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The Birgunj Metropolitan City has decided to halt classes of schools here for three days with immoderate fall in temperature.

In recent days, the district has seen thick fog. The metropolis has decided to grant a three-day winter holiday from January 8-10. Issuing a public notice, BMC Education Officer Hari Raut shared the decision to give three days winter holiday to both public and private schools.

"In view of adverse impact on students' health due to the rising cold, the metropolis instructed all the concerned schools to halt classroom-based teaching and learning in the schools".

However, the metropolis asked the schools to assign students so that they can continue their study at home. The administrative work of the school would be continued during the holidays, he clarified.

Similarly, Parsagadhi Municipality has also issued a public notice on January 5 and decided to grant winter holiday to public and private schools from January 6 to January 14, said Education Section chief Dev Kumar Giri. 

At least 95 people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday morning, with tremors felt across the Himalayas in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and parts of northern India, CNN reported.

The 7.1-magnitude quake struck at 9:05 a.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and was followed by multiple aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The energy unleashed by the tectonic movement toppled houses in remote Himalayan villages, rocked a nearby Tibetan holy city and rattled visitors to a Mount Everest base camp.

Its epicenter, located in Tingri county high on the Tibetan plateau, was close to the border with Nepal, around 50 miles north of the world’s highest mountain.

At least 130 people were injured in the quake, local authorities said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. More than 1,000 houses were damaged in Tingri county, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The tremors were felt as far as Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. “It was very strong. People came running out of their houses. You could see the wires from poles shaken loose,” said Bishal Nath Upreti from the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, a non-government organization in Kathmandu, according to CNN.

The region close to the epicenter is sparsely populated but small villages are nestled in isolated and often hard to access Himalayan valleys. About 6,900 people are estimated to live in 27 villages within a 20-km (12-miles) radius of the epicenter, according to Xinhua.

Chinese social media videos geolocated by CNN showed damaged roofs, shop fronts and debris piling on the streets of Lhatse county, some 86 kilometers (53 miles) from the epicenter. Some cars and motorcycles parked along the road were also damaged, the footage showed.

The nearest major city to the epicenter is the holy city of Shigatse, which lies some 180 km (111 miles) away. The city is home to about 800,000 people and the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism, second only to the Dalai Lama.

Surveillance camera footage at a supermarket in Shigatse shared by Xinhua captured the moment the quake struck, with customers running outside as goods fell from quivering shelves. There were no immediate reports of widespread damage in the city, CNN reported.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives and properties in the earthquake that struck Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China this morning.

Extending heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family members through the social platform X today, President Paudel prayed for the early recovery of those injured in the disaster.

He stated that Nepal stands firmly by the Government and the people of the People's Republic of China at this moment of profound grief.

A mild tremor hit several places of  Kathmandu Valley and adjoining districts at 6: 59 am Tuesday, shaking up houses for a few seconds and waking up the people.

It was also felt in Dhading, Sindhupalchowk, Kavre and Makwanpur among other districts.

The gold is being traded at Rs 152, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 810 per tola today. 

Baglung Municipality has been declared as a child-friendly municipality after all 14 wards of the municipality fulfilled the 51 indicators of the National Strategy of Child-Friendly Local Governance.

For this, the municipality had already invested around Rs 30 million in social development and construction of child-friendly infrastructures in the last two years.

Earlier, Galkot Municipality of Baglung district was declared child-friendly.

According to Baglung Municipality Mayor Basanta Kumar Shrestha, child-friendly infrastructures were constructed, various interaction programmes were conducted and facilitators deployed at the ward-level.

He added that all indicators related to child-friendly schools, infrastructures and child health were fulfilled.

The municipality has allocated Rs 12.5 million in the current fiscal year alone for carrying out all activities and programmes for declaring a child-friendly local government.

The budget includes construction of child-friendly school buildings, drinking water facilities and toilets.

Mayor Shrestha said that the campaign to include children in social programs to form children's clubs in every locality, and to end child marriage and child labour has already been completed.

He said that now the focus has been on preparing a national plan for sustainability with the announcement of the Municipality as a child-friendly city.

Kathmandu, Jan 5: Prime Minister and CPN UML Chairperson KP Sharma Oli claimed that there was a gradual improvement in national economy since the formation of the incumbent government.

Presenting the political report in the central committee meeting of the party at Chyasal, Lalitpur on Sunday, Chairperson Oli however admitted that the economic recovery had not yet gained a remarkable momentum.

In his report, Oli cited the notable outcomes of the incumbent government such as ensuring political stability, increased confidence in the private sector, higher revenue collection, rise in capital expenditure and import and capital market as compared to previous fiscal year.

The report mentions formation of a high-level Economic Reform Recommendation Commission for taking measures to improve national economy.

According to the report, the government fulfilled payment obligation and introduced a dozen of laws, regulations, procedures, directives and legislations and enforced them o strengthen national economy. The political report, taking pride in Nepal's improved sovereign credit rating, boasts that Nepal stands as the second most investable country in South Asia after India.

Oli outlined government's efforts and initiatives such as devising legal framework to address the anomalies plaguing the cooperatives sector, taking action against fraudulent cooperatives, repaying depositors' money and forming of an Authority to regulate the cooperatives sector.

Although the report highlighted a notable improvement in energy, trade and infrastructures sectors, as well as efforts to resolve farmers' issues and gradual improvement in public service delivery, PM Oli asserted that those sectors were not still far from challenges.

While the government's actions were positive, the report emphasized the need for additional efforts to deliver on development and meet citizens' expectations.

The PM has stated that the government had embraced austerity measures to implement a disciplined working system and focus on projects of national pride instead of scattering the budget on small projects.

In his report, he argued that a foundation was laid to bring vitality to the country's economy through various initiatives taken by the government. "The external economic factors are relatively stable. Cash deposits for investment have increased in banks, remittance inflows have risen, interest rates have been lowered to single digit, and inflation is under control," Oli said during the central committee meeting.

In his report, Oli suggested four immediate measures to address the anomalies in the cooperative sector. "Taking firm action against fraud, repaying depositors, establishing a high-powered authority to regulate cooperatives, and creating a security fund to protect depositors' funds in the future should be top priorities," Oli stated.

He emphasized that the government is resolute in holding accountable those responsible for embezzling cooperative funds. Oli also mentioned that some political parties or individuals are trying to politicize ongoing investigations and prosecutions by portraying them as targeted attacks, but these allegations have been proven false through the investigation process.

He stressed that individuals who have not committed any wrongdoing should not fear the judicial process. PM Oli announced that Rs 1.55 billion was repaid to 6,000 depositors from three troubled cooperative organizations out of the 22 troubled cooperative organizations.

The Chairman has however admitted in the report that excessive liquidity and political instability were behind slow development works.

He also accused the erstwhile government of creating atmosphere discouraging foreign investment, fueling corruption and embezzlement of government funds. Such malaises created a parallel economy denting formal economy of the country, he added. "The construction entrepreneurs did not get payment on time, while development projects were foisted randomly for political interests.

Several projects were scattered and without resources. Such ill practices ruined development ecosystem, which needs immediate correction," PM Oli underlined. Moreover, he said although present government took positive initiatives for economic reform, these were not adequate. "People are awaiting speedy development and delivery with the formation of government comprising two big parties," he said, drawing attention that the reconstructions in Jajarkot and Rukum Paschim districts were not initiated despite passage of more than one year since the earthquake, while people suffering floods in the ultimate days of last September were also in need of rehabilitation.

According to the PM, some of the challenges at present were- farmers not ensured proper price of their products; problems of sugarcane farmers still unaddressed; development works not gaining pace; and delivery of public service slowed and investment atmosphere elusive. 

Most of the parts of the country will witness cloudy weather due to the partial influence of the western low pressure systems.

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy this afternoon with chances of light rain in the hilly areas and snowfall in the mountainous areas on Monday.

Meteorologist Binu Maharjan of the Division said the weather will be generally cloudy in the eastern region of Karnali, Lumbini, Gandaki, Bagmati and Madhes provinces and partly cloudy in Koshi and Sudurpaschim provinces.

The weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly and mountainous regions of the country this afternoon.

Light snowfall will occur at some places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Koshi and Gandaki provinces tonight. "There will be dense cloud on Monday than today with the possibility of light rainfall in the hilly regions of Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces," he said.

The minimum temperature in Kathmandu has increased slightly compared to Saturday.

According to Division, the minimum temperature in Kathmandu was recorded at 7.2 degrees Celsius this morning.

It was recorded at 5.9 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Meteorologist Maharjan said that the minimum temperature has increased slightly due to cloudy sky in Kathmandu at night.