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Seven Indian nationals died and seven others were injured when an electric microbus met with an accident at Kantar in Shahid Lakhan Rural Municipality-3, Gorkha on Saturday.

According to District Police Office Chief Bharat Bahadur BK, among them, Muthu Kumar (58),  Anamalik (58), Meenakshi (59), Sivagami (53), Vijayal (57), Meena (58), and Tamilarsi (60), died on the spot.

The incident occurred when the microbus carrying 16 devotees returning from Manakamana fell some 200 meters down the road. 

The injured have been identified as 62-year-old Soranam, 65-year-old Mangada Jalam, 75-year-old Subhadra, 65-year-old Mayal, 73-year-old Saroja, 75-year-old Bhagyalakshmi and 34-year-old Meenakshi.

They are undergoing treatment at the Old Medical College in Chitwan

The driver of the microbus, 46-year-old Pushpa Malla Thakuri of Besisahar Municipality-1, Lamjung is safe while his assistant 29-year-old Santosh Gurung of Besisahar Municipality-3, is injured. 

Police said that further investigation into the incident is underway. 

England ended the Six Nations with a bitter taste after a last-gasp 48-46 defeat by France but with a clearer blueprint of how they want to play, head coach Steve ​Borthwick said after a breathless title decider on Saturday, Reuters reported. 

Thomas Ramos’s late penalty won it at ‌the Stade de France, condemning England to a fourth defeat of the campaign despite their most fluent attacking display of the championship.

“I’d first congratulate France on a tremendous performance today and huge congratulations to them for winning the title,” Borthwick told ​reporters after England lost four games for the first time in a Six Nations campaign, according to Reuters. 

Iraq will travel to Mexico at the end of the week ​for their World Cup playoff despite calls from coach Graham Arnold to postpone the match as they are facing travel disruption due to the Middle East ​conflict, the country's FA president Adnan Dirjal ​said on Saturday, Reuters reported. 

Iraq are due to face ⁠either Bolivia or Suriname in Monterrey on ​March 31. Regional airspace has been closed since February ​28, when U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the Middle East, grounding ​several flights.

Dirjal said in a video statement ​carried by the Iraqi News Agency that the federation had ‌written ⁠to world soccer's governing body FIFA to explain “the situation in the region and the difficulties facing the national team”.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reprimanded Pakistan batter Salman Agha for his reaction to a ​controversial run-out in the second One-Day International against ‌Bangladesh in Dhaka on Friday, Reuters reported ​​​​​​. 

Short of his crease at the non-striker's end, Agha was bending down to pick up ​the ball to return it to a Bangladesh ​bowler after his teammate Mohammad Rizwan had ⁠driven it towards him.

However, Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan ​Miraz circled around behind Agha to collect the ball ​and threw down the stumps, sparking a debate about the “sportsman spirit”.

Manchester City lost ground on Premier League Arsenal on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at ​West Ham United, which left them nine points behind the leaders with a game in hand, Reuters reported. 

After Arsenal left ‌it late to beat Everton 2-0, Bernardo Silva put City ahead in the 31st minute with a fortunate chip over goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, before Konstantinos Mavropanos headed home Jarrod Bowen's corner four minutes later.

City manager Pep Guardiola had claimed the title race could be over if his side dropped points again and ​City poured forward with increasing desperation in search of a winner after the break, according to Reuters. 

Carlos Alcaraz's bid for a third straight Indian Wells title was brought to a halt on Saturday by Daniil Medvedev, who swept past the ​world number one 6-3 7-6(3) to set up a final against Jannik Sinner ‌after the Italian brushed aside Alexander Zverev 6-2 6-4, Reuters reported. 

Medvedev, who ended Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak to start the season, won six points in a row in the tiebreak before serving an ace to close out the match.

The ​Russian played smartly to break Alcaraz early and take a 3-1 lead, never relinquishing ​his advantage to claim the opening set, according to Reuters. 

The Forest Fire Management Week has begun today under the theme 'Effectiveness in Forest Fire Control: Participation of All Three Levels of Government and Community'. 

The Ministry of Forest and Environment has been observing Forest Fire Management Week from the month of Chaitra 1 to 7 in the lunar calendar every year as per the Forest Fire Management Strategy, 2067 BS.

The week is being observed by organizing various programs to increase public awareness for reducing and controlling forest fires. 

In an appeal on the occasion, Minister for Forest and Environment Madhav Prasad Chaulagain has said that increasing public awareness is very important for reducing and controlling forest fires and has requested all Division Forest Offices, Forest User Groups, Development and Conservation Partner Organizations and concerned stakeholders to conduct various awareness-raising programs in their respective areas of work during the week.

According to the ministry, public awareness programs, community and school-level orientation, publicity campaigns, information dissemination through local media, monitoring of risk areas, construction of fire lines in forest areas, sanitation and other appropriate fire management activities will be conducted during the week.

Director General of the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation Dhirendra Kumar Pradhan said that the risk of wild fire is particularly high in the Sudurpaschim, Bagmati and Karnali Provinces. 

He shared that the geographical distribution of wild fires indicates that the risk is high in the Tarai-Chure and mid-hill forest areas.

The risk of wild fire in the forest areas is high with the onset of the dry season in Nepal, especially from the month of Falgun to Jestha in the lunar calendar.

A total of 6,799 disaster incidents were recorded across the country in the past 11 months. 

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, 464 people have died while 38 people have gone missing and 1,814 injured in disaster incidents during the period.

The details provided by the NDRRMA states that 12,458 households have been affected by the disaster. 

The highest number of incidents that occurred during the period is fire, where 98 people died in 3,339 fire-related incidents.

The NDRRMA stated that 318 incidents of floods, 590 landslides, 429 heavy rains, 367 lightning strikes, 592 snake bites, and 246 wildfires were recorded during the period. 

Similarly, there were 292 incidents of windstorm, 488 wild animal attacks, and 119 landslides. 

There were five incidents of avalanches, seven earthquakes and two boat capsizing incidents.