, 1993BS. The EC chronicles that Nepali Rastriya Congress was formed in 2003BS, Nepali Congress in 2005BS, Nepal Communist Party in 2006BS and Gorkha Parisad in 2007BS.

The political parties have been registered at EC since the first general election in the country in 2015BS. Currently, 119 political parties are registered and in existence. 

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2015 had provided in the fundamental rights that Nepali citizen could register political parties. Although the royal coup in 2017BS banned the political parties, the restoration of democracy in 2047BS revived this right. RSS

A complaint has been filed at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority against five CPN-UML leaders including Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Thursday.

Bagmati Province Committee of the CPN (Unified Socialist) led by Madhav Nepal filed the complaint against Oli, senior Vice-Chairman Ishwor Pokharel, Secretary duo Yogesh Bhattarai and Padma Aryal and leader Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal.

The committee said that the then Prime Minister Oli and then Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Aryal committed corruption by amending the law to exchange the land worth billions of the rupees of Giribandu Tea State of Jhapa and demanded investigation into the case.

Similarly, the committee has demanded action against Pokharel and then Health Minister Dhakal for embezzling millions of rupees while procuring health materials.

Likewise, the committee has also demanded action against then Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai for misappropriating millions of rupees from the state coffers in the name of Visit Nepal 2020.

Bagmati Province Committee Coordinator Deepak Budhathoki and leader Sudesh Parajuli among others filed the complaint this afternoon.

A meeting of the ruling coalition is taking place this evening to hold discussions on the issues including the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The meeting has been scheduled for 5 pm today with the coordination of Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President, Sher Bahadur Deuba, said PM Deuba’s Press Chief, Govinda Pariyar.

Top leaders of the Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal and Rastriya Janamorcha would participate in the meeting scheduled at the official residence of the Prime Minister.

It is said that the meeting would hold a discussion on the issue of making a common view to table the proposal related to MCC in the meeting of the House of Representatives scheduled for February 18.

Although the government was ready to table the MCC proposal in the HoR meeting on Wednesday, it was not tabled after the ruling coalition failed to forge consensus in this regard. RSS

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) has once again urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba not to table the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact in the Parliament.

He said so during a meeting with Prime Minister Deuba in Baluwatar on Thursday morning.

Saying that the local level elections are just round the corner, he urged the Prime Minister not to table the MCC for now.

“Prachanda Ji had come to Baluwatar to meet the Prime Minister. He urged him not to table the MCC for now. But, in response, Prime Minister Deuba said that he cannot backtrack as the Nepali Congress has already made a decision on the MCC,” a Nepali Congress leader said.

A meeting of the ruling coalition scheduled for today will hold a decisive discussion.

Though preparations were being made to table the MCC in the Parliament on Wednesday, the government did not table the compact at the request of Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal at the eleventh hour.

The government did not table the MCC after Dahal and Nepal sought more time to hold discussions on the issue.

Rio de Janeiro state’s government has confirmed 94 deaths from floods and mudslides that swept away homes and cars in the city of Petropolis. But even as families prepared to bury their dead, it was unclear Thursday how many bodies remained trapped in the mud, Associated Press reported.

Rubens Bomtempo, mayor of the German-influenced city nestled in the mountains, didn’t even offer an estimate for the number of people missing, with recovery efforts still ongoing. 

“We don’t yet know the full scale of this,” Bomtempo said at a news conference Wednesday. “It was a hard day, a difficult day.”

More than 24 hours after the deadly deluge early Tuesday, survivors were digging to find lost loved ones. Rio de Janeiro’s public prosecutors’ office said in a statement Wednesday night that it had compiled a list of 35 people yet to be located.

Footage posted on social media showed torrents dragging cars and houses through the streets and water swirling through the city. One video showed two buses sinking into a swollen river as its passengers clambered out the windows, scrambling for safety. Some didn’t make it to the banks and were washed away, out of sight.

On Wednesday morning, houses were left buried beneath mud while appliances and cars were in piles on the streets.

Petropolis, named for a former Brazilian emperor, has been a refuge for people escaping the summer heat and tourists keen to explore the so-called “Imperial City.” 

Its prosperity has also drawn poorer residents from Rio’s poorer regions. Its population grew haphazardly, climbing mountainsides now covered with small residences packed tightly together. Many are in areas unfit for structures and made more vulnerable by deforestation and inadequate drainage.

The state fire department said 25.8 centimeters (just over 10 inches) of rain fell within three hours on Tuesday -- almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined. Rio de Janeiro’s Gov. Claudio Castro said in a press conference that the rains were the worst Petropolis has received since 1932.

“No one could predict rain as hard as this,” Castro said. More rain is expected through the rest of the week, according to weather forecasters. 

Castro added that almost 400 people were left homeless and 24 people were recovered alive.

They were fortunate, and they were few. 

“I could only hear my brother yelling, ‘Help! Help! My God!’” resident Rosilene Virginia told The Associated Press as a man comforted her. “It’s very sad to see people asking for help and having no way of helping, no way of doing anything. It’s desperate, a feeling of loss so great.”

The stricken mountain region has seen similar catastrophes in recent decades, including one that caused more than 900 deaths. In the years since, Petropolis presented a plan to reduce risks of landslides, but works have been advancing only slowly. The plan, presented in 2017, was based on analysis determining that 18% of the city’s territory was at high risk for landslides and flooding.

Local authorities say more than 180 residents who live in at-risk areas are sheltering in schools. More equipment and manpower is expected to help rescue efforts on Thursday.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro expressed solidarity while on a trip to Russia. Petropolis’ city hall declared three days of mourning for the tragedy.

Southeastern Brazil has been punished with heavy rains since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths recorded between incidents in Minas Gerais state in early January and Sao Paulo state later the same month.

Two persons died when a bus hit them in Balaju, Kathmandu on Thursday.

Police identified the deceased as Bikash Tamang (18). The identity of another person, who appears to be in her mid 50s, is yet to be established.

The bus hit the duo while they were crossing the road in front of the Ganga Hall in Balaju at around 6 am today.

Critically injured in the incident, they breathed their last on the way to a hospital.

Police said that the bus driver fled the scene after the incident.

Police arrested four persons in possession of counterfeit Nepali currency notes worth Rs 294, 000 from Nayabazaar area of KMC-16.

Three detainees have been identified as Prithvi Prasad Sah (28), Mohammad Samsad Alam (28) of Gaur Municipality-12 of Rautahat, Mohammad Musarraf Ali (27) and Asaraf Ali (30) of Rajpur Municipality-3 of Rautahat.

All the banknotes are in denomination of Rs 1, 000.

Police said that they are looking into the case.