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Minister for Foreign Affairs NP Saud, who is currently on an official visit to the United States of America, continued the official engagements on the third day of the visit by meeting Senator Chris Van Hollen on Wednesday.

During the meeting with a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, the Minister discussed various aspects of the Nepal-US bilateral relations, emphasizing the importance of exchange of parliamentary experiences between the two nations, according to the Nepali Embassy in Washington DC.

It may be noted that Hollen had visited Nepal last September and he had a significant role in drafting the bill relating to the Temporary Protected Status targeting the Nepali community in the US. He is regarded as an influential democratic leader and represents Maryland in the US Senate.   

Nepal's Ambassador to the US Shreedhar Khatri and Deputy Chief of the Mission Kumar Kharel among others were also present in the meeting.

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli said that the peace process should be concluded by keeping the victims at center.

Talking to mediapersons after the tea reception organized at the party office in Chayasal, Lalitpur on Wednesday, he said that the UML is ready to conclude the peace process.

The former prime minister said that transitional justice issues should be addressed by respecting the verdict of the court on the basis of consensus.

“The peace process should be concluded by keeping the victims at center. The peace process should be concluded by respecting the verdict of the Supreme Court. The suggestions given by the international community should also be taken into account,” leader Oli said.

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal held a meeting with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and UML Chairman Oli to discuss the transitional justice issues.

Soon after the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed the joint session of the Federal Parliament, Prime Minister Dahal had said that some friends had briefed the peace process wrongly.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba among other leaders attended a tea reception hosted by the CPN-UML on the occasion of the Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambad and Chhat festivals on Wednesday.

Chairman KP Sharma Oli among other party leaders welcomed Prime Minister Dahal and former Prime Minister Deuba to the reception organized at the party central office in Chyasal, Lalitpur.

Similarly, House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker Devraj Ghimire, CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Jhalanath Khanal, CPN (Maoist Center) leader Janardan Sharma, Rastriya Janamorcha's Chair Chitra Bahadur KC, Communist Party of Nepal's Netra Bikram Chand and other leaders from various political parties and people from different walks of life attended the reception.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 5. 83 points to close at 1,858.56 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 0. 83 points to close at 359. 95 points.

A total of 3,364,056-unit shares of 296 companies were traded for Rs 812 billion.

Meanwhile, Sayapatri Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 39 percent. Likewise, Sonapur Minerals And Oil Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 7.99 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 86 trillion.

A quarter of Nepali population has at least one bank account. The additional results of the 2021 Census unveiled recently by the National Statistics Office (NSO) show 7.40m out of 29.16m people in the country have bank accounts at at least one bank or financial institution (except cooperatives). The data reveals that 26.42 percent of men and 24.74 percent of women in Nepal have at least one bank account.

Furthermore, the census data shows that roughly 62 percent of Nepali families have at least one member with a bank account. Out of 6.66m families in the country, 4.12m have at least one member holding a bank account. In terms of education and vocational training, the census indicates that 12.55 percent of Nepali families, or 836,127 families, have members who have pursued technical education and vocational training. However, a mere 5.67 percent of the population above the age of 18,  or 1.08m people, have received such training.

Regarding access to bank loans, only around one-fourth of Nepali families have utilized this financial service. When analyzed by province, the census data shows the highest uptake of bank loans is in the Madhes province where 28.88 percent of the population have acquired bank loans, while the lowest is in Sudurpaschim province (21.96 percent). The census also provides insights into the housing landscape of Nepal. According to the census results, there are a total of 7.55m houses in the country. The majority of these homes, approximately 59.82 percent, are single-storied, while 28.78 percent are two-storied, 9.17 percent are three-storied, 1.3 percent are four-storied, and 0.64 percent have between five and seven stories. A minimal 0.01 percent of houses have eight to nine stories, and only 0.003 percent exceed ten stories in height.

Breaking it down by province, the data shows that a significant 84.42 percent of houses in Madhesh Province are single-storied. In contrast, 2.34 percent of houses in the Bagmati Province have more than five stories. In addition, the census collected data on the age of houses, categorizing them into 12 groups—0 year, one years, two years, three years, four years, 5-9 years, 10-14 years, 15-19 years, 20-19 years, 30-49 years, 50-99 years and more than 100 years. The census results show that nearly 30 percent of houses fall into the 0-4 years age group, while only 0.5 percent of the 7.55m houses are over a century old.

Approximately 10.27 percent of Nepali families, out of the 6.66m in the country, received government grants to assist in building their residential houses. The distribution of these grants is highest in the Bagmati Province at 26.64 percent and lowest in the Sudurpaschim Province at 2.98 percent.

Police have opened fire to take a drug smuggler under control at Gothatar in the Capital on Wednesday.

The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office said that a team deployed from the Office opened fire in retaliation after the brown sugar smuggler tried to attack the security personnel.

The arrestee has been identified as Indian national Mohammad karim.

He sustained bullet injuries in his thigh.

Police have also arrested a Nepali national.

It has been learnt that police also recovered a pistol and its three rounds of bullets from Karim’s possession.

Further investigation into the incident is underway, police said.

A policeman, who had been deployed as a security guard of visiting the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal, has died of altitude sickness.

The deceased has been identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Dhungana.

After complaining of health problems, Dhungana was taken to Pokhara by a rescue helicopter this morning.

Upon his admission to a hospital in Pokhara, he was declared dead at 9:40 am, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Kumar BK.

Dhungana, who reached the Base Camp by a helicopter, complained of respiratory problems upon returning on foot, it has been said.

He was posted at the police post in Ghandruk of Annapurna Rural Municipality in Kaski district.

The UN Secretary General had reached the Base Camp on Tuesday morning.

Nepal Army and Nepal Police personnel were deployed for his security.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal held a meeting with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Dahal held talks with Deuba and Oli for almost two hours to forge consensus on the transitional justice issues.

The transitional justice Act is in the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament.

The Committee has forged consensus in almost all the issues by forming a sub-committee.

The sub-committee has prepared a report on consensus.

The issues that need to be resolved at the political level are only left to the settled down.

Congress Publicity Department Chief Min Bishwokarma and UML Whip Mahesh Kumar Bartaula have been claiming that the issues at the political level are only left to be resolved.

The UML has claimed that the decision of Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s decision to celebrate the day the war started as People’s War Day has left the conflict victims in the lurch.

During this stay in Nepal, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres had mounted diplomatic pressure on the government and political parties to conclude the peace process.

On Sunday, during a meeting with Guterres, UML Chairman Oli said that the peace process could not reach a logical conclusion due to the Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Dahal.

Oli had said that the UML wants the United Nations to take the peace process to its logical conclusion.