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The most important day of Tihar, the festival of lights, is being marked today with sisters offering 'tika' to their brothers. Sisters throughout the country offer 'tika' to their brothers wishing them happiness, long life and prosperity on the occasion of Bhai tika. In return, the brothers pledged to protect their sisters from all kinds of adversities. The auspicious hour for offering the 'tika' is 11: 37 am this year. It, however, can be held until sunset. On this day, brothers are seated at a specially anointed place around which a trail of mustard oil is drawn. The sisters then offer the brothers 'tika' and garlands of 'Dubo' and 'Makhamali'. After placing colourful 'tika' on the foreheads of their brothers, sisters offer them a treat consisting varieties of sweets, walnut, spices and 'Sel', a special kind of bread cooked in oil. Brothers also offer their sisters 'tika' in return, wish them happiness and good luck, and give them presents. The occasion commemorates a legendary event in which a sister has won a boon from 'Yama', the deity of death that her brother would not die until the mustard oil is dried up and the garland of 'Dubo' and 'Makhamali' faded. The Bhaitika tradition is so strong in Nepali society that even those who have no brothers or sisters of their own receive tika from others whom they regard as brothers and sisters.  

Three persons died and 12 other sustained injuries when a jeep they were traveling in met with an accident at Sulichaur in Sunilsmriti Rural Municipality-4, Rolpa on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Narayan Rijal (60) and Bishnu Rijal (58) of Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City-6 and Phamsi KC (50) of Rapti Rural Municipality-1. The four-wheeler (Lu 1 Ja 3234) was heading towards Gajul from Sulichaur when the incident occurred this afternoon, the District Police Office, Rolpa said. Among the injured, five are undergoing treatment at the Primary Health Centre in Sulichaur and others have referred to Kohalpur for treatment.  

At least 26 people were injured by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that rocked the northern Philippines, forcing the closure of an international airport, sending panicked residents into the streets and causing substantial damage to a hospital, Aljazeera reported. The earthquake, which struck at about 10:59pm on Tuesday (14:59 GMT) near the upland town of Dolores, was felt as far away as the capital Manila, more than 330km (205 miles) to the south. Police and civil aviation officials said that at least 26 people were injured in Ilocos Norte, the home province of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, where the international airport in the capital city of Laoag was ordered to close temporarily on Wednesday due to damage from the earthquake.

The rising market inflation has hit hard the consumers in the mountainous districts of Karnali Province. Price of essential commodities of daily use has skyrocketed after the roads in the district had been disrupted by floods and landslides triggered by incessant rains during the first week of this month. Traffic on the Karnali Highway resumed last Tuesday, 20 days after being disrupted. Although the highway has been opened for traffic, not all vehicles can travel easily due to the poor and risky condition of the road at several places along the highway. As a result, the supply of essential consumer goods has still not become smooth. The traders have retained the price of commodities which they had arbitrarily increased citing the disruption of the highway. The consumers have been hit hard by the exorbitant price hike. Wheat flour which cost Rs 70 per kg before the disruption of the highway now costs Rs 160 per kg and it is in short supply. "The market price of essential commodities has shot up beyond the reach of the ordinary consumers. The price of cooking gas has reached Rs 3,000 per cylinder while that of cooking oil has hit Rs. 160 per liter packet," rued Samjhana Mahat of Chandannath Municipality-7, Jumla. She said on top of the high inflation, there is shortage of commodities in the market. According to her, the price of essentials has increased by almost three-folds. The marigold flower garland which cost Rs 50 before has now reached Rs. 150 per unit. Mutton price which was Rs. 1000 per kilo has reached Rs 1,300 per kilo and one cannot get chicken in the market. Jaya Shankar Dhital, a consumer, charged the traders of creating an artificial shortage in the market to increase the price in the pretext of highway disruption. Similarly, the local transport operators have increased the transport fare by 20 to 25 percent citing shortage of fuel. The price of vegetables has also shot up two times. The consumers in Humla, Dolpa, Mugu, Jumla and Kalikot districts of the Karnali province have been adversely affected by the high inflation.