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Tika Ram Khadka has been elected as the mayor of Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City.

He secured 31, 408 votes while his nearest rival Gahendra Giri of Nepali Congress got 27, 716 votes.

Similarly, Syani Chaudhary of CPN-UML has been elected as the deputy mayor. 

She garnered 30, 597 votes against her close contender Gog Bahadur Rana of CPN (Unified Socialist) who received 21, 065 votes.

UML's Naru Lal Chaudhary and Huma DC have been elected as the mayor and deputy mayor of the Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City.

Nepal reported five new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 889 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which four returned positive. Likewise, 838 people underwent antigen tests, of which one was tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that nine infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 128 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 14. 37 points to close at 2,231.57 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 2.42 points to close at 435. 09 points.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,694,429 unit shares of 226 companies were traded for Rs 1. 04 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green. Non Life Insurance topped the chart with 134. 51 points.

Meanwhile, Balephi Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 5. 92 percent.

Corporate Development Bank Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 7. 13 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3. 17 trillion.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 14. 37 points to close at 2,231.57 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 2.42 points to close at 435. 09 points.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,694,429 unit shares of 226 companies were traded for Rs 1. 04 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green. Non Life Insurance topped the chart with 134. 51 points.

Meanwhile, Balephi Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 5. 92 percent.

Corporate Development Bank Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 7. 13 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3. 17 trillion.

China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday a US-backed economic plan for Asia seeks to decouple countries from the Chinese economy, but many countries are worried about the "huge cost" of doing so, Reuters reported.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) serves US interests and seeks to exclude other countries.

US President Joe Biden launched this plan on Monday. Initial founding countries include Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, but not China, according to Reuters.

The United Nations is honoring four Nepali UN peacekeepers posthumously on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 26 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres will award the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal posthumously to 117 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their life serving under the UN flag last year, read a statement issued by the United Nations on Wednesday.

NCE Pitambar Thapa of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); Private Dipendra Osti, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); Police POA Umesh Kumar Mehattar; who served with the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); and Mr. Jhank Nath Regmi who served in a civilian capacity in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) are among the peacekeepers to be honored posthumously.

In his message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Today, we honour the more than one million women and men who have served as UN peacekeepers since 1948.  We pay tribute to the nearly 4,200 heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace. And we are reminded an age-old truth: peace can never be taken for granted. Peace is the prize. We are deeply grateful to the 87,000 civilian, police and military personnel now serving under the UN flag who are helping to realize the prize of peace worldwide.”

The theme for this year’s observance is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.” According to the Secretary-General, "Around the globe, UN peacekeepers work with Member States, civil society, humanitarians, the media, the communities they serve and many others, to foster peace, protect civilians, promote human rights and the rule of law and improve the lives of millions of people.”

Nepal is the third largest troops-contributing country in the United Nations Peacekeeping mission.

The WTO launched a paper on May 24 that explores the impact of WTO accession on least-developed countries (LDCs) and the best practices established for LDC accessions based on the experience of the nine countries that have joined the WTO as LDCs. The study traces the evolution of the WTO approach to LDC accessions and outlines the various steps in the accession process.

The report — “Accessions of Least-developed Countries to the WTO — Challenges and Opportunities” — summarizes the commitments undertaken by the nine LDCs who have acceded to the WTO under Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement. It also looks into the challenges and opportunities for LDCs regarding WTO membership, including the importance of participating in WTO activities. The paper also briefly examines the economic performance of recently acceded LDC members to see how they have fared since joining the WTO. 

The authors of the study do not assert direct causality between WTO membership and economic and policy outcomes, as many diverse influences are at work. The paper includes some suggestions and recommendations for those LDCs who are currently negotiating their WTO accessions or contemplating doing so.

“This report is not only timely. It is an illustration of our commitment to support LDC accessions through capacity-building and technical assistance. Nine LDCs joined the WTO after successfully concluding accession negotiations and eight more are still in the accession process. Despite the economic fallouts from the COVID-19 pandemic and other pressing challenges, LDCs have demonstrated remarkable capacity to remain focused to achieve their accession goals,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. 

“Timor-Leste and Comoros, in particular, have maintained their accession momentum and are now advancing negotiations towards conclusion at full speed. The Working Party on the accession of Timor-Leste held its third meeting on 29 April 2022, while that of Comoros had its seventh meeting on 19 May 2022. It is our hope that this study, which provides best practices and lessons learned from the nine LDC accessions, concluded to date, can help equip future LDC members to realise membership benefits,” she added.

The paper was prepared in connection with the 10th China Round Table, held virtually on 18-20 January 2022. China's Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) and Accessions Programme (the China Programme) was established on 14 July 2011 with the aim of strengthening the participation of LDCs in the WTO and assisting them in their WTO accession processes.

The Programme has supported LDCs through five main pillars: China WTO Accessions Internship Programme; Annual China Round Tables on WTO Accessions; increasing the participation of LDCs in WTO meetings; South-South Dialogue on LDCs in WTO meetings; and follow-up workshops to LDCs' Trade Policy Reviews.

The paper also provides background on the origins of the LDC Group at the United Nations (UN), which responded to the conviction about the existence of a group of low-income countries, among the poorest in the world, that would benefit from special attention and tailor-made treatment to manage their multifaceted development problems. 

On 18 November 1971, UN Resolution 2768 (XXVI) — “Identification of the least developed among developing countries” — formally established the first list of LDCs, comprising 25 countries. Today, the list includes 46 countries, 20 of which were on the original 1971 list.

The Resolution recognized the significant influence that international trade has on the growth and development prospects of developing countries, and it was not long after the 1971 UN decision that the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) made room for a new approach to the world's poorest trading nations.

Of the 46 LDCs, 35 are members of the WTO. The LDC Group represents one-fifth of the total membership of the WTO. Nine countries have joined the WTO as LDCs in the past 15 years — Nepal, Cambodia, Cabo Verde, Samoa, Vanuatu, Lao PDR, Yemen, Liberia and Afghanistan — and eight more are currently engaged in the accession process: Bhutan, the Comoros, Ethiopia, Sao Tomé & Principe, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Timor-Leste. 

In its concluding observations, the paper notes that the increased LDC involvement contributes to the growing universality of the WTO and brings the stated aims of the WTO closer to realization, including those of cutting living costs and raising living standards, helping countries to develop, giving the weaker a stronger voice, and contributing to peace and stability. 

Finally, the paper makes reference to graduating from LDC status, which should be seen as an important achievement and not as a threat or loss of special privileges. It also highlights that formidable challenges remain as LDCs are yet to fully reap the full benefits of the WTO system. 

This will take time and require continued support from the community of nations and international institutions, particularly with technical assistance and capacity building. But ultimately, the gains will be shared by all, the study concludes.

Bibeksheel Sajha Party Chairman Rabindra Mishra resigned from his post on Wednesday.

Issuing a statement this afternoon, Mishra said that he decided to resign from the post of chairman after party's disappointing results in the recently held local level elections.

"I will take the responsibility for the party's disappointing results," he said in the statement.

Mishra said that he would only remain as a member of the party.

The party emerged victorious only in Pheta Rural Municipality of Bara in the local level elections held on May 13.