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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 249, 700 per tola today.  It was traded at Rs 250, 200 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 60 and is being traded at Rs 3, 285 per tola.

TikTok has unveiled a set of tools to help families ensure their teens are using the app safely, launching a ‘family pairing’ feature, which focuses on family safety and privacy.

With the feature, parents can set time limits for their teens using screen-time management tools. They can also control settings such as direct messaging, comments on videos, whether or not accounts can be searched, and who can download videos.

According to the feature, direct messaging will automatically be turned off on accounts for users aged 16 and under, and push notifications will also be muted at night.

TikTok says it has set a feed that only shows age-appropriate content. The system selectively removes content deemed inappropriate for teens and uses technology to ensure that users are in the right age group.

The app makes sure to notify the parents if their child posts a public video. As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting user well-being, TikTok launched a new in-app feature called Guided Meditation earlier this year, which aims to make mindfulness practices easily accessible to people of all ages.

Those who have national identity cards don’t have to go to the election office to register for a voting card. The arrangements have been made to fill the form online for those who have their national identity card.

According to Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, the process of collecting the voter list online has been made easier by taking the biometrics from the National ID card of those who are collecting the voter list. He informed that the commission made such arrangements after discussions with the GenZ representatives. For this, the commission had to go through technical work on Wednesday night.

The government has set a deadline of Nov 16 for voter registration. It is believed that the arrangements were done after a long line of people seeking voter ID cards was seen in front of the commission.

PhotoKTM, Nepal’s pioneering international photography festival, has announced its 6th edition, marking ten years of fearless, uncensored visual storytelling.

The festival continues to provide a vital platform for hundreds of photographers and visual artists to explore the political lives of images and examine their role in shaping both our histories and our futures.

The program will take place from November 14 to December 14, 2025 across Kathmandu Valley, featuring 18 exhibitions, slideshow projections, workshops, artist talks, panel discussions, portfolio reviews, and film screenings.

Nepal Art Council, Kathmandu will serve as the anchor venue for the festival throughout the month, while the festival will also travel to Mangahiti & Chyasal in Patan; Tribhuvan University in Kirtipur; Nandi Keshar Bagaincha in Naxal; and Nigu Pukhu in Madhyapur Thimi.

This year’s edition will present a dynamic program shaped around the curatorial theme of Global South solidarities.

PhotoKTM highlights histories of resistance and solidarity from the Third World project, showing how they have shaped contemporary processes to reclaim sovereignty in regions battered by centuries of colonialism, exploitation, and violence.

“We hope this year’s coming together will deepen cultural understanding among artists and cultural communities across the Third World, strengthen reciprocal transnational solidarities through the sharing of our histories, stories, struggles and hopes, and open up pathways for more south-south collaborations and exchange across geographies.” said NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati, the co-founder and festival director.

“PhotoKTM6 turns to the spirit of Global South Solidarity and Third World internationalism. From anti-colonial struggles to the Bandung Conference, to the non-alignment movement and revolutionary cultural exchanges, these histories continue to shape how countries like Nepal imagine their place in the world. Today as global powers test our moral fiber and our sovereign will, we hope to direct our creative energies toward renewing the spirit of solidarity, imagination, and collective future,” said Diwas Raja Kc who is part of the festival’s curatorial team.

This year PhotoKTM is working closely with Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh, as the invited interlocutor, to shape the intentions and programs of this edition of the festival.

“I think it is particularly relevant that these spaces are created and maintained because it is only if people meet and continue to do this important work, in which they think collectively, they work collectively, and they hold up certain values, that they will be capable of contributing to what I would call a ‘free world’.” said Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh.

This year, the festival spotlights the work and curatorial voices of artists from the Global South, featuring over 40 artists from Santiago to Lubumbashi and Quito to Dakar, alongside Nepali photographers and filmmakers. PhotoKTM is proud to present eight Nepali artists from the 2025 cohort of the photo.circle fellowship program, whose works explore the questions, challenges, and contradictions surrounding the notions of ‘development' and 'progress' in contemporary Nepal.

After the Sept 8-9 youths-led nationwide protests that left behind a massive trail of deaths and devastation, Nepal Police, the primary government agency responsible for the maintenance of law and order within the national jurisdiction, is in a difficult situation.

The casualty list of that protest is rather long and includes police personnel, who were brutally killed on duty along with protesters.

In the violent incidents that followed the use of force during the Sept 8 protest that killed several protesters, the law enforcement bereft of morale saw with utter helplessness, apart from the brutal killing of police officers, destruction of its vital infrastructure, from road dividers to traffic islands to police beats, posts and offices, and looting of weapons and police uniform, marking an unprecedented breakdown of law and order and the rule of anarchy.  

The then inspector general of police (IGP), Chandra Kuber Khapung, is under the purview of an investigation in connection with the use of force during the protests while the political leadership at the helm of affairs during that crisis has tried to wash its hands of the entire affair by not even cooperating with the probe. This is in keeping with the ‘well-established’ national practice of going only after low-hanging fruits and sparing the political bosses in every scam, every abuse/misuse of authority and an envious level of impunity that the political brass has been enjoying in Nepal for long. 

Dan Bahadur Karki takes charge as the 33th IGP of Nepal Police at a time when police morale is quite low and the sense of insecurity runs deep in the Nepali society.

Amid all this, the resilience of the Nepali society makes us quite optimistic about the future, even as fears of another cycle of violence lurk.  

Scenes like police personnel back on duty from our roads to beats, people joining hands to rebuild damaged/destroyed infrastructure and resumption of businesses are some of the living proof of our resilience, our never-say-die attitude. Hopefully, this attitude will get us through this crisis too. 

At this juncture, the onus is on the government and the police leadership to boost the morale of the police force and instill in a shaken people a sense of security. If the government fails to shoulder this responsibility, it will lose whatever moral authority it has to rule, forget conducting the national elections slated for March 5 next year. 

Let action speak louder than words.

World Diabetes Day is being observed today by organizing numerous awareness programs in Nepal and across the globe.

This day aims to enhance understanding of the risks, prevention, and treatment options for diabetes.

Since 2007, it has been recognized following a United Nations initiative. The UN has urged all member nations to develop national strategies aligned with their healthcare systems to combat diabetes.

The World Health Organization reported that in 2014, 422 million adults globally were living with diabetes, a significant increase from 108 million in 1980. The rise in diabetes cases is attributed to factors such as obesity, poor lifestyle choices, and insufficient physical activity. Preventive measures include maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in regular exercise, and steering clear of smoking and alcohol.

The global organization has stressed the importance of prioritizing long-term health policies, raising public awareness, and fostering a lifestyle-friendly environment to address the escalating diabetes crisis.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has stated that there is currently no major weather system affecting the country.

This afternoon, the department anticipates partly cloudy conditions in the hilly regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces, while the rest of the country will have mostly clear weather.

Additionally, tonight, the forecast suggests that most areas will remain generally clear, although some locations may see partly cloudy skies.

The average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of development banks has climbed close to 10 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2025/26.

According to unaudited financial statements of the Class ‘B’ financial institution, the average NPL ratio reached 9.86 percent at mid-October. This marks a sharp rise of 1.98 percentage points from 7.89 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year. 

The increase in NPL levels has been attributed to a slowdown in new credit disbursement and weak recovery of principal and interest from existing loans, which have together intensified pressure on the overall financial health of the banking industry.

The analysis is based on financial statements from 16 out of 17 development banks. The Karnali Development Bank, which the NRB recently placed under management control after declaring it troubled, has not published its first-quarter results.

Among the 16 development banks, 11 reported a rise in their NPL ratios compared to the previous fiscal year, while only five managed to reduce their bad loans.

Narayani Development Bank recorded the highest NPL ratio at 57.04 percent, signaling severe financial distress and poor loan quality. In contrast, Miteri Development Bank reported the lowest ratio of just 0.55 percent.

Narayani’s NPL level surged sharply from 34.81 percent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. Along with Narayani, two other development banks — Saptakoshi (11.5 percent) and Corporate (11.77 percent) — also have NPL levels in double digits.

Only five development banks — Miteri, Salpa, Sindhu, Excel, and Saptakoshi—managed to reduce their NPL ratios during the review quarter compared to the same period last year.

Likewise, 10 out of 16 development banks now have NPL levels exceeding 5 percent. The deterioration in loan quality comes amid prolonged economic slowdown over the past two years. This was further aggravated by the Gen Z protests in the second week of September which disrupted business activities and delayed loan repayments.

Loans and advances of banks and financial institutions are broadly categorized into performing and non performing loans, primarily based on past due period of interest or principal receivable. Pass and watchlist categories fall under performing loans whereas non performing loans include substandard, doubtful, loss and restructured/rescheduled loans.

Since banks are required to set aside higher provisioning for bad loans, higher NPL levels affect.