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Australia won the Cricket World Cup for a record-extending sixth time Sunday, ending India’s dominant run in its home tournament with a six-wicket victory in a low-scoring final on the back of Travis Head’s 137, Associated Press reported.

A heavily pro-Indian crowd inside the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium was silenced as Head combined with Marnus Labuschagne (58 not out ) in a 192-run partnership to chase down the target of 241.

Australia was wobbling on 47-3 after seven overs but Head and Labuschagne dug in to help their country regain its status as the king of one-day international cricket, adding to its 50-over world titles in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015.

Head was dismissed off what proved to be the next-to-last ball of the match, caught in the deep while attempting to hit a title-clinching boundary. In came Glenn Maxwell and he ran two off his first ball, securing a victory that prompted fireworks above the world’s largest cricket venue, according to Associted Press.

The Indians won all 10 of their matches before the final and were seeking a third trophy in their fourth appearance in a title match that brought a country of 1.4 billion people to a virtual standstill. They were outplayed in every department by Australia, though, restricted to 240 all out on a slow pitch after losing the toss with only Virat Kohli (54) and Lokesh Rahul (66) making half-centuries.

Australia finished the tournament with a run of nine straight wins, after starting with back-to-back defeats to India and South Africa.

It has been 17 years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) between the government and the then CPN (Maoist), bringing an end to the decade-long armed conflict in the country.

On November 21, 2005, the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal  came together to sign this historic agreement, officially declaring the termination of the armed conflict. This significant event followed the cease-fire declared on November 8 after an agreement between seven political parties and the Maoist.

When the then Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula declared, "We hereby announce an end to the armed conflict that has been in place since 2052 BS," during the reading of the Accord's full text, it was met with thunderous applause at the New Baneshwor-based Birendra International Convention (now International Convention Centre). The whole nation became euphoric with the signing of the CPA, which raised hopes among the people for sustainable peace, political stability and development.

The agreement specifically emphasized the need for an inclusive, democratic, and progressive restructuring of the nation, bringing an end to the state's centralized governance system. It set the course for building a new Nepal through the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister said the CPA between the government and the Maoist paved a way for building a new Nepal, serving as a milestone for the beginning of a new episode of history through the politics of reconciliation with an end to a politics of violence prevalent in the country since the past 11 years.

Commenting over the historic achievement, Koirala said, "We, today, have set an example on the global stage by resolving the conflict on our own."

"Your efforts won't be successful," he recalled the skepticism he faced during his endeavors to bring the then rebelling Maoist to the mainstream of politics. He said at the moment that it was a duty of democrats to transform those non-democrats into the proponents of democracy.

Maoist Chair Dahal commented that the signing of the peace agreement marked the greater realization of people's efforts to build a new Nepal since 1950. "This is a victory of those Nepali who wish Nepal's progress and a defeat of those favoring status quo, preventing efforts to progress.  The big powers and those arrogant nations are surprised wondered by this success of the Nepali people."

The establishment of peace, along with provisions for relief, rehabilitation and repatriation of the conflict survivors by normalizing the situation through the formation of a specific commission was a crucial aspect of the Accord. Around 17,000 citizens were killed by the State and rebelling side during the decade-long armed conflict. 

Though it was agreed to make public the personal details of those who were forced disappeared by both sides and make such details available to the respective families within 60 days of the signing of the peace agreement, the issue still remains unresolved.

Though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) were formed to deal with the cases of transitional justice, the achievements so far have been deemed unsatisfactory.

Although both sides to the agreement expressed their commitment to repatriate those displaced from their homes during the armed conflict to their ancestral places or places of their former residence voluntarily and without any political prejudice, to reconstruct the infrastructures destroyed due to the fighting and to rehabilitate and socialize the displaced persons in a dignified way, these works have not been carried out formally.

The then rebel side has taken reins of government three times and participated in coalition governments eight times in this period of around 20 years.

The conflict-affected families and other members of their families not directly involved in the conflict are still languishing in pain. Even the declaration made in the peace accord, that the right of the conflict-affected, torture victims and the families of those enforced disappeared persons to get relief would be guaranteed, has not become a reality.

Welcoming the CPA, even the international community and Nepal's neighbors had remarked that the Accord reflected the strong desire of Nepali people for peace and stability by ending the politics and culture of violence. 

Prof Birendra Prasad Mishra, who was the coordinator of the then Ceasefire Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee, said the CPA has so far been limited to the management of the Maoist combatants only, but has not been focused on alleviating the pain of innocent people not related to the armed conflict and the conflict-affected general public.

"Even at present, the concerns of the innocent people and those killed in the conflict have not received due attention," Prof Mishra said.

Looking at the incidents of that time, in the beginning the conflict appeared to be between the Maoist and the then ruling parties. The parties' leaders and cadres also got killed. There were three forces comprising the King, parliamentary parties and the Maoist party at that time. The political developments after that produced a triangular power balance in the country which thereafter pitted the King on one side and the Maoist together with the seven political parties on the other side.

The Second People's Movement took place after the signing of the 12-point agreement between the alliance of seven political parties and the Maoist on 22 November 2005. After the success of this Movement, the King reinstated the parliament which he had dissolved.

The peace process was initiated with a ceasefire agreement. The code of conduct monitoring mechanism was formed after the talks teams were constituted, which led to the signing of the CPA. The interest of both sides was to protect their own interests. The result of this was that the Constituent Assembly elections had to be held twice. Finally, a new constitution was promulgated by the second Constituent Assembly on 20 September 2015. The Maoist party formed the government or became part of the coalition governments frequently. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) have still not been able to carry out their works. They were not given the full power to carry out their works independently.

"The government and the Maoists both want general amnesty. It is due to this mentality that transitional justice has not concluded even after 17 years of the CPA. The families of those killed in the course of the conflict should be properly addressed," the conflict resolution expert Mishra said, adding that the families who lost their guardians and children to the conflict are still yearning for justice.

According to him, the country has transformed into a federal republic and the political parties that brought this epochal change have run the government turn by turn, but the main issue is what the families of the innocent conflict affected people got. 

"I still feel that the political parties apologized that they have committed mistakes for the sake of 'token justice' if not full justice to the families of the innocent people and those killed in the conflict," Prof Mishra said.

As he said, currently Nepal's peace process is like an orphan without any custodian. The peace process, he said, is in a state of confusion as the political parties in the meantime gave only priority to forming and toppling the governments.

"Nobody should carry out works to invite conflict and disturb the peace again. If the government and the political parties want, the problem can be resolved in one minute, but what is needed for this is strong courage and commitment," Prof Mishra reiterated.

RSS

The CPN (Maoist Center) and the Nepal Socialist Party have reached an agreement to proceed with the unification process. 

A meeting between the negotiation teams of two parties took place at the Maoist Center's party office in Parisdanda today decided to accelerate the unification process.

According to a joint press statement issued after the meeting, both parties have been advised to establish a party unification coordination committee to address the issues concerning the party's statute, name, organizational structure, election symbol and so on.

The statement was jointly released by Maoist Centre's talks team coordinator Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Nepal Socialist Party's team coordinator Ganga Narayan Shrestha.

Maoist Centre's general secretary Dev Prasad Gurung and Nepal Socialist leader Durga Sob were also among those attending the meeting.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said the problems suffered by Nepal due to climate change impact would be internationalized.

Addressing a public assembly organized at Maikot of Rukum East today, he said Nepal will clearly put its views claiming for compensation keeping in mind the huge damage the country has been bearing although its role is negligible in climate change.

PM Dahal made it clear that he has urged the international community time and again to significantly increase the funds provided by the International Fund to Nepal for alleviating the suffering from the climate change as it has so far received only a small amount in that connection.

He claimed that upon his invitation the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres paid a visit to Nepal recently and observed from close the impact the climate change is having in Nepal.

According to him, the relief that Nepal is entitled to get from the international community as compensation for bearing the brunt of the impact of climate change is Nepal's right. Stating Nepal is getting punishment for the mistake it has not committed, the PM said the high government officials have been directed to prepare a document on behalf of the government claiming for a large amount of relief from the Climate Fund.

He assured of the government's support and cooperation in declaring Maikot as an ‘Open Museum’ and forwarding the necessary process for this. The PM said initiatives would be taken for pursuing a special project for the promotion of medicinal herbs and development of the agriculture sector in the region.

Saying that agreement has been reached during his official visit to China to operate special projects in some mountainous districts, he said a project would be run in Putha Uttarganga as well since it is also a municipality located in mountainous region. 

He assured of managing the budget on behalf of the federal government for developing Maikot as a 'Living Museum'. The government has kept this region in special priority since it has made big sacrifices and contributions for the revolution. Importance has been given equally to the development of health, education and employment sectors.

Recalling that Nepal has been mentioned as a socialism-oriented economy, the Head of the Government said the government has taken initiatives for social justice, good governance and prosperity, and works have also been started in line with this very resolution. He informed that hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Tarai-Madhes have been freed from extortion by loan sharks. He added that the present government has also provided citizenship certificates to the Nepali bereft of citizenship cards, keeping them in priority.

Hundreds of thousands of youths who have gone abroad have been brought under the social security cover in order to ensure their rights and interests; so, have been the workers in the informal sector and those in self-employment, the PM asserted.

Stating that the government is vigorously working to prepare the basis for socialism, he also presented some facts related to this. The government is equally at work towards controlling corruption and a situation has been created in which high officials as ministers and leaders will have to go to jail, he added.

The PM stated that the government is equally actively working for checking the smuggling of gold, stressing the government will also continuously work towards maintaining good governance.

On a different note, PM Dahal asserted that the present ruling coalition will last for a full five-year term and demonstrate that it works in favor of the country and the people.

The gold is being traded at Rs 115, 500 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 114, 950 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,450 per tola today.

Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua was crowned the 2023 Miss Universe at the culmination of the annual beauty pageant, which took place on Saturday night in El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. Anntonia Porsild of Thailand placed as first runner-up, CNN reported.

The winners of 84 countries’ national pageants had competed at this year’s Miss Universe, judged by a panel including model Halima Aden, “Queer Eye” star Carson Kressley, TikTok influencer Avani Gregg and two former Miss Universe winners, Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad & Tobago (Miss Universe 1977) and Iris Mittenaere of France (Miss Universe 2016).

Twenty semi-finalists were announced at the beginning of Saturday night’s proceedings following the results of the preliminary competition (and a global fan vote). After the swimsuit round, the field was narrowed to 10 — seeing the elimination of the first “curvy” contestant to make the pageant’s semi finals, Miss Nepal, as well as the first contestant to choose a burkini as their swimsuit, Miss Pakistan. The evening gown round cut the number of contestants in half again.

Two rounds of hot topic Q&As then left just three women in contention: Palacios, Porsild and second runner-up Moraya Wilson of Australia, according to CNN.

Asked in the final round who she would choose to spend a day in the life of, Palacios chose the 18th-century British philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who she said broke boundaries and “gave an opportunity to many women.”

“There are no limitations for women today,” she added, via a translator.

Miss Colombia, Camila Avella, and Miss Puerto Rico, Karla Guilfú, rounded out the top five, while another member of the top 10, Spain’s Athenea Pérez, was crowned the pageant’s Miss Congeniality.

Palacios succeeds the 2022 Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel of the USA, CNN reported.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed the hope that the Chhath festival will inspire all of us to embrace the values of good governance, prosperity and social justice.

Extending his best wishes to the entire Nepali sisters and brothers on the occasion of the Chhath, the Prime Minister hoped that the festival would contribute to further strengthening national unity, mutual trust and ties, empowering us to overcome prevailing challenges in the country.  

"The festivals celebrated in Nepali society carry a historic significance and background, and serve as the foundation for human civilization and development," the head of the government said on the occasion of the festival dedicated to the Sun god.

Stating that this festival is established as the festival forging a lively practical connection between nature and human life, he said it played an important role in terms of respect and preservation of goods useful in human life and also for the development of a culture of production and work.

The PM said although small in terms of territory and area, Nepal is big and prosperous in terms of diversity of languages, cultures, festivals, costumes and civilization.

The Prime Minister stated that our culture, rituals and historic facts very much vindicated to the richness of our cultural diversity, adding the Constitution of Nepal has adopted the unity with diversity as the national dignity, internalizing the multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, multi-cultural and regional uniqueness of Nepali society.

Prime Minister Dahal expressed the belief that the Chhath festival inspired us all towards fulfilling the national mission of prosperity by converting the challenges into opportunity, infusing hope in the people's and social life and coalescing unity in the nation.

Nepal defeated Japan by 45 runs to  secure third position in the Women's T20 Quadrangular Series held in Hong Kong.

Batting first after winning the toss, Nepal scored 115 runs for the loss of five wickets. Pooja Mahato top-scored with 43 runs followed by Roma Thapa who scored 22 runs while Rubina Chhetri scored 21 runs.

In reply, Japan could muster only 70 runs by losing six wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

For Nepal, Sangita Rai, Indu Burma, Sita Rana Magar, Khushi Dangol and Soni Pakhrin took one wicket each.

Earlier, Nepal had defeated Japan by 67 runs in the last match of the group stage held on Saturday.

Nepal, Tanzania, Japan and Hong Kong are participating in the four-nation series. After coming up as winners and runners-up of the group stage, Tanzania and Hong Kong will play for the title later this afternoon.

Led by captain Indu Burma, the Nepali team comprises vice-captain Bindu Rawal, Rubina Chhetri, Sita Ranamgar, Asmina Karmacharya, Kajol Shrestha, Kanchan Shrestha, Khushi Dangol, Sangeeta Rai, Soni Pakhrin, Somu Bista, Pooja Mahato, Roma Thapa and Samjhana Khadka.