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Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Govinda Prasad Sharma Koirala clarified that the government has not made any preparation to sign the State Partnership Program (SPP) agreement.

He said so while speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Minister Koirala made it clear that neither the government nor any side have urged the concerned authority to sign the agreement.

Responding to the queries on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Minister Koirala said that the US government welcomed the interpretative declaration on the same day when the $500 million pact was endorsed from the Parliament. Hence, he urged not to be in doubt as the declaration was part of the agreement.

A woman was arrested with one round of bullet from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday.

Kiran Kumari Singh (36) of Haripur Municipality-7, Sarlahi was apprehended with one round of bullet from the hand baggage checking area of the airport, police said.

Singh was nabbed while she was about to board a flight of Buddha Airlines.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

Amazon says it will begin delivering parcels to shoppers by drone for the first time later this year, pending final regulatory approval, BBC reported.

Users in the Californian town of Lockeford will be able to sign up to have thousands of goods delivered by air to their homes, it said.

The shopping giant has promised drone delivery for years but has faced delays and reported setbacks. 

But it said it planned to roll out the service more widely after Lockeford.

"The promise of drone delivery has often felt like science fiction," it said in a blog post. "[But] later this year, Amazon customers living in Lockeford, California, will become among the first to receive Prime Air deliveries.

"Their feedback about Prime Air will help us create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere."

Amazon said the drones will be programmed to drop parcels in the backyards of customers in Lockeford, which has a population of about 4,000 people, according to BBC.

They will be able to fly "beyond-line-of-sight", meaning they don't have to be controlled by a visual observer and instead use sensors to avoid other aircraft, people, pets and obstacles.

The aim is to get packages to customers safely in less than an hour, the retailer said, BBC reported.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chairman Rajendra Lingden said that the US intervention has increased significantly in Nepal after the endorsement of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, he urged the government not to act in a way that would create imbalances in non-aligned foreign policy.

“The US intervention has increased in Nepal after the ratification of the MCC,” Lingden said, adding, “Let’s not do anything that will create imbalances in non-aligned foreign policy.”

Meanwhile, saying that the federal election is approaching nearer, leader Lingden demanded that the independent election government should be formed to hold the election in a free, fair and transparent manner.

Nepali Congress lawmaker Gagan Thapa has raised questions over the State Partnership Program (SPP).

Saying that Nepal cannot take part in any program involving Nepal Army, Thapa, during the meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, said that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should answer on the issue.

He said that the doubts on the issue will be cleared if the Prime Minister answers the queries in the Parliament.

The main opposition CPN-UML lawmaker Pradeep Gyawali had also demanded the government's answer on the matter in the Parliament meeting today. He said that the agreement will not be accepted under any circumstances.

The UML has been protesting after the draft of the SPP agreement was made public in a section of Nepali media.

A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court demanding re-election to the top post of the District Coordination Committee of Dailekh.

Durga Kumari Shrestha, who had filed her candidacy for the top post of the District Coordination Committee, filed writ petition on Tuesday.

In the writ filed against the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Dailekh among others, she has demanded an order to hold the re-election to the top post of the District Coordination Committee as per the law. 

Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Dailekh, Chief Election Officer Dandapani Lamichhane, District Coordination Committee, Dailekh, Independent candidate Nawaraj Shahi, who was elected to the top post of the District Coordination Committee, proposer of independent candidate Sundar Kumar KC, supporter Bina Karki, Province Election Office, Karnali Province and Election Commission have been made defendants. 

In the writ, the petitioner said that Nawaraj Shahi, who was elected as a member of Aathbis Municipality-7, Dailekh, could not file independent candidacy for the top post of District Coordination Committee. 

He was elected to the top post of the District Coordination Committee, Dailekh on June 11.

Four students have been arrested for their alleged involvement in attacking a security guard of the Trinity College with a khukuri.

The security guard was injured after the grade 11 students under the Faculty of Humanities attacked him with the khukuri at college in Kalikasthan, Kathmandu-29, the District Police Range, Kathmandu said.  

A team from the Metropolitan Police Sector, Singhadurbar under the command of an inspector was deputed following the incident. The security guard sustained injuries on his head. He has already been discharged after receiving treatment at the Kathmandu Model Hospital.

Josen Baniya, Bipin Khatri, Pratik Khatiwada and Sanjeeb Bhandari (Anmol) were arrested for their involvement in the incident.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

A person died and two others were injured when a scooter they were riding on hit a parked truck in Belbari of Morang on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as Bikram Rai (26) of Belbari-5.

Critically injured in the incident, Rai breathed his last during the course of treatment at the Biratnagar-based Nobel Teaching Hospital at around 1 am on Wednesday.

The body has been sent to the Koshi Hospital in Biratnagar for postmortem.

According to Morang Traffic Police Chief Inspector Raj Kumar Karki said that the two-wheeler (Ko 20 Pa 7645) hit the truck (Na 6 Kha 5544) at Betana in Belbaru Municipality-4 along the East-West Highway at around 11 pm yesterday.

Police said that Ranjan Chemjong (20) and Abhishekh Rai (22) of Miklajung Rural Municipality-3 of Panchthar were injured in the incident.

They are undergoing treatment at the Nobel Hospital.

A police team deployed from the Area Police Office, Belbari under the command of Inspector Khagendra Dhamala rounded up truck driver Abinash Kumar Khawas of Sundharharaicha Municipality-2 of Morang immediately after the incident.

According to a preliminary investigation, the scooter hit the truck as Rai was found riding the two-wheeler under the influence of alcohol.