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The Supreme Court has ordered the police administration to keep seven persons including CPN-UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi charged in the Bhutanese refugee scam in the custody,  

A joint bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Tek Prasad Dhungana refused to release them on bail, upholding the decisions of the previous two levels of courts.

Earlier, the Kathmandu District Court and Patan High Court had issued an order to sent UML leader Rayamajhi, the then Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, then then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Badal’s advisor Indrajit Rai, main accused of Bhutanese refugee case Keshav Dulal, Sagar Rai and Sandesh Sharma to the jail.

The apex court, however, had ordered to release Angtawa Sherpa and Govinda Chaudhary on bail.

The court had sought bail of Rs 3 million from Sherpa and Rs 1 million from Chaudhary.

Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Keshva Prasad Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Indrajit Rai, Govinda Kumar Chaudhary, Sandesh Sharma and Angtawa Sherpa, who were in the custody, had filed a complaint against the decision of the High Court.

They are accused of collecting millions of rupees from Nepali nationals promising to send them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees.

The Kathmandu District Court had ordered to send 16 out of 18 defendants allegedly involved in the same to the jail while two others were released on bail.

Former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, however, was released after posting a bail amount of Rs 3 million in the same case.

Laxmi Maharjan, Ashish Budhathoki, Tanka Kumar Gurung and Keshav Tuladhar were released on general date.

Karnali Province Chief Minister Yamlal Kandel won a vote of confidence from the Karnali Province Assembly on Thursday.

Of the total 40 province assembly members, 35 members were present in the voting process, of which 23 seconded Kandel's request for the vote of confidence.

Likewise, 12 province assembly members voted against Kandel's proposal while a province assembly member chose to remain neutral.

After the voting in the Karnali Province Assembly, Speaker of Karnali Province Assembly Nanda Gurung said Kandel's proposal for the vote of confidence tabled as per Article 168 (4) of the Constitution was passed with a majority.

In the Karnali Province Assembly, Nepali Congress has 14 seats, CPN (Maoist Center) has 13 and 10 are with the CPN-UML).

Likewise, CPN (Unified Socialist) and RPP have one each province assembly member in Karnali Province. Also, an independent province assembly member is there.

The next meeting of the Karnali Province Assembly is summoned for April 29.

The 17th Nepal-China (Tibet) Economic and Trade Fair is going to be held in Kathmandu on April 29.

The trade fair is held every two years in one another country as per the agreement reached between the government of Nepal and the commerce department of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in 1990.

According to the Trade and Export Promotion Center, the main objective of the fair is to further expand the bilateral economic and trade relations between Nepal and China (Tibet).

Around 125 businesspersons including a five-member high-level delegation will participate in the fair.  The official delegation will be led by the Vice Chair of the Tibet Autonomous Region Government of China, Long Fukuan.

There will be 50 exhibition stalls on behalf of China (Tibet) in the fair, including herbs, agricultural products, modern agricultural tools, tea, electrical appliances, household appliances, carpets, beverages, handicrafts, incense, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, electric vehicles and beauty products.

Likewise, there will be 15 exhibition stalls on behalf of Nepal, including herbs, coffee, tea, handicrafts/carpentry, metalwork, carpet, pashmina and other products.

The fair will be open from 10 am to 6 pm and entry is free.

President Ram Chandra Paduel has given approval for mobilizing Nepal Army (NA) in the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Province Assembly (PA) by-elections scheduled to take place on April 27.

The Council of the Ministers on April 22 recommended the President to endorse the deployment of the NA to hold the by-elections in a free, impartial and reliable atmosphere, based on the recommendations of the National Security Council meeting held earlier the same day.

The President granted permission for the mobilization of the NA in the by-elections in accordance with Article 66 (2) of the Constitution.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has urged the Election Commission (EC) to provide it with details of the work execution committee of the political parties.

According to the Ministry, a decision was taken to write to the EC demanding the details of office-bearers of all the central, province and district level work execution committees of the political parties.

Secretariat of the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Sumana Shrestha, said the details of the political parties affiliated working committees, which are in record of the EC, have been sought in order to forward the action against those teachers affiliated in the political parties.

After receiving the record from the EC, the Ministry would cross check the details of teachers and employees, which the ministry has, and office-bearers of the work execution committee of the political parties, it is said.

Minister Shrestha has been warning of a forwarding process for legal action against the teachers and staff if they were found holding positions in the work execution committees of the political parties. According to the Secretariat, the Ministry has received complaints about the issue that teachers and staff working at community schools have taken membership of different political parties, are holding positions in work execution committees and are party's general convention delegates.

Earlier, the Ministry had already sent a circular to District-based all education development and coordination units to take action against those teachers and staff, who are members of political parties' work execution committee.

Some of the district units have already forwarded action as per the circular.

A ministerial decision had already been taken to remove teachers holding position on political parties' work execution committees as per the existing laws and court's order and inform the Ministry about this and taking action continuously on such complaints of same nature.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 3. 24 points to close at 1,965.93 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 0. 37 points to close at 348. 18 points.

 A total of 6,312,552-unit shares of 303 companies were traded for Rs 2. 36 billion.

Meanwhile, Multipurpose Finance Company Limited (MPFL) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Sabaiko Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SABSL) was the top loser with its price dropped by 6. 09 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 11 trillion.

In 2023, Nepal experienced its second-warmest year on record. Previously, the hottest year on record for Nepal was 1981. The average maximum temperature for 2023 was 27.9 degrees Celsius, an increase of 0.6 degrees Celsius from the previous normal annual maximum temperature.

Global trends indicate that worldwide temperatures have surpassed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold across an entire year for the first time, with March 2024 breaking new temperature records. 

Nepal is not exempt from this trend. Several meteorological stations recorded unprecedented high temperatures, reflecting the severity of the heat waves experienced in 2023.

Experts suggest that 2024 could become the hottest year on record, with heat waves already occurring early in the year. 

Weather expert Ngamindra Dahal notes that the record could be broken because intense heat waves have already started. “If a place experiences a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius for an hour, it’s manageable, but the concern arises when such high temperatures persist throughout the day,” he explains.

March 2024 was the warmest March ever recorded globally. It was also the 10th month in a row that was the hottest on record, itself an ongoing record-breaking streak.

The primary cause of the exceptional heat was human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Other factors pushing up temperatures include El Niño, the natural climate pattern that warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said that March averaged 14.14 degrees Celsius, exceeding the previous record from 2016 by a 10th of a degree. The month was also 1.68 degrees Celsius hotter than an average March between the years 1850-1900, the reference period for the pre-industrial era.

The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to take preventive measures against the heat wave. The effects of heat waves include fast heartbeat, breathing complications, low blood pressure level, sweating, severe headache, and dizziness. 

The National Youth Scientists Conference is to be organized in Birendranagar, Surkhet on May 9 and 10.

The conference is being held under the joint auspices of the Karnali Province Government, Ministry of Social Development and the Mid-West University and with support from the National Youth Council.

The Karnali Province Government has said that the Youth Scientist Conference is being held for the first time in Karnali with the objective of encouraging science research and innovation.

Jaharlal Hamal, Chief of Youth and Sports Division at the Ministry of Social Development, said youth scientists from all seven provinces would participate in the conference. "One of the goals of this event is to encourage study and research in science by bringing together the studies and research carried out in this field at one place while the next goal is to facilitate exchange of views and experiences among the youth scientists so as to further motivate them in scientific study and research," he added.

According to Hamal, applications along with biodata and the portfolio of the scientific studies, research and surveys they have conducted have been sought from interested youth scientists from 16 to 40 years of age for participation in the conclave. The participants would be selected after reviewing the applications. 

Sudeep Thakuri, the Dean of the Mid-Western University, Graduate School of Science and Technology, believes that the conference will further motivate the youth scientists to dedicate themselves in scientific studies and research works.