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The ruling parties have finally reached an agreement on the mayor and deputy mayor of the six metropolitan and 11 sub-metropolitan cities for the local level elections slated for May 13.

During the meeting held at the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official residence in Baluwatar on Wednesday, Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party and Rastriya Janamorcha have made a written agreement on the mayor and deputy mayor of the metropolitan and sub-metropolitan cities. 

According to the agreement, Nepali Congress will take the post of mayor in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Biratnagar and the post of deputy mayor in Pokhara, Birgunj and Bharatpur Metropolitan Cities.

CPN (Maoist Centre) will get the post of mayor in Bharatpur Metropolitan City and the post of deputy mayor in Lalitpur. 

Similarly, CPN (Unified Socialist) will get the post of mayor in Pokhara Metropolitan City and the post of deputy mayor in Kathmandu Metropolitan City. 

Janata Samajbadi Party will get the post of mayor in Birgunj and deputy mayor in Biratnagar. 

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress will take the post of mayor in Dharan, Itahari, Kalaiya, Butwal, Tulsipur, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan Cities and the post of deputy mayor in Jitpur Simara, Ghorahi and Hetauda.

Likewise, CPN (Maoist Centre) will take the post of mayor in Jitpur Simara and Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan Cities and the post of deputy mayor in Dharan and Dhangadhi.

CPN (Unified Socialist) will take the post of mayor in Hetauda and deputy mayor Itahari, Butwal and Tulsipur. 

Similarly, Janata Samajbadi Party will take the post of mayor in Janakpur and deputy mayor in Kalaiya and Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan Cities.

A temporary police died after he fell off a cliff in Nuwakot.

The deceased has been identified as Yogendra Neupane (26) of Satare, Belkotgadhi  Municipality12, the District Police Office, Nuwakot said.

The incident occurred while he was on his way to his work place in Bidur from his home, SP Ram Prakash Shah, Chief at the District Police Office Nuwakot said.

His body has been handed over to his family members after carrying out postmortem, police said.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1, 600 in the domestic market on Wednesday.

With the price drop, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 100, 600 per tola today.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow metal was traded at Rs 102, 200 per tola on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 101, 600 per tola today.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 420 per tola.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) increased by 7. 22 points to reach 3664. 47 points in the pre-open session on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2 points to reach 449. 76 points.

As many as 1, 442 shares of 26 companies were traded at Rs 384. 609.

In the pre-open session, the value of 22 companies were increased while the value of five companies decreased.

A person died and two others were injured after being struck by a lightning at Kerabari in Mahabharat Rural Municipality-7 of Kavre district on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as Kanchi Maya Moktan (16), daughter of local Dil Bahadur Moktan.

The incident occurred at around 6 pm yesterday.

The condition of those injured in the incident is normal, Chairman of Mahabharat Rural Municipality-7 Jagat Tamang said.

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs in their Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

Sent into bat, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 181 for six with skipper Faf du Plessis making a brilliant 96 off 64 balls, an innings that contained 11 fours and two sixes.

In reply, LSG were stopped at 163 for eight, according to The Indian Express.

Police in Sri Lanka opened fire on crowds protesting at fuel shortages during the economic crisis, leaving one man dead and 11 others wounded, BBC reported.

The casualties in the central town of Rambukkana came after live ammunition was used by police for the first time since protests erupted in early April.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets since Sri Lanka ran out of money for vital imports.

They want President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign but he is refusing to quit.

His appointment of a new cabinet on Monday angered many Sri Lankans. There were protests in a number of areas on Tuesday after Sri Lanka's main fuel retailer put prices up by nearly 65%.

The Rambukkana crowds had been protesting for about 15 hours demanding fuel, BBC Sinhala's Ranga Sirilal reports.

"Police had to fire to control the protesters. They set fire to some tyres too, so police had to fire to disperse them," police spokesman Nihal Talduwa told the BBC.

The authorities say the crowd threw stones and other objects at police, injuring a number of them. 

Two of the injured protesters are reported to be in a critical condition. The man who died was likely to have been shot, Mihiri Priyangani, director of the Kegalle Teaching Hospital, told Reuters news agency. 

"We are suspecting gunshot injuries but need a post-mortem to confirm the exact cause of death."

Thousands of angry motorists and bus drivers have been burning tyres and blocking the nearby highway linking the capital Colombo with the city of Kandy.

The island nation is grappling with its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that Sri Lanka cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices, according to BBC.

With power cuts lasting half a day or more, public anger has soared.

The demonstrations mark a massive turnaround in popularity for Mr Rajapaksa who swept into power in 2019, promising stability and a "strong hand" to rule the country.

Critics say corruption and nepotism - his brothers and nephews occupied several key ministerial portfolios - are the main reasons for the crisis.

The new cabinet contained several party stalwarts, but was shorn of Rajapksa family members, apart from the president's elder brother Mahinda who kept his job as prime minister, BBC reported.