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The days of spending paper banknotes in the shops are numbered: 100 days, to be exact - so start hunting at home, BBC reported.

Remaining paper £20 or £50 notes should be spent or deposited by the end of September, the Bank of England said.

An estimated 163 million paper £50 banknotes and about 314 million £20 paper notes were still in circulation, the Bank said.

These notes are being replaced with plastic versions, just like the £5 and £10 note, which are more durable.

The Bank said the newer, polymer notes were also harder to counterfeit, according to BBC.

"The majority of paper banknotes have now been taken out of circulation, but a significant number remain in the economy, so we're asking you to check if you have any at home," said the Bank's chief cashier, Sarah John, whose signature is on the new notes.

From October, people with a UK bank account should still be able to deposit the paper notes into their account or at the Post Office, but spending them will be impossible.

Paper £20 and £50 notes issued by Clydesdale Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland will also be withdrawn on the same date. 

The paper £20 notes issued by Bank of Ireland, AIB Group, Danske Bank, and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland will also be withdrawn after 30 September, BBC reported.

The import of petroleum products via country's major Birgunj transit point has surged by 78 percent in 11 months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period last fiscal year, the Birgunj Customs Office said.

The import of as much as 1,418,217 kilolitres of petroleum products worth Rs 74 billion 346 million 600 thousand was made through this transit from July 16, 2021 to June 14, 2022 of the fiscal year 2021/22.

Whereas 2,531,660 kilolitres of petroleum products worth Rs 153 billion 360 million 700 thousand has been imported via Birgunj transit in the 11 months of the current fiscal year 2022/23. This volume of import is 78.51 per cent more than that of 11 months of the previous fiscal year.

Similarly, the import of LP gas has increased by around 8 per cent. 258,150 metric tonnes LPG has been imported through Birgunj transit in the last 11 months of the current fiscal year as compared to 239,638 metric tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. The import of LPG during the period this fiscal year is more by 18,500 metric tonnes.

Although the import of diesel, petrol, aviation fuel and LP gas has increased that of kerosene has decreased by 30 per cent, said Sumit Gupta, Information Officer of the Birgunj Customs Office.

According to him, approximately 34 per cent more revenue than that collected in 11 months of last fiscal year has been collected during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year with the increase in the import of petroleum products. Revenue Rs 54 billion 539 million 200 thousand was collected last fiscal year whereas Rs 72 billion 822 million 600 thousand has been collected from fuel imports in this fiscal year.

Seventy per cent of fuel and 85 per cent of LPG that is consumed in the country is imported through Birgunj transit.

As the World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee Thursday to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency, some experts say WHO’s decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the grotesque inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic, Associated Press reported.

Declaring monkeypox to be a global emergency would mean the UN health agency considers the outbreak to be an “extraordinary event” and that the disease is at risk of spreading across even more borders. It would also give monkeypox the same distinction as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

Many scientists doubt any such declaration would help to curb the epidemic, since the developed countries recording the most recent cases are already moving quickly to shut it down.

Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the recent monkeypox epidemic identified in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe, as “unusual and concerning.” Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa, where one version of the disease kills up to 10% of people. In the epidemic beyond Africa so far, no deaths have been reported.

“If WHO was really worried about monkeypox spread, they could have convened their emergency committee years ago when it reemerged in Nigeria in 2017 and no one knew why we suddenly had hundreds of cases,” said Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on several WHO advisory groups. “It is a bit curious that WHO only called their experts when the disease showed up in white countries,” he said, according to Associated Press.

Until last month, monkeypox had not caused sizeable outbreaks beyond Africa. Scientists haven’t found any major genetic changes in the virus and a leading adviser to WHO said last month the surge of cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity among gay and bisexual men at two raves in Spain and Belgium.

To date, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox in 42 countries where the virus hasn’t been typically seen. More than 80% of cases are in Europe. Meanwhile, Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.

David Fidler, a senior fellow in global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said WHO’s newfound attention to monkeypox amid its spread beyond Africa could inadvertently worsen the divide between rich and poor countries seen during COVID-19.

“There may be legitimate reasons why WHO only raised the alarm when monkeypox spread to rich countries, but to poor countries, that looks like a double standard,” Fidler said. He said the global community was still struggling to ensure the world’s poor were vaccinated against the coronavirus and that it was unclear if Africans even wanted monkeypox vaccines, given competing priorities like malaria and HIV.

“Unless African governments specifically ask for vaccines, it might be a bit patronizing to send them because it’s in the West’s interest to stop monkeypox from being exported,” Fidler said, Associated Press reported.

WHO has also proposed creating a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help affected countries, which could see doses go to rich countries like Britain, which has the biggest monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa — and recently widened its use of vaccines.

The government has expressed grief over the loss of lives due to an earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The quake is reported to have killed more than 1,000 people.

“Nepal is deeply saddened by tragic loss of lives due to devastating earthquake in Afghanistan. We extend deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish for speedy recovery of the injured. Nepali people stand in solidarity with people of Afghanistan at this difficult hour,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs twitted today.

The magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck south-east part of Afghanistan early on Wednesday about 44 km from the city of Khost and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India.