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Dengue has been confirmed in 18,339 people in Gandaki Province in the last 10 months.

The Ministry of Health of the provincial government stated that eight people died due to the disease. The first casualty of dengue was a 48-year-old man from Tanahun who died on July 25, 2024.

Since then, a 40-year-old man died due to dengue on August 6 and a 52-year-old woman died on August 15 in Kaski while a 61-year-old male died in Myagdi on September 4. Similarly, four women, aged 81, 70, 75 and 26 died due to dengue in Kaski on September 6, September 18, September 30 and October 20, respectively, the Ministry stated.

During this period, the highest number of 8,979 dengue cases were reported in Kaski and the lowest six cases in Manang district in the province, Prashanta Raj Sharma, Information Officer at the Ministry, said.

According to Sharma, dengue was confirmed in 8,858 persons in Pokhara Metropolitan City, the province capital, alone. He said 12 local levels in the province are so far untouched by the disease.

Dengue was found in 70 people in the province last January whereas 6,267 people were infected with the disease until September. The number of cases was 6,044 in October and it is 947 since the start of November till date, the Ministry said.

It is confirmed that the poliovirus found in a sample of the sewage taken from the Tukucha rivulet in Kathmandu last July is not contagious.

Lily Shrestha, the Medical Chief at the National Public Health Laboratory, said that the virus detected in the sample is not polio infectious. The test was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand.

"We did not again find the poliovirus from the tests carried out from time to time on the samples collected from the sewage and other places to determine whether the virus found in the Tukucha rivulet had spread or not. If that virus had spread, it would have been detected in the sewage mixed in the rivulet. This was not the case and we confirmed that it was not the poliovirus," she explained.

Poliovirus was found in a sample collected from the confluence of Bagmati and Tukucha rivulet near Tripureshwar of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-12 last July.

Chief of the Child Health and Immunization Section, Department of Health Services, Dr Abhiyan Gautam, said that samples have been continuously collected and tested 13 times after the detection of the poliovirus in the sample collected from Tukucha rivulet, but it was not detected again.

The Section has been collecting samples and testing them for the presence of poliovirus since 2017. Samples are collected from the Bagmati, Dhobikhola, Manahara, Bishnumati rivers in Kathmandu and tested two times monthly for the presence of poliovirus, Dr Gautam added.

Similarly, samples are collected and tested for the presence of poliovirus once a month in Pokhara, Biratnagar and Janakpur.

Dr Gautam said that polio infection has not been found in the country since 2010.

Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), has announced that industries failing to pay their dedicated and trunk line dues will face power cuts again within 15 days. Ghising stated that although service was temporarily restored based on a Council of Ministers decision, industries were given a 15-day window to settle outstanding dues.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Ghising explained that the government has instructed NEA to collect arrears within this period, requiring industries to pay according to the government’s decision. He maintained that the discounted bills for dedicated and trunk lines are accurate, as they are based on Time of Day (TOD) meters, and clarified that NEA will not issue new bills. Industrialists are expected to settle dues based on the current bills.

Some industrialists have contested the accuracy of these bills, taking the matter to court. However, both the Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Public Accounts Committee, along with other bodies, have upheld the disputed bills as correct, dismissing approximately 90 cases. Ghising reiterated that as NEA is bound by its legal framework as a commission, decisions on such bills should not come from other administrative bodies.

The Electricity Regulatory Commission has instructed NEA to offer installment payments but not reconnect service until the first installment is paid. Despite repeated offers to pay in installments, Ghising claims that industries continue to politicize the issue instead of paying their dues.

Following a three-month grace period without payment, NEA disconnected power to delinquent industries on October 24. The authority reconnected service with a plan for 28 installment payments. As of now, approximately 14 industries have paid their first installment, and NEA has again issued a 15-day ultimatum after a cabinet decision on November 10 to reconnect within 24 hours, collect arrears within 15 days based on TOD meters, and implement the Lal Commission report on the dedicated and trunk line arrears.

The Lal Commission Report, established by former judge Girish Chandra Lal under the Prachanda government, aims to resolve the arrears dispute. In response to the government’s directive, NEA’s board of directors reconnected lines on Tuesday and set a deadline to collect dues within 15 days.

Initially, 339 industries were dedicated trunkline customers, most of whom paid their dues, according to NEA data. Of the remaining 39 industries, seven are under a court-ordered stay, while about 28 have yet to pay any installments. Ghising warned that if dues are not settled within the 15-day period, NEA will initiate the disconnection process once more.

Ghising emphasized the need for a long-term solution to avoid the recurring cycle of disconnections and unpaid dues, noting that NEA's financial health is increasingly at risk. “We cut about 200,000 lines each year for overdue payments, even for as little as Rs 1,000. Due to these arrears, collection rates have dropped from over 95% to around 80-85%. If this continues, NEA’s financial position may reach a critical state,” Ghising said.

According to him, NEA must raise about Rs 10-11 billion in revenue monthly, with Rs 7-8 billion allocated to pay independent power producers under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and Rs 2 billion for administrative and maintenance costs. The reduced budget provided by the government, down from Rs 30 billion to Rs 3-4 billion, is insufficient even to cover taxes.

He noted that NEA circulates about Rs 1.5 billion in the market, significantly impacting the broader economy.

President Ram Chandra Paudel returned home this morning from Baku, Azerbaijan by attending the 29th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker of House of Representatives (HoR) Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal, and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak welcomed the President at the VVIP Lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport.

A contingent of the Nepali Army accorded a guard of honor to the President on the occasion.

Ministers, lawmakers, high-level government officials and the chiefs of security bodies had also reached the airport to welcome the President.

President Paudel had left for Baku on November 10 to attend the COP29 at the invitation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Along with the President, First Lady Sabita Paudel, President Paudel's Water and Environment Expert Parameshwor Pokharel, Secretary at the Office of the President Narayan Prasad Sharma, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister Krishna Hari Pushkar, President's Personal Secretary Abagya Paudel, Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai, Executive Chairman of Rastriya Samachar Samiti Dharmendra Jha and President's Communication Expert Kiran Kumar Pokharel also returned home.

Eight persons died and six others were critically injured in a jeep accident in Darchula on Friday.

According to police, the four-wheeler (Ma 1 Ja 338) was heading towards Gokuleshwor from Malikarjun Jatra when the incident occurred in Sirad river of Shailyashikar Municipality-5 at around 4 am today.   

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Prakash Dahal said that the deceased have been identified as Birendra Rawal (30) and Shanti Rawal (28) of Shailyashikar Municipality-5, Dilip Bista (45) of Shailyashikar Municipality-9 and Sanjib Bohora (15) and Birandra Bohara (50) of Dilashaini-5 in Baitadi district and Mina Lekhak (40).

Likewise, Mohammad Safir (45) and Mohammad Basim (18) of Uttar Pradesh, India also died in the mishap, DSP Dahal said. Identity of one is not ascertained as yet. 

All the injured have been taken to Gokuleshwor Hospital.

Police said that they are looking into the incident.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

This year’s monsoon proved more fatal than the previous year’s.

Government data don’t lie, do they?

According to the  National Disaster Risk Reduction Authority under the Ministry of Home Affairs, this year's monsoon disasters caused the highest human casualties in Nepal since 2009 and five times more than the last year’s.

This year’s monsoon, which entered earlier compared to previous years but stayed 10 days more than usual, wreaked unprecedented havoc between June 10 and October 12 in an ill-prepared and multiple disasters-prone country standing shakily on a seismic fault-zone.  

During the period, 494 people lost their lives (marking an increase of 537 per cent compared to the last year), 66 went missing and 532 suffered injuries in 2,136 monsoon-related incidents that affected 5,937 families.

This monsoon, floods affected 2,227 families in 397 locations, with 90 human casualties, 18 cases of missing and 45 injuries. In 943 reported landslides, 343 people died, 48 went missing and 276 sustained injuries, directly impacting 1,561 families, according to the authority.

Incidents of heavy rainfall recorded in 538 locations killed nine people and caused injuries to 38 others, affecting 1,814 families. 

In 258 incidents of lightning recorded during the period, 52 people died and 164 suffered injuries, affecting 335 families, per the authority’s data.

From June 14 to October 15 last year, the authority recorded 891 monsoon-related incidents that killed 92 people, 30 went missing and 168 suffered injuries.

It’s clear that stepped-up disaster preparedness could have minimized the scale of the monsoon tragedy in a country that is very susceptible to natural disasters worsened by climate change.

After the monsoon havoc, the winter has arrived, exposing a large number of survivors, including children, women and senior citizens, to multiple challenges like food shortages, lack of shelters, health and hygiene issues and disruption of education.

The onus is on government authorities at federal, provincial and local levels to act in tandem and take urgent measures to ensure the survivors’ well-being, and prove the opening line entirely wrong in this context. 

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has announced to give a prize of Rs 250,000 to each female cricket player who for the first time entered in the U-19 World Cup.

CAN spokesperson Chumbi Lama informed that the officials included in the team will be honored with a prize of Rs 150,000.

Nepal achieved a historic achievement in the U-19 World Cup for the first time by winning by eight wickets against the home team UAE in the match held in Ajman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday.

Nepal are placed in the World Cup by adding 10 points from six games.

Similarly, the UAE scored the same 10 points from the same match, Nepal managed to get a place in the World Cup by being ahead in net run rate.

The U-19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Malaysia in 2025.

In addition to the WAC, Nepal have also been selected for the U-19 Asia Cup. Nepal have also been selected for the U-19 Women's Asia Cup organized by ACC in December.

Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malaysia will participate in U-19 Asia Cup cricket along with Nepal.

US Special Envoy for Youth Affairs Abby Finkenauer arrived in Nepal on Thursday.

According to the American Embassy in Kathmandu, Special Envoy Finkenauer is scheduled to meet the Nepali youth leaders during her visit. 

The envoy will participate in a youth-focused program to promote democracy and civic engagement in different sectors.

Her main role is to augment the voice of the youth and establish meaningful relationships with them.

The Embassy further said Finkenauer's visit would help strengthen international relations and help youths in building a democratic future and a prosperous Nepal.