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Weather conditions across the country are expected to gradually improve starting today (Tuesday).

Some hilly regions in the Bagmati and Koshi Provinces experienced rain on Monday.

Shanti Kandel, a senior meteorologist at the Weather Forecasting Division, noted that light rain may continue in the hilly areas of Bagmati, Koshi, and Gandaki Provinces throughout the day.

There is also a chance of light rain in hilly areas of other provinces and some parts of the Terai region. Kandel emphasized that this rainfall is not expected to significantly impact conditions.

Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours.

The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on Election Day on Tuesday.

Trump predicted a "landslide", while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that "we have momentum -- it's on our side."

The 2024 race is going down to the wire, with more key states effectively tied at this point than in any comparable election. Over 77.6 million people have cast early votes, around half of the total ballots cast in 2020.

With the clock ticking, Harris, 60, spent the day in Michigan where she risks losing the critical support of a 200,000-strong Arab-American community that has denounced US handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

"As president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza," Harris said at the start of her speech at Michigan State University, noting that there were leaders of the community present.

But the rest of the speech was upbeat, with Harris spending more time on urging people to get out and vote than on attacks on Trump.

"We got two days to get this done," she said.

Earlier, Harris quoted scripture in a majority-Black church in Detroit, Michigan and urging Americans to look beyond Trump.

"Let us turn the page and write the next chapter of our history," she said.

Trump on Sunday zigzagged through Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia -- the three biggest swing-state prizes in the Electoral College system that awards US states influence according to their population.

The 78-year-old Trump, the oldest major party candidate in US history, added to his increasingly dark rhetoric by musing to supporters in Lititz, Pennsylvania, that he wouldn't mind if journalists were shot.

Discussing his near-miss assassination attempt against him in July, he said to laughter that to be hit again "somebody would have to shoot through the fake news -- and I don't mind that so much."

Trump called Democrats "demonic" and, despite no evidence of any meaningful election cheating so far, claimed that Democrats in Pennsylvania "are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing."

Adding to fears that he would not accept a defeat in 2024, Trump added that he "shouldn't have left" the White House after he lost his 2020 reelection effort to Joe Biden.

Trump meanwhile said in Macon, Georgia, that he had asked vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who dropped his own presidential bid to support Trump, to work on "women's health" and "pesticides."

His comments came a day after Kennedy caused consternation by saying that a Trump White House would order US water systems to remove fluoride from public water supplies.

Later in another rambling speech in Kinston, North Carolina Trump said "we're going to have on Tuesday a landslide that's too big to rig."

The polls however show that the result is likely to be historically tight.

A final New York Times/Siena poll Sunday flagged incremental changes in swing states, but the results from all seven remained within the margin of error.

Harris got a boost Saturday as the final Des Moines Register poll for Iowa -- seen as a highly credible test of wider public sentiment -- showed a stunning turnaround, with Harris ahead in a state won easily by Trump in 2016 and 2020.

In the last hours, both candidates are desperately trying to shore up their bases, and win over any undecided voters.

Pollsters have noted an erosion in Black support for Harris.

But with abortion rights a top voter concern, her campaign has hailed the large proportion of women turning out among early voters. AFP

The Chandragiri Municipality is to present its Voluntary Local Review (VLR) report in the 12th World Urban Forum (WUF).

The WUF12 kicked off today in Cairo, Egypt. The international conference is being held under the auspices of the UN HABITAT and will run until November 8.

Chandragiri prepared the VLR report localizing some thematic areas of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Mayor of Chandragiri Municipality, Ghanashyam Giri, left for Cairo on Saturday to participate in the conference. In addition to presenting the VLR report on behalf of the municipality, he will also share the works being done by the municipality.

Chief Administrative Officer of Chandragiri Municipality, Hemraj Aryal, said the VLR report helps to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.

“Our main goal is to create a sustainable city by localizing sustainable development goals, as our overall policies, plans and programs are focused on this,” he said, adding, "This is a great opportunity for our municipality to be presenting the report at the World Urban Forum."

The number of people making national identity cards has increased after the government made it mandatory for availing various services.

A total of 6,556 people made national identity cards at the District Administration Office last year. More than 80 people come to the national identity card branch office every day.

Chief District Officer Ram Bahadur Shahi said that 1,229 people had registered their applications for the National Identity Card till mid-October of the current financial year.

The DAO has mobilized a team to make national identity cards in all the eight local levels of the district. There has been an increase in the number of people making their passports in preparation for going abroad for foreign employment.

Bananas worth Rs 50 million have been imported to Janakpurdham, the capital of Madesh, from India for the near-coming Chhath festival.

Banana is considered a must fruit for the people observing the festival, especially for those fasting on the occasion.

President of Janakpur Fruits and Vegetables Traders Committee, Bishweshwar Yadav said since bananas are offered to God as an argha during the Chhath festival, the demand for the fruit is high. Since, the local produce is not enough there is a compulsion to import from neighboring India.

He shared that last year bananas worth more than Rs 40 million had been imported, which increased to Rs 50 million this year.

Various varieties of bananas are imported to Janakpurdham from Assam, West Bengal, Hajipur, Thakurganj and Champaran, said Bhuvneshwar Purve, Secretary of Fruit and Vegetable Traders Committee. The price of bananas has increased by 20 percent this year compared to the previous year. Bananas are being sold at a price ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1, 000 per spike.

Traders say that even though there is a lot of potential for banana production in Nepal the local production does not meet the demand. In addition, the price of bananas coming from India is cheaper than bananas produced in the country so in the border areas they are imported from India.

The most important day of Tihar, the five-day festival of lights, is being observed today. Sisters throughout the country offer tika to their brothers wishing them happiness, long life and prosperity on the occasion of Bhai Tika.

The auspicious hour for offering the tika is 11:37 am for this year's Bhai Tika. However, it can take place until sunset, says Chairperson of National Calendar Determination Committee, Prof Shree Krishna Adhikari.

On this day, brothers are seated at a specially anointed place around which a trail of mustard oil is drawn. The sisters then offer the brothers tika and garlands of 'dubo' and 'makhamali'.         After placing colorful tika on the foreheads of their brothers, sisters offer them a treat consisting of varieties of sweets, walnut, spices and 'Sel', a special kind of bread cooked in oil.

Brothers also offer their sisters tika in return, wishing them happiness and good luck, and give them presents.

The occasion commemorates a legendary event in which a sister has won a boon from "Yama", the deity of death that her brother would not die until the mustard oil is dried up and the garland of 'dubo' and 'makhamali' faded.

The Bhai Tika tradition is so strong in Nepali society that even those who have no brothers or sisters of their own receive tika from others whom they regard as brothers and sisters.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the government would forward the process to include Nepal Bhasa in school-level curriculum.

After garlanding the statue of the founder of Nepal Sambat and national luminary Shankhadhar Sakhwa at Sankhadhar Sakhwa chowk, Madhyapur Thimi, today, Prime Minister Oli underlined that he personally and from the position of Prime Minister was ready to protect language, culture and civilization.

At a programme organized by Shankhadhar Sakhwa Foundation, he mentioned that some genuine demands of the Foundation would be fulfilled gradually as per the capacity of the state. 

"The Foundation has demanded to include Nepal Bhasa as the secondary level optional subject in curriculum. It can be included in the curriculum as optional subjects like Maithili, Bhojpuri but it cannot be announced here today without making any decision", added PM Oli.

The Prime Minister shared that different initiatives are underway from government-level to protect Nepal Bhasa, stating that Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), Nepal Television and Radio Nepal have started disseminating and broadcasting news in Nepal Bhasa in this connection.

Saying Bhaktapur is considered as the living museum, he said the government was committed to preserving the historical arts and culture here. 

Similarly, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, mentioned that Shankhadhar Sakhwa had given identity of patriotism and nationalism even at that time. 

Likewise, Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Surendra Shrestha shared that the municipality is organizing Madhyapur festival in the Nepali month of Poush in order to spread historical arts, culture and tradition of the district in the world.

On the occasion, PM Oli honored 63-year-old organization, Nhyajya Khala Thimi and leader of Nepal Sambat and member of Language Commission, Suresh Kiram Manandhar, with Shankhadhar Samman.

The flower fields of Nepal's Gundu village glimmer yellow, orange and purple as women harvest blooms, a flourishing industry changing tough village lives by providing garlands for Hindu festivals.

Nestled on the rim of Kathmandu Valley, Gundu is renowned for supplying the brightly-coloured globe amaranth and marigold flowers, with demand surging for this week's Tihar celebrations, also known as Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

At dawn, the village women gather in the fields to harvest the blooms that will, by the day's end, be woven into garlands to adorn homes and temples.

The women of Gundu have turned this seasonal bloom into a thriving industry, despite a labor-intensive process of picking and weaving them into garlands.

"This has provided more jobs for women of our village," said flower farmer Saraswoti Bista, 56.

"We don't have to leave home, and by weaving garlands, we earn a good income," she added.

Nepal, a majority-Hindu Himalayan nation, has a GDP per capita of $1,324, according to the World Bank.

The flourishing trade has transformed Gundu into a model for flower production, with nearly 500 households supplying over one million garlands every year, generating over $133,000, according to the local village authority.

As the festival peaks, garlands spill from rooftops and porches, filling the village with vibrant purple, red, and orange, a floral hub in Nepal.

The dramatic deep purple-coloured globe amaranth, known in Nepal as makhmali, is in special demand during the five-day festival of Tihar.

The dried blooms can last for months -- or even years -- with proper care.

The garlands are given by sisters to their brothers on the fifth day of Tihar, as a symbolic offering wishing for their long life.

Nepal produced an estimated 2.5 million garlands of globe amaranth flowers in 2024, a 10 percent increase since last year, according to the Floriculture Association Nepal.

"It also supplies to different countries," said flower association representative Dilip Bade.

The country is set to export 200,000 garlands, valued at $1.4 million, to the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Europe, according to the floriculture association.

But while the flower industry is blossoming, heavy flooding worsened by climate change hit the floriculture sector hard, resulting in estimated losses of over $1.1 million. AFP