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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 12. 58 points to close at 1,908.66 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 2. 83 points to close at 364. 74 points.

A total of 4,327,179-unit shares of 287 companies were traded for Rs 1. 17 billion.

Meanwhile, Sayapatri Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 6. 88 percent. Likewise, Barahi Hydropower Public 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. 91 trillion.

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina has expressed sorrow over the death of 10 Nepali students due to the attack by Palestinian militant group, Hamas, in Israel.

In a condolence message, the Chair of the Upper House of Federal Parliament said that he was stunned by the news of the death of the students. He has also urged the government to immediately rescue other Nepalis who want to return to Nepal. 

"Wishing for the quick recovery of health to those injured in the attack, I make a special request to the Government of Nepal to make all arrangements for rescue, relief and prompt return of those who want to come back to Nepal," the NA Chair said.

NA Chair Timilsina has paid heartfelt tribute to those who passed away in the attack and deep condolences to the members of the bereaved families at this hour of grief.

The government has opened advance ticket booking for long and medium routes from today targeting passengers going to their homes in districts outside the Kathmandu Valley and vice-versa for the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals.

However, ticket booking for short routes will be opened from Ghatasthapana, the first day of the 15-day Dashain festival, which falls on October 15 this year, said authorities.

The ticket booking has been opened targeting those who are leaving Kathmandu for festivals, it has been said. Six days remain for Ghatasthapana, with the opening of the advance ticket booking, there has been a flood of passengers buying tickets at the New Bus Park since this morning.

The number of passengers at the bus park has increased this year as opposed to previous years, it has been said. Ticket counters at the bus park have been crowded with passengers going to places like Darchula, Dadeldhura, Dhangadhi, Tikapur, Bajhang, Bajura, Salyan, Rukum, Puythan and Rolpa in the west and Taplejung, Ilam, Kakadvitta, Udayapur and other places in the east.

Dipak Rawal, who was heading to Darchula with his four family members, reached the bus park from Lalitpur at 3 am to book a ticket. He wanted to book a ticket for 19 October to go to his home to celebrate Dashain. But he could not get one until 8:30 in the morning. "As there are few buses going to Darchula, there is a problem getting a ticket. Buses should be added during Dashain," he said. One-way transport fare from Kathmandu to Darchula has been fixed at Rs 4,600 per person.

Devraj Ojha, who reached the bus park to book a ticket for Dhangadhi, was waiting to buy a ticket. Ojha, who works for Universal College in New Baneshwor as a supervisor, wants tickets for five people from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi. He had been in a queue since 5 am.

If the government makes arrangements for booking tickets online, you can book tickets online, removing problems and inconvenience being faced by passengers, he viewed.

However, Punya Prasad Sitaula, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs, claimed that passengers easily get tickets during Dashain. "Due to damaged roads, it takes some time for public vehicles to reach their destinations. But no passengers are left behind without a bus," he said.

The government is at work to open road permits for traffic in all areas of the country for Dashain. Every year, around 2.2 million passengers leave Kathmandu for their home during Dashain.

Meanwhile, Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt. Ltd. has added 24 booking counters at the bus park in collaboration with transport entrepreneurs. It has also opened advance ticket booking.

Ticket booking counters have been added to systematically provide tickets to the passengers going home for Dashain, said the Lhotse spokesperson Pankaj Malla. "Now, we have added 24 ticket booking counters. We can add more as per need," he said.

From the bus park, around 1,000 public vehicles commute between Kathmandu and more than 68 districts outside on a daily basis, said transport entrepreneurs.

The Sudurpaschim provincial government has announced Rs 200,000 as assistance to each family of those who were killed in the attack in Israel.

In a statement issued today, Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah announced that the provincial government would provide support to the families of the deceased.

He also offered his condolences to the bereaved families.

Expressing sorrow over the incident, Chief Minister Shah requested the governments of both countries to carry out search and rescue efforts, and help bring back the bodies to Nepal.

Ten Nepali students have been confirmed dead in the attack by Hamas in Kibbutz Alumim in the war zone of Negev in Israel.

The students from the Sudurpaschim University had gone to Israel to study as part of the Learn and Earn Program.

The Thunderbolts Cup that began on Sept 23 has concluded on Sunday with the host, GEMS School lifting the Champion’s Trophy with a cash prize of Rs 5,00,000 earning the highest points in 10 different athletic events and their 24 sub categories amongst an overwhelming participation of over 100 schools and 4,000 students from different regions and cities of the country.

The closing ceremony was attended by the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Dhanraj Gurung as the Guest of honor. Congratulating the winners and the participants he said, “Today’s youths are the future of the nation who will be representing the nation tomorrow in the international community. Therefore, such sports initiatives play an instrumental role in the holistic development of the youth, and the Government of Nepal is ever ready to support such initiatives.” 

Together with the winners of the sporting events, the host, GEMS School also recognised and honored various event partners with medals, souvenirs and certificates.

On behalf of the organizing school, the Sports Director, Mr. Saurav Singh expressed his gratitude to the participating schools with a hope to see them in the next Thunderbolts Cup Event in 2024.

The government is rapidly raising internal debt, taking advantage of sufficient liquidity in the banking system. 

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is also raising debt, originally slated for the second quarter, now as it would reduce the cost for the government and also help manage liquidity to some extent.

The government has set a target of raising Rs 240bn internal domestic debt in the current fiscal year. Out of this amount, the central bank has already secured Rs 87.31bn. This includes Rs 35bn that the central bank had initially planned to raise in the second quarter, according to the Monetary Management Department of the NRB. Of the Rs 87.31bn raised from the market so far, Rs 5bn was collected via treasury bills, with the remaining Rs 82.41bn through development bonds.

The weighted interest rate of treasury bills stands at six percent, and domestic bonds at seven percent, according to the department. Central bank officials say that they decided to raise funds targeted for the coming quarters in the first quarter to take advantage of the easy liquidity situation and low cost of funds and also to manage the banking system, which is flush with liquidity.

Banks have around Rs 500bn in investable funds. Banks have total deposits of Rs 5,823bn and total loans of Rs 4,838bn. They added Rs 35bn in deposits and invested Rs 54bn in the first two and a half months of the fiscal year, ending in September. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, banks had seen deposits fall by Rs 36bn while their loan flow had gone up by Rs 24bn.

The central bank plans to raise Rs 55bn each in the first and second quarters, Rs 53bn in the third quarter, and Rs 77bn in the fourth quarter. As per the schedule, it has already raised Rs 55bn that it had intended to raise in the first quarter. Going further, it has raised about Rs 34bn out of the Rs 55bn, which it had scheduled to raise in the second quarter, in the first quarter itself.

Banks, which were already in a comfortable liquidity situation, are further flush with lendable funds after the government allowed them to count 60 percent of funds of local units parked in them as deposits. Because of this, the inter-bank lending rate has come down to around two percent compared to six percent in the past.

The central bank, which used to absorb liquidity in the past through tools like reverse repo when interbank rates fell below 4.5 percent, hasn’t been able to implement such tools yet. This is because the interbank rates have come down due to the government’s decision to send additional funds into the banking system by allowing banks to count local government’s funds parked in them as deposits. We are in a wait and watch situation regarding our next move, an official at the department said.

The government, meanwhile, has failed to expedite its spending. According to the Office of Financial Comptroller General, the government has expended only 11.77 percent of its total budget allocated for the current fiscal year in the first two and a half months (between July 16 and Oct 8). The progress in capital budget expenditure remains at a disappointing 3.78 percent, while recurrent expenditure stands at 13.78 percent.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court in Kathmandu against former finance minister of Madhes Province Bijay Kumar, the then finance secretary of Madhes province, Prem Kumar Shrestha, Lalbandi Municipality mayor Man Bahadur Khadka and four others in connection with the establishment of a snake venom collection and processing center in the name of Jhalanath Khanal Institute of Health Sciences (presently known as National Health Sciences Foundation). . 

In the fiscal 2020/21, the provincial government had released a budget along with a grant, received from the federal government for the establishment of a center for collecting and processing snake venom for the production of anti-snake venom. 

More than three years into the release of the funds, the anti-corruption agency has blamed the then minister Yadav, Lalbandi Municipality mayor Khadka and others for going beyond their jurisdiction and demanded recovery of Rs 179.8 million along with fine and imprisonment for those involved as per the Corruption Prevention Act 2002.

The CIAA has sought a longer jail term for minister Yadav, citing section 24 of the Corruption Prevention Act 2002, which has stipulated additional years for senior public office-holders involved in such crimes. 

The authority has accused the then finance secretary of the province, Shrestha, of submitting a grant proposal to the Provincial Planning Commission by falsely stating that the foundation had abundant financial, physical and human resources to execute the project. Based on his proposal, the federal government had released Rs 30.27m as supplementary grants to the foundation.

CIAA has demanded that Shrestha be imprisoned for 8-10 years and Rs 30.27m recovered from him along with a fine of more than Rs 10m.

The CIAA has also pointed fingers at president of the foundation Rewati Prasad Pant, General Secretary Navaraj Bhandari, Treasurer Niraj Bhandari and member Devendra Rai. Per CIAA, the foundation’s Chair Pant had signed a partnership agreement with the government to receive government funding in the name of the foundation, which has zero cost sharing in the project, and had withdrawn Rs 179.8m. The agency has accused the foundation’s board of directors of spending government funds contrary to its objectives and approved programs.

The authority has also made the foundation a defendant demanding confiscation of its land in Lalbandi Municipality-1 along with a jeep.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has summoned a special meeting of the Council of Ministers for 4 pm today to discuss the latest developments in Israel and the situation of the Nepali community there.

The meeting aims to assess the situations in the aftermath of an unprecedented attack on Israel and the subsequent developments, evaluate the situation of the Nepali community in Israel, diplomatic efforts that the government is expected to take to ensure their safe arrival and other technical managerial issues, according to the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

Likewise, the Prime Minister has called an all-party meeting at 5pm today to discuss the same issue.

The government on Sunday formed the mechanism to comprehensively monitor the situation, evaluate the developments and assess the situation of the Nepali community in Israel and to undertake decisions if rescue is required and coordinate any related efforts.

Earlier on Sunday, Nepali Embassy in Israel had said that 10 Nepali students enrolled in educational institutions in the southern region of Israel had died following the deadly terrorist attack by Hamas, the Palestinian group.

The embassy had said that four Nepalis were injured and are receiving treatment at a local hospital while one is still missing.