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The Ministry of Home Affairs has said that the activities of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) may pose a threat to the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assembly. Hence, the Ministry has directed the security agencies to keep a close eye on the activities of the Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal. With the announcement of the elections, the Election Commission has been seeking commitment from the political parties and security agencies to hold the elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner. The Ministry of Home Affairs has made a special security plan to curb the activities that may pose a threat to the elections. According to an official at the Home Ministry, the government has decided to keep a tab on the activities of the 12 groups and to make a security strategy to avoid the same. A discussion was held at the Home Ministry on Tuesday regarding the security of the elections. Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand was not present in the meeting. Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya and chiefs of all the security agencies were present in the meeting. A source at the Home Ministry said that the meeting has decided to leave no stone unturned to give proper security to the elections. The Ministry said that the activities of the cadres of Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal, Dharmendra Bastola-led Nepal Communist Party Bahumat, Mohan Baidhya-led Nepal Communist Party Krantikari (Maoist), Ahuti-led Baigyanik Samajbadi Communist Party can be a security challenge for the elections. Saying that the activities of the Swadhin Madhesh Janaabhiyan, Shiva Sena Nepal, Shahi Yuva Shakti Nepal and criminal groups among others can be against the elections, the Home Ministry has directed the security agencies to keep an eye on them. The Home Ministry has taken unhealthy competition among the political parties and extorting businesspersons as the security threats for the elections. Nepal Army will provide security to the highly sensitive and sensitive polling stations of the districts in the elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assembly scheduled for November 20. As many as 74, 849 Nepal Army personnel will be deployed in the elections. According to a source at the Home Ministry, 71, 693 Nepal Police, 115, 000 temporary police, 35, 000 Armed Police Force and 20, 000 police personnel of the National Investigation Department will be mobilized in the elections. The Home Ministry has decided to keep a close eye on refugees and immigrants, saying that they can be used by regressive forces to thwart the elections. Around 600 immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan among other countries are living illegally in Nepal.          

Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei is visiting Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh from November 19-25. The Japanese minister is arriving in Nepal to observe the elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assembly slated for November 20. He will serve as the leader of the election observation mission dispatched by Japan. In Bhutan, he will exchange views with government officials. In Bangladesh, the minister will attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) ministerial meeting to be held in Bangladesh, and will hold meetings with government officials from other countries.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 13.40 points to close at 1, 911.26 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 2.86 points to close at 376. 57 points. Meanwhile, a total of 2,495,612 unit shares of 232 companies were traded for Rs 85 billion. Meanwhile, Sikles Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Janautthan Samudayic Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 4.13 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 74 trillion.

Police on Tuesday apprehended a man with fake ballot papers imported illegally from India. The suspect has been identified as Ijajat Muhammad (40) of Narkatiya Gram Panchayat-14 of Bihar. Police said that Muhammad was arrested while he was transporting 15,000 fake ballot papers to Nepal through Janaki Tola of Parsa. A police team deployed at Janaki Tole nabbed Muhammad who had entered Nepal through Janaki Tole carrying sample ballot papers on a motorbike (BR 22 W 8002) from Bihar of India, DSP Deepak Giri said. He has been kept at the Area Police Office, Pokharaiya for investigation.  

Russia and Ukraine have tortured prisoners of war during the conflict in Ukraine, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has said, citing examples of mistreatment including beatings, the use of electric shocks and forced nudity, Aljazeera reported. The OHCHR’s Ukraine-based monitoring team’s findings were based on interviews with more than 100 prisoners of war (POWs) on each side of the war, which will soon drag into its ninth month. On Tuesday, the office called on Kyiv and Moscow – both of which are parties to the Geneva Conventions that set out the laws of war, including on the treatment of POWs – to “investigate and prosecute all allegations of violations”. Matilda Bogner, head of the monitoring mission, told a Geneva press briefing that the “vast majority” of the 159 Ukrainian prisoners interviewed reported torture and ill-treatment. She gave examples of dog attacks, electric shocks with Tasers and military phones, and of sexual violence. Bogner said the treatment was aimed at intimidating and humiliating detainees, according to Aljazeera. One man who was held in a penal colony near Olenivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, said members of Russian-affiliated armed groups “attached wires” to his genitalia and nose and electric-shocked him.  

According to the World Health Organization, around the world, 1.3bn people use tobacco products, with 80 percent of them living in low- and middle-income nations. By diverting household expenditures away from necessities like food and shelter to cigarettes, tobacco consumption leads to poverty.  As tobacco is so addicting, it is tough to stop this consumption behavior. Additionally, it results in the early mortality and incapacity of working-age individuals in households, which lowers household income and raises healthcare expenditures. More than 8m people die every year due to the consumption of tobacco products, including approximately 1m deaths from second-hand smoke exposure. The burden of tobacco-attributable diseases and death is heaviest.  Tobacco has become the second death factor in Nepal. Recent research from the Nepal Development Research Institute found that one in five deaths in Nepal are caused by tobacco, making it a bigger killer in Nepal than in any other South Asian country. At current rates, around 1.34m Nepalis will die from smoking in the next 30 years. In this regard, the Annapurna Media Network sought to examine the public perceptions on tobacco in Nepal. The major objectives of the study was to know the opinion of the people regarding using tobacco and how the government can take action for its control. The survey was conducted on 4-10 Nov 2022 at different areas of Kathmandu valley where it is easy to get different samples from respondents representing various districts of Nepal.  The study was based on a descriptive research design using quantitative data. The sample was selected using a simple random sampling method. The research was done among 198 respondents of various age groups.  Major findings Adolescents seem to be highly involved in such addictive activities, some teenagers consuming it to show off and to influencing others. 95 percent of respondents want to see the new government to take the tobacco epidemic seriously. 96 percent said they wanted the Government to bring tobacco consumption under control but 92 percent felt that, so far, the Government has not paid enough attention to the crisis caused by tobacco consumption as well as production. 91 percent of respondents want to support the government implementing the strict rules and regulation against tobacco products in Nepal.  Recommendation National Development Research Institute recommends following strategy to control tobacco consumption in Nepal:

• Match the levels of tobacco taxation in India by 2025
•  Ban the sale of cigarettes as single sticks
• Stop the reopening of government cigarette factories
•  End tobacco sales within 100 meters of schools and hospitals

The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 98, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 98, 600 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 97, 900 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver is being traded at Rs 1, 295 per tola today.

Nepali Congress candidate Umesh Shrestha’s vehicle has been vandalized in Chitwan on Wednesday. He is contesting the election for a seat in the House of Representatives from Chitwan constituency-2. The vehicle bearing the registration number Ba 3 Cha 2050 was vandalized at Red Cross Chowk near Old Medical College in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-19 during the election campaign. Driver Jit Bahadur Rana said that a groups of five to six persons who came on motorbikes hurled stones at the vehicle. DSP Narahari Adhiarki said that they are looking into the case.