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The Nawalpur District Court sentenced actor Paul Shah to two-and-a-half years in jail for sexually abusing a minor girl. The court also slapped him with a fine of Rs 2, 5000. Actor Shah, however, got clean chit on the rape case. A single bench of Justice Yagya Prasad Acharya ordered Shah to pay Rs 1 million to the victim. Lal Bahadur Chhetri, Information Officer at the court, said that the parents have also been altered. Earlier, the high court had upheld the decision of the Tanahun District Court and Nawalparasi District Court to keep him in custody. Actor Shah had surrendered himself at the District Police Office, Tanahun on February 27 after a minor singer filed a rape case against him. Shah was sent to custody for seven days for the first time on February 27 and the remand was extended by 12 days on March 5 for the second time for investigation. Based on the complaint filed by a 17-year-old singer, the District Attorney’s Office had filed a case against Shah at Tanahun District Court seeking 14 years of imprisonment.

Later, the issue took a twist after the minor singer, who had filed a complaint accusing Shah of raping her, changed her statement at the Tanahun District Court.

The girl said that she had not been raped as claimed by her earlier. She said that the information she stated while filing the complaint was false.

Chief of Army Staff of Indian Army General Manoj Pande paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Singha Durbar on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava and other delegation members. During the meeting, General Pande briefed Prime Minister Deuba on his engagements in Kathmandu and conveyed his personal gratitude for the warm hospitality extended by the Government of Nepal. He reaffirmed that he would work for further strengthening the defense cooperation between the two countries. Earlier in the day, General Pande had visited Nepali Army Command and Staff College at Shivapuri and addressed the students and staff there.

Nepal reported 300 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 981 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 177 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 609 people underwent antigen tests, of which 123 were tested positive. The Ministry said that 124 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. As of today, there are 2, 457 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 21. 16 points to close at 1,951.84 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 3.  87 points to close at 379. 08 points. A total of 3,209,983 unit shares of 227 companies were traded for Rs 1. 19 billion. Meanwhile, Unnati Sahakarya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 68 percent. Likewise, Sanima Mai Hydropower Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 7. 32 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 79 trillion.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has started demolishing illegal structures built by encroaching roads in Ason area. The Metropolitan City has once again directed the concerned people to remove illegal structures and vacate shops. Earlier, the KMC authorities had issued a 24-hour notice to vacate shops from the illegally built structures but business operators turned a blind eye to the order. Meanwhile, the business operators stage a protest against the KMC’s move. The KMC has urged the people to remove the illegal structures from the Ason areas by Wednesday. Street vendors in Kathmandu have often encroached the footpaths, forcing people to walk on the roads.

The United States Government’s Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Elizabeth Horst has arrived in Kathmandu. According to the US Embassy in Nepal, she arrived in Kathmandu to attend the Climate Action Champions Network Conference. Of late, the US engagements with Nepal has increased manifold.

The main opposition CPN-UML has expressed its dissatisfaction over the government’s move to extend the tenure of the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies. Speaking at a meeting of the Parliament on Tuesday, lawmaker Sher Bahadur Tamang appealed to the government to withdraw a bill to extend the terms of the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies. Saying that the tenure of the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies should be ended after announcing the date of elections, he said the government, however, is hell bent on extending the terms of both the houses. Similarly, lawmaker Gokul Prasad Baskota said that the government has been trying to extend the terms of the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies putting democracy at stake. He said that the UML will not support this bill. Lawmaker Baskota said that the tenure of the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies will end on September 17.