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The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has requested the public to adopt special precautions from Oct 4 to 6.

The department has warned of a high possibility of sudden flooding in small rivers of Bagmati, Koshi, and Madhes.

According to the department, a low-pressure system developed in the Bay of Bengal is expected to move inland from Odisha, India, towards central India. As a result, monsoon winds are predicted to enter Nepal, becoming active mainly in Koshi, Madhes, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces from Oct 3 to 6.

Based on current analysis, water levels in the Narayani, Bagmati, Kamala, and Koshi rivers, along with their tributaries, are likely to rise significantly and may reach danger levels.

Smaller rivers and streams flowing through the Mahabharat and Chure regions of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, and Madhesh Provinces also face a risk of sudden surges. As the monsoon has not yet withdrawn from Nepal, the department said it is continuously monitoring potential adverse weather and flood conditions.

The public has been urged to stay updated through the department’s website, social media, toll-free service 1155, and other official channels to take necessary precautions.

The department has also appealed to all disaster risk reduction agencies and the general public to remain prepared. Risks such as floods, inundation, landslides, erosion, and disruptions to road and air transport may occur during this period.

The International Calendar Decision Committee of the World Astro Federation (WAF) has announced the auspicious time for the Bijaya Dashami 'tika' rituals in various countries.     

The committee's member secretary Acharya Lakshman Panthi said that a meeting of the committee held here today has declared the auspicious time in various countries for giving and receiving the Dashain 'tika'.     

According to Panthi, the auspicious timings for the 'Dashain tika' in various countries have been announced based on the astronomical calculations of the 'tithi' and associated factors in accordance with the local time of the respective countries, in response to the inquiries by followers of the Vedic Sanatana Hinduism living in different countries of the world.     

The committee stated that the auspicious time is at 11:53 am on October 2 for Nepal; the same at 11:49 am the same day for Delhi, India; and at 11:25 am on 1st October for New York, USA; at 11:57 am for Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA; for Owensboro, Kentucky, USA at 11:05 am on 1st October, at 11:33 am on 1 October for Texas, at 11:35 for Washington DC, at 11:11 am for California and at 11:29 am for Colorado, said chairman of the committee, Prof Dr Madhav Bhattarai.     

Similarly, the auspicious time for the Dashain tika for Toronto, Canada is at11:55 am, and at 11:33 am for Vancouver, Canada on the 1st of October.     

The auspicious time for Dashain tika is at 10:25 for Geneva, Switzerland and at 10:55 am for Malta on October 2.     

The auspicious time for the Dashain tika is at 9:23 am for Lisbon, Portugal; at 09:17 am for London, UK; at 09:57 am for Paris, France, and at 10:03 am for Oslo, Norway, on October 2.     

It is at 11.31 am for Tokyo, Japan on October 2.     

Likewise, the auspicious time for the Dashain tika is at 11:43 am for Sydney, at 11:19 am for Melbourne, at 11:53 am for Brisbane, at 11:35 am for Adelaide, at 11:51 am for Canberra, at 11:45 am for Tasmania, at 11:25 am for Perth, and at 11:47 am for Darwin, Australia on 2nd October. It is at 11.23 am for Wellington, New Zealand on October 2.     

Similarly it is at 11:11 am for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; at 10:55 am for Abu Dhabi, UAE; at 10:13 am for Doha, Qatar; at 10.55 am for Saudi Arabia and at 11.35 am for Tel Aviv, Israel.     

The auspicious time for the Dashain tika is at 10.27 am for Yangon, Myanmar; at 10:45 am for Bangkok, Thailand; at 11.09 am for Singapore; and at 11.45 for Hong Kong. It is at 10:57 am for Seoul, South Korea.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Meteorological Forecasting Division, has stated that the country is currently under the influence of monsoon winds and local air systems.

As a result, light to moderate rainfall is occurring in different parts of the country, including the Kathmandu Valley.

According to the division, the weather will remain generally cloudy across the country this afternoon.

There is a possibility of moderate rainfall with thunder and lightning in the hilly and Terai regions of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces, as well as in some areas of Madhesh Province, and a few places in the hilly and Terai regions of the remaining provinces.

Heavy rainfall is also likely in one or two places of Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki Provinces.

Similarly, tonight, moderate rainfall is expected in some parts of the hilly and Terai regions of Koshi, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces, as well as in a few areas of the hilly and Terai regions of other provinces.

The division also forecast the possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in Koshi and Gandaki Provinces.

On the main day of ‘Durga Pakshha’ under the Bada Dashain festival, people across Nepal are celebrating Bijaya Dashami today by receiving red tika and jamara, symbols of auspiciousness and prosperity, from the hands of elders.

According to the Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Bikas Samiti (Nepal Calendar Determination Development Committee), the most auspicious time to receive tika and blessings is at 11:53 am today. Similarly, the time for Devi Bisarjan (immersion of the goddess) is set at 9:23 am.

The committee has clarified that Bijaya Dashami itself is an inherently auspicious day, so ordinary people do not need to wait for a specific time to receive tika.

Traditionally, it is considered favorable for those taking tika to face east. The tika is prepared by ritual consecration of the sacred kalash (vessel) established on Ghatasthapana day at the beginning of Dashain.

For those unable to take tika today, it is customary to receive the blessing of tika and jamara from elders until Kojagrat Purnima ( full moon day).

Bijaya Dashami is observed as a festival symbolizing the victory of truth over falsehood and of divine power over demonic forces.

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has announced that leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was suspended for the final two matches of the historic T20I Series against West Indies, held in Sharjah, UAE, from Sept 27 to 30. Nepal went on to win the series 2–1.

According to CAN, Lamichhane informed team management just 45 minutes before the start of the opening match on Sept 27 that he would not participate. His sudden decision, the association said, had a “serious impact” on team management, players, and Nepali cricket as a whole.

On the recommendation of the team management, CAN suspended Lamichhane from the remaining two matches of the series. However, it remains unclear whether the suspension applies only to the West Indies series or extends to Nepal’s upcoming fixtures as well.

The association said Nepal’s immediate focus is the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia/EAP Final Qualifier, to be held in Oman from Oct 8 to 17. The national squad of 16 players and full officials has already departed from the UAE to Oman.

CAN expressed gratitude to fans for their continued support and urged them to encourage the team as it prepares for the crucial qualifying tournament.

The Nepal–China border customs office at Nhechung, Korala, Mustang, has collected revenue worth Rs 2.02bn in just two weeks. The office, which came into full operation on Sept 16, recorded the highest-ever revenue collection in its history by Tuesday morning.

On average, the office collected more than Rs 136.6m daily, a dramatic rise compared to previous years when revenue was limited to just Rs 1–1.5m annually from household imports by Upper Mustang residents. The surge is largely attributed to the disruption of trade at the Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani checkpoints due to landslides and river erosion, which shifted imports, including a large number of electric vehicles, through Korala.

According to customs chief Ramesh Khadka, out of 1,109 electric vehicles imported via Korala, 965 have already cleared customs, while 144 are still undergoing the process. Similarly, all 375 container trucks importing goods have completed customs clearance and moved toward their destinations.

The customs office staff have left for Dashain holidays, and regular operations are expected to resume from Oct 7, said customs officer Uttam Rai.

With the full operation of the Korala border, business activities in Mustang have significantly increased. Lomanthang Rural Municipality Chairperson Tasi Nurbur Gurung said local trade has improved, and residents are earning well. Many youths are engaged in loading and unloading goods and driving imported electric vehicles across the border, creating new income opportunities.

Hamas’ review of US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan stretched into a third day on Wednesday, a source close to the militant group said, as other Palestinian factions rejected the proposal and as Israel again bombed Gaza City.

Trump on Tuesday gave Hamas ‘three or four days’ to respond to the plan he outlined this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has backed the proposal to end Israel’s almost two-year war with the Palestinian militant group.

“Accepting the plan is a disaster, rejecting it is another, there are only bitter choices here, but the plan is a Netanyahu plan articulated by Trump,” a Palestinian official, familiar with Hamas’ deliberations with other factions, told Reuters. “Hamas is keen to end the war and end the genocide and it will respond in the way that serves the higher interests of the Palestinian people,” he said, without elaborating.

Israeli planes and tanks pounded residential neighbourhoods throughout the night, residents in Gaza City said. Local health authorities said that at least 35 people across Gaza had been killed by the military on Wednesday, most of them in Gaza City. A strike on the old city in northwestern Gaza City killed seven people, while six people sheltering in a school in another part of the city were killed in a separate strike, medics said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued new orders for people to leave for the south and said it would no longer allow those to return to the north, as Gaza City came under heavy bombing. 

Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move as “tightening the encirclement around Gaza on the way to defeating Hamas,” saying Palestinians willing to leave to the south would have to go through army vetting. “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City itself in the face of the IDF’s continuing full-scale operations,” Katz said.

The Israeli military also said that starting on Wednesday it would no longer allow people to use a coastal road to move from the south to communities in the north.

It would remain open for those fleeing south, it said. Witnesses said Israeli tanks began moving towards the coastal road coming from the east, but were not yet there. In recent weeks, few people have moved from the south to the north as the military has intensified its siege on Gaza City. However, the decision will put pressure on those who are yet to leave Gaza City and also prevent hundreds of thousands of residents who have fled south from returning to their homes, likely deepening fears in Gaza of permanent displacement.

Reuters

Washington is bracing for what could be a prolonged federal shutdown after lawmakers deadlocked and missed the deadline for funding the government.

Republicans supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through Nov 21, but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer and extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions of people who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.

Republicans called the Democratic proposal a nonstarter that would cost taxpayers more than $1trn.

Neither side shows any signs of budging.

Here’s what to know about the shutdown that began Wednesday:

What happens in the shutdown?

Now that a lapse in funding has occurred, the law requires agencies to furlough their “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees, who include those who work to protect life and property, stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown ends.

The White House Office of Management and Budget begins the process with instructions to agencies that a lapse in appropriations has occurred and they should initiate orderly shutdown activities. That memo went out Tuesday evening.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day of the shutdown, with the total daily cost of their compensation at roughly $400m.

What government work continues during a shutdown?

A great deal, actually.

FBI investigators, CIA officers, air traffic controllers and agents operating airport checkpoints keep working. So do members of the Armed Forces.

Those programs that rely on mandatory spending generally continue during a shutdown. Social Security payments still go out. Seniors relying on Medicare coverage can still see their doctors and health care providers can be reimbursed.

Veteran health care also continues during a shutdown. Veterans Affairs medical centers and outpatient clinics will be open, and VA benefits will be processed and delivered. Burials will continue at VA national cemeteries.

Will furloughed federal workers get paid?

Yes. In 2019, Congress passed a bill enshrining into law the requirement that furloughed employees get retroactive pay once operations resume.

While they’ll eventually get paid, the furloughed workers and those who remain on the job may have to go without one or more of their regular paychecks, depending upon how long the shutdown lasts.

Service members would also receive back pay for missed paychecks once federal funding resumes.

Will I still get mail?

Yes. The US Postal Service is unaffected by a government shutdown. It’s an independent entity funded through the sale of its products and services, not by tax dollars.

What closes during a shutdown?

All administrations get some leeway to choose which services to freeze or maintain in a shutdown.

The first Trump administration worked to blunt the impact of what became the country’s longest partial shutdown in 2018 and 2019. But on Tuesday, Trump threatened the possibility of increasing the pain that comes with a shutdown.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them,” Trump said of Democrats. “Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

Each federal agency develops its own shutdown plan. The plans outline which workers would stay on the job during a shutdown and which would be furloughed.

In a provocative move, the Office of Management and Budget has threatened the mass firing of federal workers in a shutdown. An OMB memo said those programs that didn’t get funding through Trump’s mega-bill this summer would bear the brunt of a shutdown.

Agencies should consider issuing reduction-in-force notices for those programs whose funding expires, that don’t have alternative funding sources and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities,” the memo said.

That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns, when furloughed federal workers returned to their jobs once the shutdown was over. A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions, which would trigger another massive upheaval in a federal workforce that’s already faced major rounds of cuts due to efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and elsewhere in Trump’s Republican administration.

What agencies are planning

Health and Human Services will furlough about 41 percent of its staff out of nearly 80,000 employees, according to a contingency plan posted on its website.

As part of that plan, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would continue to monitor disease outbreaks, while activities that will stop include research into health risks and ways to prevent illness.

Meanwhile, research and patient care at the National Institutes of Health would be upended. Patients currently enrolled in studies at the research-only hospital nicknamed the House of Hope will continue to receive care. Additional sick patients hoping for access to experimental therapies can’t enroll except in special circumstances, and no new studies will begin.

At the Food and Drug Administration, its “ability to protect and promote public health and safety would be significantly impacted, with many activities delayed or paused.” For example, the agency would not accept new drug applications or medical device submissions that require payment of a user fee.

The National Park Service plans to furlough about two-thirds of its employees while keeping parks largely open to visitors during the federal shutdown, according to a contingency plan released Tuesday night. The plan says “park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.”

The plan also allows parks to enter into agreements with states, tribes or local governments willing to make donations to keep national park sites open. The park service has more than 400 sites, including large national parks such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, national battlefields and historic sites.

Sites could close if damage is being done to park resources or garbage is building up.

Many national parks including Yellowstone and Yosemite stayed open during a 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term. Limited staffing led to vandalism, gates being pried open and other problems including an off-roader mowing down one of the namesake trees at Joshua Tree National Park in California.

Smithsonian Institution: Museums, research centers and the National Zoo will remain open through at least Monday.

Impact on the economy

Phillip Swagel, director of the Congressional Budget Office, said a short shutdown doesn’t have a huge impact on the economy, especially since federal workers, by law, are paid retroactively. But “if a shutdown continues, then that can give rise to uncertainties about what is the role of government in our society, and what’s the financial impact on all the programs that the government funds.”

“The impact is not immediate, but over time, there is a negative impact of a shutdown on the economy,” he added.

Markets haven’t reacted strongly to past shutdowns, according to Goldman Sachs Research. At the close of the three prolonged shutdowns since the early 1990s, equity markets finished flat or up even after dipping initially.

A governmentwide shutdown would directly reduce growth by around 0.15 percentage points for each week it lasted, or about 0.2 percentage points per week once private-sector effects were included, and growth would rise by the same cumulative amount in the quarter following reopening, writes Alec Phillips, chief US political economist at Goldman Sachs.

AP