October 22, 2024: Snapshot of today's main news

Kathmandu, October 22 — In this section, we present the key headlines of the day. If you have been busy and missed the news, we have got you covered. Here are the highlights.

All 157 passengers evacuated safely from Vistara-155 after bomb threat

Passengers aboard the Vistara flight that landed at Kathmandu Airport from Delhi have been safely disembarked.

According to military spokesperson Brigadier General Gaurav Kumar KC, all 157 passengers on board flight Vistara-155 were safely evacuated.

Currently, the army and police are conducting searches of both the passengers' luggage and the aircraft. It was reported that an individual had informed the Civil Aviation Office at Tribhuvan Airport about a bomb being placed on the flight.

Bomb hoax: No explosives found on Vistara Air-155

The report of a bomb on the Vistara flight that landed at Tribhuvan International Airport from Delhi has been confirmed as false.

AIG Kiran Bajracharya of the Valley Police Office informed Ratopati that no explosive materials were found during the inspection of Vistara Air-155. She stated, "Nothing has been discovered so far; we are conducting another search with trained dogs."

After the search, the 157 passengers on board have reclaimed their baggage. The flight, which took off from Delhi, landed at Tribhuvan International Airport at 4:30 PM.

Khurkot-Manthali road connection restored with new baily bridge installation

The installation of a bailey bridge has been completed and is now operational, following the destruction of the bridge connecting Khurkot in Sindhuli and Manthali in Ramachhap due to flooding.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure announced that the bailey bridge was brought into operation on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Devendra Dahal, along with a team, visited the B.P. Highway to inspect the roads in Sindhuli and Ramachhap.

During the inspection, Minister Dahal honored the technicians and soldiers of the Nepal Army involved in the construction of the bailey bridge.

Dengue cases rise to 22,000 nationwide; 11 deaths reported

Among the 22,000 confirmed dengue cases across the country, 11 individuals have succumbed to the disease.

According to the latest statistics from the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), a total of 22,082 dengue infections have been reported since January, with 11 fatalities recorded.

Furthermore, the division has noted that dengue has spread to 76 out of 77 districts. Kathmandu has been the most affected area, with 3,594 reported cases of dengue in the city. In Kaski, 3,188 confirmed cases have also been documented.

CJ Raut to present judiciary reform report in full court session

Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut is scheduled to present a report concerning the anomalies within the judiciary for discussion in a full court session.

 He has convened a meeting for this purpose on Tuesday to deliberate on the report, which was prepared under the leadership of former Chief Justice Harikrishna Karki.

The report had previously been shelved after judges refused to engage in discussions on its implementation when it was presented in the full court.

In 2020, a committee was established to study the anomalies, discrepancies, and corruption within the judiciary. This committee, chaired by Karki, submitted its report to then-Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana on July 29, 2021.

Following the reluctance of Rana to implement the 234-page report at that time, protests ensued against him.

Maoist Centre to hold mass demonstration on Oct 26

The Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre) has announced a public demonstration and awareness rally to be held in Kathmandu on October 26.

The party intends to draw attention to the government's erroneous actions and highlight necessary tasks during the awareness assembly at Exhibition Road.

Chairman Pushpakamal Dahal 'Prachanda' addressed a joint meeting of the party's Bagmati and Special Province Coordination Committees, as well as the heads of various mass organizations, held at the party office in Parisdanda.

UML demands clarifications from 3 leaders opposing donation decision

The CPN-UML has issued a seven-day ultimatum for clarification from three leaders.

On Tuesday, the party sought clarifications from leaders who opposed a decision regarding the acceptance of donations for constructing the party's central building.

The clarification has been sought from former Vice Chairman Bhim Rawal, Standing Committee member Binda Pandey, and central committee member Ushakiran Timalsina. This decision came after a meeting of the UML secretariat.

He informed them that the central committee had decided to conduct the awareness assembly and directed all committees to prepare for it.

Gold prices continue to surge, reaches NPR 165,900 per tola

The price of gold has risen again in the Nepali market on Tuesday. Following the Dashain festival, gold prices have been steadily increasing, setting one record after another.

As per the latest updates, the price of hallmark gold has reached NPR 165,900 per tola (11.66 grams) on Tuesday.

The previous day, the price of hallmark gold was NPR 165,600. Today's price reflects an increase of NPR 300 compared to the previous day, bringing it close to NPR 166,000.

Finance Minister Paudel heads to Washington

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has departed for the United States.

He left for Washington, D.C. last night to participate in the annual meeting of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While in Washington, D.C. and New York, Minister Paudel is scheduled to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings, as confirmed by his secretariat. He is expected to return to the country in the second week of Kartik.

IMF’s economic view: A brighter outlook for US but still-tepid global growth

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday upgraded its economic outlook for the United States this year, while lowering its expectations for growth in Europe and China. It left its forecast for global growth unchanged at a relatively lackluster 3.2% for 2024.

The IMF expects the U.S. economy — the world’s largest — to expand 2.8% this year, down slightly from 2.9% in 2023 but an improvement on the 2.6% it had forecast for 2024 back in July. Growth in the United States has been led by strong consumer spending, fueled by healthy gains in inflation-adjusted wages.

Next year, though, the IMF expects the U.S. economy to decelerate to 2.2% growth. With a new presidential administration and Congress in place, the IMF envisions the nation’s job market losing some momentum in 2025 as the government begins seeking to curb huge budget deficits by slowing spending, raising taxes or some combination of both.

Bomb threats received for 30 Indian flights; 3 IndiGo flights diverted

As many as 30 domestic and international flights operated by Indian airlines received bomb threats on Monday night, with three Jeddah-bound IndiGo flights getting diverted to airports in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The flights of IndiGo, Vistara and Air India were among those that received the bomb threats, sources in the know said.

In little over a week, more than 120 flights operated by Indian carriers have received bomb threats.

IndiGo's ten flights received security-related alerts and passengers from the respective aircraft disembarked safely, an airline spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The flight 6E 77 (Bengaluru to Jeddah) was diverted to Doha, 6E 65 (Kozhikode to Jeddah) was diverted to Riyadh, and 6E 63 (Delhi to Jeddah) was redirected to Medina.

Israel still preventing humanitarian missions to north Gaza, Unrwa says

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says Israel is continuing to prevent humanitarian missions from reaching northern Gaza with critical supplies, including food and medicine.

“Hospitals have been hit and are left without power while injured people are left without care,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.

He also said Unrwa’s remaining shelters were so overcrowded that displaced people were “forced to live in the toilets”, and cited reports that people trying to flee were being killed.

The Israeli military has been intensifying a weeks-long offensive in parts of northern Gaza against what it said were Hamas fighters who had regrouped there. On Monday residents and medics said Israeli forces were besieging hospitals and shelters for displaced people.

Russians feared dead after plane shot down in Sudan

Russia's embassy in Sudan has said it is investigating reports that a cargo plane with Russian crew was shot down in Darfur, a key battle ground in the civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The aircraft, identified as a Russian-made lyushin Il-76, was on a mission to deliver equipment and medicine to the army-held city of el-Fasher, military sources told Sudanese media.

On Monday, the RSF said it had downed a Russian-made plane flown by the Egyptian military that it accused of bombing civilians - though it was identified as an Antonov.

Neymar returns one year after ACL injury

Brazil forward Neymar has made his first appearance for Al-Hilal in over a year after recovering from surgery on a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee.

The 32-year-old came on in the 77th minute of his side's 5-4 win over UAE Pro League side Al-Ain in the Asian Champions League.

Neymar sustained the injury on 17 October 2023 while playing for Brazil in their 2026 World Cup qualifier with Uruguay.

The forward, who is Brazil's male all-time top goalscorer, underwent surgery the following month.

Sports announced for Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Track cycling and boxing are among the events that will be included in the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, it has been revealed.

A stripped-back programme of 10 sports, announced on Tuesday, also includes athletics and swimming as mandatory - but badminton and hockey have been dropped.

The Games, last held in Glasgow in 2014 at a cost of over £540m, will take place across across four venues between 23 July and 2 August 2026.

Glasgow stepped in to host after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out because of rising costs.

Bangladesh struggle to keep up after Verreynne century and Rabada double-strike

Stumps Bangladesh 106 and 101 for 3 (Mahmudul 38*, Mushfiqur 31*, Rabada 2-10) trail South Africa 308 (Verreynne 114, Mulder 54, Taijul 5-122, Mahmud 3-66, Mehidy 2-63) by 101 runs

Seven balls after bringing the light meter out for the first time on day two, the umpires pulled the plug on the day's play because of bad light.

 If that was somewhat abrupt, a third-umpire decision that took its time coming added drama to what turned out to be the last delivery of the day.