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The Supreme Court on Monday upheld both the right of an individual against forcible vaccination and the government’s current vaccination policy to protect communitarian health, but found certain vaccine mandates imposed by State governments/Union Territories, which tend to deny access to basic welfare measures and freedom of movement to unvaccinated individuals, disproportionate, The Hindu reported.

A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao said that such vaccine mandates wilted in the face of “emerging scientific opinion” that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection from unvaccinated individuals was almost on par with that from vaccinated persons.

The court directed the Centre to set up a virtual public platform at the earliest to facilitate individuals and private doctors to report adverse vaccine events without compromising their privacy, according to The Hindu.

“Information related to adverse events is crucial to create awareness about vaccines and their efficiency, apart from contributing to scientific studies about the pandemic... There is a pertinent need for collection of data on adverse events and wider participation,” Justice Rao, who authored the judgment, observed.

The third edition of Nepal-Switzerland bilateral consultations was held in Kathmandu on Monday.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on matters of common interest, including the bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, regional cooperation, cooperation within the multilateral frameworks and global issues such as climate change, migration, and human rights, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The discussions also covered Nepal’s graduation from the least developed country status in 2026, Covid-19 related support as well as meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The two sides reviewed all aspects of bilateral relations and discussed the possibilities of enhancing engagement in the areas of trade, investment and tourism, according to the statement.

The Nepali side thanked the Swiss government for thelongstanding cooperation to Nepal as a priority countryand stated that such cooperation will be vital in moving the country forward along the path of economic recovery, green growth and sustainable graduation from the LDC status. 

The Swiss side expressed readiness to work with Nepal in further strengthening bilateral relations for the benefit of both countries. The Swiss side also stated that its development cooperation will continue in Nepal through the Swiss Cooperation Strategy 2023-26, the Ministry said.

The mechanism of Bilateral Consultations was established in 2015 between the two Foreign Ministries. 

The previous meeting of the mechanismwas held in June 2018

The government has declared a public holiday on Tuesday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival of the Muslim community.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice informing about the government's decision to declare public holiday tomorrow.
 

Nepal reported nine new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 333 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which eight returned positive. Likewise, 922 people underwent antigen tests, of which one was tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 18 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 221 active cases in the country.