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The bodies of Nepalis killed in armed attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel have been brought to Kathmandu.

The bodies arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 8:30 am today.

Foreign Minister NP Saud and the Israeli Ambassador to Nepal had reached the airport to receive the mortal remains.

The bodies have been taken to the Nepal Army barrack and the foreign minister has also reached the barrack.

The body of another person will be brought to Kathmandu at 1 pm.

The Tel Aviv-based Nepali Embassy in Israel sent the bodies of four Nepali students to Nepal on Saturday after completing the legal process.

The bodies of Narayan Neupane, Lokendra Singh Dhami, Dipesh Raj Bista and Ashish Chaudhary were brought to Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, the Embassy said that they are searching for Bipin Joshi who has been missing in Israel by using all the available mechanisms.

Ten Nepali students had died when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its Oct 7 attack on Israel, stabbing, shooting and burning to death more than 1,400 people. The attack—the worst in Israel’s history—sparked a retaliatory assault on Gaza that has killed around 3,000 people there, most of them civilians.

The deceased have been identified as Narayan Prasad Neupane and Ashish Chaudhary of Kailali, Ganesh Kumar Nepali of Bajhang, Dipesh Raj Bista and Lokendra Singh Dhami of Darchula, Ananda Sah of Dhanusha, Rajesh Kumar Swarkar of Sunsari, Rajan Phulara and Padam Thapa of Doti and Pravesh Bhandari of Salyan.

Preparations are underway to take the bodies to Dhangadhi on a Nepal Army chopper on Monday.

Hindus across the country are celebrating the eighth day of the ten-day-long Bada Dashain festival as Maha Ashtami by worshiping the Goddess Durga Bhawani.

On this day, people offer special prayers to the goddesses Mahakali, Mahalaxmi, and Maha Saraswati. This particular day of the Dashain festival is considered significant as it is believed that on this day the Goddess Durga gained her divine power.

On the occasion, people perform religious rituals at the Dashain Ghars and armories and offer worship to goddesses at various shrines by offering sacrifices of different animals. The people also chant the mantras from Durga Saptashati, Shrimad Devi Bhagwat and Devi Stotra scriptures.

Devotees throng various goddess shrines in the Kathmandu Valley early in the morning to offer worship and make offerings of goats and ducks.

Likewise, across the country, people visit various goddess temples to perform worship and make offerings, including the sacrifice of goats, ducks, and roosters.

Special Durga Puja ceremonies and prayer rituals take place at the Dashain Ghars. There is also a tradition of worshiping weapons, vehicles, and machines on the day of Maha Ashtami.

For those who refrain from animal sacrifices, various vegetables and fruits are offered in place of animals.

Furthermore, on this day, a special Kalaratri worship is performed at midnight at the Dashain Ghar in local Hanumandhoka. 

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted the Kathmandu Valley this morning.

The quake with its epicenter around Khari of Dhadhing was recorded at 7:39 am today, according to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center's Chief Lok Bijay Adhikari.

The tremor's effects were also felt in the surrounding districts of Dhading.

Kathmandu: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the country's first international airport, is now operating at full capacity for the first time in its 73-year history.

According to the TIA office, Nepal’s busiest airport has experienced a significant increase in flight operations in recent days. Previously, the airport handled around 90 two-way flights daily, but that number has now risen to 110-114.

TIA’s General Manager, Pratab Babu Tiwari, reported that the airport has been serving 16,000-17,000 passengers daily since Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain, which commenced on Oct 15. On Oct 16, the airport witnessed a record-breaking 114 international flights, marking the highest number of daily operations in its history. The following day, this number remained high at 110 flights.

At present, TIA is reporting the highest number of flight operations in its history, thanks to the festive season and the beginning of the tourist season.

In terms of domestic service, there are 370 two-way flights operating daily to serve around 14,000 passengers.

As General Manager Tiwari mentioned, the airport is currently handling around 500 flights, both domestic and international, each day. There has been a significant increase in the number of daily flights recently, with the number of flights and passengers at an all-time high in the airport's history.

On Oct 18, the airport served over 15,000 domestic passengers. Flights of the national flag-carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation are in high demand, but they are struggling to meet the demand due to a limited number of aircraft. NAC Spokesperson Ramesh Poudel stated that NAC currently serves 16 destinations within the country through 22 flights, assisted by its two twin-otters, and flights to remote areas are limited.

Gyanendra Bhul, the information officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), mentioned that TIA has the capacity to handle 1,500 international passengers and 500 domestic passengers per hour, with an annual capacity of 9.2m passengers. In 2018, it served 7.2m passengers. After the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a gradual increase in the number of flights and passengers at TIA.

TIA, as the country’s first international airport, witnessed the first-ever arrival flight by the Beechcraft Bonanza, an American general aviation aircraft. The process of converting the then Gauchar Ground into an airstrip began in 1949. On 20 Feb 1950, a Dakota aircraft departed from TIA to Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, marking the airport’s first take-off flight, launched by Himalayan Aviation.

The airport was officially inaugurated in 1955 by the then King Mahendra and was named Tribhuvan International Airport in 1964. In 1967, the airport recorded its first arrival of a jet flight, a Boeing 707 from Lufthansa Airlines, and it began commercial flight operations in 1972.