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Police have arrested a foreign national with 6.24 kg of cocaine from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday.

A team from the Narcotics Control Bureau nabbed a national of Latvia, Ivars Valters, from the arrival area of the TIA.

The cocaine was hidden inside a suitcase, said Police Spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki.

Further investigation into the case is underway.

was underway after taking permission to extend his remand from the District Court Kathmandu on drug case.

Meanwhile, two persons were held with 15.500 milligrams of brown sugar, Rs 40,000 and three mobile sets from New Bus Park in Kathmandu. 

They are Pawan Kumar Mehata (24) of Rajbiraj Municipality-9 and Anil Pariyar (27), of Triyuga Municipality-7 in Udaypur.

Similarly, Dharmendra Singh (33) of Golbazaar Municipality-6 and Anil Sah (33) of Mirchaiya Municipaity-5 in Siraha were arrested with 640 mg of brown sugar and two mobile sets from their rented room at Narephant of Kathmandu.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 146, 600 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 146, 300 per tola on Wednesday.

The price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 12 and is being traded at Rs 1,690 per tola today.

Bangladesh is set to get a new, interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus on Thursday, after weeks of tumultuous student protests forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India, Reuters reported.

Yunus, 84, Bangladesh’s only Nobel laureate and a harsh critic of Hasina, was recommended for the job by the student protesters who led the campaign against Hasina.

He was expected to be sworn in as chief adviser along with a team of advisers later on Thursday in an interim government which the army chief said may include 15 members, although discussions on the names continued till late on Wednesday.

Hasina’s Awami League party was not involved in all-party discussions led by army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, who announced Hasina’s resignation on Monday.

Her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said in a Facebook post late on Wednesday that the party had not given up yet and was ready to hold talks with opponents and the administration.

“I had said my family will no longer be involved in politics but the way our party leaders and workers are being attacked, we cannot give up,” Joy said, according to Reuters.

Yunus is known as the ‘banker to the poor’ and was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for founding a bank that pioneered fighting poverty with small loans to needy borrowers.

He is due to arrive in the capital Dhaka from Paris on Thursday, where he had been receiving medical treatment.

“I’m looking forward to going back home and see what’s happening there and how we can organise ourselves to get out of the trouble that we’re in,” Yunus said before he boarded a flight on Wednesday evening.

Hasina’s dramatic exit on Monday from the country she ruled for four terms - and was reelected to a fifth in January - triggered jubilation and violence across Bangladesh, as crowds stormed and ransacked her official residence unopposed.

She fled to neighbouring India where she is taking shelter at an air base near the capital New Delhi.

Student protests against quotas for government jobs spiralled in July, killing about 300 people and injuring thousands, as demonstrations were met with a violent crackdown that was criticised internationally although the government denied using excessive force.

The protests were fuelled by tough economic conditions and political repression as well.

After years of strong growth as the garment industry expanded, the $450 billion economy struggled with costly imports, inflation and unemployment and the government had sought a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Yunus and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Hasina’s main political opponent, called for calm and an end to violence on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

“No destruction, revenge or vengeance,” said Hasina’s arch rival and BNP leader Khaleda Zia, 78, in a video address from her hospital bed to hundreds of her supporters at a rally in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Zia, who was released from house arrest on Tuesday, and her exiled son Tarique Rahman, addressed the rally and called for national elections to be held within three months.

On Wednesday, a court overturned Yunus’ conviction in a labour case in which he was handed a six-month jail sentence in January. Yunus had called his prosecution political, part of a campaign by Hasina to quash dissent.

“Let us make the best use of our new victory,” Yunus said.

Shri Avinash Kumar Singh, First Secretary, Embassy of India, Kathmandu inaugurated the ward building of Dhulikhel Hospital at Dhulikhel Municipality, Kavrepalanchowk, built with Government of India’s financial assistance at the total project cost of Rs 42.60 million under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’.

Dhulikhel Municipality mayor, political representatives, government officials, representatives of the hospital management and social workers were also present on the occasion.

The Government of India grant under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’ was utilized for the construction of ward building with other facilities for this hospital. The project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), under an Agreement between Government of India and Government of Nepal.

This project was implemented through Dhulikhel Municipality, Kavrepalanchowk. The project is an important example of the robust development partnership between India and Nepal.

Dhulikhel Municipality mayor, political representatives and executive director, administrative director, Dhulikhel Hospital in their remarks appreciated the continued developmental support of the Government of India in upliftment of the people of Nepal in priority sectors

The set-up of ward building will help provide quality infrastructure and improved environment for health care service to the people in Nepal.

Since 2003, the Government of India has taken up over 551 HICDPs in Nepal in various sectors and has completed 490 projects.

Amongst these, 106 projects are in Bagmati Province in various sectors, including     seven projects in Kavrepalanchowk.

In addition to these, the Government of India has gifted 1,009 ambulances and 300 school buses to various hospitals, health posts and educational institutions in Nepal. 

Amongst these, 236 ambulances and 98 school buses have been gifted in Bagmati Province, including eight school buses and 16 ambulances provided in Kavrepalanchowk District in which 1 Ambulance (Advanced Life Support) was also gifted to this  Hospital in January 2021 by GoI.

This Ambulance is serving in the first line of treatment and contributing significantly for emergency health care.

As close neighbors, India and Nepal share wide-ranging and multi-sectoral cooperation.                  

The implementation of HICDPs reflects the continued support of the Government of India in bolstering the efforts of the Government of Nepal in upliftment of its people, augmenting infrastructure in the field of priority sectors. 

The Nepal government has called for the Oman government to consider establishing its Embassy in Kathmandu.

Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal made the request in a meeting with the high-ranking officials of Oman on Wednesday.

In the first meeting of the Nepal-Oman Bilateral Consultation Mechanism held in Muscat, Foreign Secretary Lamsal emphasized on the need for collaboration in the areas of mutual interests.

During the meeting, the leaders of the delegation reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction on the excellent state of relations existing between Nepal and Oman since 1977, informed the Muscat-based Nepali Embassy.

They discussed the bilateral relations and agreed to promote cooperation encompassing all sectors, especially the exchange of high-level visits, trade, investment, economic cooperation, agriculture, energy, tourism, labor and foreign employment, culture, education and direct air connectivity.

They expressed firm commitment to further enhance partnership in mutually agreed areas and to work together toward realizing economic opportunities for mutual benefits apart from creating more opportunities to promote people-to-people engagement.

Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal thanked the Government of Oman for providing employment to more than 21,000 Nepalis and emphasized on providing additional opportunities in view of His Majesty’s Oman Vision 2040 strategy.

She stressed the exploration of the untapped potential in economic, cultural and educational areas and proposed to establish meaningful collaborative partnership including in the private sector.

She further urged the Omani side to explore investment opportunities in Nepal including in hydropower, tourism and collaboration in the green hydrogen sector.

On the occasion, Undersecretary Sheikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Issa Alharthy expressed willingness to promote the cooperation between Nepal and Oman in all the mutually agreed sectors and hoped to conclude the pending MOUs.

He underscored the potential of the bilateral relationship and emphasized upon working together to realize the actual benefits and also mentioned about the positive and hardworking nature of Nepali workers.

Both sides shared views on maintaining the tradition of regular exchange of high-level visits.

They also expressed commitment to cooperate with each other at various multilateral forums including the United Nations.

Both the sides deliberated to enhance the existing state of excellent relations through diversification of engagements in multiple sectors.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Lamsal paid a courtesy call on Dr Mahad bin Said bin Ali Baowain, Minister of Labor, Sultanate of Oman. Matters related to the mutual cooperation including MoU in the field of labor and human resource exchange, employment opportunity, among others were also discussed.

Nepal-Oman Bilateral Consultations Mechanism was established in 2017.

Next meeting of the mechanism will be held in Kathmandu on mutually convenient dates.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has predicted cloudy weather and rainfall at different places of the country today as well.

There is an influence of monsoon wind across the country and the low-pressure line of the monsoon is around an average area.

According to the weather bulletin published by the Department, the weather is partly to fully cloudy in Koshi, Madhes and Bagmati Provinces and generally cloudy in the rest of the provinces.

Light to moderate rainfall is taking place at some places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces.

The weather will be generally cloudy throughout the country today with chances of light to moderate rain accompanied by thunder and lightning at some places of Koshi, Madhes, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces.

According to the Department, heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places of Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim Provinces. Similarly, light to moderate rainfall is likely to occur at a few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim Provinces and heavy rainfall at one or two places of Koshi, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim Provinces tonight.

The Department has urged all the concerned to stay alert for safety.

An aircraft belonging to the Turkish Airlines has overshot in course of its landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu.

According to flight radar, the plane, which was scheduled to land at 6:10 am today, landed 20 minutes after overshoot.

The airport office said the aircraft overshot due to 'missed approach'.

According to an air traffic controller (ATC), the aircraft overshot after an 'unstable approach'.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 108.35 points to close at 2,759.67 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 18.90 points to close at 383. 46 points.

A total of 38,041,267-unit shares of 330 companies were traded for Rs 17. 95 billion.

Meanwhile, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited (BNL), Goodwill Finance Limited (GFCL), Samriddhi Finance Company Limited (SFCL), Progressive Finance Limited (PROFL) and Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited (NRIC) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, 10% Sanima Bank Limited Debenture (SAND2085) was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 38 trillion.