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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote on Monday, securing enough support from his Conservative Party to remain in office despite a substantial rebellion that leaves him a weakened leader with an uncertain future, Associated Press reported.

Known for his ability to shrug off scandals, the charismatic leader has struggled to turn the page on revelations that he and his staff repeatedly held boozy parties that flouted the COVID-19 restrictions they imposed on others. Support among his fellow Conservative lawmakers has weakened as some see a leader renowned for his ability to connect with voters increasingly as a liability rather than an asset in elections.

Johnson won the backing of 211 out of 359 Conservative lawmakers in a secret ballot, more than the simple majority needed to remain in power, but still a significant rebellion of 148 MPs. 

Johnson called it a “convincing” win and said the party should now “come together.”

“What it means is that as a government we can move on and focus on stuff that I think really matters to people,” he said.

With no clear front-runner to succeed him, most political observers had predicted Johnson would defeat the challenge. But the rebellion could still be a watershed moment for him — and is a sign of deep Conservative divisions, less than three years after he led the party to its biggest election victory in decades.

Johnson’s winning margin is less than that secured by his predecessor Theresa May in a similar vote in December 2018. She was forced to resign six months later, according to Associated Press.

Since replacing May as prime minister in 2019, Johnson has led Britain out of the European Union and through a pandemic, both of which have shaken the U.K. socially and economically. The vote comes as Johnson’s government is under intense pressure to ease the pain of skyrocketing energy and food bills.

But the main blow to his leadership has been revelations that he and his staff repeatedly held illegal parties during lockdowns. That caused anger in the country, and unease among many Conservatives.

Discontent that has been building for months erupted after a 10-day parliamentary break that included a long weekend of celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. For many, the four-day holiday was a chance to relax — but there was no respite for Johnson, who was booed by some onlookers as he arrived for a service in the queen’s honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday.

Conservative Party official Graham Brady announced Monday that he had received letters calling for a no-confidence vote from at least 54 Tory legislators, enough to trigger the measure under party rules. Hours later, party lawmakers lined up by the dozen in a corridor at Parliament to cast their ballots in a wood-paneled room, handing over their phones as they entered to ensure secrecy, Associated Press reported.

Johnson addressed dozens of Conservative lawmakers in a House of Commons room before the vote as he tried to shore up support, vowing: “I will lead you to victory again.”

Johnson’s allies had insisted he would stay in office if he won by even a single vote.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said Johnson had won the vote “handsomely,” and urged the party to “draw a line under this now.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, one of the favorites to succeed Johnson if he is ousted, tweeted: “Pleased that colleagues have backed the Prime Minister. I support him 100%. Now’s the time to get on with the job.”

But previous prime ministers who survived no-confidence votes emerged severely weakened, according to Associated Press.

The government has decided to revoke its decision to grant a two-day weekend--Saturday and Sunday.

A Cabinet meeting held on Monday decided to overturn its decision to provide two days of holiday a week.

The decision will come into effect from June 15.

Earlier on April 27, the government had decided to grant a two-day weekend effective from May 15 as a trial.

The government took the decision with a view to reducing the consumption of fuel. 

The concerned stakeholders had been piling pressure on the government to roll back its decision to provide two days of holiday a week. 

Earlier this afternoon, advocates Tej Kumar Lohiya, Ram Bahadur Shahi, Santosh Bhandari, Trilok Chand and Deepak Khanal among others filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the government decision to provide two days of holiday a week.

The government has promoted five Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) to the post of Additional Inspector General of the Nepal Police.

A Cabinet meeting held on Monday decided to promote them to the post of AIG on the recommendation of the Promotion Committee of the Home Ministry.

The government has decided to promote DIGs Uttam Raj Subedi, Arun Kumar BC, Dibesh Lohani, Mukunda Raj Acharya and Puja Singh to the post of AIG.

A meeting of the Promotion Committee held on  May 23 had recommended the government to promote them to AIG.

The government has relieved General Manager of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Dim Prasad Paudel today.

A Cabinet meeting held on Monday decided to remove Paudel from the top post of the NAC, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.

Earlier, the Ministry had asked for clarification from Paudel. The government had recalled Paudel to the Ministry saying that he was working against the norms and values of the NAC.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Ale had recommended the government to sack Paudel saying that he was working against the interest of the Corporation.

The erstwhile KP Sharma Oli-led government had appointed Paudel as the General Manager of the NAC for four years.

A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court against the government decision to reintroduce a two-day weekend—on Saturday and Sunday.

Advocates Tej Kumar Lohiya, Ram Bahadur Shahi, Santosh Bhandari, Trilok Chand and Deepak Khanal among others filed the writ petition arguing that the government decided to grant a two-day weekend without thinking about the long term effect.

Saying that the government’s decision to give two days of holiday in a week will have a huge impact on the economic, education and health sector, the advocates have demanded that the government roll back its decision to grant a two-day weekend at the earliest.

Police on Monday arrested seven persons for their alleged involvement in gang-raping a 16-year old girl in Banke.

According to DSP Mukunda Neupane of the District Police Office, Banke, the detainees have been identified as Hem Raj Tharu, Raj Kumar Tharu, Bikrant Tharu, Nirajan Tharu, Prabin Tharu, Bishwonath Tharu and Nirdeshan Tharu.

The incident occurred on Saturday night. 

According to a preliminary investigation, Hem Raj Tharu had invited the girl to celebrate his birthday. They had become friends through Facebook a year ago. 

The girl reached Phulbari at Mankhola in Baijanath Rural Municipality-8 by a bus. 

Hem Raj along with his friends, who had gathered at the Phulbari to celebrate the birthday, started consuming alcohol and also offered it to the girl. 

When they got intoxicated, Hem Raj along with his friends raped her, police said. 

Later, they took the girl, who fell unconscious after the incident, to a pig farm of Bikrant on a motorbike at Pipari in Baijanath-8 where they raped her again. 

Police said that they rounded up the culprits while they were taking the girl to Nepalgunj. 

Further investigation into the incident is underway.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged by 12. 89 points to close at 2,065.82 points on Monday. 

Similarly, the sensitive index fell 3. 12 points to reach 400. 36 points.

A total of 4,409,691 units of shares of 228 companies were traded for Rs 1. 27 billion.

Likewise, all sub-indices saw red in today’s market except for Development Bank, Finance, Manu & Pro, Others, Microfinance and Mutual Fund. 

Meanwhile, Upakar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10 percent. Likewise, Himalayan Bank Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 9.99 percent. 

At the end of the day, total market civilization stands at Rs 2. 94 trillion.

Nepal reported 21 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 990 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which seven returned positive. Likewise, 1, 258 people underwent antigen tests, of which 14 were tested positive.

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

As of today, there are 109 active cases in the country.