KATHMANDU: Khabarhub brings to you a glimpse of major developments of the day in Nepal, including politics, business/economy, sports, entertainment, and more.
Prez Bhandari confers honorary general rank of NA on Chief of Indian Army
President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the supreme commander of the Nepali Army (NA), conferred the rank of honorary chief of the NA on Chief of Indian Army Staff (CoAS) General Manoj Pande amid a special function at the Office of the President at Sheetal Niwas on Monday afternoon.
It has been a customary practice between armies of the two neighbors to confer the title to each other’s army chiefs since 1950 as a symbol of good military ties.
General Pande, who arrived in Nepal at the invitation of Nepali Army Chief of Army Staff General Prabhuram Sharma, called on his Nepali counterpart Sharma and paid homage at the Brave Soldier Memorial at Sainik Manch Tundikhel earlier today.
The Chief of Indian Army also handed over military equipment worth Rs 223 million to Nepali Army (NA) as assistance.
EC’s attention drawn to bill tabled to extend term of House of Representatives
The Election Commission (EC) Monday said its attention has been drawn toward a bill tabled by the government in the parliament to extend the term of House of Representatives beyond November 20.
Issuing a statement, the EC said as the constitution states that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker shall continue in office until the date of the filing of nominations for election to the House of Representatives, it won’t be appropriate to extend the term beyond the date of filing nomination.
10,888 polling stations determined across the country
The Election Commission (EC) has determined a total of 10,888 polling stations across the country for upcoming elections to the members of House of Representatives and province assembly set for November 20.
It may be noted that there were a total of 10,756 polling stations in the local level elections held on May 13 earlier this year.
The Election Commission reviewed the number of polling stations also considering the number of voters, convenience and security sensitivities in accordance with the Polling Station and Voting Centre Fixation Work Procedure, 2077.
The EC took the decision to make polling management effective and ensure easy access of voters to the voting process.
Seat allocation to conclude in two or three days: Maoist Center Chair Dahal
CPN Maoist Center Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said seat allocation among the coalition parties in the incumbent government would be concluded in two or three day.
There was a final touch on the matter, said the former Prime Minister while briefly talking to media persons in Janakpurdham on Monday.
He arrived here to attend an event. “A taskforce formed to carry out a study on seat allocation is doing its job. It will submit the report today or tomorrow. Following this, seat allocation will conclude acting on the report,” he said.
Five party alliance taskforce meeting concludes
A taskforce of the ruling five-party alliance is set to complete the task it was mandated in regard to the alliance to be forged for the elections to the members of House of Representatives and province assembly scheduled for November 20.
The taskforce meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s official residence, Baluwatar, since 1 pm on Monday.
As informed, the meeting held for five hours today.
Taskforce secretary Keshab Raj Joshi shared that today’s meeting concluded in a way to finalize its tasks related to election alliance and seat sharing by September 6 (Tuesday).
“The taskforce would conclude its task by tomorrow and then submit the framework report to the top leadership. With the alliance constituent parties observing flexibility on their stance regarding seat sharing, the debate on the number of seats has become less contentious,” he added.
Secretary Joshi informed that the seat sharing would be settled in a scientific and judicious manner, also taking into consideration the vote won by the parties in the past and some pressing political matters.
Oli recommended from Jhapa-5 for HoR election
The CPN UML, Jhapa constituency 5 has unanimously recommended KP Sharma as the party candidate for the election of the House of Representatives (HoR).
The voting for the HoR elections is taking place on coming November 20.
A meeting of the party constitutional committee today (Monday) picked the name of former Prime Minister and Party Chair Oli as the sole candidate for the election while Rabin Koirala has been recommended from the Jhapa-1.
NRB to invest nearly Rs 2 billion in fixed deposit in BFIs
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is investing nearly Rs 2 billion from its gratitude and pension fund in ‘A’ listed commercial banks, ‘B’ listed national level development banks and ‘C’ listed national level finance companies for 366 days.
The Central Bank is investing Rs 1.60 billion as Fixed Deposit (FD) in ‘A’ listed commercial bank. Similarly, the bank is investing Rs 300 million as FD in ‘B’ listed and Rs 100 million as FD in ‘C’ listed BFIs from September 18, 2022 to September 17, 2023.
The NRB has issued a notice in which the interested BFIs are asked to submit a duly sealed price quotation form with the specified amount the BFIs willing to take as FD by September 7.
Inaugurating Butwal-Lumbini transmission line, Energy Minister pledges sufficient power supply in two years
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Pampha Bhusal has promised that entire households would be provided with sufficient electricity within the next two years. “At the moment, around 95 percent houses are electrified and the full coverage will be complete within a couple of years.”
Inaugurating the 232 kV double-circuit Butwal-Lumbini transmission line at Mainhiya of Rupandehi on Monday, the Minister insisted on the mass use of electric devices from irrigation to transport sectors. She urged the people to opt for electric motor vehicles.
“We plan to increase power consumption in each areas and export the surpluses to India and Bangladesh.”
Deposits increase by Rs 11 billion in banks
The deposits of commercial banks has increased by Rs 11 billion in the past one week.
According to the data of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA), the banks increased their deposit collection by Rs 11.30 billion last week.
After a continuous fall in terms of deposit collection for many weeks, it has finally increased by Rs 11.30 billion to Rs 4,437 billion from Rs 4,426 billion of the previous week.
However, the loan extension of the banks also increased by merely Rs 1.67 billion to Rs 4,181 billion.
Home Minister directs release of security guard held for “misbehaving” with Tourism Minister
Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has directed the release of security guard Sherjung Gurung detained on charges of misbehaving with Tourism Minister Jeevan Ram Shrestha from VFS Global facility at Chhaya Center in Thamel.
Home Minister’s press coordinator Madhusudan Bhattarai said that Home Minister Khand on Monday instructed Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Govinda Prasad Rijal to release Gurung after completing necessary procedures.
Gurung was accused of misbehaving with Minister Jeevan Ram Shrestha, who reached the Chhaya Center in Thamel on Friday for biometric works to obtain visa to Canada on Friday, and arrested later.
Nepal sees 221 new coronavirus cases in past 24 hours
Nepal recorded a total of 221 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours as of Monday.
Of the confirmed cases, 122 were detected through the RT-PCR method and 99 through the Antigen method.
According to the Ministry of Health and Population, a total of 4,058 swab samples were tested in the past 24 hours.
Of them, 1,519 samples were tested through RT-PCR and 2,539 through the Antigen method.
NEPSE declines by 4.29 points on Monday
Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) has declined by 4.29 points to close at 1973.01 points on Monday, the second trading day of this week.
The market index NEPSE fell by 0.22 percent today.
The index that opened at 1,978.3 points made an intraday high of 1,987.57, an intraday low of 1,970.68, and finally closed at 1,973.01 points.
A total of 2,444,344 shares of 224 companies traded hands via 21,471 transactions, resulting in trading turnover of Rs 909.9 million. Sunday’s trading turnover was of Rs 1.07 billion.
Nepal records a clean sweep against Kenya in ODI series
Nepal registered a clean sweep against Kenya in the three-match ODI series that ended in Nairobi today (Monday).
Nepal defeated the home team by 6 wickets in the last match of the ODI series.
Batting first, Kenya had posted a target of 256 runs before Nepal for victory in the match held at the Gymkhana ground in Nairobi, Kenya.
In reply, Nepal achieved the target by losing 4 wickets in 47.1 overs.
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