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Nepal reported 31 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 557 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 28 returned positive. Likewise, 850 people underwent antigen tests, of which three were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 10 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 142  active cases in the country.

Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI) welcomed the start of “Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train” connecting Safdarjung, New Delhi along with other religious sites related to Ramayan circuit of India to Janakpur Dham, Nepal.

For the promotion of Nepal-India religious tourism with different religious pilgrimage circuits, NICCI had proposed the agenda for the development of religious circuits connecting both the countries during the Joint Working Group meeting for the promotion of Bilateral Tourism held in Kathmandu on 8th July 2018, read a statement issued by the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The agenda was endorsed by both the delegation of Nepal and India during the JWG meeting and now NICCI has been working on the final stage of development of Coffee Table Book and website including 5 Religious circuits namely; Shiva-shakti Circuit, Mahabharat Circuit, Ramayan Circuit, Buddhist Circuit and Sikh Circuit.

Flagged off on Tuesday, “Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train” initiation of Indian Railways and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTA) has the capacity of 600 religious’/pilgrimage tourist to carry from Safdarjung, New Delhi along with different Ramayan circuit sites in India to Jahakpur Dham, Nepal.

It will help promote bilateral religious tourism as well as strengthen the sentiments of the people of both the countries.

Biratnagar was designated the temporary capital of Province 1 on 6 May 2018.  A year later, the provincial assembly voted to make its temporary status permanent.

With the issue of provincial capital settled, the provincial government, led by former Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai, had to then decide the province’s name. Most other provinces already had or were in the process of finalizing their names at the time.

Naming the province thus became one of Rai’s top priorities. He even promised to finalize the name in the fifth session of the provincial assembly. This did not come to pass. The political parties represented in the assembly could not agree on a common name.

Province 1 was just a temporary moniker assigned when the country was federated into seven provinces. Six other provinces have already decided their official names. 

The issue of naming the province has become urgent for Province 1 parliament and its government as their five-year tenure soon ends.

Rai says his party, CPN-UML, is preparing to finalize the name.

“A party task-force has been formed to decide the name. Its members have already held discussions with the Nepali Congress,” he says. “We are positive that the parties will agree on a common name this time.”

The UML has proposed Koshi, Kirat, Limbuwan and Sagarmatha as potential name candidates for Province 1.

UML task-force member and former minister Hikmat Karki says the Nepali Congress has agreed to settle the name in the ongoing session of the provincial assembly. The province is currently holding its budget session.

Congress has assigned its leader Rajiv Koirala to hold discussions with other parties on the province’s name.

Province 1 Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Indra Bahadur Angbo also believes the issue can be settled if the UML and Congress see eye to eye.

What will be the basis to determine the province’s name is still a matter of debate though.

While Samyukta Loktantrik Rashtriya Manch, one of the partners in the ruling coalition, has demanded that the province be named ‘Limbuwan’ after the Limbu community, others are of the view that the name should represent the entire province rather than one ethnic group.  

“We should stay away from identity politics when naming the province, because this is the very reason why we have been unable to finalize the name so far,” says Karki.

Jayaram Yadav, leader of Janata Samajbadi Party, also says the name of the province should represent the collective identity, one that doesn’t favor one community, culture or religion.

Dilli Prasain, an associate professor at Biratnagar Post-Graduate Campus, suggests the province be named based on national identity rather than ethnicity.

“Most other provinces have done the same thing. Naming the province after a particular ethnicity could invite trouble,” he says.

Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province have decided to declare an "emergency" following a spike in cases of sexual abuse against women and children, the media reported on Monday, India Today reported.

Punjab Home Minister Atta Tarar on Sunday said the administration was forced to "declare an emergency to deal with rape cases".

The minister said the rapid increase in cases of sexual abuse against women and children in the province was a serious issue for the society and government officials.

"Four to five cases of rape are being reported daily in Punjab due to which the government is considering special measures to deal with cases of sexual harassment, abuse and coercion,” the Dawn newspaper quoted the provincial minister as saying in a press conference at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) headquarters.

The minister, in the presence of Law Minister Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, stressed that all cases will be reviewed by the Cabinet Committee on Rape and Law and Order, and that civil society, women rights organisations, teachers, and attorneys will also be consulted to keep a check on such incidents.

Tarar also urged parents to teach their children about the importance of safety and that youngsters should not be left alone in their homes without supervision, according to India Today.

Tarar stated that the accused in a number of cases had been detained, the government had launched an anti-rape campaign, and that students would be sensatised about sexual harassment in schools.

The home minister also said the role of Punjab Forensic Science Agency would be improved for sampling of DNA on a fast track basis and a meeting with the lab authorities was scheduled for later Monday.

The minister in a response to a query also regretted that taking drugs had become a fashion in elite schools and colleges, which was contributing to the rise in the crime graph, India Today reported.