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Kathmandu: The 10th day of the Bada Dashain festival is being celebrated all over the country today with great enthusiasm as people receive ‘tika’ and blessings from their elders.

On the day of Bijaya Dashami, the ceremonial immersion (bisarjan) of the festival’s Goddess into rivers and ponds is performed at 10:37 am according to religious rituals.

The auspicious hour for receiving ‘tika’ is 11:02 am, as determined by the Nepal Calendar Determination Committee.

While the auspicious hour for receiving the Prasad of Devi is set at 11:02 am as per the calendar’s requirement, the entire day following the immersion of the Goddess is considered auspicious for this purpose.

The worship of Sri Durga Bhawani at Dasainghars over the nine days concludes formally on the day of Bijaya Dashami after the Abhishekh or the sprinkling of holy water takes place, marking the beginning of ‘tika’ ceremonies.

People continue to receive ‘tika’ and ‘jamara’ until the full moon day. ‘Tika’ and ‘jamara’ are considered auspicious gifts from the Goddess Navadurga, symbolizing prosperity.

It is believed that one need not seek an auspicious time if undertaking a new assignment, campaign, or journey on the auspicious day of Bijaya Dashami.

The Bijaya Dashami festival is celebrated in commemoration of the victory of truth over evil and the triumph of divine forces over demonic forces.

Kailali: While the Dashain festival is being celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout the nation, this morning in Nimbukheda, Bhimdutta Municipality-15 of Kanchanpur district, a scene of sorrow unfolded. Nimbukheda was overwhelmed with grief as the lifeless body of Deepesh Bista, one of the 10 victims of the Hamas militant group’s attack in Israel on Oct 7, arrived at his family’s doorstep in a coffin. Bista had been in Israel as part of the 11-month ‘Learn and Earn’ training program, representing the Agriculture Campus under Sudurpaschim University in Tikapur, Kailali.

Deepesh’s mother, Parbati, lost consciousness upon hearing the devastating news of her son’s passing. She had come from her ancestral home in Lekam rural municipality-5 in Darchaula district to receive her son’s body. A grieving neighbor, Suresh Pal, reminisced, “Deepesh excelled academically from a young age. When he lost his father at a tender age, he displayed great determination to become the sole provider for the family. He was the unwavering support for his widowed mother.”

“He maintained a fearless attitude and was determined to improve the family’s living conditions. It’s heartbreaking that he returned home in a coffin,” he lamented. Deepesh’s mortal remains, which had been kept at Seti Provincial Hospital in Dhangadhi, were brought home this morning. He received a scholarship for his outstanding academic performance and attended the Global Academy in Mahendranagar from grade one to grade 10, according to Surendra Raj Ojha, the school’s principal.

Ojha, who attended Deepesh’s final rites on the banks of the Mahakali River, expressed, “This unimaginable incident has plunged all of us into a sea of sorrow.” Deepesh, who pursued a science education in his higher secondary school, had a dream of seeing his younger brother become a doctor. Since losing his father to cancer at the age of four, he had shouldered the responsibilities of the household.

His mother is a teacher at the Latinath Secondary School in Darchula, while his younger brother, Basanta Raj Bista, is pursuing an MBBS degree at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, Sunsari district. The bodies of four out of the ten Nepali students killed in Israel were repatriated to Nepal on the previous Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All the deceased were returned to their respective families in Sudurpaschim Province at Dhangadhi Airport on Sunday evening.

Washington: US President Joe Biden held a telephonic conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, with both leaders affirming the need to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid and relief materials into Gaza.

The White House shared a statement saying that President Biden called up Netanyahu to discuss developments in Gaza and in the surrounding region.

“The leaders affirmed that there will now be a continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza,” the White House statement said.

Meanwhile, President Biden welcomed the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance since Hamas’s Oct 7 terrorist attack.

According to the statement, the aid has crossed the border into Gaza and is being distributed to Palestinians in need.

Moreover, Biden expressed appreciation for Israel’s support in helping to accommodate the release of two American hostages.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed on Saturday the release of two US citizens, who were being held hostage by Hamas.

The two Americans released were identified as Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natali Raanan, both from Chicago, according to CNN.

Their family members said they had been visiting relatives in Nahal Oz, a farming community in southern Israel, and were released on “humanitarian grounds” due to the mother’s poor health.

Moreover, the two leaders discussed ongoing efforts to further secure the release of all the remaining hostages, including US citizens, taken by Hamas.

They also discussed the way to provide safe passage for US citizens and other civilians in Gaza who wish to depart, according to the statement.

“The President and the Prime Minister agreed to stay in close touch,” the White House statement added.

As Israel continued to pound Hamas in Gaza, at least 14 trucks laden with items for humanitarian relief entered the Strip through the Rafah crossing on Monday, CNN reported.

These aid trucks were sponsored by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the United Nations.

An official with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza confirmed to CNN that these trucks have been admitted and are currently being offloaded to proceed to the Gaza storage facilities of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

Earlier on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized on Friday that facilitating the movement of aid into Gaza was among his top priorities over the past week. He noted that they worked diligently with the governments of Israel and Egypt. 

ANI

Festive season has started in Nepal and people are planning for different recreation activities while utilizing their long spare hours during festivals. Reading has remained one of the great pastimes. In Nepal, reading is linked to something scholarly work, only done by book freaks or experts. However, reading is for people of all walks and age groups. No matter if you are a housewife, a musician, a literate mason, a businessman or any other professional, reading can change your life after you delve deeper and create a habit of reading well published texts.

Our lives are getting busier and busier with the development and modernization. For the sake of progress, we are focusing on the outward. Reading during festivals gives us the opportunity to self-reflect and look towards our inner self. By reading, I mean reading different kinds of books ranging from stories, novels, biography, memoir, travelog, poetry, drama, essays, interviews, magazines, comics, blogs, newspapers, websites and others. Readers who continually engage in leisure reading possess higher self-esteem because they are able to comprehend the reading material they read. Many researchers have come to the conclusion that those who regularly do leisure reading tend to achieve better academic results due to increased knowledge and their wide general knowledge.

Leisure reading can be reading newspapers or niche websites as well. You can read an interesting essay or story in the newspaper which may not demand your serious thought. The best part of leisure reading is that you need not work hard, yet enjoy the process of reading itself and find joy in the segments. One can improve reading comprehension, reduce stress and improve achievement in one’s discipline through leisure reading.

Reading for the sake of reading has proven to yield various benefits. Passive reading, or reading for the sake of pleasure is significant to develop reading habits in the long run. Reading books during holidays keeps you stimulated. When you are not working, your idea generation and brainstorming habits can be impaired. Thus, with books you continue to develop thought patterns while you read words. When you do not participate in social meetings or office gatherings, reading books keeps you self-engaged. While you pass your leisure time, chances are high that you keep learning something new while you read.

There are different platforms available to read nowadays. The common and popular one is the print form. You can visit the bookstores in person, buy and read the books. You can also read books in digital formats on your personal computers or laptops. For that, you can buy e-books online and some free e-books are also available on the web. With technological progress, if you want to read for longer hours and with more convenience, you can read on Kindle devices. The devices are lightweight and the feel they provide is similar to reading physical books.

All age groups and walks of people can engage themselves in reading. Reading materials have been developed age-specific and discipline-specific. If your children are a third or a fourth grader, there are specific story books with illustrations and text size that are suitable for their reading age. If you are a high school goer, there are comics and novels suitable to your reading age and competency. If you are not a professional and just an ordinary person, there are different self-help books that match your interest. There are also biographies and memoirs to start with, for your reading habit. If you have interest in research, you can read journal articles based on your discipline. You cannot excuse yourself for not reading because there are varieties of materials as per your personality and just far from your fingertips.

In this festive season, you may have already planned to read books but you may be stuck on deciding the kinds of books to read. In order to decide the kind of book, I present to you some tips that will help you. First, you can go through/scan book reviews published recently in newspapers, news portals and magazines. If anything seems to match your interest, you can pick it. The other way is asking for recommendations from your teachers, mentors or friends. They can understand what you are seeking in the book and thus recommend out of their knowledge and information. Thirdly, you can visit the bookstores that are popular for possessing large quantities of books. You can visit them, check the books out of your preferred domain and read the synopsis. You can do the same visiting the book portals that place the book synopsis. The fourth option can be joining the virtual book clubs and book groups. You can find the reviews put by the members, join the conversation about the books and get recommendations.