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The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has urged the public to exercise precautions to protect themselves from increasing air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley as well as other major cities across the country.

The Ministry made the appeal in light of the rising air pollution level in the Kathmandu Valley and other places.

Ministry Spokesperson Dr Prakash Budhathoki warned that the air pollution could lead to various health problems affecting the heart, blood vessels, lungs, asthma patients, eyes, kidneys and other organs and could increase risk of cancer. 

He thus called upon everyone to remain cautious and take preventive measures. 

Spokesperson Budhathoki said that the air pollution could severely affect people with chronic illness and pregnant women. Therefore, he requested these vulnerable groups to avoid going outdoors unless absolutely necessary. 

Considering the fact that children, senior citizens and people suffering from respiratory related complications such as asthma and chronic coughs are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, he suggested that they exercise special precautions. 

Spokesperson Budhathoki noted that the rise in air pollution is mainly due to emissions from old vehicles, forest fires, industrial activities and smoke and dust generated from construction materials.

Furthermore, the Department of Environment mentioned that the pollution levels have been rising in different parts of the country in recent days due to unfavorable weather conditions. 

The Department also noted that the concentration of fine particles has notably increased in major cities such as Kathmandu and Pokhara and indicated that the air pollution is likely to persist in Kathmandu Valley for about another week. 

The Ministry advised people to avoid going outdoor during mornings and evenings and compulsorily wear masks if they must go out.

The Election Code of Conduct, 2082 BS, which was brought in force since January 18 for the elections to the National Assembly (NA) and House of Representatives (HoR), would be deactivated from midnight today, the Election Commission (EC) said.

EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai stated that the EC took such a decision today. 

The Election Code of Conduct was brought into implementation as per the Election Commission Act, 2073 BS and Election Code of Conduct, 2082 BS aimed at conducting the elections in a free, fair and fearless manner.

Issuing a statement today, the EC said that the election code of conduct would remain deactivated from midnight today.

Newly  elected National Assembly (NA) members took the  oath of office and secrecy today.

NA Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal administered the oath to 17 out of 18 NA members amidst a ceremony. They were elected on January 25 this year.  

In the 59-seat NA, the members have six year terms. However, one-thirds of them get their terms expire each two years as per constitution. 

The newly elected NA members taking oath today are Khamma Bahadur Khati, Gita Devkota, Chandra Bahadur KC, Jagat Timalsina, Dharmendra Paswan, Prem Prasad Dangal, Mahanth Thakur, Ranjit Karn, Ram Kumari Jhankri, Rekha Kumari Jha, Roshani Meche, Lalit Jung Shahi, Lila Kumari Bhandari, Basudev Ghimire, Samjhana Devkota, Sunil Bahadur Thapa and Somnath Portel. 

Mina Singh Rakhal was absent on the occasion.

The counting of votes cast under the proportional representation (PR) system for the House of Representatives (HoR) elections is underway.

As of 3 pm today, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which has so far won 124 seats, is also leading in the PR vote count by a very wide margin.

Out of a total 908,400 votes counted so far, the party has secured 4390,035 votes.

Similarly, the Nepali Congress (NC) has achieved 1470,796 while the CPN-UML garnered 1231,789 and the Nepali Communist Party got 656,941. 

The Shram Sanskriti Party has collected 313,489 and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party achieved 294,355 votes.

As per the EC updates, the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal secured 140,237 votes, the Rastriya Pariwartan Party 137,245, the Janamat Party 62,460 and the Rastriya Mukti Party Nepal, Janata Samajbadi Party and the Nagarik Unmukti Party has each achieved 50,051 votes.

Towards the direct electoral counts, the NC has been elected in 17 seats, UML in seven, NCP in seven, Shram Sanskriti in three, RPP and independent candidate one each. 

The vote counts showed the RSP, NC and UML are taking lead in a one constituency each: RSP in Gorkha-1, NC in Ilam- 1, and the UML in Sankhuwasabha-1.

The vote count under the March 5 House of Representatives elections is in its final stage now. 

The election held in the background of the Gen Z movement has witnessed overwhelming votes for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).

Reflecting the spirit of Gen Z against the traditional parties, many youths under 35-years-old were able to hold sway and defeat the old guards. It has led to a vital entry of youths to parliament, a supreme forum of law making. 

A total of 20 RSP candidates under 35-year got victory in the HoR elections held on March 5. 

Similarly, Nepali Congress, Shram Sanskriti Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party each had one such candidate winning the election. 

Sobita Gautam (30) was elected from Chitwan-3, collecting 59,277 votes. She defeated Nepali Communist Party's Renu Dahal by a margin of over 20,000 votes. It is the second time Sobita Gautam got elected as HoR member. 

She had earlier won from constituency-2 of Kathmandu. She is a law graduate. 

Sulav Kharel is another prominent under-35 candidate defeating veteran UML leader Bishnu Paudel from Rupandehi-2. Kharel routed Paudel by collecting 56,550 votes. Kharel is also a law graduate from Nepal Law Campus. He is 26-years-old.

Rubina Acharya comes in line to defeat the old guard, Dr Shekhar Koirala of the Nepali Congress, in Morang-6. The under-35 candidate of RSP got 55,513 votes, limiting her rival to 12,850 votes. 

RSP's Badan Kumar Bhandari from Kavrepalanchowk-2 was elected with 53,344 votes while his nearest contender Madhu Prasad Acharya of NC secured 17,868.  The 33-year-old Bhandari, an e-commerce entrepreneur and a media worker, holds a Bachelor degree. 

Nisha Dangi won the election from Jhapa-1, representing RSP. The 29-year-old was the RSP lawmaker from the party in the previous HoR. 

She secured 45,680 votes against NC candidate Keshab Raj Pandey. 

Pandey had 10,550. Dangi who was born in Bhadrapur municipality of Jhapa holds a Master's Degree in Journalism from the Tribhuvan University. 

Another RSP candidate Manish Khanal (26) was elected from Nawalpur-2 with 41,347 votes against CPN-UML candidate Til Bahadur Mahat Chhetri. The UML candidate obtained 15,755 votes.  He is a law graduate from Nepal Law Campus. 

Bablu Gupta is another youth candidate winning the election from RSP. The 28-year-old emerged victorious from Siraha-1 by defeating his nearest competitor Ram Sundhar Chaudhary of NC. Gupta is engaged in social service. He secured 41,322 votes against Chaudhary's 9,774.

Santosh Rajbanshi (34) won the election from Morang-4. Shiba Shankar Yadav, 30, from Siraha-2 won the election, representing the RSP while Tapeshwor  Yadav from the same party   emerged victorious from Siraha-4. 

Another candidate under 35 winning HoR election is Deepak Kumar Shah (34) from Mahottari-2. He represents the RSP. Ujjawal Kumar Jha, 33, from Mahottari -3 is another youth candidate winning the elections. He is from the RSP. 

Sasmit Pokharel (29) of the RSP elected from Kathmandu-5 holds a Bachelor's Degree in Law. He is the RSP central member and the assistant spokesperson.  Pokharel has already worked as Chief Assistant at the Parliament Office. He gave leadership to 'get the job done' through policy-research, team mobilization and coordination. 

RSP's Prashant Upreti has been elected as HoR member from Makawanpur-2. 

Born in 2057 BS in Makawanpur, Upreti is a tourism entrepreneur and has a Bachelor's Degree in Tourism Management.  

Similarly, another elected RSP candidate is Sagar Dhakal. The 34-year-old engineer Dhakal of Satyabati rural municipality-6 in Gulmi, won the election from Gulmi-1.

Elected from Pyuthan-1, Sushant Baidik, is under 35 years.

Likewise, an alternative politician, Ranju Neupane (Darshana) (30) has been elected from Kathmandu-1. She has   studied up to Bachelor's Level.  

Another elected lawmaker below 35 years is Som Sharma of RSP. Sharma (34) won the election from Baglung-2 while RSP's candidate Jhabi Lal Dumre (30) was elected from Syangja -2, and RSP's Ramji Yadav (30) won the election from Saptari-2.

Dumre won the election securing 25,354 votes while Yadav was elected HoR member with 28,4040 votes. 

The 26-year-old KP Khanal of the RSP won the election from Kailali-2, receiving 19,057 votes. 

Active in social campaigns for 13 years, he has led the nation-wide clean-up campaigns like 'Clean Kasthamandap' and 'Kathmandu Trash Collection'. 

Tapeshwor Yadav, was elected from Siraha-4 and Ujjwal Kumar Jha from Mahottari-3. Both of them are RSP candidates under 33-year. 

Similarly, the 32-year-old Yogesh Gauchan of Nepali Congress has made its journey to the HoR from Mustang-1 while Gyan Bahadur Shahi, 34, of Rastriya Prajatantra Party has been elected HoR member from Jumla-1.

Aren Rai (29) of Shram Sanskriti Party won the election from Khotang-1.

Nepali Congress (NC) candidate Nischal Rai has been elected from Ilam-1 in the House of Representatives (HoR) elections.

Rai secured 14,543 votes to win the election, while his nearest competitor, Binod Kumar Nembang of the Shram Sanskriti Party garnered 13,632 votes.

The final election results were announced by the Election Officer’s Office at 4:30 pm today.

This marks the first time in 26 years that the NC has won the HoR elections from Ilam-1. 

CPN-UML candidate Kajiman Kagate finished third with 11,966 votes, while the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) secured 7,665 votes.

A total of 13 candidates from 13 political parties contested the elections in this constituency, with the remaining candidates failing to secure more than 1,000 votes each.

Out of 112,320 registered voters in the constituency, 64,104 cast their votes during the poll held on March 5.

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate Sudhan Gurung has been elected to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Gorkha-1. 

According to Election Office Gorkha's Information Officer Rabilal Subedi, Gurung secured 29,896 votes, beating his nearest competitor Prem Kumar Khatri of Nepali Congress by 14,498 votes. Khatri secured 15,398 votes.

Similarly, Hari Raj Adhikari of Nepali Communist Party gained 11,124 votes and the CPN-UML candidate garnered 3,732. 

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) surged by 162. 93 points to close at 2, 827. 43 points on Monday. 

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 28. 11 points to close at 494. 10 points.

A total of 1,143,767-unit shares of 261 companies were traded for Rs 1. 65 billion.

Meanwhile, Corporate Development Bank Limited (CORBL) and Shiva Shree Hydropower Ltd (SSHL) were the top gainers today with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Similarly, Reliance Spinning Mills Limited (RSML) was the top loser as its price fell by 1. 49 points. 

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 83 trillion.