KATHMANDU, Oct 18: In case you missed them here are some of the major stories that Republica covered in the past 24 hours.

Police in Vienna, Austria, made the distressing discovery of the three girls' bodies after their mum told police she had killed her children and she wanted to kill herself, reported Channel Television. The 31-year-old woman originally hailing from Nepal allegedly told police officers she wanted to kill herself when she called an emergency number in Vienna, Austria. Preliminary police investigation showed that the girls were suffocated, according to the report published by the Television. Ambassador of Nepal to Austria Prakash Kumar Suvedi said they have come to the notice of the unfortunate incident relating to Nepali nationals. "We have established contact with the local authorities for further information about the incident," he told Republica over the phone from Vienna.

The government collected total revenue of Rs 172.36 billion, 17 percent of the targeted amount, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year that ended on Friday. The amount this year is close to the revenue collection in the review period of the last fiscal year. The lull in economic activities as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic was expected to take a heavy toll on the government revenue collection this year. The amount that the government earned from mid-July to mid-October this year is just Rs 18 billion less than the last year’s amount of Rs 190 billion, show the records of the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO). Citing the possible impact of coronavirus, the government had reduced the target of revenue collection to Rs 1.01 trillion for 2020/21, down from Rs 1.11 trillion of the last fiscal year.

Police have seized a huge amount of ‘gold’ hidden at an apartment belonging to an Indian national in Parsa district on Saturday afternoon. A team of police from the District Police Office, Parsa, seized more than 23 kilograms of gold from the third floor of the Ganesh Apartment in Birgunj Metropolitan City, confirmed Superintendent of Police Krishna Prasai. The flat belongs to Indian national Ashok Sinha, said police. Organizing a press meet, police said that the gold has been seized from room 303 of the apartment. “During the raid, police seized 22.56 kilograms of gold-like bars, 681 grams gold-like jewelry, and 2.06 kilograms of silver jewelry,” according to Parsa Police.

The story behind how a Kolkata girl came up with her viral video --7 reasons to never, ever visit Nepal-- about Nepal. She was just 21 when she touched down Nepal and got mesmerized by the breathtaking beauty all around. The chill in Kathmandu city thrilled this Kolkata girl. She thought the pleasant weather must be just an illusion and would soon be gone. But to her surprise, that lasted and she realized that Kathmandu offers great weather all seasons. Her husband, a Nepali guy, took her to Durbar Square of Bhaktapur and some other heritage sites. She couldn't believe her eyes – there were live museums in the nooks and alleys. The traditional lifestyle of the people in and outskirts of the Valley gave her goosebumps. A lot of things made her feel that she was in paradise. "I am originally from Calcutta. I got married to a Nepali when I was 21 and then Nepal became my second home. Kathmandu as a city, where my husband lived and later I lived along with him captivated me," she said.

With 3,167 additional cases reported on Saturday, the country’s total caseload has jumped to 129,304, said the ministry’s Spokesperson Dr Jageshowr Gautam during a virtual media briefing. Including 1,800 recoveries on Saturday, as many as 89,840 COVID-19 patients have so far got over the disease while 727 people have succumbed to this disease. The country reported 12 new fatalities on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley recorded 1,746 new cases on Saturday, taking the total number of infections in the Valley to 53,484. Morang, Sunsari, Makwanpur, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Kaski, Dang, Banke, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Surkhet districts currently have more than 500 active cases each while no active case has been reported in the mountainous district of Mustang.

The District Administration Offices (DAOs) in the Kathmandu Valley have suspended all services except emergency. The DAOs of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur have decided to halt all services except emergency from Sunday. The Kathmandu District Administration Office has been providing only essential and emergency services since last Sunday. The DAOs will remain shut, providing only emergency services until further notice. They took the decision to this effect in order to curb the further transmission of COVID-19 in the Valley. In recent days, the government offices have turned into major COVID-19 hotspots as a large number of people gather in these places seeking services. In order to avoid this kind of gatherings and curb further spread of COVID-19, the DAOs have suspended all services except emergency.

One of the national pride projects, Pokhara International Airport in the capital of Gandaki Province, Pokhara, has witnessed 65 percent work progress as of Saturday. The construction of the much-awaited international airport in Pokhara, one of the most visited tourist sites in Nepal, is ongoing even in the midst of the corona crisis. Project chief, engineer Binesh Munakarmi told Republica on Saturday that the works related to the runway, taxiway, apron, isolated parking and hangar apron have already been completed. “We have also set up the structures including domestic and international terminal building, NTC tower, civil and concrete steel structures of 14 buildings including the hangar,” added Munakarmi. Finishing and decoration are yet to be done.