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The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 118, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 117, 800 per tola on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 117, 450 per tola. It was traded at Rs 117, 250 per tola.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,450 per tola today.

Former Indian Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane has said that China is following “wolf-warrior diplomacy” and “salami-slicing” tactics with impunity browbeating smaller neighbors.  In his memoirs ‘Four Stars of Destiny’, Naravane,  He further stated that it took the Indian Army to show to the world that “enough is enough” and challenge the “neighborhood bully”. 

“They had been following wolf-warrior diplomacy and salami-slicing tactics everywhere with impunity, browbeating smaller neighbors like Nepal and Bhutan, while staking their ever-increasing claims in the South China Sea, without having to pay any costs, especially in terms of human lives.” 

It took India and the Indian Army to show to the world that enough is enough and to challenge the neighborhood bully, he said.  Naravane, one of the foremost Army Generals, provided a gripping account of the India-China confrontation before and after the deadly Galwan Valley incident, India’s overall response to the Chinese action and how it served as a catalyst to firm up the Army’s combat readiness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry is visiting Nepal on Dec 20-22 to attend the inaugural session of the Nepal-Sri Lanka Joint Commission. 

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the commission will focus on a wide range of areas of bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and Nepal, including trade and investment, tourism, education, defense, culture, connectivity and people-to-people contacts. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation will also be signed during the visit. On the sidelines, Foreign Minister Sabry is scheduled to have bilateral talks with his Nepali counterpart Narayan Prakash Saud. He will pay courtesy calls on President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, apart from meeting the Sri Lankan expatriate community.

A team of Federal Parliament members left for Beijing on a 10-day visit to China on Tuesday. 

The 20-member delegation under CPN (Maoist Centre) Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey comprises five lawmakers each from the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and the Maoist Centre, and one each from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) and the CPN (Unified Socialist). 

The delegates are Yub Raj Sharma, Ramnath  Adhikari, Ain Bahadur Shahi, Saraswoti Bajimaya and Kusum Devi Thapa from the NC, Damodar Bairagi, Manbir Rai, Nirmala Koirala, Rukmini Rana Baraili and Bhagawati Neupane from the UML, and Chief Whip Pandey, Jaga Prasad Sharma and Narayani Sharma from the Maoist Centre.   

RSP Chief Whip Santosh Pariyar, Anisha Nepali of RPP, Prakash Adhikari of JSP and Unified Socialist Chief Whip Metmani Chaudhary are other delegation members. 

The purpose of the visit to the northern neighbor is to participate in an event to be organized by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, China. The team is scheduled to visit Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province, and Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat. 

The Socialist Front Nepal has urged the government and the concerned sides to fully implement the three-point agreement reached between the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal.  

Issuing a statement here today, the Front Chair Madhav Kumar Nepal called on one and all not to allow situations giving rise to any conflict in the country's present political context.

The Front has said its serious attention is drawn towards the arrest warrant issued some days back by the District Court, Kathmandu against leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal, including the party General Secretary Netra Bikram Chand and spokesperson Khadka Bahadur Bishwokarma.

The CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Chand-led NCP had announced the front on June 20, 2023.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday made a virtual inspection of Narayanghat-Butwal road section and Muglin-Pokhara road section from the 'Action Room' located at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singhadurbar.

The two road projects are under-construction but the progress in the construction of both the projects is slow.

During the virtual inspection from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers this afternoon, the PM took stock of the recent progress made in the road construction and said that progress is not satisfactory as expected. "This is not fulfilling. Our quality role should be upped to this area," the PM added.

On the occasion, PM Dahal made a commitment to address the issues arising from short supply of pebbles, sand and stone, and electricity needed for the project’s advancement.   

Likewise, the PM asked the field officials and agencies to submit their reports on a regular and timely basis stating that the challenges could be troubleshooted if the reports were received in time so that the people's woes could be resolved. 

Now, the progress of the projects should be measured on the basis of milestone indicators, he added.

The PM also directed the officials and agencies to complete the projects on time and warned that there will be no excuse in the delay of the projects under different pretexts.

"These two projects are highly important and the construction should be completed in time. I will also come to the field to inspect the projects. Now I will give more time for the development works," according to the PM.

"Tasks of the national pride projects should be carried out in two shifts. Let's do serious homework for this. This is the last opportunity to work," the PM appealed to utilize the opportunity for development.

The 49th Convocation Ceremony of Tribhuvan University was held today at Dashrath Stadium on Monday.

A total of 12,415 graduates from various disciplines took part in the event held in the presence of President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Though a total of 74,749 graduates (Bachelor's, Master's, MPhil and PhD degrees) were in the TU's grace list for the participations in the Convocation, a total of 12,415:  8,098 towards the Bachelor's degree, 4,104 towards the Master's degree, 44  towards MPhil and 112 under the PhD  applied for it.

Speaking on the occasion, TU Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shivalal Bhusal said that TU graduates under various levels from different faculties, who were passed out from mid-June 2022 to mid-May, 2023 were eligible for taking part in the 49th Convocation.

The previous Convocation witnessed the participation of 10,300 students.

Citing challenges to encourage TU graduates to seek careers within the country, he pledged to promote entrepreneurship from the academic intervention.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that the roles of local levels should be responsible, transparent and civic-friendly.

While addressing a program organized on the occasion of the 105th Establishment Day of the Lalitpur Metropolis today, the Prime Minister said the Constitution has mandated the local governments to undertake development endeavors with assignments of major responsibilities in the service delivery.  According to him, the local levels serving the closest government to the citizens should ensure that their roles are transparent and civic-friendly.       

He said his assessment is that the Lalitpur Metropolis people's representatives have fulfilled their responsibilities in this term.

Acknowledging the concerns and efforts of the Lalitpur metropolis for the protection of culture and heritages within the locality, he proposed the local government to connect its unique culture to income generation initiatives.

The Prime Minister said, "The metropolis is playing a leading role in the local tourism promotion efforts. I am happy to see that development endeavors in the locality are going on without any disputes. Federalism does not mean only federal units, province and local levels are also its vital components."  He promised to contribute to strengthening the presence of province and local governments

Also speaking on the occasion, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Prakash Jwala, said the Constitution has provisions for collaboration and co-existence for the implementation of federalism and it should be followed accordingly. The Minister pledged to make the Kathmandu Valley dust-free and further systematize the transport sector.

Federal lawmaker from the Lalitpur constituency 2, Prem Bahadur Maharjan, said that many things are left to be carried out to develop Lalitpur into a cultural city.

Bagmati Province Minister for Industry, Commerce, Land and Administration, Ram Krishna Chitrakar appreciated the works carried out by the metropolis for resolving the problems of the people. He added that the works like improving the environment and cultural conservation were also praise-worthy. 

Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Balendra Shah, said that Kathmandu and Lalitpur are two cities that are inter-related, stressing on carrying out development of both cities simultaneously. 

Stating that some topics related to the rights of the local level contradicted the federal laws, he urged the Prime minister to resolve the issue facilitating this.

Lalitpur Metropolitan City Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan said the metropolis has been joining hands with the federal government in the context of development-construction works and service delivery. He said that Lalitpur metropolis has carried out a lot of good works.

Mayor Maharjan urged the Prime Minister to construct the three flyovers at Gwarko, Satdobato and Ekantakuna simultaneously, saying the traffic management in the whole of Kathmandu Valley has become unsystematic as the flyover at Gwarko is not properly managed.

Constituent Assembly member and former deputy-mayor Chandra Maharjan said the people are appreciating the works like installation of smart street lights and culture and heritage conservation carried out by the metropolis.

Deputy Mayor Manjali Shakya Bajracharya urged the Prime Minister to assist and facilitate the metropolis in managing drinking water to the metropolis' dwellers and the waste management.

Lalitpur metropolis' population is 294 thousand and 98 as per the population census of 2021.

The metropolis, which has been providing services guided by the slogan of 'Basis for prosperity and good governance of Lalitpur: Smart service infrastructure with heritage and culture', has from today launched the 'health insurance scheme' for its residents.

The health insurance programme was initiated with the PM handing the 'Health Insurance Card' to two persons with disabilities.

Instituted as the Sarsaphai Adda (Sanitation Office) on Push 2, 1975 BS, this Office was turned into a metropolis on Chait 10, 2073 BS (March 23, 2017). Before this, it was a sub-metropolis.