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A meeting of top leaders of the ruling coalition is going on in Baluwatar to discuss the distribution of seats for the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections. It is believed that the meeting will discuss and finalize the report sent by the five-party working group. Keshavraj Joshi, Secretary of the Working Group, informed that the report of the seat allocation for the House of Representatives has reached the final stage and based on that, the report for the Provincial Assembly will also be finalized. Himalal Puri, who is a member of the working group on behalf of the Rastriya Janamorcha Party, said that only a few points remained to be agreed for the House of Representatives. He said that the working group has completed its work so that today's top leadership can distribute the seats to the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly. Prime Minister and President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chairman of CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Chairman of CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chairman of Janata Samajbadi Party Upendra Yadav and Vice-chairman of Janamorcha Durga Paudel participated in the meeting.

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has reached home district Jhapa along with his wife Radhika Shakya to celebrate Dashain. He will organize a greeting program on the occasion of Dashain, Tihar, Chhath and other festivals in Jhapa on Tuesday.  Oli will receive tika from his father Mohan Prasad Oli on the auspicious occasion of Vijaya Dashami at Prithvi Nagar in Bhadrapur Municipality of Jhapa. He will return to Kathmandu on the same day.

CPN (Maoist Center) Vice-chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara has withdrawn his name from the proportional list of Nov 20 federal election. He has withdrawn his name from the list after there was widespread protest for putting his name in proportional list. He was at the top in the Khas Arya cluster in the proportional list submitted by the Maoists. The party sources said that Hitraj Pandey has replaced Mahara. Mahara’s candidacy for the House of Representatives from Dang-2 is still not fixed, said an undisclosed source.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology 2022 is awarded to Svante Paabo for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution, announced the award-giving organization on Monday.  "The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Svante Paabo for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution," read the Nobel Prize statement. The 2022 Nobel Prize laureate Paabo found that gene transfer had occurred from the now extinct hominins to Homo sapiens. This ancient flow of genes to present-day humans has physiological relevance today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections, the statement said.  Paabo has established an entirely new scientific discipline, paleogenomics. By revealing genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins, his discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human.  Through his pioneering research, Paabo accomplished something seemingly impossible: sequencing the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans. He also made the sensational discovery of a previously unknown hominin, Denisova, entirely from genome data retrieved from a small finger bone specimen.  Importantly, Paabo also found that gene transfer had occurred from these now extinct hominins to Homo sapiens following the migration from Africa around 70,000 years ago, the statement read.  Paabo is a Swedish geneticist specializing in the field of evolutionary genetics who was recruited to the University of Munich in 1990, where, as a newly appointed Professor, he continued his work on archaic DNA. Earlier in 2020, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian jointly won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch. David Julius utilized capsaicin, a pungent compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat.  Ardem Patapoutian used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs.  These breakthrough discoveries launched intense research activities leading to a rapid increase in the understanding of how the nervous system senses heat, cold, and mechanical stimuli. (ANI)

Around 20,000 local and foreign election observers are going to be deployed for the upcoming House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections to be held on November 20. Kamal Bhattarai, Joint-Spokesperson of the Commission informed that according to the figures submitted by 43 national organizations, there will be around 20,000 observers. On the foreign side, two organizations have received permission for the observation so far. He said that some organizations are working to deploy observers not only in urban and convenient areas but also in remote polling stations. The commission has also requested the chief election commissioners of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Nepal to observe the polling day.

The Islamabad High Court on Monday dismissed a contempt case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan after he agreed to apologize for his controversial remarks against a female judge at a rally.  A five-member bench, headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, said it was satisfied by Imran Khan's apology over the remarks against Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, Dawn reported.  During the court proceedings, the chief justice noted that prima facie this was a contempt of court case but it was being dismissed due to Imran Khan's conduct.  "We have read your affidavit. Is there anything else you would like to add?" Justice Minallah asked Imran Khan. "We take a lot of care in contempt of court cases," Justice Minallah added. He said the IHC was "discharging" the notice issued to Imran Khan, effectively ending contempt proceedings against the PTI chief, the report said. "This is the unanimous decision of the larger bench," Justice Minallah said. Imran Khan had submitted an affidavit in the IHC, assuring the court he would never do anything in future that would hurt the dignity of any court and the judiciary, especially the lower judiciary, The Express Tribune reported.  "I am ready to apologize if the judges think I have crossed a red line," he had said. On Sunday, IHC approved the pre-arrest bail of Imran Khan and directed him to appear before the court concerned before October 7 after he filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court through his counsel Babar Awan.  In the plea, Imran Khan said a terrorism case was initially filed against him, however, he added that the charges were later struck down by the high court and the case was transferred. Earlier, an arrest warrant was issued for the former premier in connection with the case.  Imran Khan had made some controversial remarks against Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and other officials at a rally on August 20 in Islamabad. The PTI chief had criticized the female judge after she had approved an extension in the physical remand of his close aide Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case.  The PTI chief was booked in a terrorism case on the complaint of Islamabad Sadar Magistrate Ali Javed for threatening the female judge. The terrorism case was registered against Imran Khan in Margalla police station for allegedly using derogatory language and threatening the judge. (ANI)

Real Madrid surrendered the leadership of La Liga to Barcelona after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Osasuna on Sunday evening. Carlo Ancelotti's side slipped to second in LaLiga behind archrivals Barcelona on goal difference. Karim Benzema was back in the starting 11, while Andriy Lunin replaced Thibaut Courtois in goal after the Belgian had to drop out with a back injury. Madrid took the lead with a stroke of fortune and a dose of controversy in the 42nd minute when Vinicius Jr's cross went in at the far post. Osasuna players claimed offside as VAR rejected the visitors' appeals. Kike Garcia's second-half header gave Osasuna a deserved equalizer but Madrid should have won when they were given a 78th-minute penalty after David Garcia's push on Benzema. Benzema sent the spot kick against the bar and Osasuna clung on bravely until the end to take a point and end Madrid's 100 percent start to the season. (Xinhua)

In a major boost to the Indian Air Force's combat prowess, the first batch of indigenously-developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) will be inducted into the IAF inventory at a ceremony in Rajasthan's Jodhpur today.  The indigenous choppers will be inducted into IAF in the presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. "The induction of these helicopters will be a big boost to the IAF's combat prowess," Defense Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted. The new chopper getting inducted into the force is capable of aerial combat and will help the force combat slow-moving aircraft, drones and armored columns during conflicts.  The induction ceremony will be led by Rajnath Singh who has played a crucial role in progressing cases for buying indigenous platforms for forces. He was also present in the Cabinet Committee on Security which cleared the purchase of 15 of these LCHs for the air force and the army.  Of the 15 limited series production helicopters approved, 10 are for the IAF and five for the army. It can land and take off from an altitude of 5,000 meters with weapons and fuel, the officials said. The choppers have been flown extensively in Ladakh and the desert sector to meet the requirements of the armed forces.  The IAF has inducted multiple helicopters to its fleet in the last three-four years with the induction of the Chinooks, Apache attack helicopters and now the LCHs. The IAF is now also deploying women pilots in Chinook choppers carrying routine supply missions to the northern and eastern borders. CCS met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 30, 2022, in New Delhi.  The CCS has approved the procurement of 15 Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Limited Series Production at the cost of Rs. 3,887 Cr along with Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 377 crore. Light Combat Helicopter Limited Series Production (LSP) is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern combat helicopter containing approx.  45 pc indigenous content by value which will progressively increase to more than 55 pc for SP Version.  "This helicopter is equipped with requisite agility, maneuverability, extended range, high altitude performance and around-the-clock, all-weather combat capability to perform roles of Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), Destruction of Enemy Air Defense (DEAD), Counter Insurgency (CI) operations, against slow-moving aircraft and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPAs), high altitude bunker busting operations, Counter Insurgency operations in jungle and urban environments and support to ground forces and would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of Indian Air Force and Indian Army," said the Ministry of Defense.  State-of-the-art technologies and systems compatible with stealth features such as reduced Visual, Aural, Radar and IR signatures and crashworthiness features for better survivability have been integrated in LCH for deployment in combat roles catering to emerging needs for the next 3 to 4 decades. Several key aviation technologies like Glass Cockpit and composite airframe structures have been indigenised. The future Series Production version will consist of further modern & indigenous systems. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, India is continuously growing in its capability to indigenously design, develop and manufacture advanced cutting-edge technologies and systems in the Defence Sector.  The manufacturing of LCH by HAL will give a further push to the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and boost the indigenisation of defense production and the defense industry in the country. LCH will reduce import dependence for the Combat helicopters in the country.  Light Combat Helicopters are already on the import embargo list. With its versatile features built-in for combat missions, LCH has the export capability. (ANI)