Biden’s administration will purchase 100 million doses each of the vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, and Moderna Inc, increasing the overall total doses to 600 million, with delivery expected by summer.

The previous purchase target was 400 million doses.

Each vaccine requires two doses per person to be fully effective, suggesting the new purchases would build up enough of a stockpile to inoculate most of the country’s 331 million people. The vaccines are not approved for use by most children.

“This is a wartime effort,” Biden said in the White House State Dining Room under a painting of President Abraham Lincoln, who led the Union to victory in the US Civil War.

Pfizer is confident it can deliver the extra doses in the time frame specified by Biden, spokeswoman Sharon Castillo said.

Moderna declined to comment.

The new purchase target, along with promises to get more vaccine to local authorities, raises the bar for a Democratic president who took office last week with vows to repair what he said was a disastrous emergency response by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

Biden said he would hike the amount of the vaccine going to local governments to 10 million doses per week for the next three weeks, up from 8.6 million currently. The news was welcomed by governors, who said they needed even more doses.

“We appreciate the administration stating that it will provide states with slightly higher allocations for the next few weeks, but we are going to need much more supply,” Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said in a statement after being briefed on a call by Jeff Zients, the administration’s COVID-19 response coordinator.

“I urge President Biden to take every imaginable step within his power to ramp up production without delay.”

OBSTACLES AHEAD

Considerable challenges remain, ranging from faster-spreading virus variants, supply shortages and public fears about taking the vaccine. Biden’s administration has tried to address the latter problem by getting senior officials vaccinated in public. Vice President Kamala Harris took her second and final Moderna-manufactured shot on Tuesday at the National Institutes of Health.

Biden has asked Congress for a $1.9 trillion relief package to increase testing and vaccine distribution, but the proposal has been met with Republican resistance over the price tag and the inclusion of some measures not directly related to virus control.

Senate Democrats will approve the stimulus even without the support of Republicans, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday.

The administration has also faced extensive questions after sending mixed messages on issues such as when the population would be fully vaccinated.

On Monday, Biden said he believed it was possible to have 150 million doses of the vaccine administered in his first 100 days in office, an aspiration his press secretary, Jen Psaki, said was not an official adjustment of the current target of 100 million doses over that same time period.

The pandemic, which has killed over 420,000 Americans, is currently infecting more than 173,000 people daily and has left millions out of work.

“Cases will continue to mount,” Biden warned. “We didn’t get in this mess overnight. It’s going to take months for us to turn things around. Let me be equally clear: We’re going to get through this. We will defeat this pandemic.”

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Health-workers and sanitation workers deployed in the frontlines will first receive the vaccines in the first round of the campaign. Over 400,000 such frontline workers will be included in the initial stage.

The drive will begin with the virtual announcement of its commencement from 11 different hospitals in the capital.

The director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Diseases Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari will receive the first jab at the hospital.

It has been advised that the Covishield vaccine received from the Indian government cannot be administered to minors. Only individuals above 18 years can opt to receive the same.

Likewise, those showing symptoms of the disease will also not receive the vaccine. Pregnant women also cannot get jabbed against the disease.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has stated that a person has to sign a consent letter, a standard procedure, prior to getting vaccinated.

Recently, the Government had received a million vaccines in support from the Government of India.

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On Monday, hundreds of people had gathered under the ‘Brihat Nagarik Andolan’ banner and marched from Kamalpokhari towards Baluwatar in protest. The rally was intercepted by police while it was moving towards Baluwatar and the police used water canons and batons to disperse them.

Prominent faces of civil society — Dr Govinda KC, Mohana Ansari, Khagendra Sangraula and Narayan Wagle had addressed the rally which had writers, poets, artists, intellectuals and members of public in attendance.

Several protesters were injured in police action.

Later, the campaign, condemning police action, released a statement announcing that the ‘Third People’s Movement’ has been launched. Accusing the administration of turning the peaceful citizens’ protest violent by using force on unarmed, civil demonstrators, the group said it is launching the movement against every form of regression.

Leaders in opposition, leaders from the splinter group of the ruling party, civil society members, former administrators and general public have denounced the administration’s action labeling it unnecessary and oppressive.

Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has demanded that the government should render an apology to the demonstrators for using force in a peaceful rally. Likewise, NC’s Gagan Thapa cautioned that the government’s crackdown on peaceful civil protests indicate an end of ‘Olicracy’.

Similarly, former spokesperson of National Human Rights Commission Mohana Ansari said that suppressing civil protest by force is against democratic values and human rights principles. “I strongly condemn the violence on protesters by police force,” Ansari said.

The splinter group of the ruling party led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and Pushpa Kamal Dahal too condemned the use of force during peaceful protests.

Chairperson of Nepal Policy Centre Pradip Pariyar said no amount of condemnation can justify the oppression of peaceful protesters. “Too much of anything can hurt the doer in stead. Think before it is too late,” Pariyar stated.

Meanwhile, a large number of social media users have condemned the administration’s intervention during civic demonstrations.

Failed attempts at maligning individuals with false accusations

There were also attempts made by pro-government ‘forces’ on social media to malign prominent journalist, writer Narayan Wagle who has been persistently speaking out against Oli’s step.

During Monday’s demonstrations, Wagle had announced that a third wave of people’s movement had begun, which did not sit well with the pro-Oli camp. Posters of Wagle with remarks circling around religious sentiments were circulated after the protests, which was rendered baseless by the writer.

Nepal Fact Check, a fact checking website as its name suggests, stated that the claims made by some people regarding the journalist’s statement on social media were false.

A while ago, NCP leader Mahesh Basnet, who is very close to PM Oli, had pointed out the need for a ‘cyber-cell’ that would fight fake news and false propaganda against the government.

Despite scattered attempts at organised attacks against dissenters in the past, there has been a rise in the thickness of such ‘co-ordinated’ acts in recent times.

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The United Nations today confirmed Nyanti’s appointment, which was approved by Minister of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Pradeep Gyawali, after reviewing presented credentials of the candidate.

It has been learnt that Sara Beysolow Nyanti has acquired more than 20 years of experience in the faculty, following assignments across the world with the United nations, and externally.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator is the highest-ranking official of the United Nations development system at the country level.

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Azhar Ali and Fawad Alam were both not out on 5 and will resume on the second morning on a wicket already producing both turn and variable bounce, suggesting the visitors’ modest first innings score could be par.

In a major blow for the home side, captain Babar Azam (7) was trapped leg before wicket by spinner Keshav Maharaj just before the close of play.

South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada (2-8) removed both Pakistan opening batsmen when he bowled Abid Ali (4) and then had debutant Imran Butt (9) caught at short leg from a vicious rising delivery.

Anrich Nortje then grabbed the wicket of Shaheen Shah Afridi (0) with a full delivery, only the fourth ball the hapless nightwatchman had faced.

South Africa were in many ways the architects of their own downfall with the bat, however, having won the toss in their first test in Pakistan since 2007.

They had two run outs in their top six, while captain Quinton de Kock (15) gave his wicket away with a wild swing across the line off left-arm spinner Nauman (2-38), who is playing in his first test at the age of 34.

Opener Dean Elgar (58) was the top scorer and looked in control until he drove at a wide delivery from Nauman and was caught at slip.

Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma were both run out on 17, while Yasir (3-54) picked up the key scalp of Faf du Plessis (23), who edged the ball to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

Babar is captaining Pakistan in the test format for the first time having missed their recent series defeat in New Zealand with a thumb injury.

South Africa had initially included Tabraiz Shamsi as a third spinner in their line-up but he suffered lower back pain in the warm-up and was replaced by seamer Lungi Ngidi.

South Africa will play two tests and three Twenty20 Internationals on their tour, their first in Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009 in which six policemen and two civilians were killed.

READ ALSO: 

• South Africa win toss, elect to bat against Pakistan in Karachi test

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READ ALSO: Kathmandu valley logs 172 new Covid-19 cases today

Till date, 2,052,687 tests through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method have been carried out wherein 4,574 tests were performed in the last 24 hours.

At present, there are 122 people under quarantine in various facilities across the country. The number of active cases in Nepal is 3,252.

303 new cases of the coronavirus infection were registered today taking the national tally to 270,092.

As many as 285 persons earlier diagnosed with the disease have tested negative in the last 24 hours. With the recent addition, the national COVID-19 recovery tally has now reached 264,823.

Meanwhile, six more fatalities were confirmed by the Ministry today , with which the country’s COVID-19 death tally has reached 2,017.

As of today, the country has witnessed 270,092 cases of the coronavirus infection while 264,823 people have recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, 2,017 COVID-19 fatalities have been confirmed. 

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Growers, angered by laws they say help large, private buyers at the expense of producers, have camped outside New Delhi for almost two months, posing one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014.

The body of one protester draped in an Indian tricolour lay in a central Delhi street after the tractor he rode overturned in one of the clashes, killing him, said a witness, Vishu Arora.

Farmers participate in a protest against farm laws introduced by the government, at the historic Red Fort in Delhi, India, January 26, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

“He died right there,” Arora added.

A Reuters witness saw at least five police and three protesters injured at the Red Fort, from whose ramparts Modi delivers an annual speech. Some of those who scaled its walls carried ceremonial swords.

The disorderly scenes and lingering swirls of gas on the outskirts of the capital were a sharp contrast with televised images of the serried precision of military marchers in an annual Republic Day parade in the city centre.

“Modi will hear us now, he will have to hear us now,” said Sukhdev Singh, 55, a farmer from the northern state of Punjab, who was among hundreds of protesters, some on horseback, who broke away from a key route of a tractor convoy by protesters.

From the city’s north they headed towards the government buildings in its centre. They commandeered cranes and used ropes to tear down roadblocks, forcing constables in riot gear to give way, Reuters witnesses said.

A second group rode tractors to get to a key central traffic junction, also breaching barricades after similar clashes with police. Domestic television channels showed images of several bloodied protesters.

Reuters could not immediately reach police officials for comment.

Protest organiser Samyukt Kisan Morcha said the groups swerving from set routes did not represent the majority of farmers, however.

“None of the leaders disappeared,” the grouping of farm unions said in a statement. “They are following the set routes.”

FARMER PRESSURE

Earlier, tens of thousands of bearded and turbanned farmers, many bundled against the winter cold, drove a convoy of tractors festooned with Indian and union flags along the city fringe.

Agriculture employs about half of India‘s population of 1.3 billion, and unrest among an estimated 150 million landowning farmers worries the government.

Nine rounds of talks with farmers’ unions have failed to end the protests, as farm leaders rejected the government’s offer to delay the laws for 18 months, making a push for repeal instead.

“The farm organisations have a very strong hold,” said Ambar Kumar Ghosh, an analyst at New Delhi think tank the Observer Research Foundation.

“They have the resources to mobilise support, and to continue the protest for a long time. They have also been very successful in keeping the protest really focused.”

India showcases its military hardware with a parade every year on Republic Day, which marks the adoption of its constitution in 1950. (Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal and Danish Siddiqui in Singhu, Anushree Fadnavis in Tikri and Adnan Abidi, Manoj Kumar, Mayank Bhardwaj and Alasdair Pal in New Delhi; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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The tweet earned massive number of retweets and engagements drastically. In only about 30 minutes, the post gained 1,588 retweets and 27.11K likes.

I kinda love Etsy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2021

According to marketwatch.com, Etsy’s shares raised from -2.24% and jumped 5% in premarket trade after Tesla CEO’s tweet.

Musk shared that he bought a hand knit wool Marvin the Martian helm for his dog but didn’t discuss Etsy in particular.

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Among the newly infected, 74 are females while 98 are males.

Of the total 303 new cases in the country, Kathmandu district reported 134 infections while Lalitpur and Bhaktapur registered 31 and seven cases respectively.

Currently, there are 1,794 active infections in Kathmandu, 150 in Lalitpur, and 33 in Bhaktapur. The total number of active cases throughout Nepal, as of today, is 3,252.

So far, 494 fatalities from Covid-19 have been reported in Kathmandu, 115 in Bhaktapur, and 159 in Lalitpur. The nationwide death-toll has advanced to 2,017 with six Covid-related fatalities logged today.

Meanwhile, a total of 98,746 people have recovered from the infection in Kathmandu, 15,664 in Lalitpur, and 9,047 in Bhaktapur.

Kathmandu is the only district with over 500 active cases in the country. On the contrary, Kalikot, Rukum West, and Mugu are the three districts with zero live infections, as of today.

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The Public Health Agency of Canada based in Ottawa was formed to warn about potential health threats like that of COVID-19 pandemic, however, the internal report drawn by auditors of the agency concluded that it lacked key people and expertise during the crisis.

The report scripted by the agency back in September was publicized, following the request from the Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, which shows the weaknesses in the working mechanisms of the much-trusted health agency, highlighting that it lacked key personnel.

NDP MP Don Davies has been quoted as saying, “I don’t expect perfection and there can be deficiencies here and there. I think that’s to be expected, but this is a scathing indictment of an agency that is comprehensively understaffed and underprepared.”

Canada has been majorly affected by highly-contagious infection with more than 750,000 cases being reported, as of today, and more than 19,000 lives lost consequential to the pandemic.

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Globally, 2.14 million people have lost their lives to Covid-19 while more than 100 million people have been infected by the disease.

Today, 303 new Covid-19 cases surfaced after which Nepal’s total cases of coronavirus infection have reached 270,092.

On Monday, ten fatalities were reported after which the country-wide death toll had reached 2,011.

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Of the total cases, 130 are females while  173 are males.

In the last 24 hours, 172 cases surfaced in Kathmandu valley. The capital hosts the highest number of active cases.

Likewise, 285 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 264,823 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 98.1 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 3,252.

Meanwhile, six more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death-toll to 2,017.

According to the health ministry, 4,574 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 2,052,687 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 122 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

Globally, over 100 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus while 2.14 million people have lost their lives to Covid-19. Likewise, over 72 million people have recovered from the disease and over 25.8 million cases are still active.

On Monday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 269,789 with 339 newly confirmed cases.

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Media Action Nepal, a research based media development organisation, has said that it has found around 3.70 per cent of misleading news in Nepal’s national level newspapers including online news portals.

In a press statement today, it said that the report titled ‘Misleading News in Media: A Study of Newspaper and Online News Portals of Nepal’ analysed a total of 49,051 news in which 1,817 news contained misinformation which accounted for 3.70 per cent of false and misleading information.

“The study addresses these concerns to prevent disinformation and to promote credible journalism.” To do so, the media should stay away from disseminating misinformation, Laxman Datt Pant, media expert and Chairperson of Media Action Nepal said.

“Learning about misinformation and understanding its presence is really critical first step towards preventing it.” Randy Berry, US Ambassador to Nepal said at the report launch.

Read the full report, here.

The media outlets included in the study have published four out of eight categories of misleading information.  As some Nepali media did not reveal the source of information correctly, the content or news published by them has fallen into the category of misleading news.

According to the report, Khabarhub accounted to highest per cent of misleading information of 36.33 while The Himalayan Times ranked lowest at 0.05 %.  Other media were ranked as follows – Nepal Samacharpatra 25.69%, Himal Khabar 11.14%, Nepal Live 8.12%, Nagarik 7.12%, Annapurna Post 7.02%, The Rising Nepal 6.73%, Republica 4.61%, Nepalkhabar 2.49%, Naya Patrika 1.78%, Ratopati 1.75%, Kantipur 0.45%, Setopati 0.45%, Gorkhapatra 0.33%, Thaha Khabar 0.17%, The Kathmandu Post 0.15%, Baaharkhari 0.13%, Onlinekhabar 0.10%, Deshsanchar 0. 08%.

A total of 36 news items (1.98 percent) included misleading headlines, 23 (1.27 percent) disinformation and 19 (1.05 percent) on misinformation, according to the statement.

“The six media outlets included in the study — four dailies (The Himalayan Times, The Kathmandu Post, Gorkhapatra and Kantipur) and two online news portals (Onlinekhabar and Baaharkhari) — have not published even a single misinformation related to the source,” the report stated.

This study was based on an analysis of news stories published in national daily newspapers and online news portals in the first three months of the COVID-19 related lockdown that started on 24 March 2020.

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Twitter Inc informed of its decision to remove Lindell’s account on Tuesday.

Lindel used his and My Pillow’s account to spread unfound misinformation on voter fraud in the presidential election. It is to be noted that the My Pillow chief is a vocal trump supporter and funded post-election protests to turn the election results.

Courtsey: Twitter

The company’s spokesperson, in a statement said that Lindell repeatedly violated the company’s civic integrity policy, due to which he was suspended.

Earlier this month, Trump’s account was permanently suspended for constant spread of lies and misinformation despite multiple flaggings.

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The top two men’s players will be joined by world number three Dominic Thiem and Russian No. 4 Daniil Medvedev on the opening day of the tournament at Melbourne Park, which will also host the year’s first Grand Slam from Feb. 8-21.

Reigning champions Serbia, led by Australian Open holder Djokovic, will begin their title defence against Canada on Rod Laver Arena and will also play Germany in the group stages.

Austrian Thiem, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s final in Melbourne, will play the early session on the John Cain Arena against Italy.

World number two Nadal, part of the team that finished runners-up to Serbia, and ATP Finals winner Medvedev will highlight the evening sessions when they play against opponents from hosts Australia and Argentina.

The ATP Cup debuted last year with 24 teams and was held across three cities in Australia but there will be half the number of teams in this year’s edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The start of this year’s tournament has been pushed back by a day to allow more time to train for 72 players confined to their hotel rooms after some passengers on the three charter flights that brought them to Australia tested positive.

Russia are the only team with two top 10 players in their side in Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, while Argentina and Japan are led by No.9 Diego Schwartzman and Kei Nishikori, ranked 41st.

The winners from each group will advance to the semi-finals.

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The Bild shared that the federal government expects that the vaccine from the Swedish-British manufacturer AstraZeneca will only receive approval from the EU drug agency EMA for people less than 65 years of age.

On the contrary, statement released by the company said that reports that AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine efficacy is as low as 8 percent in adults over 65 years are completely incorrect. It added that the data in ‘The Lancet’ — a leading medical journal — showed that older adults showed strong immune responses to the vaccine, with 100 percent of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose.

According to Reuters sources, German Health Minister Jens Spahn was quoted saying, European authorities will this week base a decision on whether to approve AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine on available data. He declined further information sharing on vaccine’s effectiveness on elderly citizens.

Spahn also told ZDF television on Tuesday that it was encouraging that the number of new coronavirus cases was falling in Germany.

Meanwhile, Nepal is all set to begin the Covid-19 vaccination drive from Wednesday. The India manufactured Covishield — also Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which has been manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India — will be administered on frontline workers under the first phase of the campaign throughout the country.

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According to the New York Post, two groups of researchers stumbled upon the Californian COVID-19 variant–B1429 strain–while researching into the highly-contagious UK variant of the respiratory pathogen (B117).

The Golden State’s COVID-19 variant is found to be in the same family tree as that of the UK COVID-19 strain, which has already infected as many as 456 dwellers across the state, Governor Gavin Newsom was quoted as saying.

Authorities are uncertain on whether or not new vaccines are required to neutralise the now-spreading variant while urging the Californians to receive the current vaccine shots in circulation.

California remains as on one of the most affected American states with more than 3.2 million cases of the infection being reported as of today in addition to more than 37,000 lives which have already been lost consequential to the pandemic.

Feature image: Google images

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The total population of blackbucks stands somewhere near 50,000 in the world now.

At present, Nepal and Pakistan are the only countries that have natural habitats for the endangered species. There are two sub-species of blackbucks in the world. The sub-species found in Nepal is called antelope cervicapra.

Of the total number of blackbucks found in Nepal, Bardiaya’s Blackbuck Conservation Area, Khairapur has 200 of them. After the zoo set up by Banke’s Nepalgunj sub-metropolis was not seen as appropriate, the blackbucks at the zoo were shifted to Shuklaphanta National Park.

The population of the endangered species of antelope is growing in the country. As per official data, blackbucks that were just in single digit, nine, in 1976 in Bardiya’s Gulariya Municipality has now risen to 200.

About eight years ago, 100 blackbucks were swept away by the floods and went missing.

Prior to the floods, their number stood somewhere near 300. The community living near the conservation area has also played a significant role in its protection.

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As opposed to the earlier announcement of scheduling the ITV show to later this year, Thames TV and Syco –Simon Cowell’s company– have decided to air the program in 2022, owing to the difficulties of the closures and restriction inflicted by the looming pandemic.

Although many individuals will have received the currently circulating COVID-19 vaccine shots by the summer, it is uncertain whether the production team can start working as strict regulations on mass gathering, travel is under implementation.

However, a source was quoted as saying in the Dailymail that nothing can be ruled out just yet, but it’s not looking good. “It’s almost certain to be binned.”

The acknowledgement and popularity of the Television program that provides a platform to artists for showcasing their many talents have been on the decline with 37 per cent year-on-year drop in audience numbers as claimed by Campaign Live.

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Health workers and staffers, security personnel, ambulance drivers, sanitation workers, persons involved in management of bodies of the infected persons, health volunteers, among other frontline workers would be vaccinated in the first phase.

The India manufactured Covishield, one million doses of which have been provided to Nepal by India in aid, is being administered by the government on the aforementioned group. Covishield is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which is manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India.

Around 430,000 people will receive the vaccine during first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in Nepal, which will last for about ten days. Vaccines have started reaching the seven provinces of the country.

Over 35,000 people including 34,851 health workers and staffers, women health volunteers of government, and private hospitals under Province 1 would be administered the Covid-19 vaccine.

Likewise, the doses of vaccine have reached Karnali Province. More than 11,500 doses — which were stored in Nepalgunj — were taken to Surkhet of Karnali Province on Monday. According to Provincial Health Services Directorate, the vaccines would be administered by converting 12 hospitals of Karnali into vaccination centres.

Likewise, Province 2 government — that has received 34,000 doses of the vaccine — will begin the vaccination drive in all eight districts from Wednesday. Chief Minister Lal Babu Raut will inaugurate the campaign at Birgunj-based Narayani Hospital, Provincial Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Gyanendra Kumar Yadav will do the same at Provincial Hospital in Janakpurdham, and Minister of Social Development Nawal Kishor Sah at Rajbiraj-based Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital.

With the completion of first phase of the drive, the government will move forward to the second phase, the details of which Ministry of Health is yet to make public.

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A clash ensued with between the protesting farmers and police as the latter fired tear gas shells to restrain the convoy of tractors that breached the barricades and attempted to enter the inner parts of the city.

Picture courtesy: @SikhProf/twitter

Indian farmers have been protesting against the government for almost two months, posing one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014.

“Modi will hear us now, he will have to hear us now,” said Sukhdev Singh, 55 to Reuters, a farmer from the northern breadbasket state of Punjab, as he marched past the barricades.

Agriculture employs about half of India’s population of 1.3 billion, and unrest among an estimated 150 million landowning farmers worries the government.

“They could have chosen any other day instead of January 26 but they have announced now,” Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told media on Monday.

Nine rounds of talks with farmers’ unions have failed to end the protests, as farm leaders rejected the government’s offer to delay the laws for 18 months, making a push for repeal instead.

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Election related activities have started in Banke.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari had announced the dates for midterm polls following the dissolution of the House of Representatives on December 20. Mid-term polls have been slated for April 30 and May 10.

Considering the upcoming polls, election related activities have started in the district. District Election Office, Banke, had organised district-based interaction programme to prepare for elections a week ago.

The participants discussed rectification of the voter list. District voting booth and centre recommendation committee held the meeting as per the election office schedule.

Voting booths and centres have been allocated in all eight local levels of the district. The committee voting booths and centres have been allocated as per the population and geographical location.

Banke Chief Election Officer Khum Prasad Subedi said as many as 138 voting centres had been recommended.

He said that 365 voting centres have been recommended in all local levels in Banke.

As many as 34 voting booths and 87 centres have been recommended in Nepalgunj sub-metropolis and 12 voting booths and 24 centres have been fixed in Narainapur Rural Municipality.

Similarly, as many as 18 voting booths and 58 centres have been fixed in Kohalpur Municipality, and 16 voting booths and 50 centres in Baijanath Rural Municipality.

Similarly, 18 voting booths and 51 centres have been recommended in Raptisonari Rural Municipality, 16 voting booths and 39 centres in Khajura, 12 booths and 36 centres in Janaki Rural Municipality.

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Suicide cases are rising in Dhading.

As many as 79 people committed suicide in the last six months of the current fiscal year in the district. Of them, 64 hanged themselves, 13 consumed poison, one slit his own throat and one jumped into a river.

The district had recorded 71 suicide cases last fiscal, while that number stood at 60 the previous year. Data at Dhading District Police Office showed that 94 people had consumed poison. The district is also witnessing a rise in crime and criminal incidents.

As many as 252 cases, including drug trafficking, murder and polygamy, have been filed with the district police office in the past six months of the current fiscal.

According to Dhading SP Mahendra Khadka, out of 1,159 incidents, murder, suicide and road accidents top the list. Data showed that cases of rape, suicide, human trafficking, drugs, attempt to murder and gambling were high. Nineteen rape cases were registered with the police office in the past six months. The number is higher than that of the same period last year.

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Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has started province-based destination promotion activities. Organising an event today, NTB has started a campaign named ‘Let’s go to Province 1’ in order to promote domestic tourism in Province 1.

The board has stated that the business-to-business (B2B) discussions are being conducted in the international market as well since the board is setting this trend in domestic market. For which, the board has expanded its working areas within the country for recovery from COVID-19 pandemic, NTB stated.

Dhananjay Regmi, chief executive officer of NTB, said that the campaign has started with the objective of promoting B2B in the Nepali market at the provincial level. “Under this campaign, tourism promotion for domestic tourists is expected to gain momentum in collaboration with the private sector,” he said, adding, “New trends need to be implemented now in the Nepali tourism industry.”

The board has also informed that the campaign has been started from Janakpur. According to the board, one-on-one discussions will be held between the tourism entrepreneurs of Janakpur, Chitwan, Pokhara, Lumbini and Palpa under this campaign.

The B2B programme will be held in Janakpur, Chitwan, Pokhara and Palpa and will be completed in Lumbini on January 30.

According to the board, NTB official Prem Prasad Bhattarai; Bhavish Kumar Shrestha, coordinator of internal tourism revival and promotion campaign; Uday Kumar Shrestha, president of Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) Province 1; Basudev Baral, co-coordinator of the campaign; Rajan Shrestha, hotelier of Biratnagar; Navin Kharel, general secretary of NATTA; Rishi Timsina, president of Mechi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others are participating in this campaign.

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The two-match series marks South Africa’s first test in Pakistan since 2007.

Skipper Babar Azam will lead the team for the first time in the long format of the game after he was ruled out of New Zealand series due to injury.

Pakistan has handed debuts to opening batsman Imran Butt and spinner Nauman Ali.

Earlier, international teams had opted not to tour Pakistan owing to security concerns.

However, with the improvement in the security situations in the country, international cricket has gradually returned to Pakistan after more than 14 years, bringing much needed cheer to domestic fans.

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Division Forest Office, Kailali, has started removing physical structures constructed on the encroached land of Basant Forest area in Kailari Rural Municipality, Kailali.

An excavator was used to demolish and remove the structures constructed on the encroached land today.

Locals, however, have started protest against the demolition resulting in tension. Kailali Division Forest Office Chief Ram Chandra Kandel said that three houses were demolished, but the work was halted following locals’ resistance.

Kandel warned that the structures would be demolished forcefully. Locals, who have built the structures on encroached land, had padlocked the office of ward No 7 protesting against the forest office’s decision.

Around 300 locals had also tried to padlock the office of Kailari Rural Municipality in Hasuliya, as well. But, the local administration stopped them from locking the office.

Chhatakpur Basanta’s Bhalmansa Ramdin Chaudhary said that he was a flood victim, and he should be given a chance to live in the forest area.

Kailari Rural Municipality Chair Lajuram Chaudhary said that flood victims were living in the encroached land. “We have started the process of solving the problem as flood victims are living in the forest area,” he said, adding, “A discussion is under way with people’s representatives, Division Forest Office and flood victims.”

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Defending champions Nepal Police Club defeated Province-2 by four wickets to advance to the semi-finals of the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament here today.

NPC, who faced a defeat at the hands of table toppers Bagmati Province in their first match, accumulated six points with their third straight victory and made it to the last four as Group B runners-up.

Bagmati had already advanced to the semis with seven points. Three teams were eliminated from the group. Lumbini finished third with five points, while Sudurpashchim Province earned two and Province-2 failed to open their accounts.

NPC will now face Group A winners Nepal APF Club, while Bagmati will take on Tribhuvan Army Club in the semi-finals. APF beat TAC by six runs to finish first in Group A with maximum eight points, while the Armymen came second with six. Karnali, Province-1 and Gandaki earned two points each in the group.

At Mulpani Cricket Grounds, NPC restricted Province-2 to 169-9 before reaching 170-6 with 54 balls remaining.

Anil Sah top scored for the defending champions with an unbeaten 47 off 69 balls that included four boundaries. Kushal Bhurtel struck three fours and a six in his 55- ball 43.

Amit Shrestha and Dipendra Singh Airee contributed 17 each, while Sunil Dhamala scored 13 and skipper Manjeet Shrestha remained unbeaten on six-ball 12 that included one each four and six. Bibek Yadav and Kumar Thapa took three wickets each for Province-2.

Earlier, Hari Shankar Shah scored a half century for Province-2 but he got little support from other batsmen.

Shah struck five fours and a six in his 84-ball 53, while opener Himanshu Dutta (16) was next best contributor. Aadil Khan (15), skipper Suraj Kurmi (13), Ravi Singh (12) and Bishal Shusling (12) got starts but none of the batsmen was able to convert them into big knocks.

Man-of-the-match Lalit Rajbanshi was the pick of the NPC bowlers taking 4-37 from eight overs, while Sagar Dhakal bagged two wickets and Pawan Sarraf got one.

At the TU Stadium, APF were bowled out for 240 runs with two balls to spare, while TAC reached 234-8 in a match which just counted to decide the group winners and runners-up. Sumit Maharjan top scored for APF with 46 off 68 balls that included five boundaries and two sixes, while opener Subash Khakurel hit six fours in his 82-ball 38. Sundeep Jora scored run-a-ball 28 with the help of four boundaries and a six, whereas Amar Routela struck a four and two sixes in his quick fire 14-ball 26. Skipper Sharad Vesawkar contributed 24 runs hitting two fours and Basant Regmi struck one each four and six in his 24-ball 20.

Hari Chauhan completed the five-wicket haul taking 5-60 from 9.4 overs, while Shahab Alam grabbed 2-23. Aakash Chand and Bikram Sob pocketed one wicket each for TAC.

In reply, TAC were nicely cruising towards victory until they lost Rajesh Pulami and Bikram Sob at the score on 196, at a stage when the team needed 45 runs from 30 balls with four wickets remaining.

Aakash Chand and Shahab Alam did add 38 runs for the unbroken ninth wicket but they fell seven runs short of the target.

Anil Mandal top scored for the team with 45 off 76 balls that included eight hits to the fence, while Rajesh Pulami struck two fours and a six in his 37-ball 33. Rohit Poudel scored 67-ball 30, while Bikram Sob struck five boundaries in his 24-ball 28. Bhim Sharki contributed 27, while Lokesh Bam struck two each fours and sixes in his run-a-ball 21.

Shahab Alam remained unbeaten on 15-ball 20 that included two fours and a six, while Aakash Chand hit one each four and six in his 14- ball 16 not out.

Man-of-the-match Kamal Singh Airee took three wickets, while Bhuvan Karki bagged two and Abinash Bohara pocketed one for APF.

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Sabita Rana Magar scored a hat-trick as Chandrapur Municipality came from a goal down to thrash Chaudandigadhi Municipality 7-1 in the National Women’s League here at the ANFA Complex grounds today.

Dil Kumari Rana Magar netted a brace, while Rajani Thokar and Sunita Bholan scored one each for Chandrapur, who registered their first victory in the tournament. Chandrapur had faced a 6-0 loss at the hands of Nepal APF Club in their first match.

Anjana Thulung opened the scoring for Chaudandigadhi but that turned out to be the consolation goal after Chandrapur came back strongly. Thulung put Chaudandigadhi ahead in the 22nd minute before Chandrapur dominated the show. Dil Kumari levelled the scores in the first half injury time after she found the back of the nets following a corner kick from Sabita.

Chandrapur took the lead in the 47th minute through Rajani’s goal before Sabita made it 3-1 four minutes later when she slotted home in rebound after Chaudandigadhi goalkeeper Devika blocked the initial shot from Rajani. Sabita scored her second and team’s fourth goal in the 69th minute and completed the hat-trick nine minutes later when she beat past Chaudandigadhi keeper Devika in one-on-one situation.

Sunita made it 6-1 in the 85th minute after the substitute player slammed home on a pass from Sabita before Dil Kumari completed the rout with her second goal of the match in the injury time. On Tuesday, Nepal Police Club will take on Waling Municipality, while Nepal APF Club will play against fellow departmental side Tribhuvan Army Football Club.
NPC sneak into semis

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The unprecedented disruption in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to four times as many job losses as during the global financial crisis over a decade ago, according to a latest report from the International Labour Organisation.

New annual estimates in the seventh edition of the ‘ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work’ confirm the massive impact that labour markets suffered last year. The latest figures show that 8.8 per cent of global working hours were lost for the whole of 2020 (relative to the fourth quarter of 2019), equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs or approximately quadruple the jobs lost during the 2009 global financial crisis.

These lost working hours are accounted for either by reduced working hours for those in employment or ‘unprecedented’ levels of employment loss, hitting 114 million people. Significantly, 71 per cent of these employment losses (81 million people) came in the form of inactivity, rather than unemployment, meaning that people left the labour market because they were unable to work, perhaps because of pandemic restrictions, or simply ceased to look for work.

Looking at unemployment alone drastically understates the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market, the report states.

These massive losses resulted in an 8.3 per cent decline in global labour income (before support measures are included), equivalent to $3.7 trillion or 4.4 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

Impact by groups and sectors

Women have been more affected than men by the pandemic’s labour market disruptions.

Globally, employment losses for women stand at five per cent, versus 3.9 per cent for men. In particular, women were much more likely than men to drop out of the labour market and become inactive.

Younger workers have also been particularly hard hit, either losing jobs, dropping out of labour force or delaying entry into it. The employment loss among youth (15 o 24 years old) stood at 8.7 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent for adults. This ‘highlights the all too real risk of a lost generation’, the ILO Monitor says.

The report shows the uneven impact on different economic, geographic, and labour market sectors. It highlights concerns of a ‘K-shaped recovery’, whereby those sectors and workers hit hardest could be left behind in the recovery, leading to increasing inequality, unless corrective measures are taken.

The worst affected sector has been accommodation and food services, where employment declined by more than 20 per cent, on average, followed by retail and manufacturing. In contrast, employment in information and communication, and finance and insurance, increased in the second and third quarters of 2020. Marginal increases were also seen in mining, quarrying and utilities.

Looking ahead

While there is still a high degree of uncertainty, the latest projections for 2021 show that most countries will experience a relatively strong recovery in the second half of the year, as vaccination programmes take effect.

The ILO Monitor puts forward three scenarios for recovery — baseline, pessimistic and optimistic.

The baseline scenario (which draws on International Monetary Fund forecasts from October 2020), projects a three per cent loss of working hours globally in 2021 (compared to fourth quarter of 2019), equivalent to 90 million full-time jobs.

The pessimistic scenario, which assumes slow progress on vaccination in particular, would see working hours drop by 4.6 per cent, while the optimistic scenario forecasts a 1.3 per cent decline. This would depend on the pandemic being under control and an upsurge of consumer and business confidence.

In all scenarios, Americas, Europe and Central Asia, would experience around twice the working hour losses of other regions.

The ILO Monitor includes a series of policy recommendations for recovery, including macroeconomic policies to remain accommodative in 2021 and beyond; targeted measures to reach hard-hit groups; international support for low and middle-income countries; focusing support on the hardest-hit sectors; and social dialogue to implement the recovery strategies necessary to create more inclusive, fair, sustainable economies.

“The signs of recovery we see are encouraging, but they are fragile and highly uncertain, and we must remember that no country or group can recover alone,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder has been quoted as saying in a media release.

“We are at a fork in the road.

One path leads to an uneven, unsustainable, recovery with growing inequality and instability, and the prospect of more crises.

The other focuses on a human-centred recovery for building back better, prioritising employment, income and social protection, workers’ rights and social dialogue. If we want a lasting, sustainable and inclusive recovery, this is the path policymakers must commit to.”

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The ten-member K2 winter expedition team arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday after a successful historical accent on January 16. Hundreds of people gathered at the Tribhuvan International Airport to cheer the team and to celebrate their success.

Legendary climbers Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and Nirmal Purja (Nimsdai) along with other Nepali Sherpa climbers stood atop Mt K2 (8,611m) in the Karakoram massif, the first ever winter ascent of the world’s second highest peak.

Photos captured by Photojournalist Skanda Gautam for The Himalayan Times –

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