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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has declared Pokhara as the Tourism Capital of Nepal.

He made this announcement amidst a function organized at Barahighat, near the Phewa Lake in Kaski today.

Prior to this, the Prime Minister unveiled a logo and memorial pillar relating to the Tourism Capital.

A meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today endorsed a condolence motion on the demise of its member Manju Sharma Ansari.  

In the meeting, Speaker Devraj Ghimire declared that the motion was endorsed by the lower house session unanimously.

The meeting also observed one minute-silence over the passing away of Ansari. The 60-year-old Ansari, the lawmaker from the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal under the proportional representation system, died during the course of treatment earlier today.

The meeting paid tributes to the departed soul and also extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

The lower house of the Federal Parliament shall meet again at 11 am on Monday. 

The National Seismological Centre recorded a tremor of local magnitude 4.0 in Rasuwa district on Sunday.

The tremor was recorded at 9: 44 am. Its epicenter was around Juredhunga of the district.  

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 800 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 125, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 125, 800 per tola on Friday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 124, 400 per tola. It was traded at Rs 124, 800 per tola.

Meanwhile, the price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 15 and is being traded at Rs 1,530 per tola today.   

India will hold a seven-phase general election starting on April 19, with the results to be declared on June 4.

The Election Commission of India announced the schedule of the six-week marathon vote during a news conference in New Delhi on Saturday, Aljazeera reported.

Nearly 970 million voters – more than the entire population of the United States, the European Union and Russia combined – are eligible to cast their ballot, according to the poll panel’s data, making the election the largest democratic exercise in the world.

“We will take democracy to every corner of the country,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said as he announced the voting dates. “It is our promise to deliver a national election in a manner that we … remain a beacon for democracy around the world.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a third straight term in the vote, has set a target of 370 seats for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 400-plus for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) the BJP heads in the 543-member lower house of parliament, according to Aljazeera.

In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats – the most ever for the Hindu nationalist party that was formed in 1980.

Modi will be challenged by an alliance of two dozen opposition parties, called INDIA or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, led by the Indian National Congress.

The alliance formed last year has, however, been struggling to stay united and share seats amicably to be able to put up a one-to-one fight against the BJP.

A victory would make Modi, 73, only the second prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s independence hero and its first prime minister, to win a third straight term.

Modi and his BJP have been in campaign mode for months before the dates for the vote were announced.

The prime minister has been flying around the country almost every day, inaugurating new projects, making announcements, taking part in religious events and addressing public and private meetings.

The first phase of the parliamentary election will be held on April 19, second on April 26, third on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth on May 20, the sixth on May 25 and the seventh phase on June 1.

In four states – Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim – the parliamentary and legislative assembly elections will be held simultaneously, with their results to be also declared on June 4.

Bypolls for 26 assembly constituencies across the country will be also be held during the six-week vote.

There will be more than a million polling stations in operation staffed by 15 million poll workers, according to the election commission.

Holi, the festival of colors, began with the installation of a 'Chir' (bamboo pole) decorated with colorful strips of cloths at Hanumandhoka Durbar Square in Basantapur on Sunday.. 

The ‘Chir’ was erected at 7:47 am today. Erection of the pole in Basantapur marks the beginning of the festival which lasts for a week.

Holi will be celebrated in Kathmandu valley and hilly districts on March 24 and in Tarai on March 25.
 

The ‘Chir’ will be erected in Patan and Bhaktapur also.    

Following the completion of the Holi festival, people would collect the pieces of cloths from the Chir and keep it in their homes with a belief that it will bring good luck for them.  

The Chir will be dispersed in local Tundikhel.

Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that a new power equation had to be formed to bring about change in the speed of the government and for collaboration between the communist forces.

Addressing a gathering of the party's leaders and cadres in Pokhara this morning, Prime Minister Dahal said the Congress has betrayed many times and it was not likely that votes would be 'transferred' from the Congress to our party. "On the one hand the government was not accelerating while on the other there was mistrust towards the coalition, hence a new coalition had to be formed," Dahal said.

On the occasion, the CPN (Maoist Center) chair also shared that a month-long campaign is being organized to strengthen the party. "We are conducting a national awareness campaign covering the Tarai-Madhesh from east to west. The campaign will also connect the mountains, hills and Tarai-Madhesh north-south," he said.

According to the personal secretariat of the Prime Minister, Dahal said that there is a possibility that the Maoists will take over the leadership in Gandaki Province. "We are doing homework for the formation of the government in Gandaki. Once that is over, we will come to a conclusion.”

The Prime Minister also made it clear that the defense and strengthening of the constitution and consolidating the communist movement are the main basis of forming a new coalition in the center.

"When the communist movement is divided, the reactionary forces become stronger in national politics. It would bring a crisis to the governance. That challenge has been overcome. The country's politics is now on the right track," he said.

Two male rhinos of Chitwan National Park have been translocated internally.

The rhinos were transferred from the west to the eastern region of the park.

A male Rhino was brought from near Divyapuri post of Nawalparasi (Bardghat-Sustapurt to the interior of the Kuchkuche area in the eastern region of the park on Saturday. 

The 17-year-old male rhino was captured from the Divya Buffer Community Forest and released in the interior area across the Rapti River, said information officer of the park, Ganesh Prasad Tiwari.

Earlier on Friday, a rhinoceros was brought from the Kawasoti area of Nawalpur to the east. The male rhino of around 28 years old was released in the east from Kasara. This rhino used to come to the human settlement and cause trouble.

As the number of rhinos has increased in the western part of the park, some of them are going to be internally transferred to the eastern part of the park.

A total of 60 human resources including elephants, elephant mahouts, technical personnel, staff, Nepali army personnel were deployed for the rhino relocation. The park is now preparing to transfer six rhinos internally. Rhinos over eight years old will be transferred, added Tiwari.

According to the latest count, Nepal is home to 752 rhinos.

Of them, 694 rhinos are in Chitwan National Park. Likewise, 38 rhinos are in Bardiya national park and 17 in Shuklaphanta national park.

There are three rhinos in Parsa National Park.