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Former Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal has expressed his commitment to take initiatives to resolve the citizenship-related problem of Non-Resident Nepalis.

He said so during a meeting with the representatives of the Non-Resident Nepali Association.

"We have been raising our voices about the problems of Non-Resident Nepalis," he said, adding, "We are committed to resolve the problem by endorsing the Citizenship-related Bill which was tabled in the Parliament on our initiative."

Thanking Dahal for taking initiatives on behalf of the CPN (Maoist Centre) to bring Citizenship Bill by incorporating various issues, the representatives urged Dahal to take initiatives to ensure the rights of Non-Resident Nepalis.

Party senior leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, founder President of NRNA Upendra Mahato, President duo Kul Acharya and Badri KC, Vice-President Mahesh Shrestha, Regional Coordinator of Europe Chintamani Sapkota and Ramesh Kafle among others were present in the meeting.

Nepal reported 177 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 805 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 144 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 321 people underwent antigen tests, of which 33 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 41 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 873 active cases in the country.

A 17-year-old girl has been raped inside a tipper in Thankot, Kathmandu on Friday.

Driver Gyan Bahadur Nepali (32) of Gaurishankar Rural Municipality-8, Dolakha, who had been absconding after the heinous crime, was nabbed from Kalanki, Kathmandu-14 on Saturday.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Chairman Upendra Yadav and Federal Council Chairman Baburam Bhattarai are holding separate meetings.

The meeting of the JSP leaders of the Bhattarai faction has started in Kathmandu. Federal Council Chairman Bhattarai inaugurated the meeting.

The extended meeting of the Central Committee will be held for two days (today and tomorrow).

JSP leader Bishwodeep Pandey said that the extended meeting of the Central Committee will discuss the party's internal situation, future strategy and review local level elections among other issues.

Meanwhile, Yadav has called the meeting for June 13 and 14 in Birgunj.

International Liaison Department head of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao called on CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli at the latter’s residence in Balkot on Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday, the visiting Chinese leader held a meeting with CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Khumatar.

During the meeting that lasted for around two hours, Liu expressed his concern over the growing anti-China activities in Nepal in recent times.

Leading a six-member delegation, the Chinese leader arrived in Kathmandu on a three-day visit to Nepal on Sunday.

The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu coordinated his visit.

He is also scheduled to meet President Bidya Devi Bhandari and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal among other leaders.

Nepal's annual retail inflation accelerated to 8.56% for the month ending mid-June, central bank data showed on Monday, pushed by a spurt in food and fuel costs amid pressure on the country's currency, Reuters reported.

The latest inflation rate, highest in nearly six years, accelerated from 7.87% the previous month and 4.19% a year earlier, data showed.

Nepal's central bank faces a tough task of tightening monetary policy enough to cool consumer demand and tame prices, while avoiding major damage to the economy - hit hard during two years of pandemic.

A rise in crude oil and commodity prices since Russia invaded Ukraine in February has pushed up inflation globally, forcing many central banks to raise interest rates.

Earlier, speaking to lawmakers central bank governor Maha Prasad Adhikari, hinted interest rates could be raised to contain inflation.

Prakash Kumar Shrestha, head of the central bank's Economic Research Department, told Reuters Nepal could experience some more months of surging inflation because of higher oil prices.

The average monthly year-on-year inflation in the first 11 months of the fiscal year ending mid-June was 6.09% and is expected to stay within the average annual target of 6.5%, bank officials said.

Retail food and beverage prices rose 7.43% year-on-year in the month ending mid-June while non-food and service inflation stood at 9.44%, data showed, according to Reuters.

Nepal, a country of 29 million people landlocked between China and India, has banned luxury goods imports until mid-July but after one month dropped its move to a two-day weekend aimed at cutting fuel consumption amid opposition from hospitals and schools.

The Nepali currency, which weakened 4.4% over the year to mid-June, making fuel and food imports costlier, traded at 127.11 to the dollar on Monday, a record low, central bank data showed, Reuters reported.

A bicycle rider died after being hit by a petrol tanker near Radhakrishna Rice Mill in Biratnagar-14 on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as Bijay Baniya (55) of Biratnagar-13.

Inspector Raj Kumar Karki, Chief at the Morang Traffic Police Office, said that the tanker (Na 6 Kha 1834) hit him around 8 pm yesterday.

Critically injured in the incident, Baniya was rushed to the Koshi Hospital but doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Police said that they have arrested Jogendra Kumar Mandal (27) of India for investigation.

The first full-colour picture from the new James Webb Space Telescope has been released - and it doesn't disappoint, BBC reported.

The image is said to be the deepest, most detailed infrared view of the Universe to date, containing the light from galaxies that has taken many billions of years to reach us.

US President Joe Biden was shown the image during a White House briefing.

Further debut pictures from James Webb are due to be released by Nasa in a global presentation on Tuesday.

"These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and remind the American people - especially our children - that there's nothing beyond our capacity," President Biden remarked.

"We can see possibilities no-one has ever seen before. We can go places no-one has ever gone before."

The $10bn James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on 25 December last year, is billed as the successor to the famous Hubble Space Telescope, according to BBC.

It will make all sorts of observations of the sky, but has two overarching goals. One is to take pictures of the very first stars to shine in the Universe more than 13.5 billion years ago; the other is to probe far-off planets to see if they might be habitable.

The image unveiled before President Biden showcases Webb's capabilities to pursue the first of these objectives.

What you see is a cluster of galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere constellation of Volans known by the ungainly name of SMACS 0723.

The cluster itself isn't actually that far away - "only" about 4.6 billion light-years in the distance. But the great mass of this cluster has bent and magnified the light of objects that are much, much further away.

It's a gravitational effect; the astronomical equivalent of a zoom lens for a telescope.

Webb, with its 6.5m-wide golden mirror and super-sensitive infrared instruments, has managed to detect in this picture the distorted shape (the red arcs) of galaxies that existed a mere 600 million years after the Big Bang (the Universe is 13.8 billion years old).

And it's even better than that. Scientists can tell from the quality of the data produced by Webb that the telescope is sensing space way beyond the most far-flung object in this image.

As a consequence, it's possible this is even the deepest cosmic viewing field ever obtained.

"Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. And that light that you are seeing on one of those little specks has been travelling for over 13 billion years," said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson, BBC reported.

"And by the way, we're going back further, because this is just the first image. They're going back about 13 and a half billion years. And since we know the Universe is 13.8 billion years old, you're going back almost to the beginning."

Hubble used to stare at the sky for weeks on end to produce this kind of result. Webb identified its super-deep objects after only 12.5 hours of observations.

Nasa and its international partners, the European and Canadian space agencies, will release further colour imagery from Webb on Tuesday.

One of the topics to be discussed will touch on that other overarching goal: the study of planets outside our Solar System.

Webb has analysed the atmosphere of WASP-96 b, a giant planet located more than 1,000 light-years from Earth. It will tell us about the chemistry of that atmosphere.

WASP-96 b orbits far too close to its parent star to sustain life. But, one day, it's hoped Webb might spy a planet that has gases in its air that are similar to those that shroud the Earth - a tantalising prospect that might hint at the presence of biology.

Nasa scientists are in no doubt that Webb will fulfil its promise.

"I have seen the first images and they are spectacular," deputy project scientist Dr Amber Straughn said of Tuesday's further release.

"They're amazing in themselves just as images. But the hints of the detailed science we're going to be able to do with them is what makes me so excited," she told BBC News.

Dr Eric Smith, the programme scientist for the Webb project, said he thought the public had already grasped the significance of the new telescope, according to BBC.

"The design of Webb, the way Webb looks, I think, is in large part the reason the public is really fascinated by this mission. It looks like a spaceship from the future."