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The price of gold has dropped by Rs 100 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 140, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 140, 600 per tola on Tuesday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 139, 800 per tola. It was traded at Rs 139, 900.

Meanwhile, the price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,900 per tola today.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated the 'Mountains, Human and Climate Change: International Dialogue of Experts' in Kathmandu today by pouring water to a plant.

The dialogue is organized to draw the attention of the international community to the impact of climate change on the mountains. Also, it is to strengthen action based on mountain ecosystems.

Experts from 25 countries, mountainous and small island countries, international community, development partners, international NGOs, private sector and civil society representatives are participating in the dialogue.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Bhutan's Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho, Bangladesh's Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Saber Hussain Chaudhary, President of the UN Assistant Agency for Scientific and Technical Advice on Climate Change (SABTA) Harry Bhireu, Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal, chiefs and officials of diplomatic missions here as well as high-ranking officials of Nepal government are present.

The speeches of distinguished speakers are continuing in the dialogue.

It is estimated that the cost of promoting the multi-hazard early warning system will be around Rs 81.4bn ($614m). This cost is required to implement the government strategy to integrate the multi-hazard early warning system with the goal of minimizing the potential loss of property due to various disasters and making the early warning system effective.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) has said  preparations are being made to organize the multi-disaster early warning system and it has made a preliminary estimate that it will cost more than Rs 81bn to update the system. 

According to the Authority, preparations are being made to promote a multi-disaster early warning system with the goal of providing early warning of future disasters and assisting in increasing the response capacity to reduce potential risks.

Despite the development of an early warning system in Nepal related to floods and landslides, there is no provision for early warning of other natural disasters in Nepal. For the first time, the government is starting preparations with the goal of enhancing disaster response capacity by installing an early warning system on multi-disaster scenarios. Anil Pokharel, the executive head of the authority, has informed that the estimated cost for the next seven years will be Rs 81bn. 

“After the development of flood forecasting in Nepal, there are multiple examples of saving many lives and preventing the loss of millions of property. But the effective system for getting prior information about natural disasters such as landslides, lightning, forest fires, floods, cold waves, avalanches, windstorms, hailstorms, and air pollution was not developed so far,” he said.

Since the loss of property is increasing due to these disasters, we have aimed to develop an early warning system to reduce the possible damage caused by such multi-catastrophic events. He said that discussions are being held with relevant stakeholders for the development of a multi-disaster early warning system with the goal of reducing the human and economic losses caused by all kinds of disasters. 

The NDRRMA chief informed that the information collected from the multi-source information system will be provided in the local language so that it could be understood by the general public.

Police have detained Kailash Sirohiya, chairperson of Kantipur Media Group (KMG) in connection to an alleged fake citizenship case filed against him in Dhanusha district.

A team led by SSP Sanuram Bhattarai of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Division took Sirohiya under custody from the Kantipur headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu, on Tuesday.

Sirohiya’s arrest follows a series of news stories about Home Minister  Rabi Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in misappropriating cooperative funds. Lamichhane has repeatedly discredited the media for publishing news critical of him

Prior to his arrest, Sirohiya issued a statement on Kantipur TV, saying that the arrest warrant against him was issued with the  aim of blackmailing Kantipur daily and its other sister news outlets into stopping the coverage of cooperative frauds. 

“The media must demand justice and a fair investigation into the embezzlement of the hard-earned savings of over 7.1m depositors in various cooperatives,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the complaint and arrest warrant against me intend to silence Kantipur and divert attention.”

Sirohiya vowed that Kantipur would not relent in exposing societal wrongdoings, including the cooperatives scam. “Those who misuse their authority to retaliate against a media house for its reporting must answer for their actions,” he said, referring to Home Minister Lamichhane.

Journalists have decried Sirohiya’s arrest from his office as an attack on the press. 

President of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Bipul Pokharel, senior journalist Yuvraj Ghimire, FNJ Vice-president Ramesh Bista, and Nepal Press Union President Shiva Lamsal condemned the police action, calling it a mockery of democracy.

Several Nepali Congress MPs, including Ramhari Khatiwada and former Foreign Minister NP Saud, visited the Kantipur headquarters to show support. They denounced the arrest warrant as an assault on press freedom and democracy.

In a parliamentary session on Tuesday, Deputy General Secretary of Nepali Congress Badri Pandey accused Home Minister Lamichhane of issuing the warrant for personal reasons.

Freedom Forum, a media rights advocacy group, expressed concern over the incident. 

“The arrest warrant against media entrepreneur Sirohiya appears to be influenced by the home minister. Regardless of the citizenship investigation, the media’s right to report freely and expose irregularities should not face harassment,” said Taranath Dahal, executive chief of the forum.

Chairman of Kantipur Media Group Kailash Sirohiya on Tuesday said Kantipur Media Group will never compromise on its editorial independence and responsibilities.

On Tuesday, Dhanusha District Court issued an arrest warrant against Sirohiya over a ‘citizenship-related issue’.

In a statement, Sirohiya said the arrest warrant was issued with the intent of blackmailing Kantipur into not publishing more reports on the issue of cooperative frauds.

“It is the media’s responsibility to raise voice and demand justice and fair investigation into all those involved in the embezzlement of the hard-earned savings of more than 7.1 million depositors in various cooperatives,” said Sirohiya. “There is no doubt that the filing of the complaint and the issuance of the arrest warrant against me without any interrogation has been done to blackmail Kantipur into not publishing more reports on the issue and to divert attention.”

Sirohiya asserted that Kantipur will not back down even an inch from raising its voice against the wrongdoings in the society, including on the cooperatives scam.

“The office bearers who abuse their authority and misuse police administration to exact vengeance against the chairman of a media house based on the news they publish should also answer when there will be an investigation into the individual who came to power through political bargaining that entailed getting the Attorney General to certify that he would not be prosecuted for holding dual passports,” he said.

Sirohiya said he is ready to cooperate in every investigation conducted as per the law.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 23. 94 points to close at 2,115. 94 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 3. 53 points to close at 377. 60 points.

A total of 13,241,217-unit shares of 317 companies were traded for Rs 5. 20 billion.

Meanwhile, Janaki Finance Company Limited (JFL), Nerude Mirmire Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (NMLBBL) and Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SLBSL) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Shine Resunga Development Bank Ltd. (SHINE) was the top loser as its price fell by 4.28 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 35 trillion.  

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has urged the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) to put an end to the ongoing Parliament impasse.

Talking to the media at Biratnagar Airport today, the former Prime Minister and the Chair of the government coalition partner urged the main opposition to cease the party's obstructions in the House bearing in mind the necessity to proceed with the schedules of endorsing the government policies and programs and announcing the budget for a new fiscal year. "The Nepali Congress should reconsider its stance."

Underlining the need for political consensus, cooperation, and unity to achieve political stability, the leader said the present time requires political parties to address the citizen's concerns.

The level of cooperation, unity, and consensus that political parties demonstrated during the promulgation of the Constitution is once again needed, according to him.

The policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year 2024/25 have been tabled in the meeting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal tabled the policies and programs in the meeting of the Legislature-Parliament this afternoon amidst protests from the opposition parties.

President Ram Chandra Paudel had presented the government’s policies and programs on May 14.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced that the motion of thanks to the President for presenting the government’s policies and programs was endorsed by majority amid sloganeering.

A time has been fixed to discuss the policies and programs.

Lawmakers have been notified to note down their names to take part in the discussions.

In the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane had presented a proposal to withdraw the ‘Ordinance on Political Parties (Second Amendment)-2080’.

Speaker Ghimire announced that the proposal was endorsed by a majority.

On the occasion, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari presented an ordinance amending some Nepal acts related to investment facilitation.

The next meeting of the House of Representatives will be held on Friday.