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The monsoon winds continue to affect the weather condition across the country at present.

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the low-pressure line of the monsoon is towards the south of its average location in the west and around average location in the east.

At present, it is partly to generally cloudy throughout the country. Light rain is taking place at one or two places in Gandaki and Bagmati Provinces. The weather will be partly to generally cloudy throughout the country today.

Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at some places of the country. Heavy rainfall is also likely to occur at one or two places of Koshi, Gandaki, Lumbini and Karnali Provinces. Similarly, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly region and partly cloudy in the rest of the country tonight.

Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at a few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces and at one or two places of rest of the provinces.

Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at some places of the country in the next 24 hours.

Heavy rainfall is also likely to occur at one or two places of Koshi, Gandaki, Lumbini and Karnali Provinces.

The Department has urged the authorities concerned to take necessary precautions to avoid the risk or damage of disasters like floods, landslides and soil erosion in those areas and this may partially affect daily life as well as agriculture, health, tourism, mountaineering, road and air transport in those areas.

The Government of Japan has provided a grant of Japanese Yen 454 million (approximately Rs 423 million) to Nepal to contribute to the implementation of the Project for Human Resource Development for the fiscal year 2024-25.

An agreement in this regard was formalized today with the signing and exchange of notes by both sides at the Ministry of Finance.

Dr Ram Prasad Ghimire, Secretary at the Finance Ministry, and Kikuta Yutaka, Japan's Ambassador to Nepal, signed the agreement from their respective sides.

The Japanese Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) Programme began in Nepal in 2015 with support from the Government of Japan and it is continuing phase-wise, the Ministry said in a press release.

The current grant will support the scholarship programme for 22 candidates: 20 for a two-year Master's Degree and two for a three-year PhD course at various universities in Japan.

To date, 127 JDS fellows including 125 master's degree holders and two doctoral degree holders have completed their studies in Japan and returned to Nepal while 35 are presently pursuing master's degrees and three PhD there.

During the signing ceremony, Secretary Dr Ghimire said that the scholarship programme will enhance the capabilities of Nepal's civil service, contributing to improving the public service delivery. As he hoped, it will also contribute to strengthening the bilateral relations between Nepal and Japan.

Ambassador Kikuta expressed his confidence that the JDS graduates will significantly impact Nepal's development and further enhance the longstanding cooperation between the two nations.

The government has expressed sincere appreciation and thanks to the Government of Japan for its continuous and generous support and commitment to the socio-economic and human resource development of Nepal.

More than 1,300 Nepali workers, who went abroad for employment through legal means, lost their lives in the last fiscal (2023-24), per government data. According to the Foreign Employment Board, 1,346 of the workers registered with the board died in 2023-24.

The highest number of deaths occurred due to various diseases and illnesses, with 321 workers falling victim to sickness.

During the reporting period, 199 workers died from heart attacks, 192 committed suicide, 157 died of natural causes and 157 lost their lives in road accidents. Additionally, 92 workers lost their lives due to other causes, and 46 died in workplace accidents.

Over the past year, 741,000 Nepalis—661,000 men and 80,000 women—went abroad for work, marking a surge in outmigration from a country that sees about 700,000 people seek foreign employment each year.

Government data indicate that around 1,000 Nepali workers die abroad each year, with four deaths occurring daily. 

A yearly surge in the number of Nepali migrant workers has led to an increase in fatalities of Nepalis abroad.

Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, 3,887 Nepali workers lost their lives, while in 2021-22, there were 1,479 deaths, followed by 1,030 deaths in 2022-23, and 1,346 in 2023-24.

Foreign employment experts attribute a high death rate among Nepali workers to a large number of unskilled laborers going abroad. In 2023-24, 145,000 unskilled workers and 532,000 workers with general skills left Nepal for foreign employment whereas only 60,000 semi-skilled and 732 highly-skilled workers went abroad.

Despite these fatalities, only the families of workers who went abroad with a valid work permit are eligible for compensation. If a worker dies within the period of work permit, the board provides compensation of Rs 700,000 to the bereaved family.

The board informed that it distributed Rs 699.9m as compensation to the families of workers who lost their lives abroad in the last fiscal.

Per capita energy consumption reached 400 units in the last fiscal year, according to data released by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Following the end of load shedding in the country and the regular supply of electricity, energy consumption has tripled. 

In the fiscal year 2015/16, energy consumption was 3.72bn units, but by 2023/24, it had increased to 10.2bn units. Over the span of eight years, the country’s energy consumption grew by 6.51bn units. Last year, 4.31bn units were consumed domestically, while industrial consumers used 3.69bn units. Eight years ago, per capita energy consumption was just 131 units.

Eight years ago, there was eight hours of daily load shedding even during the rainy season, with projections of up to 14 hours per day in winter. Starting in Oct 2016, load shedding was eliminated for domestic consumers in the Kathmandu Valley and gradually in other major cities, followed by the end of load shedding for industrial consumers. By April 2022, the entire country was declared load shedding-free.

At that time, only 58 percent of households had access to electricity. Today, electricity reaches 99 percent of households, with 97 percent connected to the national grid and two percent powered by small hydropower, solar energy, and other sources. The number of electricity consumers has grown from around 3m to approximately 5.9m, including community users.

NEA’s Managing Director, Kul Man Ghising, attributes the increase in energy consumption to the regular supply of electricity following the end of load shedding. “Industries are receiving a consistent electricity supply, and their loads are being approved. There is also an increasing use of electricity for household purposes, such as cooking, and in both private and public vehicles. Electrification has been rising rapidly, resulting in increased energy consumption,” Ghising said. “Each year, with rising demand for electricity, the challenges in supply increase. To provide reliable, standard, and safe electricity, major cities have been divided into 11 clusters, and a plan for transmission and distribution infrastructure to meet demand until 2050 has been prepared and is being gradually implemented.”

Electricity consumption, which was 3.72bn units in 2015/16, increased by 28.47 percent to 4.77bn units in 2016/17. Consumption reached 5.56bn units in 2017/18, 6.3bn units in 2018/19, 6.42bn units in 2019/20, and 7.28bn units in 2020/21. In 2021/22, 8.84bn units were consumed, 9.35bn units in 2022/23, and 10.2bn units in 2023/24.

Electricity consumption increased by about 10 percent in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23. The peak demand for electricity in 2023/24 rose by 11.34 percent compared to the previous year, with the highest demand recorded on May 30, 2023, at 2,212 megawatts.

Although Nepal exports electricity to India for six months during the rainy season, winter sees a decrease in production from run-of-river hydropower projects, necessitating imports to meet domestic demand. However, the amount of imported energy is decreasing. Last year, imported energy accounted for 14.68 percent of the system’s supply, an 8.57 percent reduction from the previous year.

Electricity exports increased by 44 percent in the last fiscal year. About 1.9bn units of electricity worth Rs 16.93bn were imported from India, but 1.95bn units worth Rs 17.06bn were exported, making Nepal a net exporter of electricity by a margin of over Rs 130m.

Ashokraj Sigdel has been appointed as the Chief of Army Staff.

On the recommendation of the government, President Ram Chandra Paudel appointed Sigdel as the Chief of Army Staff effective from September 9, Shailaja Regmi Bhattarai, spokesperson at the President’s Office, informed.

Sigdel is currently the Acting Chief of Army Staff.

With this, he became the 45^th Chief of Army Staff.

The death toll from the landslide at Doramba Shailung Rural Municipality-3 in Ramechhap district has climbed to eight.

Of the 11 people that were missing after a landslide swept away four houses on August 25, the eight bodies have been recovered so far, according to District Police Office, Chief Pradeep Kumar Singh.

Two bodies were found recently, taking the death toll to eight, police said.

Efforts are underway to search for two missing people Kale Pahari (55) and Jhyaipuri Pahari (50) of the same ward.

The bodies of Chandika Shrestha (30) her 18-month-old son Ayush Shrestha, Urmila Pahari (57) Sandip Pahari (30) Santosh Pahari, Bigyan Pahari (14) had been handed over to their respective families on Sunday after conducting postmortem, informed Kaushal Neupane,  Information Officer at the District Police Office, Ramechhap.

The Lalbandi Nagar Bangmaya Parishad has announced the winner of the ‘Lalbandi Nagar Bangmaya Parishad Bhasa Tatha Sahitya Puraskar-2081’. Out of ten books shortlisted by the award selection committee, Akhanda Bhandari’s ‘Bora’ was selected as the recipient of the ‘Lalbandi Nagar Bangmaya Parishad Bhasa Tatha Sahitya Puraskar-2081’. The announcement was made on Aug 26 after the committee recommended ‘Bora’ as an outstanding candidate. The council had previously revealed the top ten candidates on July 28 via a press release.

Additionally, the ‘Lalbandi Nagar Bangmaya Parishad Sthaniya Pratibha Puraskar-2081’ will be awarded to journalist Shankar Shrestha. According to the press release, the prize amount for the ‘Lalbandi Nagar Vangmaya Parishad Sthaniya Pratibha Puraskar’ is Rs 25,000, and for the ‘Lalbandi Nagar Vangmaya Parishad Bhasa Tatha Sahitya Puraskar’ it is Rs 50,000. The awards will be presented on Dec 2 amid an event in Lalbandi, Sarlahi.

The ‘Sahityik Sahid Krishnalal Adhikari Smriti Puraskar-2081’, which carries a prize of Rs 50,000, will be awarded to journalist Rochak Ghimire. The award fund was established in memory of Krishnalal Adhikari, the author of the book ‘Makai’, who became a martyr while fighting against the Rana regime through literature. This year marks the inauguration of the ‘Sahityik Sahid Krishnalal Adhikari Smriti Puraskar-2081’.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced Kavrepalanchowk's tourism town, Dhulikhel, as the first 'healthy city' of Nepal.

Meeting the WHO-set criteria, Dhulikhel has been successful in receiving a reward of USD 5,000 for being the second healthiest city in Asia.

Program Coordinator of WHO Department of Ethics and Social Determinants Dr Suvajee Good on Tuesday announced Nepal's first healthy city and the second healthy city in Asia. With the announcement, Dhulikhel was entitled to receive a reward of USD 5,000.

India's Pune City Banda is the first healthy city in Asia and Dhulikhel has been declared second with a score of 65.48.

Dhulikhel Mayor Ashok Kumar Byanju said that the city has been declared as the second healthy city in Asia and the first in Nepal and has received a prize of USD 5,000.

The announcement was made on the basis of policy reforms in the health sector, sustainable development goals of the health sector, environmental improvement, access to health of poor citizens, chronic diseases and communicable diseases and improvement in community health, as well as progress made in primary health care of the local government.