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A total of 39 menstrual huts have been demolished recently in Kanchanpur district. 

The District Police Office, Kanchanpur shared that Bedkot Municipality-10 dismantled 23 such huts and Krishnapur Municipality-1 dismantled 16 huts used for girls and women during menstruation. 

Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Office, Sagar Bohara, stated that the period huts were destroyed in the presence of local representatives, social organization, police and commoners. Nigali and Bhenti bazaar witnessed the highest number of demolitions.

The local, district and provincial levels were alarmed especially after the death of 28-year-old Kamala Auji due to snakebite during her stay in a menstrual hut last month. The incident occurred at Nagal of Krishnapur municipality-1.

The District Administration Office had issued a directive to all local levels to wipe out the huts kept for practicing superstitious belief that if the woman and girls are kept together with family members during their period, it is sheer disrespect to God.

Bedkot Municipality-10 Chairman Ratan Singh Bista informed that even his local level had flattened 23 such outhouses. He, however, shared the plight, "We dismantled the menstrual huts, but the concerned households were constructed again."

He also shared a further plan of giving orientation to the households on the harmfulness of such superstitious practice.

It is essential to raise massive public awareness against the social ill like practicing chhau (isolation and untouchability) and secluding menstruating women in chhaugoth, the outhouse. 

Ward-1 Chairman Mohan Basnet said his community was, however, relatively aware against such ill practice.  In the past, they also destroyed 16 such outhouses.

A group of lawyers attacked journalists in a dispute over the land leased from the Guthi Sansthan. 

Members of Nepal Bar Association Janakpur and members of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Madhes Province have clashed over the matter.

Shailendra Mahato, General Secretary of FNJ, Madhes Province, said that the lawyers attacked them while trying to occupy the land leased by the FNJ from the Guthi Sansthan.

More than six journalists, including the FNJ Provincial President Shyam Prasad Banjara, General Secretary Mahato, and journalist Diwakar Raya, were injured in the attack. 

The injured are undergoing treatment at the Provincial Hospital in Janakpur.

The FNJ claims to have leased the land for four years while the Nepal Bar Association, Janakpurdham, stakes claim over it. 

Meanwhile, a writ petition has also been filed at the district court on the matter and both parties have been called for a discussion on August 21, which may resolve the dispute.

Bagmati Province Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya has won a vote of confidence. 

A proposal seeking a vote of confidence from the Province Assembly was passed by a majority of the PA meeting held earlier today.

Of the total 92 members present in the 110-member Province Assembly today, 63 voted in favour of Chief Minister Baniya, 22 voted against him, while seven abstained from voting, shared Speaker Bhuwan Kumar Pathak.

Speaker Pathak announced that the motion on the vote of confidence presented by Chief Minister Baniya was passed by a majority in accordance with Article 168 (4) of the Constitution and Rule 143 (1) of the Provincial Assembly Rules 2074 BS.

President of the ruling Nepali Congress Bagmati Province, Baniya was appointed the Chief Minister on August 5 with the support of 64 PA members from the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. He took the vote of confidence today, a week after being appointed as the Chief Minister.

The next meeting of the Provincial Assembly will be held at 11 am on Wednesday.

A total of 26 Nepalis have been reported missing following devastating floods and landslides at Uttarkashi and Pauri Garhwal districts in Uttarakhand of India on August 5 and 6.

According to data released by the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi, India, the whereabouts of 21 Nepalis in Uttarkashi district remain unknown while five others are still missing in Pauri Garhwal.

Those individuals missing in Uttarkashi are Janak Bahadur Shahi, Rabi Singh, Karan Bahadur Singh, Gagan Bahadur, Gorakh Bahadur, Ram Bahadur Shahi, Hari Bahadur Khadka, Prabhati, Keshav, Nirmala Khadka, Laxman, Subash BK, Ramesh, Priya, Deepak Magar, Suraj Rana, Man Bahadur, Nim Bahadur, Rabi Singh and Ram Bahadur. 

Similarly, those missing in Pauri Garhwal have been identified as Naresh Khadka, Amrita Pariyar, Roman Khadka, Sandhya Khadka and Bimal BK, adds the Embassy.

President of the State Affairs and Good-Governance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) Ramhari Khatiwada has resigned from his post.

Requesting time to speak in today's HoR meeting, Committee President Khatiwada clarified that he tendered resignation on moral ground.

Khatiwada explained that his resignation had a bearing with the ethical concern as he acknowledged that the Federal Civil Service Bill contained some errors in its certain provisions.

He admitted that he had signed the report of the Bill which was prepared by the parliamentary committee he led.

"It is true that there were some mistakes while preparing the report that aligned with the personal interests of the committee members. The legislative intent is to implement a 'cooling-off period' but some errors occurred while drafting the report," clarified Khatiwada.

He further asserted, "The mistake was neither my fault nor that of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee." 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has directed the concerned ministers to ensure effective management and supply of chemical fertilizers, thereby supporting increased agricultural production.

In a meeting held today at Singha Durbar with Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ramnath Adhikari, and Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Damodar Bhandari, the Prime Minister issued a three-point directive, calling for a substantive action within the next three days.

The ministers have been instructed to present a substantive plan with a new framework to guarantee the reliable supply of fertilizers.

The Prime Minister’s directive includes launching a nationwide campaign for the production and use of compost and organic fertilizers, introducing a subsidy policy proposal to support the campaign, and preparing a study framework for establishing a chemical fertilizer factory within the country that helps preserve and enhance soil fertility. 

A second person has died after an explosion tore through a Pennsylvania steel plant on Monday, local officials have confirmed, BBC reported.

The body was discovered after a search operation which stretched into the evening at the US Steel Clairton site outside Pittsburgh.

Local police earlier confirmed that one other person had died and 10 others were injured in a large explosion which destroyed part of the plant.

An order instructing residents within a one-mile radius of the site to keep their windows and doors closed over air pollution fears triggered by the resulting fire was lifted on Monday evening. The cause of the blast is yet to be confirmed and an investigation is under way, according to BBC.

Golden, the breakout song from animated film KPop Demon Hunters, has clinched the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 - bagging yet another record for the Netflix summer flick, BBC reported.

The film, about K-pop girl band Huntr/x who uses music to protect humans from demons, has become Netflix's most-watched animated film since its release in June. 

It is the ninth song associated with K-pop to take the top spot on the Hot 100 - and the first by female singers.

The upbeat hit clocked nearly 32 million official streams in the first week of August, according to Billboard, according to BBC.