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President Bidya Devi Bhandari has extended congratulations to her Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Abdul Hamid on the occasion of 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bhandari recalled that Nepal was one of the earliest countries to recognize Bangladesh’s independence five decades ago and expressed satisfaction at the excellent state of Nepal-Bangladesh relations. Bhandari further added that bilateral relation is further reinforced by growing cooperation in the areas of trade, tourism, energy, culture, and education.

 President expressed the confidence that Nepal-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation would continue to grow and deepen in the days to come, reads the statement.

Similarly, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sent a congratulatory message to Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh. While extending warm greetings to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Deuba shared his happiness that Nepal and Bangladesh are celebrating the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Prime Minister stated that Nepal and Bangladesh have been advancing collaboration and partnership in trade, tourism, energy, and connectivity among others offering new and vast potentials for mutual benefit, according to the statement issued by Ministry.

The Prime Minister further mentioned that Nepal and Bangladesh have been working in close cooperation, both at regional platforms such as SAARC, BIMSTEC, and BBIN and at multilateral forums such as UN and WTO on matters of mutual interests including climate change, sustainable development, multilateral trade, and public health.

 President of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid, in his congratulatory message to President Bhandari, expressed satisfaction over the growing trade and economic relations between the two countries. While appreciating the fact that both countries have been maintaining very close relations, the President of Bangladesh also fondly recalled his official goodwill visit to Nepal in 2019. He also expressed confidence that Nepal and Bangladesh would continue to work together for the attainment of a shared vision of prosperity and development for both countries and peoples.

 Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, in her congratulatory message to Deuba, mentioned that Nepal’s early recognition of Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign nation and the subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations on 8 April 1972 was a reflection of the close friendship between the two countries.

 While highlighting the shared socio-cultural linkages and multitude of commonalities that have developed over the years through mutual support and cooperation between the two countries, Hasina also expressed her commitment to work together with Nepal to further strengthen bilateral ties in areas of trade, investment, connectivity, energy cooperation, and tourism. Nepal and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1972.

The government has suspended Nepal Rastra Bank governor Maha Prasad Adhikari.

The Finance Ministry suspended Adhikari accusing him of not helping the government and leaking information related to finance.

According to a source at the Finance Ministry, a probe committee has been formed under the leadership of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate Adhikari.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma was not happy with the working style of Adhikari.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor Neelam Dhungana has been appointed as the acting governor.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal's brother Narayan Dahal has been nominated as a member of the National Assembly.

Sagar Acharya, spokesperson at the President’s Office, said that Dahal was nominated as the National Assembly member as per Article 86 (2) (B) of the Constitution on the recommendation of Cabinet.

Dahal's brother has been nominated for the vacant post after the term of Ram Narayan Bidari expires.

World food prices jumped to a new record high in March as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staples grains and edible oils, the UN food agency said on Friday, Reuters reported.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month versus an upwardly revised 141.4 for February.

The February figure was previously put at 140.7, which was a record at the time.

Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil via the Black Sea, and Moscow’s six-week-old invasion of its neighbour has stalled Ukrainian exports.

FAO warned last month that food and feed prices could rise by up to 20% as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, triggering a jump in global malnourishment, according to Reuters.

The agency also cut its estimate of world wheat production in 2022 to 784 million tonnes on Friday from a forecast of 790 million last month as it factored in the possibility that at least 20% of Ukraine’s winter crop area would not be harvested.

It lowered its projection of global cereals trade in the 2021/22 marketing year as disruption to Black Sea exports were seen as only being partially offset by increased exports from India, the European Union, Argentina and the United States, Reuters reported.

More than 30 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in a Russian rocket strike on a railway station in east Ukraine on Friday as civilians tried to evacuate to safer parts of the country, the state railway company said, Reuters reported.

It said two Russian rockets had struck a station in the city of Kramatorsk which is used for the evacuation of civilians from areas under bombardment by Russian forces.

“Two rockets hit Kramatorsk railway station,” Ukrainian Railways said in a statement.

It later added: “According to operational data, more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the rocket attack on Kramatorsk railway station.”

Reuters could not verify the information. Russia did not immediately comment on the reports of the attack and the casualty toll. Moscow has denied targeting civilians since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to Reuters.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said thousands of people had been at the station at the time the rockets struck.

“The ‘Rashists’ (‘Russian fascists’) knew very well where they were aiming and what they wanted: they wanted to sow panic and fear, they wanted to take as many civilians as possible,” he said.

Kyrylenko published a photograph online showing several bodies on the ground beside piles of suitcases and other luggage. Armed police wearing flak jackets stood beside them.

Another photo showed rescue services tackling what appeared to be a fire, with a pall of grey smoke rising into the air.

Reuters could not immediately verify the photos.

Three trains carrying evacuees were blocked in the same region of Ukraine on Thursday after an air strike on the line, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways.

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have been regrouping for a new offensive, and that Moscow plans to seize as much territory as it can in the eastern part of Ukraine known as Donbas bordering Russia.

Local authorities in some areas have been urging civilians to leave while it is still possible, and relatively safe, to do so, Reuters reported.

The Election Commission has amended the local level elections code of conduct 2078.

With the amendment, candidates and parties can carry out poll campaign via social media.

“Parties can float their opinion through the official page but cannot dominate any candidates. The election code of conduct will be implemented from April 8 until the elections,” EC spokesperson Shaligram Sharma said.

Earlier on Thursday, the main opposition CPN- UML submitted a memorandum to the poll body, arguing that some of the provisions of the election code of conduct violated freedom of expression.

The party said the provision prohibited the parties and candidates from carrying out election campaign and soliciting votes.

The party also expressed dissatisfaction over the provision of the code that prevented ministers and prime minister from soliciting votes apart from their constituencies.

Gopal Krishna Ghimire has been elected as the Chairman of Nepal Bar Association.

He garnered 4, 433 votes to become the chairman. His close contender Bishnu Mani Adhikari got 2, 482 votes.

Similarly, Anjita Khanal has been elected as the general secretary with 3, 682 votes. Her close contender received 2, 989 votes.

The election was held for a 25-member working committee.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota held a virtual meeting with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Li Zhanshu on Friday.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged in-depth views on various aspects of Nepal-China relations and underscored the need to have frequent exchanges of high-level visits between the parliaments of two countries, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the occasion, Speaker Sapkota and Chairman Li extended invitations to visit each other’s countries at mutually convenient time in future.

Senior officials of the Federal Parliament Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Nepali side and Chairpersons of various committees of National People's Congress and Vice Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Chinese side were also present during the virtual meeting.