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The rhino census, which was halted last year after donors indicated they could not provide support, will be conducted this year.

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation has allocated some budget for this purpose this year.

Dr Ram Chandra Kandel, the Director General of the Department, said that the tiger count is done every four years. Accordingly, this financial year, a tiger count will be conducted.

According to him, the tiger census is starting in November. He mentioned that it will take about three months to conduct the tiger census.

The tiger count will be carried out in Parsa, Chitwan, Banke, Bardiya, and Suklaphanta National Parks.

​​For the tiger count, the Department has allocated Rs 1.8 million, and more than Rs 15 million is said to be required for this purpose.

He said the rhino counting program has been scheduled for April. It takes one month to count the rhinos.

The rhino census will be carried out in Chitwan National Park, Parsa National Park, Shuklaphanta National Park, and Koshi Tappu National Park.

Director General Kandel said Rs 1.8 million has been earmarked for the rhino census.

The cost of conducting the rhino census is expected to exceed Rs 20 million. The remaining amount will be requested from donors.

It was reported that there were 335 tigers in Nepal, according to the tiger census conducted in 2022.

According to the 2022 census, there are 128 tigers in Chitwan, 125 in Bardiya National Park, 25 in Banke National Park, 41 in Parsa, and 36 in Shuklaphanta.

In Nepal, tiger census was also conducted in 2009, 2013, and 2018.

In the 2009 count, 121 tigers were found across the country, 198 were found in 2013 and 235 in 2018.

The rhino count is done by (in real-time) riding an elephant. Seven hundred and fifty-two rhinos were found in national parks and conservation areas across the country in the rhino count conducted in 2021.

In the 1960s, the population of rhinos had decreased to about 100. It is estimated that there were 800 rhinos in Nepal in the 1950s.

In the 2021 census, 694 rhinos were counted in Chitwan National Park.

The rhino count increased from 29 to 38 in Bardiya National Park, and from eight to 18 in Shuklaphanta.

Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and plans to play in other franchise leagues across the world, BBC reported.

Ashwin, 38, played for five franchises including the Chennai Super Kings - where he won the title twice in 2010 and 2011 - and is fifth on the all-time wicket-taker list with 187.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not allow any player in Indian international or domestic cricket to feature in overseas leagues.

"They say every ending will have a new start," Ashwin posted on social media, according to BBC.

"My time as an IPL cricketer comes to a close today but my time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today."

Wolves have rejected a second Newcastle bid for striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, who scored twice in the win over West Ham on Tuesday, BBC reported.

The Magpies had returned with a £55m offer after a £50m approach was turned down earlier this week. 

Wolves do not want to sell the Norway international, firstly because of how little time they would have to find a replacement, with the transfer window closing on Monday, and also because of how valuable Strand Larsen is to their Premier League survival chances. 

Newcastle are looking for fresh firepower with Alexander Isak trying to engineer a move to Liverpool - the Sweden forward is in a stand-off with the Magpies and yet to play this season, according to BBC.

KPop Demon Hunters has climbed "up, up, up" Netflix's charts to become its most viewed movie ever, the streaming platform says, BBC reported.

Since its release in June, the animated musical has been watched more than 236 million times, overtaking the action comedy Red Notice to take the top spot.

It is the latest in a series of chart-topping achievements by the film, which has become a surprise global hit.

Songs from the movie have also been some of the most streamed online on Spotify, while the track Golden hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this month, according to BBC.

Denmark's foreign minister has summoned the top US diplomat in Copenhagen, following a report that American citizens have been conducting covert operations in Greenland, BBC reported.

Denmark's public broadcaster DR quoted sources as saying the aim was to infiltrate Greenland's society and promote its secession from Denmark to the US, although it was unable to clarify who the men were working for.

Danish intelligence warned Greenland was being targeted by "various kinds of influence campaigns".

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said "any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom [of Denmark] will of course be unacceptable", and the US charge d'affaires had been summoned in that light, according to BBC.

Chief Justice (CJ) Prakashman Singh Raut clarified that there was no dispute in the formation of the constitutional bench.

He delivered this remark in the wake of formation of the constitutional bench comprising CJ Raut and senior-most justices Sapana Malla, Dr Nahakul Subedi, Til Prasad Shrestha and Binod Sharma today.

CJ Raut asserted that he formed the bench by exercising the constitutional rights to appoint four justices in the constitutional bench.

It may be noted that the Article 137 of Nepal's constitution has provision for constitutional bench. 

Talking to media persons, CJ Raut reiterated, "There is no dispute in the formation of the constitutional bench.” 

He explained, "The Constitution itself has granted the Chief Justice the constitutional authority to form the bench and I formed the bench exercising it."

Expressing his concern over the misconceptions being spread regarding the formation of the constitutional bench, he clarified, "The Constitution has clear provision on the formation of the constitutional bench. I am effortful to make the court dignified, transparent and accountable and uphold the judiciary's integrity."

According to him, the earlier Full Court (full meeting) of the Supreme Court had discussed ways to make the constitutional bench more organized and no disagreement arose regarding its formation.

The constitutional bench, which had been inactive for some time, resumed its operations today. 

Currently, there are 228 cases under consideration in the bench.

The government has released a total amount of Rs 754.93 million to provide subsidies for sugarcane farmers. 

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has released the amount which will be transferred to the beneficiaries' bank account through the district-based Treasury and Financial Comptroller offices, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD).

Although the Cabinet meeting had earlier decided to provide a subsidy of Rs 35 per quintal to sugarcane farmers, the MoF delayed the disbursement citing technical issues. 

The delay prompted the disgruntled sugarcane farmers to stage Kathmandu-centric protest programs. Also, the government's decision to halve the subsidy-previously Rs 70 per quintal-further fueled their decision to take to the street.

Although MoALD had proposed continuing the same amount this year as well, the Cabinet meeting decided to provide Rs 35 per quintal taking into account the country's current economic condition and needs.

Meanwhile, representatives of the MoALD and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and protesting sugarcane farmers held a meetibg on Tuesday at Singha Durbar. 

Lalan Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General of Department of Agriculture, and Lal Kumar Shrestha and Maniratna Aryal, Under-Secretaries of the MoALD among others represented the government side while Shyam Babu Raya led the sugarcane farmers in the talks. 

It may be noted that Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari on last Tuesday had formed a four-member team in a bid to address the demands of protesting sugarcane farmers.

A female inmate was found hanging in the Morang District Prison on Wednesday.

Radha Bhattarai (32) aka Radhika of Barahachhetra Municipality-6, Sunsari, was found dead in the toilet of the prison.

According to Jailer Gaurav Dhungel, Bhattarai was found hanging with a shawl in the toilet at around 4:30 am on Wednesday.

“She was found hanging with the shawl in the toilet this morning. The toilet was also locked from inside,” he said.

DSP Kopila Chudal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Morang, said that she might have committed suicide.

Jailer Dhungel said that the body will be sent to a hospital for postmortem.

Further investigation into the incident is underway, said police.