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SP Raju Pandey of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City was injured following a clash between squatters and police personnel in Thapathali on Monday. The clash broke out after the KMC police personnel tried to remove the people living along the bank of Bagmati river in Thapathali. The squatters are chanting slogans against the government and KMC Mayor Balen Shah at present. Some are also seen carrying sticks and home-made weapons. The KMC sent a dozer in Thapathali this afternoon as part of the government’s preparations to remove them from the area. Earlier, Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh had assured them that they will not be removed from the area without finding any alternative. But, the KMC in coordination with the Bagmati River Basin Development Project Committee had decided to use the dozer in the area before the implementation of Singh’s assurance.

Renowned street artist Alejandro Poli Jr. (“Man One”) from Los Angeles, California, has arrived in Kathmandu to take part in a twelve-day program to promote and celebrate the voices of minority and socially excluded communities. In collaboration with Nepali art collective, Artudio, Man One will collaborate with local artist in Kathmandu and Janakpur and organize a street art project to showcase Nepal’s vibrant multicultural society through art. A group of Nepali muralists, graffiti artists, folk, traditional artists, and creative practitioners, will participate in a live art showcase November 28. Nepali artists will jointly work on a final mural design with Man One that captures visions for minority inclusion. A final large-scale mural will be revealed December 9. During the art envoy’s stay, Man One will also conduct interactive lectures on the themes of social inclusion and equity and share both their own work and the history of graffiti as “protest art.”

China held a meeting this week with 19 countries from the Indian Ocean region in which India was conspicuously absent, PTI reported. The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on November 21, in which 19 countries took part, according to a press release issued by the organisation. The meeting was held in a hybrid manner under the theme of "Shared Development: Theory and Practice from the Perspective of the Blue Economy" in Kunming, Yunnan Province, it said. Representatives of 19 countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, Australia and representatives of 3 international organisations were present, it said. India was reportedly not invited, according to informed sources here. Last year, China held a meeting with some South Asian countries on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation without the participation of India. CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former Vice Foreign Minister and Ambassador to India. According to the official website of the organisation, he is the Secretary of the CPC (the ruling Communist Party of China) Leadership Group of CIDCA. CIDCA’s official website said the aims of the organisation is to formulate strategic guidelines, plans and policies for foreign aid, coordinate and offer advice on major foreign aid issues, advance the country's reforms in matters involving foreign aid, and identify major programmes, supervise and evaluate their implementation. During his tour of Sri Lanka in January this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed to establish a “forum on the development of Indian Ocean Island Countries.” When asked whether the CIDCA meeting is the same that is proposed by Wang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry here has clarified to the media that the November 21 meeting was not part of it. At the November 21 meeting, China has proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region, the CIDCA press release said. China is ready to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need, it said, according to PTI. China is vying for influence in the strategic Indian Ocean region with substantial investments in ports and infrastructure investments in several countries, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka. While China has established a full-fledged naval base in Djibouti, its first outside the country, Beijing has acquired the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka on a 99-year lease besides building the port at Pakistan’s Gwadar in the Arabian Sea opposite India’s western coast besides infrastructure investments in the Maldives. The Chinese forum apparently is aimed at countering India’s strong influence in the Indian Ocean region where India-backed organisations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association, (IORA), which has a membership of 23 countries have taken strong roots. China is a dialogue partner in the IORA formed in 1997. IORA became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015. Besides the IORA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Navy-backed ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’ (IONS) seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the region. Since the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Chinese and Indian armies, bilateral ties have been severely hit, PTI reported. India has consistently maintained that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are important for the overall development of bilateral relations with China.

Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA-Nepal) has called tender for the construction of transmission lines. The  tender was in three packages. Earlier, the government of Nepal and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) had reached an agreement to implement the project from August 2023. The tender was called according to the same. The tender was called to construct 315 km long 400 KV electricity transmission projects— Lapsiphedi-Ratamate-Hetauda (117 km), Lapsiphedi-Ratamate-Damauli (90 km) and Damauli-Butwal (90km) and three sub-stations. It will take 180 days to complete the tender process. After awarding the contract, the company will start constructing the power lines from September, 2023. The government has allocated Rs 9. 27 billion for the construction of transmission lines in the initial phase. Out of the budget allocated this year, Rs 8. 91 billion will be an American grant. According to the Finance Ministry, Rs 365.6 will be recovered from the sources of the Nepal government. The money of this project will be spent for capital purposes. MCC compact is an assistance under which the United States will provide $500 million to Nepal for electricity transmission lines and road maintenance. As per the agreement, the five-year project will come into implementation under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Nepal. The government of Nepal signed the agreement with the United States for the MCC project on September 14, 2017. The then Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki on behalf of the government signed an agreement with MCC Acting CEO Jonatha Nas in Washington on September 14,2017. The then Finance Minister Yuvaraj Khatiwada signed an agreement for the implementation of the MCC on September 29, 2019, but it got delayed due to the controversy generated by some political parties and a section of society over some of its provisions. The compact was registered in the Parliament Secretariat on July 15, 2019 for the endorsement. The MCC was tabled in the Parliament on February 20, 2022 nearly 20 months after it was registered in the Parliament Secretariat. The Legislature-Parliament held on February 27 had endorsed the MCC Nepal compact with interpretative declaration. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had proposed a 12-point interpretative declaration incorporating the questions raised about the MCC agreement, which was endorsed by the Parliament. Nepal’s Parliament endorsed the MCC as the Americans wished, but in the run-up to ratification Beijing tried mighty hard to stop it. It sees the $500 million development grant to Nepal as a part of America’s strategy to encircle China.  

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 97, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 97, 800 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 97, 000 per tola today. Similarly, the price of silver is being traded at Rs 1, 285 per tola.

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal held a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Baluwatar on Monday. During the meeting, they discussed forming a government from within the current ruling alliance, according to a source. They also discussed contemporary political issues and future strategy among other matters on the occasion. The results of the election to the House of Representatives are yet to come in some places. But still, senior leaders of the ruling alliance have started holding discussions on forming a new government. CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Dahal had also held a meeting with Prime Minister Deuba on Saturday also.  

Niclas Füllkrug’s late strike was enough to salvage a point for Germany against Spain as qualification from Group E goes down to the wire, CNN reported.

Substitute Álvaro Morata had given Spain the lead just after the hour mark, but Germany finally drew level seven minutes from time after Jamal Musiala’s touch dropped to Füllkrug, who fired an emphatic finish into the top corner.

After that historic defeat to Japan in the opening game – one of the all-time great World Cup upsets – most expected Germany to come out and try to make a statement against a Spain side that looked like the team of the tournament so far, according to CNN.

In truth, however, Hansi Flick’s side looked stagnant and bereft of ideas for much of match and will now need a favor from Spain in order to reach the round of 16.

Germany needs to beat Costa Rica and hope Spain defeats Japan or, if Japan earns a draw, ensure it has a superior goal difference.

The vote counting in Udayapur constituency-1 has become uncertain after as many as 15 candidates of the various parties including the CPN-UML have demanded re-election, accusing the ruling coalition of rigging the votes there. They said that more ballot papers were found in the boxes than the votes cast. The candidates claimed that the 100 ballot papers for the Province Assembly were found in the ballot boxes of the House of Representatives. They submitted an application to the chief election officer on Sunday demanding re-polling. The vote counting process has become uncertain after the candidates demanded re-voting. The counting of votes, which was halted since 7 am, has not been started yet. UML candidate Manju Kumari Chaudhary said that the ballot papers found in the Province Assembly (B) should be counted under the Province Assembly. The Nepali Congress, however, has not accepted her proposal. When the counting the votes has completed in the constituency, Himal Karki of the Nepali Congress has won the election by a margin 215 votes. The office of the chief election office, however, is yet to announce the result. UML House of Representatives candidate Chaudhary, Province Assembly candidates Kushal Babu Basnet and Indramani Raut, Rastriya Prajatantra Party HoR candidate Dhruba Rayamajhi, Janata Samajbadi Party HoR candidate Gyan Bahadur Rai, CPN (ML) candidate Ram Prasad Chaulagain and Nagarik Unmukti Party candidate Shiva Narayan Chaudhary among others have demanded re-election.