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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made it clear that there are slim chances Nepal will make a decision on the Agnipath scheme. Speaking at a regular press conference organized in Singh Durbar on Thursday, Sewa Lamsal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that there is less possibility that Nepal will take immediate decision on the Agnipath scheme. Saying that the issue needs national consensus, she ruled out the possibility of taking immediate decision on the issue. She further said that the government is fully busy in preparing for the elections. “The decision of the Nepal government is that the next government will take the decision on the issue,” Lamsal said. Earlier on Wednesday, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said that India may be forced to withdraw vacancies for enlisting soldiers from Nepal under its new Agnipath scheme in the ongoing recruitment cycle if the landlocked country does not take a decision on time, The Times of India reported.  

Sadhguru, a yogi, profound mystic, visionary humanitarian and prominent spiritual leader, held an interaction with business and media leaders, at Dwarikas Hotel in the Capital. During the program, he spoke on a range of topics and answered some questions raised by the invitees. Sadhguru has been strongly propagating the save soil movement he initiated globally to address the soil crisis by bringing together people from around the world to stand up for Soil Health, and supporting leaders of all nations to institute national policies and actions toward increasing the organic content in cultivable Soil. This movement has garnered support from global leaders including Marc Benioff, Jane Goodall, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and institutions such as United Nations - Convention to Combat Desertification, World Economic Forum, World Food Programme, Food & Agriculture Organization of United Nations. "We can be a generation that came back from the brink of a disaster, or we can be that generation that walked into disaster," Sadhguru said. Sadhguru's Save Soil movement now touches over 3.9 billion across the globe. Sadhguru drove 30,000 kms across 27 nations delivering talks and organising awareness programs to concretize policy action for preserving and regenerating soil.

Three members of a family died when a landslide buried a house at Chalal Ganeshthan in Bethanchowk Rural Municipality-4 of Kavre district on Thursday. The deceased have been identified as Thuli Maya Tamang (65), son Nir Bahadur Tamang (44) and Sabitri Tamang (40). According to Assistant Chief District Officer Amardeep Sunuwa, Nir Bahadur and Sabitri Tamang died on the spot while Thuli Maya breathed her last during the course of treatment. The incident occurred while they were sleeping in the house at around 1 am today. Further investigation into the incident is underway.

Wrapping up his four-day visit to Nepal, Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, returned home on Thursday. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota bade farewell to the Chinese Speaker at 8: 50 am at the Tribhuvan International Airport. During this visit to Nepal, he paid courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Similarly, he called on Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Timilsina and his Nepali counterpart Agni Prasad Sapkota. Likewise, he also held separate meetings with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. On Wednesday, he visited Bhaktapur Durbar Square. During the visit, he inquired about the pictures reflecting the art and culture of the world heritage site.

Suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Rana JBR deserves impeachment for all the malpractices he has committed as the head of the Supreme Court. His testimony before the Parliamentary committee has exposed the extent of corruption in the judiciary. For a long time, there were murmurs of nexus between politicians and justices.  Now, by the account of Rana himself, we know it for fact. There has been no comments from the political leaders regarding the charges against Rana, and their silence speaks volumes. Our judiciary has been bought—there is no other way of putting this. Our judges and justices engage in bargaining before handing down judgments. This episode will further erode people’s trust in the judiciary. A former chief justice has been outed for his corrupt ways. This cannot be easily dismissed. So will our political leaders take extreme measures to clean up the judiciary? Highly doubtful. They are equally responsible for the current mess. Lest it be forgotten, in 2021, parties in both ruling and opposition took to the street and publicly warned the Supreme Court of ‘consequences’ if the ruling on Parliament dissolution by then Prime Minister KP Oli is not delivered in their favor. They knew about the court’s dirty secret and they tried to use it as a bargaining chip. Even in the case of Rana’s impeachment, it has been revealed that top leaders from the ruling parties sent their emissaries to convince the former into tendering his resignation and saving his face. In 2021, a team led by justice Hari Krishna Karki in 2021 submitted a report stating that corruption and irregularities are rampant in the judiciary. It clearly spoke about ‘brokers’ who maintained the line of communication between justices and top leaders of political parties. But nothing came of that damning report. It is high time that someone took steps to reform the judiciary. But, the question is who will lead this reform. The cruel irony is that we need those same political parties to restore the sanctity of the judiciary. True, they are not going to act of their own volition or their conscience.   So, the media and civil society should press them into doing the right thing.

India may be forced to withdraw vacancies for enlisting soldiers from Nepal under its new Agnipath scheme in the ongoing recruitment cycle if the landlocked country does not take a decision in time, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said on Wednesday, The Times of India reported. Such a move by India, if it comes to that, could have adverse implications for the already delicately poised relationship with Nepal, where China has systematically made huge strategic inroads over the years. Nepal has put on hold recruitments under the Agnipath scheme, for which rallies were to commence there on August 25, in protest against the induction of soldiers for only four years without pension and ex-servicemen benefits. Replying to a question at a session in the United Service Institution of India, Gen Pande said the vacancies allocated to Nepalese Gorkhas will have to be “redistributed” to others for the time being if Kathmandu does not allow recruitment rallies as per the laid-down cutoffs dates. The Army is going to induct a total of 40,000 Agniveers in two batches after recruitment rallies and selection process around the country, and in Nepal, with the training of around 25,000 to begin in December and 15,000 in February. Even before the Agnipath scheme was announced in mid-June, the annual intake of Nepalese Gorkhas in the Indian Army had gradually come down to around 1,500 from the earlier over 4, 000 per year. The number under the Agnipath scheme is bound to be lower, according to The Times of India. As per my sense," Gen Pande said, Nepal “is unlikely to take any decision before the general elections in the country on November 20”, given that certain quarters were opposed to the Indian Army recruiting Nepalese youth. “It’s a decision for them (Nepal) to take,” the Army chief said, adding, that India had explained the “benefits” for the 75% of the young soldiers to be demolished after four years with the Seva Nidhi exit package of Rs 11.7 lakh each.  

Ten-man Rangers fell to their third consecutive heavy defeat without scoring despite a more encouraging performance against Napoli on a dramatic night in the Champions League, BBC reported.

Graham Potter began his Chelsea reign with a draw against RB Salzburg, leaving his side with an uphill task to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, BBC reported.