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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged by 15. 82 points to close at 2,032.34 points on Monday. 

Similarly, the sensitive index fell 2. 27 points to reach 389.98 points.

A total of 2,920,705 units of shares of 230 companies were traded for Rs 998 billion.

Likewise, all sub-indices saw red in today’s market with Life insurance on the top of the table. 

At the end of the day, total market civilization stands at Rs 2. 98 trillion.

Ministers from Australia, Japan, and Singapore who are co-conveners of WTO e-commerce negotiations have launched the E-commerce Capacity Building Framework to strengthen digital inclusion and to help developed and least developed countries harness the opportunities of digital trade.

In a statement issued on 13 June during the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, they underlined the importance of developing global rules on e-commerce. They said electronic commerce is of critical importance to the modern global economy and is driving the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Framework will bring together a wide range of technical assistance and capacity-building efforts to support countries participating in the E-Commerce JSI and harnessing the opportunity of digital trade through providing training and assistance to help to develop and least developed countries, the statement reads.

China’s defense minister accused the United States on Sunday of trying to “hijack” the support of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing, saying Washington is seeking to advance its own interests “under the guise of multilateralism”, Associated Press reported.

Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe lashed out at U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, rejecting his “smearing accusation” the day before at the Shangri-La Dialogue that China was causing instability with its claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan and its increased military activity in the area.

Austin had stressed the need for multilateral partnerships with nations in the Indo-Pacific, which Wei suggested was an attempt to back China into a corner.

“No country should impose its will on others or bully others under the guise of multilateralism,” he said. “ The strategy is an attempt to build an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific to hijack countries in our region and target one specific country — it is a strategy to create conflict and confrontation to contain and encircle others.”

China has been rapidly modernizing its military and seeking to expand its influence and ambitions in the region, recently signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that many fear could lead to a Chinese naval base in the Pacific, and breaking ground this past week on a naval port expansion project in Cambodia that could give Beijing a foothold in the Gulf of Thailand, according to the Associated Press.

Last year US officials accused China of testing a hypersonic missile, a weapon harder for missile defense systems to counter, but China insisted it had been a “routine test of a spacecraft.”

Answering a question about the test on Sunday, Wei came the closest so far to acknowledging it was, indeed, a hypersonic missile, saying, “As for hypersonic weapons, many countries are developing weapons and I think there’s no surprise that China is doing so.”

“China will develop its military,” he added. “I think it’s natural.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month said China represented the “most serious long-term challenge to the international order” for the United States, with its claims to Taiwan and efforts to dominate the strategic South China Sea, Associated Press reported.

The US and its allies have responded with so-called freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, sometimes encountering a pushback from China’s military.

Wei accused the US of “meddling in the affairs of our region” with the patrols, and “flexing the muscles by sending warships and warplanes on a rampage in the South China Sea.”

China has squared off with the Philippines and Vietnam, among others, over maritime claims and Wei said it was up to the countries in the region to find their own solutions.

“China calls for turning the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,” he said. “This is the shared wish and responsibility of countries in the region.”

Taiwan and China split during a civil war in 1949, but China claims the island as its own territory, and has not ruled out the use of military force to take it, while maintaining it is a domestic political issue, according to the Associated Press.

CPN-UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai expressed his serious objection to the role of an unauthorized person in the budget formulation process.

Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday, he expressed his dissatisfaction for using an unauthorized person by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma in the formulation of the budget for the next fiscal year.

He demanded the resignation of Minister Sharma.

"The Finance Minister has come into controversy. Hence, he should resign immediately," the former Tourism Minister said.

He demanded the resignation of the Finance Minister in the Parliament after the news came in the media that he had taken a former non-gazetted officer to the Ministry and changed the tax rate on May 28, the day before the budget was presented in the Parliament.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

With the price drop, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 98, 900 per tola today.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow metal was traded at Rs 99, 200 per tola on Sunday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 98, 400 per tola today.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 265 per tola.

Democratic Socialist Party leaders held a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at the latter's residence in Baluwatar on Monday.

Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur, Rajendra Mahato and Sharad Singh Bhandari among other leaders attend the meeting held this morning.

During the meeting, the leaders discussed the 11-point agreement the party had submitted to the Prime Minister on June 7 and the issues related to taking part in government among others, according to a source.

In its memorandum, the party had demanded that the government immediately provide citizenship certificates to the children of the naturalized citizens as per the constitution.

It also demanded withdrawal of false cases slapped against the party cadres during the Tharuhat and Madhesh movement and release of the arrested cadres including Resham Chaudhary in Mahottari and Kailali, amend the constitution, provide representation in local bodies, province assemblies and federal parliament on the basis of population, implement the idea of distributing budget on the basis of population density and make public the report of high-level probe commission led for former Supreme Court justice Girish Chandra Lal.

Likewise, the party also demanded that the government arrange fertilizers to the farmers and control inflation and black marketing and provide land ownership certificates to those who have not received yet.

Two persons died when a motorbike they were riding on fell off the Thalahi Bridge in Mahagadhimai Municipality-8, Bara on Sunday.

The deceased have been identified as bike rider Birulal Yadav (35) of Sanfulwa, Subarna Rural Municipality-7, Bara and pillion rider Newachandra Raya Yadav (30) of East Champaran Samarpur-2, Bihar, India, DSP Rajesh Thapa, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Bara, said.

Critically injured in the incident, the duo breathed their last while undergoing treatment at the Kalaiya-based Provincial Hospital, he said.

DSP Thapa said that the incident occurred after the rider lost control of the bike (Province 02-03-004 Pa 7934).

A person died after being hit by a jeep in Koshi Rural Municipality-5, Sunsari.

The deceased has been identified as Shrawan Kumar Mehta (18) of Koshi-7, DSP Narendra Kumar Karki of the District Police Office, Sunsari said.

He said that the jeep (Ko 2 Cha 3992) rammed into a roadside tree after it hit Mehta, injuring six others traveling in the four-wheeler.

Critically injured in the incident, he was rushed to the Birat Hospital in Biratnagar but breathed his last during the course of treatment, police said.

The injured are receiving treatment at the same hospital. Two are said to be in critical condition.

Police said that they are looking into the case.