Sudurpaschim Province CM Shahi seeking vote of confidence on Thursday
Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shahi is seeking a vote of confidence on Thursday.
The Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers on Tuesday sent a letter to Speaker Bhim Bahadur Bhandari to call a Province Assembly meeting for the same.
Chief Minister Shahi fell into minority after CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) withdrew support to the government.
In the 53-member Province Assembly, he needs 27 votes for the majority.
Nepali Congress has 18 members (one died), CPN (Maoist Center) 11 including the Speaker, CPN-UML 10 including deputy speaker, Nagarik Unmukti Party seven, CPN (Unified Socialist) four, Rastriya Prajatantra Party one and independent one in the far-west Province Assembly.
The Nagarik Unmukti Party has not decided whether to join the government or not.
Gold price drops by Rs 400 per tola on Tuesday
The price of gold has dropped by Rs 400 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 131, 200 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 131, 600 per tola on Monday.
Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 130, 550 per tola. It was traded at Rs 130, 950 per tola.
Meanwhile, the price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs
has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,545 per tola today.
Bagmati Chief Minister Jamarkattel expands Cabinet
Bagmati Province Chief Minister Shalikram Jamarkattel expanded his Cabinet on Tuesday.
On the recommendation of CM Jamarkattel, Province Chief Yadav Chandra Sharma today appointed a Province Assembly member from the CPN (Unified Socialist), Rama Ale Magar, as the minister without portfolio.
Province Chief Sharma administered the oath to Ale Magar today itself.
Chief Minister Jamarkattel said the council of ministers will be expanded and portfolios will be allocated to the ministers within the next week.
Chief Minister Jamarkattel, Province Assembly Speaker Bhuwan Kumar Pathak, Deputy Speaker Apsara Chapagain, province ministers, leaders of various political parties and secretaries of province ministries were present on the occasion.
The newly-appointed minister Ale Magar was elected as the Province Assembly member from Kathmandu constituency 10 (2).
Two province chairmen from Resham Chaudhary camp expelled from party
The Nagarik Unmukti Party has expelled Gandaki and Bagmati Province Chairmen from the party.
Party Chairperson Ranjita Shrestha informed that Bagmati Chairman Deepak Bahadur Yonjan and Gandaki Chairman Rajan Gurung were expelled from the party by sending letters.
Party General Secretary Ganga Ram Chaudhary confirmed that the letter of action has been sent to Yonjan and Gurung.
Chairperson Shrestha took action against them for assaulting founding member Ramesh BK and Tika Municipality Mayor Ram Lal Dagaura.
Yonjan and Gurung are from the Resham Chaudhary camp.
The party leaders traded blows during a meeting held at the party office in Anamnagar following a dispute on whether to join the government or not.
During a press conference, BK said that Resham Chaudhary had threatened to take his life.
Chaudhary, however, said that though there were disputes in the party, he had not threatened to kill anyone.
He was of the opinion that Shrestha ruined the party due to the greed for power.
Israel Gaza: Food charity says aid workers killed in strike
Aid workers including an Australian and two people said to be British and Polish have been killed in Gaza, in what their charity founder said was an Israeli attack, BBC reported.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder and chef José Andrés said his staff had been killed "in an IDF air strike".
Gaza's Hamas-run media office also blamed Israel. The alleged strike could not be verified independently.
Israel's military said it was conducting a "thorough review".
A journalist working for the BBC in Gaza has seen the bodies of three international aid workers and a Palestinian driver, recovered from the site of the alleged air strike. Foreign passports were also shown.
The group are said to have been involved in co-ordinating the arrival of another boat carrying food aid to central Gaza.
Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said on X: "We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that killed [WCK] aid workers in Gaza.
"Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened."
A medical source at al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza Strip told the BBC that the bodies of the four workers and their Palestinian driver had been brought to the hospital after a car they were travelling in on the coastal road was hit by an air strike at Deir al-Balah, according to BBC.
Further details of the alleged attack are still emerging.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that aid worker Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom was among those killed and has offered his condolences to family and friends.
In a statement, he said: "This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity for people who are suffering tremendous deprivation in Gaza. And this is just completely unacceptable."
He said Australia expected "full accountability", adding that it was a "tragedy that should never have occurred".
A Palestinian medical source told the BBC the workers had been wearing bullet-proof vests bearing the WCK logo. The charity is currently providing meals for thousands of people in Gaza.
In a statement, the WCK said it was "aware of reports" that members of its team had been "killed in an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza".
"This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be a target, ever. We will share more information when we have gathered all the facts," it added, BBC reported.
In a post on X, Mr Andrés, a celebrity chef, called on the Israeli government "to stop this indiscriminate killing".
The charity recently made headlines for providing hundreds of tonnes of food for Gazans that arrived on the first aid ship.
Commenting on the reports, the IDF said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this "tragic incident".
"The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," it added.
Prior to confirmation that an Australian national had been killed in the incident, the Australian foreign ministry said: "We have been very clear that we expect humanitarian workers in Gaza to have safe and unimpeded access to do their lifesaving work".
The UK Foreign Office and Polish foreign ministry have been contacted for comment.
NC holding meetings to finalize candidates for by-elections
The Nepali Congress is holding meetings of its parliamentary board and Central Work Execution Committee today to finalize candidates for the by-elections in Ilam constituency 1 and Bajhang Province Assembly (1) scheduled for April 27.
Information and Publicity Department Chief of the party Min Bahadur Bishwokarma informed that the meetings will be held later this afternoon to finalize candidates for the by-elections from the party.
The meetings will be held under the chairmanship of party President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at 2 pm. Initially, the parliamentary board meeting will decide on the candidates and the Central Work Execution Committee will endorse it, he added.
The NC officer bearers, former office bearers and top leaders had held discussions on Monday evening about possible candidates.
The Election Commission has already made public a schedule for the April 27 by-elections as per which parties need to file candidacy by April 6.
NAC directed to provide documents regarding maintenance of narrow-body aircraft within 15 days
The International Relations and Tourism Committee under the House of Representatives has directed the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to provide it with documents concerning the maintenance of a narrow-body aircraft within 15 days.
A meeting of the Committee held in Singha Durbar on Monday wants the national flag-carrier to submit a convincing reply regarding the aircraft repair.
Committee President Raj Kishore Yadav said the Committee is informed about the alleged corruption during the repair of the aircraft's engine and in this context, the NAC should convince the Committee with a substantive reply that there is no corruption during the maintenance.
The NAC sent its narrow body to Israel on January 11 for repair. The plane was grounded on December 1, 2023. According to the NAC, Israel-based MRO Company assured that the plane will arrive in Kathmandu by April 28.
During the meeting, lawmakers expressed their concern stating that it has been over four months since the aircraft was sent for engine repair and a delay in its arrival has affected the NAC flight schedule.
They demanded the formation of a separate committee to probe the matter.
Lawmakers Bhim Prasad Acharya, Sunita Baral, Shishir Khanal, Damodar Paudel Bairagi, Uday Shamsher JB Rana, Prem Suwal, Eknath Dhakal, Yogesh Gauchan Thakali and Dr Dhawal Shamsher JB Rana advised the NAC to prepare an action plan for its restructuring, to control irregularities reported inside the NAC and make its service swift and effective.
Stating that disputes between the NAC and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) have negatively affected the aviation and the entire tourism industry, he urged effective cooperation and collaboration between the two institutes to make a ground from removing Nepal's airlines from the European Union (EU)'s blacklist and for enhancing the reliability of NAC services.
Minister for Culture and Tourism and Civil Aviation, Hit Bahadur Tamang, assured of action if any wrongdoing is proved on the part of NAC. Tamang said that he is studying the issue.
NAC Executive Chair Yubaraj Adhikari said that the repair of the narrow- body aircraft follows the rules.
Nepal ‘A’ earn thrilling win against Ireland ‘A’
Nepal ‘A’ defeated Ireland ‘A’ by three runs in the last match held at the Tribhuvan University cricket ground in Kirtipur on Monday.
Chasing the target of 214 runs set by Nepal ‘A’, Ireland ‘A’ managed to score only 120 runs losing seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Gareth Delany top scored for Ireland with 68 runs followed by Morgan Topping with 60 runs while other batters failed to score in double digits.
Similarly, opener Ross Adair scored 31 runs and Fionn Hand 22.
Bipin Khatri took three wickets for Nepal while Kamal Singh Airee, Narayan Joshi and Rasid Khan claimed one wicket each.
After winning the toss, Nepal opted to bat first and posted 213 runs with a half-century from Arif Sheikh losing seven wickets.
Sheikh remained unbeaten on a 48-ball 97 that featured six sixes and seven fours.
Similarly, Kamal Airee remained unbeaten on 19 made of seven balls.
Lokesh Bam, who had scored a century in the first match against Ireland, returned to pavilion by scoring eight runs.
Likewise, captain Binod Bhandari scored 11 runs while Asir Mohammad, Pawan Saraff and Rasid Khan contributed 19, 13 and 24 runs respectively.
Earlier, Nepal had already lost the series against Ireland ‘A’.
Ireland ‘A’ had defeated Nepal by 21 runs in the first match and 40 runs in the second.
Nepal ‘A’ are playing a one-day series against Ireland ‘A’ on Wednesday.
