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The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 193, 700 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 193, 500 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 2, 075 per tola today.

Just hours after winning the South Korean presidency, Lee Jae-myung has pledged to "unite the people" in his inauguration speech on Wednesday, BBC reported.

The 61-year-old won a snap election by 49.4% - a clear rejection of his rival, Kim Moon-soo, who came from the same party as impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon triggered months of political chaos after he attempted to impose martial law, which eventually resulted in his impeachment.

As he takes on the top job, Lee now faces the daunting task of not only uniting the country, but also balancing ties with its most important ally, the US, under President Trump's unpredictable brand of diplomacy, according to BBC.

President Donald Trumpon Wednesday resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions, Associated Press reported.

The ban takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., a cushion that may avoid the chaos that unfolded at airports nationwide when a similar measure took effect with virtually no notice in 2017. Trump, who signaled plans for a new ban upon taking office in January, appears to be on firmer ground this time after the Supreme Court sided with him.

Some, but not all, 12 countries also appeared on the list of banned countries in Trump’s first term. The new ban includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to The Associated Press.

There will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has emphasized on adopting a nature-friendly lifestyle. 

President Paudel said this in his message of best wishes to all Nepali sisters and brothers at home and abroad on the occasion of the World Environment Day (June 5) on Thursday. 

"The haphazard and unscientific use of plastic polymers has created plastic waste, which is becoming a challenging environmental issue. In accordance with the concept that development and the environment are complementary to each other, I sincerely urge everyone to adopt a nature-oriented lifestyle and promote activities for environmental improvement”, the Head of the State noted. 

On the World Environment Day being marked with the slogan 'Reducing Plastic Pollution: Our Responsibility', now is the time to pledge for the improvement of environment around our homes, making ecological relationships between forests, water, vegetation, agriculture, and wildlife live and meaningful and uphold every citizen's right to live in a clean and healthy environment, the message reads. 

The President has emphasized the need for all of us to focus on how to maintain interdependent relationships between the environment and nature sustainable, urging all Nepali sisters and brothers to unite and engage in activities to improve the environment while reducing pollution caused by plastic use. 

He also expressed gratitude to all associated actors, including government and non-government organisations, development partners, and others involved in the profound responsibility of environmental conservation and enhancement, 

President Paudel wished that the day may provide additional solidarity and enthusiasm for the implementation of the matters that Nepal has raised in various national and international forums and the commitments made to mitigate the environmental impacts arising from air, water, and land pollution.

World Environment Day is being celebrated in different countries of the world with the slogan 'Alleviating plastic pollution: our responsibility'. 

It is also being marked in different parts of the country by organising different programs. 

The United Nations (UN) has called for the celebration of World Environment Day on June 5 every year since 1973. 

Today, this day is being celebrated in South Korea with a special program, as stated by the United Nations.

According to the United Nations, 400 million tons of plastic waste are produced on Earth every year, with only 10 percent of the waste being recycled, and 11 million tons of plastic being discharged into rivers, lakes, and oceans. 

Today is also the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. This day has been observed since 2017, at the invitation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

To address the issue of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) declared 5 June as the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.

The FAO emphasizes that the trend of illegal fishing must be ended to achieve sustainable development goals. Every year, 11 million to 26 million tons of fish are caught illegally, resulting in loss of billions of dollars, the FAO reported. 

Two dozen civil society organizations working on human rights, justice and accountability have said that due to the lack of proper consultations with civil society organizations, the transitional justice process in Nepal faces a serious legitimacy crisis.

A key example is the recent appointment of officials to the two transitional justice commissions, which has, in general, failed to establish credibility, they said in a joint statement.

It is our considered view that the manner in which the appointments have been made cannot advance this complex and sensitive process in a just and trustworthy manner, the statement says. 

“We also unequivocally assert that ignoring, dismissing or showing persistent intolerance toward longstanding legitimate concerns of victims and attempting to create and exploit divisions among them is yet another attempt to continue derailing the transitional justice process,” the statement reads. 

According to them, this process can only move forward if it earns the trust of the victims’ community. Otherwise, public confidence in the state will further erode, and debates around transitional justice will shift elsewhere—potentially toward alternative transitional justice models such as a Citizens’ Truth Commission or a hybrid mechanism.  

The sudden publication of a notice to collect complaints—without any regard for the sensitivity of victims of rape and sexual violence, their psychosocial condition, socioeconomic barriers, privacy and dignity—followed by the state’s failure to respond sensitively even after these serious concerns were raised by the victims and rights holders’ groups has raised concerns over credibility, the statement reads.

Disrespectful statements by Commission officials attacking the self-esteem and dignity of the victims and the absence of any attempt to restore meaningful consultation with victims, all the while strategically pushing for a mechanical approach—all send a clear message: that the commissions formed without credible appointments cannot earn legitimacy, nor can they be effective or meaningful. Instead, they will only be a repetition of past blunders and waste the country’s precious resources and time, the statement says

The organizations have urged the Government of Nepal to immediately take the necessary initiative to engage in dialogue, consultation and deliberation with the victims’ communities who have repeatedly expressed their disagreement with the way appointments were made, in order to identify an appropriate solution and restore the legitimacy of the transitional justice process.

They also urged the international community and the United Nations not to provide any financial or technical assistance, as in the past, to the government and/or the TJ commissions that have lost legitimacy until and unless the government reverts the process back to the right track from the very point where an environment of lack of trust and confidence with the victims arose, and as long as there is no guarantee of putting the victim communities, their self-esteem, participation, ownership and satisfaction at the heart of the process.

A celebration event organised by the Karnataka State Government to honour Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL campaign turned into tragedy on Wednesday, as a stampede broke out, leaving seven people dead and 16 others injured, several of them critically, said Amit Malviya in a post on X, The Economic Times reported.

The mishap reportedly occurred due to overcrowding and poor crowd management at the government-organised gathering, which drew thousands of RCB fans. Visuals from the scene showed chaos and panic as emergency services struggled to reach those injured.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya criticised the state government for the incident, blaming it on what he called a “lack of basic administrative foresight," according to The Economic Times.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel assured that the newly introduced budget for the fiscal year 2025/26 would ensure proper utilization of the available resources and to foster infrastructure development. 

In a discussion organized by the Society of Infrastructure Journalists (SIJ-Nepal) on the 'Infrastructure sector in budget and its implementation', DPM Paudel reiterated that the budget has been devised to prevent the misuse of the resources in construction of infrastructures.

Paudel added that the budget was allocated in a realistic approach taking into consideration the needs of the nation and available resources.

According to him, several reform measures have been introduced and implemented to address the longstanding problems and challenges in the infrastructure sector. He believed that these measures would yield result-oriented outcomes.

"Budget is only a single digit document. The budget is prepared in a realistic way so that the credibility of the budget is not questioned," the DPM asserted, claiming that there has been no criticism of the newly introduced annual estimates of income and expenditure.

It may be noted that the incumbent government on May 29 had introduced an annual budget of Rs 1.964 trillion for the fiscal year 2025/26.

Furthermore, for fiscal discipline, he informed that the budget includes a dedicated focus on capital expenditure to ensure proper management of the resources and timely spending of the allocated budget. 

In a departure from the trend of increasing general expenditure, the DPM highlighted that stringent measures have been put in place to cap the general expenditure to prevent excessive recurrent spending. 

As for the Public Procurement Act, he informed that the 14th amendment to the Act has already addressed some existing issues. He expressed his readiness to consider further amendments in the Act if need be, so as to promote the country's construction sector. 

Addressing concerns over shortage of construction materials affecting construction works' timeliness, the DPM said that the excavation of mining and aggregate materials will be allowed from only appropriate places and after conducting environment impact assessment.

Citing the provision of alternative development financing for mega projects introduced by the government, he was confident that the Parliament would endorse necessary laws to facilitate such provisions.