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The ruling coalition has decided to endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

A meeting of the ruling coalition held at Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official residence in Baluwatar on Sunday decided to ratify the MCC with interpretative declaration.

Nepali Congress senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel said that the meeting decided to pass the $500 million grant compact by including the interpretative declaration today itself.

“The government will endorse the compact by giving answers with interpretative declaration to the questions raised in the Parliament today itself,” leader Paudel said.

A meeting of the Legislature-Parliament has been scheduled for 1 pm today.

In a significant shift, the German government said Saturday it will send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, which is fighting to keep Russia from invading its capital city, Associated Press reported.

Germany is also ready to also support some restrictions of the SWIFT global banking system for Russia, officials said.

Germany’s chancellery announced Saturday evening that it will send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine “as quickly as possible.”

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It threatens our entire post-war order,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. “In this situation, it is our duty to help Ukraine, to the best of our ability, to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.”

The news came shortly after the German economy and climate ministry said in a Saturday evening statement that Germany is allowing the Netherlands to ship 400 German-made anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. The government has also approved the shipment of 9 D-30 howitzers and ammunition originally from Estonia.

Germany had long stuck to a policy of not exporting deadly weapons to conflict zones, including Ukraine. As recently as Friday, government officials said they would abide by that policy.

But the country — which has the strongest economy in the 27-nation European Union — has faced criticism from Ukrainian officials and other allies that it has not acted decisively enough to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion. Previously, Germany contributed 5,000 helmets to Ukraine’s defense, a move that was mocked on Twitter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the news of weapons shipments, posting praise for Scholz on Twitter: “Keep it up, Chancellor @OlafScholz! Anti-war coalition in action!”

In addition, the German economy and climate ministry said Saturday that Germany will send 14 armored vehicles and up to 10,000 tons of fuel to Ukraine.

Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine targeting airfields and fuel facilities in what appeared to be the next phase of an invasion that has been slowed by fierce resistance, Associated Press reported.

The U.S. and EU responded with weapons and ammunition for the outnumbered Ukrainians and powerful sanctions intended to further isolate Moscow. 

Huge explosions lit up the sky early Sunday south of the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale assault by Russian forces.

Flames billowed into the sky before dawn from an oil depot near an air base in Vasylkiv, where there has been intense fighting, according to the town’s mayor. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said another explosion was at the civilian Zhuliany airport.

Zelenskyy’s office also said Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, prompting the government to warn people to protect themselves from the smoke by covering their windows with damp cloth or gauze.

“We will fight for as long as needed to liberate our country,” Zelenskyy vowed. 

Terrified men, women and children sought safety inside and underground, and the government maintained a 39-hour curfew to keep people off the streets. More than 150,000 Ukrainians fled for Poland, Moldova and other neighboring countries, and the United Nations warned the number could grow to 4 million if fighting escalates.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) has decided to endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with interpretative declaration in the disputed points. 

An expanded meeting of the party held at party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s residence in Khumaltar made the decision to this effect. 

The Maoist leaders have agreed to ratify the $500 million grant agreement with the interpretative declaration in the dispute points despite the heated debate within the party over whether to pass the MCC.

Maoist Centre leader Shakti Basnet said that the party has decided to endorse the MCC with the interpretative declaration.

A meeting of the second-rung leaders of the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML ended inconclusively on Saturday.

The meeting held at UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli's residence in Balkot ended inconclusively after the leaders refused to budge from their stance.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the NC leaders urged the UML leaders to lift the House obstruction and to help endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

In response, the UML leaders said that the door to the Parliament is still closed for them and urged the NC leaders to open it.

The UML leaders said that they would not allow the House to proceed with its business until the Speaker is removed or he takes action against the 14 lawmakers.

Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan Tapa Adhikari has visited Sadhu Belo (Forest) temple complex in Sukkur, Sindh.

The complex is one of the biggest pilgrimage sites of Pakistani Hindus and daily a large number of worshippers, spiritual seekers, and other tourists visit the island for pilgrimage and to see the cultural heritage of Pakistan.

Situated on an island middle in the Indus river, it is believed that the Sadhu Belo was established by an ascetic, Bankhandi Maharaj, of Udashin sect, from Nepal in the 18th century. The Evacuee Trust Property Board of Pakistan has maintained and preserved the property.

Of 753 local governments in Nepal, only 18 have women municipal heads. The constitution mandates that political parties field one male and one female candidate for the top two positions in local governments. But most women got to contest only the post of deputies. In other words, political parties continue to prefer male candidates in the main executive posts. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to Prabha Baral, Mayor of Rapti Municipality, Chitwan, about her experience of leading a local government and women’s overall representation at the local level.

How do you evaluate your five years as mayor?

As we were working under a new political setup, a large part of the past five years was spent on building the foundation for smooth functioning of our local government. We constructed buildings for municipal and ward offices and passed some municipal laws to begin with. We also set up health posts in every ward and rebuilt schools and homes damaged in the 2015 earthquakes.

As our municipality is surrounded by the Rapti River and the Chitwan National Park, a considerable amount of time and effort was also spent to prevent monsoon floods and wildlife incursion into human settlements. We built an embankment along Rapti to stop river-water from spilling over during the rainy season and destroying crops and properties. We also erected a concrete fence along the areas bordering Chitwan National Park to limit human-wildlife conflict. Then there is the problem of landslides in parts of the municipality that fall in the hilly region. We are trying to address this through an afforestation campaign.           

So overall, the past five years were productive. I think our work proved the worth of local bodies.

Did you experience any challenges as a female mayor?

Personally, I did not face any challenges or difficulties while executing my work. But there were some times when I felt that my judgments and decisions were being questioned just because I was a woman. Other than that, my experience of leading the municipality was good.

How was women’s participation in your municipality?

It was pretty good because our municipality provided different skill-based training to almost 700 women in these five years. These training sessions helped them to get jobs and start small-scale businesses.

Many women now feel empowered. They can speak in front of the mass, participate in municipal programs and raise questions before officials.

The municipality also formed a welfare committee comprising women leaders from all political parties to provide various platforms and opportunities to local women. As part of the women's welfare program, we also made sure that the construction projects under the municipality were primarily led by women. 

Why do you think the country has only a handful of women mayors?

We have tried to create an environment where men and women get equal opportunities through our constitution. Nepal is on the path of change, which doesn’t happen overnight. We only have 18 women municipal heads right now, but I am certain this number will rise.

A few women including myself were given the opportunity to lead our respective areas, and I believe all of us executed our roles well.

Our work helped break the stereotypes that hindered many women from reaching leadership positions.

Do you have any suggestions for political parties to increase women’s participation in local bodies?

Just give us a chance. Then you will see women are as smart and competent as men. I believe the current crop of women municipal heads is more progressive compared to male municipal heads.

Nepal logged 155 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths on Saturday. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 239 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 101 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 913 people underwent antigen tests, of which 54 tested positive.

The Ministry said that 540 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

As of today, there are 8, 839 active cases in the country.