Gyan Chandra Acharya appointed as Nepal’s Ambassador to the UK
President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday appointed Gyan Chandra Acharya as Nepal’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
According to a statement issued by the Office of the President, President Bhandari made the appointment on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers as per Article 282 of Nepal’s Constitution.
NC forms 37-member Central Executive Committee
Nepali Congress has formed a 37-member Central Executive Committee on Friday.
A virtual meeting of the Central Committee held this afternoon formed the committee.
Though there is a provision to have 46 members in the committee, the party has nominated 35 members for now.
The names of the members are as follows:
- President Sher Bahadur Deuba
- Senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel - senior leader
- Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka
- Vice-President Dhanraj Gurung
- General Secretary Gagan Thapa
- General Secretary Bishwo Prakash Sharma
- Assistant General Secretary Pharmullah Mansoor
- Assistant General Secretary Bhismaraj Angdambe
- Assistant General Secretary Uma Kanta
- Assistant General Secretary Mahendra Raya Yadav
- Assistant General Secretary Mahalaxmi Upadhyay Dina
- Assistant General Secretary Kishor Singh Rathore
- Assistant General Secretary Badri Pandey
- Assistant General Secretary Jeevan Pariyar
- Gopal Man Shrestha
- Prakash Man Singh
- Bimalendra Nidhi
- Bijay Kumar Ghachhadhar
- Krishna Prasad Sitaula
- Dr Shashanka Koirala
- Chitra Lekha Yadav
- Dr Ram Sharan Yadav
- Arjun Narsingh KC
- Dr Prakash Sharam Mahat
- Sunil Bahadur Thapa
- Dr Shekhar Koirala
- Bal Bahadur kc
- Bal Krishna Khand
- Gyanendra Bahadur Karki
- Uma Regmi
- Ramesh Rijal
- Dr Narayan Khadka
- Jip Tshering Lama
- NP Saud
- Jeevan Bahadur Shahi
- Sujata Koirala
- Ananda Prasad Dhungana
Light rainfall and snowfall forecast in few parts of country today
Light rainfall and snowfall have been predicted in a few parts of the country today due to the influence of the westerly low-pressure system.
The weather will remain partly to generally cloudy in the majority of the places across the country, said the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.
Due to the influence of the westerly low-pressure system, the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy in Province No 1, Bagmati Province and Gandaki Province while light rainfall is likely in a couple of places in hilly areas.
Few places in high hilly areas could witness light snowfall, the Department informed.
Currently, the hilly region has cloudy conditions while few parts of the Terai region have remained foggy and misty. The weather will likely remain partly cloudy in hilly areas by tonight while remaining places will have clear weather.
Similarly, Province No 1, Bagmati Province and Gandaki Province’s hilly places will be partly cloudy on Saturday while weather is likely to be clear in other parts of the country on that day, the Department shared.
The Department recorded 4.0 degrees Celsius to be the minimum temperature of Kathmandu Valley while 14.0 is the highest today.
Jumla district recorded the minimum temperature at -5.0 degrees Celsius while Dipayal in Doti district had the maximum temperature at 19.8 degrees Celsius. RSS
Citizens Bank customer gets roughed up
A customer was beaten up at the Citizens Bank outlet in Gaushala, Mahottari. On January 25, Sanjay Mahato of Gaushala Municipality-12 had gone to the bank to open an account for his nephew. There, he was manhandled by bank security guards.
Eyewitness Raj Kumar Mahato says, “There was no crowd at the bank, and yet the staff were not working. When he [Sanjay Mahato] inquired about the delay, the guards in attendance started shoving him.”
Sanjay says he had visited the bank for the same purpose many times. He thought of inquiring only when he felt he would be turned back empty-handed that day as well.
Ram Chandra Singh Kushwaha, a security guard at the bank, clarified that the dispute ensued when Mahato entered a ‘no entry’ zone. “The officers asked me to remove him from bank premises. Mahato refused to go, resulting in a scuffle,” he adds.
According to the Police Office of Gaushala, the dispute was a minor one and was quickly resolved in a mutual agreement.
Gold price drops by Rs 900 on Friday
The price of gold has dropped by Rs 900 in the domestic market on Friday.
According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 92,600 per tola today.
Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 92,100 per tola.
The yellow metal was traded at Rs 93,500 and tejabi gold at Rs 93,000 on Thursday.
Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1,265 per told today.
10 Pakistani soldiers killed in terrorist attack on checkpost in Balochistan's Kech
Ten Pakistani soldiers were killed after terrorists attacked a security forces' checkpost in Balochistan's Kech district, local media reported on Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the "fire raid" by terrorists occurred on the night of January 25-26, Dawn reported.
"During intense exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed and several injured. While repulsing terrorists' fire raid, 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom," the statement said.
The statement further stated that three terrorists had been apprehended in the follow-up clearance operation, which it said was still in progress to hunt down the perpetrators of the incident.
"The armed forces are determined to eliminate terrorists from our soil no matter what the cost," Dawn quoted the ISPR statement.
Earlier this month, a Pakistan Army soldier was killed after terrorists attacked a military post in Bannu's Janikhel.
On January 5, two soldiers were killed and as many terrorists killed in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) conducted by security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported.
It further reported that last month, four soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists during an IBO in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district. (ANI)
PM Deuba meets Dahal, Nepal to discuss local elections
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba held a meeting with CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Party Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal.
It has been learnt that they discussed local level elections among other issues during the meeting.
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Deuba held a meeting with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.
During the meeting, she urged the Prime Minister to hold the elections on time.
The Election Commission has also been urging the government to fix the date of local level elections.
Though the Prime Minister has been holding discussions with leaders of various on the local level polls, he has not been able to fix the date yet.
The poll body has recommended the government to hold the elections on April 27.
Ukraine crisis: Nord Stream 2 pipeline could be axed, US warns
The US has threatened to halt the opening of a key pipeline that would send Russian gas to Western Europe, if Russia invades Ukraine, BBC reported.
Nord Stream 2 would run from Russia to Germany, and on Thursday officials in Berlin said the project could face sanctions if Russia attacks.
Western allies say they will target Russia's economy if it invades, and the latest comments signal a hardening of their stance on the lucrative pipeline.
Russia denies it is planning an attack.
But the build-up of tens of thousands of Russian troops on Ukraine's borders in recent weeks has stoked tensions and escalated fears of an invasion.
"I want to be very clear: if Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," US state department spokesman Ned Price told NPR.
But he added that he was "not going to get into the specifics" of how it would be stopped, and questions remain over whether the US would have the power to cancel the project.
"We will work with Germany to ensure it does not move forward," Mr Price said.
While the US insisted that it would stop the opening of the pipeline completely, Germany only said it would not rule out imposing sanctions on the project.
The country's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, told parliament that Western allies were "working on a strong package of sanctions" covering aspects "including Nord Stream 2".
But she added that she would prefer to "continue the dialogue" with Moscow.
Her comments came after the German ambassador to the US Emily Haber tweeted that "nothing will be off the table, including Nord Stream 2" if Russia violated "Ukraine's sovereignty".
The 1,225km (760-mile) pipeline took five years to build and cost $11bn (£8bn). The energy project, which would run under the Baltic Sea, is designed to double Russia's gas exports to Germany.
But as yet it has not started operating, as regulators said in November it does not comply with German law and suspended its approval.
Major European businesses have invested heavily in Nord Stream 2, which is run by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. But many groups object to the plan.
Environmentalists question how it will fit in with German efforts to cut emissions and tackle man-made climate change, while politicians at home and abroad fear it could increase Europe's dependence on Russian energy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously described the pipeline as a "dangerous geopolitical weapon".
