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Ukraine’s parliament and other government and banking websites were hit with another punishing wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks Wednesday, and cybersecurity researchers said unidentified attackers had also infected hundreds of computers with destructive malware, Associated Press reported.

Some of the infected computers were in neighboring Latvia and Lithuania, the researchers said.

Early Thursday local time in Ukraine, as fears of a Russian invasion heightened, the foreign ministry and council of ministers were unreachable and other sites were slow to load, suggesting the DDoS attacks were continuing, though there was no official confirmation. 

Officials have long expected cyber attacks to precede and accompany any Russian military incursion, and analysts said the activity hewed to Russia’s playbook of wedding cyber operations with real-world aggression.

ESET Research Labs said it detected a previously unseen piece of data-wiping malware Wednesday on “hundreds of machines in the country.” It was not clear how many networks were affected.

“With regards whether the malware was successful in its wiping capability, we assume that this indeed was the case and affected machines were wiped,” said ESET research chief Jean-Ian Boutin. He would not name the targets but said they were “large organizations.” ESET was unable to say who was responsible.

Symantec Threat Intelligence detected three organizations hit by the wiper malware — Ukrainian government contractors in Latvia and Lithuania and a financial institution in Ukraine, said Vikram Thakur, its technical director. Both countries are NATO members.

All three had “close affiliation with the government of Ukraine,” said Thakur, indicating the targeted attacks. He said roughly 50 computers at the financial outfit were impacted, some with data wiped.

Asked about the wiper attack, senior Ukrainian cyber defense official Victor Zhora had no comment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a military operation in eastern Ukraine, claiming it’s intended to protect civilians, Associated Press reported.

In a televised address early Thursday, Putin says the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine. 

He adds that Russia doesn’t have a goal to occupy Ukraine. Putin says the responsibility for bloodshed lies with the Ukrainian “regime.” 

Putin also is warning other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action will lead to “consequences they have never seen.”

China said that there should be no interference in any country’s domestic affairs.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said so during a press conference held on Wednesday after the US State Department spokesperson said earlier that Nepal’s failure to ratify the MCC compact will affect bilateral ties.

“It is China’s consistent belief that in pursuing international development cooperation, the principle of mutual respect and equality should be upheld, the sovereignty of the country concerned and the wall of its people should be fully respected and there should be no interference in any country’s domestic affairs, not political strings attached, no coercive diplomacy and certainly no infringement on other country’s sovereignty and interests for selfish gains,” she said.

Though the US Embassy in Nepal has been describing the $500 million MCC grant as a gift from the American people to Nepal, she wondered since when does a gift come with the package of an ultimatum.

“How can anyone accept such a gift? Is it a gift or Pandora's box?” she questioned. “I am afraid that it will turn out like a Nepalis saying: It looks good, but you will find the meat difficult to chew, '' she said.

Cadres of various political parties staged demonstrations in various parts of the Capital after the government decided to table the MCC Nepal compact in the Parliament on Sunday.

As Nepal’s friendly close neighbor and development partner, China will continue to support the Nepali people in choosing independently their own development path and offer support and assistance to Nepal’s socio economic development to the best of its capability, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Also read: China opposes ‘coercive diplomacy’ of US in pushing MCC compact in Nepal

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s Regular Press Conference on February 23, 2022

China News Service: According to reports, the Nepalese government’s decision to submit the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement with the US in Parliament a few days ago has triggered a huge controversy as mass protests were held in places like Kathmandu. The US State Department said that Nepal’s failure to ratify the compact will impact bilateral relations. Some analysts say that the MCC agreement gives itself higher authority than Nepal’s domestic law, US program staff’s activities in Nepal will not be subjected to local jurisdiction, and the project’s accounting and audit is supervised, managed and conducted by the US side. Experts in Nepal believe that accepting the MCC will be detrimental to Nepal’s security and sovereignty. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: I noticed that a US State Department spokesperson said earlier that Nepal’s failure to ratify the MCC compact will affect bilateral ties. The US Embassy in Nepal described the $500 million MCC grant as “a gift from the American people to Nepalis. I wonder, since when does a gift come with the package of an ultimatum? How can anyone accept such a “gift”? Is it a “gift” or Pandora’s box? I’m afraid it will turn out like a Nepalese saying: It looks good, but you will find the meat difficult to chew.

It is China’s consistent belief that in pursuing international development cooperation, the principle of mutual respect and equality should be upheld, the sovereignty of the country concerned and the will of its people should be fully respected, and there should be no interference in any country’s domestic affairs, no political strings attached, no coercive diplomacy, and certainly no infringement on other countries’ sovereignty and interests for selfish gains. As Nepal’s friendly close neighbor and development partner, China will continue to support the Nepalese people in choosing independently their own development path and offer support and assistance to Nepal’s socioeconomic development to the best of its capability.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be presented in the Federal Parliament meeting for discussions on Thursday. 

Federal Parliament General Secretary Bharat Raj Gautam said that Finance Minister Janardan Sharma will submit a proposal in the Parliament asking to hold discussions on the MCC. 

The $500 million compact, which was registered in the Parliament for the ratification in 2019, was tabled in the Parliament on Sunday. 

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki on behalf of Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma tabled in the MCC.

Nepal signed an agreement with the United States for developing transmission lines and road networks in 2017.

The major ruling party Nepali Congress (NC) has directed the party members to attend a meeting of the House of Representatives scheduled for Thursday. The presence is mandatory, the party said. 

According to party whip Puhspa Bhusal, all the party lawmakers in the lower house have been asked to compulsorily attend the session which is scheduled to deliberate on the MCC proposal tabled by the government in the House on Sunday.   

 The House is required to endorse the compact by coming February 28.  The NC is in favour of endorsing the MCC. The government continues efforts to forge a wider political consensus on it. RSS

Nepal recorded 312 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths on Wednesday. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 5,103 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 256 returned positive. Likewise, 3,590 people underwent antigen tests, of which 56 tested positive.

The Ministry said that 911 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

As of today, there are 10,090 active cases in the country. 

As The Annapurna Express embarks on its 10-part ‘InDepth’ investigation into the time and cost overruns of the 72.5-km Kathmandu-Tarai fast track project, a few things are already clear enough. One concerns the role of Nepal Army, which has been contracted to build what is essentially a construction project. The project is well past its scheduled completion date and the new deadline of 2024-end also looks doubtful. Given the paucity of progress in the past five years, can the army still be trusted to complete it on time and within a reasonable budget—with the initial estimated cost already more than doubling?

The second big issue is the compensation of the locals of Khokana, the start-point of the road. Some reckon it’s all about monetary compensation: give them enough, and they will readily give their land for the ‘national pride project’. But then Khokana locals appear as concerned about preserving their ancestral ways as they are about getting the right amount for their plots. To save their settlements, many of them want the proposed road to make a detour—to some added cost, one would imagine.

The third issue relates to reports of irregularities, for instance during the sub-contracting of the project’s tunnel-phase to a pair of Chinese builders. The parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has flagged the army’s flouting of due process in its awarding of contract. This contracting and subcontracting business has also created confusion. For instance, pointing out tree-stumps to ApEx reporters, locals in Makwanpur complained of Chinese builders indiscriminately chopping trees for the project. But Nepal Army says no trees in the district have been felled. Does the army even know what the builders are up to on the ground?

There was a consensus in a recent ApEx roundtable on the fast track that the army’s role in the project should be thoroughly evaluated. This will also help in the larger debate on its role and responsibilities. Another clear takeaway was that without enough consultations with stakeholders, these mega-projects invariably hit hurdles. There is seemingly a lot to learn to get our development right.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3.81 trillion.

Democratic Socialist Party has decided to vote in favour of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The Parliamentary Party meeting held at the party's central office in Babarmahal on Wednesday decided to vote in favour of the MCC, a leader, who attended the meeting, said.

The party decided to stand in favour of the MCC saying that is a development programme, the leader said.

The Democratic Socialist Party has 13 lawmakers in the Parliament.

The government tabled the MCC in the House of Representatives on Sunday.

The Parliament meeting has been called for Thursday to take the proposal ahead.

Signed in September 2017, the MCC compact is an assistance under which the United States will provide $500 million to Nepal for electricity transmission lines and road maintenance.

The United States has given the government of Nepal a deadline of February 28 for the parliamentary ratification of the MCC.