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The government has decided to administer booster shots against Covid-19 to all the people above 18 years of age from February 13.

He said so while speaking at a press conference organized in the Health Ministry on Thursday.

“All the people above the age of 18 years, who have completed six months after receiving the second dose, will be given the booster doses,” he said, adding, “All the citizens will be administered booster doses from Sunday.”

He said that the frontline workers will be given high priority.

Medical colleges under the Kathmandu University have urged the students to pay the hostel fees.

The medical colleges have asked the students to pay the hostel fees by going against the directive of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Kathmandu University and Nepal Medical Education Council.

Earlier, the council had issued a notice stating that the hostel was optional.

But, some medical colleges have been collecting hostel fees from the students while some have been urging the students to pay the fees.

The medical colleges have been saying that they would not allow the students to attend the classes if they do not pay the hostel fees.

Medical Education Struggle Committee Coordinator Manish Bhattarai said that Kathmandu Medical College and Biratnagar-based Nobel Medical College have been asking the students to pay the hostel fees.

“The medical colleges have been asking the students to pay hostel fees even though it is not mandatory. We had drawn the attention of the concerned authorities time and again,” he said.

The students have been staging demonstrations for the past few months accusing the medical colleges of charging more fees than the amount fixed by the government.

India’s top medical education regulator on Tuesday warned students against enrolling in Chinese universities as the country continues to ban the entry of foreign students in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hindustan Times reported.

The warning by the National Medical Commission (NMC) was issued after India’s external affairs ministry was alerted that a some Chinese medical universities were inviting applications for admission to MBBS programmes for the current and upcoming academic years – despite a ban on foreign students from entering China.

It means students who enrol in these Chinese universities this academic year would likely have to take classes online for the near future, and, as a law, only online medical degrees are not recognised in India, the NMC said.

The NMC notice pointed out that thousands of Indian medical students studying in China are stranded in India because of the travel restrictions for more than two years, jeopardising their careers.

In the context of admission notices from Chinese universities, the NMC said, “any prospective student needs to be aware that the Government of People’s Republic of China has imposed strict travel restrictions in the wake of Covid-19 and suspended all visas since November 2020”.

“A large number of international students including Indian students have not been able to return to China to continue their studies due to these restrictions. Thus far, there has been no relaxation in the restrictions,” the notice added.

It said Chinese authorities had conveyed earlier that the courses will be conducted online until the restrictions are lifted.

“As per the extant (existing) rules, National Medical Commission does not recognise or approve medical courses done only by online mode,” the notice said.

Before applying to Chinese or any foreign institution, students have been advised by the NMC to carefully go through the “FMGE (foreign medical graduates) Regulations”, which are mandatory requirements for an Indian studying medicine abroad.

“In view of the above, students are advised to exercise due diligence in choosing where to pursue medical education from,” the NMC said.

The NMC notice was issued on Tuesday, the same day when the Chinese foreign ministry declined to commit on the issue of allowing stranded Indian students back in China, days after offering to arrange for Pakistani students to return to resume on-campus learning.

The foreign ministry said it was considering the return of thousands of international students stranded abroad to China in a “coordinated manner” but declined to elaborate when it was planning to do so.

More than 23,000 Indian students study in China, the majority enrolled in medical universities.

All but a handful had returned to India in a staggered manner in 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak in China but are now stranded in their home country because Beijing has banned foreign students from returning to universities.

As many as five persons died when a fire broke out at a shoe factory in Tulsipur of Dang on Friday.

The identities of the deceased are yet to be established.

Police said that the fire broke out at the Iram Footwear at around 2 am today.

DSP Shyamu Aryal of the Area Police Office, Tulsipur said that the fire was later taken under contol with the help of Nepal Police, Nepal Army and Armed Police Force personnel backed by fire engines from Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City and Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City.

The cause behind the fire was electric short circuit.