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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 1. 37 points to close at 2, 585. 87 points on Wednesday. 

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0. 94 points to close at 448. 53 points.

A total of 7,224,917-unit shares of 334 companies were traded for Rs 1. 47 billion.

Meanwhile, Infinity Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ILBS) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 5. 32 percent. 

Likewise, Grameen Bikas Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. (GBLBS) was the top loser as its price fell by 4. 23 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 34 trillion.

Russia plans to put ​a nuclear power plant on the moon in the next decade to supply its lunar space program and a joint Russian-Chinese research station as major powers rush to explore the earth’s only natural satellite, Reuters reported. 

Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space in 1961, Russia has prided itself as ‌a leading power in ‌space exploration but in recent ‌decades ⁠it ​has fallen ‌behind the United States and increasingly China.

Russia’s ambitions suffered a massive blow in August 2023 when its unmanned Luna-25 mission smashed into the surface of the moon while attempting to land, and Elon Musk has revolutionized the launch of space vehicles — once a Russian speciality, according to Reuters. 

The Election Commission has established the offices of the Election Officers in seven provinces and also appointed election officers for the National Assembly member elections to be held on January 25.

The Commission’s spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said  that the Commission has appointed the district judges as the election officers.

Accordingly, Bhimraj Prasai has been appointed the Election Officer in Koshi Province, Shubhanath Puri in Madhesh Province, Geeta Shrestha in Bagmati Province, Himal Belbase in Gandaki Province, Prakashraj Pandit in Lumbini Province, Deepak Dhakal in Karnali Province, and Bhuvan Singh Thapa in Sudurpaschim Province.

Elections are taking place to the 19 vacant National Assembly member seats that will fall vacant on March 4. 

According to the election schedule, the publication of the voter list will take place from 10 am to 11am on January 3, objections and complaints regarding the list will be investigated, and the final voter list will be published from 3 pm to 4 pm on January 6.

Similarly, candidate nominations will be made from 10 am to 3 pm on January 7; complaints against the candidates can be filed from 10 am to 4 pm on January 8; candidates can withdraw their names from 10 am to 1 pm  on January 11, and the final list of candidates will be published from 1 pm  to 2 pm the same day.

As per the election schedule, the election symbols will be allocated to the candidates from 10 am to 1 pm on January 12. The voting will take place at the relevant polling center from 9 am to 3 pm.

Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal has said that the government is primarily mandated for successfully conducting the elections to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5.

Inaugurating the Karnali Province–level Security Seminar jointly organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers in Birendranagar, Surkhet, the Home Minister stated that preparations for the elections are progressing accordingly.

“Our main strategy is to prevent the country from facing any kind of potential crisis,” he said, adding that the government is working to ensure the elections are held in a peaceful, free, and impartial environment, thereby helping to normalize the overall situation of the country. 

He went on to say the public mandate requires elections to be held within six months of the dissolution of Parliament and emphasized that security challenges will be addressed by strengthening security mechanisms.

The Home Minister further informed that the names of all those who attained martyrdom during the Gen Z movement have been published in the national gazette and that the government is focused on providing relief to their families. He stressed the need to bring Gen Z groups into the political mainstream to promote prosperity, development, and good governance in the country.

“Gen Z groups are not affiliated with any specific political party. They represent a collective force of energy, creativity, and talent, which should be utilized for national development,” he said.

The seminar was attended by Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, Director of the National Investigation Department Tekendra Karki, Chief Secretary of the Karnali Provincial Government Birendra Kumar Yadav, Armed Police Force Inspector General Raju Aryal, Nepal Army Lieutenant General Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson Anand Kafle, Chief District Officers from all 10 districts, and heads of the security agencies. 

Three people - including two police officers - have been killed in an explosion in Moscow, Russian authorities have said, BBC reported. 

Two traffic police officers saw a "suspicious individual" near a police car on the city's Yeletskaya Street, and when they approached the suspect to detain him, an explosive device was detonated, Russia's Investigative Committee has said. 

The two police officers died from their injuries, along with another individual who was standing nearby, according to BBC. 

A federal judge on Tuesday (December 23, 2025) rejected a challenge by ‍the largest U.S. business lobby group to U.S. President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new ​H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, saying it fell ‌under his broad powers to regulate immigration, Reuters reported. 

U.S. District Judge Beryl ​Howell in Washington, D.C., rejected arguments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the fee conflicts with federal immigration law and will lead many companies, hospitals and other employers to cut jobs and the services they provide to the public.

“The parties’ vigorous debate over the ultimate wisdom of this political judgment is not within the province of the courts,” ​Justice Howell wrote. “So long as the actions dictated by the policy ⁠decision and articulated in the Proclamation fit within the confines of the law, the Proclamation must be upheld.”

UN experts and 400 prominent women have urged Iran not to execute Zahra Tabari, a 67-year-old electrical engineer and women's rights activist, BBC reported. 

Ms Tabari was arrested in April and accused of collaborating with a banned opposition group, the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), according to her family.

In October, she was convicted of "armed rebellion" by a Revolutionary Court in Rasht after a trial via video link that lasted less than 10 minutes. Her family said the verdict was based on extremely limited and unreliable evidence: a piece of cloth bearing the words "Woman, Resistance, Freedom", and an unpublished audio message, according to BBC. 

The US State Department said it would deny visas to five people, including a former EU commissioner, for seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose, BBC reported. 

"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, suggested that a "witch hunt" was taking place, according to BBC.