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Nepal reported 13 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 358 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 10 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 449 people underwent antigen tests, of which three were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 57 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 765 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 23. 41 points to close at 2,428.66 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive dropped by 2. 63 points to close at 455. 60 points.

A total of 4,379,042 units of the shares of 226 companies were traded for Rs 1.99 billion.

Meanwhile, NESDO Sambridha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10 percent. Likewise, Emerging Nepal Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 10 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 44 trillion.

Snuggled in the second floor of Labim Mall, Pulchowk, Social by Exotic Cafe and Lounge welcomes you with its lively atmosphere and amiable hospitality. It is a halal-certified restaurant that specializes in fragrant and flavorsome Indian food.

The menu offers elegant breakfast options to a lavish dining experience. Haluwa and Gelato ice creams are its most popular dessert items. 

The place also provides a variety of coffee options while its bar, famous for its cocktail Kayak and mocktail Mango Twakka, compliments the space designed for socialization. 

Social by Exotic has a seating capacity of around 60 people. It also has a meeting room that holds 12 people at a time. It’s an ideal place to be with your friends for weekend night outs. There is also live music every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.  

 Chef’s Special:

 Naan and Butter Chicken

Hakka Noodles

Dim Sum Momo

 Opening hours: 9:00 am to 11:00 pm

Location: Second floor, Labim Mall, Pulchowk

Meal for 2: Rs 1,500

Phone/Card pay: Yes

Contact:  01-5527437

Scientists have observed an enormous planet about nine times the mass of Jupiter at a remarkably early stage of formation - describing it as still in the womb - in a discovery that challenges the current understanding of planetary formation, Reuters reported.

The researchers used the Subaru Telescope located near the summit of an inactive Hawaiian volcano and the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope to detect and study the planet, a gas giant orbiting unusually far from its young host star. Gas giants are planets, like our solar system's largest ones Jupiter and Saturn, composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with swirling gases surrounding a smaller solid core.

"We think it is still very early on in its 'birthing' process," said astrophysicist Thayne Currie of the Subaru Telescope and the NASA-Ames Research Center, lead author of the study published on Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. "Evidence suggests that this is the earliest stage of formation ever observed for a gas giant."

It is embedded in an expansive disk of gas and dust, bearing the material that forms planets, that surrounds a star called AB Aurigae located 508 light years - the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km) - from Earth. This star got a fleeting moment of fame when its image appeared in a scene in the 2021 film "Don't Look Up."

About 5,000 planets beyond our solar system, or exoplanets, have been identified. This one, called AB Aur b, is among the largest. It is approaching the maximum size to be classified as a planet rather than a brown dwarf, a body intermediate between planet and star. It is heated by gas and dust falling into it, according to Reuters.

Planets in the process of formation - called protoplanets - have been observed around only one other star.

Almost all known exoplanets have orbits around their stars within the distance that separates our sun and its most faraway planet Neptune. But this planet orbits three times as far as Neptune from the sun and 93 times Earth's distance from the sun.

Its birth appears to be following a different process than the standard planetary formation model.

"The conventional thinking is that most - if not all - planets form by slow accretion of solids onto a rocky core, and that gas giants go through this phase before the solid core is massive enough to start accreting gas," said astronomer and study co-author Olivier Guyon of the Subaru Telescope and the University of Arizona.

In this scenario, protoplanets embedded in the disk surrounding a young star gradually grow out of dust- to boulder-sized solid objects and, if this core reaches several times Earth's mass, then begin accumulating gas from the disk, Reuters reported.

"This process cannot form giant planets at large orbital distance, so this discovery challenges our understanding of planet formation," Guyon said.

Instead, the researchers believe AB Aur b is forming in a scenario in which the disk around the star cools and gravity causes it to fragment into one or more massive clumps that form into planets.

"There's more than one way to cook an egg," Currie said. "And apparently there may be more than one way to form a Jupiter-like planet."

The star AB Aurigae is about 2.4 times more massive than our sun and almost 60 times brighter. It is about 2 million years old - an infant by stellar standards - compared to about 4.5 billion years for our middle-aged sun. The sun early in its life also was surrounded by a disk that gave rise to Earth and the other planets, according to Reuters.

"New astronomical observations continuously challenge our current theories, ultimately improving our understanding of the universe," Guyon said. "Planet formation is very complex and messy, with many surprises still ahead."

Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari held a meeting with General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, at the latter's office in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed matters related to mutual interest and measures to improve the bilateral ties between the two countries, according to Nepali Embassy in Islamabad.

A Nepal Army constable deployed to the UN mission in Congo died in a rebel attack on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as Anil Gurung of Gurmakot-14, Surkhet.

Gurung, who was critically injured in the rebel attack, breathed his last during the course of treatment at the Buniya-based Level-2 Hospital, yesterday.

Chief of Army Staff Parshu Ram Sharma expressed condolences on the death of Gurung on behalf of the entire organization.

Meanwhile, Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the attack against peacekeepers serving in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in Bali, Djugu territory, Ituri province, by suspected members of the Coopérative pour le développement du Congo (CODECO) militia, read a statement issued by the United Nations.

The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper, as well as to the Government and the people of Nepal.

“The Secretary-General recalls that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime. He calls on the Congolese authorities to investigate this incident and swiftly bring those responsible to justice,” the statement read.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned monopoly, hiked the prices of petroleum products on Tuesday.

The NOC has decided to increase Rs5 per litre each in petrol, diesel and kerosene.

As per the new revised rate, the petrol will now cost Rs160 per litre and diesel and kerosene will cost Rs143per litre.

Likewise, the cooking gas will cost Rs1600 per cylinder.

The NOC has also decided to increase the price of aviation fuel for domestic airlines by Rs5 and international carriers by $50 per kilo liter.

Now, the aviation fuel for domestic airlines and foreign companies will cost Rs156per litre and $1.545 per kilo litre.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has revoked a state of emergency after dozens of MPs walked out of the ruling coalition, which has been struggling to quell protests over economic downturn, Aljazeera reported.

In another setback for the administration on Tuesday, Finance Minister Ali Sabry resigned a day after his appointment and ahead of crucial talks scheduled with the International Monetary Fund for a loan programme.

Rajapaksa dissolved his Cabinet on Monday and sought to form a unity government as public unrest surged over the ruling family’s handling of the debt-heavy economy that has led to shortages of food, medicine and fuel and prolonged power cuts.

In a gazette issued late on Tuesday, Rajapaksa revoked the emergency rule ordinance that went into effect last Friday.

Sabry said in his resignation letter to the president that he believed he had “acted in the best interests of the country”.

“At this crucial juncture the country needs stability to weather the current financial crisis and difficulties,” he said in the letter seen by the news agency Reuters, also offering to resign from his seat in the Parliament of Sri Lanka if the president wanted to bring in someone from outside to replace him, according to Aljazeera.

Street demonstrations against the food and fuel shortages, triggered by a lack of foreign exchange for imports, began last month but have intensified in recent days, leading to clashes between protesters and police in some instances.

Dozens of protesters peacefully gathered near the residence of the prime minister on Tuesday, Aljazeera reported.