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The 27th Flora Expo organized by the Floriculture Association of Nepal concluded on Sunday by drawing more than 60,000 visitors and business worth Rs 12.2 million. 

The four-day-long expo that began with the slogan 'Floriculture for Clean Environment, Employment and Economic Prosperity' was organized in Bhrikutimandap exhibition hall and received an impressive number of visitors, Association's Senior Vice Chairman Ram Bahadur Tamang said. 

The Expo had 65 commercial, 11 official and two competitive stalls.  

Floriculture is currently being carried out in about 270 hectares across 52 districts and that more than 53,500 people are employed directly or indirectly in the flower business in the country, it is said. 

Likewise, this sector has a total investment of more than Rs 8.8 billion in Nepal. 

Also, some agricultural policies have been modified and implemented, which has led to policy issues in imported flowers and flower-based products that need to be produced domestically.

Earlier, the Bagmati Province Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Madhusudan Paudel, had inaugurated the event while expressing his readiness to support the prosperous floriculture business.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to chair an emergency meeting on the economic fallout from the war in Iran on Monday, with finance minister Rachel Reeves and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey ​in attendance, the government said, Reuters reported. 

Investors are bracing for another stormy week in financial markets after Iran said it ‌would strike the energy and water systems of Gulf neighbours if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to hit Iran's electricity grid.

Britain is watching with particular unease. The country's heavy dependence on imported natural gas, persistently high inflation and stretched public finances have pushed its government bonds ​into a far steeper decline than those of international peers, according to Reuters. 

Sudan's army has denied it carried out a deadly attack on a major hospital on Friday night in a city in the west of the country held by its rivals, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), BBC reported. 

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said 64 people - including 13 children, two nurses and a doctor - had died in the strike on el-Daein Teaching Hospital and 89 others had been wounded.

"Enough blood has been spilled," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X, urging the warring parties to end the conflict, which started nearly three years ago, according to BBC. 

Germany is continuing to struggle with a shortage of skilled workers, as elderly staff retire, and there are not enough young candidates to fill their roles. To try to alleviate the problem the country is increasingly turning to workers from India, BBC reported. 
 

For Handirk von Ungern-Sternberg, it started with an email that dropped into his inbox in February 2021. It had come from India.

The gist of the message was: "We have lots of young, motivated people looking for vocational training and we're wondering if you're interested."

Extremist Jewish settlers have carried out a spate of attacks on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to homes, vehicles and agricultural fields, BBC reported. 

The violence began after a teenage settler - 18-year-old Yehuda Sherman - was killed on Saturday, after reportedly being hit by a vehicle driven by a Palestinian while on his quad bike. Police said they were investigating whether the hit was deliberate or accidental.

In response, WhatsApp groups used by settlers called for a "revenge campaign" over his death. More than 20 settler attacks were reported overnight, according to a defence official cited by Israeli media, according to BBC. 

Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane called on Prime Minister Sushila Karki at the latter's official residence in Baluwatar on Sunday. 

On the occasion, President Lamichhane thanked PM Karki for successfully holding the historic House of Representatives (HoR) elections under her leadership. "HoR elections are  held in a free and fair atmosphere, giving a political exit to the country. It is a landmark achievement. For this success, I congratulate and thank the PM, her Cabinet members and secretariat," Lamichhane said. 

He also praised PM Karki's resolute stand for the sake of fair and peaceful elections in a short time. "I have reverence to you for giving a democratic exit to the country," President Lamichhane reiterated before the PM. The government under the PM's leadership will be remembered forever, according to him. He further shared that he had expected her continuous guardianship.

In response, PM Karki congratulated RSP for its electoral achievement. "People have huge expectations of you. Challenges abound. Cautious navigation is imperative to change the country," she reminded, suggesting Lamichhane that he responded to the critics with works. If the resolution is forwarded with honesty, it meets expectations, according to her.

The PM's secretariat said that RSP President Lamichhane said his party had no objection to the decision the government had taken recently. Discussion was held on political matters between them. 

"The government has the power to take any decision till it exists. So, we have no objection to its decisions," President Lamichhane said, expressing support for the government initiatives. 

He said his party had much respect for the government for its historic delivery.

Even the issues like problems facing Nepali students in Portugal, conflict in West Asia and problems Nepali labourers facing there and supply of petroleum products surfaced in the discussion. 

He urged the government to take proper initiatives on these pressing issues.

The air pollution afflicting the country, including the federal capital, Kathmandu, for quite a while has declined remarkably after the rainfall last Friday.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 178, making Kathmandu City as the second most polluted city in the world a week back. 

The AQI has now declined sharply placing Kathmandu City at AQI 60. It means Kathmandu is the 67th polluted place in the world now.

The AQI measurement from 0 to 50 is considered 'good' while 51 to 100 'requires alertness', 100 to 150 is 'unhealthy', impacting badly the people with respiratory and heart diseases. It is 'unhealthy for all' if the AQI ranges from 151 to 200, while the 'very unhealthy' stage is 201 to 300 and 'very dangerous' in case of the AQI above 300. 

Director General at the Department of Environment, Gyanraj Subedi, informed that the rainfall coupled with storms swept away the dust and polluted particles. It resulted in clean air.

Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal has held a discussion on security arrangements in Singha Durbar in view of the upcoming oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected members of the House of Representatives (HoR).

The meeting held on Sunday was attended by Secretary at Home Ministry, Raj Kumar Shrestha, Inspector General of Nepal Police, Dan Bahadur Karki, and high level officials at the Ministry. 

They dwelt on preparation of security for the swearing-in ceremony and the security inside Singh Durbar for the HoR sessions.

Home Minister Aryal directed the subordinates to ensure smooth security arrangement, traffic management and other logistics for conducting swearing-in ceremony and parliament meetings.

The security officials briefed the Minister on necessary arrangements in this regard.