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The federal parliament secretariat is all set to welcome new House of Representatives members. 

It had called all HoR members to attend the swearing-in ceremony to be held on March 26.   

The oath-taking ceremony would be conducted at 2 pm. 

However, the secretariat has requested all HoR members to arrive at the venue in formal or cultural attire before two hours.

President Ram Chandra Paudel is scheduled to administer oath to the senior most HoR member Arjun Narsing KC (78) at Shitalniwas on March 25, a day before HoR members are administered. 

KC, as the senior most HoR member, will administer the oath to other members the next day, March 26.

Article 88 of the Constitution has the provision that every HoR member needs to take oath before attending the HoR meeting or HoR committee meeting. 

Similarly, before the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker or their posts left vacant, the senior most member among the available HoR members chair the HoR meeting as per Article 91 (5) of the Constitution.

Spokesperson at the federal parliament secretariat, Ekaram Giri, informed that the secretariat was working to ensure necessary arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected HoR members. "Preparation is made to conduct the swearing-in ceremony of lawmakers and initial meetings of the HoR in the multi-purpose hall of the federal parliament building inside Singh Durbar," he informed.

Efforts are on to finalize technical issues following the physical construction of the hall. Security arrangements are also underway.

The President summons the parliament session based on the recommendation of the government. 

Once the session is summoned, the parliament secretariat will ramp up preparation for the meeting.

Spokesperson Giri further informed that the parliamentary party offices have been managed as per the size of the political parties determined through the March 5 HoR election.

In the March 5 HoR election, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged the largest with 182 seats in HoR, while the Nepali Congress the second with 38 seats, the CPN-UML the thirds with 25 seats, the Nepali Communist Party the fourth with 17 seats, the Shram Sanskriti Party the fifth with seven seats, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party the sixth with five seats and an independent one. 

Veteran economist Keshav Acharya died at the age of 72 on Sunday.

He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Annapurna Neuro Hospital following a stroke, according to family.

The body will be cremated tomorrow.

He was survived by a wife, a son and a daughter.

Hong Kong police can now demand phone or computer passwords from those who are suspected of breaching the wide-ranging National Security Law (NSL), BBC reported. 

Those who refuse could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to HK$100,000 ($12,700; £9,600), and individuals who provide "false or misleading information" could face up to three years in jail.

It comes as part of new amendments to a bylaw under the NSL that the government gazetted on Monday, according to BBC. 

The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping ​except vessels linked to "Iran's enemies", Iranian media reports published on Sunday quoted Iran's representative to the U.N. maritime agency as saying, Reuters reported. 

Ali Mousavi's comments came from an interview ​published on Friday by Chinese news agency Xinhua, ​before U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to target ⁠Iranian power plants if the strait was not "fully ​open" within 48 hours.

The threat of Iranian attacks during ​the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has kept most ships from getting through the narrow strait, the conduit for around a fifth ​of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, ​threatening a global energy shock, according to Reuters. 

Police have taken action against 175 drivers of various ride-sharing services for violating traffic rules in different parts of Kathmandu Valley. 

Ride sharing platforms are increasing rapidly and instances of operating the service without authorization, carrying passengers without meeting required standards, and ignoring traffic rules are also on the rise, said Naresh Raj Subedi, spokesperson of the Kathmandu Traffic Police Office.

He said that the team had conducted a special checking campaign at various places in the Valley to curb such violations. 

At least 175 ride-sharing drivers have been booked in the campaign as they were operating the service offline without the permission of the platforms.

During the campaign, unauthorized pick-ups and drop-offs, poor condition of vehicles, missing required documents and violating traffic rules were also found, said spokesperson Subedi.

New York's LaGuardia airport has been closed until further noticed after an Air Canada Express plane and ground vehicle collided, BBC reported. 

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for the airport late on Sunday night and said there was a "high" likelihood the order would be extended.

It has been reported that the plane was coming in from Montreal and landed. It slowed down to about 24mph when it collided with a vehicle from the the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, according to BBC. 

Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary Pradip Paudel has urged the government to make public the report submitted by the Karki-led Commission, which was formed to investigate the Gen Z-led movement that occurred in September last year.

Taking to social media today, General Secretary Paudel demanded the government to release the report prepared by the Commission.

It may be noted that the interim government formed in the wake of the Gen Z movement had formed an investigation commission to probe the incidents that occurred during the uprising.

"It's been long since the Commission submitted the report. It is unfortunate that the report is still undisclosed and keeping the report in the dark has raised suspicions. It is the responsibility and duty of the government to make the report public," he observed. 

Paudel also reminded that the central working committee of the NC convened last Sunday had decided to formally urge the government to make the report public.

An arson attack on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish Community Ambulance service in north London is being treated as an "antisemitic hate crime", the Metropolitan Police has said, Reuters reported. 

Four Hatzolah ambulances were found on fire after the London Fire Brigade were called to Highfield Court in Golders Green at around 01:40 GMT.

"We are in the process of examining CCTV and are aware of online footage. We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage," said Supt Sarah Jackson, who leads policing in the area, according to Reuters.