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The weather will be generally cloudy in  the hilly and mountainous regions of Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces, and will be partly cloudy in the remaining provinces today.

According to the Weather Forecasting Division, there is a possibility of moderate rain and snowfall with thunder and lightning at some places in the mountainous region of the country. 

There is also a possibility of moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places in the hilly regions of Koshi, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces, at a few places in the hilly regions of the remaining provinces, and at one or two places in the Tarai regions of Lumbini and Sudurpashchim Provinces.

Meteorological Analysis by the Division says at present Nepal is under the partial influence of a westerly low-pressure system.

Twenty-one Nepali citizens, who were lured to Cambodia by various individuals and fell victim to online scams at illegally operated online scam centres and casinos there, have been rescued and brought back to Nepal.

They were involved in various illegal activities and staying in Cambodia without a visa.  

The 21 Nepalis were rescued with the initiative of the Nepali Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, and the support of the Cambodian government, and were brought back to Nepal today with the facilitation of the Non-Resident Nepali Association Cambodia.

The embassy has stated that efforts are underway to bring back other Nepali nationals who are stranded or in difficult situations there.

The embassy said it has received information that Nepali citizens in Cambodia have been involved in online scams and other illegal activities, and have been staying there without a visa or beyond the visa period.

In this context, it has requested that Nepali citizens residing illegally or in difficult circumstances contact the Nepali Embassy in Bangkok or the representative of the Non-Resident Nepali Association in Cambodia to facilitate their return to Nepal.

Many complaints have been received of passports of those employed at scamming centres are confiscated by the company or lost when transferring from scamming centres. In such cases, the Nepali Embassy in Bangkok issues a free one time travel permit for return to Nepal.

According to the tourism statistics of Cambodia, 101 Nepalis visited Cambodia on a tourist visa in 2021, one thousand 977 in 2022, two thousand 940 in 2023, six thousand 404 in 2024, and 9,676 in 2025.

A joint preliminary election observation report has indicated a lack of transparency in election expenditure of candidates in the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) held on March 5. 

The joint preliminary election observation report of the National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) and Election Observation Committee (EOC) Nepal mentioned that there is a large difference in a legal limit and actual expenditure spent in election campaigns. 

Tens of millions of rupees was found spent in the election campaign against the expenditure ceiling set by the Election Commission for candidates, reads the report.

At a press conference organized today, NEOC Chairperson Dr Gopal Krishna Siwakoti shared that the detailed report about election expenditure would be released soon.

As per the geographical territory for a candidate towards first-past-the-post election system, expenditure ceiling of maximum Rs 3.3 million was determined while around Rs 200,000 expenditure ceiling was set for a candidate towards proportional representation election system.

Chairperson Dr Siwakoti added that the expenditure spent by candidates in high-profile election constituencies was found to be more than the expenditure ceiling determined by the EC. 

Similarly, increasing reliance on digital publicity has become a challenge for the transparency of election expenditure, added the report. 

After the registration of candidacy, the demand of social media managers, content creators and digital publicity service had remarkably increased and tens of thousands rupees were spent for such services and such spending were not included in election expenditure, according to the report. 

The EC had collaborated with social platforms like Meta and TikTok for monitoring of digital publicity.  

The report added that the advertisement expenditure on social media is more opaque, said EOC Nepal Chairperson, Advocate Srikrishna Subedi.

Approximately 42, 000 people die annually in Nepal due to air pollution, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. 

Ministry spokesperson Dr Prakash Budhathoki said that children under five years old comprise 21 percent of those deaths.

He stated that air pollution causes respiratory problems such as asthma, as well as heart disease and heart attacks, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and memory weakness.

Experts have pointed out that due to pollution, children may experience respiratory problems, an increased likelihood of heart disease, higher rates of infant illness, risk of childhood cancer, delayed brain development and abnormal behaviour, as well as malnutrition.

Similarly, problems such as the birth of low-weight babies, anaemia, infertility, gestational diabetes, and mental health issues are seen due to high exposure to air pollution.

Dr Budhathoki, the spokesperson of the ministry, said that air pollution in Nepal is eight times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. He stated that the air quality index in Nepal reached up to 185 on Thursday.

According to the WHO standards, the annual average amount of particulate matter considered harmful to health should not exceed five micrograms per cubic metre. 

Dr Budhathoki stated that if the fine particles are less than that, they can remain suspended in the air and reach the lungs during the breathing process.

He added that the pollution in Nepal is higher than the WHO standards.

Air quality index (AQI) from 0 to 50 is considered as healthy, 51 to 100 as moderate, 101 to 150 as harmful for risk groups (elderly, people with chronic diseases and children). 

An air quality index above 151 is considered unhealthy. If it can be brought down to within WHO standards, it is estimated that the life expectancy of Nepalese will increase by 3.3 years every year.

Air pollution causes 7.9 million deaths across the world annually, and 90 percent of these occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Air pollution occurs due to vehicular emissions, industrial emissions, smoke from open burning of waste and organic matter, dust from roads and construction work, forest fires, and the use of pesticides and insecticides.