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A worker at the under-construction 900-megawatt Arun-III Hydropower Project died of electric shock in Sankhuwasabha on Monday.

The District Police Office, Sankhuwasabha, identified the deceased as Karan Dhar Paudel (40) of Ghodaghodi Municipality-2 in Kailali. 

The incident occurred inside a tunnel under the project at Chichila Rural Municipality-3.

Severely injured in the incident, Paudel died during the course of treatment at the District Hospital, Sankhuwasabha, said Police Inspector Ram Kumar Lamichhane.

Over 300 workers, also from India, have been hired under the project.

Arrival of foreign tourists has been increasing every year in Manang district. 

According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project Area Office, as many as 37,733 foreign tourists visited Manang district in the fiscal year 2024/25.

As per the data of Dharapani Tourist Check Point under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project Office, Manang, total 2,554 tourists from SAARC countries and 35,178 tourists from other countries visited Manang in the last fiscal year.

Office Chief Dhak Bahadur Bhujel shared that tourists from 134 countries had the footfall in Manang district and the highest number of tourists were from Israel, which stands at 4,358, followed by 3,616 from France and 2,842 from Germany. 

Similarly, the number of those visiting Manang from abroad was 22,371 from 124 countries in fiscal year 2023/24. The French stood first in number. 

Locals here are dependent on agriculture and tourism business and the increasing arrival of foreign tourists has helped in economic growth of the district, thereby improving the nation's economy. 

Tourists have been found attracted to visit Manang as Annapurna trekking route, which is ranked as the 10th most dangerous trekking route in the world, lies in Manang. 

Manang has been the choice of the tourists as it has immense natural heritages and beauty. 

Conservation Education Assistant at ACAP, Bhupendra Gurung, mentioned that the number of domestic tourists visiting Manang is remarkable in the  recent period.

However, the erratic weather events coupled with climate change impact in the upper hilly and mountainous district, Manang, in recent years, is unleashing fear among local entrepreneurs whether they could retain the rise of foreign footfall in the district.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 31. 78 points to close at 2,902. 74 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 6. 60 points to close at 504. 64 points.

A total of 35,649,211-unit shares of 311 companies were traded for Rs 16. 32 billion.

Meanwhile, Three Star Hydropower Limited (TSHL) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 9. 98 percent. Likewise, Green Development Bank Ltd. (GRDBL) and Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd (SAPDBL) were the top losers as their price fell by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 1. 64 trillion.

China's Premier Li Qiang announced construction had begun on what will be the world's largest hydropower dam, on the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau, at an estimated cost of at least $170 billion, the official Xinhua news agency said, Reuters reported.

Commencement of the hydropower project, China's most ambitious since the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze, was seized by Chinese markets as proof of economic stimulus, sending stock prices and bond yields higher on Monday.

Made up of five cascade hydropower stations with the capacity to produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, equal to the amount of electricity consumed by Britain last year, the dam will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo. A section of the river tumbles 2,000 metres (6,561 feet) in a span of 50km (31 miles), offering huge hydropower potential, according to Reuters.

Russia launched a fresh wave of drone and missile strikes on Ukraine in an overnight attack on Monday, killing one person, wounding seven others and causing multiple fires in Kyiv, city officials said, Reuters reported.

Explosions lit up the night sky as the high-pitched whine of drone engines echoed off the walls of the capital's high-rise buildings.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said rescuers and medics were working on sites across four districts of the capital. A subway station in central Kyiv, commercial property, shops, houses and a kindergarten were damaged, city officials said, according to Reuters.

The powerful Ecuadorean gang leader Adolfo Macías Villamar as Villamar has been extradited to the US to face charges of drug and arms trafficking, BBC reported.

Known as "Fito", he was recaptured in June, more than a year after he escaped from a high-security prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for a series of crimes. 

He will appear in a US federal court on Monday, where he will plead not guilty to international charges of drug and weapons trafficking, his lawyer told Reuters. 

Macías was leader of Los Choneros gang, which is linked to powerful criminal organisations from Mexico and the Balkans. He is also suspected of having ordered the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023, according to BBC.

Japan's ruling coalition has lost its majority in the country's upper house, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said he has no plans to quit, BBC reported.

Voters went to the polls on Sunday for the tightly-contested election, being held at a time of frustration at the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito over rising prices and the threat of US tariffs.

Speaking after polls closed on Sunday, the prime minister said he "solemnly" accepts the "harsh result" but that his focus was on trade negotiations.

Having already lost its majority in Japan's more powerful lower house last year, the defeat will undermine the coalition's influence, according to BBC.

Six major highways in various parts of the country have been completely obstructed due to floods and landslides triggered by incessant rains.

Nepal Police Headquarters said that Koshi Highway in Sankhuwasabha, while Mechi Highway in Panchthar and Tamor-Corridor road section were completely obstructed.

The Kaligandaki Corridor in Nawalparasi East, the Shahid Highway in Rolpa and Jajarkot-Dolpa Bheri Corridor in Rukum West are other roads obstructed by the landslides.    

Similarly, Tokha- Nuwakot route, Kaligandaki Corridor in Baglung, Mid Hill Highway in Galkot of Baglung, Kaligandaki Corridor in Nawalparasi East, Kaligandaki Corridor in Nawalparasi East, Shahid Highway at Pariwartan Rural Municipality in Rolpa are partially blocked, allowing the one-way traffic.