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The price of gold has increased by Rs 2, 200 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. 

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 250, 600 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 248, 400 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 65 and is being traded at Rs 3, 345 per tola today.

Insurance claim payouts by non-life insurance companies increased by 34.19 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. 

According to Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA), 14 non-life insurance companies paid out Rs 5.69bn in claims in the review period. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, payouts by non-life insurances totaled Rs 4.24bn.

The surge in claim payouts is largely attributed to the extensive damage to hotels, department stores and motor vehicles due to arson and vandalism across the country during the GenZ protests on Sept 8 and 9. Government and private offices, homes of political leaders, hotels and businesses allegedly linked to political figures, and numerous vehicles were damaged or set on fire across the country. Although government buildings and motor vehicles were not insured, most of the private properties were insured. This resulted in significant claim payouts by the companies.

Claims worth nearly Rs 24bn were filed with non-life insurance companies for damages during the GenZ protests, according to NIA - the insurance sector regulator. 

 Similarly, the floods and landslides triggered by continuous heavy rainfall in September and October also caused severe destruction which also resulted in higher claim payouts in the review period.

Data provided by the NIA shows Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance (SALICO) recorded the highest payout of Rs 1.08bn in the four-month period, followed by Shikhar Insurance and NLG Insurance with total payouts of Rs 680.2m and Rs 642.3m, respectively.

Two other insurers, Siddhartha Premier Insurance and Neco Insurance, made claim payouts in excess of Rs 500m. Data shows Siddhartha Premier and Neco made payouts of Rs 546m and Rs 529.9m, respectively, in the review period. 

Ten insurers saw their claim payouts jump in the first four months of 2025/26, compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. SALICO saw its payouts jump by a whopping 140.79 percent, followed by Sanima GIC which saw its payouts go up by 124.66 percent. Other life-insurers, which made higher payouts in the review period compared to last year include, NLG (81.07 percent), 

Neco (65.10 percent), Nepal Insurance (36.59 percent), Himalayan Everest (35.06 percent), Siddhartha Premier (29.69 percent), Oriental (23.83 percent), Prabhu (13.58 percent) and Shikhar (5.56 percent).

Four companies saw their payouts decline in the first four months of 2025/26. They include United Ajod (-3.61 percent), Rastriya Beema Company (-5.81 percent), National Insurance (-8.45 percent) and IGI Prudential (-28.20 percent).

More than 80 political parties have registered with the Election Commission (EC), apparently with the intent of contesting the elections for the House of Representatives slated for March 5 next year. The EC has added 8,37,094 new voters to its rolls for the polls, taking the total number of voters to 19,005,324, a surge of about five percent. The minimum eligible age for voting is 18, meaning that one can vote if s/he has a) attained the age of 18 by March 4 and b) got a voter’s ID card from the EC. The EC’s final tally on Dec 6 will show the exact number of voters for the polls.

More than a surge in the number of voters, it shows a desire, especially of the youths, to take part in a democratic process that will select a political leadership that will steer the country, most probably for another five years.

While parties across the political spectrum appear “on the go” for the elections, the major onus is on the government of the day to create a conducive environment for the same. After the youths-led protests of Sept 8-9, leaders of  some parties, especially the top leaders, may not have been feeling that safe and secure. The government leadership must reach out to them, address their security concerns and win their confidence. Moreover, some incidents have shown a tendency on the part of our parties to not only boycott each other, but also to prevent each other from organizing political programs and rallies in each other’s ‘turf’. This is not a good sign for democracy; the government should discourage such a tendency. 

At the same time, the administration must make all necessary arrangements to conduct the polls in a free, fair and transparent manner. Many jailbirds, who escaped from their cells on Sept 8-9, remain at large along with lethal weapons. The government must intensify search and recovery efforts to rearrest the jailbirds and recover the looted arms. It must reestablish police offices, posts and beats destroyed during the protests, boost the morale of security forces, recruit temporary security personnel and conduct voter education/awareness programs by working on a war footing. 

In summary, the government must rally the entire nation for the polls to make sure that the Nepali people win, with a landslide. 

Hong Kong police arrested the bosses of a construction company on suspicion of manslaughter on Thursday over the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years, which killed at least 83 people with scores more listed as missing, Reuters reported.

By the early hours of Friday, firefighters had mostly contained the blaze raging for more than 24 hours, ripping through the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the northern district of Tai Po. The estate had been undergoing renovations and was wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh.

Most of the victims were found in two high-rise blocks in the eight-tower complex, Deputy Director of Fire Services Derek Armstrong Chan said, according to Reuters.