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The farmers in Sigana village in Baglung Municipality–8 have made a decent income from orange production and the production is also on the rise year on year.

Ananta Khadka, an orange farmer, sold oranges worth Rs 500,000 to traders last year but his income this year increased to Rs 750,000. 

Khadka and other farmers sold their production directly to the traders in lump sum from their gardens. 

The local people shared that the village received nearly Rs 40 million from orange sales this year, while such amount was Rs 35 million last year.

More than 100 farmers in Sigana village have earned from Rs 100,000 to Rs 700,000 from the same of orange and there are many other families making income from orange farming. 

The Ganesh Agricultural Cooperative in the village has maintained the record of the orange production and sales. 

The farmers shared that the oranges from there are sold to the cities including Pokhara, Kathmandu, Chitwan and others. 

The villagers there had switched to commercial farming of oranges nearly three decades ago and have rapidly expanded the orange cultivation area. 

Leading farmer Shiva Kumar Khadka in Sigana shared that the cooperative has been constructed to expand the areas for orange farming and the farmers are provided with the orange saplings at a subsidized rate.

This year, the production of oranges has increased due to favorable weather coupled with the absence of diseases, Chairman of Ganesh Agricultural Cooperative Ram Bahadur Khadka stated.

The stakeholders and local community have commenced their initiatives to ensure a tourism-friendly environment in the lakeside of Pokhara. 

The Pokhara Tourism Council has partnered with different agencies and local communities to create a favorable environment, ensure safety and security to the tourists and tourism-friendly situation in the Lakeside area.  

Council's Chairman Taranath Pahari shared that the Ward Police Office, Tourism Police, Metropolitan Police, ward officials, tourism related organizations have joined hands together to materialize the initiative. 

The representatives shared that any sort of unwanted activities would be curbed in the lakeside area.

Likewise, onsite monitoring of the lakeside area would be carried by the representatives of the team in the evening, Pahari said. 

Furthermore, hygiene, cleanliness, sanitation, street vendors, and activities causing disturbance to the tourists would be controlled in the lakeside area.

The meteorological analysis by the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology stated that the westerly low-pressure system is currently affecting the weather system in the country, causing partial clouds across the country.

Fog and mist is likely at some places over the Tarai region today. 

Furthermore, generally cloudy conditions are expected over the hilly and mountainous regions of Gandaki, Karnali, Lumbini and Sudurpashchim Provinces, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology stated.

Partly cloudy conditions are likely over the remaining mountains, it is said. 

Likewise, there is a possibility of light snowfall at one or two places in the high hilly and mountainous regions in the country. 

Later tonight, fog is likely to continue in a few places in the Tarai region. 

Generally cloudy conditions are expected over the hilly and mountainous. In addition, there is a possibility of light snowfall at one or two places in the high hilly and mountainous regions.

The Election Commission (EC) has removed the names of 76 candidates from the political parties' closed list submitted for the proportional representation (PR) electoral system for the House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5. 

EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said a decision to remove those candidates was taken following an assessment.

Bhattarai stated that the details of the candidates were reviewed on the basis of complaints filed against the candidates, existing laws on provisions for qualification of candidates, decisions of the EC taken on different dates and information received from the political parties. 

The EC's statement mentioned that a candidate of the Nepali Congress (NC), one of the CPN-UML and three candidates of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) were removed from the PR list.   

Elon Musk's SpaceX is taking over his artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, as the billionaire continues to unify some of his many business interests, BBC reported. 

SpaceX on Monday confirmed the deal to acquire xAI, a smaller firm known for its Grok chatbot, posting a memo from Musk about the merger on its website.

In the note, Musk said the combination would form an "innovation engine" putting AI, rockets, space-based internet, and media under one roof, according to BBC. 

The son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been arrested by police on suspicion of assault, before he goes on trial in Oslo on Tuesday on 38 charges, including the rape of four women, BBC reported. 

Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, was remanded in custody for four weeks. Police said the latest allegations against him involved wielding a knife and violating a restraining order, and there was a risk of reoffending.

His arrest on Sunday is the fourth time he has been detained by police since August 2024, when he was accused of assaulting a woman he had been having a relationship with, according to BBC. 

Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State, have agreed to testify in the congressional investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, BBC reported. 

Bill Clinton's deputy chief of staff confirmed the news on social media, writing: "The former President and former Secretary of State will be there."

It comes as the Republican-led US House of Representatives was preparing to vote on holding both Clintons in criminal contempt for defying legal summonses, according to BBC. 

US President Donald Trump announced that he agreed to a trade deal with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the US will lower tariffs on goods from India to 18% from 25%, BBC reported. 

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said India will reduce trade barriers to zero and will also stop buying Russian oil. An additional 25% tariff penalty imposed for Delhi's refusal to stop buying oil from Russia will be dropped. 

The announcement comes less than a week after India and the European Union announced a landmark trade deal that capped nearly two decades of on-off talks, according to BBC.