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The Gyalpo Lhosar, the cultural festival of the Sherpa community, that falls on the Shukla Pratipada in the Nepali month of Falgun is being marked today by organizing different programs. The festival is observed as the New Year by the Sherpa community who primarily reside in the mountainous region of Nepal. But the festival is marked in 22 districts in the country. The festival is celebrated with gaiety and much fun from the Shukla Pratipada to Purnima. This festival is also celebrated by Mahayan Buddhists as their New Year. This festival has been observed since the time of the ninth king of Bhot Uday Gungyal. The festival is also termed as Gyalbo Lhosar, according to researcher Tika Sherpa. On this occasion, people of the Sherpa community clean up their houses and villages, sources of water and flutter new prayer flags on the roof of their houses. They cook delicacies such as Guthuk and Khapse and exchange best wishes with each other to welcome the New Year. The Gurung community marks its New Year on Paush 15 as the Tamu Lhosar while the Tamang community observes it as Sonam Lhosar on the day of Magh Shukla Pratipada.

At least 45 persons were injured when a bus met with an accident in Pokhara on Sunday. The District Police Office, Kaski said that the injured are undergoing treatment in various hospitals of Pokhara including the Pokhara Health Science Academy. Most of the people injured in the accident are said to be the students of Pokhara University. Sangita Chhetri of Butwal, who was also injured in the incident, said that the students had come from various places of the country to take part in the convocation ceremony of the Pokhara University to be held on Monday. All the injured are in normal condition, police said. The bus was heading towards Pokhara from Gagangauda when the incident occurred.

Twelve days after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, more than 46,000 people have died and more than 84,000 buildings have either been severely damaged, need urgent demolition, or collapsed, according to officials, Aljazeera reported. As Turkey attempts to manage its worst modern disaster, concerns are growing over the victims of the tragedy in Syria, with the World Food Programme (WFP) pressuring authorities in the northwest to stop blocking access to the area as it seeks to help hundreds of thousands of people ravaged by earthquakes. The death toll in Turkey stands at 40,642 from the quake while neighbouring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths, a figure that has not changed for several days.

Pokhara International Airport will be equipped with the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) system in a week. Preparations for the operation of the IFR system at the newly opened international airport in Pokhara have been completed, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niraula said that the implementation of IFR in Pokhara international airport will come into effect from coming February 23. As a result, many airline companies have shown interest in carrying out regular international flights to and from Pokhara. The Korean Air, Biz Air, Himalaya and the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation and others have shown interest to start their services to the airport. The IFR system is a fully mechanical operating system and compared to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) it is relatively safe and comfortable despite taking more time, the CAAN has said. The airport came into operation from January 1, 2023 with only domestic services currently being provided by Buddha, Yeti, Shree, Sourya, Guna and other domestic airlines.