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The Nawalparasi District Court has granted bail totaling Rs 8m to 12 officials of Palhi Multipurpose Cooperative Society in an embezzlement case. The accused include the cooperative’s chairperson, board members, and accounting staff allegedly involved in misappropriating savers’ funds.

The orders were issued on different dates by three separate benches of judges Keshav Prasad Adhikari, Hari Prasad Sharma, and Ramananda Prasad Adhikari, said Janaki Raman Yadav, the court registrar. 

Cooperative Chairperson Ramkishore Teli was ordered to post the bail amount of Rs 1.5m, while Vice-chairperson Nathu Mali and accounts coordinator Santaram Prasad Yadav were each directed to pay Rs 1m. Other board members including Suresh Prasad Chaudhary, Birendra Kumar Yadav, Ramsewak Chaudhary, Rabindra Pasi, Pramod Yadav, and Sugriva Tiwari were granted bail at Rs 500,000 each. Accounts committee members Janaki Devi Kurmi and Izhar Dhuniya, along with management member Ramanand Yadav, were ordered to pay Rs 500,000 each. 

Most of the accused have paid their bail in cash, while some submitted collateral. Meanwhile, three other accused, Kamala Devi Kahar and Sanjay Kurmi, and Munlal Yadav, remain wanted by authorities.

The scandal came to light when 1,041 depositors, mostly local farmers and laborers, were unable to withdraw their savings from the 1,376-member cooperative. The crisis emerged after years of delayed board elections and unaudited financial records, prompting an investigation that uncovered Rs 8.58m in missing funds. A formal case was filed on Feb 23. The court said that refunds to depositors will only be processed after establishing guilt through due process.

Emergency workers pulled more bodies Wednesday from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian missile, raising the death toll from the latest attack on the Ukrainian capital to 28, Associated Press.

The building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district took a direct hit and collapsed during the deadliest Russian attack on Kyiv this year. Authorities said that 23 of those killed were inside the building. The remaining five died elsewhere in the city.

Workers used cranes, excavators and their hands to clear more debris from the site, while sniffer dogs searched for buried victims. The blast blew out windows and doors in neighboring buildings in a wide radius of damage.

The attack overnight on Monday into Tuesday was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the biggest bombardments of the war, now in its fourth year, according to Associated Press.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday downplayed any notion that his supporters are cooling on him amid uncertainty over whether he will order a U.S. strike on Iran, addressing a rift between some of his most vocal MAGA backers and national security conservatives, Associated Press reported.

“My supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m more in love with them, more than they even were at election time where we had a total landslide,” Trump told reporters as a new flagpole was erected at the White House, with machinery whirring in the background.

“I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, but I have some people that are very happy, and I have people outside of the base that can’t believe that this is happening, they’re so happy,” he said.

Trump huddled Tuesday in the Situation Room with his national security team, and on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon was providing Trump with possible options on Iran but would not say whether the military was planning to assist with Israeli strikes, according to Associated Press.

An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing “extensive damage,” according to the medical facility. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke, Associated Press reported.

Separate Iranian strikes hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. At least 40 people were wounded, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel’s multi-tiered air defenses, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect, according to Associated Press.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 400 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 195, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 195, 900 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by 25 and is being traded at Rs 2, 200 per tola today.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a travel advisory urging Nepali nationals to remain cautious in the context of ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.

The ministry on Wednesday issued an advisory concerning Nepali citizens planning to travel to Israel, Iran, or other countries in the Middle East for visits or foreign employment.

The ministry in the press release has urged Nepali citizens planning to travel to Israel and Iran for foreign employment or other purposes not to undertake such travels and visits until the current conflicting situation persists.

Similarly, the advisory also states that Nepali citizens preparing to travel to other countries in the Middle East beside Israel and Iran, for visits or foreign employment or other purposes should postpone such travels as long as the current volatile situation remains.

The Nepal government has noted that it is closely monitoring the situation, and that Nepali citizens currently residing there have so far remained safe.

According to the ministry, appropriate actions will be taken to protect the interests of Nepali nationals residing over there.

With the closure of air routes between Israel and Iran, Nepali citizens wishing to return to Nepal voluntarily may need to obtain a 'transit visa' for a third country. The ministry's release noted necessary measures will be taken to facilitate this process.

The ministry has requested Nepali citizens residing in Israel and Iran to adopt safety precautions and keep indoors except for essential movement.

They are also requested to continuously follow and adopt safety advisories of the Israeli authorities.

The ministry has urged the Nepali community to remain in regular touch with the Nepali embassy and regularly check the information issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy.

In case of an emergency, it is advised to register their details through the 'online link' available on the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Service Department, and Nepali Embassy.

The Gwarko Overpass is planned to operate officially from Friday where Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to inaugurate the fly over. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has informed that vehicles will be operated from the overpass with the inauguration. Last Saturday, the leadership of the Road Department, including Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Devendra Dahal, had inspected the site and directed it to prepare for vehicle operation. Pradeep Bhandari, Senior Divisional Engineer of the Road Department, Quality, Research and Development Center, informed that preparations have been made for vehicle operation with the completion of the main structure of the overpass. The construction of the overpass was started in 2021.

Although the project was scheduled to be completed by Feb 2024, the deadline was extended several times. Bhandari informed that after the construction of the main structure, lane separators, lining, and traffic lights were completed, the vehicle operation is now in a state of readiness, Bhandari said. After the operation of this overpass, vehicles will not have to wait long at Gwarko and will be able to move around continuously.

The government had started the construction of an overpass at Gwarko Chowk to manage the heavy traffic on the Kathmandu Valley Ring Road. The first overpass was built at Gwarko Chowk among the three congested areas on the expanded road section from Koteshwor to Kalanki under the Ring Road Expansion Project. The overpass, which is 6 meters high and 455 meters long, has a ground clearance of 6 meters and a ramp of 180 meters on the right and 110 meters on the left for vehicles to board.

On 24 Feb 2022, Ashish-Samanantar Religare JV won the overpass contract for 176.88m through a national level competition. After it was not completed by the initial deadline, it was extended for two times. As per the said agreement, the 40-meter reconstruction of the overpass was postponed for another month. He said that the target of completing the Gwarko overpass by April 2025 was set, but the construction was postponed for another month due to rain. The overpass under construction at Gwarko Chowk in Lalitpur has been taken forward under the Engineering-Procurement and Construction (EPC) model. Under this model, there is a provision that the contractor company has to pay compensation if the construction is not completed within the specified period. The Road Department, Quality, Research and Development Center, which is paying compensation accordingly, has stated.

After the first extension of the deadline, the construction company had to complete the work by 23 Dec 2024. After that, a compensation of 0.05 percent of the contract cost must be paid for each day after that. It is said that the compensation amount will increase with the delay and will reach a maximum of 10 percent (after 2000 days).

The construction of the Gwarko overpass is expected to ease traffic on the Satdobato-Koteshwor road section of the ring road and the Mangal Bazar-Imadol-Lubu road section. However, it will not solve the traffic jams in the long term, says transportation expert Ashish Gajurel. Although the wide road will provide relief from the traffic jam problem for some time, he says that the problem of traffic jams will recur after the number of vehicles gradually increases.

As the number of vehicles is increasing day by day, the traffic problem is sure to arise again after some time. Traffic management has become a huge challenge in the Kathmandu Valley, where about 1.4m vehicles ply, in recent years. This problem, which has arisen due to the increasing number of vehicles, does not seem to be easily solved immediately. He says that public transport should be operated effectively to reduce traffic pressure. According to him, there are 6.5m registered vehicles in Nepal, where the number of public vehicles is less than 4 percent. 80 percent of the total number of vehicles are motorcycles. “If there is reliable public transport, consumers will change their mode of transport,” he said, “only this will prevent road jams in the long term.”

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 1. 28 points to close at 2,653.47 points on Wednesday.  

The sensitive index, however, surged by 0. 49 points to close at 452. 97 points.

A total of 23,446,949-unit shares of 314 companies were traded for Rs 9. 08 billion.

Meanwhile, Pure Energy Limited (PURE) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Corporate Development Bank Limited (CORBL) was the top loser as its price fell by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 42 trillion.