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Yoane Wissa scored his first Champions League goal as Newcastle United eased to a 3-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park on Wednesday to seal their place in the knockout stages of the competition for the first time, Reuters reported. 

Newcastle move up to seventh in the table with 13 points from their seven games and on course for automatic qualification for the last 16. PSV are in 22nd place with eight points and work to do to advance to the knockout stages.

The top eight teams in the table automatically advance to the last-16, while the sides positioned 9th to 24th enter a playoff round to determine the other eight qualifiers, according to Reuters. 

Bayern Munich top scorer Harry Kane struck twice in three minutes to carry his team to a 2-0 victory over Belgium's Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League on Wednesday and book their ticket for the knockout stage with a game to spare, Reuters reported. 

Man-of-the-match Kane headed in at the near post from a Michael Olise corner in the 52nd and added another goal from a 55th-minute penalty after he was brought down, to end a rare three-game goal drought in the competition.

The England captain, who now leads the scorers' list with seven goals, could have sealed his hat-trick in the 80th minute but hammered his second penalty on to the crossbar, according to Reuters. 

Barcelona came from behind to defeat Slavia Prague 4-2 on a freezing night in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Fermin Lopez scoring twice and Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski adding second-half goals to secure the victory, Reuters reported. 

The win lifts Barcelona to ninth place in the standings with one game remaining on 13 points, level with seven other teams vying for a top-eight finish and direct qualification for the round of 16. Slavia languish third from bottom with just three points.

On a bitterly cold evening in Prague, with temperatures dropping to minus eight Celsius, Slavia stunned the visitors with an early lead, according to Reuters. 

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 2, 900 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. 

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 292, 200 per tola today.  It was traded at Rs 295, 100 per tola on Wednesday. 

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 5, 870 per tola.

A discussion related to the election-focused security management was held at the Office of the Election Commission in Kantipath on Wednesday. 

Matters related to controlling any criminal activities that could disrupt the upcoming election and bringing such acts to legal ambit were discussed. 

In addition, the discussion emphasized on coordinating and cooperating with all concerned parties to implement a reliable security strategy to ensure a transparent and peaceful elections in a fear-free environment. 

The discussion was attended by Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, Election Commissioners Janaki Kumari Tuladhar and Sagun Shumsher JB Rana, Home Secretary Rajkumar Shrestha, Secretary of the Commission Krishna Bahadur Raut, Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, and officials of the Election Commission.

The partial influence of the westerly winds is currently persisting in the country. 

According to the Weather Forecasting Division, fog is likely to blanket some parts of the Tarai region this afternoon. 

Currently, there are partial clouds over the high hill and Himalayan areas of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces, while the weather will be mainly fair in the rest of the country. There is fog in some parts of the Tarai. 

According to the Division, there will be partial clouds over the high hill and Himalayan areas of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces, while the weather will be mainly clear in the rest of the country this afternoon. 

Similarly, some parts of the Tarai may experience mist tonight. 

Partial cloudy weather is expected in the high hill and Himalayan areas of Koshi, Gandaki, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces, while the weather will be mainly clear in other regions. 

The Division has cautioned towards possible low visibility at various Terai airports, which may cause flight delays due to mist and fog, and has advised drivers of long and short-distance vehicles to remain vigilant of weather conditions. 

Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai expressed Nepal's full-fledged commitment towards protecting human rights. 

He shared the commitment while presenting the national report to the 51st Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. 

According to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Secretary Rai highlighted Nepal’s continued progress in protecting and promoting human rights, including advancing civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights and strengthening democratic institutions.

Also present on the occasion were Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Krishna Prasad Dhakal, Nepal's Ambassador to Switzerland Ram Prasad Subedi and senior officials of Nepali Mission there.

Dalit community has witnessed a meager number of candidates in the House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5. 

Nepali Congress (NC) has fielded its assistant general secretary Prakash Rasaili Snehi as a candidate of Dalit community from Bajhang. 

CPN-UML has presented Chakra Snehi from Dadeldhura and Bimala Biki from Bardiya-2.

Likewise, Nepali Communist Party has given tickets only to Padam Biswokarma from Syangja-2 and Man Bahadur Sunar from Kanchanpur-3. 

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has nominated Khagendra Sunar from Banke-3. 

Padam Sundas, a leader of the Dalit movement and former ambassador, has noted that the major political parties have always treated the Dalit community as a vote bank but have consistently deprived them of political opportunities. 

He commented, “The contribution of Dalit leaders within the party is equal to that of other communities, but they do not get tickets during elections. Discrimination is being practiced while allotting tickets though Dalit holds 13 percent of total population". 

Bindu Pariyar, President of the Association for Dalit Women's Advancement of Nepal (ADWAN), opined that the democratic legacy party NC, which has repeatedly fought for change, and Nepali Communist Party and UML, which claim to struggle for the rights of marginalized, have proven to be insensitive towards Dalits. 

She noted that by not directly giving tickets to the Dalit community, their representation in Parliament is seen as meager. 

Just like the constitutional provision requiring 33 percent women in Parliament, there should also be a mandatory provision for Dalits, she argued. 

In the House of Representatives of 2022, there were 15 Dalit representatives (5.81 percent) while in the 2008 Constituent Assembly, 50 Dalits (8.32 percent) were present. 

There were 40 Dalits (6.65 percent) in the 2010 Constituent Assembly, and 20 Dalits (7.27 percent) in the House of Representatives of 2018. 

Looking at these numbers, the representation of Dalits in Parliament is seen to be decreasing consecutively. 

Out of 59 members of the National Assembly, only eight are Dalits. 

Although Article 42(1) of the Constitution has stated that socially disadvantaged individuals shall have the right to participate in state agencies based on the principle of inclusiveness, its practical implementation has not been achieved.