Nepal records 10 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday

Nepal reported 10 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 058 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 10 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 345 people underwent antigen tests, of which no one tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 26 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 334 active cases in the country.

Immigration Office scraps provision for travelers to carry cash for on-arrival visa

The Immigration Office has scrapped the provision for the tourists traveling to Nepal to carry $200 in cash to pay for their on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport for now.

The office had issued a notice a few days ago urging the travelers to carry $200 in cash with them for the on-arrival visa.

The TIA office said that the provision has been scrapped for now following widespread criticism.

General Manager at the TIA Premnath Thakur said that the work of installing the ATM of machine Rastriya Banijaya Bank in the Immigration Office of the airport has already been started and the provision for the travelers to carry cash for on-arrival has been scrapped for now.

 

 

Sri Lanka asks IMF for rapid financial assistance

Sri Lanka has requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for rapid financial assistance and the global lender could consider it after initial reluctance, an aide to thecountry's finance minister said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Protests have erupted in the island nation as it battles a devastating financial crisis brought by the effects of COVID-19, mismanaged government finances and rising prices of fuel that have sapped foreign reserves.

A delegation headed by Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Ali Sabry kicked off formal talks with the IMF in Washington on Monday for a programme the government hopes will help top up its reserves and attract bridge financing to pay for essential imports of fuel, food and medicines, according to Reuters.

"The (foreign minister) made a request for a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to mitigate the current supply chain issues, yet initially IMF of the view that it doesn't meet their criteria," Sabry's aide Shamir Zavahir said on Twitter.

"However, India subsequently made representations on an RFI for (Sri Lanka) as well and IMF may consider this request due to the unique circumstances."

Sri Lanka is seeking $3 billion in the coming months from multiple sources including the IMF, the World Bank and India to stave off the crisis, Sabry told Reuters earlier this month.

Last week, the country's central bank said it was suspending repayment on some of its foreign debt pending a restructure, according to Reuters.

In the commercial capital Colombo, protests demanding the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa have dragged on for more than a week.

Pakistan: Death sentences over killing of Sri Lankan accused of blasphemy

Six men have been sentenced to death over the mob killing of a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan, BBC reported.

Priyantha Diyawadanage, 48, a factory manager in the city of Sialkot, was beaten to death and his body set alight last December.

Of 88 people convicted, nine were given life sentences and the others jail terms of two to five years.

The case shocked the country and was described as "a day of shame" by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Videos of the lynching on social media showed scenes of the incensed crowd dragging Mr Diyawadanage from his workplace and beating him to death.

They then burnt his body, with several people seen in the crowd taking selfies with his corpse, according to BBC.

The victim's wife, Nilushi Dissanayaka, described how she had seen him "being attacked on the internet... it was so inhumane".

What led to the mob violence?

The violence had begun after rumours spread that Mr Diyawadanage had allegedly committed a blasphemous action, in tearing down posters with the name of the Prophet Muhammad.

But a colleague, who rushed to the site in a bid to save him, told local media at the time that Mr Diyawadanage had only removed the posters as the building was about to be cleaned.

The scale of the vicious killing - involving hundreds of people - shocked the nation and sparked vigils.

Blasphemy is defined as speaking insultingly about a particular religion or god. In Pakistan, it can carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam.

The country's blasphemy law prohibits disturbing a religious assembly, trespassing on burial grounds, insulting religious beliefs or intentionally destroying or defiling a place or an object of worship, BBC reported.

Making derogatory remarks against Islamic personages is an offence - and in 1982, a clause prescribing life imprisonment for "wilful" desecration of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, was added. 

In 1986, a separate clause was inserted to punish blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad and the penalty recommended was "death, or imprisonment for life".

In Pakistan, even unfounded accusations can incite protests and mob violence against alleged perpetrators. Human rights critics have long argued that minorities are often the target of accusations, according to BBC.