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Sri Lanka is about to default on its debts, two of the world's largest credit rating agencies have warned, BBC reported.

Fitch Ratings lowered its assessment of the South Asian nation, saying "a sovereign default process has begun".

S&P Global Ratings made a similar announcement and said that a default is now a "virtual certainty".

This week, Sri Lanka said it will temporarily default on its foreign debts as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years.

Meanwhile, faced with mass protests over major power cuts and the soaring cost of food and fuel, officials have urged Sri Lankans working abroad to send money home, according to BBC.

The new governor of the country's central bank appealed for donations in sterling, US dollars and euros on Wednesday.

He said the money "will be utilised only for the purpose of importation of essentials such as food, fuel and medicine". 

On Monday, Sri Lanka is due to make $78m (£59.4m) of interest payments on its international sovereign bonds.

If the payment is not made within a 30-day grace period it would mark the country's first default on its foreign debt since independence from the UK in 1948.

Fitch's latest rating puts Sri Lanka at "near default" and indicated that its "payment capacity is irrevocably impaired".

"We will downgrade the [rating] once a payment on an issuance is missed and the grace period has expired," the firm said in a statement on Wednesday, BBC reported.

S&P also downgraded Sri Lanka "to reflect the virtual certainty of a default on some affected obligations".

The ratings agency said it was waiting for more details on Sri Lanka's debt restructuring plan, or confirmation that its government had failed to pay its creditors. 

"We expect the government to miss paying these coupons," S&P said in a note. A coupon is the interest payment due on a bond.

Credit ratings are intended to help investors understand the level of risk they face when buying a financial instrument, in this case a country's debt - or sovereign bond.

On Tuesday, the Sri Lankan government said it would temporarily default on $35.5bn in foreign debt.

Its finance ministry said the impact of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine made it "impossible" to pay its creditors, according to BBC.

The country is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week on a loan programme to get its economy back on track.

It steeply devalued its currency last month ahead of talks with the IMF over a bailout, BBC reported.

A person died and 13 others sustained injuries in a Scorpio jeep accident at Adhabhar Jungle in Bara along the East-West Highway on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as jeep driver Loknath Sedhai (25) of Jitpur Simara Sub-Metropolitan City-11, Bara.

The jeep (Ba 19 Cha 4377) was heading towards Hetauda from Simara when the incident occurred this morning, DSP Rajesh Thapa, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Bara said.

Prem Sah (22) of Bindabasini Rural Municipality-2, Parsa, Raju Gupta (12) of the same place and Nirmala Devi Sah of Jitpur Simara-7, who were critically injured in the incident, are undergoing treatment at the Birgunj-based Bayodha Hospital.

Others are receiving treatment in Simara-based Alpine Hospital and Birgunj-based Bayodha Hospital, DSP Thapa said.

Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti (Calendar Determination Committee) has decided to seek clarification from 12 calendar publishers for publishing without permission from the committee.

Publishing calendars without approval from the committee is subject to punishment as per the directive approved by the Cabinet meeting on 4 January 2021.

The committee's first meeting decided to seek clarifications orally from the calendar makers in question in the first phase, said committee Executive Director Surya Prasad Dhungel.

The calendars that have been published without the committee's approval include three paatros - Nepal, Muktinath and Jwala - and nine wall calendars - Gorkha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Helping Society Saving and Credit Cooperatives Limited, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Tengal, Artha Bridhi Multipurpose Cooperatives Limited, New Road, Kathmandu, Satya Devi Sound System Service, Nilkantha Municipality, Dhading, Timalsina Samaj Central Office, Kathmandu, Dhanprapti Multipurpose Cooperatives Limited, New Road, Kathmandu, Swornim Bhabishya Saving and Credit Cooperatives Limited, Tokha Municipality-7, Kathmandu, Nokpin House, New Road, Kathmandu and Krishna Mohana, Gaushala, Sudurpaschim Province.

At least six people were charred to death and 10 to 12 others were injured after a fire broke out at a chemical factory in the Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh, the police said Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

Superintendent of police Rahul Sharma said the fire in the factory at Akkireddygudem was possibly caused by a nitric acid leak. The state government has announced ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh to those injured in the fire.

Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan expressed anguish over the fire accident and extended condolences to the bereaved families, according to The Indian Express.