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A high-level meeting on Nepal-India border security coordination kicked off in Kathmandu on Saturday.

The meeting to continue till Monday is holding discussions on cross-border crime control and is expected to draw a conclusion on controlling illegal entry of third countries' nationals, the Inspector General of Armed Police Force (APF) Raju Aryal said.

The discussions are underway on the border security issues tabled by APF Inspector General Aryal. 

Proposals have been tabled from the Nepali side on crime control in the border areas and exchange of information for this, control of revenue leakage and human trafficking as well as the control of illegal entry of citizens of third countries.

The Nepali delegation in the meeting comprises high-level security officials including APF Chief Aryal, officials from the Home Ministry, National Investigation Department, Survey Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

Likewise, Director General of India's SSB Amrit Mohan Prasad has led a six-member Indian delegation.

Dengue has been confirmed in 18,339 people in Gandaki Province in the last 10 months.

The Ministry of Health of the provincial government stated that eight people died due to the disease. The first casualty of dengue was a 48-year-old man from Tanahun who died on July 25, 2024.

Since then, a 40-year-old man died due to dengue on August 6 and a 52-year-old woman died on August 15 in Kaski while a 61-year-old male died in Myagdi on September 4. Similarly, four women, aged 81, 70, 75 and 26 died due to dengue in Kaski on September 6, September 18, September 30 and October 20, respectively, the Ministry stated.

During this period, the highest number of 8,979 dengue cases were reported in Kaski and the lowest six cases in Manang district in the province, Prashanta Raj Sharma, Information Officer at the Ministry, said.

According to Sharma, dengue was confirmed in 8,858 persons in Pokhara Metropolitan City, the province capital, alone. He said 12 local levels in the province are so far untouched by the disease.

Dengue was found in 70 people in the province last January whereas 6,267 people were infected with the disease until September. The number of cases was 6,044 in October and it is 947 since the start of November till date, the Ministry said.

It is confirmed that the poliovirus found in a sample of the sewage taken from the Tukucha rivulet in Kathmandu last July is not contagious.

Lily Shrestha, the Medical Chief at the National Public Health Laboratory, said that the virus detected in the sample is not polio infectious. The test was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand.

"We did not again find the poliovirus from the tests carried out from time to time on the samples collected from the sewage and other places to determine whether the virus found in the Tukucha rivulet had spread or not. If that virus had spread, it would have been detected in the sewage mixed in the rivulet. This was not the case and we confirmed that it was not the poliovirus," she explained.

Poliovirus was found in a sample collected from the confluence of Bagmati and Tukucha rivulet near Tripureshwar of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-12 last July.

Chief of the Child Health and Immunization Section, Department of Health Services, Dr Abhiyan Gautam, said that samples have been continuously collected and tested 13 times after the detection of the poliovirus in the sample collected from Tukucha rivulet, but it was not detected again.

The Section has been collecting samples and testing them for the presence of poliovirus since 2017. Samples are collected from the Bagmati, Dhobikhola, Manahara, Bishnumati rivers in Kathmandu and tested two times monthly for the presence of poliovirus, Dr Gautam added.

Similarly, samples are collected and tested for the presence of poliovirus once a month in Pokhara, Biratnagar and Janakpur.

Dr Gautam said that polio infection has not been found in the country since 2010.

Eight persons died and six others were critically injured in a jeep accident in Darchula on Friday.

According to police, the four-wheeler (Ma 1 Ja 338) was heading towards Gokuleshwor from Malikarjun Jatra when the incident occurred in Sirad river of Shailyashikar Municipality-5 at around 4 am today.   

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Prakash Dahal said that the deceased have been identified as Birendra Rawal (30) and Shanti Rawal (28) of Shailyashikar Municipality-5, Dilip Bista (45) of Shailyashikar Municipality-9 and Sanjib Bohora (15) and Birandra Bohara (50) of Dilashaini-5 in Baitadi district and Mina Lekhak (40).

Likewise, Mohammad Safir (45) and Mohammad Basim (18) of Uttar Pradesh, India also died in the mishap, DSP Dahal said. Identity of one is not ascertained as yet. 

All the injured have been taken to Gokuleshwor Hospital.

Police said that they are looking into the incident.