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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 115, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 115, 900 per tola on Sunday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 114, 850 per tola. It was traded at Rs 115, 350.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,415 per tola today.

The Nepali Congress (NC) has decided to postpone the schedule of its Mahasamiti meeting by two weeks. The postponement is attributed to Friday's earthquake in Karnali Province and the availability issue of a meeting hall.

During the NC Central Executive Committee meeting on Sunday, it was decided to reschedule the meeting from December 15 to 18 this year. The meeting will be held at the Godavari-based Sunrise Convention Centre in Lalitpur. Initially, the event was set to take place from November 29 to December 1.

The party has adopted the policy of suspending all formal events till the Tihar festival, considering the quake's impact in western Nepal, it is said.

In the meantime, the meeting decided to draw the government's attention towards the urgency to expedite its rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts in the quake-hit areas, acknowledging the efforts made so far.

Likewise, the meeting said the monetary assistance of Rs five million announced by the party for the survivors is not sufficient and has urged the party to secure more aid for them.

It also called for forming a committee to monitor and facilitate the relief distribution by ensuring that there are no irregularities in the process.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has announced a monetary aid of Rs 10 million to the earthquake survivors in Jajarkot and Rukum West.

A meeting of the CAAN on Sunday decided to deposit the assistance amount to the Prime Minister Disaster Rescue Fund, according to CAAN Spokesperson and Deputy Director General, Jagannath Niraula. 

Furthermore, the CAAN has declared a total discount on airport charges for flights dedicated to providing relief assistance from Nepalgunj, Surkhet, Rukum Salle, and Chaurjahari airports.

The earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale at 11:47 pm on Friday, with its epicenter in Jajarkot, resulted in significant casualties and property damage in these districts of the Karnali Province.

So far, 157 have been confirmed dead in the quake.

Amid frantic search and rescue efforts that are coming to a close, earthquake survivors are awaiting food, shelter and medical treatment from the government that is trying hard to get its acts together, in a grim reminder of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake that killed about 9,000 people and caused loss of infrastructure worth billions of rupees. Hundreds of survivors are spending the night under the open sky after their houses collapsed as a mag-6.4 earthquake hit Jajarkot and east Rukum late Friday.

The emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers held at Singha Durbar on Sunday decided to set up the main liaison office at Surkhet and the auxiliary liaison office at Nepalgunj to make the search, rescue and relief distribution effective.

“The government will provide Rs 200,000 to each bereaved family and government hospitals will provide free treatment to the injured. Makeshift shelters will be managed for the affected,” said government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma.

“Since the reconstruction work cannot be effective through the traditional construction method and the existing procurement act, there is a demand to do the reconstruction work through a robust and effective mechanism. An action plan will be formulated accordingly,” the government spokesperson said. 

The modality for providing subsidies for the quake victims to construct houses also figured in the meeting. “Genuine victims should get subsidies, and the houses built should be properly utilized,” said Sharma. The meeting also decided to provide lunch expenses to those deployed in the search, rescue and relief distribution and asked one and all to be patient in this time of disaster.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has issued directives for making the relief and rehabilitation for the Jajarkot earthquake victims effective. Addressing the meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management National Council at Singha Durbar on Sunday, he instructed relevant authorities to conduct relief and rehabilitation operations effectively.

PM Dahal expressed sorrow over the loss of life and properties resulting from the quake and stressed the need to utilize the disaster as an important opportunity for reconstruction.

The 13th meeting of the council was convened to discuss the damage resulting from the earthquake, and the steps the government needs to take in the aftermath of the disaster. On the occasion, PM directed all to be serious in making the post-quake rescue, relief and reconstruction effective, describing the steps taken by the three tiers of the government and other bodies right after the disaster as “positive”.

He said preparations have been made to undertake post-disaster works in a prompt manner by making suitable changes in the existing Acts, regulations and structures based on the best practices in the aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

“I thank all the parties, the federal government and various agencies, the provincial government and the local governments for their post-earthquake initiatives. We have carried out search and rescue operations. Now we need to concentrate on relief and rehabilitation,” the PM reiterated. 

He directed all concerned to manage warm clothes for the earthquake victims and make medical treatment for the injured more effective. Reminding that Nepal is a country vulnerable to natural disasters, the PM acknowledged that the government’s disaster preparedness has not been adequate.

“For the next three days, let us make maximum efforts for relief. The existing Acts, procedures and structures may have to be amended to make reconstruction works more effective. We need to make a sound review of our past experiences as well,” PM Dahal reiterated. 

While 157 people have lost their lives in the quake, six more survivors have been brought to Nepalgunj-based Bheri Hospital for treatment from Jajarkot and Rukum, said Banke’s Chief District Officer, Shrawan Kumar Pokharel. They are among 38 quake survivors brought from the quake-hit districts to Nepalgunj for treatment.

Open air medical facility

A 10-bed health facility at Barekot, the epicenter of the quake, is attending to those injured in the quake in the open as the jolt has also damaged its building. Senior ANM Kalpana Rokaya said temporary arrangements are in place for providing healthcare services majorly targeting the quake survivors. Meanwhile, Jajarkot continues to experience the aftershocks of Friday’s quake.  

Seismological team in Jajarkot

A team from the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center at Lainchaur has reached Jajarkot to conduct a study on the mag-6.4 temblor. The team under senior seismologist Lokvijaya Adhikari will carry out a comprehensive study and research on the quake, said director-general of the Department of Mines and Geology, Ram Prasad Ghimire. Meanwhile, senior seismologist Adhikari said that the Jajarkot earthquake was not an aftershock of the Bajhang earthquake, but a new one. Four aftershocks have occurred following the earthquake that hit Ramidanda of Jajarkot. An aftershock of mag-4.5 was recorded the same night at 12:08 pm, followed by mag-4.2 jolt at 12:29 pm, mag-4.3 jolt at 12:35 pm and mag-4.2 quake at 3:40 on Saturday afternoon.

India handed over the first consignment of emergency relief materials worth INR 1 billion to Nepal on Sunday.

Following the earthquake in Jajarkot on November 3, 2023, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his commitment to provide all possible assistance to Nepal.

A special Indian Air Force C-130 carrying the consignment of over 11 tons emergency relief materials that included tents and tarpaulin sheets, blankets and sleeping bags as well as essential medicines and medical equipment such as portable ventilators for the affected people landed at the Nepalgunj Airport this afternoon.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava on behalf of the Government of India handed over the relief materials to Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka in the presence of Karnali Province Chief Minister Raj Kumar Sharma.

Further consignments of the relief material are expected to arrive in the coming days, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said.

“As a close friend and neighbor, India remains committed to extending all possible support to those affected by the earthquake in Nepal”, the Embassy further said.

India continues to be a first responder in crisis situations in its neighborhood and beyond.

Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the Government of India was the first responder and carried out its largest disaster relief operation abroad - Operation Maitri.

India had also extended USD 1 billion to Nepal as part of its long-term assistance for post-earthquake reconstruction in housing, education, health and cultural heritage sectors and included reconstruction of 50,000 houses in Nepal’s Gorkha and Nuwakot districts.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka has paid tribute to the people who lost their life to the recent devastating earthquake in Jajarkot, including Sarita Singh, deputy mayor of Nalgad Municipality, Jajarkot.

The DPM paid tribute to the deputy mayor Singh by draping her body with the national flag during a mass cremation organized on the bank of the Triveni River in Jajarkot this afternoon.

Chief Minister of Karnali Province Raj Kumar Sharma was also present on the occasion.

DPM Khadka said that the government has kept medical treatment, relief and rehabilitation of the earthquake survivors in priority.

Stating that the government was successful in rescuing the quake-injured people in a single day by mobilizing the entire state apparatus, he said the distribution of relief to the survivors has begun from today itself.

"We have dispatched the relief materials in such a way they will reach all the earthquake-affected people within two days. More relief is on the way. We will distribute the relief at the same pace we carried out the rescue operation," he said, adding that the reconstruction works would be started immediately after the relief distribution is over.

The earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale at 11:47 pm on Friday, with its epicenter in Jajarkot, resulted in significant casualties and property damage.

So far 157 have been confirmed dead in the quake.

The National Concern and Coordination Committee under the National Assembly has directed the government to distribute relief through a one-door system for the people affected by the Jajarkot earthquake that occurred on Friday night.

While offering sorrow over the loss of life and property, today's meeting of the Committee instructed the government to effectively work in the rescue and relief distribution.

"The Committee directs the arrangement of rescue efforts and treatment, relief distribution and rehabilitation of those affected by the quake, and the joining hands for the prompt reconstruction work by making a proper action plan."

The meeting chaired by the Committee President Dil Kumari Rawal also decided to inspect an organic agriculture project running at Danchhi in Kathmandu, it has been said.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 21. 46 points to close at 1,826.23 points on Sunday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 5. 36 points to close at 352. 39 points.

A total of 3,558,554-unit shares of 289 companies were traded for Rs 972 billion.

Meanwhile, NIC ASIA Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 6. 97 percent.

Likewise, Himalayan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited 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 2. 81 trillion.