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Debutants Gujarat Titans were crowned the Indian Premier League (IPL) champions on Sunday after they beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the final in Ahmedabad, The Indian Express reported.

Opting to bat first, Rajasthan never got going and posted a below-par 130-9 with Jos Buttler, this IPL’s leading scorer, topscoring for them with a rather subdued 39.

Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya (3-17) led by example with the ball. Pandya shone with the bat too, scoring 34 and forging a 63-run stand with Shubman Gill to help Gujarat overcome a slow start to their chase, according to the Indian Express.

Opener Gill remained unbeaten on 45, sealing Gujarat’s victory with a six and with 11 balls to spare.

Russian and Ukrainian troops traded blows in fierce close-quarter combat Sunday in an eastern Ukrainian city as Moscow’s soldiers, supported by intense shelling, attempted to gain a strategic foothold to conquer the region. Ukraine’s leader also made a rare frontline visit to Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, to assess the strength of the national defense, Associated Press reported.

In the east, Russian forces stormed Sievierodonetsk after trying unsuccessfully to encircle the strategic city, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation there as “indescribably difficult,” with a relentless Russian artillery barrage destroying critical infrastructure and damaging 90% of the buildings. 

“Capturing Sievierodonetsk is a principal task for the occupation force,” Zelensky said, adding that the Russians don’t care about casualties.

The city’s mayor said the fighting had knocked out power and cellphone service and forced a humanitarian relief center to shut down because of the dangers.

The deteriorating conditions raised fears that Sieverodonetsk could become the next Mariupol, a city on the Sea of Azov that spent nearly three months under Russian siege before the last Ukrainian fighters surrendered.

Sievierodonetsk, located 143 kilometers (89 miles) south of the Russian border, has emerged in recent days as the epicenter of Moscow’s quest to capture all of Ukraine’s eastern industrial Donbas region. Russia also stepped up its efforts to capture the nearby city of Lysychansk, where civilians rushed to escape persistent shelling, according to the Associated Press.

The two eastern cities span the strategically important Siverskiy Donetsk River. They are the last major areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province, which makes up the Donbas together with the adjacent Donetsk region.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, visited soldiers in Kharkiv, where Ukrainian fighters pushed Russian forces back from nearby positions several weeks ago. 

“I feel boundless pride in our defenders. Every day, risking their lives, they fight for Ukraine’s freedom,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app after the visit.

Russia has kept up its bombardment of the northeastern city from afar, and explosions could be heard shortly after Zelenskyy’s visit. Shelling and airstrikes have destroyed more than 2,000 apartment buildings in the city since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov.

In a video address later Sunday, Zelenskyy praised Kharkiv regional officials but said he had fired the regional head of the country’s top security agency, the SBU, for his poor performance. In the wider Kharkiv region, Russian troops still held about one-third of the territory, Zelenskyy said, Associated Press reported.

After failing to seize Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Russia is focused on occupying parts of Donbas not already controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told French TF1 television Sunday that Moscow’s “unconditional priority is the liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” adding that Russia sees them as “independent states.”

He also suggested other regions of Ukraine should be able to establish close ties with Russia.

In Luhansk, constant Russian shelling has created what provincial governor Serhiy Haidai called a “severe situation.”

“There are fatalities and wounded people,” he wrote on Telegram. On Saturday, he said, one civilian died and four were injured after a Russian shell hit a high-rise apartment building.

But some Luhansk supply and evacuation routes functioned Sunday, he said. He claimed the Russians had retreated “with losses” around a village near Sievierodonetsk but conducted airstrikes on another nearby river village, according to the Associated Press.

Civilians who reached the eastern city of Pokrovsk, 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Lysychansk, said they held out as long as they could before fleeing the Russian advance.

Yana Skakova choked back tears as she described leaving with her 18-month and 4-year-old sons while her husband stayed behind to take care of their house and animals. The family was among 18 people who lived in a basement for the past 2 1/2 months until police told them Friday it was time to evacuate. 

“None of us wanted to leave our native city,” she said. “But for the sake of these small children, we decided to leave.”

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The 26th and 27th Annual General Meeting of the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) unanimously elected one president and nine executive members for the next two years' tenure.

 The AGM held in Kathmandu on 26th May 2022.  Shreejana Rana representing Hotel Annapurna unanimously elected in the post of the President and Nine Executive Members were also unanimously elected in the post executive committees are Achyut Kharel,  Arun KC, Hem Raj Dhakal,  Harkirat Singh Bedi, Kunal Kayal,  Mahesh Bahadur Basnet, Ramesh Sharma,  Saibal Ghosh, and Sunil KC.

 President of NICCI Shreejana Rana welcomed all the distinguished guests and informed the endeavors that NICCI has been putting in the various forums for the promotion of FDI from India and promotion of Nepal-India Trade, Transit, Tourism, and bilateral cooperation for the overall economic development of the country.

Chief Guest Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka, inaugurated the AGM by lighting the Panus and expressed his happiness on the effort that has been made by NICCI from its establishment to date Minister Khadka wishes NICCI a great success in the days ahead also.

Minister Khadka also highlighted the Nepal-India bilateral relations and the cooperation extended by the Indian Government to Nepal as important for the economic development of the country. The Visit of the Prime Ministers of both the countries in both countries within the month of the period has been a benchmark as it helped strengthen the bilateral relationship into new height also.

Special Guest Suresh Pravu, Member of Parliament and Former Minister of Railway, Power, Industry, and Commerce, Government of India has also highlighted the importance of bilateral relations and the short term solution to the currently emerged economic crisis in the world. He further highlighted the remittance which is now the major source of foreign currency as it needs to be increased by skilling those out going human resources so that the more foreign currency could be brought in form of remittance which help manage the current economic crisis in short term.

Former Ambassador of India to Nepal Ranjit Rae also expressed his happiness on the endeavors made by NICCI during his tenure as an ambassador in Nepal and wish to see continuing those efforts in the coming day as well. Mr. Rae highlighted the area where Nepal need to focus, like, Hydropower, Tourism, Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, IT sector and few more others as they can change the scenario of economic development.  Prasanna Srivastava, Consular of Embassy of India, Shekhar Golchha, President of FNCCI, Vishnu Agrawal, President of CNI, and Rajendra Malla, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce have also expressed their views and wished NICCI for future collaboration and success.

The Nepali film ‘Lori’ (Melancholy of My Mother’s Lullabies) has won the Special Mention Award in the short film category at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

Directed by Abinash Bikram Shah, the movie has become the first Nepali film to be officially screened at Cannes Film Festival and won the award.

Shah himself has written script and dialogues while Ujjwal Kumar Bastakoti is the cinematographer.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma presented a budget of Rs 1, 793. 83 billion for the fiscal year 2022/23 on Sunday.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma presented the budget at the Federal Parliament today.

Out of the total budget, the government has allocated Rs 753 billion or 42 percent for recurrent expenditure, Rs 380. 38 billion or 21. 2 percent for capital expenditure and Rs 230. 22 billion or 112.8 percent financial provision.

Similarly, the government has allocated Rs 429. 83 or 24 percent for grants to sub-national governments.

The government will take Rs 1, 240. 11 or 69.1 percent from revenue and Rs 55. 46 billion or 3.1 percent from foreign grants to bear the source of estimated expenses.

Likewise, the government will take a total loan of Rs 498. 46 billion—Rs 242. 26 billion or 13.5 percent from foreign loans and Rs 256 billion or 14.3 percent from domestic loans.

The government has allocated Rs 1.40 billion for transitional justice.

Presenting the budget for the fiscal year, 2022/ 23 at the federal parliament, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the government has allocated Rs 1.40 billion for transitional justice.

Media Action Nepal (MAN), a member of the Media Freedom Coalition- Consultative Network (MFC-CN), has been selected as the Council member of the South and Southeast Asian University Network Sub-committee of Journalism and Communication.

Recognizing MAN's active and influential role in promoting ethical, independent and credible journalism in Nepal and South Asia, the Council, the highest decision-making body of the sub-committee, on May 27 has decided to include MAN as one of the Council members.

The sub-committee established by the School of Journalism and Communication of Yunnan University, China and comprised of university media departments and research based media organizations of South and South-East Asia regions, aims to promote cooperation among members in the field of journalism and communication.

The sub-committee is expected to enhance the development of journalism and communication in universities in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and build an international platform for disciplinary cooperation and common development.

Thanking the Sub-committee for selecting MAN as the Council member, Laxman Datt Pant, MAN Chairperson said, "We look forward to contributing with our insights and expertise to strengthen cooperation among members in the journalism and communication disciplines and to promote joint projects among members including training, exchanges and research."

In addition to encouraging joint application of scientific research projects and building joint laboratories, this network aims to establish an information and resource sharing platform between members and open up cooperation channels.