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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand Winston Peters is arriving in Kathmandu this afternoon on a two-day official visit to Nepal. 

The Deputy Prime Minister will separately pay courtesy calls on President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed. 

Similarly, the Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand will hold a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba this evening. 

After the meeting, there will be a joint press conference, and in his honor, Foreign Minister  Rana will host a dinner. 

This is the first ever visit by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand to Nepal. 

The country now is under the influence of western and local winds. 

Additionally, there is a partial influence of the vapour-rich winds coming from the Bay of Bengal, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. 

This afternoon, there will be partial to generally cloudy weather in the hilly areas of the Lumbini Province and other parts of the country, while remaining areas will have clear weather. 

In some places of the hilly region, there is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning. Light rain and snowfall is likely to occur in one or two places in the high mountainous and hilly regions of the country. 

According to the Department, the Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces, along with other hilly areas, will experience partial to generally cloudy weather, while other areas will have clear weather. 

Some places of the hilly areas of Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces have chances of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning. There may be light rain with snowfall in one or two places in the high mountainous region. 

Both the Houses of Federal Parliament – House of Representatives (HoR) and National Assembly (NA)— are holding their meetings today. 

The HoR meeting is scheduled to take place at 11 am.

Due to the protests from opposition parties on Tuesday, the lower house meeting was postponed without entering into the regular agenda. 

The Federal Parliament Secretariat has prepared a tentative agenda for today's meeting. 

According to the agenda, Chairperson of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee Ramhari Khatiwada is scheduled to present the 'Report of the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2080' in today's meeting. 

Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel will present the Economic Survey of the fiscal year 2025/26.

According to the tentative agenda, a proposal will be presented seeking consideration on the amendment to Some Nepal Acts Related to Land Management, 2082 BS after holding clause-wise discussion today. 

Additionally, in the meeting of the HoR, Chairperson of the Agriculture, Cooperatives, and Natural Resources Committee Kusum Devi Thapa, will present the 'Annual Report of the Agriculture, Cooperatives, and Natural Resources Committee, 2082'. 

Secretary General of the Federal Parliament Secretariat Padma Prasad Pandey informed that the concerned ministers will respond to oral questions related to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Health and Population. 

Likewise, the meeting of the National Assembly will be held at 1:15 pm today. 

In the NA meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel is scheduled to present the Economic Survey for the fiscal year 2025/26.

Similarly, the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, will present a proposal to send the 'Some Nepal Laws Amendment Bill, 2080' received from the HoR with a message to the Legislative Management Committee for detailed discussion. 

Today, in the NA meeting, there is an agenda for the concerned ministers to respond to oral questions related to the Ministry of Urban Development, Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Health and Population, and Forest and Environment. 

The Ministry of Health and Population has started preparations for necessary preparedness for the prevention and control of pandemic during the monsoon. 

Health Minister Pradip Paudel held a preparation meeting which took six decisions regarding response and prevention in view of the possibility of different types of infection, diseases and pandemic in the rainy season.  

During the meeting with health officers involved in disaster response and pandemic control today, Minister Paudel directed them for preparedness by identifying the problems on time. 

According to Minister Paudel's Private Secretariat, the Department of Health Services would make necessary preparations for the management of cleanliness and clean water by identifying the places vulnerable to outbreak of pandemic. 

Similarly, the National Health Education Information and Communication Centre would carry out activities for the dissemination of effective information up to local levels for raising awareness on the use of clean water.  

The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division would collect necessary information and forward preparation by holding virtual meetings with rapid response teams of all local levels. 

The Division would update the details of those trained for health related disaster control and assign them in all seven provinces as per the need. 

Likewise, necessary preparations would be initiated by coordinating with the National Emergency Operation Centre and Provincial Health Emergency Operation Centre.  

The meeting took the decision where the Department of Health Services would submit the proposal in the ministry within a week in order to amend the 'Infectious Disease Act, 2020' as per the changing context and need. 

Three political parties, including the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), have said that the demonstration slated for May 29 will be peaceful and restrained.

In a press meet organised today by RPP, RPP Nepal, and the Rastriya Shakti Abhiyan, RPP President Rajendra Lingden stated that the movement will be of a peaceful civil disobedience nature, and he urged the media to carry out independent monitoring without any bias.

"The announced valley-wide movement of the three parties is not against the Constitution but will be conducted peacefully within the provisions granted by the statute," he said.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP Nepal)'s Chairman Kamal Thapa asserted that the movement to establish the 'agenda' adopted by the party will be peaceful.

He said, "The participation of the people in a peaceful movement will create an environment for dialogue with other political parties and the government to establish the agenda of RPP."

The coordinator of the Rastriya Shakti Abhiyan, Keshar Bahadur Bista, called upon everyone to support the movement aimed at creating public pressure to address the demands that have been raised for a long time to facilitate political stability and peace in the country.

The coordinator of the Movement Mobilisation Committee, Nawaraj Subedi, assured that the planned movement on May 29 will be peaceful, non-violent, and based on civil disobedience.

He added that around 2,000 volunteers would be mobilised to make the movement peaceful.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 2. 53 points to close at 2,677. 30 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1. 25 points to close at 457. 34 points.

A total of 14,299,394-unit shares of 318 companies were traded for Rs 6. 53 billion.

Meanwhile, Corporate Development Bank Limited (CORBL), Om Megashree Pharmaceuticals Limited (OMPL), 
Green Development Bank Ltd. (GRDBL) and Bhugol Energy Development Company Limited (BEDC)​​​​​​​ were the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Gurans Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (GLBSL) was the top loser as its price fell by 8. 01 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 45 trillion.

The recent report by the public auditor reveals that local governments in Pyuthan have shown excessive interest in fuel expenditures. According to Point 7 of the Public Expenditure Standards, Procedures, and Guidelines on Economy, 2018, when providing fuel to officials and employees who receive vehicle facilities, offices must determine a monthly fuel quota (in liters of diesel/petrol) and a quarterly quota for mobile and brake oil based on the recipient’s position, and must maintain updated records accordingly.

Swargadwari Municipality spent Rs 2,898,015 under the fuel expenditure heading and also used contingency funds to cover fuel costs. Sarumarani Rural Municipality spent Rs 189,947 on fuel and similarly tapped into contingency funds. Mandavi Rural Municipality recorded Rs 269,871 under fuel expenses, again drawing from contingency funds. Airawati Rural Municipality spent Rs 1,668,620 on fuel, with part of the expenditure also covered through contingency funds.

According to Section 4(2) of the Act to Amend and Consolidate the Laws Relating to Facilities Available to Local Level Officials and Members—enacted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law of Lumbini Province in 2019—if a local government does not provide a vehicle, officials are entitled to transportation allowances as per a prescribed schedule. However, even though a vehicle is provided for official use by the rural municipality chairperson, it was found that Sarumarani Rural Municipality Chairperson Jhaga Bahadur Bishwakarma received transportation allowances totaling Rs 144,000 (Rs 12,000 per month) in violation of this provision. The audit report highlights this as irregular.

Similarly, the mayor of Pyuthan Municipality, Bishnu Bahadur Yogi, received transportation allowances in addition to vehicle and fuel facilities. The final audit report notes that he received Rs 12,000 per month from May 2022 to June 2023, totaling 14 months. Since these dual benefits fall under the same expenditure heading, the report recommends that the excess payment be recovered.

The Policy Guidelines for Maintaining Economy and Effectiveness in Public Expenditure, 2018 require all provincial and local offices, as well as their officials and employees, to exercise economic and effective spending. The Act on Facilities of Local Level Officials and Members, 2019 also provides guidelines on transportation facilities for officials.

In addition to receiving vehicles and fuel, some municipalities have also rented vehicles. Airawati Rural Municipality, which spent Rs 1,668,620 on fuel and transportation facilities, rented a vehicle at a monthly cost of Rs 90,000 in fiscal year 2022/23—an annual outlay of Rs 1,080,000. This expenditure, according to the final audit report from the Office of the Auditor General, violates existing regulations.

Responding to the report, Airawati Rural Municipality Chairperson Nabil Bikram Shah said the vehicle was rented instead of purchased to reduce costs, as the existing vehicle was old and in poor condition. “That vehicle is old and broken,” he said. “The chairperson, vice-chairperson, and chief administrative officer all travel frequently. We opted to rent a multipurpose vehicle as it was more cost-effective.” He added that a team, including a medical officer, visits 10 health institutions within the municipality each month to provide services such as video X-rays.

World record holder climber Kami Rita Sherpa has successfully scaled Mt Everest for the 31st time, breaking the record he set last year.

The 55-year-old Sherpa of Thame, Solukhumbu, broke his own record after reaching the top of the world's tallest peak at 4 am today. 

Last year, he set a record by standing atop Everest for the 29th and 30th time.

As per the Department of Tourism, the climbing season to scale Mt Everest has concluded from today. 

Around 500 people summited Mt Everest in this season.