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Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has said the government is seriously and sensitively working to ensure peace, order and security for the citizens with maximum utilization of available resources towards that end.

In his replies to lawmakers' queries in a session of the National Assembly today, the Minister reiterated the government compulsion to work amidst limited resources.

He also claimed that following his assumption on the post, various efforts have been launched for policy and legal reforms.

"Your feedback, submissions and concerns are always the guidelines for me," he told the lawmakers, arguing that his work speed and spirit matched with the concerns of lawmakers for peace and security, service delivery, disaster management and so on.

He apprised the House that Nepal Police Bill, Armed Police Force Bill, Nepal Citizenship (Second Amendment) Bill are already the properties of the Parliament and discussions with stakeholders concerned are underway regarding the need and relevance of other policy and legal reforms.

"The reconstruction of structures damaged by monsoon-related disasters and the earthquake is progressing, and the mechanisms under the Home Ministry are actively working to implement laws that promote civic freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and the democratic values guaranteed by Nepal’s Constitution," he added.

Meanwhile, during the zero hour, Suresh Kumar Ale Magar demanded the continuity of citizenship by descent for ex British Gurkhas. There are rumors that citizenship by descent for them will be discontinued, he said.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the government is committed to providing every possible support for the all-round development of youths.

He said so while addressing the National Cadet Corps (NCC)'s SN 19 Senior Division Pass-out Parade at the Army Pavilion in Tundikhel today.

The PM reiterated that NCC's this program is in the government's high priority as the nation is always in need of youths, who are disciplined, have allegiance to the National Flag by internalizing the maxim 'Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyesi' or 'the Motherland is Greater than Heaven.'

"The hopes and dreams of not only your parents but also of your instructors, relatives and society are vested in you. Therefore, in order to build the best society, you should enhance your morale and develop efficient leadership, in your youth, follow moral conduct and discipline, understand your duty towards your society and the nation and start becoming an able citizen to fulfilling it," the Prime Minister, who is also the NCC's Chief Patron, said on the occasion.

He further said: "As a true Nepali citizen, you will play an important leadership role by dedicating yourself with selfless service when the nation needs it. I am confident that the knowledge gained in this training will motivate and support you in this work."

Extending best wishes to the passed-out students for patriotism, dutifulness and superiority, PM Oli urged them to dedicate themselves to the development of the country on the basis of fair competition and not by playing foul against others.

First Lady Radhika Shakya, Defense Minister Manbir Rai, National Planning Commission (NPC) Vice-Chairman Prof Dr Shiva Raj Adhikari, Chief of the Army Staff Ashok Raj Sigdel, Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Sunita Dangol and the chiefs of the security bodies attended the programme.

The delegations of the National Cadet Corps of India and the Maldives, and Bhutan Scouts were also present on the occasion.

 The NCC, having the motto 'Discipline is the Main Foundation of Nation Service', was established in 2022 BS with the objective of developing the personality of the youths. It has been making the youth disciplined, dignified, dedicated to the country and cultured citizens who respect the institutions of the state, who are well-trained and can be mobilized as volunteers during times of disasters.

NCC has enrolled 7,704 students in this fiscal year and aims to increase the number of enrolled students to 11,550 next year. So far, 82,184 people have graduated from NCC.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 75. 24 points to close at 2, 890.28 points on Sunday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 14. 47 points to close at 484. 30 points.

A total of 29,166,656-unit shares of 302 companies were traded for Rs 14. 25 billion.

Meanwhile, Himalayan Distillery Limited (HDL), Guardian Micro Life Insurance Limited (GMLI) and Nepal Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NLIC) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Samaj Laghubittya Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SAMAJ) the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 79 trillion.

The rhino census, which is conducted every five years, has become uncertain due to lack of budget.

This year, there has been a shortage of budget for conducting rhino count as it has been done depending on funding from donors.

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation has been conducting rhino census in collaboration with various agencies working with the park.

Department's ecologist and information officer Haribhadra Acharya said that an agreement had been reached with USAID's 'Jal Jungle project' for the purchase of the necessary equipment for conducting the rhino census, but the census has become uncertain now that the project is suspended.

The project had already started the process of procuring materials by issuing a tender notice. The project was to bear the expenses of GPS equipment, laptops, large cooking utensils, tents and other materials required during the census inside the park.

"The project was supposed to provide materials worth Rs 5 million. It is estimated that around Rs 15 million would be required to complete the census," he said.

Preparations were made to conduct the census in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund Nepal, ZSL Nepal, National Trust for Nature Conservation and other organizations.

According to him, the rhino census has to be done by mid-April. Preparations were made to conduct the census from March 18 to April 7 and release the results by the second week of April.

"The census can't be beyond mid-April. The preparations for it take at least 10 days,” he explained.

Acharya, the Department's Information Officer, said that the department's census program would be affected as the project of the donor agency was suspended in the last hour.

Director General of the Department, Dr Ram Chandra Kandel, said that the suspension of the donor support has affected the counting during the final preparations.

He added that the rhino census could be conducted if the budget is received after discussing the matter with the ministry or else, they will be forced to suspend it.

The tiger census will have to be carried out next year and he said that it would be easier to conduct the tiger census next year if rhino count could be done this year as it would not be possible to conduct both censuses at the same time.

Although the rhinos are being monitored, the census has to be done to find out their exact number and condition. The last rhino census was conducted in 2021.

The census will make it easy to determine the number of rhinos inhabiting a particular area and to manage it.

The endangered one-horned rhino is found in Chitwan, Parsa, Bardiya and Shukla Phanta national parks. The Chitwan National Park has the highest number of rhinos at 694 as per the 2021 census. The number of rhinos in Nepal has reached 752.

An angry White House clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump divided the US president’s fellow Republicans and dimmed prospects that Congress will approve any further aid for Kyiv in its war with Russia. On Saturday, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said there were “whispers from the White House that they may try to end all US support for Ukraine... I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and US values around the world.”

Other Republicans who had long supported Ukraine lashed out at Zelenskyy after Friday’s exchange, in which Trump and Vice-president JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader before the world’s media, accusing him of disrespect. Senator Lindsey Graham called for Zelenskyy to change his tune or resign, just hours after attending a friendly meeting between Zelenskyy and a dozen senators.olo

“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again,” Graham, a close Trump ally, told reporters as he left the White House after the clash, which drove relations with Kyiv’s most important wartime ally to a new low. “He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,” the South Carolina senator said.

Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who was ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term, posted on X: “The United States of America will no longer be taken for granted.” But even as most Republicans rallied behind Trump and Vance, some joined Democrats in defending Ukraine.

New York Representative Mike Lawler, in a post on X, called the Oval Office meeting “a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine—an agreement that would undoubtedly result in stronger economic and security cooperation.”

Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, threw his support behind Kyiv. “A bad day for America’s foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom,” he said in a statement.

Neither of the Republican lawmakers criticized Trump or Vance.

Minerals deal

Zelenskyy was in Washington to sign an agreement to jointly develop Ukraine’s rich natural resources with the United States. The Ukrainian leader had seen the meeting with Trump and Vance as an opportunity to persuade the US not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war with Moscow’s smaller neighbor. Instead, Zelenskyy was told to leave and the agreement was left unsigned.

Kyiv’s backers had hoped the deal would help win more support from Trump’s Republicans—who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives—for future aid. Congress has approved $175bn in assistance since Putin launched his full-scale invasion three years ago, but the last measure passed in April, when Democrats controlled the Senate and Democrat Joe Biden was in the White House.

Even then, congressional Republicans slow-walked the bill under pressure from candidate Trump, who has been skeptical of further military aid to Ukraine, leading to delays in delivering weapons that put Ukrainian troops on the back foot in the battlefield. If Trump, the party leader, had skin in the game and was promoting a “very big” minerals deal he had negotiated, analysts said, it would likely have rallied Republican support for Ukraine aid.

Some Republicans who have advocated for assisting Ukraine said they hoped relations could be rebuilt. Representative Michael McCaul, chairperson emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he still hoped for a real and lasting peace that ensures Ukraine would be free from further Russian aggression.

“I also urge President Zelenskyy to sign the mineral deal immediately,” the Texas lawmaker posted on X. “It will create an economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine. It is in both of our interests to get this deal done.”

Reuters

The gold is being traded at Rs 168, 100 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,915 per tola today.  

Five rural municipalities in Humla district have had no chief administrative officer since the third week of January.

The post of chief administrative officer is lying vacant at Simkot, Sarkegad, Chankheli, Adanchuli and Tanjakot rural municipalities in the district. The officers assigned by the government have not arrived here yet.

The absence of significant officers has badly affected daily activities, putting service seekers at the receiving end.

The winter municipal assembly has also been delayed. Adanchuli Rural Municipality had decided to hold its assembly on February 9, but had to postpone later due to not having the administrative officer, according to rural municipality chair Mohan Bikram Singh.

"For not having an administrative officer in place, the activities ranging from daily services to development projects were halted in the rural municipality," he said, adding that payments for various projects were also pending in absence of the executive.

The delayed payment also causes delay in implementation of projects.

Ukrainians faced a stark new reality on Saturday, after a White House clash between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump plunged ties between Kyiv and its top military backer into an unprecedented new low. Friday’s confrontation flared over differing visions of how to end Russia’s three-year-old invasion, with Zelenskiy seeking strong security guarantees from a Trump administration that has embraced diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainians, many of them hardened by three years of war, rallied around Zelenskiy but also expressed dismay about the future of US backing for Kyiv’s war effort as larger and better equipped Russian forces marched across swathes of the east. “Trump and Putin are dividing up the world—that’s what I would say. I don't know what will come of it,” said Kyiv resident Liudmyla Stetsevych, 47. However, she and other Ukrainians interviewed by Reuters expressed hope that Ukraine’s allies in Europe would boost political and military support if the US dialed back its own.

“We are really very grateful to (the US) for the support we have received all this time and continue to receive, but our dignity and honour should come first,” said Alina Zhaivoronko, standing near a sea of small flags in central Kyiv commemorating Ukraine’s war dead. “The Americans don’t know the real situation, what’s going on here,” said 54-year-old Ella Kazantseva, an east Ukraine native. “They don’t understand. Everything is beautiful for them.”

European leaders also leapt to Zelenskiy’s defence following the spat on Friday in an outpouring of support on social media.

Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Osadchuk said he had not been surprised by the tone from Trump and Vance, and that it was further evidence that Kyiv’s Western partners would need to do more. Top officials including Zelenskiy have sought to cast Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion as central to European security more broadly. “Not just a lot, but probably everything will depend on Europe—both for itself and for Ukraine,” Osadchuk told Reuters.

Zelenskiy will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, Starmer’s office said, ahead of a wider summit of European leaders in London on Sunday to discuss a security backstop to any peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. EU leaders are also expected to meet later next week to discuss an increase in defence spending. In a column published early on Saturday, the Ukrainian news outlet European Pravda said Zelenskiy’s spat with US leaders, while potentially damaging, sent a powerful signal of how seriously Ukraine takes its sovereignty.

“Regardless where history takes us, the world—including Donald Trump—was convinced that these issues truly matter for Ukraine.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that Russia is ready for flexibility in talks on Ukraine, but only in accordance with realities on the ground, state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine. Medvedev said Russia was ready to discuss a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, but only with those “who are ready to communicate.”

Reuters