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The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has banned consumption of tobacco products in public places within the city. The new policy will come into effect from September 17. The KMC passed the policy to effectively implement the provision to ban the consumption of tobacco products in public places, according to a notice issued by the KMC. The banned tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, bidis, chewing tobacco and gutkas among others. Those flouting the rule will be booked as per the Tobacco Products (Control and Regulatory) Act, 2068, according to the KMC Director and Information Officer, Basanta Acharya.

The meeting of the National Assembly (NA) here today has sent two bills to the Legislative Management Committee for clause-wise deliberation with the message from the House of Representatives (HoR). The bills were 'Insurance Bill-2075 BS' and 'Public Debt Management Bill-2076 BS'. Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav, on the behalf of Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma, presented the proposal for the same which was endorsed unanimously. Similarly, Legislative Management Committee President Dr Beduram Bhusal in today's meeting presented the report of the Committee on the 'Animal and Livestock Service Council Bill-2076 BS'. The Bill was endorsed in the HoR and came to NA with a message. Dr Bhusal said that the NA's meeting on September 6 had sent this Bill to the Committee for clause-wise deliberation and to present the report. The subsequent meetings of the Committee had deliberated on the Bill, informed Bhusal. The Committee had held discussions on the Bill with concerned ministers, secretaries and related officials. A total of 26 parliamentarians had presented an amendment proposal in 86 points on the Bill. Likewise, NA Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timalsina read out the authentication letters in regard to various bills received from the Office of the President. The bills were 'Drinking Water and Sanitation Bill-2079 BS', 'Bill to amend and integrate laws on Statistics-2079 BS', ' and Bill to amend Standard Measurement and Weight Act-2025 BS' among others. The NA shall meet again at 3 pm on September 15.

A Nepali short film entitled 'Survival – Living through Covid', has won the Best Cinematography Award at the Albori Soulplace Film Festival held in Albori, Italy. The film is three minutes 50 seconds long and based on visual narration technique. It is directed by Afzal Khan and produced by Kishor Shrestha for the Dream Vision Studio. Sakriya Shrestha is the cinematographer of this short film. The film succinctly gives the message of human resilience and power of endurance in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which affected all aspects of life, said Kishor about the theme of the festival. Also the winner of the 'Best Covid Film' category in the Cannes World Film Festival, this film has participated in eight film festivals in various countries and indirectly promoted the tourism of Nepal.

The number of dengue and scrub typhus patients has been rising in Baitadi district in recent periods. Scrub typhus has been diagnosed in 140 people and dengue in 13 persons since July 17 till September 13, the District Hospital Baitadi said. Hemanta Khadayat, the health assistant at the Hospital, said dengue and scrub typhus patients are also being found in other health facilities in the district. The Hospital has urged adopting precaution as it is possible that people who have not been examined can also carry scrub typhus and dengue infection. Hospital's information officer Harish Panta said that they have been detecting dengue and scrub typhus infection among the patients coming to the hospital on a daily basis of late. This shows that there is a risk of these diseases spreading. Meanwhile, the District Health Office has launched a public awareness and sanitation programme in view of the increasing number of dengue and scrub typhus cases in the district.    

The risk of dengue has increased in Sindhuli. Dr Sagar Devkota of the Sindhuli Hospital said that dengue cases have suddenly surged in the district in short time. According to him, three dengue infection cases are found among the people coming to the hospital for health checkup on a daily basis. He said dengue was detected in 97 persons coming to the hospital seeking medical treatment since mid-August. "The largest number of cases is from Kamalamai Municipality. Dengue is found in 74 persons in the municipality," Dr Devkota said, adding that seven cases have been found in Dudhauli Municipality five in Golanjor Rural Municipality, four cases in Tinpatan Rural Municipality and three cases each in Marin and Ghyanglekh rural municipalities of the district. Among them, 12 are being treated in hospital while the rest are receiving treatment at their homes as per doctor's advice.  Dr Devkota said that 10 dengue patients have been referred to other hospitals due to shortage of blood platelets. This data is of the period from July 17 to September 13. Dr Devkota said that dengue is spreading rapidly in Sindhuli district and there is no exact data on the number of patients since many cases go unreported. Meanwhile, the Kamalamai Municipality has launched a 'search and destroy' campaign for destroying the mosquito larvae in a bid to prevent dengue from spreading. It has also implemented an orientation programme through the Municipality Health Division for prevention and control of dengue, said the mayor Upendra Kumar Pokhrel.

Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China Li Zhanshu is paying a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the Rashtrapati Bhawan at 4 pm today. Similarly, the Chinese delegation led by Li is scheduled to make an on-site tour of the post-earthquake reconstruction projects at Bhaktapur Durbar Square at 9:30 am today. Li is currently on a four-day official visit to Nepal. He arrived here on Monday at the invitation of Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota. Speaker Sapkota and the Chinese dignitary held delegation-level talks at the Federal Parliament Building, New Baneshwor the same day. They also signed a letter of agreement on exchange of cooperation on the occasion. Chairman Li remained busy in high-level meetings on Tuesday, the second day of his visit. He held separate meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka as well as on National Assembly Chair Ganesh Prasad Timilsina. Earlier on Tuesday, Li and his delegation had separate meetings with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and the CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Li's delegation comprises 67 persons including six high-ranking officers, security personnel, journalists and other staff. CPC Chairperson Li and his delegation will return home on September 15 on a special flight.

Nepal has dispatched more than 22 tons of humanitarian emergency relief materials to Pakistan which has been devastated by monsoon-induced flash floods and inundation recently. The government was providing relief materials in view of the huge loss of lives and properties in the floods and inundation. The relief materials would be provided as per the decision of the Council of Ministers on September 6, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Nepal has also expressed tribute to those losing lives in the disaster, extended condolences to the bereaved family members, and wished speedy recovery to the injured ones. The relief materials have been flown to Karachi of Pakistan on a wide-body 303 aircraft of the national flag-carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation. Over 22 tons of relief materials are being sent as assistance to Pakistan and the flood affected people there, spokesperson of the Ministry, Sewa Lamsal, said in a press conference held at the Tribhuvan International Airport. According to her, the relief materials include essential medicines and other materials. Lamsal said this lot of relief materials is the biggest such assistance that the government has provided at any one time so far. “The relief materials sent to Pakistan at present is the largest amount that the Government of Nepal has sent to any country so far,” she said. The Ministry stated that the coordination and management of the relief materials has been possible through the relentless efforts of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka. Minister Khadka saw off the team leaving for Karachi along with the relief assistance at the airport. A Nepali delegation led by spokesperson Lamsal has left for Karachi for handing over the relief materials. The delegation comprises of representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, officials from the Department of Health Services and journalists. The relief materials provided to Pakistan by Nepal include medicines, foodstuff, clothes and other essentials. Spokesperson Lamsal said the relief consignment will be handed over to the related Pakistani officials amidst a program at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi today.

Nepal has improved its ranking from 144th to 143th position, although the Human Development Index (HDI) value has marginally declined from 0.604 to 0.602 due to continued turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said in a report. From the lens of gender, Nepal stands at 113th position in the global Gender Inequality Index. As per the report, the South Asian Countries in HDI Ranking is:  Afghanistan -180; Bangladesh-129; Bhutan -127; India-132; Maldives – 90; Nepal -143; Pakistan-161 and Sri Lanka -73. Released after a two-year gap on September 12, the 2022 Report puts the country in the Medium human development category. The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long- term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. Between 1990 and 2021, Nepal's HDI value changed from 0.399 to 0.602, a change of 50.9 percent. Between 1990 and 2021, Nepal's life expectancy at birth changed by 13.6 years, mean years of schooling changed by 2.8 years and expected years of schooling changed by 5.4 years. Nepal's GNI per capita changed by about 146.0 percent between 1990 and 2021, the UNDP said. The analysis shows Nepal’s continues to incur substantive loss in human development due to persisting inequalities. Nepal continued to a loss of over 25% in human development due to inequalities across gender, caste, geographic regions and other categories. As the inequality in a country increases, the loss in human development also increases. The 2021 female HDI value for Nepal is 0.584 in contrast with 0.621 for males, resulting in a GDI value of 0.942, placing it into Group 3 which comprises countries with medium equality in HDI achievements between women and men. Records show during 2019 and 2020, Nepal’s performance was comparatively low in the areas, including maternal mortality, shares of parliamentary seats held by women, and women’s participation in the labor force. The Gender Inequality Index measures gender inequalities (the loss in human development due to inequality between female and male achievements) in three key dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market. Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment is measured by the shares of parliamentary seats held and population with at least some secondary education by each gender; and labor market participation is measured by the labor force participation rates for women and men. “The new Human Development Report indicates Nepal has largely maintained a stable position over the past two years despite numerous shocks, including COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. This is because of the long investments over the years. Going forward, we need everyone’s wisdom, experience and more importantly the positive attitude to cope with the crisis and make more choices available to the people,” said Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Nepal. The report was presented by Dr. Swarnim Wagle, Chief Economic Advisor, UNDP Asia and the Pacific.