EC launches Joint Election Operation Center for HoR polls
The Election Commission (EC) has brought the Joint Election Operation Center into operation to immediately resolve any issues that appear in the House of Representatives (HoR) elections.
The Office of the Center is at the premises of the EC, Kathmandu.
Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari inaugurated the Center on Sunday.
Bhandari said that the Center will act immediately to resolve the issues in the constituencies if they are not addressed from the concerned voting centres.
Secretary at the EC will lead the Center with a Joint Secretary from the Home Ministry and representatives from the security bodies as members.
The Center will collect information, analyse and take immediate decisions to proceed with the election process, it has been said.
India to slash tariffs on cars to 40% in trade deal with EU, sources say
India plans to slash tariffs on cars imported from the European Union to 40% from as high as 110%, sources said, in the biggest opening yet of the country's vast market as the two sides close in on a free trade pact that could come as early as Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has agreed to immediately reduce the tax on a limited number of cars from the 27-nation bloc with an import price of more than 15,000 euros ($17,739), two sources briefed on the talks told Reuters.
This will be further lowered to 10% over time, they added, easing access to the Indian market for European automakers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, according to Reuters.
US storm leaves 1 million without power, forces 10,000 flight cancellations
More than 1 million customers in the U.S. as far west as New Mexico were without electricity and over 10,000 flights were canceled on Sunday during a monster winter storm that paralyzed eastern and southern states with heavy snow and ice, Reuters reported.
As snow, sleet, freezing rain and dangerously frigid temperatures swept into the eastern two-thirds of the nation on Sunday, the number of power outages continued to rise. As of 2:16 p.m. EST (1916 GMT) on Sunday, more than 1 million U.S. customers were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us, with at least 330,000 in Tennessee and over 100,000 each in Mississippi and Louisiana. Other states affected included Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia and Alabama.
More than 10,800 U.S. flights scheduled for Sunday were canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Over 4,000 flights were canceled on Saturday, according to Reuters.
Starmer leadership rival Burnham blocked from seeking return to UK parliament
British Labour Party politician Andy Burnham was on Sunday blocked from trying to return to parliament, with lawmakers on the left of the party accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his allies of a political move to keep out a potential leadership rival, Reuters reported.
Burnham said he was disappointed at the decision and, while he called for unity in the Labour Party, criticised the way the situation had been handled.
One of the party's most high-profile politicians and an elected mayor in the northern English city of Manchester, Burnham said on Saturday he wanted to become Labour's candidate to replace a lawmaker who resigned on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Zelenskiy says security guarantees document from US is 100% ready
A U.S. document on security guarantees for Ukraine is completely ready and Kyiv is waiting for a time and place for it to be signed, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, indicating that weekend talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi made some progress, Reuters reported.
"For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it," Zelenskiy told a news conference during a visit to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.
"The document will then be sent for ratification to the U.S. Congress and the Ukrainian parliament," he said, according to Reuters.
Khati and Bhandari elected to NA from Sudurpaschim
Nepali Congress candidate Khamma Bahadur Khati and CPN-UML candidate Lila Kumari Bhandari were elected the members of the National Assembly (NA) from Sudurpaschim Province today.
The NA election was held at Dhangadhi, provincial capital of the Sudurpaschim Province.
Khati, elected from others’ category got the weightage of 3,969 votes, while Bhandari elected from women's category secured the weightage of 3,984 votes.
Khati's nearest contender from Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Tikaram Jaishi, collected the vote weightage of 1,805, and the Khati's nearest rival from NCP, Rosi Basnet, collected 1676 vote weightage, according to chief of province election office, Prem Raj Bhatt.
Of the total 224 voters, 220 voters- 49 Province Assembly members and 171 local representatives (chiefs/deputy chiefs) cast ballots.
Mayor of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolis, Gopal Hamal, Province Assembly members Prakash Bahadur Deuba and Khima Devi Bista and Vice Chair of Joshipur rural municipality of Kailali, Rekha Kathariya, were absent in voting.
NC, UML candidates elected as NA members from Gandaki Province
The Gandaki Province has elected Jagat Timilsina of the Nepali Congress and Samjhana Devkota of the CPN-UML as the members in the National Assembly (NA).
In the NA elections held on Sunday, Timilsina was elected from others' category while Devkota represented the women's category.
Timilsina secured a vote weightage of 5,033 while his nearest competitor Kapil Lama of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) secured a vote weightage of 941.
Similarly, another candidate Shankar Prasad Baral obtained a vote weightage of 76, according to the Office of the Election Officer.
Likewise, towards the women's category, Devkota emerged victorious with a vote weightage of 5,014 while her nearest competitor Goma Luintel Baskota of Nepali Communist Party obtained 76.
The NC and the UML had forged an electoral alliance for the NA elections.
Among 59 PA members, 57 took part in the voting while from the local-level, 166 out of 169, were present in the voting, information officer Rudra Neupane at Province Election Office, Gandaki.
Two voters, the PA members of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and three voters from local level were absent in the voting.
Election Officer Himlal Belbase and Chief Minister of Gandaki Province, Surendra Raj Pandey, handed over the certificates to the winning candidates.
The voting was held in the premises of the Province Election Officer at Ratnachowk of Pokhara metropolis-7 from 9 am to 3 pm.
NA elections: NC, UML, JSP candidates secure victory from Madhes Province
The candidates of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) secured victory in the National Assembly elections held on Sunday.
The elections were held in various four clusters.
Rekha Jha of the UML got victory in the women's category by a security vote of 7,222. Her rival Shami Kumari Agrawal from Nepali Communist Party (NCP) got only 1,944 votes.
Ranjit Karna of the Nepali Congress got victory from the minority category by collecting the vote weightage of 8,093, while his rival, Ram Nandan Prasad of NCP, gained vote weightage of 1,361.
Under the Dalit category, Dharmendra Paswan of the Nepali Congress won the elections with vote weightage of 7,904, while his rival Shambhu Paswan of the NCP collected vote weightage of 1,376.
Mahanth Thakur was elected the NA member from JSP with vote weightage of 7,725. He was elected from others' category. His rival Laxman Paudel of NCP got only 1,805 votes.
Among 100 Province Assembly members, 99 cast ballots, while 242 out of 264 local level representatives (chairs/deputy chairs) took part in the voting for the NA members.
